ActioNet’s Quality Management System:
Not Just a Passing Fad

by Dan Potocki, Process Improvement Analyst

In a time and an industry eager to chase the next passing fad, ActioNet, Inc. is instead focused on taking customer satisfaction to new levels and providing the highest quality service to its clients. We accomplish this through an effective Quality Management System, a standardized but adaptable framework that increases productivity and encourages process improvement at every level of the company. This began to take shape when we made the transition from SW-CMM^® Level 3 to CMMI^® SE/SW Maturity Level 3, and is further reflected by our recent certification to ISO 9001:2000.

More than just another plaque on the wall, certification under ISO means we have a management system in place to make every aspect of ActioNet run smoothly. It means instead of fumbling to clarify overlapping employee responsibilities or locate important information, we can channel our energies and focus on what’s most important—providing a quality service and achieving the highest degree of customer satisfaction. To make that happen, ActioNet worked hard to develop its Process Asset Library (PAL) and Process Enhancement Group (PEG), our cornerstones for continual improvement.

Your PAL at Work
The PAL is an online communication tool that gives our employees a centralized, secure, easy-to-use repository for sharing important information. The ISO standard stresses this type of exchange for good reason; an informed employee is not only productive, but also acts as a valuable information source for our customers. The PAL houses internal training sessions, designed to make ActioNet employees the most informed and most professional workers they can be. Unique presentations such as "Projecting a Positive Image" and "ISO Awareness" tutorials make employees increasingly well rounded.

"I’m so impressed with the teams’ level of professionalism, technical knowledge, communication skills, and customer care," noted one client during a routine customer satisfaction survey. With guess-work and confusion eliminated through ISO compliance, employees achieve that type of bond and admiration with their customers. Not only do ActioNet employees ensure work is done on time and on budget, but that the work is also of the greatest quality.

The PEG and Change Tracker™
While standardization goes a long way to reducing confusion, the management system must also embrace good ideas and not be hampered by arbitrary restrictions. ActioNet’s PEG ensures that when a good idea is suggested, it is implemented as quickly and easily as possible. The PEG uses Change Tracker™, a company-wide tool developed by ActioNet that allows any employee’s suggestion be heard, analyzed, and acted upon. With all the information made available to PEG by Change Tracker™, informed decisions are consistent, practical, and authoritative instead of arbitrary, poorly considered, or conflicting.

Change Tracker™ reinforces ActioNet’s commitment to continual improvement. One of the main reasons ActioNet regularly receives “Superior” ratings from its customers is because they know any concern will be addressed quickly and thoroughly. While that has always been our aim and reputation, building our management system around ISO standards has taken that focus to a whole new level.

While being assessed for ISO compliance, Change Tracker™ was praised by outside-assessor, BVQi, as one of the better systems they had ever witnessed. The tool provides such fluid communication between ActioNet employees, customers speaking with on-site employees are essentially given a voice directly into our Executive boardroom.

The Complete Customer Service Experience
ActioNet understands the difference between simply providing a product and providing a complete customer service experience. As we continue to expand, steps like ISO compliance ensure our clients receive not only the best trained, but the best organized and most professional workers out there. In a successful organization continual improvement is a never-ending focus and progress highlights like ISO certification reflect that dedication.