“Alright, so I should have members of my team inspect their own work for accuracy. How do I know they will do the right thing?” Daniele asked. “These files are important and they have to be right. The feds could shut us down if they believe we aren’t in compliance.”

“Does your team know what the standards are?” I replied.

“Well, they should. Every one of them went through an orientation when they started to work here. And we have our quality sessions where I tell them what the auditor found that was wrong.”

I smiled. “Daniele, have you considered that when your team members went through your orientation, they were disoriented and may not remember all the details? Do you think we might go over that again. I looked at your orientation manual, it looks like there are five major sections to these files. You have five people on your team. Do you think you might divide things up?”

“You mean, have the team members teach each other?” Daniele gasped.

“You are right,” Daniele admitted. “I have been keeping some quick stats on the mistakes we are finding in the files. Whenever I hold one of my accountability sessions, the mistakes disappear for about a week, then, boom, they are back again, and we find more.”

“So, finding the mistakes is not the problem?” I asked.

“No, and fixing the mistakes isn’t that hard either, but I want to stop the mistakes from being made in the first place.”

“So, tell me, Daniele, can the auditors stop the mistakes from happening?”

“No, they’re auditors, they don’t work on the files, they audit the files.”

“Okay, so who can stop the mistakes?” I pressed.

“Only my team can stop the mistakes.”

“What if you had your team audit the files?” I suggested.

“They can’t audit the files. They are too busy working the files. Can you imagine what would happen if they stopped production to check their work?”

Daniele stopped. A strange look emerged from her eyes as she thought about what she just said.

“So, you think when I have this conversation about their mistakes, they are ignoring me because I lecture them?” Daniele asked.

“No, they are not ignoring you. They are ignoring your entire control system. Your control system is finding the mistakes, but the mistakes are continuing. Is the purpose of your control system to find mistakes or to find the causes for the mistakes and repair the cause?”

“I know. But I have to find the mistakes. And I have a great audit team. They are very thorough. I don’t know what I would do without them. They keep us in compliance,” Daniele stated flatly.

“How does your production team feel about your audit team?”

Daniele visibly changed, sat back and pulled away from her desk. “Well, they are not supposed to like the audit team. I don’t run a popularity contest around here. There is some friction, but I think it is good friction. My production team knows if they make a mistake, my audit team will find it. I think there is respect in that way.”

“Daniele, here are some things I know based on what you describe.

• There are mistakes in your files that your audit team is NOT finding, that will put you out of compliance with the Feds.
• Your production team has no respect for your audit team and is ignoring the results of your audits.
• Some mistakes are being found, but the causes of the mistakes are not being identified.
• Your situation is getting worse.

“You have a control system. Let me list the elements.

• Your team works on a file.
• Someone from another team audits the file and finds a mistake.
• You, as the manager, get the results of the audit.
• You, as the manager yell at the team member for making a mistake on the file.

Did I get that right?” I asked.

“Yes, well, I don’t really yell at them,” Daniele replied. “I mean, I talk calmly, I don’t raise my voice.”

“You don’t have to raise your voice to be yelling,” I chuckled.

“Okay, but let’s call it a lecture, not yelling,” she insisted.

“Why do you think they are ignoring you, when you have this little talk with them? I know they are nodding their heads, but trust me, the results from the audit team and you, as the manager, are being ignored in this control system. Why do you think that happens?”