Curious Cat Management Improvement Library - Dictionary

Process Action Team (PAT) (Process Improvement Team, Quality Improvement Team) - Ad hoc team formed to improve a process or processes. Normally a PAT would be a cross functional team with members from various parts of the organization that interact with the process.
Often a PAT will use an improvement model such as the PDSA cycle to provide form to the improvement effort. Normally a PAT will have a leader, who is a member of the team as well, a sponsor (usually not a member of the team) and team members. A facilitator if also helpful. The form PATs take vary depending on the organization.

• Quality Circles - work unit teams that meet to improve existing operations. QCs continue to be successful in Japan but often failed when tried in America. Like so many management tools, the functioning of QC depends greatly on the rest of the organizational dynamics. When trying to use a tool developed by organizations with a long term focus, true partnership with employees, respect for the minds of employees, managers that have a deep understand the work they supervise in organization without these traits is often unsuccessful (not suprisingly).
• Process Owner -

Management Dictionary: Affinity Diagram, Kaizen, PDSA, Poka-Yoke, Six Sigma, Statistical Process Control (SPC), Variation

Curious Cat Directories of online resources:
Investing - Management Improvement - Overuse of Antibiotics - Excessive Medical Costs - Identity Theft articles