Wilbert McIlmoyle attended the very first LSS Network meeting back in 2004 (along with Éamon and I) so he is officially our longest serving network member and so gets his own special photo.

Network Meeting gathering Feb 2015

It was as always a lively and interesting meeting with topics ranging from the Pros and Cons of FMEAs, holding Quality Clinics, Mistake Proofing in an administration process, Communicating project stories successfully, a look of some new papers coming down the line… to name but a few.
Always open to new members – if interested please contact koshea@sqt-training.com

If you only read one book this summer – let this be the one.  Highly Recommended.

The reason is simple – the achievement of goals requires one thing above all others, Smácht. It’s the Irish word for discipline. You need the Smácht to define your goal and you need someone to keep you accountable to achieving it – little by little, week by week.

This is why Pádraic Ó Máille set up Smácht, a network for business people all over Ireland with one thing in common, they want to put Smácht on their goals and make things really happen in their business and their life for the better.

Smácht Mór was recently held in Galway attended by over 200 business people from every walk of life. It was a day packed with ideas, tips, stories and life lessons from seven inspirational speakers; Pádraic, Tom Murray, Bobby Kerr, Joan Mulvihill, Annette Houston, Anne Tobin and John Concannon

When you have a day that starts with a session on “Put Yourself in Danger of Getting Business” you know you better stay focused!!!

The overall theme for the day was ‘Direction’ and the purpose was to inspire delegates to review the direction of their business, career and life. Padraic reminded us that by changing the angle of a golf club by as little as one millimetre, can make the difference between a hole in one and ending up in the rough. The same is true in life. Small changes, applied consistently over time, can make a massive difference in the results each of us will achieve in the future. But only if we actually begin those changes now. Apply Smácht.

Here is just a small flavour of the pick-ups from the day;

• Set realistic goals, keep them short and simple (although there was another point of view in the room that suggests goals should be big and “scary”!!!).
• Record your victories.
• Learn from your mistakes and move on fast.
• Innovate constantly – there is always a better way and savings to be made.
• Surround yourself with positive people.
• Integrity is what people will remember – don’t do anything you will regret.
• People buy from people, not companies.
• Without deals, a business will not grow. Deal making is the art of letting other people have your way.
• To succeed in sales, you need to ask the right questions.
• Resolve this year to live like a Buffalo charging head on into your worries and fears – thereby minimising your exposure to adversity.
• And finally….Be remembered as an example, not a warning.

Lots of food for thought…

If you would like to learn more about Smácht go to http://omaille.ie/2015/02/the-smacht-edge/

Regards

Siobhan

In November 1989 the very first SQT public training course was held in The Dromineer Bay Hotel, Nenagh and this is what the first booking system looked like…

Delegate No 3 was me.  Early SQT customers included Kostal, EI Shannon, Irish Cement, Pfizer, Alps Electric, Apple and Dairygold Co-op and I’m delighted to say that all are still valued customers 25 years on.

Obviously very few companies can exist on one product alone so over the years, many more expert tutors from industry have come on board, helping SQT to expand into lots of new areas of learning.

In 2001 Shannon Quality Training officially became SQT Training Ltd and towards the end of that year, I packed my bags as Operations Manager in Dell and proudly joined the SQT team as Managing Director.   Since then the team has grown to 35 very talented and hard-working tutors, all supported by 9 wonderfully dedicated office staff with lots of computerised booking systems.  To date we have trained in excess of 50,000 people from  small to medium companies to large multinationals both here and abroad.  This year so far we have trained in 22 counties in Ireland as well Denmark, UK, Isle of Man, Libya, Spain and USA.

The world of training has changed dramatically over the past 25 years. When SQT started out the overhead projector was in vogue and not a smart phone in sight – now every delegate has at least one device in their pocket with access to vast amounts of free information at the touch of a button.  Back in 1989 the internet was still in its infancy; Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and online learning were not even early concepts.  25 years on the training choices and learning mediums  available to people are truly vast.

However when you really think about it, SQTs’ challenge today is no different to that faced 25 years ago.  As professional trainers our job is still to help you understand the important stuff from the vast amounts of information out there, it’s about making learning real, it’s about engaging with you in a very practical way and empowering you with knowledge and skills to make a difference.

The overhead projector is long gone but we still have highly experience, industry experts delivering up-to-date training through direct communication, collaboration, analyses, critical thinking and problem solving…with the help of some clever technology!.

Not so long ago Mary Robinson said “we have 2 decades to save the world from permanent Climate Change”, so my wish for the next 25 years is for us all to stay cool, keep evolving and learning and together, mind the important stuff so that 25 years on we are all still here….still learning, still sharing.

Thanks for your continued support.

This is an excellent event with many great speakers so worth noting in diaries.

See http://www.nsai.ie/NSAI-Quality-in-Ireland-2014.aspx for more details.

Hospitals are starting to embrace the concept of Lean Six Sigma as they can see the benefits of these tools and techniques in helping them to improve patient care and system efficiencies in a healthcare system that is being asked to manage increasing demands on processes, people and budgets.

I recently attended the Mater Lean Symposium which was a most inspiring day and showed the tremendous work being carried by lots of hard working staff to drive change and improve process within the impressive new Adult Hospital.  The day positively merged months of green belt training with the presentation of a number of successful Lean Six Sigma projects completed by hospital staff.  These projects showed that real tangible change is possible with the right people, tools, training and hospital support.

Some of the ways that Lean Six Sigma can help within a Hospital;

1. Reduce the length of time a patient spends waiting for an appointment, a scan, a treatment or a bed.
2. Increase the throughput of patients utilising key resources, for example expensive equipment and tests, so diagnosis can be speeded up
3. Reduce unnecessary waste of resources – food, paper, supplies, cleaning, transport, beds, expertise.
4. Streamline communications between departments and functions so that patients get to where they need to be faster i.e. to theatre, out-patients, consultants, or more importantly, home.
5. Clear Sign-posting… how many times are hospital staff interrupted to answer a simple question??

Ireland is at a critical junction on our Healthcare Journey, wouldn’t it be great if we could empower people with the right tools, techniques and support to make this journey safe, cost-effective and sustainable for the long-haul?.

The opportunities are endless.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and experienced professional to join our dynamic team in Limerick. The position is permanent. If you are interested, please contact Siobhan:
scunningham@sqt.ie
Tel 061-339040

Key Responsibilities:

1. Develop, audit and manage all aspects of the Quality Management System to ensure it effectively meets the needs of all stakeholders.

2. Develop, monitor and manage QQI (HETAC/FETAC), NEBOSH and other programme and institutional accreditations and the associated relationships.

3. Innovation of new Training programmes and the identification of new markets (locally and internationally) to ensure our continued growth as a high quality training provider.

4. Drive the research and development of Online and Blended learning programmes in association with tutors, to meet present and future customer needs.

5. Ownership of the Tender process.

6. Ensure course brochures and website course content accurately reflect our continuously developing course programmes.

7. Public relations/public awareness responsibilities.

Education, Experience & Skills:

· Third level Degree in Science/Engineering/Technology or suitable equivalent

· 8 years’ experience in a training or education environment, with direct management experience in a QA environment (preferably Academic QA & Accreditation)

· Experience of online /eLearning environment and new course development

· Excellent Communications (oral and written) and problem solving skills

· Strong customer focus, Financial awareness, leadership and people management skills

· Experience of online marketing tools will be a distinct advantage

We are holding the 1st Annual Irish Lean Six Sigma Conference on Wednesday March 21st 2012 at the RDS in Dublin.

There will be a great line-up of speakers.

Conference topics include:

Lean Six Sigma in the 21st Century

Designing a public sector for tomorrow: Developing a roadmap for Lean implementation in the Irish Health System to uncover hidden opportunities in our Health Service

Embedding Continuous Improvement into the core of your organisation

Challenges and benefits of implementing Lean Six Sigma in a Commercial Semi State

Lean Healthcare – improving the patient’s experience

Maintaining customer focus, through Lean Six Sigma, in a rapidly changing business landscape

Speakers include:
Sherif Gayed, eBay – Head of Continuous Improvement, eBay European Customer

Padraig Kelly, Rotunda Hospital – Head of Quality, ASST – Tutor

Paul O’Brien, Pfizer – Senior Director, Finance & Business Operations

John McConnell, An Post – Head of QualityServices

Mary Hickey, AMNCH (Adelaide Meath National Children’s Hospital) – Process Improvement Manager

Michael Fahy, Syncreon – Executive Vice President Business Development Technology

The full conference brochure is available here.

The conference cost is €250 which includes Conference Presentations on USB, Lunch and all refreshments.

If you would like to book a place, please email jfeehan@sqt.ie or telephone 061 339040.

Sticky Sorter is a Grassroots Project, developed by two Microsoft Employees, it is a simple tool for arranging and categorizing virtual sticky notes for affinity diagramming sessions. It can also be used in other information sorting tasks.

Sumit Basu (Researcher, Microsoft Research) and Julie Guinn (User Researcher, Microsoft Office Design Group), co-creators of StickySorter tell us what inspired them to design this handy tool…More

As TMS Consultancy, Antaris has been helping clients across a range of industries in Ireland, Europe and beyond, to address the challenges of managing their Health and Safety, Environmental, Quality, Accessibility, Energy and Corporate Social Responsibility issues for many, many years. The familiar faces of Gerry, Shane, Finbarr, Doug and Nick will continue to deliver in excess of 45 different training programmes with SQT Training, to the same high standard of excellence as before.

In line with their commitment to continuous improvement, Antaris has launched a new website http://www.AntarisConsulting.com, which provides more details of their management systems expertise, training and consultancy services and software solutions. They have also completed a significant upgrade of their flagship software product, Register of Legislation, which will be re-launched as Pegasus Legal Register on the 1st July. Pegasus Legal Register is a successful and innovative software solution that makes the daunting task of interpreting environmental and health and safety legal requirements and assessing compliance, easy and simple.

SQT Training has always been proud of our relationship with the Antaris Team and so we look forward to many more years of our business evolution and shared opportunities.