Well, another virtual WCQI

Another, and hopefully, last virtual ASQ World Conference on Quality Improvement.

Stand out presentations:

• John Dew’s on Metacognition, which is a critical part of reflective thinking and John is so right about it being a fundamental part of our profession. More on this one later as it has prompted a post.
• Peter Gallagher on change management. Great slides, great summary of key points. Change management is my bread and butter and I always learn something from Peter.
• Erin Urban “Steps for Leaders to Connect Better with Virtual Teams” is gold. Good presentation, engaging speaker and her section on creating tiny moments is pure gold.

Here are some other thoughts:

• We need a requirement that every quote be checked. If I see one more “Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast” attributed to Drucker I am going to cry.
• Text heavy presentations with few graphics have got to go. Every presenter should have to attend a class on slide structure and build.
• A virtual conference platform needs to do 3 things right – closed captioning of recorded presentations and ideally live ones, robust breakout sessions, easy to use chatting. The one used could use some work in all three areas. I would love to have seen a platform that easily integrated with the ASQ app on my phone as well.
• My junk science bingo card is kind of full.
• There is a very real discussion to be had about the use of the Service Mark in presentations when all someone is doing is using a standard tool (an annotated swimlane is not unique). The ASQ can be accused of being too much dominated by consultant companies and I think balance is important here.
• Not understanding the sticking to 4:3 aspect ratio slides. 16:9 is better for conferences and video.

Virtual events are important, they enable inclusion. While I miss face-to-face events I do believe we should have a mix of events going forward. events that are more than passive webinars. So sick of webinars. Looking forward to experiments in making that blend happen. We’re experimenting with a storytelling event in the Team and Workplace Excellence Forum.