Page 65 - Time Management

Mancini04.qxd 1/16/2003 4:28 PM Page 50
Time Management
50
deal to do with its economic success—and with the ways in
which Deming’s system was implemented. Still, TQM has much
to offer. Indeed, the U.S. military and several American compa-
nies, seeking to compete with Asian entrepreneurs, made a vir-
tual religion of it.
Though TQM has fallen somewhat out of favor, certain
processes it popularized are still quite worthwhile. Of all the
TQM procedures, none is more relevant to time management
than flowcharting. TQM proponents tackle each project by visu-
alizing its flow. Absolutely
Flowchart A diagram that every step is plotted, often
displays the step-by-step using the symbols or icons
progression through a pro- in Figure 4-2.
cedure or system, frequently using Figure 4-3 shows an
lines connecting the steps to indicate example of an abridged
direction or flow.
flowchart.

An operation: Something is performed or
produced.

A test of decision: Something is judged; the
answer, often yes or no, results in decisions.

A document: Something is put down on
paper, on a disk, or so on.

A line connector: The flowchart runs out of
space and connects with a circle on the next line.

An end or start: The flowchart begins here or
ends here.

A direction: The process flows in this direction.
Figure 4-2. Flowchart icons