Thinking about organisational quality, I remember a framework used during my old days as a consultant. While maybe not necessarily prescriptive, it allows to diagnose and structure reflections on organisation. I would even argue that it can be extended to diagnose and structure reflections on relational quality, in particular in terms of commercial relationships.

The framework postulates that good organisations – or thus also commercial relationships in my extrapolation – are built on three qualities:

1) the quality of direction: to what extent is the organisation or relationship built on a longer term goal that is sufficiently well articulated and to which a clear path is outlined,

2) the quality of interaction: to what extent do people in the organisation or does the relationship allow for interactions that are open, constructive, bi-directional and adding value,

3) the quality of renewal: to what extent is the organisation or the relationship able to question and rethink itself, to come up with new and better ways of working

In hindsight, that is what externally our people are attempting when interacting with customers and what internally we as an organisation are trying to achieve amongst ourselves. I clearly see the positive effects of our efforts and notice continuously improving quality on those dimensions, either externally or internally. It bears fruit!

Best,

Chris