It is with much excitement that I have taken up the position of Chairperson for ASQ Manitoba in 2012. For purposes of clarity and keeping with my abilities, I wish to add value to everyone’s membership. I am eager to do this by making the purpose of ASQ Manitoba clear and identifying focus areas during my tenure as Chair.

I believe that the purpose of ASQ Manitoba is advancing the quality profession in Manitoba through professional development, advocating for application of quality and continuous improvement concepts in the workplace as well as in member’s personal lives, and gainful employment of members. My theme is JCE meaning Join, Certify and Excel.

This is very important because ASQ members who are certified quality professionals are confident to impact every organization by applying proven quality knowledge and tools to improve decision-making, business process efficiency and effectiveness resulting in increased productivity and organizational excellence. With this kind of impact one would expect every quality professional to be well rewarded.

Therefore, during my tenure as Chair I wish to make the following my focus areas:

1. Professional Development

- Promoting personal membership into ASQ and individual pursuit of certification studies.

2. Gainful Employment

- Assisting members in finding gainful quality related employment with reputable organizations.

3. Community Collaboration

- Working with other quality organizations and institutions in the province to advance quality education, training and practice in the workplace.

4. Learning & Growth

- Learning from experience and from colleagues in the field and allowing for continual growth.

Working with the Executive Committee I will make sure objectives are set in each focus area and determine to achieve those objectives by year end.

For example, currently the membership of ASQ Manitoba stands at 118. Given the size of our province this is probably an ideal number of quality professionals and practitioners in Manitoba. But as Chairperson I wish to push the edge a little bit and hopefully see this number grow to 125 members. And ASQ Manitoba is going to achieve this with the help of every active and past member. Before I tell you how, allow me to tell you what ASQ Manitoba has done for me personally.

My motivation to join ASQ came when my employer gave me responsibility to develop a quality management system. Having a background in Economics and Marketing Research I had no knowledge of tools to work with to accomplish the task. Using my own initiative I embarked on finding out who could help. It was during this process that I came across the ASQ website. I dug deeper and behold I discovered a gold mine of information. I joined ASQ immediately. Quality Progress magazine is the first publication I began to receive from ASQ. I was amazed how educative this magazine was and still continues to be today. My scope of knowledge in quality principles and procedures increased exponentially giving me skills and abilities I had never dreamed of and making my work relatively easier and enjoyable. Further I quickly sought certification. The most ideal for me was Certified Quality Process Analyst (CQPA). Since then my practice of quality has taken me into classrooms and conference audiences teaching and presenting my experiences.

To this end, I have deep respect for ASQ and I believe it is the best avenue for any individual person wishing to develop extra knowledge, tools, skills and abilities for achieving excellence in their work. A knowledge of quality or certification is not only great for career advancement, but for personal excellence as well.

How do we then increase our membership to 125? I believe by telling others what quality knowledge, tools, skills and abilities have done for you. It is hidden treasure that people discover too late in their career often when they are in distress. If you discover it early and get involved early, you live to reap its benefits – excellence in your work, certification, higher pay, increased career opportunities and great network of quality professionals. Quality knowledge, tools, skills, and abilities are for career professionals from all walks of life. Engineers, Doctors, Nurses, Accountants, Civil Servants, Teachers, you name them all – they all need some degree and a measure of excellence in their work. ASQ Manitoba can help you achieve that certification and that level of excellence in your career that will assure you a fulfilling job at your workplace.

This chair will be happy to hear from you and guide you through the process. Please contact me at Email: cntungo@asqmanitoba.ca or cntungo@winnipeg.ca or by phone at (204) 986-8309.

Thanks in advance for your co-operation,

Dr. Chrispin Ntungo, ASQ-CQPA

Chair, ASQ Manitoba