The Delaware Quality Partnership offers a number of opportunities for you to network and learn how to implement quality into your organization. The partnership meets the second Friday of every even-numbered month to share ideas and successes in continuous quality improvement.

The meetings host an array of speakers who present on a variety of quality-related subjects and discuss methods and techniques to implement quality in State government. Members who attend the DQP meetings gain valuable knowledge from the presentations, and increase their awareness and expectations of the possibilities of implementing quality.

Calendar of Events

April 12, 2024 – 9:30 – 11:30 AM

Topic: The Power of Research: Driving Continuous Quality Improvement in State Government

In today’s rapidly evolving world, continuous quality improvement (CQI) is essential for state governments to remain effective and efficient. Research plays a critical role in informing and guiding CQI efforts, providing valuable insights into best practices, emerging trends, and potential solutions to challenges. This presentation will delve into the importance of research in the development process, empowering state employees dedicated to promoting CQI with the knowledge and tools they need to make informed decisions and drive positive change.

Presenter:
Burgundy James
UX Program Manager & Research Lead, Digital Government
Department of State/Government Information Center

Preferred audio connections: Please note that we will be using breakout sessions as part of the networking and program presentation activities.  To fully participate in those sessions, you will need to have both a microphone and speaker connection.   

If you have any questions, please send an email to DQP@delaware.gov

Past Events

February 9, 2024 – 9:30 – 11:30 AM

Topic: Continuous Improvement Success Stories in State Government

In our ongoing series of quality improvement success stories, we offer you two more presentations from some of our most recent recipients of the Governor’s Team Excellence GEAR P3 Innovation and Efficiency Award and the GEAR P3 Trailblazer Award.  The leaders of the efforts recognized by these awards will share their stories and lessons learned in carrying out successful projects, implementing innovative ideas to address critical challenges, and taking advantage of opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness in state government. Come learn how you might apply these lessons to your own projects.  

The teams and projects represented in this event are:

• Delaware Relief Rebate Team (Dept. of Finance)  – Rebecca Goldsmith
• DSCYF IV-E Foster Care Penetration Rate Project – Toni Muncey

December 2023

Topic: Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

When you have a problem at work, do you jump right in and fix what you believe to be the cause?  If you only fix the symptoms (what you see on the surface), the problem will almost certainly return and need fixing over and over again. RCA postulates that systems and events are interrelated and thus, an action in one area triggers an action in another area, and another, and so forth.

In this presentation, we will discuss how you can use RCA tools to discover where a problem started and how it grew into the symptoms that you are now seeing.

Presenter Information

Lois Rogers, Chief of Operations and Quality
Delaware Psychiatric Center – DHSS/Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health

October 2023

Topic: Continuous Improvement Success Stories in State Government

Join us for insightful presentations from several of the most recent recipients of the Governor’s Team Excellence GEAR P3, Champions, and Trailblazers Awards.  Leaders from these teams will share their stories and lessons learned on carrying out cross-agency initiatives and implementing innovative ideas to address critical challenges and take advantage of opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness in state government. Come learn how you might apply these lessons to your own projects.   le.

Presenter Information
Governor’s Team Excellence GEAR P3 Innovation and Efficiency, Champions, and Trailblazer Award Recipients

June 2023

Topic:  Unlock Your Power with Agile: Lead With Impact

Join us in this session to discover the untapped potential of Agile beyond software development. You’ll gain practical insights into how Agile methodologies can help you increase team collaboration, foster innovation, improve customer satisfaction, and enhance your overall effectiveness. Whether you’re a seasoned Agile practitioner or just getting started, you’ll leave with actionable takeaways to immediately apply to your projects and teams. Don’t miss this opportunity to unlock your full potential by using Agile.

Presenter Information: Stephanie Cully, CEO of Scrum Life Consulting

April 2023

Topic: Introducing the BEST method for Validating a Best Practice

Author and sought-after speaker, Grace Duffy, will be with us to give a presentation on the BEST method for validating a Best Practice.  The BEST method is an application-level approach to assessing whether a process is at the level of a Best Practice. The BEST Method can be used internally for continuous improvement or shared with other organizations in a benchmarking relationship. This session will introduce you to the BEST method and provide you with tools you can use to validate the existence of a Best Practice.

This continuous improvement tool assesses a process to identify its maturity and how well it aligns with the strategy of the organization. The tool creates a gap analysis and drives an action plan for continuous improvement to the best practice level. In 2020, Grace co-authored a book on this subject called Validating a Best Practice: A Tool for Improvement and Benchmarking.

This session provides a free assessment and Excel spreadsheets you can take with you to use with your own processes.

Presenter Information: Grace L. Duffy, President Management and Performance Systems

 

February 2023

Topic: Fostering a Culture of Awareness around Cybersecurity Issues

Please join us as we welcome Solomon Adote, Chief Security Officer for the Department of Technology and Information, who will discuss the importance of building a security-aware culture.  As we shift to more remote working environments and see growing connections to our devices and networks, there have never been more opportunities for lax security to cause headaches and expenses.  As part of his presentation, Mr. Adote will discuss some of the key trends and threats that affect our cybersecurity today and the basic precautions we can take to ensure our safety at work and at home. 

 

December 2022

Topic: Collaboration, Coordination, and Innovation – Stories from Successful Teams in State Government

Join us for insightful presentations from three of the most recent recipients of the Governor’s Team Excellence GEAR P3 and Champion Awards.  Leaders from these teams will share their stories and lessons learned on carrying out cross-agency initiatives and implementing innovative ideas to address critical challenges and take advantage of opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness in state government. Learn how you might apply these lessons to your own projects.   

The teams represented in this event are:

• Delaware Overdose and Police Diversion Program Team
• DelDOT Vaccination Site Coordination Team
• Office of Unclaimed Property – Money Match Team

 

October 2022

Topic: Developing Dashboards to Communicate Performance

In this meeting, Brian Calio (DHSS) will lead a discussion on performance measurement, performance measurement systems, and what makes a good metric to use in those systems.  He will also demonstrate how to incorporate those measurements into visual dashboards that will help analyze, monitor, and communicate the data critical to the success of your projects and your organization.

As part of this discussion, he will facilitate an exercise using a pretend small business scenario and share actual dashboards he developed for DSCYF and DHSS. 

Presenter: Brian Calio, Department of Health and Social Services

 

June 2022

Topic:   Delaware Systems for Quality Service

How effective are the various service systems for Delawareans?  What are the Opportunities for Improvement? Delaware Libraries and their partners are collaborating to integrate services for seamless access and support for Delawareans.  You are invited to join them in this effort! 

This presentation is an opportunity to learn about what the Delaware Libraries are doing and discover effective ways to apply all our quality learning!

Presenters: Dr. Annie Norman, State Librarian; Alta Porterfield, Statewide Social Innovator; Nick Martin, Emerging Technologies Consultant; and Keda Dorsica, Unite Delaware