What is a TQM self-assessment?

A structured check of how far an organization works by the principles of total quality management. Several people score statements under each principle from what they have seen, and the averages, the spread between them and the lowest statements show where to act first.

How do you score a TQM self-assessment?

Each statement is scored 0 (not in place), 1 (started, informal or in one area), 2 (in some areas or some of the time), 3 (site-wide, with evidence) or 4 (sustained, reviewed and improved). A principle's average is all its scores divided by the number given; the spread is the highest assessor's average minus the lowest. The scale and the spread flag of 1.5 are examples made for this template.

Is this the same as an ISO 9001 audit or an award assessment?

No. ISO 9001, the Baldrige criteria and the EFQM model are separate frameworks with their own requirements and scoring. This is a self-assessment against the eight TQM principles, made for internal use to find gaps and track them over time.

How is it different from the lean readiness assessment and the audit checklists?

The lean readiness assessment asks whether an organization is ready to start a lean rollout. An audit checklist checks one area against set requirements on the day. The TQM self-assessment rates quality management practice across the plant against the eight TQM principles, and turns the lowest statements into an action plan.

Free template

Updated October 1, 2026

TQM self-assessment template

Q: What are the 8 principles of TQM?

Customer focus, total employee involvement, process approach, integrated system, strategic and systematic approach, continuous improvement, fact-based decision making and communication. This template has three observable statements for each.

A TQM self-assessment is a structured look at how far a plant works by the principles of total quality management, so the weakest principle and the biggest gaps are found from evidence rather than opinion. This template uses the eight principles in the order the TQM principles guide on this site lists them: customer focus, total employee involvement, process approach, integrated system, strategic and systematic approach, continuous improvement, fact-based decision making and communication. Each has three statements describing things you can see, such as defects recorded during the shift or quality targets in the annual plan. Several people score every statement from 0 (not in place) to 4 (sustained, reviewed and improved) on their own and write the evidence. Page 1 is one assessor's sheet; page 2 has the summary across assessors (each principle's average, the lowest and highest assessor, the spread and a rank), the action plan for the top 3 gaps and a worked example. The Excel version takes up to 8 assessors, works out the averages, spread and rank, finds the weakest principle and the three lowest statements, draws a radar chart and carries the gaps into an action plan. The scale is an example made for this template, not an award model or a validated instrument.

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Page 1 of the TQM self-assessment: fields for site, role, date and period, the 0 to 4 score key, and 24 statements under the eight TQM principles from customer focus to communication, each with score circles, an evidence column and a gap or action column, and a principle average cell. — 8 TQM principles24 statementsScore 0 to 4Evidence columnPrinciple averagesSpread between assessorsTop 3 gapsAction plan

When to use it

When to use a TQM self-assessment

Before a quality improvement program, to see which TQM principle is weakest and where to start.
When quality tools such as SPC, FMEA or CAPA are in place but the same defects keep coming back.
To compare how leaders, quality staff and operators see the plant's quality practice, and talk about the differences.
Once or twice a year, scored the same way, to track whether the gaps found last time have closed.

How to fill it in

1
Choose the assessors
Four to eight people from different levels and functions: plant leadership, quality, production supervisors, operators, maintenance and engineering. Include people who will disagree.
2
Score alone, with evidence
Each person scores the 24 statements from 0 to 4 from what they have seen in the last few months, not from what the plant intends, and writes the evidence. A blank is better than a guess.
3
Work out the principle averages
Each assessor's average per principle, then for each principle the average of all scores given, the lowest and highest assessor's average, the spread between them and a rank, where 1 is the weakest.
4
Talk about the spread
Where the spread reaches the example flag of 1.5, people see the principle very differently. Ask the lowest and highest scorers what they have seen before deciding anything.
5
Pick the top 3 gaps
The three statements with the lowest average across assessors. For each, write what the evidence shows, one action, an owner and a date.
6
Assess again
Score the same statements again in 6 to 12 months with the same people where possible, and compare by principle and by statement.

What's on the assessment

The 24 TQM statements, three for each of the eight principles

Each assessor scores every statement on their own from 0 (not in place) to 4 (sustained, reviewed and improved) and writes the evidence. The eight principles are the ones in the TQM principles guide on this site, in the same order.

Customer focus

The customer defines quality, not internal specs alone

1Customer requirements for the main products are written down and turned into checks or settings at the line
2Complaints, returns and field data are reviewed on a set schedule and reach the people who run the process
3Operators can say what matters most to the customer about the part they are making

Total employee involvement

Quality is everyone's job, not only the quality team's

4Operators record defects and process deviations themselves, through a simple channel they use
5Operators and technicians take part in solving quality problems, not only engineers and quality staff
6Anyone can stop or flag work that looks wrong, and their supervisor backs them when they do

Process approach

Quality comes from the process, not end-of-line inspection

7Each main process step has documented standard work that matches how the job is done
8Quality checks are defined at each stage of the process, not only at final inspection
9Key process settings are checked against their limits during the run, with gauges known to be reliable

Integrated system

Functions work as one connected system, not as silos

10Quality data is shared with purchasing, engineering and maintenance, not kept in the quality department
11Each recurring quality problem has a cross-functional owner or team
12Corrective actions fix the cause where it starts, even when that is in another department

Strategic and systematic approach

Quality objectives set at the top and deployed on purpose

13Quality targets are in the plant's annual plan, next to output and cost targets
14People and time for improvement are assigned against those targets on purpose
15Plant leadership reviews quality progress on a fixed schedule, with an owner for each action

Continuous improvement

The engine that keeps defects and variation going down

16Quality problems are worked with one set method, such as PDCA, at every level
17Improvement happens at several levels: daily small fixes, kaizen events and larger projects
18Defect and variation trends for the main processes went down over the last year, and the gains held

Fact-based decision making

Decisions come from data, not intuition or rank

19Defect rate, first pass yield and cost of poor quality are measured for the main processes
20Improvement priorities are chosen from data, such as a Pareto of defects, not from opinion or rank
21Defects are recorded during the shift, when they happen, not written up at the end of the day

Communication

Quality targets and results visible at every level

22Quality metrics are displayed in each production area and are up to date
23Each shift or day has a short review where quality deviations are discussed and acted on
24Unresolved quality problems are escalated to management by a set route and within a set time

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

An example: five assessors at a plastics molding plant (plant manager, quality manager, production supervisor, operator and process engineer) scored the 24 statements on their own (illustrative numbers).

Integrated system was the weakest principle: 19 points ÷ 15 scores = 1.27. Process approach was the strongest at 2.60.
Total employee involvement averaged 1.93, but the plant manager's average was 3.00 and the operator's 1.00, a spread of 2.00, so views differ. The operator said defects go on a sheet nobody reads.
Top 3 gaps: statement 12, corrective actions fix the cause where it starts (0.80); statement 21, defects recorded during the shift (1.20); statement 10, quality data shared with purchasing, engineering and maintenance (1.40).
Overall: 248 points ÷ 120 scores = 2.07.

The plant set up a weekly review of recurring defects with purchasing and maintenance, an hourly defect tally at each press checked at the shift huddle, and a scrap Pareto sent to every function each week.

Common mistakes

Scoring intentions instead of evidence
A procedure that exists but is not followed is not a 3. If nobody can point to the evidence for a score, score it lower.
Only the quality department scores it
TQM is about the whole organization. Operators, supervisors and other functions see different things, and the differences between their scores are often the most useful finding.
Reading the total as a grade
The 0 to 4 scale is an example made for this template, not a certification or an award score. Use it to compare principles, people and the next assessment.
Fixing everything at once
Twenty-four statements produce many gaps. Work the top three to closure, then assess again, rather than starting a long list that never finishes.

Download the template

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Run this template in LeanSuite

In LeanSuite defects are logged as tags from the floor, ranked in the QA Matrix and traced to their root cause, and systemic ones become CAPA projects with approvals, root cause analysis and an action plan.

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