International Team Excellence Award

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I participate?

Review the overview here.

Recognition and Benefits (PDF, 597 KB)
 

What should our PowerPoint file contain?

It should describe a project completed in the last 24 months that had measurable results. The presentation should align the project with ASQ's Team Excellence criteria.

Every slide should include speaker notes at the bottom (using the “click to add notes” area in PowerPoint. All speaker notes should be able to be read within a 30-minute time period).

The maximum file size for the PowerPoint file is 5 MB. Use the lowest resolution for photos and graphics and use plain slide backgrounds to stay within the 5 MB size limit.
 

Do you have any tips for outlining our PowerPoint presentation?

  • All presentations should be prepared in Microsoft PowerPoint and must be in English.
  • The judges are trained to listen and score against the team’s process relative to the criteria. So address the ASQ Team Criteria in sequence. 
  • Make full use of the 30 minutes to tell your story, but do not go over the 30 minutes. If you go over the time limit, the lead judge will stop you, and you will not get any points for the items that were over the time limit.
  • Address ALL criteria items.  Pay attention to the actions (Describe, Explain, Identify). Note that 13 criteria items have two requirements (1Aa, 1Bc, 1Ca, 1Cb, 1Cc, 2Bc, 3Ca, 3Cb, 4Ab, 4Bb, 4Bc, 4Ca, 5A). If you skip a criterion, you need to explain why you skipped it.
  • Make sure the slides have the criteria number on them so the judges know which point you are addressing.  This helps the judges focus on your content rather than where you are in the process.
  • Use the lowest resolution for photos and graphics and use plain slide backgrounds to stay within the 5 MB size limit.
     

What materials are available to help a team prepare for the competition?

All the available resources for a team to put its presentation together may be downloaded here.

Must every criterion be specifically addressed in the team's presentation?

Because the teams are judged and scored on each criterion, it is expected that each individual criterion be specifically addressed. If any criterion was not addressed by the team, justification for the deletion should be provided. It is understood by the judges that the level of detail provided for each criterion can vary depending on factors such as the team's project scope and methodology used.
 

How do teams present proprietary/confidential information?

Team submissions are transferred electronically to the judges. The judges’ Code of Ethics requires that they keep all information confidential. To the extent that your PowerPoint presentation needs to provide proprietary/confidential information, you should provide it in a manner that disguises the confidential information. For example, instead of providing the actual dollars of profit that were gained by implementing the team’s recommendations, you can address the "results criteria" by stating this information in a relative manner, such as "Profit was improved by 17%" instead of stating the actual profit dollars.
 

Do teams also have to tell the judges what they did not do?

It is essential that teams demonstrate awareness of each criterion, and whether each was addressed. A team should explain unique circumstances that prevented it from taking action in a particular criteria area.
 

How do teams explain when their project started and when it ended?

Teams can explain the timeline for their project in a number of ways. One way may be in a timeline chart showing dates and key benchmarks from the conception of the project to its completion. Another means of doing this may be showing and/or explaining a basic Activity Log or Gantt Chart of the team’s activities including collecting and organizing data on a specific project to making the final acceptance presentation. This historical overview provides context to the team's presentation.

Geetha Balagopal, Team Excellence Award administrator, is also available to answer any questions that teams may have and to provide them with additional information/resources. She can be reached at 800-248-1946 or 414-272-8575 x7303 or gbalagopal@asq.org.
 

How will the score be affected if a team uses its organization’s problem solving/process and/or improvement methodology instead of the ASQ’s team criteria?

The criteria were designed to be comprehensive, yet generic in scope and description. Therefore, there is no one methodology that must be utilized. However, teams that are most successful in the competition, regardless of their team process, carefully address all sections of the criteria as specifically as possible and show where their process fits within the criteria to enable accurate judging of their effort.
 

What is the Timeline for the award process?

Review the 2011/2012 timeline here.
Review the 2012/2013 timeline here.  

What are the costs?

Review the costs here.
 

For more information on the process, please contact Geetha Balagopal, Team Excellence Process Administrator at gbalagopal@asq.org or call 800-248-1946 or 414-272-8575 x7303.