A group of people who meet together on a regular basis to identify, analyze, and solve quality and other problems in their area of work.
A group of employees from different levels of an organisation who meet regularly to discuss ways of improving the quality of its products or services.
A group, formerly called a “quality control circle,” which deals with concerns that relate to the quality of performance or quality of work life. There are six “non-negotiable” characteristics of a group which must be present if it is to be called a quality circle: (1) the group must be small; and (2) composed of individuals in the same work area (of a hospital, for example); (3) it must be voluntary; (4) it must consider problems (or opportunities for improvement) which the group itself selects; (5) the problems must affect the quality of work life or the quality of performance; and (6) the circle must propose solutions to management.