International Team Excellence Award Process – Preliminary Round Requirements and Tips
Eligibility
Project eligibility – Any project that was completed in the last 2 years and achieved measurable results is eligible.
Projects previously submitted to the ITEA process are NOT eligible for re-submission.
Team eligibility – Competition is open to teams from all over the world
Entry Limit – 5 entries from any participating site or location; limit does not apply if you are only entering the
preliminary round.
ENTRY FEE FOR PRELIMINARY AND FINAL ROUND PROCESS
Entry fee is $600 per team for the preliminary round (no travel is required, team uploads entry materials on ASQ’s
website)
Final Round Registration fee for the World Conference on Quality and Improvement in Minneapolis, MN is $650 per
team member IF the team qualifies and is invited to the final round live presentation at the World Conference in
Minneapolis, MN, May 18-20, 2009. Qualifying teams will be notified by December 19th 2008. Teams will have to also
pay travel and lodging expenses to attend the conference.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Step 1 (complete by late August, 2008)
Create a PowerPoint file (maximum file size 3 MB) that describes your completed project and ensure that it is aligned
with ASQ’s Team Excellence criteria. PowerPoint file should include speaker notes for each slide. Speaker notes must
be able to be read aloud within a 30 minute time period.
Step 2 Deadline: September 10, 2008
Complete the online entry form and payment information; upload PowerPoint file, team photo, and company logo.
(Maximum file size for EACH ITEM is 3 MB. If your PowerPoint file is larger than 3MB, please contact Geetha
Balagopal at gbalagopal@asq.org or call 800-248-1946 x 7303)
Payment options
The entry fee may be paid by any of the following options:
 Online with a credit card
 Through a wire transfer – complete entry form by selecting “Wire Transfer” under payment information
 Through check made payable to ASQ- complete entry form by selecting “Check” under payment information
and mail check to:
ASQ
Administrator, Team Excellence Awards
600 North Plankinton Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53201-3005
USA
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What should our PowerPoint file contain?
It should cover a project completed in the last 24 months that had measurable results. The presentation should also
be aligned with ASQ’s Team Excellence criteria. Every slide should include a script for that slide that appears in
notes page format of PowerPoint. (Maximum file size for PowerPoint file is 3 MB. If your PowerPoint file is larger
than 3MB, please contact Geetha Balagopal at gbalagopal@asq.org or call 800-248-1946 x 7303)
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 (Or if any criterion was not addressed by the team, justification for the deletion should be provided. It is
©American Society for Quality
Revised April 3, 2008
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.).
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.
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 from ASQ’s Web site,
http://wcqi.asq.org/team-competition/participants.html including the Criteria, Scoring Guidelines, Criteria Detail, and a
variety of previous award winning presentations.
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 1-800-248-1946 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. Again, please refer to the Criteria Detail and Scoring
Guidelines Documents for assistance.
What is the Competition Timeline? (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
August 20, 2008: Judge applications due.
September 10, 2008: Entry materials due from teams.
September 12, 2008: Judges notified of selection for judging the preliminary round entries.
October & November, 2008: Judging of all team entries (preliminary round).
November 7, 2008: Entry materials due from local/regional Team Showcase Award winners.
December 19, 2008: Teams notified of selection for final round at ASQ's World Conference on Quality and
Improvement.
January 26, 2009: Preliminary Round scores and feedback reports e-mailed to teams.
February 23, 2009: Judges notified of selection to final round process at the World Conference.
March 2009: Registration fees due for final round competition and World Conference.
May 18-20, 2009: FINAL ROUND LIVE PRESENTATIONS at ASQ's World Conference on Quality and Improvement
in Minneapolis, MN
May 20, 2009: Gold, Silver, and Bronze Team Excellence Award recipients selected.
June 2009: Final round scores and feedback e-mailed to teams.
For more information on the process, please visit http://wcqi.asq.org/team-competition/participants.html or contact
Geetha Balagopal, Team Excellence Process administrator at gbalagopal@asq.org or call 800-248-1946 x 7303.
©American Society for Quality
Revised April 3, 2008