StudentWorkbook(2)

Plan or review administrative systems

BSBADM504B

Student Workbook

2nd Edition

Part of a suite of support materials for the

BSB07 Business Services Training Package

Student Workbook BSBADM504B Plan or review

administrative systems 2nd Edition 2010

Acknowledgment

Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council (IBSA) would like to acknowledge HASCOM Pty Ltd for their assistance with the development of this resource.

Writer: Kensington Budgewater

Copyright and Trade Mark Statement

© 2010 Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd

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Published by: Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd Level 11 176 Wellington Parade East Melbourne VIC 3002 Phone: +61 3 9815 7000 Fax: +61 3 9815 7001 e-mail: [email protected] www.ibsa.org.au

Originally published: November 2009

2nd edition version: 1.0

Release date: June 2010

Printed by: Fineline Printing 130 Browns Road Noble Park VIC 3174

ISBN: 978-1-921788-38-3

Stock code: BSBADM504B2CL

Table of Contents

Getting Started ........................................................................................................ 1

Features of the training program ..................................................................... 1

Structure of the training program .................................................................... 1

Recommended reading .................................................................................... 2

Introduction to Administrative Systems ................................................................. 3

Some background ............................................................................................. 3

What are administrative systems? .................................................................. 5

Causes of change .............................................................................................. 7

What is your role as manager? ........................................................................ 9

A final word of caution .................................................................................... 10

Section 1 – Plan or Review Systems ................................................................... 12

What skills will you need? ............................................................................... 12

Identifying requirements ................................................................................. 12

Obtaining quotations....................................................................................... 24

Selecting suppliers or developers .................................................................. 27

Section summary ............................................................................................ 29

Section 2 – Implement Systems .......................................................................... 30


Developing implementation strategies .......................................................... 31

Obtaining staff participation ........................................................................... 33

Defining and communicating procedures ..................................................... 37

Providing training and support ....................................................................... 39

Dealing with contingencies ............................................................................. 42

Section summary ............................................................................................ 45

Section 3 – Monitor Systems ............................................................................... 46


Monitoring the system .................................................................................... 46

Continually improving the system .................................................................. 49

Monitoring and addressing training needs ................................................... 55

Section summary ............................................................................................ 60

Glossary ................................................................................................................. 61

Appendices ............................................................................................................ 63

Appendix 1: Implementation plan template .................................................. 64

Appendix 2: Standard operating procedure (SOP) template ........................ 65

Appendix 3: Specification template ............................................................... 66

Appendix 4: Case study .................................................................................. 67

Appendix 5: Stakeholder mapping template ................................................. 68

Appendix 6: Skills matrix template ................................................................ 69

Appendix 7: Purchasing policy ........................................................................ 70

Appendix 8: Reframing matrix template ........................................................ 72

Appendix 9: Answers to selected learning activities ..................................... 73

Student Workbook Getting Started

BSBADM504B Plan or review administrative systems © 2010 Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd Page 1 of 74

Getting Started Features of the training program

The key features of this program are:

Student Workbook (SW) – Self paced learning activities to help you to understand key concepts and terms. The Student Workbook is broken down into several sections.

Facilitator-led sessions (FLS) – Challenging and interesting learning activities that can be completed in the classroom or by distance learning that will help you consolidate and apply what you have learned in the Student Workbook.

Assessment tasks – Summative assessments where you can apply your new skills and knowledge to solve authentic workplace tasks and problems.

Innovation & Business Skills Australia has licensed the use of over 200 video vignettes from the Channel 9 television program, Your Business Success. The videos have been carefully selected and embedded into relevant learning and assessment resources in order to assist education providers and students in the learning process.

Each video is accompanied by a learning activity. Videos can be found on IBSA’s YouTube channel at <http://www.youtube.com/ibsachannel>.

Structure of the training program

This training program introduces you to current practices in business administration. Specifically, you will develop the skills and knowledge in the following three topic areas:

1. Planning /reviewing administrative systems

2. Implementing administrative systems

3. Monitoring administrative systems

Note: the Student Workbook sections and Session numbers are listed next to the topics above.

You facilitator may choose to combine or split sessions. For example, in some cases, this Training Program may be delivered in 2 or 3 sessions, or in others, as many as 8 sessions.

Getting Started Student Workbook

BSBADM504B Plan or review administrative systems Page 2 of 74 © 2010 Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd

Recommended reading

Some recommended reading for this unit includes:

Hammer, M., and Champy, J., 2003, Reengineering the corporation: a manifesto for business revolution, HarperCollins, New York.

Project Management Institute Inc. 2008, A guide to the project management body of knowledge: (PMBOK™ guide), 4th edn, Project Management Institute, Newtown.

American Society for Quality, 2010, ASQ, viewed June 2010, <http://www.asq.org>.

Lean Enterprise Australia, 2010, Lean Enterprise Australia, viewed June 2010, <http://www.lean.org.au>.

Learn Sigma, 2010, Lean, quality and six sigma, viewed June 2010, <http://learnsigma.com>.

Alexander, M., 2008, Excel 2007 Dashboards and Report for Dummies, Wiley Publishing , Indianapolis.

Student Workbook Introduction to Administrative Systems


Introduction to Administrative Systems The goal of this unit is for you to be able to effectively plan and review administrative systems. You will learn about:

1. planning /reviewing administrative systems

2. implementing administrative systems

3. monitoring administrative systems.

However, before you begin, you may want to take some time to reacquaint yourself to some of the details of administrative systems.

Some background

What are systems?

The word system comes from the Greek word systēma (σύστημα) which means a set of interacting or interdependent entities that make up a structure. The word ‘system’ can also refer to the set of rules that explain how the structure operates. Systems occur naturally, for example:

physical systems such as the solar system

biological systems such as the circulatory system

ecosystems such as the Great Barrier reef.

The system concept has been applied to a number of areas of human endeavour, for example:

engineering

computer science

business.

Search for: Systems definitions

To further develop your understanding of systems, search the internet for definitions of:

system

Business Process Management

brocess.

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Introduction to Administrative Systems Student Workbook


Features of systems

Whether man-made or natural, systems have a number of features in common. These are:

Systems have structure, defined by parts and their composition.

Systems have behaviour, which involves inputs; processing; and outputs of material, energy or information.

Systems have interconnectivity; the various parts of a system have functional as well as structural relationships between each other.1

Systems have processes, inputs and outputs

Example: Consider your place of study

Your place of study is a system. How well do you think the system works? Consider its:

structure (its parts)

relationships between parts (internal communication, reporting)

behaviours (inputs, processes, outputs).

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1 Wikipedia, 2010, ‘System’, viewed June 2010 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System>.



What are administrative systems?

Administrative systems can be defined as ‘internal office and accounting functions.’2 When you reflect on this definition and on the definition of ‘systems’ provided above, an administrative system could include such varied systems as:

operational rules, e.g. those governing use of vehicles

physical systems, e.g. a computer network

electronic systems, e.g. a payroll system in MYOB or Quicken

paper based systems, e.g. a document filing system.

Search for: Administrative systems

To further develop your understanding of systems, search the internet for definitions of administrative systems. You may want to try searching for:

office systems

administrative systems

financial systems

operational systems

IT systems.

Try to find 5 or 6 examples that you can use for a group discussion with your peers.

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Elements of administrative systems

Administrative systems, regardless of whether they are big or small, electronic or paper based, simple or complex, all have these common elements:

people

equipment

processes (activities or tasks)

rules.

2Investor words, Administrative Systems, viewed November 2009 <http://www.investorwords.com/117/administrative_systems.html>



Example: Student records system

At your place of study, there is a student records system that has all of the elements outlined above:

People – there is a Student Administration Officer (or similar role).

Equipment – There are computers and software for recording student details such as grades, personal details, and so on.

Processes – There are also processes for carrying out key tasks and activities such as entering grades and producing certificates.

Rules – Finally, there are rules that govern the system. Some of these rules come from standards (AQTF or ISO) or from industry best practice. Rules govern things like backing up data, releasing information to 3rd parties, timeframes to complete processes and so on.

The human element

Administrative systems require a degree of human intervention to work properly. Some require quite a bit of intervention to work properly.

Intervention in systems can take many forms such as following:

management procedures

operational procedures

system maintenance procedures

data recording procedures.

Just to name a few. In brief, if the system isn’t managed properly, it breaks down.

Learning activity: Computer systems

A common workplace complaint is that the computer network doesn’t function the way it should.

From the IT department’s perspective, if people didn’t use the computers, everything would work just fine!

Consider the things that need to be done to ensure that a computer network works properly. Try to name at least 6. If you are like most of us, you shouldn’t find it too difficult!

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Causes of change

The need for new or improved administrative systems can occur at any time in an organisation’s lifecycle. There can be many reasons to implement new, or review existing, administrative systems:

organisational change

system is outmoded/outdated/not working

ongoing commitment to quality

continuous improvement

to meet customer expectations

to comply with standards.

New systems

An organisation will require a new administrative system when it is starting up or establishing a new office.

Case Study: Setting up a training company

Virgil is working as a project manager in a small firm. The firm is launching a new division and Virgil has the job of planning and implementing the administrative systems for the new division including:

Accounting System

Customer Relation Management System

Student Administration System

Document Management System.

Virgil is surprised by how many systems are needed. He has found implementing the administrative systems to be quite a challenge since he has had to scope and plan the systems, develop specifications, source suppliers, get quotes, evaluate quotes and so forth.

He has done some internet searches for different systems. He has also communicated with his contacts and networks to find out what systems they use and to get some feedback and advice.



Modified systems

On the other hand, an administrative system may be outmoded or outdated requiring a review. The outcomes of this could range from a modification/upgrade to complete replacement of the system.

Learning activity: Filing system modification – Part 1

Olivia works in an administrative role in a real estate agency. She was becoming frustrated with the sales agents’ lack of housekeeping. A common occurrence was that the agents would remove files and leave them piled up on their desks rather than return them to the centralised filing system.

As a result, Olivia would often have to spend time searching for files only to find them sitting on an agent’s desk. Olivia was responsible for the filing system but these sloppy housekeeping behaviours meant that she was doing a lot of unnecessary cleaning up.

Finally, she held a review of the filing system with the agents. It seemed that the agents felt that walking back and forth to the centralised filing system several times a day was a waste of time, so they were keeping their active files on their desk because they had nowhere else to store them.

The outcomes were:

Agents were given filing cabinets next to their desks for active clients.

Agents would keep their active files in their cabinets.

When the account was closed or no longer active, it would be submitted to Olivia to place in the centralised filing system.

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What is your role as manager?

As a manager or as a person responsible for planning or reviewing an administrative system, you will have roles and responsibilities that you will need to fulfil. For example:

managing change

providing leadership

project managing

training and coaching

communicating

budgeting

evaluating options

promoting team involvement.

Learning activity: Project management

Project management skills are essential for planning or reviewing administrative systems.

Imagine that you are responsible for upgrading the reception procedures in a workplace. This includes phone answering procedures as well as receiving visiting customers.

Review the project management life cycle below and record some the tasks that you would be carrying out at each stage of this project.

Compare and contrast your thoughts with your fellow learners.

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A final word of caution

Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.

– Douglas Hofstadter

Remember, when planning for new administrative systems in particular, you should be aware of some of the common pitfalls of project management. Namely:

Communication, or lack thereof.

Resources – people, equipment, office space, funding.

Scope creep – define the scope – agree and record changes.

Risk identification and management, or lack thereof.

Time and cost estimates (usually under-estimated).

Skill/experience of the project manager and team, or lack thereof.

Monitoring performance and meeting milestones, or lack thereof.

Further reading: Cognitive biases

No doubt, you will have heard from friends or colleagues of projects that haven’t succeeded.

Remember, it is human nature to overlook or disregard problems with projects that you are leading, so you need to be aware of some cognitive biases:

optimism bias

benefit shortfall

planning fallacy.

Do some online research about these topics and make notes on the meanings and implications of each.

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Section 1 – Plan or Review Systems Student Workbook


Section 1 – Plan or Review Systems This section deals with the knowledge and skills that you will need to plan or review administrative systems in your workplace.

Scenario: Where to begin?

Sally works in a small firm that makes and sells camping equipment in Australia and abroad. The firm employs approximately 25 office staff in roles such as administration, purchasing, sales, marketing, accounting, production and engineering.

Sally is the administration manager and has recently been asked to manage the update of the computer systems for all employees. This includes updating the operating systems and desktop applications to the same standard desktop which includes Windows 7 and Office 2007.

This is a big task. To make things more complicated, the organisation uses a number of different operating systems and applications which will need to run on the same standard desktop.

It is going to be difficult, given the range of software and hardware that is used in the organisation, not to mention resistance to change from some of the employees.

What skills will you need?

In order to plan or review administrative systems, you must be able to:

identify requirements

obtain quotations

select suppliers or developers.

Identifying requirements

Effective planning and reviewing allows you to identify what has to be done, by whom, at what cost and when. This involves:

Complying with organisational systems, standards and processes.

Reviewing organisational goals and objectives.

Defining the problems.

Stakeholder analysis and involvement.

Financial analysis of costs and benefits, including a budget.

Preparing the project plans.

Student Workbook Section 1 – Plan or Review Systems


Some of the biggest problems encountered with new and modified administrative systems derive from inadequate definition and poor planning.

Complying with organisational systems, standards and processes

Before you do anything, identify the relevant systems and processes for planning and reviewing that your organisation currently has in place. Systems and processes can include:

project management

change management

continuous improvement

professional development

human resources

quality

occupational health and safety.

Standards can include:

internal standards such as using Office 2007

external standards such as ISO, and Australian Standards

legal requirements.

Learning activity: Managing continuous improvement

Watch the video ‘BSBADM504B: ‘Managing continuous improvement’ on IBSA’s YouTube channel at <http://www.youtube.com/ibsachannel>.

1. How have Jeff and Alana managed continuous improvement within their Platinum Electrics business?

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2. What has been Alana’s role in the business?

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Learning activity: IT Scenario

Consider the IT scenario above. What might be some of the systems standards and processes that need to be considered by Sally?

List as many as you can think of below.

What might be the consequences if some of these were not complied with in the project?

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Policy and procedures ensure that the organisation can meet legislative, quality, or other requirements that relate to the operations of the company. These can often been found in a manual or on a corporate intranet.

Tip: Business rules

When working with administrative systems, you may encounter the term ‘business rules’. These are the rules that explain how processes operate. For example:

when to reorder inventory

what events require disciplinary action

terms of payment for accounts.

Business rules create an unambiguous statement of what a business does with information. They can be used by people or electronic systems alike to aid in decision making.



Review organisational goals and objectives

A goal or objective is the aim, or end, towards which effort is directed.3 An objective is a level of performance or achievement and can be monitored and graphed, e.g.

“We will increase sales by 10% by the EOY 2009”.

Strategic goals and objectives are set at the top management level of the organisation and are implemented at the departmental level.

A review of an administrative system may be triggered by a strategic goal of the organisation.

In other words, the goal of the improvement may be part of a larger organisational goal, such as lowering costs, improving efficiency or improving customer satisfaction.

Learning activity: Where do goals and objectives come from?

Familiarise yourself with some of these strategic management terms on the internet to gain a better understanding of how goal and objectives set at the management level impact on operational levels. Look for:

quality function deployment

strategic management

strategic planning

Hoshin Kanri.

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3 Macquarie, 1998, Macquarie Concise Dictionary, 3rd edn, The Macquarie Library, Macquarie.



Any improvement to administrative systems needs to be explained in terms of the organisation’s strategic goals. This ensures that that the improvement can be justified to managers and operators alike.

For example, if the organisation has set a goal of reducing operational costs and your administrative improvement increases these costs, then it is out of step with the organisation’s strategic goals and should be reconsidered.

Learning activity: IT Scenario

Consider the IT scenario from the beginning of this section. If the organisation had a goal of improving customer service, what kind of goals might the administration team need to consider? How might this goal impact on:

communication procedures (phone and email)

processing complaints

record keeping?

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Define and analyse the problem

Once you have established the goals for the administrative system, you need to conduct a review of current operations to scope out and define the problem and requirements.

Taking time to define the problem will, in most cases, flush out whether we are concentrating on symptoms or problems.

Example: IT Scenario

Prior to the commencement of the new IT project, there was some discussion in Sally’s department about problems with IT. There were complaints about:

sending incompatible files

keeping critical information in spreadsheets on their own machines

not being able to access some company information from certain machines.

Information was being lost, ignored or misplaced. These were initially identified as training or motivational issues. Some of the supervisors thought that some of the employees just needed to ‘step it up’.



However, after a consultant was brought in to advise on the problem, they pointed out that Sally’s company was looking at the problem in the wrong way. The problem wasn’t with the people, it was with the system. It was outmoded and not integrated.

By telling employees to ‘step it up’, they were only treating the symptom, not the problem.

Ask questions about the problem to identify key behaviours and the people involved and their consequences:

1. How are people affected by the problem?

a. How often does the problem occur?

b. For what amount of time are people affected?

c. How significant is the effect?

d. How important is the problem perceived to be?

2. Who is affected by the problem?

a. What types of people are affected?

b. How many people are affected?

3. What behaviours (of whom) contribute to the problem?

a. Whose behaviour needs to change?

b. Which specific behaviours need to change to address the problem?

c. How does this identification of target behaviours influence how we would address the problem?

At this stage you may find that you do not have enough information to define the problem.

Tip: Problem definition

To further define the problem and decide whether to continue the process, consider these questions:

Is it my problem?

Can I solve it? Is it worth solving?

Is this the real problem, or merely a symptom of a larger one?

If this is an old problem, what's wrong with the previous solution?

Does it need an immediate solution, or can it wait?

Is it likely to go away by itself?

Can I risk ignoring it?

Does the problem have ethical dimensions?

What conditions must the solution satisfy?

Will the solution affect something that must remain unchanged?



Problem solving tools

Now that you have a better idea of what the problem is, you need the tools and techniques for coming up with a solution.

Some techniques for defining and analysing the problem and identifying requirements include:

brainstorming

Seven Wastes/waste walks

current state/future state

process mapping

workflow diagrams

value stream mapping

SIPOC – Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers

cause and effect diagrams

5 whys

spaghetti charts (as in the case study above)

analysing usage statistics

analysing procedures

work shadowing.

It is imperative that you collect data on how processes are currently done. The decisions on the best solutions should be made on facts, not on gut feelings.

Case Study: Filing system modification – Part 2

Do you remember the example from the introduction where the filing system was modified?

In that example, a simple floor plan was used by the agents to record how often they currently moved files, or should move files, around the office. Each time they moved a file, they drew a line on the floor plan.

The most movement was happening where the lines were thickest on the floor plans. When these were then submitted to Olivia for review, it was easy to determine how much unnecessary movement was occurring.

This information made it easy to see that there was unnecessary and wasteful transport of files around the office, and led to the solution of providing the agents with their own filing cabinets.



Learning activity: Problem solving tools

The problem solving tools listed above are very simple and effective tools for measuring and analysing problems.

Research some of these tools and consider how you could use them in analysing workplace processes and systems.

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Involve the key stakeholders

Stakeholders are people with a vested interest in the outcome of the project. Individuals and organisations that are involved in, or may be affected by, project activities. This can include:

users

decision makers

customers

suppliers.

Remember that with administrative systems, as with any system, there are inputs, processes and outputs.

It is standard practice to consult with people involved with the system at all of these stages, namely:

People involved with system processes – users, managers, contractors.

People who are affected by outputs – customers, decision makers.

People influencing inputs – suppliers.



Search for: Stakeholder mapping

Mapping of stakeholders is a tool to:

Understand the support and opposition to a planned change such as implementing a continuous improvement program.

Determine who to communicate what to and how often as part of implementing continuous improvement.

Determine the composition of a continuous improvement project team or a steering committee.

The stakeholder map is a simple table consisting of a rating of the level of support or opposition of identified stakeholder groups and individuals ranked by their level of power and influence over the project method or outcome.

Search the internet for examples of stakeholder mapping from different projects. Record them to review and discuss with fellow learners.

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Determining requirements with stakeholders

In the previous section, we looked at how to collect data to define the problem. This may tell you how things are currently done and where the problems are, but it won’t tell you what people want. For that, you’ll need to talk to them.

Communication strategies include:

holding meetings

interviewing

surveying.

Tip: Questioning techniques

When interviewing stakeholders, use open questions to encourage exploration of ideas and feelings about a proposed change.

Open questions start with:

What?

Where?

When?

Who?

How?

Why?

Open questions encourage people to talk more and open up. In contrast, you can use closed questions (questions that elicit a yes/no response) to clarify and verify what you think.



Learning activity: Create a survey

Create a simple questionnaire (five to ten questions) that can be given to employees to find out about their usage of a workplace system.

Tell them why you are asking (i.e. you have been given the task of reviewing usage) and when you need a response by (i.e. we need a response by the end of the week so we can review and place an order by Tuesday of the following week).

In the questionnaire, you may want to ask people:

How frequently do they use the system?

What do they use it for?

What features do they use?

What features do they like/dislike?

What features would they want in a new photocopier?

What problems do they experience?

What general comments would they like to make?

(Note the use of open questioning techniques in this sample)

Review plans and budgets

You are probably familiar with plans. We make plans all of the time for a range of purposes. You plan holidays, home renovations, and family events.

All plans should contain information about:

goals

tasks

responsibilities

timelines.

In a business environment, every project must have a budget. Budgets are the quantification of plans into monetary terms4.

Every plan has a budget

4 Anandarajah, Aseervatham and Reid 2004, Managing finance: prepare & manage budgets & financial plans, Pearson, Sydney p. 68.



Another definition of a budget is an “estimate of costs, revenues, and resources over a specified period, reflecting a management's reading of future financial conditions. 5

Businesses need budgets

Budgets are essential for the planning and control of business operations. Without budgets, a business’s costs could not be controlled and this could result in you and your colleagues being out of a job.

Some key features of budgets are:

they are related to the organisation’s plans

they refer to a future period

they have a defined period

they have a scope or area of responsibility.6

Learning activity: IT budget

Capital Budget for IT (Current financial year)

Product (including specifications) Unit price Units Value ($)

Printer

Black and white only

40 pages per minute (minimum)

A4, A3

$15,000 1 $15,000

Mid-range desktop computers

17” monitors

3 year warranty

$1,500 6 $9,000

Servers $4,500 2 $9,000

Network equipment $10,000

Backup system $3,000 1 $3,000

Review the budget shown above and consider:

When would this budget need to be reviewed?

Who would need to be involved in the review of this budget?

What you would do if the 6 desktop computers cost $1700 each

5 Business Dictionary, Budget, viewed August 2009, <http://www.businessdictionary.com/>

6 Anandarajah, Aseervatham and Reid 2004, Prepare Managing finance: prepare & manage budgets & financial plans, Pearson, Sydney pp. 69-70



Budgets are a key method of control in a business. Businesses:

set goals

create plans

budget for the plans, and then

monitor the budgets

Learning activity: How would you monitor your budget?

Budgets are a key method of control in the workplace and ensuring that a new or modified system falls within budget is critical. For a new or modified administrative system, consider:

How you would review the budget?

How often would you review?

Who would need to be involved?

Make notes in the space provided.

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Some common problems

When planning and reviewing administration systems, you will always encounter some resistance. The reasons for this can be numerous, including;

fear of change

lack of capability

poor management support

resistance to change.



Obtaining quotations

Before you begin contacting suppliers for quotes on the new or revised system, you need to ensure that you have a clear definition of what you require. This is usually summarised in a specification or a statement of requirements.

Develop a system specification

Administrative system requirements often need to be summarised in a specification.

Many administrative systems upgrades or replacements require products/ services that cannot have a standard upfront price, because the costs involved can vary.

The specification should provide enough information about your administrative system requirements so that a supplier or developer can quote for a proposed solution. At a minimum, a specification should include:

Problem definition.

Proposed solution for new or modified administrative system.

Goals and objectives of the new or modified administrative system.

User requirements/expectations, including features and benefits.

Performance standards – what performance are you expecting?

Internal and external standards – what other standards are relevant?

Processes/procedures – which ones will require revision?

Budget – what is your price range?

Learning activity: Develop specifications

Appendix 3 of this document contains a specification template to assist you in recording specifications. Work with your fellow learners to develop a specification for a new administrative system. Any type of system can be used, such as:

a new photocopier

a change in mail procedure

a change in record keeping procedure

implementation of an electronic CRM (customer relationship management) system.

Discuss with your fellow learners:

Were the specifications sufficient?

What other things might you record?



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Engaging suppliers or developers

Once you have written your requirements into a specification, you can then engage someone to get it done for you!

Depending on what you need done, you may be seeking out a supplier or a developer. These can be found in a variety of ways including:

existing suppliers

media

word of mouth

networks

call for tenders.

Suppliers or developers can be engaged by:

working at set rate

providing a quotation

responding to a tender.

Quotations

A quotation is a fixed price for a fixed amount of products/ services carried out to a specification.

You may need to consider/request options such as:

maintenance contracts

help desk support

supply contracts for consumables

other specific items related to the administrative system.

Tenders

The term ‘tender’ can refer to both a document and a process.

A tender process is a competitive process where the client advertises/calls for tenders. Interested suppliers or developers then respond to the tender document (formal document which is prepared by a client) and submit a bid (offer) to the client.

The client may or may not accept the suppliers or developers tender bid.



Tenders are more common in public sector organisations.

Learning activity: Consumer protection

What protection do you have if the contractor doesn’t deliver what you asked for? Identify what organisations can advise you in your state or territory. Search for:

consumer affairs

fair trading

contracts.

Discuss your findings with your fellow learners and facilitator.

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Complying with organisational policy and procedure

When obtaining quotes, be sure to review your organisational purchasing policy. This may be a written policy or in some organisations, you may need to seek advice from a person responsible for the purchasing function, i.e. the purchasing officer.

Learning activity: Purchasing policy

Imagine that you work in a small business and your department needs to purchase a new photocopier that can be assumed to cost approximately $3000.

Review the purchasing procedure in Appendix 7and answer the following.

a) Are you making a material expenditure or a capital expenditure? b) How many separate quotes must be obtained? c) Who must approve the purchase and what information must you provide

to them? d) Once the purchase has been approved, what happens next?

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Selecting suppliers or developers

Your organisation may have policy and procedures that must be followed for selecting suppliers or developers. As a result, you may be required to:

form a selection panel

complete a report

submit findings to a decision maker.

It is rare (and dangerous) for the decision on successful quotes to be up to one person.



Example: Follow workplace policy and procedures!

Wayne worked in the IT department of an educational institution. The IT department needed to create a new online database and had decided to contract this work out as a project. Wayne was in charge of the budget for the project and he did casual work with a firm (unrelated to his educational work) that he thought could do the job.

He asked them to do the job and when he reported this back to his manager, Wayne was asked why he hadn’t followed organisational procedure. It turned out that his educational institution had policy and procedures for:

engagement of contractors

conflict of interest.

Wayne had not complied with them. Wayne should have understood and followed these policy and procedures before organising a contract.

Learning activity: Source policy documents

Imagine that you are working for an organisation that has recently had some disputes with contractors. The cause of this has been a poor tendering process. You must develop a policy and procedure for engaging contractors that will reduce the risk of these types of disputes re-occurring.

Use some of the ideas you have been introduced to in this section. You may also want to search the internet for examples.

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Evaluating suppliers

When evaluating quotes, it is recommended that you:

involve the key stakeholders

use selection criteria

evaluate the supplier as well as the product

use the internet or technical experts as needed.



Websites: Whirlpool

A number of websites are available to help you evaluate suppliers. For example, the Whirlpool knowledge base is an Australian website <http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/> that is ‘devoted to keeping the public informed about the state of internet access in Australia’.

Search the internet for websites that evaluate and compare other administrative systems. Compare your findings with your fellow learners.

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Section summary

You should now understand how to plan or review administrative systems including:

identify requirements

obtain quotations

select suppliers or developers.

Section 2 – Implement Systems Student Workbook


Section 2 – Implement Systems This section deals with the next step after planning and reviewing administrative systems, implementing the changes.

Scenario: IT system

A supplier was chosen to provide and install the new computer systems and software.

However, it was clear to Sally that a number of other things needed to be addressed if the administrative change was going to work smoothly. Sally chose to do a number of things to make the process go more ‘smoothly’:

develop an implementation plan

communicate the plan to all stakeholders

pilot new systems with early adopters (enthusiastic people)

obtain their feedback and then implement across the organisation

update procedures

anticipate training needs.

It was a bigger job than she even imagined!


In order to implement new or modified administrative systems, you must be able to:

develop implementation strategies

obtain staff participation

define and communicate procedures

provide training and support

deal with contingencies.

Student Workbook Section 2 – Implement Systems


Developing implementation strategies

In the scenario above, Sally chose to implement the administrative changes on a small scale and evaluate them. Then, and only then, did she implement the changes across the board. Some recommendations for implementing new or modified administrative systems include:

develop and communicate a plan

follow a methodology like PDCA –Plan, Do, Check, Act

test with early adopters.

Develop and communicate the plan

An implementation plan is a list of tasks that you have to carry out in order to achieve an objective. It differs from a To Do list in that it focuses on the achievement of a single goal.

Wherever you want to achieve something, draw up an implementation plan. This allows you to concentrate on the stages of that achievement, and monitor your progress towards it.

To draw up an implementation plan, simply list the tasks that you need to carry out to achieve your goal; when you will complete the task; and where necessary, the additional resources required to complete the task.

Learning activity: Develop an implementation plan

Use the template in Appendix 1 to develop an implementation plan for a proposed change.

Compare your plan with your fellow learners. Consider:

Why would it be important to review plans with key stakeholders?

How would you communicate the final plan?

Write your thoughts about these points below.

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The implementation plan should be communicated to all stakeholders.

Plan, Do, Check, Act

The PDCA cycle provides a simple methodology for continuous improvement.

Plan – plan the improvement

Do – on a small scale

Check – evaluate the results

Act – implement the improvement.

The cycle was later popularised by W. Edwards Deming and is now often referred to as the Deming Cycle. The Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle has specific objectives for each stage of the cycle.

Learning activity: PDCA

Consider how you would implement PDCA for:

A change in the filing system in your department.

The implementing of a new CRM across the entire organisation.

A change in record keeping for petty cash.

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PDCA is a continuous cycle



Obtaining staff participation

For employees to participate in any workplace improvement there are three imperatives:

1. They must have the attitude that the change is good for them as an individual, the team they work in, and the organisation as a whole

2. The subjective norm they experience must be positive towards the improvement. They must believe that their friends and colleagues who they respect believe that improvement is a good thing to engage in. Further, they must believe that the people who influence them the most in their work environment have respect for, and encourage their participation in, the improvement.

3. They must believe that they have the necessary skills, authority and data available for them to actually participate in the improvement. They must perceive that they have control in execution of the improvement.

Creating the right attitude

Creating the right attitude towards a new or modified system requires an understanding of what motivates an employee.

Generally, it is the working environment that motivates employees. Environmental considerations may include but is not limited to:

mutual respect frontline manager to employee

a clean and tidy workplace

the right tools for the job

future employment security

satisfied customers

mutual respect amongst team members

a clear goal, consistently, persistently and insistently followed.

Understanding what motivates your employees can be determined by observing, conducting focus groups, undertaking a quantitative survey, or a combination of all of these.

Once you have determined what working environment aspects create the right attitude amongst a large majority of employees, it is your role as frontline manager with support of your one-up manager to create that environment.

A word of caution

Not all employees are affected positively by the working environment you create. There will always be some cynics and people who believe that their notoriety is more important to them than being a team member. Your role is to manage for the large majority, not the noisy minority.



Learning activity: What working environment works for me?

Reflect on your attitudes to work. What elements of a working environment create a positive attitude from you in relation to your work? What elements do you think would create a positive attitude for others that you work with?

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Creating the right subjective norm

Altering people’s subjective norm to one which supports improvement requires frontline managers to be consistent, insistent and persistent!

Consistent in:

their communication about the goal

their approach to all employees

their application of standards

their reaction to errors as something to be eliminated

the manner in which they reward and recognise employees and the reason for rewarding employees

making sure all voices are heard when discussing the nature of and solutions to problems.

Insistent about:

employees participation in improvement

errors being reduced

two-way communication

the provision of appropriate tools and availability of data for employees trying to implement improvements.

Persistent in:

their communications about the benefits of improvements

their encouragement of employees to bring forward ideas to improve processes



the need for continuous improvement despite setbacks which occur from time to time

the application of a rewards and recognition scheme for people actively participating in improvement.

Learning activity: Subjective norms

Think about a bad habit you or a family member or friend has that they want to but do not seem to be able to break. Smoking is a common example.

Who influences them most in respect to the issues surrounding this habit? This may be individuals or groups of people (rank the top three).

What is the attitude of those people about the habit?

Of the groups which are against smoking, how persistent, insistent and consistent are they about the helping (not nagging) the individual give up the habit.

What would you expect the result of your family member or friend to be when given insistence, persistence and consistence of support amongst those people that influence the individual?

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Creating the perception of control

For employees to perceive they have control over their involvement in and application of continuous improvement, they require:

Information – the right data available to make effective decisions.

Training – behaviour, skills and knowledge to execute continuous improvement processes and use continuous improvement tools.

Empowerment – Authority to make decisions and make improvements.



Learning activity: What is your perceived level of control over your key job deliverables?

Reflect on your job and jobs you have had. Think of ones you really enjoyed and ones you did not. Contrast the level of data, competence and authority you had between the ones you enjoyed and the ones you did not, and fill out the following table.

Jobs I enjoyed Jobs I disliked

Data availability

Behaviour

Skills

Knowledge

Authority



Defining and communicating procedures

Changes in processes that are a consequence of new or modified administrative systems must be documented in policy and procedures.

A policy is a statement about an issue that says what the organisation plans to do about the issue.

Some examples include:

privacy policy

record management policy

security policy

purchasing policy.

A procedure is ‘the sequence of actions or instructions to be followed in solving a problem or accomplishing a task’. Some examples include:

filing procedure

telephone answering procedure

document version control procedure

website updating procedure.

When systems are updated or modified, the related procedures must be updated.

Example: A record management procedure

Educational institutions often have well designed record management policies and procedures. Imagine if they didn’t….you might not get the correct grades! Search the internet for ‘record management policy’. An example is provided below:

<http://policies.curtin.edu.au/policies/az_index.cfm>.

While the policy gives an indication of the expected outcome, there is some scope for variation in how this achieved.

The best procedures:

reflect how people actually work

comply with organisational policies

are simple and effective

are developed in collaboration with the people performing the related task.



Learning activity: Develop a standard procedure

Use the standard operating procedure template in Appendix 2 to develop a procedure.

1. Work with a group or team of people (people you live with is fine).

2. Select a task that everyone does, e.g. taking out the garbage, composting, doing the dishes.

3. Work with the group to develop an standard approach to this task.

4. Record it on the template.

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Communicate procedures

Ensure that revised and updated procedures are circulated to all stakeholders. In most workplaces there is a procedure for doing this. Note: In many large organisations, there is a job role such as a Quality Manager that is responsible for communicating procedural changes.

Information is often circulated by:

presentations

noticeboards

email

distribution lists

corporate intranets

staff meetings.



Learning activity: Communication strategy

Consider an organisation that you work for, or would like to work for. Imagine that you have introduced a change in the filing system that affects everyone in the organisation. How would you communicate this?

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Providing training and support

Once procedures are revised, updated and circulated, system users must be retrained in the new procedures.

Depending on the change, you may be able to do the retraining in-house, or you may need to use outside contractors.

Start with the procedures

Small scale and simple changes in administrative systems can be addressed by some basic coaching techniques that are based around the revised procedures.

Anticipating training needs

Complex and large scale changes may require greater planning and effort. For example, you may need to:

conduct training needs assessments

conduct skills audits

prepare multi-level training programs.



Learning activity: Training staff

Watch the video ‘BSBADM504B: ‘Training staff’ on IBSA’s YouTube channel at <http://www.youtube.com/ibsachannel>.

1. Explain how Jeff supports his sales staff to be more self reliant in his business.

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2. What is Alana explaining in the video?

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Example: Skills audit

It is essential to have a skills matrix for your employees. You need to be able identify, at a glance, who has been retrained in the revised procedures.

This information is often presented in a table or matrix. In the example shown below, procedures are listed down the rows and the employees appear across the columns.

Each employee is given a rating for their level of competence in each skill.

The skills gaps can be easily identified and then addressed through training, recruiting or outsourcing.

Settling in period

Regardless of the size or complexity of the change, one thing is certain. Extra effort is required from the introduction of the change to address both expected and unexpected problems.

provide extra training sessions

provide a help desk

follow up with users

actively seek feedback.

Tip: The bathtub curve

A useful analogy is the ‘bathtub curve’ that states that products tend to fail during the start or end of their life. The stages are characterised by:

Early failures – during the ‘infant mortality’ phase of the product.

Random failures – during the useful life of the product.

Wear out failures – at the end of the useful life of the product.

In order to avoid failures during startup, you need to provide additional support during this period.



Useful life

Once the administrative system has entered into this stage, you need to ensure that training is provided as required. This may include educating colleagues about the system through:

induction training

refresher training.

Tip: Add training program to induction

Your human resource department may have developed an induction program. Inductions are a good opportunity to introduce new staff to administrative systems.

Dealing with contingencies

Taking precautions is an important part of implementation. After all, things do go wrong with suppliers, equipment, materials, and so on, and this can affect your business.

Reliable systems = happy customers

What can go wrong?

There are a lot of things that you can do to safeguard against things going wrong, such as:

obtaining insurances and warranties

organising maintenance contracts and supply contracts

sourcing new or alternative suppliers

providing training for employees

staying informed about your industry trends and happenings.



Have a risk management strategy

Your organisation will probably have a method for managing risks to key resources. It may include things as obvious as those listed above.

Risk management plans can be quite detailed, and at times, confusing. However, your organisation should have a plan in place that outlines what to do if you have problems with your key suppliers.

You should have a basic understanding of risk management from your OHS training, and risk management for other areas (supply, equipment failure) follows a similar process as assessing health and safety risks.

Typically, risk management processes involve:

1. identifying threats or hazards

2. Assessing the vulnerability of resources to specific threats – how serious is it?

3. Determining the risk/probability of these occurring

4. Prioritising risk management measures

5. Identifying ways to reduce those risks.

As you may guess, you don’t have to control every risk, just the high priority ones that would have serious impacts on your business.

Example: IT problems

Reliable on-site technicians are hard to come by… but anyone can sell you a new keyboard.

Rate the level of risk of the following on a scale of one to five (one being inconvenient, five being disastrous) and what you could do to manage the risk. Compare and discuss your conclusions with your fellow learners.

Rating Risk Management

Hard disk failure

Keyboard is broken

Photocopier breakdown

Toner needs changing

Running out of printer paper



Assessing your resources

It is important that your resources and their suppliers are reputable and reliable.

Some factors to assist you in assessing suppliers are:

How long have they been in the industry?

Who are their customers/clients?

Do they comply with industry standards?

Further reading: Look for standards

It is always a good sign if your supplier can publish that they comply with relevant industry standards.

ISO 9000 is a family of standards for qualtiy management systems. ISO stands for the International Organisation for Standardisation.

ISO 9001 is part of this family and concentrates on the following in a business:

monitoring processes to ensure they are effective

keeping adequate records

checking output for defects, with appropriate and corrective action where necessary

regularly reviewing individual processes and the quality system itself for effectiveness

facilitating continual improvement.

For more information go to <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_9000>.

Learning activity: Risk management

Develop a risk management strategy for the IT equipment of an organisation of your choice.

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Section summary

You should now understand how to implement new or modified administrative systems:

develop implementation strategies

obtain staff participation

define and communicate procedures

provide training and support

deal with contingencies.

Section 3 – Monitor Systems Student Workbook


Section 3 – Monitor Systems Finally, once new or revised administrative systems have been implemented, they need to be monitored and continually improved.

Scenario: IT system

Remember Sally from the earlier scenario? The new administrative system has been implemented and seems to be working well.

The company are now past the settling in stage and people are using the system effectively.

However, there are still opportunities to improve the system and it is important to monitor the system and keep making improvements.

Sally’s role is now more focused on monitoring and making incremental improvements.


In order to monitor administrative systems, you must be able to:

monitor system

continually improve

address training needs.

Monitoring the system

Monitoring administrative systems is not a static process. The purpose is to continually improve processes and systems.

Monitoring progress

Monitoring of progress is completed to achieve one or more of three aims:

1. To determine the gap between existing and desired performance.

2. To review the progress of implementation and maintenance of a system.

3. To ensure procurement, production, and delivery of your products/ services are not moving outside performance standards.

Performance and progress over time may be monitored by a wide range of methods including:

paper continuous improvement records, for example, check sheets

templates including excel templates for check sheets, histograms and process control charts

Student Workbook Section 3 – Monitor Systems


databases of information cross referenced against people, equipment, time of day and source of inputs

computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) systems including wireless remote data collection devices automatically uplinked to the system an data recorded directly from robotics, scales, process logic controllers etc.

feedback from service users/families

performance indicators

o cascaded down from the organisation goal

o cascaded down from customer requirements

o created from benchmarking against internal or external competition

audits of the continuous improvement process

workplace health and safety audits

incident/accident reports

service user surveys

complaints systems

suggestion boxes

third party quality assessments/audits

staff performance appraisals

evaluations of staff in-service training.

To improve progress in the implementation of a system or in closing gaps in performance within current system, the factors which inhibit performance must be identified and addressed.



Tip: Dashboards

Digital dashboards are management tools that provide constantly updated visual information about the performance of an organisation.

Benefits of using digital dashboards include:

visual presentation of performance measures

ability to identify and correct negative trends

measure efficiencies/inefficiencies

ability to generate detailed reports showing new trends

ability to make more informed decisions based on collected business intelligence

align strategies and organisational goals

save time over running multiple reports

gain total visibility of all systems instantly.

technical monitoring.7

Audits of systems

Audits of implementation of administrative systems require some form of standard upon which to base the audit.

One of the most commonly used quality management standards is AS/NZS ISO 9001: 2000 Quality management systems – Requirements.

This is an international system for recognising organisations that have appropriate quality management systems in place.

AS/NZS ISO 9001: 2000 Quality management systems – Requirements -based management systems focus on putting in place quality controls to ensure consistency and improvement of key processes, which in turn provide products and services that better meet customers' requirements.

The specific requirements under ISO 9001 cover:

management system

management responsibility

resource management

product realisation

measurement analysis and improvement.

7 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashboards_(management_information_systems)> , viewed November 2009



To audit a continuous improvement system against standards such as ISO 9001 requires audit teams to be assembled.

Internal audit teams should be drawn from a pool of people experienced in quality systems and continuous improvement systems.

External audit teams can be procured from registered firms who have certified auditors in the particular continuous improvement systems.

Conducting an audit begins with understanding the goal of the audit and what specifically is to be assessed. For example, the goal may be to analyse the effectiveness of monitoring. The specific areas to be assessed may then include but not be limited to:

training of new staff in monitoring processes

training of existing staff when monitoring processes change

effectiveness and consistency of monitoring

effectiveness of the communication of the results of monitoring

use of appropriate tools to monitor

timeliness of monitoring

appropriateness of monitoring in delivering against customer requirements.

Internal audits can be conducted on a cyclical basis so that the entire operation and the entire continuous improvement system are analysed on a regular basis.

Continually improving the system

What is continuous improvement?

Continuous improvement is a systematic approach to making things better. It can be referred to as process improvement, or Kaizen.

Continuous improvement is the ‘programmed, and an almost unbroken, flow of improvements realised under a scheme such as Kaizen, lean production, or total quality management (TQM).’8

Three streams of conceptual thinking and philosophies have emerged which relate directly to continuous improvement. These are:

Total Quality Management

Lean Manufacturing

Six Sigma.

8Business Dictionary, Continuous Improvement, Viewed November 2009, <http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/continuous-improvement.html>.



Research: Continuous improvement systems

Conduct some internet research on the continuous systems listed above. Identify some of the common features of all of these systems.

List at least five similarities below and compare with your fellow learners.

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There are many methods for analysing the factors which inhibit performance.

Five of the more commonly used techniques are:

value stream mapping

brainstorming

5 whys

cause and effect analysis

force field analysis.



Value stream mapping

Use value stream mapping to get the “big picture” of your end-to-end processes. When you are unsure of what the problem area is or when you want to unearth where issues exist in a set of processes you know is not performing to customer expectations, or against benchmarks.

Use a cross-functional team with all stakeholders represented. Your organisation may have software which helps in the generation of the value stream, however, pencil and paper are just as useful and often more engaging for the team as all team members can be involved. Consider purchasing value stream mapping pads which come with defined icons you many use to establish a common visual language.

A Value stream map

Brainstorming

Use brainstorming to access the creative sides of employee’s brains, to get broad stakeholder input and to be able to build on each others ideas.

Brainstorming can be used to both identify and to solve factors which inhibit performance.

A mode of brainstorming which is particularly good at identifying factors which inhibit performance is negative brainstorming. In negative brainstorming the question to be asked is why we can not improve our performance. Human nature is such that we find it easier to think of why not, rather than “How can we? “ Utilising this negative aspect of our nature in brainstorming quickly creates a list of factors inhibiting performance.



Example: Filing system modification – Part 3

Do you remember the example from the Introduction where Olivia introduced a new filing system because people weren’t doing their filing?

In order to identify possible causes of the problem, Olivia held a brainstorm and the participants came up with a number of issues which were recorded on sticking notes.

Disorganised sticky notes following a brainstorm

Brainstorming the elements that may contribute to performance inhibition and creating an affinity diagram can be used as a precursor to building the fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram.

Example: Filing system modification – Part 4

Following the brainstorm, Olivia and the participants organised the possible causes under headings. This is an affinity diagram.

Sticky notes rearranged into an affinity diagram



Cause and affect analysis

Use cause and effect analysis to drill down on particular problems. You may want to use some of the often-used categories:

Human resources, methods, materials, measurements, and equipment.

Clients, workers, supplies, environment, and procedures.

What, how, when, where, who?

Example: Fishbones

The fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram does not establish root cause. It creates a visual record of one or more hypotheses about root cause. Each hypothesis still needs to be tested.

A cause and effect diagram

5 whys

Use the 5 whys alone or in conjunction with a fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram to try to drive to the root cause.

Five whys may be conducted subjectively using the experience of employees and other stakeholders involved in the process in question. However, if quantitative data is available, the 5 whys technique becomes much more powerful.



Force Field Analysis

Use force field analysis to analyse the impact of physical processes, employees’ skills and knowledge, and the psychological aspects of employees and other stakeholder’s behaviour on performance.

It is often more instructive in a force-field analysis to think about ways of reducing the forces against performance than redoubling the forces pushing performance.

Force field chart

Learning activity: Research improvement techniques

Research the improvement techniques above and indentify how each could be used to identify administrative system improvements.

You may want to discuss your findings with your facilitator or fellow learners.

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Monitoring and addressing training needs

Training needs must constantly be monitored to ensure that skills and abilities are updated with changes in administrative systems. This may involve tasks such as:

induction training

refresher training

performance management

meetings

training matrix/skills matrix.

Work coaching

Workplace coaching is a collection of methods and techniques used by managers and supervisors to help them to maintain or improve their employees’ work performance.

What do we coach?

When we are talking about coaching people’s work performance, we are usually talking about:

Task goals – include bottom line targets that are measured by KPIs production goals, deadlines, quality standards.

Non-task goals – include targets such as housekeeping, attendance at important meetings, and participation in continuous improvement.

Behaviours – include things like attitude towards workmates, personal attire.

Who do we coach?

Traditionally, managing has involved controlling and directing the work of other people. As a coach, however, the manager works with the employees to guide them towards solving problems for themselves, rather than directing them to the solution.

Generally, most performance problems can be resolved through effective communication between managers and employees. Most employees can benefit from coaching in some way. Coaching applies to any skill at any time. It is a simple way to set, discuss, and monitor goals in a collaborative way.

How do we coach?

Good coaches challenge employees and ask questions that help the employee to discover how to improve.

Coach when you wish to focus attention on any specific aspect of the employee's performance.

A coaching meeting should focus on just one or two aspects of performance. Any more than that and employees won’t remember the main impact of your meeting.

Keep coaching conversations brief; between five and ten minutes.



Being an effective coach requires an understanding of what motivates the members of your team. Remember that people are motivated in different ways. Be sensitive to the things that drive your people to perform.

When things are performing well, take the time to understand what is working and why.

Good coaching is guiding, not telling or doing.

Allow the employee to own the problem and its solutions. Ask them: ‘How do you think we should handle this?’

When do we coach?

Coaching is different to formal training. But how do you know when you should step in, or let employees work through the problems for themselves?

Observe the employee's work and be alert for certain triggers or signs. For example, you may notice an attitude or behaviour creeping in, or you discover a slump in the weekly KPIs.

Coach when you want to focus attention on any specific aspect of the employee's performance.

Don’t hesitate – do it now. Coaching is a process that is most effective when it happens daily.

Be sure you document any key elements that come out of your coaching sessions and store them in the employee’s file.

Characteristics of good coaches

Good coaches:

understand employees’ jobs

are visible

lead by example

practice what they preach

are sincere and honest

make decisions on facts not feelings

don’t procrastinate

listen more than talk.

seek assistance when necessary.

Learning activity: Benefits of coaching

Watch the video ‘BSBADM504B: ‘Benefits of coaching’ on IBSA’s YouTube channel at <http://www.youtube.com/ibsachannel>.

1. Why did Josh Nicholls feel he needed a coach?

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2. What did the coaching enable Josh to do?

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3. After successful coaching, and having a successful system to manage, what was Josh’s next step for the business?

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Example: The life of a workplace coach

Steve is a Department manager with a team of eight employees. He notices that one of his staff members, Alex, seems to lack direction, displays low self-esteem, and has a number of performance issues – regularly showing up late for work and taking more sick days than the other employees. Steve has tried a number of things, but has had little or no success.

Steve spoke to Jill in HR who suggested he might try coaching Alex. Steve approached Alex and asked if he wanted to try coaching. They both agreed it was worth trying and they agreed to work together once a week over three months.

The first thing Steve asked was for Alex to write a list of the things he was good at and the things he wasn't good at. This gave them both a focus on the areas they could work on to help him improve over the coaching and monitoring period.

Six months later the improvements were noticeable. Alex is now the first one at work every day and is being recognised as a motivated team member. Instead of potentially losing a staff member, Steve has gained a valuable asset and is now looking at more training to help Alex develop his career.



The GROW Model

In the world of performance management, a number of different workplace coaching models exist.

GROW is a simple but effective model for running coaching sessions. GROW is an acronym that stands for: Goal – Current Reality – Options – Will.

Goal

Things can change, and the employee’s goals may need to be revisited and reviewed.

Current reality

Getting to the root cause of problems means asking the team member about what is happening and how the problem is affecting them. Often managers can leap to a conclusion about solving a performance problem. Important information that can help to solve the problem is often missed.

Some useful coaching questions include:

How is this change affecting your work?

If things changed do we need to revisit how we planned to approach this?

Options

Once you and your team member have explored the Current Reality, it's time to start exploring the alternatives for solving the problem. It should be a two-way process, so encourage the team member for their ideas and views about what might be done.

Ask questions like:

What other options have you considered for how we might handle this?

What are the alternatives?

How else could we approach this? What risks are involved?

What are the possible risks involved in these other options?

What constraints exist?

Will

By this stage you will have examined the Current Reality and canvassed the options for what could be done. The team member should now have a clear idea of how to deal with the situation. The final step for you as a coach is to get them to commit to taking action.

So how will you take this forward?

How are you going to achieve this?

What obstacles could prevent this happening?

What else will you do?



Learning activity: Skills audit

Consider the skills required in the filing system modification example and create a skills matrix. Use the skills matrix in Appendix 6 to list the key procedures/tasks and monitor the team’s level of skills in the procedures/tasks.

Compare and contrast your tasks with your fellow learners.

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Section summary

You should now understand how to monitor administrative systems and continually improve them:

monitor system

continually improve

address training needs.

Student Workbook Glossary


Glossary9 Term Definition

Acquisition Taking possession of an asset by purchase.

Business Process Management

Activity undertaken by businesses to identify, evaluate, and improve business processes. With the advancement of technology, BPM can now be effectively managed with software that is customised based on the metrics and policies specified by a company.

Business Process Reengineering

Thorough rethinking of all business processes, job definitions, management systems, organisational structure, work flow, and underlying assumptions and beliefs. BPR's main objective is to break away from old ways of working, and effect radical (not incremental) redesign of processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical areas (such as cost, quality, service, and response time) through the in-depth use of information technology. Also called business process redesign.

Change Management

Minimising resistance to organisational change through involvement of key players and stakeholders.

Coaching Extending traditional training methods to include focus on (1) an individual's needs and accomplishments, (2) close observation, and (3) impartial and non-judgmental feedback on performance.

Consultants Experienced professional who provides expert knowledge (often packaged under a catchy name) for a fee. He or she works in an advisory capacity only and is usually not accountable for the outcome of a consulting exercise.

KPI Key business statistics such as number of new orders, cash collection efficiency, and return on investment (ROI), which measure a firm's performance in critical areas. KPIs show the progress (or lack of it) toward realising the firm's objectives or strategic plans by monitoring activities which (if not properly performed) would likely cause severe losses or outright failure.

Mentoring Employee training system under which a senior or more experienced individual (the mentor) is assigned to act as an advisor, counsellor, or guide to a junior or trainee. The mentor is responsible for providing support to, and feedback on, the individual in his or her charge.

9Business Dictionary, viewed Novemeber 2009 <http://www.businessdictionary.com/>

Glossary Student Workbook


Term Definition

Outsourcing Contracting, sub-contracting, or 'externalising' non-core activities to free up cash, personnel, time, and facilities for activities where the firm holds competitive advantage.

Process Sequence of interdependent and linked procedures which, at every stage, consume one or more resources (employee time, energy, machines, money) to convert inputs (data, material, parts, etc.) into outputs. These outputs then serve as inputs for the next stage until a known goal or end result is reached.

Suppliers External entity that supplies relatively common, off the shelf, or standard goods or services, as opposed to a contractor or subcontractor who commonly adds specialised input to deliverables. Also called vendor.

System Set of detailed methods, procedures, and routines established or formulated to carry out a specific activity, perform a duty, or solve a problem.

Training Organised activity aimed at imparting information and/or instructions to improve the recipient's performance or to help him or her attain a required level of knowledge or skill.

Vendors Manufacturer, producer, or seller.

Student Workbook Appendices


Appendices Appendix 1 – Implementation plan template

Appendix 2 – Standard operating procedure template

Appendix 3 – Specification template

Appendix 4 – Case study

Appendix 5 – Stakeholder mapping template

Appendix 6 – Skills matrix

Appendix 7 – Purchasing policy

Appendix 8 – Reframing matrix template

Appendix 9 – Answers to selected learning activities.

Appendices Student Workbook


Appendix 1: Implementation plan template

Goal:

Priority Task/Action Who Due Date



Appendix 2: Standard operating procedure (SOP) template

SOP NAME:

TASK DESCRIPTION:

DEPARTMENT: SOP#:

APPROVED BY: Date:

Procedure:

# Action Description Standard Required Who

If successful, sign and date:

Job title Name Signature Date

Employee/Candidate

Supervisor/Assessor



Appendix 3: Specification template

Problem definition

Proposed solution (for new or modified administrative system)

Goals and objectives (of the new or modified administrative system)

User requirements/expectations (including features and benefits)

Performance standards (what performance are you expecting?)

Internal and external standards (what other standards are relevant?)

Processes/procedures (which ones will require revision?)

Budget (what is your price range?)



Appendix 4: Case study

You are working for a large insurance company with offices located throughout Australia. The organisation is rather ‘old-fashioned’ in that most business is done by phone or by agents who travel to see customers.

The strategic plan states that the organisation will reduce carbon emissions by 20% over the next two years. The goal is:

To reduce carbon emissions by 20% over the next two years without impacting negatively on sales.

Each business unit is required to develop strategies and plans for their unit to meet this goal. Your business unit is responsible for administrative systems.



Appendix 5: Stakeholder mapping template

Opposition Support

Active opponents

Passive opponents Fence-sitters Passive

supporters Active

supporters

Stak

ehol

der

pow

er

High

Medium

Low



Appendix 6: Skills matrix template

Work task

Team member

Legend:

Untrained Team member has no training

Learner Team member cannot perform task independently

Practitioner Team member can perform task independently with supervision

Operator Team member can perform task independently

Coach Team member can train others to perform task



Appendix 7: Purchasing policy

Purpose

To establish a process and framework for contracts and purchases of resources that ensures:

our purchases are budgeted for or are subject to financial controls

all purchases are cost effective

purchasing activities complies with legislation.

Policy

organisation funds are only used for work-related purposes

purchases are cost effective

purchasing procedures must comply with relevant legislation

failure to comply with this policy and its procedures will result in disciplinary measures.

Procedure

Definitions

Material expenditures – expenditures for normal day to day operations.

Capital expenditures – expenditures to new equipment or administrative systems.

Authorities:

General Manager – final decision on purchasing.

Department Managers – are responsible for operational budgets (including supply/purchase of material resources).

Purchasing Committee – is responsible for decisions on capital expenditures.

Purchasing Officer – responsible for documentation and process.

Approving Material Expenditure

Material expenditures are the responsibility of the departmental manager, namely: Manufacturing Manager, Warehouse Manager, Office Manager.

All material expenditures must be accounted for within the department’s operational budget.

Any material expenditure that exceeds departmental operational budgets must be raised immediately with the General Manager.



Approving Capital Expenditure

A purchasing committee has been established and meets monthly to review and approve major purchases (over $1000).

Membership includes the General Manager, Manufacturing Manager, Warehouse Manager, Office Manager, Accountant and Purchasing Officer.

Preferred suppliers are to be asked to quote for relevant contracts. The purchasing officer maintains the list of preferred suppliers on the purchasing committee’s behalf.

Copies of documents relating to purchases must be provided to the committee for review (see table below).

The purchasing committee must review the proposed expenditure against the relevant budgets.

Monetary limit Requirement Documentation Decision

Up to $1000 Direct purchase

Tax invoice Department Manager

$1001–$10000 3 written quotes

Copies of 3 quotes Comparisons table Project budget

Purchasing Committee

$10,001–unlimited 3 written quotes

Suppliers must present to purchasing committee

Purchasing Committee

Contract, Order and Payment

Expenditures, once approved, should be forwarded to the purchasing officer for review and finalisation of contract (if applicable).

All contracts must be reviewed and signed by the General Manager.

Purchase orders are to be raised electronically through the organisational accounting system.

Payment on 30 day terms is customary.

Purchase orders must be checked approved by person with budget responsibility (Manufacturing Manager, Warehouse Manager, Office Manager).



Appendix 8: Reframing matrix template



Appendix 9: Answers to selected learning activities

Learning activity: Managing continuous improvement

Watch the video ‘BSBADM504B: ‘Managing continuous improvement’ on IBSA’s YouTube channel at <http://www.youtube.com/ibsachannel>.

1. How have Jeff and Alana managed continuous improvement within their Platinum Electrics business?

Example answer:

Jeff and Alana have managed continuous improvement very well. Jeff started the business when he was 22 and at the time he had no idea how to run a business. He successfully separated work from home, bought a workshop, started turning over a large amount of money and hired 30 staff.

2. What has been Alana’s role in the business?

Example answer:

Alana has taken an active role within the business to the point where she and Jeff run the business as a successful team. Alana loves working on systems, developing the business and fixing inadequacies within the business.

Learning activity: Benefits of coaching

Watch the video ‘BSBADM504B: ‘Benefits of coaching’ on IBSA’s YouTube channel at <http://www.youtube.com/ibsachannel>.

1. Why did Josh Nicholls feel he needed a coach?

Example answer:

Josh felt he needed a coach to regain control of his life and business.

2. What did the coaching enable Josh to do?

Example answer:

The coaching enabled Josh to make sure that once he had built the role up to a certain level and built systems and procedures, he could then employ someone else to go into that role or position. The coaching goal was to make sure he could work himself out of each area of the business.

3. After successful coaching, and having a successful system to manage, what was Josh’s next step for the business?

Example answer:

Build up franchising opportunities within the business.



Learning activity: Training staff

Watch the video ‘BSBADM504B: ‘Training staff’ on IBSA’s YouTube channel at <http://www.youtube.com/ibsachannel>.

1. Explain how Jeff supports his sales staff to be more self reliant in his business.

Example answer:

Jeff goes out on the road with sales staff and does the talking for the first two appointments while his sales staff listen. For the next two appointments, the staff will listen and speak a little to the customer. Then the last two appointments will be done by the sales staff themselves, without Jeff’s support or help.

2. What is Alana explaining in the video?

Example answer:

Alana is asking “how do I train the staff to be good at a role, and how can I improve myself as a leader to let go, and let other people move on?" She is talking about effective staff delegation.

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