Needs Assessment

I was employed by an organization which provides public health services in the city I reside. This opportunity was my first job within a governmental agency and it allowed me to learn about governmental policies, processes and limitations, to say the least. This organization experienced two rounds of personnel reduction within a year’s time and subsequently, the staff that was retained was required to inherit additional duties. Unfortunately, the loss of personnel created efficiency issues. It seemed that the personnel who worked at the clinics suddenly forgot the tasks they were required to do on a daily basis and this created a backlog of work in the clerical area. Billing became backlogged, faxes were not being addressed as required, and referrals were not being processed. No one realized what was happening until a problem arose.

 

Until today, this issue continues happening and no one has been able to find a solution. In performing a needs assessment at this organization, I would first obtain the buy-in from the Administrator. I would also ensure that I obtain the buy-in from other executive leadership as the executors for the organization, the assistant directors who oversee the clinics, the subject matter experts – key personnel such as the clerical supervisor, the billing lead, and clinic manager.   

 

Some of the questions I would ask the executive leadership would be:

What are the results of the current performance and how is this performance affecting the efficiency and overall organization?

Based on your assessment, is there a need for training? Within the departments or the clinic setting?

Who would be the key staff who can provide current status of the organization?

Are there any foreseen roadblocks from mid level or first level  management I should be aware of?

 

Questions I would ask the assistant directors would be:

What will be their level of hands on involvement in this initiative?

Are there monetary constraints which could affect the development of a strategy to counteract the current deficiencies in performance?

Who will be designated to assist in training the staff?

Which function of the organization should be the main focus for training? Who should be trained?   

Who are the SMEs or champions of the deficient processes?

 

Questions I would ask the SMEs (billing/clerical) would be:

What processes are being completed as required?

What is the current backlog in each area? What are the timeframes? What are the goals?

What function is mostly affected? And what function is the priority? Billing, referrals, fax management?

How is the organization/clinic affected when these processes are not completed? What are the effects to other functions? What are the effects to the customers?

What skills needs are needed to complete each function? Do all the staff have the required skills and knowledge to execute the duties, based on your knowledge?

 

Documents or records I would like to see are work samples, policies and procedures, standard operating procedures, logs for tasks requiring logging such as faxes, backlog of claims, deficiencies/losses created due to current situation.

 

Techniques I would employ would include observations, questioneers, interviews, documentations such as policies and manuals and historical data. This will enable me to analyze the current process and environment, it will provide me data and information as well as a visual understanding of how the process is currently completed and the factors preventing the completion of the tasks as required. It would also allow me to obtain information from the staff regarding their understanding and interpretation of the processes and provide me insight as to what they feel is working or why it is not. In addition, I would potentially work with a focus group for defining and implementing revised processes and procedures.

Reference

Noe, R. A. (2013). Employee training and development (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

The Truth About Training

So you say that training is not important in your business? Or that is complicated and costs too much?

In today's business landscape, training is not just a matter of survival; training is what separates high performance organizations from those fighting to survive. Today, many organizations view training as a luxury, not a competitive and strategic necessity; however, training is essential to secure business longevity and success. Why?

Fact 1: Training is important to grow your business, to retain valued and knowledgeable staff, and to attract high performing job candidates. Training is more than just building skills and knowledge.

Fact 2: Investing in effective training can contribute to your company’s competitive advantage…why? Because the staff’s recognizes and appreciates the investment made and it improves your staff morale and engagement; therefore, yielding stronger commitment, higher productivity, better customer service and lower turnover.

Fact 3:  Effective training improves the bottom line….why? because it can provide your staff with improved processes and methods in which to do their job more effective and efficiently which translates into improved efficiency, faster and improved production ultimately lowering your production costs and maximizing the return on your investment.

Need more facts, invite me in to conduct a needs assessment of your organization, and allow me to show you how your investment in training can elevate your organization’s performance, business’ success and improve your competitive advantage.

 

Training and Development Course

Greetings, this is Jia and I am very excited to have begun the Training and Development course. I look forward to the insight and content this course will be provide and all the new opportunities to learning. I hope everyone who subscribes enjoys the content of the blog and is able to provide feedback to the content presented.

Jia

Analyzing Scope Creep

According to Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, and Sutton, Scope creep is "the natural tendency of the client, as well as project team members, to try to improve the project's output as the project progresses" (2008). An example of scope creep is the addition of fields in an implementation which was half way completed. I once worked for an organization which was implementing a new customer management system. A team was created to plan and design the system for 20 branches of the company. The budget and plans were created and the system was designed. Once the program was developed and tested and implemented (installed) throughout 15 branches, the branch manager of the branch I worked in decided that additional fields in the program were to be added to facilitate data tracking due to the uniqueness of the business and its clientele. The request was necessary; however, it delayed the implementation by two months for all of the branches. Due to how the program was created, the additional fields could not be implemented by just adding them; the fields had to be added to the original program and installed in every branch where the program had already been  installed even if the fields would not be used. In this case, the program had to be rewritten, retested, and reinstalled in 15 branches where the implementation had already taken place and installed in the other 5 branches including ours. 

            Extra expenses were incurred in labor; the company was charged double for the labor to write the program. In addition, due to the time this consumed, the company had to pay for travel and lodging of the technicians who were contracted for the implementation of the programs due to the extended time required. In all, the company spent an extra $28,000 than budgeted. Had I been the project manager responsible for the project, I would ensure that I defined all the needs of the project in detail per branch to ensure I address every branch's needs individually and to assure that the implementation would be completed within the allotted time and would have stayed within the defined budget.

References

Portny S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Communicating Effectively

Effective communication is extremely important to ensure that the message intended is relayed effectively. Without this, communication can be misinterpreted or dismissed.

In the email, the sender seemed desperate in requesting the information needed. It is perceived that Jane was understanding of Mark’s busy schedule but insistent in obtaining her information due to a deadline. It seemed that Mark had delayed and even dismissed her prior requests.

In the voice message, Jane’s voice was more serious and unfriendly than on the email. Her tone of voice was firm and without saying it, it seemed that she was blaming Mark in advance for missing her deadline because he did not send the information required.

 

The face to face conversation to me did not seem pressing at all. It was friendly and somewhat dismissing of the fact that the information was needed immediately. Jane seemed to be asking rather than telling mark that the information is needed. In this tone, Jane’s request and deadline may not be taken seriously or as serious as on the voice message.

I believe that hearing the message but not seeing a face expression or mannerism made the message more concise and direct. I believe the voice message conveyed the true sense and meaning of how and what was said and the urgency it carried.

I have learned that effective communication is very important. I also learned that it is important to effectively relay the urgency of matters in a way in which it is understood correctly in any way it is relayed. For example, if it is a document you need, it is important that the urgency is expressed effectively to prevent a miscommunication to the receiving party. I also learn that the use of expressions and hand or face gestures can degrade the message being relayed therefore making it ineffective.

Reference

Laureate Education. (2011). The Art of Effective Communication. Retrieved November 15, 2012 from: http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html

Customers’ Files conversion to Electronic Files

I previously worked for a company which endeavored to converting their customers’ files to electronic files. This meant that all of the information contained in their customers’ accounts would be turned from paper files to an electronic file. The information in their customers’ files included signed contracts, signed invoices, and signed service agreements. The software the company planned to use was a program which was developed by one of the programmers in the company.

The project began by creating a test group. They selected a small group of accounts to convert. A timeframe was established for the conversion of the accounts, and a budget was designated for the expenses of the project. The conversion of the files consisted of utilizing a group of employees to manually scan all of the documents inside each of the customers’ files; a total of 12,000 customer files were to be scanned. The pilot group was instructed how to scan the files and was assigned 50 customer files to scan. The staff that would be responsible for the duties was selected and instructed to begin. The first 50 files were scanned with very minor issues. The management team felt the pilot run had been a success and began scanning all of the customers’ files. This is where the problem arose.

Unfortunately, the management did not take several variables into consideration when planning for the project. First, the project plan did not include all of the elements. It lacked the assignment of the roles of all the team members, a detailed project schedule, the budget allocated was not well thought out, therefore, creating a deficit, and the possible risks and responses were not addressed or planned for. The management assigned one manager to manage the execution of the project as well as manage the staff involved. This overloaded the manager as he was responsible for all phases of the project without assistance. Second, management failed to maintain vigilance and did not check the performance compared to the plan designed. The tasks of the project were taking longer than it was planned for and problems arose which were not planned for.

Needless to say, this project failed in all aspects; planning, budget, efficiency and due to the mishaps which happened during the execution of the plan, the project failed as it was abandoned and never completed. I believe that poor planning and communication caused the failure of this project. Defining an effective plan and engaging all of the stakeholders and individuals responsible for the project and its success would have ensured that the project was successful.

Reference

Greer, M. (2010). The Project Management Minimalist: Just Enough PM to Rock Your Projects! Retrieved November 9, 2012, from https://class.waldenu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/201320_04/MS_INDT/EDUC_6145/Week%202/Resources/Week%202%20Resources/embedded/pm-minimalist-ver-3-laureate.pdf

EDUC 6145-Project Management in Ed. & Training 2012

Welcome. My name is Jia Robinson and this post serves as introduction to my blog for my Project Management in Education and Training course as part of my curriculum.