Improving Productivity Issues - Thesis Example

Improving Productivity Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Name and Code: University: Date Assignment is due: Improving Productivity Different scholars have defined productivity on a project in various ways. Productivity is the overall measurement of the ability to come up with a good or service. Being more specific to a project, productivity can be described as a measure of how resources are managed so as to accomplish objectives and goals as stated in terms of quality and quantity in a given project. Productivity in a project may also be defined as an index used to measure outputs which are goods and services relative to inputs which are materials, labor and energy among others (Vora 1992, pp. 42) Productivity is regarded as an objective concept. This means it can be evaluated or measured against a set universal standard. Project managers can monitor the productivity of a project due to various reasons such as project improvement and planning. On the other hand, productivity is a scientific concept. This means that it can be empirically observed and logically defined. Productivity can be measured in various quantitative terms that are regarded as variables. It can be measured and defined in relative or absolute terms. The absolute definition of productivity is not essential but, it turns to be useful when dealing with a productivity factor or relative productivity. Productivity turns to be more useful as a relative measure when actual output in a project is compared to the actual input in the same project (Vora 1992, pp. 42). A productivity measure describes how resources in the organization are utilized, either effectively or ineffectively. Productivity should not be confused with efficiency. The challenge of productivity is always seen as a challenge of measurement. It is difficult to measure productivity since it can only be measured indirectly. Other variables have to be measured then productivity is calculated from them (Bernolak 2009, pp. 5). The difficulty in measuring productivity comes from the fact that outputs and inputs are difficult to quantify and define. Productive measurement system in any project should have an overall index of productivity. A reliable measurement program merges productive measurements into a given overall rating of performance. Such a system is must be flexible so as to accommodate changes in policies and goals in the future. The system should have the ability and capacity to aggregate various measurement systems of the various units in a project into a single system and, compare the productivity of various units in the project. Experts indicate that there is a need for a measurement program that pays attention to quality apart from productivity alone. When quality is involved in the calculation of the ratios, output is regarded as the number of defect-free units that are in the production (Bernolak 2009, pp. 5). There are two factors that determine when the productivity measures are to be used in performance measures. One of the factors is the independence of the transformation process in the project. In a project, there may be transformation process from the various processes. This process can be used to determine the productivity measure to be used to performance measure. The second factor is the correspondence between outputs and inputs at the productivity measurement process. There are several ways of improving productivity in a project (Richman 2006, pp. 21-113). Project managers should invoke formal and regular status reporting. Project team members should be required to report progress against schedule and plans on a weekly basis. The reporting should be done at the low task level. The purpose of status reporting is to create real progress and verify the efficacy of the proposed project plan, estimates and schedule. The percentage of completion should not be included in the reporting. One of the ways of improving the productivity in a project is through the provision of high visibility. A project manager should report status to the users and management. He or she should also emphasize the importance of deliverable products. Projects should not be too visible (Stevenson 1999, pp. 25-89). A high visibility ensures that there is support from the management. The management is forced to meddle into the project if they are not aware of what is happening in the project. If and when a project faces rough sledding, project managers need the support of the management. The support from the management should be nurtured through installing confidence to the management which comes from informing the management frequently. The other way of improving the productivity in the project is through establishing a frequency of status reporting. Every project team member should be given one task to complete every week. In this way, the team members will have something to report. A team member should not have more than two weeks to complete a task (Sink 1985, pp. 11-111). The tasks should be broken further and distributed to the team members. The management will not necessarily get interested in weekly task level management. Status reporting is obfuscated bearing in mind that it is too frequent and detailed. A main deliverable and milestone product should be scheduled every month. The project should not be allowed to continue for two months without planning for significant events. A formal report should be prepared after completion of every phase in a project. This should include submission of a plan for the next phase. Submitting a major deliverable product is a critical event. The product may be requiring users and management approval and review. If one of the mentioned activities does not occur within two months, the project should be re-planned and reconstructed. Recognizing deviation early is another way of improving productivity in a project. The project manager has access to information regarding the project. The information can help the project manager to detect problems and deviations at an early point (Stevenson 1999, pp. 25-89). Acting early will mean acting small. A corrective action can be taken in doses to avoid disruption of the project. The project manager, upon receiving weekly status reports from the project members must give actual progress and any deviations in the project. If the team members or the project are ahead of the estimates the project manager should think on how to adjust the estimates accordingly. Some minor adjustments in the estimates should be undertaken weekly as the project continues. The minor adjustment need not to be communicated to the project team if they do not have an impact on the dates for deliverable products or major milestones. The next way of improving productivity in a project is through identification of the causes of deviation (Vora 1992, pp. 46-49). Even when dealing with the best planned projects, some deviations have to be noted. The place to search for the corrective measures in is the plan. Sometimes when carrying out a project, minor adjustments may not be able to keep the project on course. This in turn, influences the actions to be taken by the project manager and team members. Various changes in the project scope may lead to changes in work. Also, resources in the project may be misused or lost. The technology that is used in the project may also be misunderstood by the project team members. This in turn may lead to problems during interaction among the team members. When a project happens to deviate from the schedule and plan, the dynamics of resources, key variables of work and time can determine its success (Vrat, Sardana & Sahay 1998, pp. 56-115). Persistent or severe schedule slipping is another problem experienced apart from those that alters work to be done. The best course of action is admitting that the estimates in the project were optimistic and that the project may require longer time to complete. In addition, schedule slippage can be seen as a sign of problems instead of cause of the problems. Time extension in the project may not necessarily be a solution to these problems. Institution of correct measures is also a way of improving productivity in a project (Prokopenko & international labor organization 1987, pp. 121-152). The schedule should be altered if only the project manager is well convinced that the problems facing the project arise from ambitious schedule and estimates. There is no way that increasing resources in the project in the same schedule will lead to success. For such a case, Brook’s law drives and takes over the project to a disaster. Project managers have an obligation of carrying out a detailed analysis of any trouble in the project. They can do this with the help of an independent party that is not involved in the project. If the underlying causes of problems in the project are not eliminated, greater problems will erupt in the project. This is because the project manager and the project team members will only attempt to apply a corrective action to these problems. The management of the organization undertaking the project should be supportive in this process (Plenert 2001, pp. 42-153). Once effective corrective measures have been initiated, project manager should start again from square one. A formal status report of the project should be prepared once again so as to drive a new stake on to the ground. A new project schedule and plan should then be developed by the project manager and the team. They should bear in mind that the resources, dynamics of work and time should be different from the other initially planned project. Instituting corrective measures in a project can help to come up with increased productivity in the project. Productivity improvement is achievable in various ways. If output level is increased at a faster rate than the input, increase in productivity will be experienced. Also, productivity can be increased if output is decreased at a faster rate than output. Productivity can be experienced in an organization if more output is realized using the same level of input. A number of steps may be taken by a department or firm in improving productivity. There are many steps of production improvements that can be adopted (Vora 1992, pp. 46-49). One of them is developing productivity measures in all operations since measurement is one of the steps in controlling and managing an organization. The other step is viewing the system as a whole and then deciding the operations that are crucial in the productivity. Methods of obtaining productivity improvement should then be developed from ideas from the workers. A study on how the firm has increased its productivity can also be done so as to come up with a productivity improvement. Reasonable goals for productivity improvement should be established. The project managers should make sure that the management encourages and supports productivity improvement. They should ensure that there are incentives to reward the employees in the organization. Improvements should be measured and publicized so that the organization can learn from them. As mentioned earlier, productivity in a project should not be confused with efficiency (Bernolak 2009, pp. 6). Efficiency is deriving the best from a given set of resources while productivity involves the use of all available resources for the project. However, organizations should not only consider productivity as the main driver for the organization. All competitive ability should be considered in an organization to ensure that performance is achieved. The success of a firm is grouped by quality, reasonable lead time, innovation, cycle time and many other factors that are directed towards improving customer satisfaction and service. In conclusion, there are several definitions of productivity depending on the scholars of management. In my own views, I believe that productivity in a project can be improved immensely. Invoking formal and regular status reporting of the project is a way of promoting productivity. High visibility should be performed in the project. Project managers have an obligation of providing visibility in the project to improve on productivity. Identifying the causes of deviation in projects and ways of correcting the deviation can also improve productivity. Project managers and project team members should establish the ways of detecting deviations and how to adjust the project accordingly. The project managers should try and detect deviations and errors in the projects as early as they can. When the deviations are detected early, it is easy to rectify them. Initiating corrective measures after detecting a fault in a project is crucial. In management, there are ways of improving performance in an organization. If output level is increased at a faster rate than the input, increase in productivity will be experienced. Project managers and management should have a clear way of dealing with performance of the organization or projects initiated. List of References Asbell, B & Vough, C 1986, Productivity: A Practical Program for Improving Efficiency, Productivity Research International, New York. Bernolak, I 2009, Succeed with productivity and quality: how to do better with less, ASQ Quality Press, Plankinton. Plenert, G 2001, The eManager: Value Chain Management in an eCommerce World.  Blackhall Publishing Dublin, Ireland . Plenert, GJ 2002, International Operations Management. Copenhagen Business School Press, Copenhagen, Denmark. Prokopenko, J & international labour organization 1987, Productivity management: a practical handbook, ILO, Geneva. Richman, L 2006, Improving your project management skills, AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, New York. Sink, DS 1985, Productivity management: planning, measurement and evaluation, control, and improvement, Wiley, Michigan Stevenson, WJ 1999, Production and Operations Management, Irwin McGraw-Hill, Boston, MA. Sumanth, DJ 1998, Total productivity management: a systemic and quantitative approach to compete in quality, price, and time, St. Lucie Press, Florida. Vora, JA 1992, "Productivity and Performance Measures: Who Uses Them," Production and Inventory Management Journal, Vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 46-49. Vrat, P, Sardana, D & Sahay, BS 1998, Productivity Management: A Systems Approach, Narosa Publishing House, London. Read More