Management of Operational Plan - Assignment Example

Name: Class: Facilitator: Date: Management of Operational Plan Every successful business requires a good operational plan. It sets out the strategies that are required for the smooth running of any kind of business. An operational plan sets out standards of how a business can be run. An operational plan gives a description of the structure of a business company and how the business activities are carried out. It is an essential factor of consideration in any form of business. It is significant to all stakeholders for example the employees, employers and the entire management team (Franks 18). An internal operational plan is more inbuilt than the external one. An operational plan includes details of the owners of a business. It also gives a detailed description of each member of the business company. Activity 1 1 Employees are very important stakeholders in organization. Involvement and participation of these employees in decision making and initiatives produce far reaching advantages to an institution. According to studies employees engaged in company’s decision making are more productive, motivated, willing to stay and to develop within the organization. Participation creates a positive work environment. Its gives the organization an aura of god-like speed when executing its activities. This operation saves time and even cost. When employees with diverse abilities, characters and skills are given chance in initiatives they could possible promote innovations and creativity in the organization (Franks 28). Managers who seek ideas from their employees impart trust, positive attitude and confidence in their employees. A good relationship is therefore built between the management and the employees encouraging good will and heart to perform. In the event that the employees are sidelined by the management they are discouraged and do not feel part of the organization. Therefore the management team is encouraged to embrace employee participation for the success of an organization. 2 Group decision making involves two or more persons participating, sharing their ideas and coming up with a solution to a problem or a directive to be followed in order to perform a certain task. When the process and procedure of decision making is well followed in comes out as a very important tool in ensuring employee participation. Use of unanimous agreements, consensus and majority rule allows the group members to give their views and the best is finally chosen. Being part of a group and participating influences the behavior of each group members and hence the overall performance of the employee. It encourages bonding and unity among the employees hence they will pull together in ensuring the initiative is accomplished. Such groups allow the members to be more tolerant to one another, a tool that is quite important in the success of an organization. When they unanimously agree to take on a task then they are more likely to own the task and perform it to the best of their ability. A group generates new ideas and solutions that they would not have arrived at individually. Therefore, I consider group decision as a valuable tool that will aid in encouraging employees to assume responsibility and exercise initiative. Activity 2 Healthy communication between an organization and its clients is quite vital for the success of that organization (Franks 35). Clients deserve to get direct, accurate, reliable and timely information. In the event of an improvement in the operations of an organization e.g. a change in the mode of payment the clients and all the stakeholders must be informed. Proper communication channels should be initiated. A data base having contacts of all the clients should be put in place to enable direct dissemination of information. Technology must be embraced to ensure efficiency and speed. An online forum can be created where the organization management and the clients can share their ideas on the improvement. Such an organization should make it easy for the clients to communicate back through texts, direct call or mails. The clients should be updated frequently with text messages (SMS) Activity 3 1.0 Sustainability is the ability to support, uphold or manage a business based on future plans. It involves monitoring the effects of an organization on its environment and ensuring as much less harm as possible. Workplace sustainable policies are regulations that govern how an organization relates to its environment. Such proper polices are a benefit to the organization itself and to the external environment. There is a rise in consumers being more willing to associate with organizations who are sensitive to the environment. A good organization must therefore thrive to conserve the environment. They should care for the present generation who majorly form part of its employees, clients and even potential customers. It helps them be on the safe side and to avoid any interference from the governing authorities. An organization can gain a money advantage from implementing sustainable practices thus raising overall business revenue. It built a good rapport and positive public relation increasing the overall profitability. 2.0 Environmental management issues refer to factors that ensure effective use and conservation of the environment. They determine how the organization affects the preset and will affect the future quality of life. The environmental management issues include the effect of the organization on the climate, the impacts of the environment on the biological diversity. Land degradation, desertification, deforestation and forest degradation are also weighty issues to be considered. The effluents and waste pollution, the depletion of the ozone layer and accumulation of persistent organic pollutants are also put into consideration. During planning and management of the organization operations care must be taken to avoid the issues cited above. Policies must be put in place to avoid environmental degradation. Protecting the environment should be one of the key ethics a good organization should practice. These good practices ensure the longevity of the organization, its employees and clients. It also puts the business in a good social position characterized by positive public relation and image. Such an organization attracts more clients and makes good profits. Activity 5 1.0 Communicate extensively Prioritize communication according to business needs Embrace technology Encourage the organizational staff to adopt the strategy 2.0 Knowledge management system is quite beneficial to an organization that appreciates insights and experiences from business activities. The system provides a platform where information of past experiences can be posted. Managers, employees and clients can give insights about the business activities. This helps everyone who visits the platform to learn about the organization and its activities. The system too can be used for marketing and maintaining the image of the organization. After a business transaction the clients can use the knowledge management system available to give a feedback of the services offered. The system gives the management a brace of what the employees and the clients feel. Hence enables the right adjustments for the benefit of the organization. It also encourages for rise of new ideas and positive thinking. The avenue also exposes the needs of the organization. An internal analysis of the firm; flows, lines of communication, employees, cost-benefit analysis form part of the platform. The analysis will be quite fundamental in the current and future management of the organization. 3.0 a. Yes it is a knowledge management system because it allows for location, retrieval and use of the knowledge. b. Knowledge is limited to what is posted Not all the information and knowledge needed can be captured Does not allow for engagement Can be misused by some employees who may post irrelevant information The information cannot be stored for future use Does not embrace the rising technology Not convenient as people have to walk to the wall to obtain the information c. Allows for sharing of information among the employees It is cost effective Does not require additional operational cost The operation of the walls do not require trained personnel Activity 6 Tools have been employed to monitor operational processes. Ways have been identified by the employees to improve planning and operation. Are the ways and tools efficient? To answer the question the employees’ actions must be analyzed. The results of their efforts should be determined if there are gearing towards or veering from improving planning and operation. Specific forms of measurements can be employed to determine the productivity of the employees. Daily, weekly and monthly progress should be continually monitored. Monitoring their progress will show if their efforts are for the benefit of the organization or not. Accountability system can also be created where the employees document time usage during a given period of time. This will help determine if the employees use their timer well in achieving the plans and goals of an organization. An open plan office system is also encouraged so that the managers can monitor closely the operations of the employees. All these are to give specific direction improve time management and productivity of the employees. Activity 7 Customer complaints must be dealt with effectively. The complaints should therefore be communicated promptly to the relevant stakeholders for proper solutions. In most scenarios the strategies are communicated to the management team hence considered a vertical form of communication. A junior employee delivers information o the senior ones within the organization. The information about the strategies must be well packaged and elaborate to be convincing to the management. Care should be taken to expose the weaknesses of the earlier strategies and show the strengths of the new strategies. The information given should not be raw but well synthesized and ready to put into use as a matter of urgency. Basic communication skills such as listening, speaking, questioning and sharing feedback should also be utilized effectively. Management and staff meeting can too be used to solicit for feedback from the relevant stakeholders. Support should also be sought from same level employees to help in championing for the same. During communication solid evidence of customers complaints should too be provided. Activity 8 Employees always play a very important role in every successful story in an organization. In most cases they don’t receive the feedback. But it is quite fundamental to give the employees a feedback of their performance within the organization. If the feedback is not encouraging then they’ll be alarmed to pull up their socks. This allows for guidance and correction from the relevant stakeholders. In this scenario the customers are impressed with the outcome of the continuous assessment by the employees (Reider 45). This comes as a motivation to these employees. Frequent effective performance reviews give the employees an opportunity to be appreciated for the good work. The reviews are also quite good for employee growth. Create avenues for the promotions of employees. The feedback about their performance should be communicated to them more frequently to keep them on toes. Right choice of words is to be used especially when giving a negative feedback to avoid demoralizing any of the employees. Tokens can be rewarded to ensure memory and effective motivation. Activity 9 1. Gargets 1st 12-hour shift 2nd 12-hour shift 3rd 12-hour shift 1. Misshapen 2. Undersize 3. Oversize 2. Pie chart, Line graph, Histogram, Bar graph 3. Help the audience to visualize the point of presentation Graphs make the data more convincing Provide a compact way of presenting information Help audiences stay engaged Graphs and charts emphasize the main points Activity 10 1An organizations need to improve its performance daily to match with the changing external and internal environments. The productivity at the workplace must be improved. The employees sector must be improved (Reider 56). Deserving employees should be promoted to ensure their motivation. They should be rewarded, encouraged, motivated and rewarded. The employees’ teamwork should be enhanced. The participation of employees in the activities, initiative and decision making in the organization should be heightened. The management team should be more competent and ready to listen to the needs of the junior employees. Organization-client or customer relationship is also quite mandatory for an organization. The organization too must be ready to implement policies of sustainability. 2.0 To facilitate these improvements, avenues and strategies must be put ready and in place. These strategies will support these improvements now and even in the future. A committee can be put in place to monitor the implementation. The committee should constitute employees from across the ranks to ensure the process is owned by the organization as a whole. A strategic plan should as well be formulated. Objectives should be set and action plans put in place to ensure the objectives are met. Avenues should then be set to monitor the execution of the strategies until the set short term and long term goals are met. Enough resources such finances should be allocated to be used during the process. Qualified personnel can as well be employed to carry out the plans to the latter. A sense of commitment must be instilled in the persons who will be involved in the conducting each step of the improvements. Enough research and study should precede all these. Sensitization to the leadership and management should be done to ensure this is done for all the generations to come. With these the improvements can remain supported now and in the future. Work Cited Franks, Bill. The analysis revolution: how to improve your business by making analytics operational in the big data era. John Wiley & Sons, 2014. Print Reider, Rob. Developing Successful Business Strategies: Gaining the Competitive Advantage. New York: Business Expert Press, 2014. Print. Read More