Manages Operations

Activities/Tips

Ask your employees how their goals contribute to the organization’s success. If they can’t tell you, help them translate the organization’s goals into individual goals.
Find a mentor. Contact the Organization Development and Training Department if you need help.
Review individual goals to make sure they fit into the organization’s goals.
Ask, “What is the value added?” for the processes, goals, tasks, meetings, etc. that your employees (and yourself) engage in. Eliminate those that don’t add value to your organization. If you have a number of these activities that indirectly contribute, prioritize those activities and reduce the time spent on those activities with the lowest priority.
Identify the critical path to achieving your goals.
Take time regularly to review plans.
Make sure goals are SMART…s pecific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-oriented. If your workgroup does not have SMART goals, have all employees (after some tutoring) create SMART goals for you review. Use the “How to Write SMART Goals” to guide your goal development.
Break large projects into smaller steps or goals. Ensure each step has a deadline and track the completion of each step.
Ask others to evaluate your business plan and identify potential problems.
Understand the organization’s strategic vision. If you don’t know what it is, ask your immediate supervisor for an explanation.
Complete a force-field analysis. You can find this on the Internet or contact Organization Development and Training for a copy of the Change Management Toolkit.
Take a project management class.
Learn Microsoft Project or other project-planning software.
Map your business processes to identify ways to reduce waste and increase speed.
Determine if your organization’s structure fits the business processes.
Determine the discrepancies between previous plans and performance. Determine cause and effect and make adjustments accordingly.
Examine your department layout to determine how it might be changed to improve communication or improve efficiency.
For those tasks/processes that need them, develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
Develop checklists to help standardize results.
Make results visible… put up charts, graphs, scorecards, etc. to show progress against goals.
Establish an Employee Committee to make suggestions on how to improve processes.
Post notes from improvement efforts and readily share information.
Complete a SWOT analysis. Contact Organization Development and Training for a copy of The Change Management Toolkit.
Complete a Future State analysis and a Current State analysis. Contact Organization Development and Training for a copy of The Change Management Toolkit.
Delegate work to the most appropriate person by matching requirements to the capabilities of the employees.
Evaluate the workload of your area and how it is currently distributed among staff members. Consider redesigning the work flow and job tasks where appropriate.
Set up methods to measure progress/accomplishments (i.e., project charts). This will help in instilling accountability in your employees.