Job Analysis Part 4

• What is a Critical Incident?
• A Critical Incident:
• “The incident must occur in a situation where the purpose or intent of the act seems fairly clear to the observer and where its consequences are sufficiently definite concerning its effects”
• Critical Incident Technique
• General Aims & Objectives
• Identification of the Specific Aim of the Analysis
• Decide whether Observed Behavior relates to the Specific Aim
• Planning
• Determine who will Perform the Observations
• Familiarity with the Activity Observed (e g , Supervisors)
• Training
• Activity & Requirements
• Planning
• Groups
• Location & Time
• Person & Conditions
• Behaviors
• Type of Activity & Behaviors
• Relevance & Importance to General Aim

Until next time...

 




Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/

Effective Complaint Handling Part 9

• Information from the complaints handling process and the trending data can be used to drive continuous improvement
• Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle:
• Plan  --- Planning the improvement activity
• Do  --- Implementing the plan
• Check --- Measuring the outcome against what has been projected in the plan
• Act --- this will mean either continuing with the planned activity or changing the plan to improve the results
• Complaints need to be tracked to ensure
• Completion
• Attention
• Feedback
• Action
• Some trends to watch out for:
• Most complaints per product
• Most complaints per salesperson /sales area
• Most complaints per customer
• Seasonality
• Functionality
• Increase in complaint numbers
• Decrease in complaint numbers
• Failure of the complaint handling process can have a major impact on an organization due to:
• Loss of revenue when customers move away
• Competitors use the source of the complaint to attract customers to their products
• Increased sales and marketing expenditure to attract new customers
• Decreased revenue and profitability

Until next time...






Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/

Simple Steps to Team Problem Solving Part 3

Types of Problems

Problems can be broadly grouped into 3 categories:

• People problems may be difficult to resolve because:
• People are not totally logical
• Emotions can play a part
• Psychological influences
• Implicit personality theory
• Judging others by traits we find attractive in ourselves
• The Halo effect
• Initial judgment will affect all further interaction
• Stereotypes
• Judging individuals due to the group to which they belong
• Process problems include:
  • Mechanical
  • Electrical
  • Electronic
  • Chemical
  • Information
  • These problems are usually logical but complex, thereby requiring a high level of technical knowledge
• System problems when resolved ensure that:
• Everything happens as it should
• Every time
• By everyone

Usually people are a key element of systems in the design and implementation of the systems.  This adds another level of complexity to system problems. 

  

Each problem category has its own peculiarities which must be taken into consideration.

Until next time...






Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/

Simple Steps to Team Problem Solving Part 2

Problem-solving activities can fail due to:

• Lack of Clarification:
• Don't know what the problem is
• Don’t know causes/sources
• Not clear who has responsibility
• Don’t have right people involved
• No action plans or evaluation
• No one sees the whole picture
• Poor Problem-Solving Skills:
• Lack of training
• Capabilities of team members
• No emphasis put on problem solving as a critical business skill in the organization
• Lack of Focus:
• Insufficient focus on the problem at hand leading to non-completion
• Too many problems being tackled at once
• Activity centered on problems that affect non-critical business areas, thereby devaluing the problem-solving activity
•  Lack of Resources:
• Information not available or accessible
• No personnel released to work on problem-solving teams
• Little or no cooperation
• No support from senior levels
• Non-Implementable Solutions:
• Resistance to change
• Cost
• Political issues
• Capability of personnel
• Time requirements
• Wrong solutions generated

Until next time...






Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/

Simple Steps to Team Problem Solving Part 1

In organizations where problems exist but remain unsolved, the organization may suffer from demotivation, loss of customers, waste of resources, and reduction of profit. In this course, we learned about solving problems which usually leads to increased productivity and improved quality and efficiency.

 

A problem is a deviation from acceptable performance.

• Problem-solving is the process of tracking problems to their source and developing and implementing steps to eliminate them for the future.
• Problem-solving is a process, not a quick fix
• It is different from short-term fixes such as minimizing disruptions or surface treating difficulties.
• It is finding the cause and eliminating it at the source.
• It requires curiosity, careful analysis, planning, and follow-through. 

Until next time...






Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/

The Most Effective Use Of Time Right Now Part 4

Busy or Productive

Just because you are busy does not mean that you are productive.  There is a need to clearly differentiate between:

• Effectiveness  -- doing the right things
• Efficiency  -- doing the right things correctly

Rating Your Productivity

In order to rate your productivity, you need to be clear on:

• What exactly are your objectives?
• Are you aware of how your productivity is measured?
• How certain are you that you are spending you time doing the right things?

Time logs and Productivity

Log how you spend your time every day for two weeks then identify the following issues that impact on your productivity:

• Issues that you should not have dealt with
• Issues where you had a high dependency on others
• Issues relating to communication
• Issues that relate to poor planning
• Issues that relate to a lack of a particular skill
• Issues that relate to bad habits 

Once these issues have been identified, they can be tackled. It is important to recognize that some are due to bad habits such as dependency or taking on too much, whereas others are due to inadequate systems such as communication and planning.

Until next time...






Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/

The Most Effective Use Of Time Right Now Part 2

Proactive vs. Reactive Work

Proactive work - concentrates on making things happen

• Developing plans and schedules
• Focusing on key tasks
• Achieving deadlines & targets
• Managing projects

Reactive work is based on dealing with the immediate and urgent issues that arrive usually in an uncontrolled manner.  The short-term focus leads to a perpetuation of the requirement for reactive work.

Procrastination

Why do we put things off instead of doing them?

• A response to stress that accompanies difficult or challenging tasks
• A habit that has formed over time
• Poor or no prioritization
• Poor or no planning 

The results of procrastination can be stated as:

• Stress
• Pressure
• Crises
• Continuous fire-fighting
• Reduction in quality  

These are all excellent reasons for stopping procrastination, so when faced with a task, decide to deal with it according to one of the following actions:

• Do it
• Delegate it
• Dump it
• Deadline it
• Dissect it  

If procrastination is having a negative impact on your personal productivity - take the following action points:

• Take ownership of your own procrastination
• Do something to get things moving
• Remove the fear of failure from standing in the way of your effectiveness
• Start today - right now!

Until next time...






Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/

What Children Can Teach Us About Change

Change can be particularly difficult for us as adults.  Here are some things that we can learn from children that can help us get through some difficult times.

Persistence: Have you ever seen a child at a task that seems impossible?  If you have, you've probably also seen her achieve the task due to pure persistence.  Now, how often have you seen us as adults give up before we even have begun?  

Compassion For Others:  Knowing others enables us to know ourselves.  As children, we learn compassion for others, and this helps us to play collaboratively. We learn to understand how we would feel and react in certain situations from learning from others.  The resilient child intuitively knows that compassion helps us form bonds that will propel us forward even in times of great change.

Sense Of Humor: Children have fun.  They fall down, laugh and get back up again.   We adults, on the other hand, complain about how life is so hard.  We often don't get back up .  It is as if it is easier to complain about the hard knocks of life than to enjoy what we do.  Humor often puts the magnitude of change in perspective.  This laughter helps us all to rise above and bounce back with a new energy.  

Strong Ethics: Children learn right from wrong and apply this to different settings.  This conviction can be very marked and allows children to bounce back from many situations. The baggage we carry distracts us from our goals and make us less resilient in our outlook.  

Get Attention In Positive Ways:  We all like praise.  Children especially like reinforcement, and they often seek out positive and negative ways to get this attention.  The positive actions usually create the change they desire.  

Positive Outlook On Life:  A positive outlook on life is a hallmark of resilient individuals.  It is not what happens to us but our response to it that predicts our emotional health.  Children learn to be more resilient by becoming more optimistic in response to difficulty.  Children as a rule start life with an optimistic perspective.  Resilient children and adults keep this outlook in later life, and it enables them to take on life's challenges directly.  

Effort Can Change Things: Children know that they can effect change in their environment no matter what size they are.  If you need evidence, just think of a crying child who stops crying when he gets what he wants!  As adults, many of us act as if we have no control.  However, as the Dalai Lama said, "if you think you are too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room."  You'll soon realize that size doesn’t matter.  

Plan Ahead:  Children can be ingenious in breaking situations down into manageable pieces and then planning and coordinating action.

Until next time...






Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/

Importance Rather Than Urgency

As the world moves at a faster and faster pace, it's essential not only that things get done faster, but also that the right things get done in a timely manner.  It's crucial that employees work not only efficiently, but also effectively.

We choose to use our time consciously or unconsciously, and we often let others decide how we spend it.  Getting done what is important to us is time well-spent.  Doing what is important at work is productive.  By getting done what we want and need in the time we've allocated, our stress level is lower and our quality of life is improved.

So, how do we get what's important done in the time allocated?

Knowledge -- Choice -- Time

You need to know clearly what you need or want to do.  Make choices from among the actions that demand your time and schedule time to act on your choices.  Time management is about prioritizing objectives in order of importance rather than urgency.

Setting objectives is about planning.  Planning is about control.  Being in control is being self-empowered.

Setting goals can help us accomplish our priorities based on our values and roles.  In reality, goal-setting is planning for personal achievement.  You decide what you want to achieve with your time and then set the precise personal targets that will lead you to achievement.

We all have important things to do in our lives, but how do we remember how and when to do them?  One way is by making an effective list.  Prioritized to-do lists are lists of tasks necessary to achieve goals.  Lists can be extremely powerful, both as a method of organizing your time and as a method of reducing stress.  Often, problems may seem intimidating or too large.

You may have what seems like a huge number of demands on your time.  Start by writing down the tasks that face you, and if they are large, break them down into smaller and smaller elements until they are manageable.

Happy planning!

Until next time...







Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/

The Secret is Managing Your Priorities

Time Management
The secret to managing time is figuring out what is most important to you and making sure that you set aside time to accomplish your goals.  Daily planners, "To Do" lists, priority-setting, and other organizational methods can help you to work smarter. The way you use these tools to manage your priorities is true time management.  What is truly important for you to be doing right now?  If it's not what you are working on, then stop.  Ask yourself that question repeatedly to be able to manage your time best.
 
We all experience situations in which we do not manage our time and ourselves as well as we could. How are other people (co-workers, boss, customers, other departments) affected by your use of time? What are some changes you can make now to become more organized and use your time more effectively?

Until next time...







Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/