2021 UNIT 4 – WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT BUS 5113 (BREAKTHROUGH IMPROVEMENT PLAN CASE) UNIVERSITY OF PEOPLE To successfully implement a breakthrough improvement plan, the senior management's responsibility is to establish and communicate effectively the strategic direction for achieving the company's objectives for the identified process or their overall processes. In this case plan, the senior management failed to handle their responsibility properly. Granted, they established the strategic direction for turning around their operations, however, they failed to communicate effectively this direction throughout the company. This paper is going to review the communication issues and channel that were bypassed in a local processing plant facing low quality mail sortation and current performance of 93% below the goal of 98% set when areas for improvement were outlined. Communication Issues The following can be deduced from the case study given: § Customer complaints were on the rise, but the engagement process for customers to identify customer requirements and fulfill them was absent. § Employee performance review was not communicated due to fear of union. Employees probably interns and new interns did not know whether their process was right or wrong as a result of this absent performance review communication. § A plant such as this works well with diagonal communication across the cross-functional teams, however, the maintenance department was not informed of the machine breakdown. § There were no channels for feedback from the employees to the company’s leadership. § The measurement system (quarterly contest) introduced was not communicated throughout the company. Communication Channels Bypassed The written communication channel from clear indications was missing. Reports including supporting data & detailed explanation of the company’s findings from management review was not cascaded to the employees to persuade them especially those handling the mail sorting to action. The organization lacked message boards and discussion forums that could help employees to instantly get their concerns across to the senior management. Implementation of the Improvement Plan Assuming I were to be among the leadership of this improvement plan, my approach would be different. The first step to developing a successful plan would require a bottom-up communication approach which involves having all team members identifying how their roles contribute to the value chain. Asking pertinent questions to know what they feel can be done differently to reduce customer complaints and filtering their suggestions and responses to create a solid plan. People tend to align with the objectives of an improvement plan when they have the sense of ownership because they contributed to the plan. Creating a sense of ownership is essential to building and sustaining productive staff and improving performance level. Activities that foster this ownership offer a platform for reinforcing a culture of breakthrough improvement such that the improvement plan is communicated in one voice with everyone speaking from the same script (National Association of County & City Health Officials, 2013, pp. 9). Another approach I would take is to establish communication processes with key stage sponsors and stakeholders. This approach would enable clear feedback and reports from the floor manager who already has a sense of ownership of his role from the earlier step of involving him during the plan draft phase. Weekly reports from the floor manager would give realtime view of the performance metrics of the plan such that it does not have to wait till the end of the first quarter to discover that the quality remained at 93%. This would help maintain a constant level of awareness about the breakthrough improvement plan. Often, the root cause of inefficiency and one of the biggest obstacles to seamless production operations within a company is the lack of coordinated efforts between departments. (National Association of County & City Health Officials, 2013, pp. 13). Fostering this collaborative communication will facilitate cross-functional teams who may not normally work together to identify gaps and address them. This approach will enable the maintenance department to be informed and aware of the machine down-time and overtime usage which was high. Perception is mostly the reality for employees. Promoting the perception that the improvement plan process is enjoyable and productive will boost employee morale and create a culture that encourages open communication. I would also use monthly newsletters to employees and monthly staff meetings to communicate the results of the plan and reinforce the concept and expectation of the plan to all team members. Suggestions for Effective Program Implementation with A Focus on Communication 1) Present the improvement plan in various forms: Individuals absorb information in different ways. Some prefer visual learning; others would routinely ignore long emails. Presenting the plan in different forms, with a mix of video, audio and written communication forms will help carry everyone along to get a complete overview of the objectives (Weaver, n.d.). 2) Create and define channels for bottom-up constructive feedback. Open feedback is the prime source of information. 3) Be flexible and monitor the plan at work. It helps to explore diverse perspectives to it and make adjustments where and when necessary. Conclusion Communication is considered as the blood vessel that brings life in an organization’s flow, and lack of information will cause a disorder to the heart of the organization. Without effective communication improvement plans will not succeed. Necessary information should be considered before a decision must be taken, when it is taken, during implementation and after implementation (Ali Banihashemi, 2011, p. 23). REFERENCES Ali Banihashemi, S. (2011). The Role of Communication to Improve Organizational Process. European Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(1), 23. http://www.journalsbank.com/ejhss.htm National Association of County & City Health Officials. (n.d.). Guide to Communicating about Performance Improvement [E-book]. https://toolbox.naccho.org/api/ToolBlob?blobKey=0045ca9d-53ee-4706-8fa3- f447ff4aa56c&fileName=Guide_to_Communicating_about_PI_website.pdf Weaver, J. (n.d.). How To Effectively Communicate Your Strategic Plan To Employees. Clearpoint Strategy. Retrieved July 13, 2020, from https://www.clearpointstrategy.com/communicating-strategy-be-effective/
