Monitor and review performance:
Content guide
Contents
Monitor and review performance: Content guide
Overview
Key terms
2
2
Monitoring for continuous improvement
Why monitor?
Steps to monitoring
Monitoring the results
Using technology to monitor
Flow charts
4
4
4
5
6
7
Strategies and techniques for improving quality
Creative problem solving
The PDCA cycle
Quality circles
Process re-engineering
Benchmarking
Gap analysis
7
7
9
10
11
11
12
Service improvement
Who are our customers?
Customer-driven organisations
12
12
13
Adjusting plans
Benefits of planning
Environmental influences on planning
14
14
14
More resources
15
Sample answers to ‘My workplace’ questions
17
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Overview
Continuous improvement is all about finding ways of doing business better.
Using reliable tools you will be able to collect and analyse data and plan for
further improvements. This Content guide gives information and short
activities to help you:

apply monitoring systems to obtain useful feedback on your plans and
ideas

evaluate strategies and techniques for improving quality

develop plans for improving service to internal (staff) and external
customers

evaluate progress to plan and make any necessary adjustments to ensure
objectives are met.
Key terms
Benchmarking
Provides a reference point so that comparisons can be made between current
and past performance in a single department or across an organisation.
Comparisons can also be made with competitors within the same industry,
including the market leaders.
Control chart
A simple graph used to show variation in results. An upper and lower limit
are set, in an attempt to identify when performance moves away from the
ideal.
Cross-functional teams
Teams that involve employees from all departments of an organisation,fFor
example, people from the production floor, retail, marketing, sales and
finance. This helps improve communication across the organisation and
allows for realistic operational plans.
Hazard register
A check sheet where information on workplace dangers can be recorded for
immediate action. The register is checked and signed off on a daily basis by
a staff member assigned this responsibility.
Job description
A detailed description of the activities and responsibilities of a position. A
standard of work performance is also included, as well as anything else
relevant to the position, such as who a person reports to and those reporting
to the position.
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Monitoring
The process of measuring and comparing actual results or work in progress
with the planned performance.
Performance
The way in which a person or team behaves, and the extent to which they
complete their work tasks.
Questionnaire
A list of questions seeking information for statistical or other purposes.
Total quality management (TQM)
TQM refers to an integrated approach by organisational leaders to focus all
levels of the business on quality. Continuous improvement systems and
processes are employed to improve quality in all aspects of the business.
This ultimately results in a better quality product and consequently to
greater customer satisfaction.
Variance
In a quality management system, variance is any deviation or variation from
a particular level of performance outcome. Specific tools are used to
measure and manage variance.
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Monitoring for continuous
improvement
Why monitor?
Improving quality is all about directing your team to effectively meet
customer needs. It is a continuous process that involves:

achieving a better understanding of the market

being innovative when developing products and processes

managing and distributing products and materials

providing high quality service to customers.
The success of quality improvement is based on how well you measure the
success of your organisation's products and services against your customers'
expectations.
You have probably heard the term: if you fail to plan, then plan to fail.
Planning is essential for business success. But monitoring is just as
important as planning. Without continual feedback on how a plan is going,
the plan itself becomes meaningless. Developing and reviewing progress
reports and adjusting plans when necessary, will ensure that quality
improvements are achieved.
Steps to monitoring
Step 1: Where do you need to monitor?
Ask the question: What change would make the single biggest difference to
your workplace?
Some of the following examples of organisational improvements may apply
to your organisation, or there might be other ones that are important for your
team to function at their best:

customer service on the telephone

reducing waste

increasing profit

improving production/supply

advertising and marketing your goods/service.
Step 2: What will you measure to provide quick and clear information?
You will need to know what you are measuring and why. For example, there
is no use measuring the effectiveness of a new telephone customer service
program by surveying all your customers — you need to speak with those
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customers directly affected by the new service. This way you will receive
specific and timely feedback so that progress can be checked against the
plan for improved service.
What will you need to look for in an effective measurement tool?
It must be:

accurate

specific

well-timed — providing quick and easy feedback when you need it

cost effective.
Step 3: What is the gap between current performance and the goal or
standard?
Ask the question: How is your team performing now compared with where
you would like to be?
You should establish a basis to work from and then measure progress
towards your goal.
Step 4: What action do you need to take?
Making unnecessary changes will demotivate your team. However,
collecting and analysing carefully measured results will give you the
information you need to do one of the following:
1. Make short-term quick fixes in the interim until you have worked out a
better long-term adjustment.
2. Change plans if the goal has been unrealistic, for example sales targets
might need to be adjusted if your product has experienced a delay from the
overseas suppliers, a situation that couldn’t have been predicted.
3. Make corrections so that barriers to performance can be eliminated.
4. Prevent problems that have been identified by your monitoring system.
5. Develop and follow a contingency plan of action if there are unforeseen
circumstances that have taken you temporarily off target.
Further reading
To find out more about the ‘four steps to monitoring’ see Cole, K (2001)
Supervision. The theory and practice of first-line management 2nd Edition,
Prentice Hall: Sydney, Chapter 5, pp 172–174.
Monitoring the results
In the past, most organisations approached quality control by inspecting
products and services after they were produced or accomplished. Quality
assurances were typically audits done by specialists using pre-determined
standards of performance as their criteria, but they were done after the
product or service had been supplied! Traditional organisations anticipated
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that there would be errors in the results and devoted generous resources to
fix the problems.
Total quality management (TQM) focuses on improving the processes and
systems that create the products or services, so that they are error free and
there is minimal waste of resources.
TQM puts quality control and quality assurance further back in the
production and service process by empowering team leaders and workers.
My workplace
1. Does your work team monitor progress or just the results? What changes could
you make to the monitoring systems in your work environment?
Answer:
Using technology to monitor
Traditional management also tends to rely on technological advances such
as automation and computers to produce improved quality and productivity.
These tend to be one-off improvements, and this means that you must then
wait for the next major technological advancement to initiate the next
improvement.
TQM does not ignore these breakthroughs but places more value on small,
incremental gains resulting from daily attention to enhancing how work is
done. Continuous improvement relies on feedback from the customers —
both internal and external. This feedback can be both informal, for example
using stakeholder analysis, and formal, for example using focus groups and
surveys.
In a TQM system, technology is used to measure and manage variance —
this is any deviation or variation from a particular level of performance
outcome. The specific tools that are used include:

stratification charts

flow charts

process control charts

scatter plots.
They are tools used by an organisation to determine if a process is within
control limits.
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Flow charts
Flow charts are very popular tools. This is because a flow chart is a pictorial
representation of the steps of a process. A flow chart shows the order and
relationship of steps in a process. As you move down the page of the flow
chart, you see a graphic illustration of the activities in the process. The value
of it is that it helps the team leader or supervisor look for bottlenecks or
other places where efficiency can be enhanced.
By studying a flow chart, you can uncover any loopholes in your logic. A
flow chart can describe the flow of an invoice, materials or the steps
involved in developing a training program. It can be elaborate or very
straightforward.
Using a flow chart as a planning tool will assist you in the design and
evaluation of a process before it is implemented. A flow chart can also be
used to evaluate and improve existing systems and processes.
Further reading
For more information about TQM tools refer to Cole, K (2001) Supervision.
The theory and practice of first-line management. 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall:
Sydney, Chapter 9, pp 262–268.
Strategies and techniques for
improving quality
Creative problem solving
Sometimes it is hard to know how to get started when it comes to creative
thinking. But there is a process that can assure that you receive the best
results time after time. This process has three stages:
1. Preparation
This is where the problem is defined. You must take the time to gather the
facts, do the initial research and get organised. Some of the most helpful
techniques to use during this stage are:

reframing — stating the problem in different ways

cause analysis — identifying the real cause of the problem.
For example, Arens, a team leader at a local council, has a poorly motivated
team of outdoor workers because of restructuring and job insecurity. Some
of the possible causes include:

organisational changes

increased pressure to perform
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
poor training

lack of communication

change in ratepayer expectations

faulty equipment.
2. Generate ideas
This is where you explore all of the options and opportunities. It helps to
stay open-minded and encourage input from all concerned. Some creative
thinking ideas that work well in this stage are:

Brainstorming
This is a great group process where a small group of motivated people
(fewer than eight) are encouraged to build on the ideas of others in the
group.
Brainstorming works well when:

o
you have a well-defined problem
o
someone is assigned to document group ideas
o
someone is assigned to keep it on track and moving.
Checklists
Checklists are lists of questions that are designed to make you consider all
aspects of a problem.
Here’s an example where a plant bakery team leader, Ken, needed to
identify hazards in the workplace.
Table: Ken’s checklist for hazards in the workplace
Question
Ken’s problem
S
What can you Substitute?
Faulty equipment for new equipment.
C
What can you Combine?
Group effort to come up with new ideas to
reduce risk.
A
What can you Adapt?
Ideas used in other departments.
M
What can you Modify?
Minimise incidence of accidents on the
production floor.
P
What can you Put to another
use?
Encourage staff to be proactive in spotting
risks rather than not reporting them.
E
What can you Eliminate?
Unnecessary errors as a result of coaching
staff on the use of new tools, ie check
sheets.
R
What can you Reverse?
Trend towards increasing workplace
injuries due to faulty equipment.
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3. Selecting and implementing solutions
Typically you will have defined your problem and used one or more of the
creative thinking techniques to generate ideas and options. Only when you
are sure you have explored every option, can you start to narrow things
down.
This is the stage where you make your choice and plan the implementation
of your idea. One of the most powerful techniques to use here is the force
field analysis. A force field analysis allows you to weigh up the advantages
and disadvantages of an idea or situation so that you can plan for further
changes if needed.
Following on from our checklist example, Ken has now developed a hazard
register. This is a check sheet where information on workplace dangers can
be recorded for immediate action. Here’s an example where a force field
analysis is used to test Ken’s hazard register.
Table: Force field analysis of Ken’s hazard register
Current situation
Negative forces
Positive forces
- time out of production to train staff
in use of hazard register
+ reduction in workplace accidents
+ involving staff in generation of ideas
+ empowering staff to take responsibility
for a new initiative
As you can see from this simple example, the advantages for Ken when
introducing the use of a hazard register strongly outweigh the disadvantages,
so it makes sense to implement the idea. However, the force field analysis
indicates to Ken that time out of production and extra training costs will
need to be budgeted for in the short-term.
Further reading
To find out more about these tools, refer to Morgan, M (1993) Creating
workplace innovation. Business and Professional Publishing: Sydney,
Chapter 5, pp 109–111.
The PDCA cycle
The Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) cycle is an important tool for any team
leader or supervisor implementing continuous improvement initiatives. It
provides a consistent approach for the implementation of ideas and the
measurement of results.
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Step 1:
Plan
Identify your problem
Collect data (eg, using check sheets)
Set targets
Step 2:
Do
Analyse information and develop a plan
Do a trial run
Step 3:
Check
Check your results (eg, using control charts)
Step 4:
Act
Take action to make changes permanent by building
them into the process, communicating the changes
and documenting evidence of your initiative.
The PDCA cycle helps you to identify potential improvements, plan and
implement them and incorporate them into standard functions and
operations.
Quality circles
TQM improvements are successful mainly because many small-scale
improvements that are cheap and quick to implement result in the greatest
gains. They usually come from shop-floor employees who have a detailed
appreciation of the benefit each change might make to the process
concerned. By implementing many small improvements, you create a
substantial overall effect.
One of the most well-known techniques of the TQM approach is the idea of
quality circles.
Quality circles can be defined as a group of workers who do similar work
and who meet:

voluntarily

regularly during work time

under the guidance of their team leader or supervisor

to spot, describe and solve work-related problems

to recommend solutions to management.
Successful quality circles usually follow some or all of these guidelines:

Circles should involve 5–10 people to ensure everyone has an opportunity
to contribute.

Meetings should be held in a staff room or away from the work area so that
members can concentrate without interruptions.
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
The group should meet for about one hour, once a week to start with, and
then on a needs basis.

A clear purpose and agenda should be set.

Expert help can be called upon if needed.
My workplace
2. What strategies and techniques could you use in your current workplace to
bring about small quality improvements?
Answer:
Process re-engineering
The focus of quality circles is small changes. The process of re-engineering
is the opposite. Re-engineering is about monumental changes that bring
about dramatic improvements. Process re-engineering involves rebuilding
organisational processes from the bottom up. The purpose usually centres on
meeting customer needs by reducing inefficiencies throughout the
organisation.
In the past, some organisations that have undergone a restructuring process
have found that staff morale has dropped. This is usually due to large-scale
retrenchments, poor communication or implementing changes that are not
aligned with the strategic plan or vision of the organisation.
The best use of re-engineering is when an organisation has clearly identified
a need to make big changes to remain competitive. As a result of this
process the gains usually result in:

more cross-functional teams

better use of resources

reduced outgoings

increased output

improved customer service.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking is all about comparison — between individuals, teams,
departments and competitors. If we are to stay competitive in the market
then it is necessary to know where we stand compared with everyone else.
Let us look at Ken again, as the production manager in a large commercial
bakery. Ken can compare his production team to:
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
other departments (packing)

competitors (another bakery in different suburb)

the leading bakery in the country.
Ken can also compare his team members with each other, for example,
comparing their individual work outputs.
Benchmarking could assist Ken in setting a standard to work towards at all
levels.
Further reading
For more information on benchmarking, see Cole, K (2001) Supervision.
The theory and practice of first-line management. 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall:
Sydney, Chapter 9, pp 264–278.
Gap analysis
A gap analysis shows where an organisation is now, compared with where it
wants to be. A gap analysis involves an organisation doing some research to
determine their performance and compares it with the performance of the
leading competitor, to provide ‘gap’ information.
A plan can then be derived from the ‘gap’ information and resources can be
allocated to bridge the gap.
Service improvement
Who are our customers?
Customer expectations are continuously increasing. Brand loyalty is a thing
of the past and customers now seek out products and services that best meet
their needs, when they need them.
The systems and processes that are fundamental to TQM are there to
provide better service to your internal and external customers, as they are
the ones who will judge your overall effectiveness.
All customers need to be considered with equal importance. We often focus
only on the customers who purchase our goods and services but there are
three key groups that a total quality service organisation will focus on:

External customers (customers outside the organisation)
An organisation needs to meet the needs of all of their external customers.
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Using Ken’s bakery as an example, the delivery service that picks up the
bread each day is an external customer, as are the retail outlets that sell the
bread and the general public that buys it.

Internal customers (customers inside the organisation)
All departments and sections within an organisation need to work together
as one large team following the same strategic plan/vision to meet each
other’s needs as well as those of external customers.
For example, all the departments in Ken’s bakery, from production to
administrative support and to packing, need to work together to meet each
other’s needs.

Suppliers (those that provide goods and services to the business)
Businesses rely on each other for their success.
For example, what good would Ken’s bakery be without the necessary
resources to fit out the production floor or the raw produce to make the
bread?
Further reading
For more information about customers, refer to Cole, K (2001) Supervision.
The theory and practice of first-line management. 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall:
Sydney, Chapter 9, pp 272–273.
Customer-driven organisations
A customer-driven organisation is focused on creating a better outcome for
the customer. It takes into account external and internal customers, as well
as suppliers. Processes and policies are designed to support the best outcome
for the customer. Customers are seen as long-term prospects with needs that
need to be met and understood.
A customer-driven organisation will set a standard for performance based
on meeting customer needs and measure their results against that standard.
The following questions are based on work done by the Harvard Business
School to assess customer service (as cited in Cole, K (2001) Supervision.
The theory and practice of first-line management. 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall:
Sydney, Chapter 10, p 313).
Table: Key questions to assess customer service
Key words
How do your staff rank?
Attention
Are your staff attentive to the needs of each individual
customer?
Timely
Are your staff efficient in using time effectively so your
customers are serviced in a timely manner (eg, fast food
versus fine dining)?
Warm
Do your staff display a warm and approachable manner
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towards your customers? Are they keen to help others?
Proactive
Are your staff proactive in looking for new solutions
rather than just laying the blame on others when
something goes wrong?
Enabled
Are your staff empowered to meet the customers’ needs
by implementing creative problem solving? Are your
staff encouraged to do business differently?
My workplace
3. Make a list of your internal and external customers, including your suppliers.
What strategies do you have in place to measure your customer service
performance? What tools could you develop to assess performance more
accurately?
Answer:
Adjusting plans
Benefits of planning
Taking the time to plan is essential for business success. Planning will help
you to define your vision and then navigate a pathway towards achieving it.
Operational plans provide a framework to work from, as well as a desired
objective, and an idea of what you will need to measure to assess
performance to target.
Planning helps reduce confusion and allows you the opportunity to prepare
alternative plans just in case things don’t go as expected. By planning ahead
you can also map out resources and expenditure and forecast profits.
Environmental influences on planning
To deal effectively with increasing rates of change, you need to understand
the underlying causes. Sometimes specific changes in an organisation’s
internal structure and external markets occur as a result of wider changes in:

Technology — information technology (IT) is changing at a rapid rate to
enable us to accomplish tasks more efficiently and create new products and
services.
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
Society — general trends in society, politics, and demography touch
everyone.

Economy — although relatively stable, markets, interest rates and
monetary flows can fluctuate sharply and dramatically affect your
business.
Change within an organisation can come from two main directions —
management or employees. Changes include:

minor changes, such as introducing a new check sheet or modifying a
process for reporting accidents

sizeable changes, such as restructuring or mergers

those generated from the top level, which are generally unexpected by
employees.
Team leaders and supervisors are a vital link between different levels and
act as a focal point of change. They receive plans from above and are
responsible for communicating them to their staff. They are also responsible
for making sure that feedback from those in direct relation with external
customers is communicated to upper management.
Further reading
For more information about this, refer to Heller, R (1998) Essential
managers managing change. DK Publishing Inc. Chapter 1, pp 6–10.
My workplace
4. Give an example of the importance of planning in your position. How do your
workplace plans relate to the overall values, vision and mission of your
organisation?
Answer:
More resources
If you're keen to find out more about this topic, look for these books in your
local library.
Cole, K (2001) Supervision. The theory and practice of first-line
management. 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall: Sydney.
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Morgan, M (1993) Creating workplace innovation. Business and
Professional Publishing: Sydney.
Murphy, E & Murphy, M (2002) Leading on the edge of chaos — the 10
critical elements for success in volatile times. Prentice Hall: New York.
Robbins, S, Bergman, R, Stagg, I & Coulter, M (2003) Management. 3rd
Edition, Prentice Hall: Sydney.
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Sample answers to ‘My workplace’
questions
1
After reading the notes on traditional organisations versus TQM style
organisations, you will have a good idea of how your organisation works.
Follow the steps above in ‘Steps to monitoring’ when designing a new
measurement process.
2
Remember that substantial improvements usually come about by making
small improvements to processes and systems. You will be able to free up
more resources that contribute to better service or reduce inefficiencies. It is
very important that you take a systematic approach such as the PDCA cycle
and take the time to be creative.
3
You could brainstorm with your work group and come up with an extensive
list of all of the people that you deal with, whether they are external or
internal customers, or suppliers. You could also ask your Human Resources
Department for information on customer satisfaction questionnaires that are
designed to provide performance feedback.
4
As a team leader or supervisor you should be aware of the operational plans
that affect your area and you should also be proactive in planning for quality
improvement.
Draw up a simple table that shows how your organisation’s values, vision,
and mission relate to your workplace goals, objectives and targets. Check
that your effort is actually aligned with the organisation’s stated direction.
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