Facilitate Continuous Improvement - Role Play, Communication Process, Strategies and Monitoring

This article discusses the role play, communication process, strategies and monitoring for facilitating continuous improvement in Australian Hardware. It emphasizes on leveraging technology and emphasizing on continuous improvement. Real-time monitoring and procedural audit are some of the monitoring strategies discussed.

Running Head: FACILITATE CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT 1
Facilitate Continuous Improvement

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Table of Contents
Role Play..........................................................................................................................................3
Communication Process..................................................................................................................4
Follow-up Communication Document............................................................................................5
Summary Report..............................................................................................................................5
Communications Strategy................................................................................................................7
Leverage Technology..................................................................................................................8
Emphasize on Continuous Improvement...................................................................................10
Informing procedure......................................................................................................................10
Monitoring strategy for team performance....................................................................................11
Procedure for managers to run improvement sessions..................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................14

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Role Play
In an effort of improving the quality and performance of the operations of the business of
Australian Hardware and bringing about continuous improvement, as a continuous improvement
consultant, I would set up a team role-playing session. As an assessor, I would bring together all
the employees and quality analysts and representatives. The people brought together would then
be divided into two groups. Group A would represent the quality analysts and Group B would
represent the performance analysts. I would inform Group A that the quality of the products of
Australian Hardware is very important to its customers and clients. It is the product quality due
to which the company has been able to retain all its customers and attracting new ones as well.
Hence, it can afford to lose on its customers by compromising with the quality.
Then I would inform Group B that the performance of every individual employee of
Australian Hardware is very important to be improved in order to achieve the primary objectives
of the organization and attain sustainability in the long run. Better performance of every
employee would result in better performance of the organization as a whole.
After this I would allow the two groups to brainstorm for some time. Now, with this
specific approach of role play, each of the groups would send forth an actor for taking part in the
role play. One person from the quality and one from the performance would be selected. These
actors would coaching and support from their team members throughout the process of role-
playing. Each team is allowed for taking time-outs and would need to regroup in the earliest of
time.
I would then run through the scenario numerous times, beginning with communication
strategies and ending with monitoring strategies. Each time, a solution that suits the best would

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be found. I can also ask for additional suggestions and role-playing if I felt that the procedure
needs to be continued or if the teams are yet to discover better solutions and strategies.
The primary areas that would require primary attention to be paid by both the teams are
organizational sustainability, post customer interaction revenue, costs of operations, customer
service satisfaction across company’s products like electrical and plumbing, tools and
homewares, hardware, garden products, timber, etc. Possible improvements can be brought in the
areas mentioned above.
Once it becomes clear that the team can no more identify further strategies and solutions,
I would bring both the teams together and discuss the session further on. During this process, we
would discuss the solutions and strategies that had been implemented by the actors, and how
these could be applied to the company’s operations and situations. I would then ask each of the
two teams to write brief summary about their learning from the exercise. The summaries would
then be combined and a copy of the same that contains everything that has been learnt would be
provided to all the participants.
Communication Process
In order to communicate the outcomes and results of the role-playing session to the teams
and stakeholders, the communication processes that would be followed are informal and formal
communication. During the role-playing session, the gossip network of the informal
communication would be followed since here every individual would be communicating with
each other on a non-selective basis. When the reports of the outcomes are communicated to the
stakeholders and the company’s management, the free flow network of the horizontal formal
communication would be implemented. Every individual can communicate with another freely.

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Follow-up Communication Document
As a follow-up procedure, an email would be sent to every team member and employee
of the company who participated in the session.
To: All employees and team members
Subject: Post session follow-up
Dear all,
The role-playing session was great as we were able to identify and determine various
solutions and strategies for bringing continuous possible improvements in our products, quality,
communication and the team performance. We look forward to conduct another session next
month for discussing about the employee welfare. Your participation is welcomed and
appreciated. We hope to see you again.
Regards,
John Smith
Continuous Improvement Consultant
Summary Report
Australian Hardware is a company dealing with the supply of hardware products and
goods related to home improvement to its customers. The supporting strategy used by the firm is,
six-sigma, which is a methodology for bringing consistent and continuous improvement which is
based on a data-driven approach and statistics. The method of Six-Sigma would help Australian
Hardware in driving improvements by reducing the defects and managing the variations within

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its procedures. All these procedures of the Australian Hardware can be analyzed, measured,
defined, controlled and improved for driving predictable and repeatable performance. A group of
people would be developed with the organization that are quality management methods experts
and would utilize the statistical and empirical techniques. The communication and monitoring
strategies that would be used within Australian Hardware are leverage technology and emphasize
on continuous improvement and real time monitoring. A two-pronged strategic approach is taken
by Australian Hardware that is characterized by differentiation of goods and services and with
specific marketing activities. The products of Australian Hardware were to be set out for trial at
the Wollongong stores. The primary objectives for doing so were to reduce the cost of sales and
the overhead per store. Australia Hardware aimed at increasing their overall gross profit and
revenue from sales. Their target was to at maintain a share in the market and also increase it,
which was a part of their strategic plan. The firm also went on controlling the direct and indirect
costs of operations while maintaining a superior quality standard for the products and services.
All the stores of Hardware Australia are being run in the form of an independent business across
the country.
A very useful problem identification tool is the Value stream mapping. It is a method of
lean management which helps in analyzing and designing the present and future state of events
that can lead a product through to its customer from its beginning, ensuring reduced wastage.
There are various strategies and techniques for encouraging participation of individuals and
teams in Australian Hardware. Measures such as motivating the employees, providing timely
feedback, choosing small and manageable improvements, monitoring improvement, etc. could
potentially help. Certain strategies should be adopted by the company for establishing and
building ownership and work culture. These can be done by supporting the employee’s

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responsibility and freedom, embracing shared values, using positive reinforcement, supporting
entrepreneurial thinking, etc.
Taking improvement measures can have various impacts on the employees, employers,
performances, stakeholders, etc. The communication with stakeholders can be affected due
improvement measures. Stakeholders such as the investors, customers, etc. can be communicated
in a better way and can be assured about their faith in the company. They can be communicated
about the success and progress internally and externally. Improvement measures help in gaining
insights about the flow of information. With improved work performance, the knowledge
management can be carried out effectively. Measurement of employee performances can be
done in a better way as progress can be tracked effectively by analyzing insights. Improvement
measures ensure that all activities and actions of employees are done within the law and do not
entertain any malicious intent or illegal purpose. Hence, it impacts the legislative compliance.
Communications Strategy
Communication strategies are very important in order to improve the overall performance of
every individual employee as well as of the entire organization. The adoption of such
communication strategies would impact the overall success of a business across productivity,
satisfaction, overall performance of employees and employee retention. The primary objectives
of business communication are creating an understanding of the receiver, getting response from
the receiver, developing favorable relationships, and establishing organizational goodwill. The
other objectives are creating awareness, imparting knowledge and shaping the organization’s
reputation. The methods of communication that would be used are face-to-face communication,

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email communication, teleconferencing, video conferencing, etc. The two crucial communication
strategies are discussed as follows:
Leverage Technology
Technology has improved dramatically since the early age of email and the Internet.
However, most companies around the world still choose to use the office-based communication
systems that are very old and obsolete. The way people communicate these days, the old
communication systems do not measure up to the same. In the contemporary business economy,
text message and message applications, email, internet and other social networking websites and
company intranet are the most common methods of communication.
Example of e-mail communication between employer and employee:
To: [e-mail],
Subject: Invitation for training session
Hello John. How’s everything going? You are doing a good job at work, and you’re a
valuable member of the team. I think that there are a few skills that you could get even more
knowledgeable about. I would be happy to help you; maybe we could schedule some time once a
week to meet. I really think it could make a huge difference for you. Let me know if you’re
interested, Thanks!
Regards,
Steve Austin
Manager, ABC Ltd.

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Figure 1: Organizational flow chart
Sharing an update of work or communicating important information through old
communication systems can be tiresome, time consuming and a costly process (Henderson &
Venkatraman, 1999). These can be replaced with the time saving, cost-efficient and quick
communication systems of such messaging apps and other media. Today, the forward-thinking
companies understand the advancements and the importance of communication. In order to
ensure the success of their businesses, companies are increasingly using the tools of employee
communication that are built for the future (Croteau & Bergeron, 2001). The two major
audiences here involved would be every individual employee and the customers of the
organization. The main objectives of implementing communication in Australian Hardware are
exchanging information, development and implementation of plan, facilitation of policy
formulation, achievement of organizational objectives, coordination and organization of
resources, direction of subordinates, motivation of the employees, creation of consciousness and
increasing the overall efficiency of the company.

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Emphasize on Continuous Improvement
As a business along with its operations, learn and grows, the improvements in the
business should be continuous and consistent instead of being a one-off thing. The process of
continuous improvement will be brought into the business by the method of six-sigma. Six-sigma
would help in driving improvements by reducing the defects within the various procedures and
managing all the variations. All the related procedures can be analyzed, measured, defined,
controlled and improved for driving predictable and repeatable performance of the business. This
method would seek at improving the quality output of every process of our business. It would
also help us in ensuring all the production opportunities are free of any sorts of defects. As an
assessor, certain metrics would be set up and their effectiveness would be measured by me, in
order to find ways for improving the internal communication of a business (Terziovski & Sohal,
2000). The metrics which matter the most should be chosen by the business. This should be
followed by identification of the communication alterations which can track the metrics and look
for potential improvements. I would ensure visibility into the current happenings which is a great
way of continuous improvement in the performances. When a person has access to the
conversation analytics at his company, the topics which are trending at that moment, it would be
easier to understand the areas of improvement. The two major audiences here involved would be
senior management and the employee group of the organization.
Informing procedure
As an assessor I would be responsible for motivating the employees for participating in
continuous improvement activities. I would also need to ensure that the team is properly
informed regarding the various changes, improvements and outcomes of the continuous
improvement activities. In order to ensure the same, I would be following certain information

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procedures. A procedural audit is one of the informing procedures which help in ensuring that all
the records are maintained and the procedures are followed as well (Karapetrovic & Willborn,
2001). The inefficiencies and issues are detected within time and worked upon accordingly. The
team is audited in order to check that the records and schedules are being maintained, and the
performance appraisals and monitoring are conducted. Another process of informing includes the
communication of success and rewarding for the efforts. Motivation is built by momentum.
Motivation is crucial for overcoming problems, driving ideas for process improvement and
maintaining focus. One of the best ways for building momentum is by consistently
communicating and celebrating the milestone achievement of the performance improvements.
Monitoring strategy for team performance
There are various monitoring strategies that are helpful for monitoring the team
performances, which are discussed as under.
Real-time monitoring: I would need to set up a specific procedure in order to gather the
information on the key performance indicators (KPIs) in real time, rather than after the end of a
particular time period. Problems can be indicated with the help of performance setbacks. Such a
strategy could enable me to identify and expose deeper problems that might be prevailing within
an organization or amongst the employees (Salas, Cooke & Rosen, 2008). If the KPIs that are
measured are self-reported, I would not wait for the quarterly or annual reviews as by that time,
the information might become unactionable and stale. The employees should be enabled for self-
reporting their progress.
Have workarounds: The system that is being observed can be changed by a spectator.
Hence, the observation of the work process by me is only recommended if they can blend in and

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disappear (Fussell, Kraut, Lerch, Scherlis, McNally & Cadiz, 1998). As such a thing is not a
normal case; I can opt and seek for secondary opinions on the employees and the performance of
the employee group from various stakeholders such as co-workers, suppliers, clients, etc. I would
ensure that the information that is gathered is hard and rather than the information itself being
hard to be validated. As an assessor, I should never jump into conclusions only on the basis of
their observations.
Mash up: Finally, I can try to gather as much data as possible that might include hard fact
KPIs and other sorts of information (Marks & Panzer, 2004). I would need to work upon
analyzing these data and should not jump into conclusions quickly. I would also try to seek the
opinions of employees regarding their feelings about their work performances and objectives.
These above-mentioned strategies would closely monitor the targets of the organization which
would be aligned with the objectives of the firm. The standards would be given prior
consideration in order to ensure that all the policies, legislations and procedures are complied
with. All the individuals would be responsible for recording all necessary events and procedures
and would report them timely to their seniors. The technology and systems which would be used
for capturing, storing and reporting the performance information would be Big data analytics,
Electronic as well as manual record keeping, Management Information Systems (MIS), etc.
Procedure for managers to run improvement sessions
A systematic procedure for conducting improvement sessions for employees should be
followed and undertaken by all employers and managers, including me. First of all, we would
need to inform the employees and briefly elaborate to them about the improvement session. In
the primary portion of the session, the key points should be explained along with description

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regarding the policies, procedures, etc. (Madison, 2005). Individual training programs and
corporate training programs can be used. A budget would be set for every employee in the
beginning of the year that would be renewed annually. Experts should be engaged into training
the employees in their performance improvements. Employees should be provided with equal
training opportunities, diversity trainings and conflict resolutions.

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References
Croteau, A. M., & Bergeron, F. (2001). An information technology trilogy: business strategy,
technological deployment and organizational performance. The journal of strategic
information systems, 10(2), 77-99.
Fussell, S. R., Kraut, R. E., Lerch, F. J., Scherlis, W. L., McNally, M. M., & Cadiz, J. J. (1998,
November). Coordination, overload and team performance: effects of team
communication strategies. In Proceedings of the 1998 ACM conference on Computer
supported cooperative work (pp. 275-284). ACM.
Henderson, J. C., & Venkatraman, H. (1999). Strategic alignment: Leveraging information
technology for transforming organizations. IBM systems journal, 38(2.3), 472-484.
Karapetrovic, S., & Willborn, W. (2001). Audit and self-assessment in quality management:
comparison and compatibility. Managerial Auditing Journal, 16(6), 366-377.
Madison, D. (2005). Process mapping, process improvement, and process management: a
practical guide for enhancing work and information flow. Paton Professional.
Marks, M. A., & Panzer, F. J. (2004). The influence of team monitoring on team processes and
performance. Human Performance, 17(1), 25-41.
Salas, E., Cooke, N. J., & Rosen, M. A. (2008). On teams, teamwork, and team performance:
Discoveries and developments. Human factors, 50(3), 540-547.
Terziovski, M., & Sohal, A. S. (2000). The adoption of continuous improvement and innovation
strategies in Australian manufacturing firms. Technovation, 20(10), 539-550.

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