Learning Operational Assessment to Improve Department Management

Taking over a department can be challenging. You can see the potential, but if the department was not well-managed in the past then it may be in disarray. Disorganization is only the start of the problems. The staff may be demoralized and unproductive, goals are not understood – let alone being met. How do you get things on track?

Operational Assessment as a Management Tool
Operational assessment is one way to manage your way out of such a mess. With operational assessment you work your way through a logical sequence of steps to get your department back on track. The first step is to understand what the ultimate goals of the department should be, followed by firmly grasping what the department is actually doing. Now you can use this information to help get the department started down the right path.
The assessment begins by understanding requirements. Who are your customers…they could be internal customers or external customers or a combination….it doesn’t really matter. Identify the customers and then identify clearly what they want. You may think you know….but have you asked them lately? Technology is changing methods all over the globe. Are you really sure you know exactly how the customer is using the product? A combination of simple surveys and in-depth interviews can help you collect the needed information.

Know Your Customer!
This leads to another important concept….you want to talk to your customers regularly, but you also may want to watch and observe how your customers use your product. They might not really know specific pieces of information to share with you that would be helpful, but observation could make certain changes … changes that will make it easier for you and your customer. These kind of efforts drive satisfaction and loyalty, but they also improve effectiveness and efficiency.
Taking the perspective of the customer leads to knowing what the customer wants and values. This information is very valuable for operational assessment. Are you focusing on doing things that add value to the customer? Are you wasting time, effort, and/or material doing things the customer doesn’t care about, or worse, doesn’t want to start with? Focusing on doing the things the customer wants and eliminating wasted efforts is key to creating an effective and efficient operation.

The Importance of Measurement
Now that you know what is important; how well are doing in these areas? The next important step is creating clear objectives….specific measurable items that provide key performance information. Collecting data on performance should be part of everyone’s job. It is easy, however, to get off track and create complicated measurements that generate difficulty and confusion…and in turn causes departments and staff to lose focus, not gain it. The key here is to find objectives and measurements that are meaningful and not overly difficult.
Frequently departments are collecting data that is similar to what is needed; it is just not being collected or employed properly or fully. Finding ways to easily collect important performance data without encumbering or over burdening an already busy staff is one of the biggest challenges of a manager, but a very important one. Don’t be afraid to modify or change things that aren’t working. Pay attention to what is happening with the data and be flexible. If the data is too difficult to collect or is not being employed properly, it won’t be long until the staff realizes that collecting data is not really important, and they will abandon it.
Now that you are focused on clear objectives that are important to the customers and you have ways (measurements) of knowing how well you are doing in these areas; the assessment part becomes easy. Where are the gaps? What gaps should have priority? Trying to fix everything at once can cause the staff to lose focus again.
Getting staff buy-in also bears mentioning here. As always with good management – honest communication is the key. Be clear that the goal of using assessment to improve the department is not to “fix” people; it is to improve the system and the environment that people function and operate in. The ultimate goal is to make a better system that will make things easier and clearer for the staff. If you can communicate and follow through with these goals, and not fall into the trap of using measurements for “gotcha’s,” then most people will follow your lead and fully participate.