Workplace Productivity

IFSM-302(3)

See Week 1 Group Assignments and Week 1 Individual Assignments

Begin Course Module 1 (See WT Course Content Area.)

The Course Modules have been prepared to help guide you through your study of workplace productivity. There are few experts in this vast field - but many who claim to be. Information systems can be designed to enhance productivity or retard it. That is one of the reasons we study largely non-IT methods of improving productivity in the workplace.

Nonetheless, I want you to focus on IT areas for your examples and for applying the techniques you will be learning.

Turn In & Participate:

Practice basic protocols. Complete Week 1 Assignments.
Submit First Contact information.
Survey Library resources.
Confirm books have arrived.
Explore Internet Resources.
Explore the UMUC Databases/sources and other web sites for Workplace Productivity and Process Improvement sources.
Get acquainted with fellow learners; post a course specific bio-sketch to share with others
Complete the WebTycho tutorial and a review of my general and specific course guidance.

Week 2 (12 - 21 Apr. '03) Module 1: What is a process?

Students often have difficulty identifying processes in their own work areas, in particular complete processes. In information systems we know from that certain processes are associated with transaction processing, others with operational systems like inventory management, still others with Knowledge Work Systems such as computer aided design.

Workers often know their part of more than one process rather well, but struggle to comprehend the full processes in which they are involved.

Pay attention to these introductory chapters. The Joiner Triangle is introduced in TH. MJ presents some basic tools that you will apply to problem situations.

I want your Course Project to focus on IT/IS processes in a work area to which you have current placement and access. You will need the cooperation of the supervisor and workers. If you are familiar with quality improvement methods, that will help you with the implementation and analysis of the project. If not, the Memory Jogger booklet will prove an early source of techniques. So think about IT/IS processes that do not work as well as you think they might.

If we can arrange it, I would like the Course Project conducted as a team with 5-9 students looking at the same type of situation in similar work environments. I suspect that will be tough, so I am prepared for individual projects as well. But even individual projects will have a team element - for I want each individual project to have an advisory team to discuss the improvement plan, data collection and analysis and the final report of results and method. (Typically members of each advisory team will share their individual projects with each other, solicit feedback and provide the same for each of the other members of that advisory group.)

By the way, your Memory Jogger booklet is only a memory aid AFTER you have learned the techniques. So study it carefully and supplement its descriptions with research in the UMUC databases or other sources (Internet and local physical locations) as needed. Then you will have some grey cells properly trained so that Memory Jogger can do its real job of REMINDING you of "best practice" methods.

This week we will look at the tools for generating and grouping ideas both in MJ and TH. I will address them in the sequence shown on the MJ Tool Selector chart, pg. vi: Affinity diagram, Brainstorming, C&E/Fishbone, Flowchart, Force Field, ID, and Tree.

Complete and turn-in Exercises 1 & 2, Module 1. (Post all assignments in your WT Assignments area.)
It is never too soon to start thinking about your Course Project subject organization or activity. Post a tentative project in the WT Conference set up for this purpose.
Use the UMUC library on-line database.
Participate in Conferences.
One article/web site to share with the class

Group Work:

Apply Process Analysis tools to Module Exercises.

Week 3 (22 - 28 Apr. '03) Module 1: What is a process? (cont.)

By now everyone should have textbooks and be well into the course.

You should also have started your search for a Course Project focus and perhaps started self-organizing a team of students to broaden the scope of the research. Do not let this task fall through the cracks.

We continue our look at process analysis tools that focus on ideas in MJ with a look at the tools for deciding & implementing ideas both in MJ and TH. I will address them in the sequence shown on the MJ Tool Selector chart, pg. vi: Activity Network Diagram (AND), Gantt Charts, Matrix Diagram, Nominal Group Technique (NGT)/Multivoting, Prioritization, Process Decision Program Chart (PDPC), and Radar Charts. A powerful productivity tool not shown in MJ is Quality Function Deployment (QFD) which builds on the Matrix Diagram tool; we shall examine and try to apply QFD for ourselves.

We look a little more deeply into TH Chapter 2 and examine why successful projects need support (Chapter 3).

Complete and turn-in Exercise 3, Module 1.
Re-examine Exercises 1 & 2, Module 1, using different process analysis tools.
Use the UMUC library on-line database.
Participate in Conferences.
Post a tentative Group Project Team membership in the WT Conference set up for this purpose (where applicable). Alternatively, for those selecting solo projects, post your tentative Project Advisory Team composition.
One article/web site to share with the class

Group Work:

Apply Process Analysis tools to Module Exercises.

Week 4 (29 Apr. - 5 May '03) Module 2: Meetings

** Journal.1 due NLT 5 May '03 **

Many of us have too many meetings. Even when tied to a computer terminal, we have meetings in virtual rooms on the Internet.

So why are so many meetings so poorly conducted? Can we do something to improve this critical process? TH Chapter 4 addresses this area as does Module 2.

TH Appendix C offers us several exercises that help us explore the process of teamworking in our work area. We will explore several of the exercises on teams in our work areas or local area.

MJ has a set of tools related to teams as well but there is a lot of information collapsed into just a few pages. Note that there are different techniques for starting, maintaining and ending teams. See also my web site for information on small group dynamics - small groups can be teams too. (We save the Storyboard Study until next week.)

Explore the process of conducting meetings and working with teams through the UMUC database and other web sources.

Participate in Conferences.
Complete and Turn-in Exercise 1, Module 2.
Apply selected Team Analysis tools from TH Appendix C to real teams and report the results.
Complete and submit Part 1 of your Journal.
One article/web site to share with the class

Apply Process Analysis tools to Module Exercises.

Week 5 (6 - 12 May '03) Module 2: Meetings (cont.)

** Course Project Selection and Team Assignments: Due 12 May '03 **

Practice your team working skills in our own class.

You will be building an improvement plan as part of a team. TH Chapter 5 is a meaty chapter so we will spend this week and our short Week 6 examining it.

MJ's Storyboard Case Study (pp. 115-131) is also called the Problem-Solving/ Process-Improvement Model. Here you see a variety of techniques organized to explore, explain, document, and improve a process - and then document the improvement. Some of the techniques we have not covred yet, but that is ok. The objective of the Storyboard, as with Appendix B of TH, is to provide you with an example of how to use the tools we are studying.

Use this week to finalize your preliminary planning for your Course Project. Work with the implementation or advisory team to make sure you are on a clear, directed path.

Explore the process of conducting meetings and working with teams through the UMUC database and other web sources.

Participate in Conferences.
Complete and Turn-in Exercise 2, Module 2.
One article/web site to share with the class

Course Project Teams must be fully formed. This includes those that will conduct a joint project and those that will advise others on their projects.

Week 6 (13 - 16 May '03) Module 2: Meetings (cont.)

We complete Module 2 and TH Chapter 5.

Texts: Review: TH Chapters 2 & 5 and Appendix C; MJ “Working with Teams”; Handouts.

Participate in Conferences.
Complete and Turn-in Exercise 3 & 4, Module 2.
One article/web site to share with the class

Apply Process Analysis tools to Module Exercises.

Week 7 (17 - 23 May '03) Midterm Exam "Week"

** Journal.2 due NLT 23 May '03 **

Review for the Midterm Exam.

Midterm will be posted on WebTycho in the study group area by 0000 hours Heidelberg time, 17 May '03 and is to be returned to the Assignment area of WT by 2400 hours Heidelberg time, 18 May '03.
Complete and turn-in midterm by deadline.

Complete and submit Part 2 of your Journal.

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Week 8 (7 - 16 June '03) Module 4: Scientific Techniques

We return refreshed, I hope, with new ideas and observations about improving Information Systems processes in our workplaces.

We skip Module 3 (Leadership) for now and move on to Module 4.

Many of you will be familiar with reductionist strategies - divide and conquer strategies that we use in programming are among them. We take a huge problem that no one can solve and tear it apart, hoping that we can remember where we started, why, where we are going, why, how we might put the pieces back together, etc. The strategies we look at here will help us reduce problems to manageable proportions, keep track of where we have been and are going, and see the bigger picture as well (holistic strategies).

We start off with simple checksheets, run charts, plotting data points, making histograms, and Pareto charts.

Enjoy.

Participate in Conferences.
Complete and Turn-in Exercises 1, 2 (Update your work from Module 1) & 5, Module 4.

One article/web site to share with the class

Apply Process Analysis tools to Module Exercises.

Your Course Project team will review your Exercise 5 report where it is the basis for Course Project.

Week 9 (17 - 23 June '03) Module 4: Scientific Techniques (cont.)

This week we will look more closely at other quantitative techniques. In particular we will look at continual process improvement techniques such as control charts, process capability, scatter diagrams, and Kaizen methods.

Participate in Conferences.
Complete and Turn-in Exercises 3-4, Module 4.

One article/web site to share with the class

Apply Process Analysis tools to Module Exercises.

Week 10 (24 - 30 June '03) Module 4: Scientific Techniques (cont.)

This week we wrap up our whirlwind tour of scientific techniques with a brief look at six areas. First we look at two hot topics in the field of improvement: Lean Production and Six Sigma methods.

Then we look at two award programs - the U.S.- based Malcolm Baldrige Award and the European Foundation for Quality Management Excellence Award. Finally we look at two International Standards Organization (ISO) families of standards that try to improve processes - ISO 9000 and ISO 14000.

You will need to explore the web to get information on all these topics. I will provide some basic information from my library.

Participate in Conferences.

Explore the UMUC database and the Internet for other examples of integrated, qualitative and quantitative, process improvement studies.

One article/web site to share with the class

Group Work:

Continue work with your Course Project Team.

Week 11 (1 - 7 July '03) Module 3: Leadership

** Journal.3 due NLT 7 July 2003 **

Complete course Critique on WebTycho

If there is one subject in the military that we hear too much - and too little - about, I suspect it is leadership. Everyone has their own approach. So do not assume you have heard this all before. Again, please pay attention to your author's insights. Then critique and research to find support for your own views.

Texts: Study: TH Chapter 6 & Appendix A.

Participate in Conferences.
Complete and Turn-in Exercise 1, Module 3.
Use the UMUC database and the Internet to explore leadership.
Complete and submit Part 3 of your Journal.
One article/web site to share with the class

Your Course Project team should be busy with preliminary reviews of project plans (process improvement planning).

I know this is a short spin around such a large topic, but if you are interested in learning more, we have other UMUC courses that cover this area in much more detail.

Texts: Study: TH Chapter 7.

Participate in Conferences.
Complete and Turn-in Exercises 2 & 3, Module 3.
Use the UMUC database and the Internet to explore leadership.
One article/web site to share with the class

TBD.

Participate in Conferences.

Explore the UMUC database and the Internet for other examples of integrated, qualitative and quantitative, process improvement studies.

One article/web site to share with the class

Group Work:

Continue work with your Course Project Team.

Week 14 (19 - 25 July '03) Final Exam Week.

** Course Project Report: Due 21 July 2003 **

** Journal.4 due NLT 21 July 2003 **

Course Review, Wrap-up & Final comments, Course Critique, etc.

Final Exam will be posted on WebTycho in the study group area by 0000 hours Heidelberg time, 19 July 2003 and is to be returned to the Assignment area of WT by 2400 hours Heidelberg time, 20 July 2003.
Complete and turn-in final by deadline.

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