3.01 Write internal and external business correspondence to convey and obtain information effectively.

Write business letters

Identify types of business letters. A business letter is a form of communication used to convey a formal message to one or more parties• Letters may be sent as an attachment to an email

– A higher level of seriousness is needed than just a simple email – The document will be distributed to others– The document will be printed

• Examples of uses:– Company’s communication to stockholders– Superintendent’s communication to parents– Bank’s communication to customers

• Format – In block style, all lines begin at the left margin – In modified block style, the date and closure are keyed at center point (usually 6 tabs)

Personal business letter – correspondence between an individual and another individual or a corporate entity – It can be sent as a hard copy or as an email attachment – Examples of use:

• Formal thank you note • Letter of complaint • Letter of application to accompany a résumé • Any communication you wish to express in a formal manner representing yourself, not your

company– A personal business letter is formatted according to the same guidelines as a business letter AND

includes the return address of the author at the top of the document

Describe the components of an effective business letter. • Margins – Margins vary according to the amount of content

– In general, adjust the margins so that the letter has a uniform amount of white space at each margin and is slightly oriented to the top or centered

– Leave at least .5 inches below the letterhead• Components (in order):

– Letterhead (optional) – preprinted information in the header and sometimes in the footer that usually contains the company name, address, email address, logo, and other contact information

– Dateline – the date the letter is written, spelled out, such as April 30, 2010, not 4-30-2010

– Attention line (optional) – keyed on the first line of the inside address and used to address a specific person or job (Sales Manager) within an organization

– Inside address – the name of the addressee, name of the business, street address, city, state abbreviation, and zip

– Salutation – the greeting, such as Dear Mr. Cox– Subject line (optional)

• Keyed below the salutation because it is considered part of the message– Key the word Subject in all caps, followed by a colon and the topic, also in all

caps – Used to give the reader a quick overview of the topic

Describe the components of an effective business letter. – Message – the letter content. Key paragraphs in single space format with a double

space between– Complimentary closing – the goodbye, such as Sincerely– Company signature (optional) – the keyed name of the company in all caps, placed

a double space below the complimentary close– Writer’s signature block – the author’s name and title, which may be keyed on one

or two lines, depending on length– Reference initials – the initials of the typist of the letter and sometimes the author

as well (keyed first)• Example: bc/mw or BC/MW • No punctuation is used with the initials

– Enclosure notation (optional) – indicates that another document is included with the letter. Sometimes the enclosures are identified. Example: Enclosure: Résumé

– Copy notation (optional) – indicates the names of other parties who have received copies of the letter. Example: cc Mrs. Dian Moon

• Punctuation styles– Mixed punctuation (standard) means that a colon is keyed after the salutation

(Dear Mrs. May:) and a comma after the complimentary close (Sincerely,)– Open punctuation means that no punctuation is used after the salutation or the

complimentary close

Explain the guidelines for business-letter writing.

• Guidelines for keying– A quadruple space follows the date line, leaving three blank lines between the date and the

inside address– A double space follows the inside address, leaving one blank line between the inside address

and the salutation– A double space follows the salutation, leaving one blank line between the salutation and the

body– The body of the letter is single spaced, with a double space between paragraphs– A double space precedes the complimentary close– If the company signature is included in the letter, it is keyed a double space below the

complimentary close and a quadruple space (three blank lines) above the writer’s signature block

– If no company signature is included in the letter, the writer’s signature block is keyed a quadruple space below the complimentary close

– A double space separates the writer’s signature block from any remaining parts of the letter– Reference initials, enclosure notation, copy notation, etc. are single or double spaced.

Reference initials are not required when the writer is also the typist

Block StyleBusiness Letter

Modify Block LetterBusiness Letter

Block StylePersonal Business Letter

Student Activity• Business Letter: Block Style

– Identify a local business that you believed is well-managed and successful and write a business letter to the management of that local business. In the letters: • Students should explain that they are currently enrolled in an introductory management

class that exposes them to the different functions and types of management. • Students should invite these managers to speak to the class about their careers, share

suggestions for success in management, and tell business-related stories that would be relevant to the course, yet interesting to the students.

• Student should provided a way the guests can contact the teacher or the school to make arrangements in the near future.

• Personal Business Letter: Block Style– Students should explain what they are applying for (job, college program, etc).– Students should identify what make them qualify for the (position, program, etc).

Note: skills, course, experiences– Students provided contact information (how and when) they can be reached for

an interview or for further information.

3.02 Recognize management’s role to understand its contribution to business success.

Explain managerial considerations in organizing

• Organizing is the function of management which follows planning. It is a function in which the synchronization and combination of human, physical and financial resources takes place. All the three resources are important to get results.

• Therefore, organizational function helps in achievement of results which in fact is important for the functioning of a concern.

• According to Chester Barnard, “Organizing is a function by which the concern is able to define the role positions, the jobs related and the co- ordination between authority and responsibility.

• Hence, a manager always has to organize in order to get results.

Describe how a business benefits from the organizing management function

• Specialization - Organizational structure is a network of relationships in which the work is divided into units and departments. This division of work is helping in bringing specialization in various activities of concern.

• Well defined jobs - Organizational structure helps in putting right men on right job which can be done by selecting people for various departments according to their qualifications, skill and experience. This is helping in defining the jobs properly which clarifies the role of every person.

• Clarifies authority - Organizational structure helps in clarifying the role positions to every manager (status quo). This can be done by clarifying the powers to every manager and the way he has to exercise those powers should be clarified so that misuse of powers do not take place. Well defined jobs and responsibilities attached helps in bringing efficiency into managers working. This helps in increasing productivity.

• Co-ordination - Organization is a means of creating co- ordination among different departments of the enterprise. It creates clear cut relationships among positions and ensure mutual co- operation among individuals. Harmony of work is brought by higher level managers exercising their authority over interconnected activities of lower level manager. – Authority responsibility relationships can be fruitful only when there is a formal relationship between

the two. For smooth running of an organization, the co- ordination between authority- responsibility is very important. There should be co- ordination between different relationships. Clarity should be made for having an ultimate responsibility attached to every authority. There is a saying, “Authority without responsibility leads to ineffective behavior and responsibility without authority makes person ineffective.” Therefore, co- ordination of authority- responsibility is very important.

Describe how a business benefits from the organizing management function

• Effective administration - The organization structure is helpful in defining the jobs positions. The roles to be performed by different managers are clarified. Specialization is achieved through division of work. This all leads to efficient and effective administration.

• Growth and diversification - A company’s growth is totally dependant on how efficiently and smoothly a concern works. Efficiency can be brought about by clarifying the role positions to the managers, co-ordination between authority and responsibility and concentrating on specialization. In addition to this, a company can diversify if its potential grow. This is possible only when the organization structure is well- defined. This is possible through a set of formal structure.

• Sense of security - Organizational structure clarifies the job positions. The roles assigned to every manager is clear. Co- ordination is possible. Therefore, clarity of powers helps automatically in increasing mental satisfaction and thereby a sense of security in a concern. This is very important for job- satisfaction.

• Scope for new changes - Where the roles and activities to be performed are clear and every person gets independence in his working, this provides enough space to a manager to develop his talents and flourish his knowledge. A manager gets ready for taking independent decisions which can be a road or path to adoption of new techniques of production. This scope for bringing new changes into the running of an enterprise is possible only through a set of organizational structure.

Discuss activities involved in the organizing management function.

• Identification of activities - All the activities which have to be performed in a concern have to be identified first. For example, preparation of accounts, making sales, record keeping, quality control, inventory control, etc. All these activities have to be grouped and classified into units.

• Departmentally organizing the activities - In this step, the manager tries to combine and group similar and related activities into units or departments. This organization of dividing the whole concern into independent units and departments is called departmentation.

• Classifying the authority - Once the departments are made, the manager likes to classify the powers and its extent to the managers. This activity of giving a rank in order to the managerial positions is called hierarchy. The top management is into formulation of policies, the middle level management into departmental supervision and lower level management into supervision of foremen. The clarification of authority help in bringing efficiency in the running of a concern. This helps in achieving efficiency in the running of a concern. This helps in avoiding wastage of time, money, effort, in avoidance of duplication or overlapping of efforts and this helps in bringing smoothness in a concern’s working.

• Co-ordination between authority and responsibility - Relationships are established among various groups to enable smooth interaction toward the achievement of the organizational goal. Each individual is made aware of his authority and he/she knows whom they have to take orders from and to whom they are accountable and to whom they have to report. A clear organizational structure is drawn and all the employees are made aware of it.

Explain decisions involved in the organizing management function

• Work specialization• One popular organizational concept is based on the fundamental principle that

employees can work more efficiently if they're allowed to specialize. Work specialization, sometimes called division of labor, is the degree to which organizational tasks are divided into separate jobs. Employees within each department perform only the tasks related to their specialized function.

• When specialization is extensive, employees specialize in a single task, such as running a particular machine in a factory assembly line. Jobs tend to be small, but workers can perform them efficiently. By contrast, if a single factory employee built an entire automobile or performed a large number of unrelated jobs in a bottling plant, the results would be inefficient.

• Despite the apparent advantages of specialization, many organizations are moving away from this principle. With too much specialization, employees are isolated and perform only small, narrow, boring tasks. In addition, if that person leaves the company, his specialized knowledge may disappear as well. Many companies are enlarging jobs to provide greater challenges and creating teams so that employees can rotate among several jobs.

Explain decisions involved in the organizing management function

Chain of command• The chain of command is an unbroken line of authority that links all persons in an

organization and defines who reports to whom. This chain has two underlying principles: unity of command and scalar principle.

• Unity of command: This principle states that an employee should have one and only one supervisor to whom he or she is directly responsible. No employee should report to two or more people. Otherwise, the employee may receive conflicting demands or priorities from several supervisors at once, placing this employee in a no-win situation.

• Nevertheless, these examples are exceptions to the rule. They happen under special circumstances and usually only within a special type of employee group. For the most part, however, when allocating tasks to individuals or grouping assignments, management should ensure that each has one boss, and only one boss, to whom he or she directly reports.

• Scalar principle: The scalar principle refers to a clearly defined line of authority that includes all employees in the organization. The classical school of management suggests that there should be a clear and unbroken chain of command linking every person in the organization with successively higher levels of authority up to and including the top manager. When organizations grow in size, they tend to get taller, as more and more levels of management are added. This increases overhead costs, adds more communication layers, and impacts understanding and access between top and bottom levels. It can greatly slow decision making and can lead to a loss of contact with the client or customer.

Explain decisions involved in the organizing management function

Delegation• A concept related to authority is delegation. Delegation is the downward transfer of authority from a manager to a subordinate. Most

organizations today encourage managers to delegate authority in order to provide maximum flexibility in meeting customer needs. In addition, delegation leads to empowerment, in that people have the freedom to contribute ideas and do their jobs in the best possible ways. This involvement can increase job satisfaction for the individual and frequently results in better job performance. Without delegation, managers do all the work themselves and underutilize their workers. The ability to delegate is crucial to managerial success. Managers need to take four steps if they want to successfully delegate responsibilities to their teams.

Specifically assign tasks to individual team members. • The manager needs to make sure that employees know that they are ultimately responsible for carrying out specific assignments.Give team members the correct amount of authority to accomplish assignments. • Typically, an employee is assigned authority commensurate with the task. A classical principle of organization warns managers not to delegate

without giving the subordinate the authority to perform to delegated task. When an employee has responsibility for the task outcome but little authority, accomplishing the job is possible but difficult. The subordinate without authority must rely on persuasion and luck to meet performance expectations. When an employee has authority exceeding responsibility, he or she may become a tyrant, using authority toward frivolous outcomes.

Make sure that team members accept responsibility. • Responsibility is the flip side of the authority coin. Responsibility is the duty to perform the task or activity an employee has been assigned.

An important distinction between authority and responsibility is that the supervisor delegates authority, but the responsibility is shared. Delegation of authority gives a subordinate the right to make commitments, use resources, and take actions in relation to duties assigned. However, in making this delegation, the obligation created is not shifted from the supervisor to the subordinate — it is shared. A supervisor always retains some responsibility for work performed by lower-level units or individuals.

Create accountability. • Team members need to know that they are accountable for their projects. Accountability means answering for one's actions and accepting

the consequences. Team members may need to report and justify task outcomes to their superiors. Managers can build accountability into their organizational structures by monitoring performances and rewarding successful outcomes.

Explain decisions involved in the organizing management function

Span of control• Span of control (sometimes called span of management) refers to the number of workers who

report to one manager. For hundreds of years, theorists have searched for an ideal span of control. When no perfect number of subordinates for a manager to supervise became apparent, they turned their attention to the more general issue of whether the span should be wide or narrow.

• A wide span of management exists when a manager has a large number of subordinates. Generally, the span of control may be wide when– The manager and the subordinates are very competent.– The organization has a well-established set of standard operating procedures.– Few new problems are anticipated.

• A narrow span of management exists when the manager has only a few subordinates. The span should be narrow when– Workers are located far from one another physically.– The manager has a lot of work to do in addition to supervising workers.– A great deal of interaction is required between supervisor and workers.– New problems arise frequently.

• Keep in mind that the span of management may change from one department to another within the same organization.

Explain decisions involved in the organizing management function

Centralization versus decentralization• The general pattern of authority throughout an organization determines the extent

to which that organization is centralized or decentralized.• A centralized organization systematically works to concentrate authority at the

upper levels. In a decentralized organization, management consciously attempts to spread authority to the lower organization levels.

• A variety of factors can influence the extent to which a firm is centralized or decentralized. The following is a list of possible determinants:– The external environment in which the firm operates. The more complex and unpredictable

this environment, the more likely it is that top management will let low-level managers make important decisions. After all, low-level managers are closer to the problems because they are more likely to have direct contact with customers and workers. Therefore, they are in a better position to determine problems and concerns.

– The nature of the decision itself. The riskier or the more important the decision, the greater the tendency to centralize decision making.

– The abilities of low-level managers. If these managers do not have strong decision-making skills, top managers will be reluctant to decentralize. Strong low-level decision-making skills encourage decentralization.

Describe steps in the organizing process Review plans and objectives. • Objectives are the specific activities that must be completed to achieve goals. Plans

shape the activities needed to reach those goals. Managers must examine plans initially and continue to do so as plans change and new goals are developed.

Determine the work activities necessary to accomplish objectives. • Although this task may seem overwhelming to some managers, it doesn't need to

be. Managers simply list and analyze all the tasks that need to be accomplished in order to reach organizational goals.

Classify and group the necessary work activities into manageable units. • A manager can group activities based on four models of departmentalization:

functional, geographical, product, and customer.Assign activities and delegate authority. • Managers assign the defined work activities to specific individuals. Also, they give

each individual the authority (right) to carry out the assigned tasks.Design a hierarchy of relationships. • A manager should determine the vertical (decision-making) and horizontal

(coordinating) relationships of the organization as a whole. Next, using the organizational chart, a manager should diagram the relationships

Explain factors that affect a manager’s organizing decisions

• There is no standard formula for the best way to organize an enterprise. Several factors have been shown to influence organizing decisions. Among the most important of these factors are strategy, size, environmental conditions, and technology.

STRATEGY. • Managers organize in order to achieve the objectives of the enterprise for which they work.

Thus, the strategy of the enterprise affects organizing decisions. Changes in strategy frequently necessitate changes in the way the enterprise is organized.

SIZE. • Small enterprises tend to exhibit less formalization, centralization, and complexity in their

organizational structure. Nevertheless, enterprises of the same size may be organized quite differently because of differences in strategy, environmental conditions, and technology.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. • The key factor in the external environment that is relevant to organizing is uncertainty. Some

enterprises face competitive environments that change rapidly and are quite complex, while others face relatively stable conditions. Generally, turbulent environments call for organizing decisions that lead to less formalization and centralization in the organizational structure.

TECHNOLOGY. • The processes by which an enterprise transforms inputs into outputs may also affect

organizing decisions. Some research suggests that organizing decisions that lead to high degrees of formalization, centralization, and work

Discuss the results of poor organizing

• Confusion among employees• High frustration levels• Loss of efficiency (low moral or work ethic)• Limited effectiveness (poor quality and

quantity in work)

Student Activity• This organization skills test is made up of two types of questions:

scenarios and self-assessment. For each scenario, answer according to how you would most likely behave in a similar situation. For the self-assessment questions, indicate the degree to which the given statements apply to you. In order to receive the most accurate results, please answer each question as honestly as possible. Please note: If you work (this includes going to school and volunteering), please take the career version of this test (Do you have good organization skills? - School/work version).

• After finishing the test, you will receive a Snapshot Report with an introduction, a graph and a personalized interpretation for one of your test scores. You will then have the option to purchase the full results.

http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idRegTest=2285

3.03 Manage staff growth and development to increase productivity and employee satisfaction.

Orient new employees

Explain the importance of new-employee orientation.

• Effectively orienting new employees to the company and to their positions is critical to establishing successful, productive working relationships.

• The employee's first interactions with you should create a positive impression of your department and the company.

• The time you spend planning for the new person's first days and weeks on the job will greatly increase the chance for a successful start.

Discuss the benefits of new-employee orientation.

1. To Reduce Startup-Costs • Proper orientation can help the employee get "up to speed" much more quickly, thereby

reducing the costs associated with learning the job. 2. To Reduce Anxiety • Any employee, when put into a new, strange situation, will experience anxiety that can impede

his or her ability to learn to do the job. Proper orientation helps to reduce anxiety that results from entering into an unknown situation, and helps provide guidelines for behavior and conduct, so the employee doesn't have to experience the stress of guessing.

3. To Reduce Employee Turnover • Employee turnover increases as employees feel they are not valued, or are put in positions

where they can't possibly do their jobs. Orientation shows that the organization values the employee, and help provide tools necessary for succeeding in the job.

4. To Save Time For Supervisor & Co-Workers • Simply put, the better the initial orientation, the less likely supervisors and co-workers will

have to spend time teaching the employee. 5. To Develop Realistic Job Expectations, Positive Attitudes and Job Satisfaction • It is important that employees learn early on what is expected of them, and what to expect

from others, in addition to learning about the values and attitudes of the organization. While people can learn from experience, they will make many mistakes that are unnecessary and potentially damaging.

Identify sources of orientation information• Taxes and personnel forms. Not everyone's favorite paperwork to

do, but it is the law, of course. Forms like the new I-9 and W-4 are must-haves. You might also consider placing an employee handbook receipt in the new employee's personnel file along with tax forms and benefit information.

• Employee handbook. If you don't have an employee handbook that covers topics such as dress code, sick leave, email policy and benefits, consult your HR professional to help you create one for your small business.

• Benefits. Though benefits will definitely be covered in your employee handbook, taking the time to talk about specific benefits is very helpful to new employees. This point in the orientation would be ideal for completing enrollment forms for health care too.

Identify sources of orientation informationThere are two related kinds of orientation. The first we will call Overview Orientation, and deals with

the basic information an employee will need to understand the broader system he or she works in. • Overview Orientation includes helping employees understand:

– Company in general, the department and the branch – important policies and general procedures (non-job specific) – information about compensation and benefits – safety and accident prevention issues – employee and union issues (rights, responsibilities) – physical facilities

• Often, Overview Orientation can be conducted by the personnel department with a little help from the branch manager or immediate supervisor, since much of the content is generic in nature.

• The second kind of orientation is called Job-Specific Orientation, and is the process that is used to help employees understand: – function of the organization, and how the employee fits in – job responsibilities, expectations, and duties – policies, procedures, rules and regulations – layout of workplace – introduction to co-workers and other people in the broader organization.

• Job specific orientation is best conducted by the immediate supervisor, and/or manager, since much of the content will be specific to the individual. Often the orientation process will be ongoing, with supervisors and co-workers supplying coaching.

Explain the current employee's role in orienting new employees

• Notify everyone in your unit that a new person is starting and what the person's job will be. Ask the other staff members to welcome the new employee and encourage their support.

• Prepare interesting tasks for the employee's first day. • Make a copy of the job description card, job vacancy listing (JVL), job performance

standards, campus organization chart, and your department's organization chart. • Enroll the employee in the New Employee Orientation class through the Employee

Development & Training Unit in Human Resources. • Make sure the employee's work location is available, clean, and organized. • Make sure a copy of the appropriate personnel policy manual or contract is available for

the employee. • Have a benefits information package available. • If possible, identify a staff member to act as a buddy for the first week. • Put together a list of key people the employee should meet and interview to get a

broader understanding of their roles • Arrange for a building pass, parking pass, and IDs if necessary. • Draft a training plan for the new employee's first few months.

Describe procedures for orienting new employees

1. Orientation should begin with the most important information (basic job survival). 2. Orientation should emphasize people as well as procedures and things. Employees should

have a chance to get to know people and their approaches and styles in both social and work settings.

3. Buddy an employee to a more experienced person, but make sure the more experienced person wants to buddy up, and has the inter-personal skills. This provides ongoing support.

4. Introduce employees to both information and people in a controlled way. A new employee can't absorb everything at once, so don't waste your time. Space out introductions.

Conclusion • Orientation (or lack of it) will make a significant difference in how quickly an employee can

become more productive, and also has long term effects for the organization. To help you in the orientation process, we have included a checklist for the Job-Specific Orientation. Note that any complete program will include other elements...those that would be included in the Overview Orientation.

Student Activity• Conduct an orientation for new employees (students).• Divide the class into groups of three. Ask each group to

determine the types of orientation provided to new students by counselors/administrators/students leaders at BHS.

• Each team should compare the orientations, discussing possible reasons for the differences among the orientations and recommending ways to improve the sessions.

• Create a “BHS Student Handbook”: list items that every new student should know about BHS, where to find sources, and who they should be introduce to.

3.04 Implement organizational skills to facilitate others’ work efforts

Assist others with prioritizing work responsibilities

Discuss the planning needed to assist others with work priorities

• One of the primary functions of management is to keep the entire staff busy on the highest priority work. People, supplies, and money are too precious to spend on work that is not of the highest business value. On the surface, this can seem fairly simple, but it takes a number of factors to make this process effective.

• If you understand your available resources and the business priorities, you can establish a process to map the people against the needs. This is not a one-time process. This workload planning process usually takes place monthly, normally at the end or beginning of the month. The overall process is as follows:

• First, determine your staff’s availability by estimating the number of hours that each person has available to work during the next three months. Account for vacation, training, holidays, management time, etc.

• Next, review the work in progress and the people allocated to that work. Do a quick check to verify that this work is still valuable and that priorities haven't changed. Since the work is in progress, it's assumed that it is of high priority. However, sometimes work that is in progress must be stopped or deferred if other work is prioritized ahead of it.

Explain factors that could be used as the basis for prioritizing work responsibilities

• Identify the deadlines, project length, location, degree of difficulty, and importance of each item or task.

• Make the most of the times in the day when you have the highest energy levels. Get complex and mentally challenging tasks done during your energy highs. During the lows, take care of low priority, routine, or non-challenging tasks.

• Schedule time each day to check emails and take calls and restrict these activities at other times during the day.

• Review your goals and your 20% tasks at the start of each week and plan important tasks into your schedule for the upcoming week

• Write down important tasks and review your notebook • Weekly plan each night and prioritize 5-6 tasks that you will work on the next day• The next day work on the most important task on your list until it is complete. Then start

work on the 2nd, once it is complete start on the 3rd etc.• Hold yourself accountable. Take stock of your achievements each night and identify goals or

tasks which you completed and which goals or tasks you need to give more attention• Asking questions can be an effective tool to help keep you on track. Whenever you are unsure

of what to do next, just ask yourself "What is the most valuable use of my time right now?"• Learn to say no to low priority requests so that you have time to complete your high priority

tasks• Can you delegate low priority or routine tasks to a personal or virtual assistant?

Explain the need to analyze employees’ current assignments, methods, and preferences when

prioritizing work assignments.

• If your people are allocated to the same work month after month, it's not as important for you to be a good workload manager. This may happen if your group does ongoing support, for example, or if your team is allocated on a long-term project. However, most managers need to maintain awareness of the availability of their staff and the backlog of high-priority work.

• There is no excuse for people finishing one assignment and then having downtime because no additional work has been assigned. A good workload planning project forecasts resource availability during the coming three months and maps the available resources against the highest priority work. These priorities may change from month to month, so you must replan and revalidate business priorities on at least a monthly basis. Doing so will ensure that people are allocated to the highest priority work on an ongoing basis.

Describe a quantitative approach to assigning work priorities.

• There are six priority statuses available: “Lowest”, “Low”, “ Normal ”, “High”, “Highest” and “Urgent”. This system is more flexible and convenient than simple “ABC” code.

Covey's Quadrants• Stephen Covey describes a high-level prioritization scheme in his book The Seven Habits of

Highly Effective People. In this scheme, tasks are categorized by four quadrants:– QI - Important and Urgent – QII - Important but Not Urgent – QIII - Not Important but Urgent – QIV - Not Important and Not Urgent

The ABC Method• It ranks tasks into three categories:

– A = vital – B = important – C = nice

• Then it subdivides tasks in these categories into A1, A2, A3, ..., B1, B2, ... and so forth. Note that the A, B, C categories have a straightforward correspondence to Quadrants I, II, and III discussed in Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

• You can set priority status in when creating new task or later and change it at any moment. • No matter how many tasks you have. You can sort and filter your tasks by priority as well as

by any other properties.

Discuss the need to discuss the quantitative and qualitative expectations with employees when assisting

them with prioritizing work priorities.

• Pareto Rule states that 80% of our routine activities contribute less than 20% to outcome of our work. So you need to prioritize your tasks in order to achieve more.

• Focusing on main things is the easiest way to improve your personal productivity.

• Prioritizing skill is an ability to see what tasks are more important at each moment and give those tasks more attention, energy and time.

Describe actions that supervisors can take to communicate and manage work priorities

• Communicate with individuals directly so that they understand what work is allocated to them over the next few months. They need to understand that the priorities may change—and probably will. But they'll be able to see the best estimate at the time about what they'll be working on for the next three months.

• Look at staffing over a three-month period to determine who will become available during each month. Map this list of people against the client work that is of highest priority. If possible, you'll apply the available resources directly to the highest priority work. Sometimes you'll have to make compromises, though.

Student Activity

• Demonstrate how to assist others with prioritizing work responsibilities.

• Organize a presentation for students to explain how to prioritize their school work and after school activities. Students should prepare visuals to support the presentation and activities to reinforce it.

• http://www.lifeorganizers.com/cm_articles/89_how_to_prioritize_and_get_things_done_83.html

• http://www.time-management-improvement.com/how-to-prioritize.html

3.05 Achieve organizational goals to contribute to company growth.

Determine the nature of organizational goals

Discuss the functions of organizational goals.

• According to Barney and Griffin, organizational goals serve four basic functions; – they provide guidance and direction, – facilitate planning, – motivate and inspire employees, – and help organizations evaluate and control performance.

• Organizational goals inform employees where the organization is going and how it plans to get there. When employees need to make difficult decisions, they can refer to the organization's goals for guidance.

• Goals promote planning to determine how goals will be achieved. • Employees often set goals in order to satisfy a need; thus, goals can be

motivational and increase performance. • Evaluation and control allows an organization to compare its actual

performance to its goals and then make any necessary adjustments.

Describe the focus of varying classifications of organizational goals

• Strategic goals are set at the top of an organization and directly support the mission statement. Strategic goals are related to the entire organization instead of any one department.

• Tactical goals and objectives are directly related to the strategic goals of the organization. They indicate the levels of achievement necessary in the departments and divisions of the organization. Tactical goals and objectives must support the strategic goals of the organization.

• Operational goals and objectives are determined at the lowest level of the organization and apply to specific employees or subdivisions in the organization. They focus on the individual responsibilities of employees.

• Super-ordinate goals are those goals that are important to more than one party. They are often used to resolve conflict between groups.

One useful scheme for describing organizational goals was provided by Charles Perrow. He has identified the following types of organizational goals:

* Officials goals. These goals are the formally stated goals of an organization described in its charter and annual reports and they are emphasized in public statements by key executives.

* Operative goals are the outcomes that the organization actually seeks to attain through its operating policies and activities.

• Operational goals Organizational goals define the performance objectives and desired behaviors within an organization.

Describe the focus of varying classifications of organizational goals

-Economic goals. This goals are concerned with production of goods and services for people outside the organization.

-Cultural goals. This goals are concerned with the symbolic objects and with creating or maintaining value systems of society.

-Order goals. This goals are negative and attempt to place some kind of constraints upon members of the organization and to prevent certain forms of behavior.

-Product goal. These related to the nature and characteristics of the outputs themselves. Example the design, quality and the availability of their output.

-Consumer goal. These goal related to the nature of outputs in term of market to be served and consumer satisfaction.

-Secondary goal. There related to goals that are not the main aim of the organization.

-Operational goal. These related to the activities which involved in providing outputs, and the operation of the organization. For example, the choice of structure, the management process and the nature of technology

Explain the relationship between a business mission, organizational goals, and objectives.

• A mission statement is a guiding light for a business and the individuals who run the business.

• Once you have developed your mission statement, the next step is to create the following items:– Goals - general statements of

mileposts you need to meet to achieve your vision.

– Objectives - specific, time-sensitive statements for achieving your goals

– Strategies/Action Plans - specific implementation plans of how you will achieve your objectives and goals.

Explain the importance of reviewing and revising organizational goals on a regular basis.

• Because organizations face many changes, goals need to be flexible enough so that organizations can respond to dynamic environments.

• Goals that were set at the beginning of the year may not be realistic at the end of the year.

• When organizations set goals that are unattainable or unrealistic in the long or short run, employees become unmotivated.

• When evaluating the appropriateness of a goal, managers should determine whether or not the goal covers the most important aspects of performance. Are the goals realistic yet ambitious enough to motivate employees?

• Objectives should be measurable and specific. Objectives that are not measurable are often not directly tied to the organization's overall mission. They should be linked to rewards that are valued by employees and associated with specific time periods.

3.05 Achieve organizational goals to contribute to company growth.

Ascertain employee’s role in meeting organizational goals

Explain the connection between employee performance expectations, recognition systems, and

organizational goals.

• The Employee Performance focuses on aligning performance with organizational goals. For this to happen, employees must have a direct line of sight between performance expectations and recognition systems and the organizational goals.

• These links must be communicated to and understood by employees, enabling them to focus their work effort on those activities most important to mission accomplishment.

• All employees should be held accountable for achieving results that support the organization’s strategic plan goals and objectives.

Discuss the importance of employees focusing their work efforts on activities that lead to organizational

goal achievement.

• Aligning employee performance to company goals is key to outperforming the competition.

• With balanced performance processes, companies reach overall objectives as employees achieve individual and group goals. And since individuals are not rewarded until goals are met, the company's bottom line grows incrementally along with rewards.

• Performance programs and systems can be found in successful companies that have discovered linking employee performance to company goals is good for business.

Explain the significance of teamwork, coordination, and cooperation in organizational goal achievement.

• Do more with existing resources. Focus on what matters and stop wasting time on things that aren't important.

• Develop and distribute goals quickly and easily. Set clear and measurable goals that contribute to company objectives.

• Keep goals on track. Reports and dashboards allow your team to monitor progress against goals more easily.

• Adapt successfully to changing priorities. Easily refine goals during the year and share new directions with everyone to make sure you stay a step ahead of the competition.

• Increase cooperation. Encourage employees at all levels to work together more closely and focus their efforts on shared goals.

• Strengthen accountability. Assign individuals clear and measurable goals that are visible to others.

• Boost employee engagement. Make sure people understand the company's goals and can see how their efforts fit in.

Discuss benefits of involving employees in the development of organizational goals and objectives

• Employees who clearly understand their individual goals-and how they relate to those of your company-naturally become more engaged with their work.

• Once employees see how they can make a direct contribution to your company's success, they begin to focus on finding ways to work smarter and more efficiently.

• This boost in employee productivity will naturally lead to increased operating margins and profitability for your company.

Discuss the employee’s role in the review of organizational goals and objectives.

• Accountability and monitoring tend to go hand in hand - it's human nature to be more mindful of completing a task when we know someone is watching and cares about our progress, and when we can see the larger effect of our actions.

• Managers need to meet with employees to hear feedback on the performance process and to ask if goals are understood.

• Employees need to provide information that will enable managers to make changes so that the program is more effective.

• Research indicates that employee involvement can be an indicator of how successful a performance program may be.

• Invite employees to contribute ideas that help achieve company goals. • Employees should consider which areas can the company and/or

individuals make improvements or reductions to further company goals?

Student Activity

• Students should work together as a class to identify the organizational goals for a school-based enterprise (Booster Clubs, Student Council, etc). After doing so, the class should discuss specific actions that student employees can take to help the enterprise reach its organizational goals. Capture the students’ ideas, and post them in the classroom or other appropriate location for school-based enterprise employees to see and read.