I hope to share with all a simple hands-on method of governance for upgrading efficiency and productivity in works or business as follows:-
INTUITIVE AND AD HOC APPROACH
According to Mark Twain, “The secret of getting ahead is to get started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex and overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one.”
Today, most business activities however, are still managed intuitively or in an ad hoc manner as witnessed by commonly held secrets of success, viz:-
1. Focus and Consistency.
2. Positive Work Attitude.
3. Foresight & Insight
4. Supportive Environment.
5. Passion & Determination.
6. Coordination, Teamwork and Bottom-up Approach.
7. Adaptation to Changing Environments.
8. Creativity and Entrepreneurship
9. Leverage on Strengths and avoidance of Weakness. (Sun Sze Art of War)
Clearly such secrets of success are intuitive, abstract and not doable. Instead they will cause inefficiencies and problems due to pre-dominance of concepts, policies, leadership or talents at the expense of hands-on excellence, efficiency and productivity.
Many traditional tasks on the other hand are already efficiently performed in divisible doable component tasks governed by quality-time-cost parameters as in on-line banking, e-trading, travel-ticketing, CAD-CAM designing, transportation, logistics, stock-trading, accounting, telecommunications etc.
DOABLE WORK PROCESSES
Hence, instead of managing in an ad hoc or intuitive manner, translate tasks into doable components: (1) Study of Ideas, (2) Enquiry, (3) Securing Contracts and (4) Contract Administration (Operations).
Business activities are actually contracts divisible in ten departments, namely: 1.(General) 2.(Human Resource) 3.(Revenue) 4.(Accounts) 5.(Marketing) 6.(Services-all outsourced activities) 7.(Facility) 8.(Enforcement) 9. (Production) 10.(Compliance).
DEPARTMENT REPORT – OPERATIONAL/PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Pre-plan operations or contracts for systematic project or contract management in 3-4 CORE ACTIVITIES controlled or monitored from one-page department report as follows:-
1. Set up 3-4 Core Activities.
2. Define each core activity in 2-3 quality-time-cost parameters.
3. Perform Core Activities as planned in DR to attain parameters.
4. Inspect and report variances in “1”, “2” or “3” for non-attainment”, “attainment” and “excellent attainment” of parameters respectively.
5. Feedback variances (“1s”) through Department Reports every Friday by 1630 hour elaborated by a two-way communication task-line.
SEQUENTIAL WORK FORMS
Next, ensure quality-time-cost performance by laying down detailed works and services in sequential in-out processes in Work Forms for mass participation and knowledge application by all.
TOTAL MANAGEMENT – COORDINATION AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED MANAGEMENT
In summary, all tasks can be performed in result-oriented hands-on processes: (1) administrative form, (2) department report and (3) work form to attain results.
The enterprise will carry all tasks as a team automatically to achieve results without complex concepts or policies.
Note: The above-mentioned guide is extracted from book “Objective-Steps Processing Management System" of Robert Teh Kok Hua
