PROMOTE INNOVATION IN A TEAM ENVIRONMENT CANDIDATE RESOURCE WITH SIMULATED ONLINE BUSINESS ASSESSMENT BSBINN301A

Transcription

1 PROMOTE INNOVATION IN A TEAM ENVIRONMENT CANDIDATE RESOURCE WITH SIMULATED ONLINE BUSINESS ASSESSMENT BSBINN301A

2 Precision Group (Australia) Pty Ltd 9 Koppen Tce, Cairns, QLD, info@precisiongroup.com.au Website: BSBINN301A Promote Innovation in a Team Environment ISBN: Copyright Notice No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by an information retrieval system without written permission from Precision Group (Australia) Pty Ltd. Legal action may be taken against any person who infringes their copyright through unauthorised copying. These terms are subject to the conditions prescribed under the Australian Copyright Act Copying for Educational Purposes The Australian Copyright Act 1968 allows 10% of this book to be copied by any educational institute for educational purposes, provided that the institute (or the body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act. For more information, info@copyright. com.au or visit for other contact details. Disclaimer Precision Group has made a great effort to ensure that this material is free from error or omissions. However, you should conduct your own enquiries and seek professional advice before relying on any fact, statement or matter contained in this book. Precision Group (Australia) Pty Ltd is not responsible for any injury, loss or damage as a result of material included or omitted from this material. Information in this course material is current at the time of publication.

3 Table of Contents 2 Focus 3 Qualification Pathways 5 Introduction 7 BSBINN301A/01 Create Opportunities to Maximise Innovation Within the Team Key Points Evaluate and reflect on what the team needs and wants to achieve Check out information about current or potential team members work in the context of developing a more innovative team Bring people into the team or make suggestions for team members based on what needs to be achieved and the potential for cross-fertilising ideas Acknowledge, respect and discuss the different ways that different people may contribute to building or enhancing the team 19 True or False Quiz 21 BSBINN301/02 Organise and Agree Effective Ways of Working Key Points Jointly establish ground rules for how the team will operate Agree and communicate responsibilities in ways that encourage and reinforce teambased innovation Agree and share tasks and activities to ensure the best use of skills and abilities within the team Plan and schedule activities to allow time for thinking, challenging and collaboration Establish personal reward and stimulation as an integral part of the team s way of working 39 True or False Quiz 41 BSBINN301A/03 Support and Guide Colleagues Key Points Model behaviour that supports innovation Seek external stimuli and ideas to feed into team activities Pro-actively share information, knowledge and experiences with other team members Challenge and test ideas within the team in a positive and collaborative way Pro-actively discuss and explore ideas with other team members on an ongoing basis 49 True or False Quiz 1

4 51 BSBINN301A/04 Reflect on How the Team is Working Key Points De-brief and reflect on activities and on opportunities for improvement and innovation Gather and use feedback from within and outside the team to generate discussion and debate Discuss the challenges of being innovative in a constructive and open way Take ideas for improvement, build them into future activities and communicate key issues to relevant colleagues Identify, promote and celebrate successes and examples of successful innovation 61 True or False Quiz 62 Summary 63 Bibliography 65 Assessment Pack Use considered risk taking in your grey area...and others will follow you! Legend This symbol indicates the beginning of new content. The bold title matches the content of the competency and they will help you to find the section to reference for your assessment activities. Activity: Whenever you see this symbol, there is an activity to carry out which has been designed to help reinforce the learning about the topic and take some action. This symbol is used at the end of a section to indicate the summary key points of the previous section. This symbol is used to indicate an answer to the Candidate s questions or notes to assist the Facilitator. 2

5 Qualification Pathways There are always two choices. Two paths to take. One is easy. And its only reward is that it s easy. Source Unknown This unit of competency is provided to meet the requirements of BSB07 Business Services Training Package although can be used in a range of different qualifications. The BSB07 Business Services Training Package does not state how a qualification is to be achieved. Rather, Registered Training Organisations are required to use the qualification rules to ensure the needs of the learner and business customer are met. This is to be achieved through the development of effective learning programs delivered in an order which meets the stated needs of nominated candidates and business customers. 3

6 Qualification Rules You re either part of the solution or part of the problem. Eldridge Cleaver Qualification requirements include core and elective units. The unit mix is determined by specific unit of competency requirements which are stated in the qualification description. Registered Training Organisations then work with learners and business customers to select elective units relevant to the work outcome, local industry requirements and the qualification level. All vocational education qualifications must lead to a work outcome. BSB07 Business Services Training Package qualifications allow for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) to vary programs to meet: Specific needs of a business or group of businesses. Skill needs of a locality or a particular industry application of business skills. Maximum employability of a group of students or an individual. When packaging a qualification elective units are to be selected from an equivalent level qualification unless otherwise stated. 4

7 Introduction Whether as an individual, or as part of a group, real progress depends on entering whole-heartedly into the process and being motivated to make you a more deeply satisfied human being. Source Unknown This unit of competency is about being able to be an effective and proactive member of an innovative team. It will help you with the skills you need to demonstrate competency for the unit BSBINN301A Promote Innovation in a Team Environment. This is one of the units that make up Certificates in Business. This manual is broken up into four distinct sections. They are: 1. Create opportunities to maximise innovation within the team - Where we will see why new ideas and improving work practices are required and how ideas are collected and evaluated. 2. Organise and agree effective ways of working Here we will examine how through the use of company s human resources we can facilitate innovation and change within an organisation. 3. Support and guide colleagues We look at the process of change and what support is required to make change successful. 4. Reflect on how the team is working Finally we look at the change process, how it is kept on track and measuring the value of any change. At the conclusion of this manual you will be asked to complete an assessment workbook for this unit of competency. The information contained in this manual will assist you to complete this task. On conclusion of this unit of competency you will have demonstrated your ability to understand, be part of and be able to support innovation and change. 5

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9 PART 1: Create Opportunities to Maximise Innovation Within the Team Key Points Section 1 Creativity is the generation of a new idea. Innovation is the translation of that idea into a better product, service or method of production. Creativity occurs when an organisation encourages exploration by its employees of new ways of doing things. Any time there is a need to change, to meet a challenge there is a need to be innovative. To get ideas generated and change encouraged, successful organisations needs to look at its environment including Developing an acceptance of change, Encouraging new ideas, Breaking down the departmental walls and allow interaction, Accepting failure as a way to success, Providing clear goals and objectives and Offering recognition to those that perform. 7

10 Key Points Section 1 continued The flow of people and information between the company and the environment is vital for innovation, this means going outside the four walls of the company structure and using every and all resources we can. Individual and group feedback is critical to ensure everyone is going down the right path and that everyone has an opportunity to participate. Being innovative and having lots of great ideas doesn t mean implementation of change is a given. Risk and resources need to be considered. The innovation and change needs to be realistic and relevant to the organisation. 8

11 Innovation and Change Humans are at their most inventive (innovative) during times of crisis, where losing is not an option. A person on the verge of bankruptcy is likely to take some normally unprecedented actions in order to recover. Look at times of war - technology thrives and great advances are made. Obviously we shouldn t wait until a heart attack is imminent before adjusting our diet and running the streets, and in the same way we shouldn t wait until World War III starts before looking at innovative solutions. Why? Innovation means taking a risk and it s much safer to take a risk while things are under control than when they are not. Look at the heart attack situation any mistake (even a small one) will probably be fatal. What are Innovation and Change? Creativity is the generation of a new idea. Innovation is the translation of that idea into a better product, service or method of production. Many people have new ideas but the difficult part is generating the ideas into innovative new ways of completing a task. Creativity occurs when an organisation encourages exploration by its employees of new ways of doing things. Not all organisations provide such an environment as they may be uncomfortable with the process of change. The change itself can be described as the unfreezing of the status quo, moving to a new (changed) state and refreezing the new change so it becomes the new status quo. Unfreeze status quo No exercise Move to new state Put exercise program in place Freeze new state Exercise as per exercise program The Change Process in Relation to Exercise and Heart Attack Prospect. The process may be changed several times as the heart attack prospect continues to improve / change their exercise program. The same can be said for any workplace product, service or process. Why Change? Any time there is a need to change, to meet a challenge there is a need to be inventive. When going down the current path is not going to allow a product, process or service maintain its current standing, there seems little value travelling down that path. 9

12 Let s have a look at some of those reasons for change: Advancing technology - Technology is changing fast, new products come from new and old competitors. A changing environment - It s a fast changing environment, product lifetimes are shorter, need to replace products sooner. Changing industrial structures and strategies. An evolving society People have different expectations now than they did even 10 years ago. Look at what a 20-something person wants now compared to their parents at the same age. Evolving customer desires - Customers are more sophisticated, segmented and demanding, and expect more in terms of customisation, newness, quality and price. Competitors improve their products, processes and services - With markets and technology changing fast, and good ideas quickly copied, there is continual pressure to devise new and better products, processes and services faster. Customers stop buying your old products and services so you need to replace them and add new products and services. When to Change? The change process has to match the needs of the organisation. It s simply not good enough to start an exercise regime once you re attached to a machine. Similarly if technology has been bedded in by your competitors, or your product is now a dead duck, it s too late. It s also important that any change is not introduced quickly at the expense of prudence. The optimum is to innovate when the risk of failure won t kill the business, and the time required to introduce won t give the opposition a head start. It s a bit like marketing - when s the best time? When you re busy if you re in a state of decline it s too late to start. Promoting Innovative Change within the Organisation To get ideas generated and change encouraged, successful organisations need to look at the following factors: Developing an acceptance of change: Employees must believe that change will benefit them and the organisation. This will only happen if employees and managers are all involved in the making of decisions for change. Being part of the process means the employee is able to see the advantages and disadvantages of any change and measure its consequences individually and collectively. This leads to an informed decision and better buy in. Encouraging new ideas: Managers in the organisation, from the top level down, must make it clear that ideas are welcome and that they will listen to suggestions. Any feeling of lack of interest will stop the flow of ideas. 10

13 Part 1: Create Opportunities to Maximise Innovation Within the Team Permitting interaction: Interaction between different work groups and levels within the organisation will allow for the exchange of information, the free flow of ideas and new perspectives on old problems. Tolerating failure: Many new ideas may not work, but if we don t try, where do we find the ones that do? Without trial and error we can only wait for the opposition to prove a new idea first and start from behind. Providing clear goals and objectives: All employees must be informed of the goals and objectives of the organisation, so that everyone is heading in the same direction. Offering recognition: People (and the right people) must be recognised for the new ideas and a job well done. Again someone who takes credit for a new idea or a job well done that is not their own, or is part of a team development, will stop the flow of ideas and good work. If you re not failing every now and again, it s a sign you re not doing anything very innovative. Woody Allen 11

14 Feedback Feedback is Vital to Improving Work Practices. Individual feedback is the extent that an individual receives specific information (praise, blame or any other comment). Clear and direct evaluation or results of the work itself can indicate where work is on track or off track and requires improvement. Similarly, feedback from an individual to a supervisor regarding the way a task is performed and how it may be improved can result in innovative changes that could considerably improve production, quantity or quality. This process of feedback is often in the form of performance appraisal but also can happen in informal conversations daily. Feedback needs to be positive and used constructively. Given negatively, feedback can be seen as threatening and can be the basis of poor employee relations thus counterproductive. Constructive feedback should be based on good communication skills, trust between parties, specific (with good clear and recent examples), factual, no more than the receiver can handle and most importantly, something the receiver can do something about. Group feedback is often more effective than providing it to just one person. Many innovative ideas will be produced from a group or team who have a range of skills, pooling these and linking the knowledge to come up with better solutions. Feedback is important to getting results within a team. Why? Because without a sound understanding, a team of say 6 individuals may very well get the same message but interpret it 6 different ways which may immediately take a team in 6 different directions. The team members need to communicate and that communication needs to be effective, accurate and understood. Feedback is, of course, essential to ensure that communication is understood and acted upon. We will look at feedback again later in the training. Innovation and Creativity Making it Work It s clear that the creation of ideas within an organisation is dependant on the flow of people and information between the company and the environment. For example, if a company is not aware of a change in the competitive market, i.e. new technology has made a product cheaper, then they are unlikely to see it as an alternative and a reason for change (thus removing one of the motivations for change). Outside information, whether it is from new employees, customers, consultants or from a website article, may provide the source of alternative approaches or technologies used by suppliers, competitors or similar organisations. Improving technology can assist in bringing change to a process. 12

15 Which are the Changes to Run With? Being innovative and having lots of great ideas doesn t mean implementation of change is a given. Certain factors need to be considered: 1. The innovation and change being considered needs to be in line with what the organisation wants to achieve. A company that wants to focus on its core business, say manufacturing Widgets, is more inclined to look at technology to improve its throughput than hire an electrician in case the machinery breaks down. Making is core; repairs are not, so it would be a better fit to outsource that part of the business. 2. The innovation and change needs to be realistic and relevant to the organisation. Lets again look at the Widget manufacturing business. It sells 100,000 Widgets per year and has 50% of the total market. Lets say it has two (2) options: A simple and cheap machine ($5,000) that would reduce costs per Widget by 5% and allow another 20% to be produced. An expensive ($100,000) highly technical machine which could produce over 1,000,000 per year at a reduced cost per unit by 10% as long as that many were produced. Which would the company consider realistic and relevant? Looking at Option 2, is it realistic for the company to sell 1,000,000 Widgets in a year? No the market currently is only 20% of that number. Would the cost per unit reduce if the machine was to produce only 20% of capacity? What else could be done with the additional $95,000 between Option 1 and 2 that may benefit the company? Would repairs and maintenance on the highly technical machine be greater? What additional training would be required? It s fairly obvious in this example Option 1 is more relevant and realistic when looking at the company s current position but it s interesting to note that with very little effort required there are a lot of questions that need answering before making a decision. There is more detail on this under Risk. 3. If an idea is submitted to management, the idea itself is not enough, management needs to consider the resources required to make it happen. Again let s look at the new Widget making machine, even the simple one. What resources would we need to look at? They are not all obvious but a list may look like this: Technical expertise: To fit the machine. Space: Does the current process allow the machine to fit or do we have to redesign or look for more space? Money: Do we have $5000 for the machine and all other costs? Manpower: Are more staff or additional training required? 13

16 Technical expertise: To fix the machine if it breaks down? Time: How much downtime would there be (not just installing but consider meetings, training etc.) and what are the windows of time available, remembering the company s production commitments? Change not only needs to be realistic, but it must also be timely in order to achieve the goals required. Too early and the risk in terms of the ideas development may be too great. It s okay to be cutting edge as long as the blade is not against your own throat! Too late and the change may be obsolete and / or the competition may have stolen the march. Once change is accepted, the introduction of that change must also be timed. These timelines must be realistic to allow the resources and equipment to be available and ready. Imagine spending $100,000 on the new Widget making machinery and another $50,000 on installation only to find that the training modules and trainers are not available for 6 months. It is better the money stays in the company s bank account, not the suppliers. This does not even consider the disruption caused that was not necessary. These simple blunders don t instil confidence in the most important people in the change process the operators. It is important to know when you are heading in the right direction. Selecting Team Members A good work team consists of people with a mix of skills and personalities. The team should include: Experts in the current system these people know the current way of doing things within an organisation inside out. Users of the system those that have to actually use a given system on a daily basis. Those with technical knowledge and the ability to resolve this type of issue. People who have no involvement in the system, but can offer constructive suggestions for improvement. Your customers and suppliers who will be impacted by the system or processes concerned. Some individuals who have no direct involvement in the process to give a different viewpoint. 14

17 Your process improvement teams need to consist of the very best staff that you have. You want people who can offer innovative suggestions that can improve the way things are done. You also need to ensure that your team members are the kind of people who will work with each other in a productive manner. Some of the attributes that you need to look for in your team members include: 1. Creativity 2. Outward thinking 3. Working well with others 4. Respected staff. 15

18 The Size of the Team The size of your team will have a significant effect on the way the team works. The smaller your team the quicker they can work. You will often find that teams of 3-5 people work best if you need your results faster. Larger teams generally produce better results but require higher levels of supervision to be effective and not get off track. The larger teams could effectively be divided into two or more teams. There may be one team that manages the overall work and then 2 or more smaller teams charged with specific tasks. Smaller teams tend to work more efficiently. However, don t neglect the fact that larger teams often bring more ideas to the party. They have a broader range of knowledge and skill base which allows them to generate a much wider range of ideas. The problem is the speed at which anything occurs as you have more people s opinions that need to be considered. Roles Team Leader Project planning. Accountability for outcomes. Generates the overall direction of the group. Looks after budget and resources. Ensures the team is heading in the right direction. Project Manager Responsible for schedule. Tracks outcomes. Manages sub teams. Identifies where problems may exist and finds solutions to these. Facilitator Leads meetings. Ensures meetings are focussed and ordered. 16

19 Team Members Discussing ideas. Finding solutions. Developing plans. 17

20 Activity One - Change Theory Complete the following multiple choice questions. 1 Which of the following is not a good reason for change? (a) The opposition is producing goods of as good a quality but cheaper. (b) New technology that will improve through-put is now available. (c) The manager thinks its time to kick the team out of its complacency. (d) Customer sales of an item are starting to wane. 2 Which of the following is a disadvantage of interviews? (a) Time consuming. (b) Subjective. (c) Require too much documentation. (d) Hard to maintain objectivity. 3 Which of the following is an idea from outside the normal work environment? (a) A supplier suggests a better product for packaging goods. (b) A team member suggests a change of procedure. (c) The accountant suggests a saving by changing suppliers. (d) The engineer comes up with a way to improve a process. 4 Which is not necessary? Changes need to be: (a) Relevant. (b) Risk Free. (c) Cost Effective. (d) Realistic. 18

21 Section 1 - True or False Quiz Please tick True False Creativity and innovation is the same thing. Creativity occurs when an organisation encourages exploration. The change process can be described as the unfreezing of the status quo, moving to a new state and refreezing the new change so it becomes the new status quo. What competitors do is often a motivation for innovation and change. Only those directly affected by a problem or need should participate in the creation of ideas about it. Creating ideas and being part of the change process is part of the job and doesn t require any further recognition. Outside information can provide a source of alternative approaches or technologies that may be advantageous to an organisation. Feedback is not important to getting results within a team. Innovative ideas mean change. Innovation and change must be realistic and relevant to the organisation. 19