I don’t want to micromanage, so why should I schedule my team?
One of the key tools a manager has in their toolbox is scheduling. Whether you manage a union or non-union environment, as a people manager, you can schedule your team to try to meet your KPIs. As mentioned in the previous blog posts, found here, your KPIs should be set to relate directly back to one of the four universal service metrics: quality, speed, schedule attainment, and cost. Regardless of which department you are in, these service metrics should be he forefront of your mind since your “customers” may be internal.
4 Ways That a Schedule Affects Your Service Metrics
1. Quality
All service metrics are not created equal. When thinking of customer service metrics, it’s important to think of what the customer considers value. Quality is very important, because if your customers don’t feel like they’re getting value for what they paid for, why would they come back? Quality is also related to a metric called, “First Past Yield,” the idea that the first time you provide a product or service to a customer, it is produced without defects or errors. When your quality is high, you will be in a better position to achieve your schedule, since you are not required to touch the same customer or product again.
2. Productivity
Productivity also relates back to Quality; when you provide a service or product, again your “First Past Yield” measure comes into play. If we are constantly re-working or having to interact with our customers multiple times to get things done, what does that do to our productivity? It goes way down, meaning we must charge our customers more, to accommodate for the reduced productivity, which makes attaining your schedule that much more difficult.
3. Speed
Speed is important for your schedule because the speed of your service will determine whether you are hitting your schedules. Setting a schedule also encourages your employees to work towards a common goal, because it provides visibility across all employees and a shared sense of accomplishment. Scheduling will also help encourage speed in the department since employees know whether they are required to pick up the pace each day to accomplish the goals.
4. Cost
The cost to you is the amount incurred to complete a service or product to the customer. This ties into all other service metrics, the cost of rework is the quality is not up to standard, the cost to produce the service and the speed at which the service or product is provided, using resources. The cost to the customer is the amount they have paid for the service or product and relates directly back to Quality. If a customer doesn’t feel that they’ve gotten their money’s worth, what would stop them from going directly to your competitor?
Solutions: How do I create a schedule to measure all these metrics?
Creating a schedule that hits all these areas can be tough, but when working towards the future state, it’s always important to think of the departmental goals. When thinking of how to schedule your staff around a common goal, Propel’s proven methodology has a defined structure that will allow you to better achieve each of these service metrics on a day to day basis with improved scheduling. As you start to hit these metrics, you will start to feel the impact you have made on your team.
Questions? Contact Us
If you want to learn how to instill a culture of Continuous Improvement within your organization contact us at Propel Solutions today. We specialize in creating high performing teams and have a proven track record of powerful results.
Propel Solutions
- 📍 789 W. Pender Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- 📞 604-346-5185
