Question

Imagine the situation in your workplace (B2B Parcel delivery business) where you are a part of a team that has not been performing very well as since Martin Farrell, the previous manager left the team to join the head office. All the members including the new recruits have been experiencing the difficulties meeting the service standards, delivery and performance targets. The team members apparently have no co-ordination among their functions and have no motivation. The team is under tremendous pressure to improve the performance and has been warned several times by the top management. Because of Martin’s successful team management, he was relocated to head office with a higher position. Before leaving the team, head office asked Martin to assist HR manager in getting the suitable replacement to fill the position. Many senior members had the perception that they would be given the opportunity to lead the team. One day,Martin called you and mentioned: “I know there will be people who want to step into my role simply based on seniority. My rule is ‘leader is not born, but made.’ I think you have the skills & qualities to take the charge. Are you ready to take the challenge?’’ You were not sure what to say but always wished to be a leader. You had been investing your time and efforts on continuous professional development to achieve this goal. At the same time, you knew well that the task of managing people is not so easy. Martin and HR manager, Kelly sat in a meeting for several hours discussing who to recommend for the position. Later they arrived at the conclusion and decided to recommend you for the position. Before doing that Kelly wants you to provide some information about the present situation of the company, and team. They also need to justify that you have the right skills and capability to lead the team. So she has asked you to prepare a short report answering the following questions, to understand your knowledge about the requirements of the position. Once you prepare the report, she will forward it to the head office based on which final decision will be taken.

In the context of above story, answer the following questions:

1. Identify different individuals (5 internal and 3 external) whom you may have to consult for allocating the work and resources. Present the information in the form of table as shown below.

Name	Designation	Internal / External	Reason(s) for consultation

2. Identify the different Groups or departments (at least 6) that you may have to consult for resources. Present the information in the form of table as shown below.

Name of the department/group	Required Resource	Internal or External	Reason(s) for consultation

3. Now suppose you have been advised by the management team that the business has a forecast of 10% growth in sales (current financial year). You know that the only way to ensure the team is capable of achieving such an increase is by reviewing the operational plan and accordingly develop work plans for each staff member. You are thinking of expanding the services to bigger area, technology improvement, more training to staff and improving overall service in delivery systems. Now draft a work-plan based on the newly thought operational goals (you may use the following template).

Operational Goal	Responsible people or group	Budget in AUD	Timeframe	Resources needed	Key Outcomes

4. If you were to allocate different task to the team members, what are the considerations that you need to take into account? Provide a sample situation where you used the above considerations to allocate work at your workplace. (Sample situation could be a marketing campaign or a fund-raising event where you took the leading role and allocated different tasks to people in your team).

5. Performance standards and performance Indicators are to be developed and informed to the relevant staff prior to allocating or commencement of work. Identify at least 3 different performance standards and associated performance indicator that you have encountered at your work place.You may use the given template.

Task/Job	Performance Standard	Performance Indicator

6. Why risk management is important for organizations? The Risk assessment and control is one of the most important things at your workplace that has to be conducted before a manager or supervisor can allocate work. This process analyses likelihood and potential consequences of risk events. Develop a risk assessment and control plan for few jobs in your workplace using the following template:

Risk assessment and control work sheet

Description of risk	Likelihood (use descriptor i.e. rare, unlikely etc)	Consequences (descriptor like major, moderate, insignificant etc)	Prevention strategy/ Contingency plan

Answer 1

List of Individuals to whom consultation to be done

Name	Designation	Internal/External	Reason
Mr.A	Manager Service	Internal	To understand that how we are providing the services and what are lacking or loopoles to fix and rectify the same
Mr.B	Asstt. Manager -Delivery	Internal	To understand the process of delivery to ensure the timely delivery of product
Mr.C	Manager - Performance	Internal	To understand the what are weak points as well as strength of the team member
Mr.D	Key Team Member	Internal	To understand what are problems which team members are facing in achivieng their targets
Mr.E	Manager -Transport	Internal	To understand the system of transport for fast and smooth delivery of product.
Mr.F	Manager-Production	External	To understand the timelines of the production as well as ready for delivery.
Mr.G	Manager -Accounts	External	To understand that whether billing are done properly and payments are coming on time.
Mr.H	Manager -HR	External	To review overall performance of the team members

Group/Departments to consult for resources

Name of the department/group	Required Resource	Internal or External	Reason(s) for consultation
Procurement	Raw Material	Internal	Timely availability of material
Production	Final Product	Internal	Timely production based on orders
Packaging	Timely and properly packaging	Internal	Packing should be as per order
Transport	Timely Delivery	Internal	Timely and fast delivery
Marketing	Advertisement	Internal	to promote the sales
Accounts	Billing on time and payment status	Internal	To reconcile the accounts of vendors

Operational Goal	Responsible people or group	Budget in AUD	Timeframe	Resources needed	Key Outcomes
Ti achieve the target of 10% growth on YOY basis	Sales Team Service Team Delivery Team Transport Team	10% increase on YOY	1 year	Need training programme Daily internal meeting with team members to review the last day target and fix the issues if any Set the target for the next day then weekly/monthly/quarterly and yearly Announcement of incentinve to achive the targets time time	Will achieve the fix target

Task/Job	Performance Standard	Performance Indicator
Marketing Compaign	Team member will increase the compaigning of our product having advertisement, face to face meeting road shows etc.	100%
Co-ordination with other department	One team member will co-ordinate with othe department to ensure the delivery of product as per order received	100%
Increase in customer base	Team will focus in increasing the customer base to get the targes	100%

Description of risk	Likelihood (use descriptor i.e. rare, unlikely etc)	Consequences (descriptor like major, moderate, insignificant etc)	Prevention strategy/ Contingency plan
Change the marketing plan		Sale may be dropped initially	Modify the plan as per market situation of feedback