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BSBMGT516
Facilitate continuous improvement
Learner Guide
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BSBMGT516
Facilitate continuous improvementTable of Contents
Table of Contents3
Unit of Competency6
Performance Criteria7
Foundation Skills8
Assessment Requirements9

Housekeeping Items10
Objectives10
1. Lead continuous improvement systems and processes11
1.1 – Develop strategies to ensure that team members are
actively encouraged and supported to participate in decision-
making processes, assume responsibility and exercise initiative
as appropriate12
Clarification of roles and expectations13
Communication devices and processes – such as intranet and
email communication systems – to facilitate input into
workplace decisions14
Long-term or short-term plans factoring in opportunities for
team input14
What information could you provide your team with?14
Mentoring and 'buddy' systems to support team members to
participate in decision making15
Training and development activities16
Performance plans17
Reward/recognition programs for high performing staff18
Why teams don’t work in the decision-making process?19
Decision-making processes in detail19
Activity 1.121
1.2 – Establish systems to ensure that the organisation’s
continuous improvement processes are communicated to
stakeholders22
The stakeholders23
The continuous improvement process23
Systems24
Policies and procedures24
Scenario 124
Forums24
Scenario 225
Scenario 325
25
Scenario 425
Scenario 525

Scenario 626
Scenario 726
1.3 – Ensure that change and improvement processes meet
sustainability requirements27
Addressing environmental resource sustainability initiatives27
Apply the waste management hierarchy in the workplace28
Regulations and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)29
Waste management29
Ecological footprint31
Government initiatives31
Productivity stewardship32
Green Office Program35
Green purchasing36
Sustainability reporting36
Supporting sustainable supply chain36
1.4 – Develop effective mentoring and coaching processes to
ensure that individuals and teams are able to implement and
support the organisation's continuous improvement processes37
Effective mentoring37
Types of mentoring37
Skills for mentors38
Mentoring model39
Effective coaching39
Skills for coaches41
Activities 1.2 and 1.343
1.5 – Ensure that insights and experiences from business
activities are captured and accessible through knowledge
management systems44
2. Monitor and adjust performance strategies51
2.1 – Develop strategies to ensure that systems and processes
are used to monitor operational progress and to identify ways in
which planning and operations could be improved52
2.2 – Adjust and communicate strategies to stakeholders
according to organisational procedures55
Problem-solving chart57

Problem solving flow chart57
3. Manage opportunities for further improvement61
3.1 – Establish processes to ensure that team members are
informed of outcomes of continuous improvement efforts62
Activity 3.165
3.2 – Ensure processes include recording of work team
performance to assist in identifying further opportunities for
improvement66
Recording for work team performance66
3.3 – Consider areas identified for further improvement when
undertaking future planning69
Skills and Knowledge Activity73
Major Activity – An opportunity to revise the unit74
References76
Unit of Competency
Application
This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to lead
and manage continuous improvement systems and processes.
Particular emphasis is on the development of systems and the
analysis of information to monitor and adjust performance
strategies, and to manage opportunities for further
improvements.
It applies to individuals who take an active role in managing a
continuous improvement process in order to achieve an
organisation’s objectives.
At this level, work will normally be carried out using complex
and diverse methods and procedures which require the exercise
of considerable discretion and judgement, using a range of
problem-solving and decision-making strategies.
No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to
this unit at the time of publication.
Unit Sector

Management and leadership Management
Performance Criteria
Element
Elements describe the essential outcomes.
Performance criteria describe the performance needed to
demonstrate achievement of the element.
1. Lead continuous improvement systems and processes
1.1 Develop strategies to ensure that team members are actively
encouraged and supported to participate in decision-making
processes, assume responsibility and exercise initiative as
appropriate
1.2 Establish systems to ensure that the organisation’s
stakeholders
1.3 Ensure that change and improvement processes meet
sustainability requirements
1.4 Develop effective mentoring and coaching processes to
support the organisation’s continuous improvement processes
1.5 Ensure that insights and experiences from business activities
are captured and accessible through knowledge management
systems
2. Monitor and adjust performance strategies
2.1 Develop strategies to ensure that systems and processes are
used to monitor operational progress and to identify ways in
which planning and operations could be improved
2.2 Adjust and communicate strategies to stakeholders
according to organisational procedures
3. Manage opportunities for further improvement

3.1 Establish processes to ensure that team members are
informed of outcomes of continuous improvement efforts
3.2 Ensure processes include recording of work team
improvement
3.3 Consider areas identified for further improvement when
undertaking future planning
Foundation Skills
This section describes language, literacy, numeracy and
employment skills incorporated in the performance criteria that
are required for competent performance.
Skill
Description
Reading
1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 3.3
· Identifies and extracts relevant information from a range of
complex texts
· Locates, interprets and analyses workplace documentation to
gather information relating to continuous improvement
Writing
1.1, 1.2, 1.4, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1-3.3
· Develops complex texts related to continuous improvement
processes according to organisational requirements
· Ensures the vocabulary, grammatical structures and
conventions are appropriate for the context and target audience
Oral Communication
1.1, 1.2, 1.4, 2.2

· Presents information to a range of audiences using appropriate
structure and language
· Listens and comprehends information from a variety of spoken
exchanges with clients, co-workers and other stakeholders
· Confirms understanding through questioning and active
listening
Navigate the world of work
1.1-1.3, 2.1, 2.2
· Develops strategies to enable compliance with legislative
requirements and achievement of the organisation’s goals
· Monitors adherence to organisational policies, procedures and
protocols and considers own role in terms of its contribution to
broader goals of the work environment
Interact with others
1.1, 1.2, 1.4, 2.2
· Identifies and uses appropriate conventions and protocols
when communicating with colleagues and external stakeholders
· Collaborates with others to achieve joint outcomes, playing an
active role in facilitating effective group interaction
andinfluencing direction
Get the work done
1.1, 1.2, 1.4, 1.5, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3
· Takes responsibility for developing, implementing and
monitoring systems and processes to achieve organisational
outcomes
· Uses analytical and lateral thinking to review current practices
and develop ideas for improvement
· Reflects on the ways in which digital systems and tools are
used, or could be used, to achieve work goals
Assessment Requirements

Performance Evidence
Evidence of the ability to establish systems and processes for
continuous improvement that:
· Facilitate effective contributions to and communications about
continuous improvement processes and outcomes
· Address sustainability requirements
· Incorporate mentoring, coaching and other support to enable
people to participate effectively in continuous improvement
processes
· Capture insights, experiences and ideas for improvements and
incorporate them into the organisation’s knowledge management
systems and future planning.
Note: If a specific volume or frequency is not stated, then
evidence must be provided at least once.
Knowledge Evidence
To complete the unit requirements safely and effectively, the
individual must:
· Explain how systems and procedures can support effective
continuous improvement
· Explain how continuous improvement systems and processes
relate to other business systems and requirements including,
knowledge management, quality, performance management and
sustainability.
Assessment Conditions
Assessment must be conducted in a safe environment where
evidence gathered demonstrates consistent performance of
typical activities experienced in the management and leadership
field of work and include access to:

· Relevant workplace documentation and resources
· Case studies and, where possible, real situations
· Interaction with others.
Assessors must satisfy NVR/AQTF assessor requirements.
Links
Companion volumes available from the IBSA website:
http://www.ibsa.org.au/companion_volumes -
http://www.ibsa.org.au/companion_volumes
Housekeeping Items
Your trainer will inform you of the following:
Where the toilets and fire exits are located, what the emergency
procedures are and where the breakout and refreshment areas
are.
Any rules, for example asking that all mobile phones are set to
silent and of any security issues they need to be aware of.
What times the breaks will be held and what the smoking policy
is.
That this is an interactive course and you should ask questions.
That to get the most out of this workshop, we must all work
together, listen to each other, explore new ideas, and make
mistakes. After all, that’s how we learn.
Ground rules for participation:
Smile
Support and encourage other participants
When someone is contributing everyone else is quiet
Be patient with others who may not be grasping the ideas
Be on time
Focus discussion on the topic
Speak to the trainer if you have any concerns
Objectives
Discoverhow to lead continuous improvement systems and

processes
Know how to monitor and adjust performance strategies
Learnhow to manage opportunities for further improvement
Gainskills and knowledge required for this unit
1. Lead continuous improvement systems and processes
1.1 Develop strategies to ensure that team members are
as appropriate
1.2 Establish systems to ensure that the organisation’s
stakeholders
1.3 Ensure that change and improvement processes meet
1.4 Develop effective mentoring and coaching processes to
support the organisation's continuous improvement processes
1.5 Ensure that insights and experiences from business
management systems
1.1 – Develop strategies to ensure that team members are
as appropriate
“Continuous improvement is the process of increasing the
quality and services through incremental gains accompanied by
occasional innovation” (Kuratko and Hodgetts, 1995, p.697).
To remain competitive in today’s market, organisations need to
have processes and strategies in place to ensure that they stay

ahead of the competitor.Continuous improvement should not
only be seen in the front of house, it should be encouraged at
every level of the organisation.
Research from many sources has demonstrated that in any
organisational environment that the level of success within a
team can be reflected in the level of support that team members
receive from their managers.It is important that as a manager,
even if you do not say it directly, you demonstrate that your
support organisational initiatives.
You need to make yourself visible to your staff.Something as
small as an acknowledgement of a team member's name can lift
the morale of a staff member – this will usually be reflected in
their performance.
Reflect on your own experiences
Even as a manager, do you not feel good if your superior
acknowledges your efforts?Do you perform better?Why?
Reflect on a time when you did a good job and you were not
acknowledged.How did you feel?
How did it affect your performance level?A good manager
remembers what made them feel positive during their
professional life and takes steps to ensure that they make their
team feel the same way.
Business leaders identify two critical factors which drive
success in world class organisations:
Constantly improving performance by becoming better, faster,
cheaper and more effective
Involving 100 percent of the minds and passion of all their
people in identifying problems and resolving them.
For continuous improvement to work, the senior management
team need to define the framework for the continuous
improvement process.This means that the organisation that you
work in needs to have managers that recognise the importance
of involving their people in teams to tackle problems and
improve the performance of processes that they are responsible
for. They must also work with their subordinates to identify
means to improve the performance of processes which have

more than one function.
Teams need to be supported by management.They need to feel
that as a manager you are supporting their work, whilst being
committed to the organisation and putting in an effort to
improve things. :www.managers-
net.com/improvingperformance.html
For continuous improvement to exist, team members must have
an environment in which knowledge is shared.To make informed
decisions, team members need not only the support of their
management; they require sufficient information to make an
informed recommendation.
Management support and information-sharing practices will
assist not only your team, but also yourself.We are living in a
dynamic age – the role of management is forever changing.To
meet these demands, you need to be able to delegate in a way
that allows you to have the time to meet the organisation’s goals
and objectives.
Clarification of roles and expectations
By providing your team(s) with the information they need to
make informed decisions, you are sharing the responsibility for
the task with your team and empowering them by demonstrating
that you trust them to meet their goals.This will only work if
you provide teams with the information they require to make
decisions.
The first step in any information-sharing process is to ensure
that your team members understand their goals.Goals are
written to provide your team with a precise measurement of
their performance levels.As teams operate at an operational
level, their performance should be measured according to key
performance indicators.
Key performance indicators must use a goal that defines and
measures progress towards organisational goals.For example,
the organisation’s strategic goal is to improve quality by 5 per
cent.The goals in the operational plan are to train staff in
identifying the correct organisational policies and procedures,

in regards to quality, and then to find ways to improve that
quality through processes – these are then improved by your
team.
We have already established that the team should be provided
with their goals, now they have been provided with
organisational policies and procedures.These are your
expectations for your team.The organisational policies and
procedures provide them with what they should perform.
Where may they obtain information in regards to their
roles?When a team member is inducted into the organisation,
they are provided with a job description.This provides them
with a clear explanation of their roles and the skills and
knowledge they should demonstrate.The key performance
indicators, in turn, provide the team with the organisation’s
critical success factors.
This does not mean that your job stops here.You must
continuously ensure that your team has the information they
require to keep up to date, meet their goals, notify them of any
changes to their job description and understand the level of
performance required.As a manager, you can do this through the
communication process.
Communication devices and processes – such as intranet and
email communication systems – to facilitate input into
workplace decisions
Meetings, informal discussions and feedback processes are not
always sufficient ways in which to provide your team with
updates on their roles within the organisation and the changing
expectations of the organisation.
You may, for instance, work in any organisation that operates
24 hours a day and has staff that work erratic shifts for various
reasons(e.g. during the lunch time period); your office may
employ a part-time worker to man the reception while the
receptionist has her lunch and then work in other areas that
cannot be left unmanned during other periods.The part-time
worker is included in the team, but they job share.

Job sharing is the division of one job by two or more employees
who work on a part-time basis and share the work, hours, salary
and entitlements allocated to the job. In these types of
situations, you may find it very hard to book meetings or catch
up with the staff member in general.
In this instance, you may need to use other communication
devices to not only provide updates, but to receive feedback
from staff in regards to workplace decisions.
Long-term or short-term plans factoring in opportunities for
team input
All long-term and short-term plans must correlate with their
strategic and operational plan counterparts.When staff are
encouraged to participate in the decision-making process, they
take ownership of their actions – “employees that report higher
levels of work effort, customer orientation and problem
solving”.: www.ownershipassociates.com/selfdir.shtm
When you communicate and provide team members with
updated information, it is important to make sure that you are
very clear on what plans will be impacting on their
performance.For example, if the long-term goal of the
organisation is to improve sales by training all staff in
improving their customer service skills, then the team would be
able to recommend whether they should be provided with a
mentor, a buddy system or provided with training from an
external body or in-house.
What information could you provide your team with?
Team members may not be familiar with any of these options,
so you may provide them with definitions and the activities that
they need to do to improve their performance.
Would this information be sufficient?Do you believe that the
team would like the advantages and disadvantages of each?To
make an informed decision, the answer to the previous two
questions needs to be "yes".

Mentoring and 'buddy' systems to support team members to
participate in decision making
A mentor is a person that provides support.Mentors provide
their experience with team members, relating what they have
learned in a way that the person can connect with their own
learning.The mentor is given an opportunity to provide the
mentee with knowledge of their experience.
The advantages and disadvantages for the mentee are:
Advantages
Disadvantages
· Learns the organisation's values
· Placed in a non-threatening environment where they obtain
assistance and support
· They have access to someone who understands the
organisation’s culture, personnel and ways of working
· Resource implications – both mentor and learner require time
to develop skills to plan, review and communicate
· That mentoring is additional and not a substitute for more
training
· If the mentor is not appropriate, the learner could be lead in
the wrong direction
The buddy system is a procedure in which two people, the
buddies, operate together as a single unit so that they are able to
mentor and help each other.
The advantages and disadvantages of a buddy system include:
Advantages
Disadvantages
· They must work together
· They must trust each other
· They must trust the same people to reduce conflict between
buddies
· They may not agree
· They may not trust each other
· They may not like each other

Training and development activities
Training refers to the acquisition of competencies, skills and
knowledge as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical
skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies.
Advantages
Disadvantages
· Development of skills, knowledge and experience
· Costs
· Training does not meet the needs of the organisation
Development (such as professional development) refers to skills
and knowledge attained for both personal development and
career development.It encompasses all types of facilitated
learning opportunities such as coursework and informal learning
opportunities.
Advantages
Disadvantages
· Learning new skills in the advancement of the job
· Costs
So, if you have your job description and the advantages of
disadvantages of being a mentor, in a buddy relationship, in
training and professional development, what is else missing?
Performance plans
Team performance plans are detail plans that:
These goals need to align with the organisation’s objectives by:
1. Making sure that the team performance plan aligns with the
team's purpose
2. Making sure that the team’s purpose aligns with the
organisation' objectives.
The goals in the performance plan are:

KPIs
Goals to improve the competency of the team
Team building goals.
In this exercise, to make informed decision team members
would have been provided with:
1. A job description
2. A definition and the advantages and disadvantages of
mentoring, being a buddy, training and development
3. Team performance plan.
Reward/recognition programs for high performing staff
The previous information alone is not sufficient.Even though,
you have provided them with the information, they require, you
have not acknowledged the high performing staff.In continuous
improvement – otherwise known as Kaizen – rewards can
motivate employees to submit improvement ideas and take the
program along way.It is important to make sure that you
acknowledge workers' efforts.
If you do not recognise a worker's effort in your position as a
manager, you may find yourself in the position where your team
has all of the information but does not do anything with it.As a
manager, you need to motivate your team continuously to ensure
that they work.
The power of employee recognition
Saying “thank you” may be sufficient recognition to encourage
staff to work harder.People who feel appreciated are more
positive about themselves and their ability to provide ideas and
feedback.Be consistent with any feedback that you
provide.Don’t acknowledge one staff member and then ignore
another for displaying the same behaviour.
Rewards
Time is perceived to be an excuse why employees are not
recognised and rewarded.Recognition of an employee’s efforts
is a reward.Rewards and recognition are tools used to motivate

your team to greater heights.As such, a manager should always
take the time to acknowledge team members for their
contributions.These contributions add to meeting performance
goals and strategic plans, so try to make an effort to reward and
acknowledge the employee(s).
Other than a thank you, rewards may include:
Sending hand written notes
Rewarding effort, as well as success
Giving them a free pass to a recreational activity
Taking them out for coffee
Acknowledging them before their peers during a meeting.
Why teams don’t work in the decision-making process?
Robins and Finley – the writers of “Why teams don’t work” –
claim that, for teams to work in the decision-making process,
they must agree to the decision-making processbefore the
decision making discussion starts.The decision-making method
could include any one of the following:
Consensus –Consensus decision making is where all team
members get a chance to air their opinions and must ultimately
agree on the outcome. If any team member does not agree,
discussions continue. Compromise must be used so that every
team member can agree with and commit to the outcome.
Majority –Majority decision making is democracy in action. The
committee puts a motion to the rest of the group and a decision
is made on a simple majority.
Minority –Minority decisionmaking usually takes the form of a
sub-committee of general group or committee that investigates
information and makes recommendations for action. Sub-
committees can be very useful for individual projects, such as
publicity stunts.
Averaging –Averaging is the epitome of compromise.Team
members haggle, bargain, cajole, and negotiate an intentional
middle position. Usually no-one is happy with the result except
the neutrals on the team.

Expert –This is simple. Find or hire experts, listen to what they
say, and follow their recommendations.
Authority rule without discussion –This is where there is
usually no room for discussion, like pre-determined decisions
handed down from higher authority(e.g. Moses on Mt. Sinai).
Trust is often killed with this method, when a team leader tries
to fool their team members into thinking that their opinions
really can affect the decision. Team members know when a team
leader is messing them around.
Authority rule with discussion –This method is also known as
participative decision making. Unfortunately, most people don’t
know what this really means. Many leaders think that they have
to give up their decision-making responsibility. There is nothing
further from the truth. Under this method, those in the decision-
making role make it clear from the onset that the task of
decision making is theirs.They join in a lively discussion of
issues; their opinions count just like other team members. When
they have heard enough to make an educated decision, they cut
off the discussion, make the decision, then get back to all team
members to let them know how their inputs affected their
decision. Most team members feel listened to and are willing to
participate in another team decision using this method.
Decision-making processes in detail
Collective participative decision making is employed a lot by
management.However, when you have many responsibilities,
you may need to consider different options.One such option may
include consensus decision making.
Consensus decision making is a group decision-making process
that not only seeks the agreement of most participants, but also
the resolution and mitigation of minority objections.It is used to
describe both general agreement and the process of getting into
such an agreement.
As a manager, your role is not to manage the decision-making
process but to build an environment for team building.Even if
you don’t take part in the training, at least provide your team(s)

with support.As a manager, you should provide support:
1. Make sure that everyone is heard and feels listened to – do
not let them argue.They need to respect each other and listen to
each other and if necessary assess their understanding to ensure
that everyone is making the same recommendations based on a
clear understanding of the decision they are making.
2. No-one wins and no-one loses. Encourage teams to be
creative.They do not have to agree, but the best decision should
be made for the right problem.Remind them that even though
the decision not being used is not being followed, it does not
mean that it will not be used at a later date.
3. Encourage team members not to change their minds simply to
avoid conflict, agreement or maintain harmony.If decisions are
made too quickly, be suspicious.Why?Only yield to positions
that are objective or have logically sound foundations or merits.
4. Avoid conflict-reducing techniques such as majority votes,
coin toss or bargaining.When team members finally agree; make
sure that they are aware that they will not always be right.It is
not a competition.
5. Differences of opinion are expected and natural.Make sure
that everyone is involved in the decision-making
process.Disagreements can improve the group’s decision.
Be a guide if necessary – do not take over the process, as you
will undermine the team.By recognising and rewarding the team
as a whole, you will reinforce their confidence and trust in each
other to get things right.
Participative decision making is the extent that managers allow
or encourage employees to share of participate in organisational
decision making.
The collective participative decision making style indicates that
the leader is involving the organisation, including sharing
information, perceptions an ideas with the leader.Where
consensus decision making allows the team to make choices,
participative decision making keeps the leader in control.The
leader is solely responsible for the decision and the
consequences.However, members are given a sense of

involvement.In turn, the leader is given different
perspective.When team members are notified before the
decision is implemented there are no surprises and the sense of
involvement is enhanced.
: www.decision-making-confidence.com/collective-
participative-decision-making-style.html
The problem with collective decision making is that it is time
consuming and if the decision-making process relates to
security, it is inappropriate to use the style.If too many people
are involved, the level of risk would be too high.
Activity 1.1
1.2 – Establish systems to ensure that the organisation’s
stakeholders
Communication devices have already been considered in the
previous chapter.For continuous improvement to thrive in an
organisation, it is essential that all team members obtain up to
date information about the decision-making processes that they
are a part of.Variations in who is entitled to access to
information is usually covered in organisational policy and
procedures.
For example; as a manager you are provided access to the
organisation’s budgets.Teams will usually not be provided with
access to this information.However, you may choose to let them
know if you have a tight budget when they make a decision.As
long as the decision does not compromise OHS legislation or
any other legislative requirements, then you are making sure
that they are making an informed decision.
A business system is a procedure or process used to deliver
information to appropriate team members.Organisations will
have systems in place to ensure that all stakeholders have
access to the required information and data to make an informed
decision.

So what are informed decisions?What impact could they have on
the organisation?
An informed decision is one made after learning relevant facts
about the topic it concerns.However, if the incorrect or
insufficient information is provided, then this can have a
negative impact on the organisation both externally and/or
internally.
For example, your team has been asked to increase performance
by looking at their processes and finding ways to meet your
team goals.Your team was provided with job descriptions and an
old set of specifications for your equipment.This was the team’s
undoing.Recent increases in incidents caused the organisation to
re-engineer part of the equipment.Your team was aware of the
changes, but did not realise that the specifications provided
were out of date.
Based on the information your team received, they made a
decision that ended up having a negative impact on the quality
of the product.An increase in broken products caused your
customer to move to your competitor and, as a consequence,
your team lost trust in both you and the organisation.
So, what went wrong with this example?
First the change to your teams’ equipment was not
communicated to the team.Secondly, they were not provided
with the correct information.In both instances, the incorrect
information has been provided and the team made a bad
decision.
In both instances, staff lost trust and respect for you and the
organisation.You will need to work fast to convince your team
that this information was provided incorrectly and that you
support the consensus decision-making process.You may ask the
team for suggestions on improving the system, so this error does
not occur again.
Finally, your increase in defects will have a negative impact on
the organisation.Customers have already moved to your
competitors.Who knows what impact that will have on their
bottom line and your own?The level of trust that you may lose

can be overcome with quick responses and excellent customer
service.
The level of loss of reputation will vary according to the
situation and the organisations and people involved.When
systems are put in place you should consider:
1. Who the stakeholders are
2. The level of access they require to receive information on
updates to continuous improvement processes, so that team
members know the latest versions to find to make an informed
decision
3. The systems required to provide the stakeholders.
The stakeholders
The stakeholdersmay include:
Business or government contacts
Funding bodies
Individuals within the work team
Internal and external contacts
Organisation's clients and customers
Professional associations
Senior management and board members
Unions/employee groups.
The continuous improvement process
The continuous improvement processes may include:
Cyclical audits and reviews of workplace, team and individual
performance
Evaluations and monitoring of effectiveness
Modifications and improvements to systems, processes, services
and products
Policies and procedures which allow an organisation to
systematically review and improve the quality of its products,
services and procedures
Seeking and considering feedback from a range of stakeholders.
You now know who the stakeholders may include and the
continuous improvement processes that could be used to

provide; next, let’s look at the systems that an organisation may
have in place and scenarios in which the stakeholders and the
continuous improvement processes may be used.
Systems
Remember a business system is a procedure or process used to
deliver information to appropriate team members.These systems
are used to ensure that stakeholders have the latest information
to make an informed decision.As an organisation and as a
representative of the organisation in which you work, one of
your responsibilities is to ensure that information is shared with
the appropriate stakeholders.
The faster and the quicker that you respond to changes or a
proactive and predict changes correctly, the more chance the
organisation has an opportunity within the marketplace. In an
organisation there is not just one system on its own used to
communicate to stakeholders.Instead there are whole sub-sets
made up of information that needs to be communicated to
stakeholders.
Policies and procedures
A policy is described as a principle or rule to guide decisions
and achieve outcomes.A policy is usually a commitment to
perform at a specific level.A procedure is the steps involved in
performing a task. The stakeholders involved in the process
should be provided with any improvement process.
Scenario 1
Agim has recently been employed as a manager at Star
Constructions.He is a part of a small administrative team and is
the only employee at work this day.All of the administrative
team have called in sick.They went to dinner at the local
restaurant.All of them ate a bad dish and have food poisoning.
A customer rang and asked a question.Agim opened the Star
Constructions Policy and Procedure Manual.He frowned at the
procedures.On the day he started, he received an email from his

manager stating that the policy for the customer’s enquiry had
been updated to version 10.The version in the Organisational
Policy and Procedure Manual was listed at version 8.
He checks the filing system and finds the correct version.He
emails the company change manager to let them know that
Version Control is not up to date in the administrative
departments.
Forums
A forum is a public meeting or assembly for open
discussion.There are also digital forums found on the
internet.Website members can post discussions and read and
respond to posts by other forum users.The internet form usually
allows all members to make posts and start new topics.
Scenario 2
An organisation operates 24 hours a day, seven days a
week.Days are split in eight hour shifts.Seasonal variances and
cyclical cycles also require the need of part-time, job share and
casual staff, none with set hours.The local union for the
organisation’s industry has found that staff make no effort to
read bulletin boards as they are in a labour intensive field.To
ensure reach and to encourage feedback the union has a forum
that allows staff to provide ongoing feedback and
discussion.The forum has been supported by the organisation.
Meetings
Meetings can be either formal or informal. Formal meetings are
meetings that are planned to gather information or feedback.
Informal meetings may be a discussion between two members of
the team or from feedback.
Scenario 3

Previous experience has taught one organisation that if they
send out emails or mail, their staff members will fail to read
them.To ensure that reach is maximised, they have implemented
weekly staff meetings to ensure that staff know what changes
are being implemented.During the meeting, they are actively
encouraged to provide feedback.
Newsletters
A newsletter can be paper based or delivered via email in digital
format. The aim of most of these formats is to reach as many of
the customers and/or staff to ensure that specific parties are
supplied with information pertaining to changes in processes for
team members or quality improvements in the product for the
customer and the team members.
Scenario 4
A large corporate multinational organisation has ten senior
managers flying all over the world. At the end of each month,
they are required to provide feedback as a part of the
organisation’s corporate policies and procedures. They say they
save on travel time but lose productivity; this meeting is a video
conference.
A video conference is a set of interactive telecommunication
technologies that allows two or more locations to interact via
two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously.
Web-based communication devices
Over the last decade, there have been great strives by
organisations from a face-to-face team environment using
communication technology.More and more team members are
using asynchronous tools (including emails, discussion groups,
information sharing tools, and group calendaring systems), and
synchronous tools, such as instant messaging and web-based
chatting features to coordinate and share information with
people within and outside the organisation.

Scenario 5
A professional association sends emails to professional
members to apprise them of political, legislative or
environmental changes that will in impact on the way in which
the profession will perform their tasks. This communication
should be reflected in the continuous improvement of
procedures at your organisation.
Professional association
A professional association is usually a non-for profit
organisation seeking to further a particular profession and the
interests of individuals engaged in that profession, and the
public interest. The aim of such an association is to legitimise
the practice of the association.They usually aim to provide a
balance of protecting the community and enforcing standards of
training and ethics for the members of that profession.
Most professions have their own professional association.If you
are not yet a member of that association, then take the time to
find out the name of the association and join them.
1.3 – Ensure that change and improvement processes meet
The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage defines
sustainability as:
Working within the limits of what the environment can provide
Understanding the many interconnections between economy,
society and the environment; and
The equal distribution of resources and opportunities.
Sustainability is about meeting the needs of society, while
ensuring that enough of the environment is sustained to meet
future requirements.
Some of the sustainability programs that you are probably
familiar with are:
The reduction of physical resources such as energy and water
(i.e. turning off your computer after you complete work)

Recycling in both your work and home environment
The redesign of production processes and products to make sure
that materials that are toxic are removed from the workplace
Protect and restore the natural environment that is valued for its
biodiversity and/or beauty.
Addressing environmental resource sustainability initiatives
The pressure is on.In a 2005 study by the Australia Institute,
over $5.3 billion worth of food was thrown away and over $10.5
billion was spent on product that was never used.Further
consumption has increased over 150 per cent since 1960 and
energy use has risen 107 per cent since 1975.In an effort to
counteract these increases in consumption and minimise the
impact to the environment, business has slowly evolved to
sustainable products.
Feeding business is the government; it has put together policies
to protect the environment and to make producers accountable
for their impact on the environment around them.
It is not just a case of businesses implementing plans to control
their impact on the environment; it is the process of businesses
putting together action plans as part of their environmental
management system.As a systematic approach to controlling the
environment, the environmental management system (EMS)
aims to improve organisations efficiency and improve their
environmental outcomes.
For a better understanding of EMS refer to the Department of
Sustainability, Environment, Population and Communities at
URL Address:www.environment.gov.au/topics/sustainable-
communities/government-sustainability/environmental-
management (Access Date: 19.9.2014).You can also refer to
Standards Australia under EMS (ISO14001 and 14004).
These are known as:
AS/NZS (Australian/New Zealand Standards) 14001: 2004 EMS
–requirements with guidance to use
AS/NZS 14004:2004 EMS – general guidelines on principles,

systems and support techniques.
As part of the EMS system, not only should the system have
environmental management plans, such as action plans, it
should also have feedback processes to monitor progress and
improve performance through monitoring and measuring
progress by meeting targets and objectivesas part of its
continuous improvement process.
Apply the waste management hierarchy in the workplace
The waste management hierarchy is both an international and
national guide developed for prioritising waste for optimal
environment outcomes that clearly sets out the preferred order
of practices.Observe the diagram below.The preferred way in
which to minimise your organisation's impact on the
environment is through putting processes and systems that avoid
this in place.
Source: www.zerowaste.sa.gov.au/About-Us/waste-
management-hierarchy
However, if the organisation is unable to avoid its impact on the
environment, they need to work their way through the hierarchy
until they dispose of the resource that impacts on the
environment.Many States are working towards finding viable
steps in reducing waste that can impact on the environment.
Regulations and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
For a complete map of Australian environmental legislation for
Australia, refer to URL Address:
www.environment.gov.au/about/legislation.html (Access Date
19.9.2014) on the Department of Sustainability, Environment,
Water, Population and Communities.
The amount of legislation reinforces the importance the
government and society place on saving the environment.Each
law is backed up with civil, criminal and administrative
penalties should businesses fail to take appropriate action to
protect the environment.One of the aims of Corporate Social

Responsibility is to ensure that the rights of the public are not
affected due to the actions of your business.
For example, human rights extend to the environment in that
everyone “has the right to clean drinking water” (Human Rights,
2011). This reflects the trend obtained from the Thorton
National Business Report that recruitment, public attitudes and
cost management are the leading reasons why business is
involved in the process of implementing CSR initiatives.
For example, as part of a health and wellbeing plan, a company
can attract and retain skilled staff that have an affiliation with
their company because they are environmentally aware.
Public opinion in regards to the practices of an organisation and
their impact on the environment can make a large impact on the
organisation’s image.A company that does not reflect ethical
behaviour can lose customers due to bad publicity.Their
customers will not want to be known to have an affiliation with
them, staff will not want to work with them, so the organisation
will not only lose customers and employees and customers, they
will lose on their return, on their investments and in turn their
business.
How many businesses will stay competitive if they lose their
customers and their skilled staff? None, as no-one will want to
be affiliated with them.If they do not earn money, they will not
stay in business.
Waste management
As demonstrated by the Waste Management Hierarchy, the
nature of waste has changed and it is essential that
organisations take into consideration the options that are
available to dispose of waste.Their decisions need to be
informative and need to reflect the organisation’s internal
policy on Waste Management.
As a manager who must be aware of the waste management
hierarchy and its importance in reflecting the organisation's role
in society in meeting the CSR, it is important that you
understand the need for a National Waste Policy, its aims and

its key areas.
The following is information drawn from the Australian
Government website in the Department of Sustainability,
Environment, Water, Population and Communities at URL
Address:
www.environment.gov.au/wastepolicy/about/index.html– Access
Date: 19.9.2014.Refer to this website in obtaining up to date
information in meeting the changing waste and environmental
needs of your organisation.
Between the periods of 2002 - 03 and 2006 - 07, waste has
increased by 12.8 per cent.In that same period the amount of
hazardous waste has increased by 0.55 tonnes.The type of waste
has also evolved whereby complex goods.
Building on its earlier commitments, the National Waste Policy
responds to the new waste environment, including:
Hazardous substances and wastes
Municipal waste
Commercial and industrial waste
Construction and demolition waste
Gaseous, liquid and solid wastes.
The aims of the National Waste Policy include:
Finding ways to assist organisations in minimizing the amount
of waste that they generate
Managing waste as a resource
Making sure that the treatment, disposal, recovery and re-use of
waste is environmentally friendly and sound
Industry is aware and continuously decreases the amount of
green house gas, energy and production in both water efficiency
and productivity of the land.
The six key areas which would benefit from a national approach
include:
1. Taking responsibility whereby the industry takes a shared
responsibility by reducing their footprint on products and
materials that they use as part of operations
2. Improving the market whereby waste and recovered resources
are used with local technology and innovation, being sought

after internationally
3. Pursuing sustainability whereby waste is reduced and is used
to improve social, environmental and economic benefits
4. Reducing hazard and risk where hazardous waste is reduced
in a consistent and safe manner
5. Tailoring solutions where waste is managed, recovered and
re-used on a national level
6. Providing the evidence – organisations need to give access to
decision makers about national waste and resource recovery
data in and information to measure progress and to educate and
inform the community.
Ecological footprint
The ecological footprint accounts for the flow of energy that is
defined by your economy and converts these into the
corresponding land/water required to support the flow of
energy.The Ecological footprint is defined as “the area of
productive land and water ecosystems required to produce the
resources that the population consumes and assimilates the
wastes that the population produces wherever on Earth the land
and water is located.”[footnoteRef:2] [2: Wackernagel, Mathis
and W. Rees. Our Ecological Footprint. Gabriola Island, BC:
New Society Publishers, 1996.]
The Living Planet Report 2008 estimated that the world’s
footprint is 2.7 global hectares (gha).Australia’s Ecological
Footprint is more than 2.8 times that size and half of the
Australian Footprint is “carbon dioxide emissions from fossil
fuels” (EPA Vic, 2011). A global hectare is roughly the size of
a soccer field.
The economy that you live in is influenced by the lifestyle you
live.If all people lived like Australians, the world would not
have the ability to support us.Australia’s footprint is large
because most Australians live in large cities and houses, travel
long distances and their energy needs are currently sourced by
fossil fuels.

Use the Ecological Footprint calculators on URL Address:
www.epa.vic.gov.au/get-involved/measure-your-
impact/ecological-footprint (Access Date: 19.9.2014) to find out
how much impact that you have on the environment.
By calculating the ecological footprint, you can see what our
impact is and how we can use resources more efficiently in an
effort to secure our personal well-being, as well as that of
humankind and the world.
To find out more about the Ecological Footprint for Nations of
the World, refer to
www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/world_footp
rint (Access Date: 19.9.2014).
By understanding the ecological footprint that you leave on the
world, you will be able to implement steps to control your
movements to decrease your actions.This also highlights your
awareness of the importance of ensuring that your actions
within the organisation you work in will have a positive impact
on the environment.
Government initiatives
The Australian Government is taking action to safeguard the
environment by:
“Reducing our greenhouse emissions
Promoting energy efficiency
Adapting to climate change impact; and
Helping to shape a global solution”[footnoteRef:3] [3:
Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency URL
Address: www.climatechange.gov.au – Access Date: 19.9.2014]
To reduce the predicted 20 per cent increase in carbon
emissions by 2020, the Australian Government aims to decrease
their footprint to a half of the current usage.Not only does the
Greenhouse Plus Initiative aim to make renewable industry, it
also aims to help households and business.To read about this
initiative, refer
to:www.environment.gov.au/archive/settlements/challenge –

Access Date: 19.9.2014
Some of their support will be in assisting business into using
more efficient and clean fuels and making jobs that will give
new economic opportunities for Australian workers.
You can read more about the Clean Energy Plan at URL
Address: www.climatechange.gov.au/reducing-carbon/carbon-
farming-initiative/carbon-farming-initiative-handbook/clean-
energy-future –Access Date: 19.9.2014
Make sure that you pay particular attention to reading about
how:
Resource and energy efficiency are improved
That emissions of greenhouse gases is reduced
That use of non-renewable resources is reduced.
It is essential that you know and understand these sections as
part of your final assessment for this unit.
Productivity stewardship
A brochure on “A Framework for Product Stewardship in
Australia” can be found on sustainability website on URL
Address: www.environment.gov.au/protection/national-waste-
policy/product-stewardship – Access Date: 19.9.2014
Productivity stewardship has arisen from the understanding that
manufacturers, importers, governments and consumers have a
shared responsibility to minimise the environmental impacts
associated with products and the waste arising from those
products.The framework provides the government with guidance
on developing effective stewardship policies and procedures and
determines whether product stewardship is appropriate for a
product.
This tool takes a four step process which includes:
1. Focusing when the government and/or industry have an
intervention in regards to a market failure that requires a
solution to a problem.
2. Determines whether the characteristics of the market will
assist in the success of the product stewardship and the best
target to acquire the results.

3. Sets out the principles of the scheme if the product passes the
first two steps.A product stewardship can be aimed anywhere
down the product life cycle, and this target will be based on the
characteristics of the market.
4. The product is reviewed after a specified period of time.
Step 1: When is product stewardship a possible response?
· Market failure or policy objective
AND
· Consequences are high
· A market solution is unlikely
· There is no effective remedy for consequences
Will inform what product stewardship policy approach is best
suited to:
· Waste
· Residual value
· Life cycle
Is there a market failure?Is a market solution no possible?Are
consequences of inaction high?
Yes
Step 2: When is product stewardship most likely to be
successful?
Factors which may influence the success of the stewardship (not
mutually exclusive)
· Concentration in supply side of the market
· Significant local production relative to imports
· Government and industry are committed
· Consumer concerns and commitment to action is high
· The overarching regulatory framework is stable
· Product stewardship is complementary to existing regulation
· Strong industry cohesion
· Industry characterized by repeat business
· Mature or maturing market
· Industry characterised by repeat business
· Industry associations are strong and have comprehensive
coverage

· All stakeholders are covered by the scheme
· Current policy pressures are considered
· A literature review is undertaken
· Consultation with all relevant stakeholders
Will inform:
· When product stewardship is likely to be successful
· What product stewardship policy approach is suitable
Does the market exhibit enough of these characteristics to make
Product Stewardship more likely to be successful?
Yes
Step 3: What should product stewardship entail?
Overarching key principles
· Targeted to objectives
· Shared responsibility
· Delivers a net community benefit
· Environmental effectiveness
· Economic efficiency
· Ease of administration
· Innovation
· Transparency and accountability
· Ownership and acceptability
· Incentives
Yes
Policy approaches
Voluntary Industry Agreements
Voluntary Industry Government Agencies
Co-Regulation
Regulation
Instrument measures:
Product take-back
Deposits Refunds
Product leases
Performance targets
Disposal or recycling fees

Outcomes
Market failures addressed
Improved environmental quality
Improved efficiency of resource use
Behaviour modification
Funding approaches:
Rates
Customer charge
Consolidated revenue
Excise tax
Association fee/levy
Step 4: Ensure scheme is reviewed within an appropriate period
Green Office Program
The Green Office Program provides everyone with sustainable
tips for “reduce, reuse, recycle and turnoff programs.”
They work in partnership with:
Planet Ark
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
WPC Group – GreenSkills
Conservation Volunteers Australian.
The aim of the Green Office supply store is to sell products that
re-use products such as recycled paper which they sell to
businesses as part of an initiative to conserve Australia’s
environment.

Green purchasing
In 2009, the Green Purchasing Report was finalised.A copy of
this report can be seen at URL Address: ecobuy.org.au/green-
purchasing-australia(Access Date: 19.9.2014).
The aim of the report is to examine environmentally preferable
or green purchasing in Australia.Organisational policies and
procedures for both private and public sector organisations have
purchasing policies, but few have a green or sustainable
purchasing policy.Lack of legislation has impacted on these
policies and procedures in areas such as labelling and measuring
environmental impact.
However there are still organisations that achieve good practice
through initiatives such as:
Setting clear targets and benchmarks
Coordinate green purchasing
Communicate with staff to develop active behavioural change
Engage suppliers to participate in greening large and complex
supply chains
Trialling innovative and new products.
Sustainability reporting
Sustainability reporting involves organisations and companies
that demonstrate responsibility in reporting their environmental
performance.It is usually delivered in a triple bottom line report
or environmental or social impact report.
Sustainability reporting in Australia is voluntary and can
include:
Corporate Codes of Conduct
National and International Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative
Australian guidelines
Sustainability reporting at home and overseas.
It is highly recommended that you read about these issues in
Australia’s Parliamentary Library under Sustainability reporting
at URL Address:
www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/

Parliamentary_Library/Browse_by_Topic/ClimateChange/respon
ses/economic/Sustainability(Access Date: 19.9.2014).
Supporting sustainable supply chain
A sustainable supply chain is one that considers the
environment and social aspects of a business’s operations
including its financial return.Consumer demand is continuously
changing, along with lifestyle choices and awareness for the
environment.In response to these changes, organisations
working in partnership with their supply chain work together to
form relationships built on sustainability, so that in all steps in
the process of developing raw materials, packaging, labelling,
etc., sustainability methods are used to deliver an
environmentally friendly product to a consumer market.
In effect, sustainability cannot be maintained if suppliers are
not prepared to work with their supply chain to build a
recognised environmentally friendly product.Organisations'
reputations can be negatively impacted if suppliers make
unsubstantiated claims that cannot be supported by their supply
chain.1.4 – Develop effective mentoring and coaching processes
to ensure that individuals and teams are able to implement and
support the organisation's continuous improvement processes
To ensure that individuals and teams are responsive to the
changing trends in sustainability, quality assurance and
sustainability, it is important to make sure that you ensure that
all staff are aware of external and internal pressures that will
impact on the organisation. It is also important that all staff are
provided with up to date information regarding the impact these
pressures will have on the organisation's policy and procedures.
Effective mentoring
To be a good mentor, you need to:
Share your knowledge that will further personal growth and the
success of the mentee
Give the best version of yourself for mentees to learn from
Provide a mentoring program appropriate to the mentee’s needs

Coaching, whereby behaviour that need to be changed,
improved or removed is addressed
Have a mutually beneficial relationship where both parties trust
each other.
For any mentoring program to be effective, the mentor:
Must not have false expectations, but strive for greater growth
Meet the needs of the mentee
Give trust to the mentee first
Set a realistic time frame
Should not do so without having their own support network.
Types of mentoring
Mentoring is often divided into two types (Buell, 2004):
Informal mentoring relationships develop on their own, such as
when a person approaches a possible mentor and that person
agrees to form a mentoring relationship.
Formal mentoring relationships refer to assigned relationships,
in which the organisation oversees and guides the mentoring
program in order to promote employee development.
An effective mentor balances both types of mentoring based on
the needs of the mentee.Mentoring is an ongoing program and it
is essential that the appropriate type of mentoring is used for
the mentee to apply the skills and knowledge required to
improve performance.
Limitations on formal mentoring programs include the small
number of mentoring relationships they can support and
accommodate may lead to dissatisfaction with the relationship
and negative feelings of those not involved with the program
(DeSimone, Werner, Harris, 2002).
These two types of mentoring can further be divided into two
forms:
Special Project Mentoring in which a mentor helps to guide a
mentee's short-term project (a few weeks to a few months).
Traditional Mentoring in which there is a long-term relationship
where a mentor guides the mentee's career.

Skills for mentors
Mentoring programs can be either internal or external to the
organisation.If you are a mentor, it is important that you build a
rapport with your mentee.
The ways in which you can build rapport include:
Meet with the mentee consistently
List everything covered during the meeting
Chart the mentee’s progress
Demonstrate good behaviour consistently
Provide mentee with feedback consistently
Share your own experiences with them.
Once you have established rapport, it is important to establish
each person’s role in the mentor/mentee relationship.Both of
you should define these parameters in consensus.
Some of the parameters that you set up can include:
Goals and responsibilities – set realistic goals
Ground rules for the mentoring relationship; including when
you meet and how to engage each other.
The mentoring model is set to engage your mentee and assist
you in setting up a productive mentoring relationship:
Mentoring model
Effective coaching
As a leader, you role is to be an effective coach.To be an
effective coach, it is essential that you understand what
motivates people.You need to stimulate your employee to find
the skills for job performance. You are to help that person learn
by unlocking his or her potential to maximise effectiveness.
Different types of coaching:
Business coaching:
Business coaching is always conducted within the constraints
placed on the individual or group by the organisation’s policies
and procedures and goals.
Career coaching:

Using the feedback about an individual’s capabilities, you could
focus on any of their concerns which should lead to increased
clarity, personal change and forward action.
Executive coaching:
This type of coaching aims at improving the performance of the
most influential people within the organisation, the theory goes
that business results should improve. Executive coaching is
often delivered by coaches externally from outside the
organisation whose services are requested.
Performance coaching
To increase their effectiveness and productivity at work, this
type of coaching is aimed at enhancing an individual’s
performance in their current role at work.
Personal or life coaching
This form of coaching provides support to individuals wishing
to make some form of significant changes happen within their
lives. Coaches help individuals to explore what they want in life
and how they might achieve their aspirations and fulfil their
needs.
Skills coaching
Skills coaching provide employees necessary with skills to
perform their role.This form of coaching is tailored to the needs
of the individuals and focuses on achieving skills development
that are linked to the organisation's needs.
Team facilitation:
Team facilitation is about coaching a team before a presentation
to improve performance – as well as self confidence.
Coaching competencies:
The International Coach Federation has defined a set of basic
coaching competencies:
Meet ethical guidelines of the profession
Ability to establish a coaching agreement
Ability to establish an intimate and trusting relationship with
the client
Ability to be fully present, conscious and spontaneous

Ability to express active listening
Ability to ask powerful questions
Ability to be a direct communicator
Ability to create and raise the client's awareness
Ability to design and create action plans and action behaviours
Ability to develop plans and establish goals with the client
Ability to manage the client's progress and hold him/her
responsible for action.
The CIPD has identified general skills that characterise
effective coaches:
Self-awareness and self-knowledge
Clear and effective communication skills
Relationship-building skills (including ability to establish
rapport)
Flexibility of approach
Listening and questioning skills
Ability to design an effective coaching process
Ability to assist goal development and setting, including giving
feedback
Ability to motivate
Ability to encourage new perspectives
Ability to assist in making sense of a situation
Ability to identify significant patterns of thinking and behaving
Ability to challenge and give feedback
Ability to establish trust and respect
Ability to facilitate depth of understanding
Ability to promote action
Ability to build resilience.
Skills for coaches
1. Listening – Listen to your team member.Demonstrate that
you respect their thoughts and ideas.Acknowledge their efforts
2. Questioning – Use appropriate questioning skills to clarify
areas in which you are unclear.
3. Constructively Challenging – Challenging constructively is
about not holding back but at the same time not destroying the

relationship. Many people associate coaching with helping,
which it clearly is. Try to rock the boat.For example:“You’re
doing a great job, but don’t you think this is better?”
4. Holding to Account – Get someone to commit to a goal and
then make sure that they know that they are accountable for the
goal, so they work towards reaching that goal. How effective
are you at holding people to account as a manager?
5. Seeing different perspectives – When you coach someone
give them an opportunity to see and try things from a different
perspective, so that they can choose those that are most
powerful.
6. Encouraging and supporting – Provide support and encourage
them by giving them feedback in which to improve.
7. Trusting and using intuition – Follow your intuition about the
person that you are coaching and trust that your instincts are
correct.
8. Keeping the focus on your client – When you coach someone,
focus on their needs and do not focus on your own agenda.It
should not have any impact on coaching.
The eight skills will not only assist you in being a great coach,
but also in being a good leader or manager.When you coach
someone, complete a self assessment on your strengths and
weaknesses and then develop them.
1.5 – Ensure that insights and experiences from business
management systems
The aim of a Knowledge Management System (KMS) is to help
business create and share information, specifically new
knowledge, experience and expertise.The gathering of
information does not necessarily mean that people understand
the knowledge.Individuals within the organisation need to have
the capacity to change information into something that is

understood by the organisation as a whole.
For example, you find a piece of information.You stare at it and
wonder what it is for.However, over time, you receive more of
the same information and may be able to identify a relationship
between the information which then forms a pattern.In a
business context, consider the fact that your organisation starts
buying environmentally friendly raw material that is transferred
into a viable product.
: www.systems-thinking.org/kmgmt/kmgmt.htm
Over time, you obtain feedback that sales are increasing.During
that time, you have introduced more environmentally friendly
products to the market and demand for your product further
increases.If you look at the introduction of the product and the
increase in sales as separate entities, you will see nothing.It is
only when you make a connection between the increase in your
environmentally friendly product and increased sales that you
will be able to identify the pattern.
Your information has now evolved from information to a pattern
called knowledge.This pattern can become a principle called
wisdom as you come to realise that the information patterns
representation knowledge.
To ensure that all of your team understands these concepts, it is
essential that you develop a method in which information can be
transferred to team members and individuals.It is important to
remember that not all people learn in the same way so there may
not be one main way in which to transfer that knowledge within
the organisation
Knowledge management systems may include:
Best practice transfer:
Change programs are put in place to improve the performance
and standards of the organisation.Yet, there are many stories
whereby the change is introduced and implemented, but they
fall apart when workers decide to hold back information.A key
to the resistance to change is by overcoming a workers
resistance to sharing, collaborating and using.
By ensuring that you obtain the maximum impact and value

from a change you need to put in place the minimum amount of
incentives.This can be done through:
1. Prioritising, locating and analysing – As a manager, one of
your roles is to identify the high performers and document their
potential best practice.
2. Seed manage and debate – put a group of skilled workers
together with various skills to determine which practices would
work best across the organisation
3. Create and communicate incentives for change – this means
that you tell the workers what is in it for them from the
start.Non-monetary benefits could include changing workers'
schedules or recognition from management that will lead to a
bonus.The worker would also need to know what the sanction
for non compliance is.
4. Back the program – demonstrate the company’s willingness
to invest in ideas and provide the resources to support the
transfer of knowledge.
5. Appoint leaders who are looked up to and ensure that they
assist in facilitating the smooth implementation of a plan.They
should be accountable for the results and the transfer of
knowledge.
The transfer of knowledge requires documentation, training and
direction and ongoing tracking and performance
measurement.Management must be clear on what they can and
can’t do.Steps also need to be taken to ensure that changes do
not become institutionalised.Once this happens it will be even
harder to ensure that workers learn new concepts and apply
them to the workplace as part of the continuous improvement
process.
Communities of practice:
A community of practice is a successful technique that can be
used to install a KMS.The soft approach to a community of
practice is that lifting the knowledge level of staff should be
completed through a culture that sustains learning and sharing
of that learning.A community of practice supports the gathering
and distribution of information across organisations and

industry by serving:
As a forum that exchanges information as it is needed
To retain tacit knowledge through the discussion of current
issues and processes
To build individual competencies through discussion, problem
solving and the exploration of new technologies.
Cross-project learning:
You can learn by the mistakes of the past.By following the
actions of previous projects, managers can take steps to ensure
that the same problem does not arise in their own project.For
example, an individual did not receive the correct information
on time so they decided to wing it when they decided to accept
the offer of a client.That decision cost the organisation a lot of
money.
By learning from the mistakes of the past, an organisation can
improve their policies and procedures to ensure that decisions
cannot be made without the latest information.Informed
decisions need to be made for the success of the organisation.In
this way, the organisation is using procedures to improve their
processes.
Expert directories:
An expert directory is a directory of people who are experts in
specific subjects.When your organisation desires or requires a
specific skill set or knowledge, then you can research the
directory to find a person who has the skills and knowledge that
you require.They can then teach you what you need to know.
Knowledge brokers' knowledge mapping:
There is never just one community of practice.You may be a
part of several communities within a workplace.These
communities build and develop knowledge.A broker is a skilled
worker who works in different communities and their
knowledge is gathered across the communities and applied
within them.These brokers of knowledge can then use their
skills to develop the knowledge of the individual or the team.
Knowledge mapping is the process that an organisation utilises

to identify their knowledge assets.This means that they must
map the skills and knowledge of their staff against the skills
and knowledge required for the organisation.The expertise
identified is then analysed for barriers and constraints to
meeting an organisation's goals and objectives.
A broker’s knowledge can be utilised to identify a need and
then a knowledge map (k-map) can be developed to identify any
knowledge gaps.
A knowledge map is created by identifying the skills and
knowledge of a team member and comparing that knowledge to
what they need to know.
Questions that may be asked include:
What are the available knowledge resources?
Are these resources clusters or communities?
Who will ultimately use the knowledge?
What is the lifecycle of the knowledge?
Knowledge repositories:
Knowledge is an essential resource today.To remain
competitive, an organisation must have the ability to learn and
respond to problems and opportunities as soon as they
arise.Knowledge becomes obsolete in a lot of instances, as new
knowledge takes its place. The acquisition of knowledge must
be ongoing.
Knowledge sharing must be ongoing and workers need to be
able to gather data swiftly to resolve problems and decision
making within the organisation.Knowledge sharing and the
assimilation of information should be accessed in one location
and in one collective culture to ensure that knowledge is kept
within the organisation, even when other team members leave.
This means that as a problem arises the information collected
will assist in identifying ways in which to resolve it
continually.This means that even though people leave the
organisation, they will leave behind their knowledge that can be
utilised to improve an organisation’s responsiveness to the
market and to assist in identifying what will and won’t work.
Measuring and reporting intellectual capital:

Like knowledge, the intellectual capital of your team will be
able to provide your organisation with a competitive
advantage.By measuring and monitoring intellectual capital you
will be able to measure how much possible competitive
advantage a team may have over other teams.One person may
not have sufficient knowledge, but a team of people working
together may put together information in a way in which the
information retained, analysed can be used to improve processes
and procedures in the organisation.
Performance management:
Performance management can be utilised to measure the
performance of team members and to identify areas for
improvement to meet the needs of the organisation.This
knowledge is a method used to continuously improve the
performance of the team through continuous review and
assessment.
Post-project reviews:
Once a project is closed or it is decided that a project can go no
further, it will be stopped.A post-project review meeting will be
scheduled with the aim of assessing what happened during the
project – what were the positive results, the negative results –
and to discuss lessons that team members learnt.
Each member of the meeting has different responsibilities that
are allocated.The success of the post-project review meeting
lies in the ability of its participants in objectively assessing the
projects strengths and areas where they can improve.This
objective assessment uses the knowledge gained to improve on
future projects and to ensure that mistakes made do not recur
again.
Proximity and architecture:
Proximity and architecture reflects on the physical situation of
the employees of the project can be either conducive or
obstructive to the sharing of knowledge.When an organisation
needs to learn faster, it must shorten the time between
acquisition and diffusion of that knowledge.By using

collaborative learning, which is supported by a culture that
manages diversity of thought you can generate a knowledge
exchange and development proximity. This will create
architecture that gathers a collective intelligence away from the
norm which is then introduced back into the project to ensure
that knowledge is transferred. Change is then supported to meet
the needs of the project and the parties to the project.
Social software:
Social software and applications such as communication tools
that are used to capture, store and present written, audio or
video to mediate interactions between a groups of people
relating to the project they are undertaking.This information can
be then viewed and the knowledge from these interactions used
to improve the communication process and the gathering and
sharing of information during a project.Communication could
include instant texting, blogs, or internet forums.
Storytelling:
Storytelling, from an early age, assists us in sharing knowledge
and can become a competitive weapon for organisations.Story
telling as described by Steve Denning formerly of the KM
World Bank believes that there are seven reasons why story
telling enhances business.
They are to:
1. Persuade people to change: Stories give team members a
basis of acceptable behaviour in the organisation.By using
conduct that reflects this behaviour, they will be accepted more
readily by their peers
2. Communicates who a person is: Stories demonstrate that you
will maintain a certain level of professional conduct that should
be reflected by your team.It gives team members a way in which
to identify with you
3. Gets people to work together:As new people enter the
organisation and learn the stories of the organisation, they learn
what acceptable behaviour is and adjust the way in which they
perform to reflect this.So, if they enter a work place geared
towards continuous improvement and team development, they

will adjust their performance to fit in
4. Transmits values – personal and organisation: Stories should
tell a story that team members and individuals can learn
from.These values need to reflect the policies and procedures of
the organisation.
5. People always need something to gossip about.By developing
stories within the organisation, you will be able to control the
stories that are told to ensure that your team operates without
the drama and emotion derived from the made up gossip.
6. Shares knowledge: Stories need to be developed to provide
information to the team.For example, a story that reflects that
you as a manager support your team can reinforce that you do
not just walk the walk, but actually participate in your team’s
development and ensure that team members succeed.These
stories will usually evolve based on your actions.Always back
up what you say with doing.
7. Leads people into the future: When you are respected by your
team, they will watch what you do and listen to what is said
about you.When you are respected, most individuals will
usually try to emulate you.These actions will teach these team
members the acceptable practices that will lead them into the
future.
2. Monitor and adjust performance strategies
2.1 Develop strategies to ensure that systems and processes are
used to monitor operational progress and to identify ways in
2.2 Adjust and communicate strategies to stakeholders

2.1 – Develop strategies to ensure that systems and processes
are used to monitor operational progress and to identify ways in
Globalisation and technological innovation has caused
consumers to become more knowledgeable.To obtain a
competitive edge your organisation has to be responsive to
changes not only in demand, but to changes in legislative
requirements and other trends.The quicker you are able to
respond, the faster you will be able to sell your product to the
customer.
Operational responsiveness is the ability of business processes
and systems to respond to both the external and internal
changing conditions as they occur, enabling business leaders to
respond quickly to maintain a competitive edge.Customer
interactions will play an important role in operational
responsiveness.Organisations are in business to sell to
customers.By responding to customer demand quicker than the
competitors, organisations may obtain a larger share of the
market.
To capitalise on new opportunities, organisations need to have
the policy and procedures in place to:
Increase efficiencies:
As part of any continuous improvement, organisations need to
have processes in place aimed at ensuring that the organisation
is responsive to changes in the market.One way in which to
observe changes to the market is through environmental
scanning.
Environmental scanning is the process of gathering, analysing
and dispensing information for tactical or strategic purpose.The
environmental scanning process entails obtaining both factual

and subjective information on the business environments in
which a company is operating in.
Once you have identified a change to the market, you can be
proactive and respond to the projected changes before they
come into fruition.In turn, you will be ahead of your
competitors and this means you will interact with your customer
sooner.
Mitigate risk:
Occupational Health and Safety policies and procedures should
be aimed at identifying, controlling and minimising risk.Instead
of paying an environmental scanner to research OHS, you could
actually apply at a professional association (who tend to supply
employers with ongoing updates of any changes to OHS that
will impact on your industry) or you can enrol for updates at
your State or Territory's website for OHS updates.
Meet new challenges:
Technological innovations, changes to legislation can place a
large financial pressure to some industries.Providing your team
with ongoing support and building the confidence of the team
can have a positive impact.Your team will be prepared for any
contingency and work together to ensure that they resolve any
problems as soon as possible.
Monitor business activities:
Environmental scanning, professional associations and signing
up for email updates are not the only way in which your
organisation can monitor the external market.Suppliers, delivery
drivers and other external customers are also able to provide
both formal (surveys) and informal (discussion during sales)
about changes in demand.
For example, your suppliers at times deliver to your
competitors.There are times when the drivers are assigned to
deliver goods may make a passing comment about a delivery to
your competitor for a specific product.This information, in the
right context may assist you in identifying the correct changes
to your organisation's operations.

Process information faster:
To remain competitive, organisations must have the capability
to be able to respond to the market demand faster than their
competitors.This happens through organisational progress.
Organisational progress is achieved when new or different
circumstances, conditions and/or the relationship are “better
able to make the organisation through effective management to
move from one desirable state of existence into another.”
If an organisation is unable to capture the changes, then the
organisation will miss the chance to have a competitive
edge.This in turn, could put the organisation on the first path to
failure.
Operational progress is measured in different ways within the
organisation.Your organisation may only use one of these
indicators or they may use all.
Operational progress may refer to:
Customer service indicators:
Have you beaten your competitors in changing to meet your
customer’s requirements?Key customer service performance
indicators can be utilised to determine whether the goals of your
department have been met, exceeded or not reached.For example
your customer’s buying trends have changed in recent months.A
formal survey was sent to your regular customer’s to identify
why sales have decreased.
Based on customers’ feedback, your organisation may have
altered processes in production to cut on costs.Customers were
no longer prepared to pay the same prices as more and more
competitors entered the market.By making minor adjustments to
processes without compromising the quality of the product, the
organisation was able to cut costs and transfer the savings to the
customer.
Occupational Health and Safety indicators:
OHS performance indicators may be measured through the
amount of injury, frequency and the duration rate.These rates
can be acceptable levels.This is usually measured

internally.Were staff injured in the production of a product?If
so, how?Conversely, if one customer identifies that they are
getting small electrical shocks when they use the product, what
is an acceptable level of risk?
This type of risk could be escalated if the organisation ignores
the complaint.This type of feedback may seem small, but you
have been advised that there is a problem with the product.The
organisation may perceive this as a nominal risk, but what
happens if the next day, two more customers gave the same
feedback.Where the organisation may have thought that this is a
singular incident, when the same feedback was received for
other products, then the level of risk is escalated.
Productivity gains:
Changes to processes that speed up production can ensure that
organisation sells more products.This could be completed by
eliminating or speeding up processes.Changes to raw materials
may make the development of the product easier so that
performance to the product is enhanced.
Success in meeting agreed goals and performance indicators:
Meeting agreed goals and performance indicators can be
perceived as a success. As part of the continuous improvement
process, once goals are continuously met, the organisation
should then identify ways in which to exceed their goals.
Processes and systems, policies and procedures, goals and key
performance indicators should be used as benchmarks to
improve operational responsiveness.The organisation's progress
is measured based on the speed that they respond to feedback
and other measurements that are used to enhance performance.
It is essential that an organisation should not make a decision
on feedback until it has been thoroughly researched.However,
care must be taken to ensure that the organisation does not take
too long to respond to changes based on feedback.
2.2 – Adjust and communicate strategies to stakeholders
Another aspect of being operational responsive is your

organisation’s ability to ensure that the correct members of your
team obtain access to the required information.
For example, there has been an increase in negative feedback
from the organisations that you supply parts to.As a manager in
the organisation, you should not automatically take feedback as
a need to change.
As a manager, it is important that you make an informed
decision.To make an informed decision you need to make sure
that the information you have is correct.When you delegate a
member of your team to research negative feedback, you must
make sure that they have the skills and knowledge to perform
the required tasks.They will also need to have the authority to
have access to the correct information.
Once you have delegated a team member with the task, they
should use their knowledge of the organisation to research
different causes of the problem and communicate those
strategies in consultation with the team.
Problem solving is a seven step process in most instances.Your
organisation may have other problem-solving cycles that they
use.
To solve a problem take one step at a time:
1. Identify the problem:
This is the most important part of any problem solving.If you
are not clear on what a problem is then your team will be
wasting time and resources solving the incorrect problem.
In this case, the problem is that there has been an increase in
the amount of returns your customer has received.Their research
has identified that the problem comes from your organisation as
the parts are snapping.
2. Explore the problem:
When you have clearly identified what the problem is, you
should think about the problem in different ways.Ask questions
like:
Who is the problem affecting and how?
What do they do about it?
Looking at the problem from different perspectives will assist

you in identifying an effective solution.
For this case, the problem may have two possible causes.They
could be that:
1. It may be a problem with the organisation’s internal
processes
2. The supplier has changed the raw material so that the quality
of your organisations process is compromised.
During the exploration of the problem, your team may have
needed to contact several parties.In this example, the cause of
the possible problem with this case is that:
1. Your supplier has changed their processes and this has
impacted on the quality of your product; or
2. Your own production crew has changed procedures and this
impact was not forecasted.
For the sake of this discussion, you contacted your production
staff and found that no procedures were changed.You contacted
the supplier and found that they had changed the procedures for
developing the raw materials.
3. Set goals:
In this instance, the goal would be to find viable ways in which
get your product up to the same standard
4. Look at alternatives:
Alternatives may include:
Find another supplier
Resolve the problem with the supplier
Discuss the avenues available to the organisation with your own
customer.
5. Select a possible solution:
As part of any consultation process, you would ensure:
That all parties were continuously consulted and received
feedback for each step in the process.
That the most viable avenue was chosen to keep the customer
happy.
6. Implement a possible solution:
Resolve the issue.

7. Evaluate:
In consultation with your supplier and customer you would
provide feedback, make sure that your customer is happy with
their outcomes
You should strengthen your relationship with your supplier.In a
strong customer/supplier relationship, your supplier should have
discussed changes to their processes with you.
In some instances, depending on the circumstances, some
organisations will cancel the customer/supplier relationship.
Problem-solving chart
To assist your team in the communication process, a flow chart
like the one shown below may be used to assist in ensuring that
the organisation's procedures are followed.
Problem solving flow chart
Ensure reliable communications:
In every step of this process, you would have needed to
communicate and consult with stakeholders.For example, to set
goals in step three, you would have been required to consult
with the supplier, the production team and management.You
should have also kept your customer abreast of the changes and
when they would take place.
Route information to get the right data to the right person:
Your organisation would also have in place the correct order in
which you should, for example, contact your supplier.In real
time, your client may have changed to your competitors.You
should have maintained a strong relationship with your
supplier.The supplier should have communicated changes to the
raw material to you so you could, in turn, consult with your
customer.
When you communicate with other departments within the
organisation, it is important that team members follow the
correct procedures.There are usually knowledgeable experts that

would be able to answer questions in regards to the production
process.Even though your team may not be required to consult
with another party, courtesy would usually dictate that your
team members contact the supervisor for the production
department and ask for permission to consult with the
appropriate staff.
3. Manage opportunities for further improvement
3.1 Establish processes to ensure that team members are
3.2 Ensure processes include recording of work team
improvement
3.3 Consider areas identified for further improvement when
undertaking future planning
3.1 – Establish processes to ensure that team members are
Change management can be a very daunting task for team
members especially if they are not familiar in working in a
dynamic organisation.As a manager, the success of any change
usually stems from the manager's ability to provide team
members with appropriate information; for example, what is the

change? What is the importance of it? What is the impact of it?
In an organisation that wants to remain competitive, change is a
normal part of a team’s existence.
So you can have a better understanding of the change
management process, let us now view, Kotter’s eight-step
change model:
For this model to be successful, management must support the
change.If they don’t, then the level of risk rises.For change to
be successful, you need to:
Step One: Create the need for change
Identify the opportunities, the threats of the change and make
sure that your staff understand what will happen if they do not
change.Strengthen your argument by getting customers,
stakeholders and industry people to reinforce what you tell your
team.
Step Two: Prove that change is necessary
Identify the leaders and get them to support the process.Work
on team building and build on areas of weakness.
Step Three: Create a vision for change
Why change?Make strategies to execute the organisation’s
mission.
Step Four: Communicate the vision
Provide ongoing information to your team.They need to know
when to expect the change.What their role in the change is and
what impact the change will have for them.
Step Five: Remove obstacles
If people are resisting change, find the cause of the change and
help them to see what they need to do.People usually resist
change when they are insecure and do not know or understand
what is expected of them.
Step Six: Create short term wins
Give team members realistic targets.Reward people when they
reach their targets.

Step Seven: Build on the change
After every win, analyse what went right and how you can
improve on the change.Keep ideas fresh and get leaders to
actively contribute to the process.
Step Eight: Anchor change in corporate culture
For change to stick, it must become a part of the organisation’s
culture.Create plans, recognise key members, tell success
stories and include change when hiring and inducting team
members.
Look at each step of this process.Have you noticed that at each
and every level, you need to communicate on some level,
whether directly or indirectly with members of your team that
you need to reinforce your support of the change management
process? Notice that without communication, change would not
succeed.
You can find other models of change at Mind Tools:
www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_82.htm(Access
date: 19.9.2014).
Each and every model will also require that change must be
communicated to team members and anyone else that is part of
the process.
To ensure that this plan is communicated, many organisations
develop the communication plan.
A communication plan is a written document that describes,
what you wish to accomplish, ways in which you can
communicate to accomplish your goals, who you wish to
communicate with and how the results will be evaluated.For
instance, in change management, your goal is to change a
process to improve a product/process or service, you need to
communicate the change to all parties in the organisation so
everyone changes the process at the same time and how the
change process will be calculated according to the goals set.
To develop an effective plan, you need to know:
What everyone is doing as part of the change process and how it
is communicated

What the communication activity is trying to achieve
How effective the change is that has been communicated.
To implement a communication plan in change management as
part of the team's continuous improvement process you are
required to:
Define objective: who needs to be reached, how and what
information must be communicated to them?
Define the audiences and determine which method of
communication will have the most reach.This will depend on the
parties the change is communicated to and how much support
they need in the change process.
Goals: What are the stated objectives and what methods will be
used to communicate the change?
Identify tools: Emails, faxes, video conferencing.
Develop time lines:It is essential that all members know exactly
when the change is going to be implemented, who to and how
the change is going to take place.Most changes in the
continuous improvement process are incremental and
ongoing.For change to happen it must be communicated.
Evaluate the process: No matter how good you believe the
organisations change management process is, there will always
be room for improvement.
Make sure that the change is communicated according to the
plan.Failure to do so could very well mean that the change was
not implemented correctly.Once a communication plan has been
implemented, it is important that the plan is reflected in the
policies and procedures of the organisation.
Activity 3.1
3.2 – Ensure processes include recording of work team
improvement
Planning is an integral part of any organisation's

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