Hello and welcome to you listening online to this state. A little program. 14 Leaders and supervisors Level three program. It's a part two. My name's Mack Mukai with a background in management development. It's been a great pleasure of mind to bring this program together for you, and I'm very much involved in CPD for the legal sector. This program give your full introduction of what it's all about on where we're taking it. Let's have a look that you're learning objectives. What are you going to get by the end of this program? Well, first of all, we'll start off by exploring how strategies developed your job. Of course, as a supervisor will be as much to implement that strategy. So if we know where it's coming from, we can see where we go to make sure things happen Within our part of the organization. I want to look at project management to help you organize and prioritize and allocate work, making the best use of your resources, your people resources, your time resources and so forth. We'll help you with financial matters to deal with the governance or finance delivering value for money being able to monitor budgets. Some expenditure, perhaps in your area on show you some everyday problem solving techniques that will help bring people on board. You'll also be able to improve your communication skills using technology well being persuasive when you communicate on understanding a little bit more about the great diversity off people that we have in our workplaces on getting good benefit from those people joining our team. Because, after all, the bottom line for you is that you can improve your own performance or person effectiveness to problem solving on getting the work done on time. Now, as I mentioned, this is a Level three program. So level three, Well, what's the spots to syllabus all about? It's fairly straightforward, but it helps to understand how this program is constructed because although we have the trip, the recordings that I'm giving to you here we've also produced to quite a comprehensive workbook. It's a four printed over 110 pages on, gives you a lot more information than I'm going to be covering in this recording. I hope to add more value on. I encourage you to get hold of that Andi, explore it and go through and will be. I'll be taking you through the pagination of that so you'll know really where we are. Don't expect you to print out the whole thing, but certainly parts off it will be very useful for you. So how is the Level three program organized? How is it structured? Well, the Level three program has a syllabus that covers 10 core areas on this part, too. Is developing Mawr on Mawr Ideas Practical application for you back in the workplace just to run through it very quickly. We've got operational management, which has to do with strategy and how we implement that Project management is dealing with work flows in your organization. Finance explores budged from budgeting to some degree, but also managing budgets. If somebody set them for you. Dealing with communications, enhancing your skills, their leading people that was covered quite a bit on part one. So adding a little bit there managing people. You had a lot of that in part one, and again, we're adding various components to that building relationships building with staff, with your more senior people with your colleagues, with your clients, a lot off material there that you can add to awareness of yourself. Now I don't know what you know of yourself in and what you do in detail. I don't know who you supervise. You may supervise support staff. You may supervise practitioners Well, you need to be aware of yourself. And of course, on Stage one, you had some of those self assessment programs we looked at and where I want you to explore that a little bit further. Managing yourself on making good decisions is all about you, and I hope to share with you some extra thoughts and ideas for that. But remember, the three key components off any qualification is what you know, whether you can apply that and you've got there for the skills to apply. What you know on that you behave in a particular way. I'll finish the program with looking at those in a bit more detail. The workbook could, I've mentioned, is comprehensive. It's over 100 pages, but it is not sufficiently comprehensive to deal with everything you'll need to know, because I don't know what you currently know already. You may have a lot of experience. You may be new to this, so please accept that everybody is going to be different and we will encourage you to explore yourself online. Other ideas. There's lots in the portfolio with data law that will add to your the understanding off a lot of different issues. So I hope that this program will flag up enough for you to attain level three, but that it will encourage you to explore further so that you become a rounded professional supervisor off your people to improve things for you. On that, the workflow improves for that economic prosperity that we can all enjoy. So I will go through it in this sequence will take each on its own. Please go through the online program. Have a look at the workbook. Get your own pace. We break it up into these areas on. I hope to add some more value as we go through. What I cover in the recording is, I hope, a little bit more the men workbook. But naturally enough. Having a copy of that will be very helpful because the your go to resource to keep yourself up to speed in your knowledge, your skills and your behaviors off a very capable, competent supervisor. Um, I am, of course, is to help you attain that qualification. So let's get old Andi move into the first area Operational management. Well, what it's all about. I'm on page five off the workbook so you can follow what's going on there as well. That's what's happening here quite clearly. Gone are the days you can sit in your office and wait for work to land on your desk. Life, YSL. Very well if somebody else has given you the work and you do the work and you get paid and so forth. But we're moving beyond that now. We are in a situation where we're having to not any deal with clients deal with the issues going on, but also help other people that were supervising. So operational management is a key element off this. So what's it all about? Well, it's about understanding aims of the your business, the objectives, what approach we're going to take to the market and, tactically, what we're going to do in practice to make the business work. So let's explore just what they mean on how it all comes about. So across here, I've got another screen that's got the workbook on it, and it's got slides on it. So let's just run through a few things to help you understand what's going on. Some definitions, first and foremost, you may wish to, uh, stop the program. Take a few notes. I'm adding to the information you've got in the workbook. What is your business all about? What's the aim off it? Well, to make some money, obviously, but should be a little bit more than that. It's about serving clients. So your aim delivering legal services? YSL Very good. But the primary outcome was doing that. What is it you want to do? Will become now? I gave an example here will use This is a theme through this program. A za conveyancing solicitor in Chester, Your first choice convinced it, says the practice ingested. That's the aim broad canvas of what you want to do Now I know many of you will be legal aid practitioners, so it may be the go to crimp defense. All the go to child protection firm, whatever it might be. You know what it is you do, and that may be your primary objective. It's not finance. I know when I have my public courses and it's say to people there. Okay, What's the purpose? Your business? On the nine times out of 10 people saying, Well, it's to make some money. Well, of course it is. But how do we make some money will remake it by becoming a first choice practice in a particular geographical region, for example. So if that's your aim, what is the goal? That clear statement off what needs to be achieved within a particular timeframe. So here, using the conveyancing practice as an example, Justus an enduring theme is to have every state agent within five miles walking distance from the practice willing to make a referral. That's the general goal, isn't it? So at least we know what it is who we're going to get work from. We're going to get it from recommendation from estate agents. We won't firms within striking distance to make a referral to our practice. Well, there's the goal, so aims and goals are related, of course. So what is the strategy now? That was the overall approach to the market. The strategy is to make personal visits to every state Asian, engage all staff in, uh, their state agency in property regulatory updates we want to engage people, as with the go to professional, whatever it might be, if your firm needs to be understood, the overall approach to the market, it maybe we're going to be other things for other people. Depends on your practice. Depends what you're doing. But we understand strategy is so strategy is the overall approach to achieve the goal. Okay, so we know what those things are. And then what are the objectives, the measurable steps that we need to take to achieve the strategy from the jet objectives? Of course, come the tactical plan. So the objective for our convincing practice in jester is to have free monthly breakfast seminars 45 minutes an hour at the Chester officers aimed at estate agent stuff. That's the objectives which will achieve the strategy and ultimately achieve the goal off being the first choice Sisters practice in Chester. So as you can see there, we've got some sort of structure to it. Well, if they're structure, there's also processed. What's it all about? Well, the process of digit management covers four key areas. The first part is situation analysis A for a pie plan implementation evaluation being the next three steps. So why is it a simple as pie? Very simple, to explain which is my job much more difficult to do, Which is your firm's job effectively. What we're aiming to start the process off is a situation analysis to understand. Where are we now? Want to be trying to do? What's the situation on? Move that into a plan. So from analysis becomes a plan. What is our aims? Goals, objectives, the strategy, the approach to it? Get that strategic plan together. We're going to ingratiate ourselves. Real estate agents were going to have higher rights. We're going to focus on. This is a special ism, whatever it's going to be of, then strategies get implemented, so the implementation is what it's all about. This is really where the role of the supervisor is so crucial to make sure that the strategy is implemented through his or her team of people on. Then, are we any good at that? What sort of things happened? Evaluation and control is the fourth step, so easy as a pie to explain it in that way, much more difficult to do. Let's, though put it in the context off the business overall, What does that look like? Well, each of these areas leads to other parts off the strategic management process. The situation analysis. Well, it starts with understanding yourself the internal analysis. Who are we? What are we good at? Where's our expertise? And also external? What's the market demand for us? What's the factors that influence the external market? Obviously, the competition, obviously the clients etcetera, etcetera. And I think this is probably one area where law firms could be a little bit light is on the external analysis to build that particular picture together, The Level five program that data will have developed does have a module on strategy, development and change. Management is a key element of it. So of course, if that's the next stage of your career development to move into the higher orders, then that may be a useful area to explore. To get a good handle on the exterior on the internal analysis, and from there, we can build up some strategic intent to be the first choice Conveyancing. Solicitor in Chester is a strategic intent to be in a position off some expertise in housing in child protection in actions against the police in criminal defense. Whatever that strategic plan is all about. Where does that say? Well, okay, the implementation is gonna be management issues. Who do we implemented through our team of people? So the leaders remember this from part one off the program leadership is about finding the path, Pathfinders. That's the understanding, the situation. What's the road going to look like? Going ahead? Is it Rocky? Do we turn left? Do we do go right? Do we go straight on? And then we find that path of strategic intent. This is the way we're going to move forward. And then management is path following and others make sure we're on the path that we're following the path, the progress being made and so forth. Those management issues on then evaluation control are weak earning from the path. Do we need to come back onto that path? What progress will be going faster than expected? Is it taking longer than expected? Is the terrain more rough than we thought it would be? Those organizations issues there, So a pie. The analysis off external internal environment, the planning that goes to our strategic intent, the I for implementation. The management issues who, when, what, where, why and how of implementation on the organization, then works out how well it's doing all those things. So strategic intent has to do with both the corporate goals. If you like, as well as the business corporately, that means the partnership. That means the directors. What's what. Are we trying to achieve the key stakeholders in the business? The key shareholders, if you will. What's the corporate intention? What's the business likelihood going to be? What's the gain coming from there on the management? Operational issues are where the supervision sits, in where you guys set to make sure that things happen in the most effective and efficient way. In this program, it's very much about those functional issues. The corporate business on the function issues come together in what makes you better than anybody else. The go to firm for those legal aid matters or other matters mentioned convincing could be matrimonial could be whatever corporate law, the competitive strategy that comes together is such a key part off the overall exercise. So that's really what the strategic management is about and therefore where you as a supervisor, fit within that put very simply, there's a way of looking at these things from a number of points of view. We could do this within our workbook. You've got this illustration on the next page off the workbook Page seven, which is understanding how that vision or sense of purpose, Dr Strategy, the strategy defined by the rules of engagement. How are we going to do these things? What do we need to do that will drive the tactics? We get people trained up in this area where you get people who are good criminal defense, we get higher, writes audience. We get various tactics in there, rules of engagement with the Crown Prosecution Service or whatever it might be on. The tactics are producing the outcomes that you actually expect to get because having those understanding become very, very important. So understanding the vision, what the stakeholders of the business senior managers want their organization, their team to deliver the strategy to define the pathway on, then the tactics is what the root is like running along that path. The implementation of those plans, of course, becomes very important from your team's point of view. You see if somebody finds your firm on whoever answered the phone. And here's the deal. But cartoon before the strategies defined, people will say, I don't I don't if we could do that But once the strategy is defined, then they'll actually say, Well, I do know that we don't do that But I know now know what we do So there's a bit of a cartoon. It's actually about parity for your point of view on your team's point of view to enable the change to actually occur. So implementing that is an important part off driving the business forward. And that's really what we want to be looking at in approaching change within your organization on implementing those operational plans. So what are we going to do to actually implement on operational plan? Just checking on the workbook? We've got some guidance there on implementing that on page eight, implementing those plans on the stepwise process that we go through. You can look at a little bit more detail within the workbook if you will, but I'll just take you through the process of implementing those operational plans. Now we've understood the context off strategy through two plans. Well, the implementation, the eye of a pie is all about holding team meetings to exchange the information. Your elements of control as the supervisor. What's going well, what needs to improve your getting good feedback Able to take that information on board, make sense of it, holding those team meetings to exchange information, both coming from top down through U as a supervisor to your team, but also bottom up from the team through you back to more senior management if you're not most senior person within the firm, so those team meetings exchange information. Very important. Good managers look a bit like me not because they're old, but they have two eyes, two ears, but one mouth but actually in the team environment used them in the same proportion. You're listening, you're asking questions and so forth. Then part of the implementation is well, who's going to do what and by when so allocating responsibility for actions. Important element of that. So the part one of the course it was very much about briefing on assessing work and taking responsibility for the action. Now implementing an operation plan may mean that people's job descriptions may not match exactly what is required because the strategy is changing on developing, which may mean that new things are required, which may mean a revision to job description. Very easy to say in my point of view. But of course, in your situation, it may need some careful negotiation with the job holder as they review their job description to make sure that the job explains what the job is supposed to produce. Outcomes. Andi, make those changes as necessary that maybe some consultation, of course, required within that. But as I said, if that's your situation than we may need to explore that in a bit more detail, it won't be necessarily covered in the depth you need within the workbook or on the course here. Because if people now have to do presentations to state agents staff, for example, using our enduring theme all than having to get trained up to handle new types of work. In new types of areas that I mentioned, higher rights is ones. One example. Then staff need those learning and developed opportunities in order to deliver the plan. You can't do some of these things in higher courts unless you got people trained, so strategy and implementation go hand in hand with learning development, and you may be therefore a budget holder for learning and development for your team. For example, here's a portion of money for your team. How are you going to spend it? Nicole should be involved with that. It may mean that you will be very much a coach mentor off your staff to support staff as well as to your fee earning staff, depending on your role as the supervisor. And, of course, part one did cover your coaching and mentoring situation. What are the situation for type person of what type of job can you be? Coach Mental What sort of type job people have. Do you have to be the instructor trainer, the different ways of learning and developing people we covered in detail on Part one? Implementation will, of course, be crucial to identify what is the appropriate monitoring and measuring systems on. In my view, when you think about who's the best person to work out whether a job has gone well, it is not you. The supervisor, it's the job holder. He or she needs to know what constitutes a job well done and knows whether they are actually doing a job well enough if they don't know what constitutes a job well done. And it requires you the supervisor, to go and check on it. Then, of course, you're making a rod for your own back because you gotta go wrong around around with clipboards, checking on everybody. And nobody likes to be checked up on in that sort of way. So fair monitoring is very, very important to make sure that people are clear of how to do that. So implementing operational plans, six key steps there on a number of different things, to look at a smart ideas to do that on, of course, Mawr information within the workbook as well to guide you on that. But naturally enough, the implementation of an operational plan does mean that people are going to have to change. So if you're trying to developed change within the team and you've got your team, you're trying to pull one way, and they are trying to put it the other way. Then we need to address how you as a supervisor, are going to manage change within your team when you've got those particular issues coming up quite an important step. So Let's explore that in a bit more detail when I look back over my career, which shows you could probably tell is a fair few years. A couple decades, of course, had to cope with a number of different changes. So no matter how big or small the changes, there's going to be things as we move forward. I think the only constant we can expected business nowadays is that we're gonna have to cope with change. And, of course, if you ask people whether they like changed, they'll say, Well, no, generally not, Or I'd change for the better. But why would I change if I'm absolutely comfortable at the moment? So I think it's an important area. So what I'd like to do is tow is to just take you through one or two ideas to do with change on D. C. Whether it helps you not only be a champion for change but also help other people through processes of change to implement that new strategy. So where are you on change? How do you feel about it? Is it something that you embrace? And I think one thing that's goes hand in hand with change is your self confidence to actually deal with it, So confidence and self esteem is an important part off this. So here we've got confidence and self esteem, this cat looking into a mirror and seeing a great lion there. Well, okay, confidence and self esteem. Very important. There's elements to this and quite a few notes within the workbook to help you guide through this not only to appraise your own self esteem, but also you can use this to help other people appraise themselves on. I think it's very important to recognize that you can do in order to be your own strengths, both your personal and your professional strengths to put a positive view. Now, what's quite interesting? I was asked to work preferment in London, Andi to talk to their support staff supervisors and very big London firm had 15 support staff supervisors gotten together, and we were talking about obviously things about implementing change within the organization. They has a group of people they tended to be. There were mostly female, mostly alone thirties or older, and most off them. It struck me, seem to have a very low self esteem, and I was chatting to one of them quietly over the coffee. And I said, Well, what's going on with a group? She said. Well, actually, when it comes to the partners, we have to deal with all the problems we have to deal with. Everything that's going wrong on all we tend to hear about is that things are going wrong. I said, OK, well, what about confidence and self esteem? Would very rarely get any feedback. When we've done something right, we just get to know where the problems are and that's what we're doing. So I got them in the next session after the coffee break to say, OK, do, in order of your strengths on the noon, sat there and looked around and looked at each other and have their pan. And there were some running around, and one of them said back, I'm sorry, I can't think what earth you're talking about. I don't have any strengths. You told me earlier that that you did Pitman shorthand. Yeah, well, we'll do. And I said, How quickly can you type accurately? No single probably 50 70 words a minute. Something like that. I do a lot of audio typing. That's what I was trained in became an audio type has worked in this organization, and over the years I've been here about 10 years. I still have those skills. If I can't audio type, I can't type that well, she said. Well, it's not a strength of what he asked to do it. I said It's a straight compared to people that haven't got it. Now what I'm trying to illustrate there is. A lot of people don't quite understand what's meant by what ones actually good at. But people are good at problem solving. They are good at putting a brave face on. They are good or sorts of things so that audit off your strengths is a very important part of it. Most people with a bit of encouragement will discover that actually they are quite good at things. When we start on those positive things, we said Okay, we have got things that we bring to it. People that keep down a job that pays a salary on a monthly basis have strengths, so find those first on then yourself. You can look for the wider feedback on a regular basis. I do get feedback on my training programs Quite frequently. I get a lot of feedback because I asked for it. I'm happy to take feedback. I'm happy to give feedback in a good, constructive way. And part one of this program was about, uh, in the briefing and assessing work and therefore giving people good feedback, that better sandwich you'll remember from part one. So get used to receiving it, get used for giving it and just have that regular check the whole thing to on. It's something my father, God bless him, said to me, He said, If you think you can or you think you can't, you're gonna be right because if you think you can't, you probably can't. But actually, if you think you can, then maybe you can, because that is just a change off attitude. Think about do you say to yourself, Utter now to do that well, I don't know how to record training programs online for data law. Have absolutely no idea. Oh, sorry. That was me 15 years ago. But I've now worked out that if I keep my eyes attention on that little green spot beside the camera, then I'm talking to you. I toe I I know I can slow it down. I know I can use things. I know. I've got a screen over here with the workbook and I will divert to check the workbook. I will have a look at the slides so I can now say to myself that Well, actually, I don't know how to do some things more. Maybe I can say I just haven't learned how to do that yet. I have to tell you that I have never, ever baked a cake. It's not something that I did. I had a mother who could bake fantastic cake since used to mail them to me When I was an undergraduate, it was wonderful to get a parcel every month on it was a fruitcake. It was brilliant, man. House cake. Absolutely marvellous. Loved it on. I didn't bother with cakes when I was single, and then I'm now married to a charming lady and she is a brilliant cook on my step Sister Convey Take takes as well on we get cakes for every sort of event that we have going around. My daughter stepdaughter is extremely good at baking cakes. So why would I need to? I just haven't learned how to do it yet. So cast off the Karen internees of Oh, I should do this. I should exercise more. I should do that. I should say you should just get on and do it. Just do it now. Just get all into it. Cast off, Attorney. Oh, I should do this. I should. It's your decision. You get on the schedule. More time to do those things, A new cast off those tyrannies on. Then you're able to develop that confidence. There's a lot more within the workbook. It's fine. Not everybody needs to be extra vert. Not everybody needs to take the lead. Everybody needs to be everything to everybody but just recognize. I like those people who are detail conscious. I like those less extroverts characters who could get the work done, get it done well on time. I love to have those people as part of my team. I love that diversity, so I might ask my bookkeeper to run training course and talk to a camera, and she'll think that I'm completely mad because that's not what she does. Another does she want to? But if I want, somebody could do a good spreadsheet to track everything that's going on. Then she's my go to person for that. So confidence and self esteem is an individual thing. You can develop it yourself as a supervisor. Look at the notes. Improve your own self confidence on feel good about yourself. As a supervisor, you're on this program. You're getting much better being a supervisor. Get again in the qualifications, and through that you can help your people develop the skills they need to adopt the change that you are trying to, uh, implement off that strategy. So once you've got more confident people, then they're able to Well, what do you do with the overcome, confident people? Well, this is where good feedback is there so that people can see how well they're doing on Not over that the pudding as it were over the cake by suggesting that they're better than they really are. It's about being grounded. It's about getting good feedback on knowing where one is able to take things forward. So with that in mind, I'd like to take it forward to the next part to explore uh, working in new ways, which means working on project management. I always think it's quite interesting if you stop and think about it. Most work is a project of some sort or another. Maybe work you do on your own. It may be in need a team to deliver a particular piece of work. The project management is a discipline in itself. But if we look a working, working, progress across an organization, evenhanded case matters. Most things are a project in some guise or another, so there will always be something within this particular area that's going to be pertinent to you, even if particular projects don't use ALS project tools. That said, elements off them always get used in various ways. So let's not get hung up on project management software. Let's not get too involved with the whole world of project, which clearly maybe putting Crossrail across London or something like that or changing the the trans system in Manchester. Those are big infrastructure projects, not even light railway. Whatever it might be. Let's not get too bound up in that, but accept that most things that happen in your firm pieces of work our project, so there will be something within this for everybody. When I look at projects and said, Okay, well, what is a project? What's the aims will be trying to achieve? Then you might say, Well, that's various things that want to do But each of those have consequences. So if I've got an idea of saying OK, I want a project, this target improvement Every day when we've done a piece of work, an invoice gets produced, you might say, Well, OK, well, how's that project? Well, somebody producing an invoice requires a particular process to follow. Now, When I set the business up my own business 27 years ago, I came out of industry. I set up systems procedures for my firm s so that other people could follow. I was sold practitioner. Then we developed new working practices and we mode. I acquired a training business except etcetera, and I wanted to improve the way in which we produced invoices. Well, what's wrong with that? At the end of this particular exercise, I will produce an invoice. Four data law on life is good. And I said to my team, I would like to make make sure these invoices get produced a quicker on the consequence of that to my bookkeeper in the office manager Waas. What's in it for May? That's not a radio program. It's that we fn means what it Well, OK, what's in it for May if we follow a new system that we've been using for years, So whenever you've got a project going on, you have to address the What's in it for me. Why should I change? People don't like change. What's in it for me? Is there something better? I said to stuff that it would be able to do some quicker with less hassle on. Most people respond to that, said Well, producing it quick and probably suit you. The boss less hassle seems to sit. Suit me, the member of staff so looking at the consequences of your target improvement. To understand what's in for me will be one way to get people on board so it may be want to be involved people. If I just involved my office manager or myself, then of course, people said, Well, why not involved the bookkeeper? So who's in with your project? Whose out Remember industry being in pharmaceuticals, heading up the, um, the company's total quality management initiative? TQM on there were various teak you and workshops on. There was some reason you're selected for the Deco and workshop, are you? Well, I'm no involved in that. When in fact it was a pilot program and we just didn't handle the Who's in who's out particular well said there was, although Zone yes, they're doing something different. They're special because they get biscuits with their meetings or whatever. So this involvement off team is an important thing to think about not only who was involved in a particular work activity, but who isn't. Therefore, we need some encouragement on that encouragement. It's there to overcome resistance. So what is it? Administration here, This hand resisting change? What can you do to reduce the resistance, not push against the resistance? Because the harder you push the people, people tend to push back harder. What could you do to resist use the resistance? And therefore, I encourage people to engage with a particular project on its aims and objectives on, then finally said, Well, what is the right approach in my exercise to improve the way in which invoices were produced managed to create a cultural change, you see, because I had put a team together and we've seen how long to take producing invoice We looked steps. The process is I'm gonna come onto the how to do this on. They selected all the processes we added up all the time. Of all the steps. It was a 40 minute process. Dick, If I'm out in city where I am on Monday, I'm going to be out somewhere. I will travel somewhere. I'll stay in a hotel. I'll have some mileage on, have some expenses. I have a meal except except except you get the fees and get this that all those things coming together took a 40 minute process and I said, Well, OK, let's see if we can reduce it. My office manage My dog keeper looked at the system, identified ways to reduce it on. They brought it down to 30 minutes of what's in it for me. Well, for May they do the work more quickly. What's in it for them? They control the process. They manage the process. They get more things done in the time available, get home on time more often. So the what's in it for me was actually quite important from both sides, me, the manager and they the staff. What was the cultural change when they looked at that process on my bookkeeper, Helen came to me and she said then others processes even that we looked at for producing an invoice. Can I have a look at petty cash in the way we handle petty cash and change some of those processes I thought I've got there. We have the culture now that says, What? Mac develop the business. 27 years ago, he produced this office manual, have been following it to the letter, but things and move forward on. We're now allowed to challenge the status quo Church challenge the system procedures on to make sure I said, Yep, you tell me how you'd like to change it. Let's talk about it and we'll go from there. That ball is the right approach that those are four key areas to establish dude project aims and objectives, target improvement, the home involvement off whom encouragement reducing the resistance and then that right approach. That cultural change so important for you? Then, of course, what constitutes a successful a project for May? A successive project has half a dozen key success criteria, it must be something meaningful. So it waas producing an invoice more promptly, meaningful. Of course, it waas because people were able to do the work more quickly. Get it down home on time. Very useful, meaningful, particular way off working. So a successful project need to be well coordinated and monitored. I mentioned before, who's best to monitor the people doing the work among themselves? So who monitors accuracy of invoices? Bookkeepers, office managers? I don't actually see invoices very often initiate the process, but I don't get involved in checking on it. Why should I? Because it's well coordinated on people to the right. Momentary. A good invoice gets paid promptly without needing any correction on. We have zero tolerance on corrections. We need to get done right first time, which therefore involves people. It's their job. They enjoy the involvement on the successful projects where people like to be part of it, like to make a contribution because their contribution pits heard their ideas move forward. They are confident that their ideas will be listened to. Even if an idea is not a good idea, it will be listened to. So that's very important because we want to optimize time. Time is a precious resource on, therefore, good project makes good use of time. It's not extra to work. It's what you do in order to make the business function better. Therefore, it does bring in into use as a from the team to use as, um from individuals who can see things happen in their area. On the collaboration. Working together involves people, brings out that enthusiasm and therefore becomes self sustaining. A successful project doesn't require you the supervisor, to keep stoking the pump. It's just about being sustaining. People know where they're headed, heading in the right direction, and therefore they're getting the results they need for May. Those six things makes for a successful project. Now I mentioned every project, but what does it really mean? Will work based projects have within it a customer and supplier? I am the supplier off information to the, um, office manager, the bookkeeper to produce a an invoice so they take my information because I will give him the script of what work is. So client knows what's going on. They will then calculate what's required. Do the V A T do the spread cheats, Do the tracking. Do the compliance with Customs excise all those sorts of things with taxation. They'll supply information to somebody else that will go to the client. So work based projects really fall down into a couple of key areas. One is. Are they highly efficient, or are they just effective? Are they either one of the other? Or are they both for my money? Efficiency is doing things right. So what is an efficient invoice? Inefficient invoice gets done right? First time on it gets produced, printed, if that's what's required or emailed A pdf. Whatever is required on effectiveness is doing things right. So do things in the right way is efficient. But do the right things is effectiveness. If we were going to be sending Christmas cards to clients or whomever suppliers, they're producing the envelopes. Producing the address is highly efficient, very, very quick. But if they're the wrong address is wrong. People are no longer at that firm. They moved on. They retired then it's not very effective. Do things right as well as do right things. Therefore, recognize those customer supply chains across the firm. The managers Oh, the customer they want you as a supplier to provide particular solutions. You pass on that information to your staff. You are now the customer on You are wanting things done by them that staff as the supplier. So recognize those customers supply James across the business. When you formulate a project plan, there are some fundamental questions to answer. It's very simple. Whoever. Why? Where? How off? A particular project. Who is going to be involved with this? Who is going to be affected by the project? The work that we're doing Is it the external client? Is it something internal? Is it the department? Is it accounts payable? Who is going to be involved? When will it start? When various stages have to be completed. When must the end off the project occur? So we must understand that the out What are we trying to produce? What is the point of this? What is the purpose? What is the outcome? What does a good project look like? Then we could say Well, where in which department is going to pay with within which team is going to be involved. Where will this project be noticed? Is it internal operation procedures? Compliance has it to do with client facing. Things will be important. Why are we doing this one first? Why not that one first? Why do we have to do it at that pace? Why do we do these things in the way in which we're doing them? Are fundamental questions for your project? How do we organize it? How do we get people involved? How do we know it's on track? How do we know we're achieving the outcomes? Lots and lots of questions within those six. Who, when, what, where, why and how so when you're formulating a project plan, they're very simple questions on There's lots of different subsections to each of those areas, which is so important in making sure that your plan comes together. Good plan. We also recognize we need to have some smart objectives. Okay, well, let's explore Arkham Banks in business in Chester, and it's decided the objective is to deliver free monthly breakfast seminars on property or regulator updates on a 12 month rolling programme with defined agency staff attending at least once 1/4. Okay, so this is a smart objective. Is the card on the screen suggests that this objective written out in the way. Is it first of all specific? Yes, because it's very specific in a number of ways. Specifically, we're going to do seminars. Those are specifically breakfast seminars. It will tell you what time day it is. It's not going five oclock in the afternoon. What is the content of it? It's about property and regulator updates. Pertinent to estate agency. We're going to have a 12 month rolling programmes. They will know the titles for the next 12 months, and then each month we produce another seven, maybe repeats of an earlier one. But they have a 12 month rolling program that we're going to be putting together. We're going to advise Aled, the agency, state agency staff. We know who the star FARC visited them. Beginning the names and addresses were up, sending a mailing to the state agency on. We're inviting people to attend, and we hope that of all the staff there clearly with half a dozen staff in a state agency, you can't expect more to disappear same time. But you could expect each individual member staff once 1/4 once every 12 weeks, once every three months to come to your free monthly breakfast seminar had to have a coffee and a bit of fruit a bit of a bit of musically or something like that and hear something about property or regulate tree updates. Is it specific? Yep. Couldn't be more so. Is it measurable? Well, measurable, as in terms of timing. Yes, we know how many people we know who has attended When, Where. What, that. Of course, it's measurable work. Is it achievable? Why? I think that one a month is quite sufficient. I think we won a week would be too ambitious. I think one month is quite enough once 1/4 maybe a little bit like we could do better than that. We know they're going to be for half an hour, 40 minutes, 45 minutes, something like that. So it won't take too much out of staffs working day to attend, I think one a quarter. If I had my staff attend free seminars on something pertinent local to may sit within a five mile radius, that certainly is achievable and it's relevant to whom relevant to the firm because we're painting firm. We want to be relevant in terms of our aims, objectives to be the first choice conveyancing practice in jester on a Is it time back? So any smart objectives for your project need to be together. And here's a project to live a free month seminars rolling programme with defined attendance. So smart objectives drop project means that we started in right way were more likely to get within going in the right direction. Which means that when we think about the projects that began to be running within our business, where you can select the right sort of ones. But first of all, you have to say, Well, is it being selected by one of the partners or directors of your firm and then passing it on? Dropping it on somebody else's play here are clear. Get on with this. Here are Abigail. This is what I want you to sort out. John, can you do this one product? Are you gonna be able handle this? Well, if you're gonna be dropped on somebody's desk or whether involved in the project early on, something to think about because you'll get much more ownership through people's involvement in that way, Then you will do by just dumping it on people's this that that will be a much better choice on. Then we could say, OK, can we deal with people who are not selected? What about those who aren't involved in the project? Maybe we need to look at the team who's involved on make sure that the involvements. So the team selection, you've got your people, they're all going to come together. Then what sort of thing would we have within that team selection? Who's going to lead it? Who's gonna be the project head? Does it have to be use improvised? It doesn't have to be the most important person in the room. It may not be, but think about it. Certainly. When I led the project on invoice production, I waas the leader because I started the process off. But very quickly the office manager took over. Andi, ultimately, the bookkeeper is my junior person, came back to me and said, I've got another project. I'd like to get involved, which has to do with petty cash. Can I run that? We discovered that she was perfectly capable bit a part time 16 hours a week. Um, person who comes in to help us out is able to take the initiative. We need people who can analyze the data This program is about. Data analysis will be talking about that as further modules, important part of it. So the skills of bringing people together skills of dealing with conflict skills, communicating to explore that will be important over above the technical skills, off spreadsheets or meeting the requirements. Self recording, the data and so forth, so different sorts of skills within the team. You must off course have teams who are enthusiastic about the outcomes. They weren't too enthusiastic to start off with to review what was going on, but they were highly enthusiastic to be able to do this work not in 40 minutes, buddy. 25 minutes quicker in 30 minutes. They like that idea because therefore the work got done more quickly like it. Therefore, they took ownership ownership of what? The process? Yep, ownership of the output. That was the key thing. Get ownership off the output, right people in the team. It's obviously going to be hard work, focused work. Getting good results for people within the organization becomes an important part off the overall approach to it, then said OK, well That's my team. Do I need to have other people involved? So I hope that's getting a few ideas there on project selection, setting it up, running them in the right way. Now I'd like to look at how we work on projects in detail to explore how we make sure things happen in the right way. Particularly most effective ways. Most efficient ways. Effective producing the outcome. Efficient, time bound good use of resources. Andi. Make sure that the monitoring and analysis is in place that has now turned to the key area off tools used in project management, one of which is called the Critical Path Analysis. So what's critical Path analysis? While I'm on page 20 off the workbook, basically what it's to do is to identify all those various components activities that used to produce a particular outcome. Steps therefore, on what order those steps should be in tasks off the task, our task to work out what is going to be, ah, a critical part. What's going to be the shortest time to produce the particular outcome. So Critical path analysis is a very, very important tool, and not one that one necessarily has to use on every single activity. But, my goodness, does it make life easier when you know what the critical path is? And you know whether you are still on track so you can monitor your project early on because projects do not go around the end. They could wrong at the beginning because it's insufficient or in accurate planning. So Critical Path analysis is a key planning tool. So let me take you through the various stages off a critical path analysis and explore how you can use it in practice. In your situation with, if you're managing a particular activity to produce a particular outcome, So what do we do? First of all, well, if you take my example of producing the invoice, what we did was to get the three of us together, and we brainstormed activities that needed to be performed. What were the various steps steps to do with word documents, excel, spreadsheets, information, e mails, printing on duh mailing for those invoices that get mailed or emailed or whatever they were going to pay? So we identified all those various activities, and then we said, Okay, what logical sequence will use well behind me? You'll see there's flip charts on their white boards and so forth. Well, those are the sorts of things that we were using, too. Identify all those activities of What do we dio? Well, the good old sticky notes Post it notes. Brand name, if you will. We use Thies to track what was going on. Some larger ones, small ones, whatever was necessary so that we could put all those activities part of our project into some logical sequence and then put a number on each step, not two. Crucial if we belongs, we identified by a number. It doesn't necessarily have to be exactly the right sequence, but numbering each step on. Then we could say how long would each step take. So how long does it take to find out the fees for a particular invoice? How long does it take to find out the expenses for a particular public training course? Run a hotel? I'm off to Leeds on Monday, so we need to look at the information there for expenses. For example, how long does each of those steps take and then to say, Well, okay, we can't actually start writing an invoice unless we've got the information. Obviously, on once the invoices written, we can then start to put it into an envelope. And we can't put anything into envelope until the information is there on the invoice gets written. So in other words, those dependencies become very easy to identify. What do we need to do first? What needs to be done next? How long does each of those take and we can establish? The work must must be done. First work that can only follow other things on. We can build a Critical Path analysis network because we will see there are things that can be done while something else is happening. In other words, concurrent activities. Um, So, for example, while, uh, somebody is, um, passing information to a bookkeeper for putting the, um spreadsheet together, then the office manager could be typing up the invoice. Personally, I think they're different avenues once an Excel spreadsheet, and the other one is a word document. So there are concurrent activities. Go on. Well, if it takes longer time to produce the, um, the invoice in word documents, then of course, the Excel spreadsheet could be done at various times in that period and then we can build up that network on. We could then establish Well, okay, what is the critical path? And it was What are those sequential activities that must be done on that will be the critical path. What of those concurrent activities that could be done at the same time? In the critical path are the longer off the activities that need to be done concurrently because the next part can't carry on until that particular step is finished. Then we can say, OK, now we can communicate this to other people because with this critical path, we can create a bar chart so that people can see what's going on now. The example I gave producing invoices was in minutes, but it could be that you got a critical path that would be set up in certain number of days. So when it comes to producing this program, I knew, uh because it was me running it roughly how long things would take too. Pull together the workbook from various sources of information. I've shooted at a London business school on project management. So the material need to be brought together. Put it into the data lore format get it written for the legal sector, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera and put all that together and then to produce the power point. Now I couldn't produce the power point until I know what's in the workbook, etcetera. So I get that put together. I can plot that in a structured bar chart. It's actually put together in a very straightforward structure. It's called The Diary. If this happens this day, and that happens that day consume a day by day basis rather hour by hour or indeed, minute by minute, and then I can use that bar chart to communicate to other people. What's going on particular, back to data law? This is where I've got to. That's the next stage on. If something else happens, then I can use the bar chart to illustrate what's going on. So what does all that look like in practice? I've run through the nine steps. Let me illustrate some slides that will show you some of those elements. First of all, we produce a simple table, which is a precedence chart. In other words, each activity zero is start. We can say what that activity is. How long is it going to take in whatever unit days, hours, minutes and so forth. What must we do first? Proceeded by what can be followed by on then is there any activity that be concurrent? That's a very straightforward way off looking at our post. It's looking more together on making sure that we've been able to structure our activities in a way that makes logical, practical sense because this isn't a theoretical exercise. It's absolutely about making sure the right things happened at the right time amongst your team. That's the president's job. The activity descriptions. As I said, Post it notes. And here's a post it note there. What is the activity? Open a spreadsheet. Okay, let's give that a task number. Number one on how long will it take to open a spreadsheet? Maybe it will only be seconds. Maybe the activity description is, too. I had the information to the spreadsheet, in which case the duration be that little bit longer. It's opening on adding information to it. Then I can say what is the earliest start time for that activity on our shared drawer? Well, it might be earlier. Stark time will be just zero cause that's the first thing we do. But in fact practice we don't open spreadsheet until we've got the information. So three earlier start time, maybe some minutes after collecting the information from the tutor on mileage, on expenses, on accommodation, on sustenance, on fees and so forth. So all of those, the earliest weekend star, is maybe some 20 minutes into the process. Then we open a spreadsheet at the data that may only take three or four minutes. So what's the earliest finished time? Will the earliest finished time will be the start time, plus the duration. So if I started 20 minutes in on that take three minutes, the earliest finished time is 23 minutes. Simple enough. The least we can say. Well, okay, How late can we finish this? Well, when's the next part of the exercise? What if there's another activity going on which may be concurrent then the latest finished time will be just before the next dependency starts. Logical enough and then we can say, Well, okay, if this carries on for three minutes, the later start time will be three minutes before the latest finished time. So very simply, you've got those four parameters their earliest and latest start Times earliest and latest finish times built around the dependencies built around the duration. Don't forget, you can stop them. Repeat the recording so that you can follow what I've said. But that is really what appears simply, as we've just drive there on a post. It stuck on this the flip chart or for larger projects on the white board on Everybody can step back and look at it. So yep, that makes absolute sense. We know what we're doing. Incidentally, you have something called Float. Now, if the earliest start time and the later start time is one of the same time because it's on the critical path, then you have no float because the duration. Three minutes. The latest dark time on the latest finished time, which is three minutes apart. Duration. Zero float. But the float will be indicating where you can start later, provided you finish at the right time, and I'll show you what this looks like on the next chart. It's called againt chart after Mr Dent. Basically, it describes a period of time, so here you can see a bar. The white box to the left is an activity with a particular start time, which shows the earliest start time. It's related to the dependency, what proceeds it and so forth. It starts by showing the earlier start time, then says it's a three minute operation on the earliest finished time will be whatever time we started, plus three minutes started. 20 minutes through duration is three minutes. The earliest finish time is 23 minutes. Now, if this step of three minutes is not on the critical path, the end on the right hand side of the gray box illustrates the latest start time for the next activity if it's not on the critical path. So what that means is that we have something called Float. So this three minutes step can float around, and it could be actually started a lot later, provided it finished just before the next key step that is dependent on it being completed. If it's not on the critical path, so again, I'll just come back. This particular step of three minutes could float. It could start a lot later, as long as it finished in time before the next activity. If we were on the critical path, then our latest finished. Time is actually the earlier start time plus degeneration here on the critical path. We've got absolute dependencies. So that is one element off the Gant chart. The full chart is the succession of these activities presented on. I'll show you those in a moment. What we can do without flip chart with our post its with our information put onto the screen, we can do a process evaluation. Onda review technique Pert giving a nice little acronym there. What that means is we started the end off the process, the final stage, and then come back and said OK, before this finish point. What is it that needs to be completed at that key stage? So step eight would need to be there. But then we have three concurrent activities that could all come together. Four step eight to be done on these. Ah, three stages 56 and seven cannot start until step four has been completed. Step two on Step three can also be concurrent before Step four starts on. Then we have the starting stage here. That then goes to some concurrent. So what we can see here with our pert diagram is the sequence is logical from start through to end. It shows us those activities that could be done concurrently. Two and three could be Don't concurrently, that may have different durations. They may have different, um, situations, but Step four can't start until both step two and three have come together. Then we can go on to steps 56 and seven, which again could be done concurrently, which then leads to the final stages. So that's the pert diagram. What's the point of it? It means that as your team is looking, the stages they could debate discuss it, moves them around, or they have to do pick up the post it, put it back, pencil in the lines. That's enabling us to manage the review of the process in a team situation. Yes, there is project management software if you want to invest in it, if you're doing very complex projects. But actually in your world of implementing a new procedure in your team of people, you don't need to use that technology. You can use Post it notes and flip chance that brings in the life, and I'm a great great advocate off engaging with people, letting them comment about what's going on, letting them see what's going on because very tactile, you can pick things up. You can move them around. What if suppose we did, and so forth that makes life so much easier for us now. This is the process evaluation review technique, but it's not the Critical Path story, and it's not showing the duration of these things. That's the complete element off the Gant charts, so that one little strip that we had for that three minute activity is one part off the Gant chart. Let's take what this particular process here is on. Look at it in a full Gant chart and it looks a bit like this. We start off with Step one, and then we've got to dependencies. So Step two and Step three can be concurrent on. As we can see, Step two is shorter and step three. We've got a time Night on. That tells us that step to cannot be starting Step one is complete, but Step two could be started a lot later than the beginning off Step three. Because there is the float. We can float Step two along that purple patch, provided it finishes at the same time. Step three finishes, Because then we want to get on with Step four. Now, you remember from the process evaluation we had 56 and seven that were three concurrent steps. Those concurrent steps, um, shares the longest one. So provided Step five and step six are completed before the end off step seven. We've got another couple of bits afloat. Then we moved to the final Step eight on, then nine. So this is a full Gant chart. What we've done, just a quick recap is to identify the steps, put me in a logical sequence, number them, sort out the duration, and then we can Look, how early can we start? Um, how long are these things going to take? So if you were implementing a particular project in your work area, imagine the measure at the top was days. Okay, so on the first event takes a day that starts on a Monday, needs to be completed. Then on Tuesday, we can't step two. Step three. Step three is going to take us best part of two days. Okay. On that shows that Step two could be started on the second day or it could slip and start some time on the third day because we've got a little bit off wiggle room, which enables us to make blood on but easier for us. Then we have stepped for which can't start means that still steps. Two and three have been completed, and then we have stepped five and six. And as we can see that this point here is the latest start time for step five so that it finishes just on the same time as Step seven finishes equally with Step six. We can shift that along a little bit, and that will be the latest time that we can start. Task six. Because five and six are shorter times and they can run concurrently. Step seven is the longer step. So what is our critical path? Critical path is the sum of steps one, three, four, and then seven, eight and nine to show those sequences there, and it shows us that steps to five and six are not on the critical path that they can slip a little bit. They could start later, depending on the resources that we've got provided it finishes on time before the next dependency. That's really what it's all about. There's nothing mawr complex than that really is very simple when you see it working in that way, because that enables us to allocate resources. Do we have to people to do steps two and three? If we have, then they can be done concurrently. Clearly, Step 56 and seven need to be handled by one person each that we'll need three people to do those five. They can run concurrently. If we didn't have three people, we only had one person. They can't be done concurrently. They have to be done sequentially. If that's the case. Oh my goodness, What happens? Well, take a simpler example. We can illustrate that if you haven't got to people to do steps two and three, they can only be done by one person. One person's available. One person has the skills. One person has the time. Then what happens to the critical path? What here is, We can see it shown it's a timeline. 1234567 On the bit days, if we couldn't, um, have the resources to operate steps two and three concurrently they would be sequentially, which means we may do Step one first, then step to immediately. We see the effect of that. It shifts step 3 to 9 right the way across. By the best part of a day, the whole process is going to take the best part of the day by the duration of step to longer. So the critical path shows that it could be done in seven days on a little bit. But if something like step too confident concurrently, the whole project will slip by the time off. Step two. So Step five. Of course, if that could not be done concurrently with six and seven would add almost two more days to our overall project so you can see very quickly. It's a very visual way of illustrating what's going on. Andi puts it against that timeline. And if these were days of the week, days, months or weeks of the year, then your Gant chart be a very powerful tool to signal to the end product consumer. The client, the other department that project, uh, with the end of it, will see that slipping, said the project sponsor, the senior management, conceiving what's going on very, very early on. If you started with your project planned in this way on Step two did not happen concurrently. Step three. But happened before immediately. You see the consequence of that on what's going on. It also allows you if this were timeline. Having done Step one on Monday, you know what's going to be on the agenda for Tuesday morning For person is doing Step two on the person doing Step three exactly what's going on. Andi provided Step three starts at the beginning off the second day. You know that provided the person doing Step two completes it by mid afternoon. On the third day, I e. The same time Step three is finishing. Their life is good because, as you can see, we've got the latest start times identified on our Gant chart for those non critical path steps. A fair bit of complexity there. But I hope that's made sense. I've hope I've explained what's going on, and you can see what I was looking at as I talked it through. If you need to review, then that's the beauty off the date, a little programs you can pause and review. Andi, check that. Everything's okay. You take it at your pace. So key things. What's the critical path? What's success of that Havel. The activities been included will be missed a step out. If so, you know the consequence of that when it comes to looking at Gant chart Are the estimates of duration accurate? When somebody says, Oh, I can do that in a day and you find that they have to go to court morning one day, then you know immediately the effect on the critical path. It's now slipped by the duration off somebody being away for half a day for whatever reason. So provided your estimates of duration accurate, then life is good. You looked at the inter dependencies described accurately. We have said that steps two and three could be done concurrently that steps 56 and seven could be done concurrently. Well, that's fine on the dependencies. Thes need to be completed before the next stage starts. If that's accurate, then life is okay. And as we can see, you can look at the critical path for shortening or simultaneous activities if a particular step that somebody said it's going to take me a day and 1/2. But they completed more quickly again, it shortens the critical path. Conversely, if they take two days to do it, you know the effect on that immediately on the simultaneous activities. The current ones are absolutely fine, and they have some wiggle room if they're not on the critical path. But you, as the project manager, can signal these communicate, share experience and so forth on the bottom line is you can use those charts and I just put on spreadsheets because my spreadsheet becomes the time. It could be days, three hours could be minutes. Whatever you want it to be. And I can see immediately the effect off changes by putting in a new column being a new period of time or something like that. And immediately I see the slippage. I don't need to use complex project management software. Of course it does it for you. Of course, it's brilliant during one off projects than that, uh, is very valley before you. Okay, well, that's enough of me talking about all this. What I would like to do is to get you to make me a nice cup of tea. So let's explore that as the next part
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