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iv
then you need to score a minimum of 5 out of the 10 marks.
Scoring less than half the total mark allocation will mean
referral at the level of external assessment. To avoid this
scenario, the assignment will be returned to you for necessary
improvement during internal assessment.
4. Evidence of workplace application.
All ILM assignments are work-based meaning, your response
should be based on leadership and management practice in your
work place. Therefore, the examiner of your work will be
looking for evidence that you were able to apply your learning
in your work place context.
5. Academic Honesty
Plagiarism is considered the worst crime one can commit in
academic circles. It involves using other people's ideas and
passing them across as if they were one's original thoughts. The
punishment for plagiarism is a zero score for that paper and in
extreme cases you may be discontinued from the study program.
To help you avoid plagiarism please observe the following
measures;
Submit your own original work
DO NOT Copy and Paste other people's work, whether
whole paragraphs, sentences or phrases. That includes copying
from the internet, textbooks, notes from other students materials
given in this guide.
Do not pay or ask other people to do your assignments for
you
You are allowed to paraphrase other people's ideas provided
you give credit by indicating the source of the idea. You can
provide in-text citation by simply writing the Surname of the
author followed by the year the work was published.
v
You can also use someone else's words directly in which
case you should use quotation marks and appropriately cite the
author. For instance "Plagiarism is considered the worst crime
one can commit in academic circles" (Katulwa, 2015).
6. References
At the end of each assignment you should provide a list of
References showing the books, articles and other sources that
you relied on for the ideas expressed in your assignments.
7. Scope of Expected Response
Under every Assessment Criteria (AC) you will find a small
section paraphrasing the question to simplify it and make it
easier to understand. The purpose of this section is to help you
appreciate the depth of the response that is expected from you
in order to earn a good pass. As general rule, always provide
detailed explanation in your responses.
8. Unit Combination
The units covered in this guide are classified into two groups as
follows;
Group 1 Units
CV
8600 308: Understanding Leadership
2
8600--310: How to Motivate to Improve Performance
2
8600--312: Conflict Management
1
8600--318: Quality Management in the Work Place
2
8600--326: Communication Process in the Work Place
2
8600--329: Work Place Information Management Systems 1
8600--336 Incident Management and Disaster Recovery 2
8600--338: Managing Remote Workers
2
8600--340: Mentoring in the Workplace
3
8600--342: Developing Leadership Capability
10
Group 1 Credit Value Total
27
vi
Group 2 Units
8600--200: Developing Yourself as a Team Leader
2
8600--202: Planning and Allocating Work
2
8600--223: Gathering & Utilizing Data in the Workplace 2
8600--400: Understanding Management Role
4
8600--404: Delegating Authority in the Work Place
3
8600--405: Developing People in the Workplace
5
8600--407: Understanding Financial Management
3
Group II Credit Value Total
21
To earn your diploma, you need to take course Units with
cumulative credit value of at least 37 credits. Note; The
Maximum credit value you can take from group 2 Units is 18.
The other credits must be taken from Group 1
9. Suggested Approach
In Some cases you find a small section of "Suggested
approach". The purpose of this section is to give you a step by
step guidance on how to approach the assignment task. You are
not bound to follow the suggested approach but should you find
yourself uncertain of what the question is asking, this section is
meant to give you a clue on the way to tackle the question
10. Suggestion Ideas
In most cases you will be given ideas about the key points that
would be appropriate for your answer. This section is not meant
to be copied word by word. Instead, it is used to give you
pointers and to stir your mind into action. Use the given ideas
as key points to build your case. For each point given, provide
full explanation using your own words. Where possible use
illustrations from your workplace to elaborate on the key point.
11. Sample Answers
After the suggested ideas you will find Sample answers which
are meant to give you a picture of what an acceptable response
looks like. These Sample answers are not perfect but have been
vii
found acceptable by both assessors and verifiers. You are
advised not to copy the sample answers word for word but rather
to pick the key points and use your own words to explain the
ideas fully.
12. Extra Resources
Many units in this program have questions that require you to
assess or evaluate yourself or your organization regarding a
certain aspect of leadership and management practice. Such
questions require you to use an appropriate tool to evaluate
yourself or to gather feedback from others in your workplace.
Whenever you are responding to questions that require you to
assess or evaluate yourself, it is necessary to briefly explain the
tool you used, the aspects it was meant to assess and the findings
you got out of the assessment.
A lot of tools such as the 360 degrees
feedback and other
questionnaires like the Myers and Briggs are available online
and can be accessed using a good search engine like the Google.
Besides, to save your time, a number of tools and study
resources have been made available in the LTI Library and you
can access them by writing to the Principal of LTI using the
following contact address
The Principal,
Leadership Training Institute
P.O. Box 59115 00200
Nairobi, Kenya
Email:
admin@lti.or.ke
Mobile Phone Nos. +254 725000260/727899947
1
UNIT
200:
DEVELOPING
YOURSELF
AS
A
TEAM
LEADER
The purpose of this unit is to enable you to develop yourself as
a team leader
Effective Team Leaders understand their roles, functions and
responsibilities; and the limits of their authority and
accountability. They also know how to seek, accept and respond
positively to feedback on personal performance to improve their
workplace performance.
AC 1 Outline the role of a team leader (12 Marks)
Scope of Expected Response
Briefly define the role of a team leader
Identify and describe the key roles expected of a team leader
Suggested Ideas (BPP Learning Media Ltd, 2012)
A leadership role may be defined as "an expected set of
activities or behaviors stemming from one's job" (DuBrin,
2010). A leaders role set will be depend on the level of authority
and the position the leader holds within the organization. A
typical organization is likely to have at least three levels of
leadership hierarchy starting with the top leadership, middle
leadership and ground level leadership.
Liaising with other units or departments
Planning for the work to be done both by the leader and the
team members,
Coordinating the work of the team members to avoid
duplication of effort and to ensure all are contributing towards
the achievement of a common goal
Addressing current problems, anticipating possible future
problems and taking appropriate measures to have them
2
resolved.
Monitoring work to ensure it is done in accordance with
organizational policies and procedures
Training team members to ensure they have the skills needed
for their job as well as providing orientation to new team
members
Ensuring necessary resources are availed to the team
members to facilitate the achievement of their goals
Note: Explain fully using examples from your workplace
AC 1.2. List the responsibilities of the team leader within the
team (8 Marks)
Scope of Expected Response:
Provide a ddetailed explanation of the duties of the team
leader within the team
Focus on the team context and how the leader performs the
identified responsibilities
Suggested Ideas
The responsibilities refer to the tasks that a team leader is
expected to perform to fulfill the roles of the team leader. While
a team leader's specific responsibilities may vary based on the
context and the type of team, such responsibilities will revolve
around the following broad categories; planning, organizing,
leading and controlling (Franz, H. Andrea, Gabriel, Sarcina,
2009).
At the unit or departmental level, the leader carries out the
following responsibilities (Carpenter, Bauer, Erdogan, 2010);
Planning
Part of the team leader's planning responsibility requires the
leader to develop a strategy to ensure that set goals and targets
3
are actually realized. You are also expected to allocate tasks and
clarify the roles so that each team player knows what they are
accountable for. Specific task expected of the team leader
include:
Setting objectives,
Scheduling tasks
Judging the amount of time each task should take to get done
Getting a grasp big picture about what the team is expected
to accomplish
Organizing
As a team leader you are responsible for putting in place a team
structure that ensures right relationships and coordination. This
involves assigning specific tasks to individual team players and
ensuring they are appropriately positioned within the team for
optimum utilization of their strengths and abilities. In particular
you are expected to;
Define team members' jobs
Allocate work.
Regulate relationships and
Design systems and structure to keep the team on course
Leading
Part of your responsibilities as a team leader is to provide
direction for the team. This includes making sure the team
understandings the overall vision of the organization and their
contribution towards the fulfillment of that vision. This includes
among facilitating the other things the setting of
clear objectives and targets for your team and ensuring those o
bjectives are achievable.
Leading as part of the team leader's responsibility involves
4
exerting deliberate influence on the team players behavior to
inspire them towards the attainment of the team's goals and
objectives. This will include ensuring the team players are
motivated to enthusiastically engage their energies towards the
common goal. The team leader is responsible for creating a
team spirit and culture within the team to ensure cohesiveness
and smooth operating. In particular the team leader is
responsible for;
Teambuilding
Conflict management
Providing a sense of purpose and motivation
Professional development of team players
Controlling
The controlling aspect of the team leader's responsibilities
involves ensuring that the team performance meets expected
standards. According to Carpenter, Bauer, Erdogan (2010),
the controlling responsibility of the team leader involves three
steps;
establishing performance standards,
comparing actual performance against standards, and
taking corrective action when necessary.
Corrective action includes dealing with matters discipline
either formally or informally.
Other responsibilities of a team leader include;
Motivating team members and cultivating as sense of
purpose for the entire team
Introducing and facilitating orientation for new team
members,
5
Handling discipline issues of the team members both
formally and informally,
Setting an example for the team members to follow,
Addressing welfare matters of the team members and
proving necessary support as much as possible
Creating a growth environment where team members can
grow to reach their potential,
AC 1.3 Outline the limits of the team leaders authority and
their accountability (12 Marks)
Scope of Expected Response:
Briefly define the terms authority and accountability
Explain the limits placed on you as a team leader in your
work place
Suggested Ideas (BPP Learning Media, 2012)
Authority is "Institutionalized and legal power inherent in a
particular job, function, or position that is meant to enable
its holder to successfully carry out his or her responsibilities.
Accountability is "The obligation of
an individual or organization to account for its activities,
accept responsibility for them, and to disclose the results in
a transparent manner. It also includes the responsibility
for money or other entrusted property."
Within the context of your workplace the limits of your authority
will usually be defined by:
Organizational policies
Policies refer to "principles, rules, and guidelines formulated or
adopted by an organization to reach its long-term goals and
typically published in a booklet or other form that is widely
accessible". Policies therefore set the limits of what can be done,
6
who should do it and under what circumstances
Legal requirements the law limits your authority to take
action. The law of the land supersedes organizational policies
and hence any exercise of authority beyond what is permissible
by the law is usually null and void.
Job description The authority of a team leader flows from the
title of the position given by the organization. Usually that
authority is set out in a job description which outlines tasks,
accountabilities and deliverables. Your Job description will
limit your authority depending on:
The people who report to you
Whom you report to
Your job grade will set limits on how much authority you
have
Expected job deliverables--what is expected of you
Budget--how much money or resources you have at your
disposal
Contextual Circumstances may also limit the team leader's
authority for instance in the following situations:
AC 1.4 Give an example of a situation where they would
need to refer to someone with senior authority (8 marks)
Scope of Expected Response:
Give examples and explain fully why you may need to refer
to a senior authority in each case
Suggested Ideas (to be explained using your own words)
Your authority as a team leader will vary from one role to
another depending on the scope of the duties involved and the
organisational structure. As a team leader it is prudent and safer
to refer to supervisor or other authorities when making decisions
7
relating to:
Human Resources -staff recruitment and training,
performance and discipline
Policy and procedures-- in Matters of health and safety,
changes to working practises
Budget resources--allocation and management for
instance where a task may require more resources than you have
authority to spend
Task allocation beyond normally accepted boundaries
Changing staff shifts
Staff disciplinary issues
Note: Customize your answer to workplace practices as much
as possible
AC 2.1 Gather feedback on own performance from different
sources (12 Marks)
Scope of Expected Response;
Briefly state why gathering feedback is important
Explain how you gathered your feedback (i.e. Method used
like 360
0
feedback questionnaire)
State the specific feedback you received the various sources
Suggested Ideas (BPP Learning Media Ltd, 2012)
As a team leader you can improve your leadership effectiveness
by engaging in self-development initiatives. Personal growth
and development efforts begin at that moment when you realize
that your current leadership behaviors are not only ineffective
and self-defeating but are also limiting your chances for
advancement.
Multisource feedback (MSF) also known as 360° feedback has
8
been popular in organizations for decades (Ermongkonchai,
2008). Research has shown that learning experiences that
incorporate feedback result to significantly greater change than
learning experiences that do not contain some feedback aspect
(Fleenor Prince, 1997).
Participant identification
The process of gathering feedback from different sources starts
with identifying the different people you are going to solicit
their views on your performance from. Some key participants to
collect feedback include:
Yourself
the person you report to,
someone who reports to you,
someone you serve, and someone you work at the same level
Determine kind information required
The next step in gathering information about your own
performance involves determining the specific topics and
questions to ask. The information you want to collect should
related to what you are responsible and accountable for as
stipulated in your job description. Take care to ensure that your
questions are relevant and directly related to your job
expectations.
Collect data and analyze it.
At this stage you start by completing the 360
0
feedback
questionnaire. After that you will want to get the people
identified as participants to complete their version of the
questionnaire. When everyone respondent to your questionnaire
has completed the process of filling it, have the information
analyzed for the purpose of drawing conclusions about your
performance. The analysis process involves comparing the
9
views of the various participants concerning your performance
as it relates to specific areas of your job expectations. You can
use simple analysis tools such as the Excel Sheet to tabulate the
responses.
AC 2.2 Interpret the feedback and list areas for
improvement (20marks)
Scope of Expected Response:
Give a detailed explanation of the feedback received
Based on the feedback--identify areas of improvement in
your leadership
Suggested Ideas (Williams, 2004)
The overall purpose of the 360 degree feedback is to help you
identify your strengths and areas for further development. The
feedback you receive is a collection of statements or messages
from your raters and hence you should hear it and interpret it.
Identify areas where feedback differs from your own
assessment
Take note of what comes as a surprise
Identify any messages that you may not understand
Obtain additional information to clarify areas of the report
that may be unclear
Use the feedback received to identify key shortcomings in
your leadership performance
AC 2.3 Prepare an action plan to address weaknesses and
improve performance
Scope of Expected Response:
provide a detailed action plan showing your areas of
weakness and proposed actions to be taken to achieve
10
improvement
Suggested Plan Template:
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Development
Objective
Specific
Activities
needed to
achieve
objective
Resources
needed to
complete
activity
Completion
Date
Success
Indicators
1. Learn to
delegate
authority
On the job
training and
practice
Notes on
effective
delegation
Sep 30,
2015
Expected
outcomes on
time
2. Build
Trust with
Remote
workers
Organize for
teambuilding
event once
every
quarter
Budgetary
allocation
Dec. 20
2015
Highly
motivated
staff sharing
their
concerns
Freely
3. Develop
conflict
Management
skills
Attend a
course on
Time off from
work
Course Fee
August 30,
2015
Use conflict
resolution
Technique
comfortably
4
Your action plan is best presented as a table showing the
following:
11
1. What needs to be developed?
2. What actions need to be done to achieve this goal?
3. How will success be determined?
4. Target date for completion
12
References
BPP Learning Media Ltd (2012). Developing Yourself as a
Team Leader. ILM Leadership series 2013. London
Carpenter, M., Bauer, T., Erdogan, B. (2010). Principles of
Management. Open Source, Saylor.org.
DuBrin, A. (2010). Principles of Leadership. Cengage
Learning, Canada: Nelson Education, Ltd.
Ermongkonchai, P. (2008). An Evaluation of Multisource
Feedback (MSF) for Managerial Development in Large-
Size Manufacturing Companies in Thailand. Contemporary
Management Research, 4 (3), 189-218.
Hitt, M. A., Black, J. S., Porter, L. (2005). Management.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Mintzberg, H. (1975). The manager's job: Folklore and Fact.
Harvard Business Review, 5 (4), 49-61.
Fleenor, J. W., Prince, J. M. (1997). Using 360 degree
feedback in organizations: an annotated bibliography.
Greensboro, North Carolina: Centre for Creative Leadership.
Pardey, D. (2007). Introducing Leadership. Elsevier, Oxford,
UK
The Wallace Foundation. (2009, March). Assessing the
effectiveness of School leaders: new directions and new
processes. Perspective, pp. 1-20.
13
UNIT 202: PLANNING AND ALLOCATING WORK
Unit Purpose
The purpose of this unit is to enable you to develop an
understanding of the effective planning and monitoring of work
as required by a practising or potential team or cell leader
This task requires you to develop a project plan to achieve a
team or departmental goal. You will need to show how you plan
and allocate work for a team in line with organisational policies.
You will need to give examples of policies that could influence
your approach to planning. The planning of work needs to be
focused on the team/departments contribution to the
achievement of the organisations' goals so you will be required
to illustrate this through demonstrating a clear understanding of
the organisations' objectives and targets by linking your
team/departmental goal to the overarching organisational goals.
You will need to demonstrate an understanding of the key stages
in planning and allocating work and explain how you will do
this including how you will ensure team members
understanding of the requirements.
You will also need to show how you will monitor achievement
of tasks against the plan and how you will address any
underperformance.
AC 1.1 Identify an organisational policy that can have an
effect on the planning and allocation of work (8 marks)
Scope of Expected Response:
Identify a relevant organizational policy
Explain how identified policy affects planning and allocation
of work in your work place
Suggested Key Points (to be explained in your own words)
Examples of policies that can affect planning and allocation of
14
work
Staff Training and development policy
Quality assurance Policy
Health and Safety policy
Work Allocation Policy
Policy on employee Supervision
*Note: You can give any policy provided you are able to show
its effect on planning and work allocation
Sample Answer
An organisational policy is a general statement which provides
guidelines for management decision making. Policy guidelines
allow managers to exercise their own discretion but within
certain acceptable limits.
In my organization there is policy that the organization shall not
procure therapeutic feeds another supplies for itself but will rely
on cluster lead agency to supply.
This policy is good because it ensures that quality supplies are
used. It's also beneficial because the cluster lead agency takes
responsibility from the state of supplies.
However it has a huge impact on planning and allocation of
work. Most times the cluster lead agency delays to deliver
supplies and this usually calls for change of plans. When
supplies delays the personnel at the outpatient therapeutic
feeding sites usually have nothing to do, yet they have to be paid
according to their contracts. Planning that was done on
personnel and expected outcomes is often affected. When the
supplies finally arrive, the beneficiaries who were waiting in
line often flock to the outpatient therapeutic sites in such
numbers that cannot be handled by the existing staff, causing
the organization to bring in more staff on a temporary basis. This
15
also interferes with the financial planning.
The community health workers are also overwhelmed so plans
that were in place no longer work.
In some instances, some sites have had to be closed because of
this and so new plans have to be made once they reopen. Some
staff also get new jobs during the waiting period and so fresh
recruitment and training has to be done which interferes with
financial planning and task allocation, because new employees
have to be oriented and the old once have to deal with an
increase workload.
AC 1.2 Give an example of a target or objective that a team
is working to achieve (12 marks)
Scope of Expected Response;
Provide a clear example of a target or objective which your
team is working to achieve
Make sure the example target or objective is SMART
Suggested Approach
Briefly define an objective
The given example should be based on your work place
Objective should be SMART meaning;
Specific
Measurable
Attainable/Achievable
Realistic
Time based
Sample Answer
Objective can be defined as statements of specific outcomes to
16
be achieved (BPP Learning Media, 2012)
Our team is working on an objective to increase the percentage
of children 6-59 months recovering from uncomplicated acute
malnutrition (SAM) to more than 75% of admissions.
The objective is for all our outpatient therapeutic feeding centers
across North Gedo Somalia. It is also part of the global objective
of Somalia nutrition cluster objective of reducing the GAM rates
to less than 10%, and part of the global nutrition cluster
objective of bring down GAM rates to less than 5%
To do this the team has set other targets to ensure achievement
of the objective. These include:-
To reduce defaulter rates to less than 15% by putting in place
a strong community based strategy
To reduce death rate to less than
To ensure that affected children gain between kg at every
visit (bi monthly)
To implement a community resilience program to ensure
children can bounce back from shock with case
To reduce nonattendance rate
AC 2.1 List key stages when planning and allocating work
(8 Marks).
Scope of Expected Response;
Provide a correct, complete and appropriate method of
planning and allocating work with clear and meaningful step-by-step
key stages
Explain the given method of planning and allocating work
Suggested Approach
Brief definition of planning
17
Outline a correct, complete and appropriate method of
planning and allocating work with clear and meaningful step-
by-step key stages
Provide adequate explanation of the method of planning and
allocating work
Suggested Key Points: (To be explained fully in your own
words)
Identify the tasks to be undertaken and their objectives
Break entire task into smaller components
Set out the order in which smaller tasks are to be
accomplished
Determine the time to be taken to complete each part
Schedule the tasks
Allocate resources
Allocate duties
Sample Answer
Planning must take into account the organisation's policies,
procedures and priorities. The key stages when planning and
allocating work will consist of:
Identifying the target or objectives of the task: In our
organisation the task can be; Education and Distribution of farm
inputs (maize and bean seeds) to 200 farmers living in the
riverine area of River Juba in Somalia during the planting
season.
Breaking the whole task down into its components: The task
will be broken down to include; Field education days for the
farmers, meeting local council of elders, meeting local
agriculture officer, Identification of the farmers to be involved,
visit days to their farms, distribution of the seeds, supervision of
18
the planting and follow up visits.
Identifying the order in which the component parts will be
done: This will arrange the components identified above in the
order of implementation. For example the first will be to meet
the local agriculture officer and explain to him the intended
project, then he will guide our staff to the right people to obtain
permission from, next will be arranging meeting with the local
administration and council of elders who will enable us to
identify the farmers to involve in the project. The order of the
components which will be followed will be drafted as a guide to
be systematically followed until the end, this way the project
activities will run smoothly and according to protocol until
project completion.
Resource allocation for each task (e.g. personnel, equipment,
finances): In this step the organisation staff will determine the
resources needed for each task and estimation of requirements
done and compared with the budget allocation by the donors to
find out if the resources will be enough or they will have to cut
down on some areas so as to fit in to the budget. If they cannot
cut down the more resources will have to be ought to
supplement the existing budget.
Decisions on how to mobilize resources: Practical ways to
mobilize resources for these tasks will be sought, For example
appealing for more donor funding, approaching various
organisations to fund the activities or teaming up in
collaboration with other organisations working in the
neighbouring area to complement each other's' activities, this
way the cost of the project will be lower than when each
organisation works on its own.
Identifying the time for each task: This is time allocation for
each task which must lie within the expected project duration,
all activities have to be done within the specified time. For
example if the project is meant to last for nine months, all
19
activities have to be organised within that time and the time has
to be meaningful for the activities to be accomplished. For
example educating the farmers can be allocated two weeks
depending on the content being taught for them to understand
and implement the lessons learnt, but that same work cannot be
allocated one week instead of two because it may be
overwhelming to both the educators and the farmers. The time
has to be meaningful and practical.
Scheduling the tasks: This involves allocation of the tasks, the
person responsible to do them and the date and time for the tasks
to be done. This will give a proper guide so that each staff
member plans their time according to the schedule; it will also
help avoid waste of time and resources. When everything is
done according to the plan it will ensure smooth flow of
information and activities and ultimately will achieve all the
objectives set at the beginning.
Identifying activities and communicating the plan.
Actions/Activities indicate what needs to be done and who will
do it. It involves listing the tasks and clearly dividing them
among the able and willing members. This process will also
involve looking at an organizations structure (which part of the
organization will be involved), business processes (How
activities will fit into existing lines). Human aspects like culture,
structure and interactive have to be considered. After this is
done, the plan has to be communicated to those affected.
Managers should spend time and effort communicating both
objectives and actions required to everybody so as to ensure.
Everybody understands
Confusion and ambiguity is resolved
Judgment and assumptions underlying the plan are
communicated
Ensure that planned activities are coordinated in pan and in
20
practice.
Allocating work
After this activities will be allocated to employees based on
experience, skills attitude and other factors considered
important by the organization. The organization may have to
make changes which should be few (Kezner, 2009). Line
managers will then define to each employees.
Detailed task description
Detailed schedule
Identification of risk, uncertainties and conflict.
AC 2.2 Describe how work is allocated to meet team
objectives (20 Marks)
Scope of Expected Response
Provide correct, complete, and appropriate method of
allocating work
Detailed description address team objectives
Detailed explanation of how the allocation meets the team
objectives
Suggested Ideas (Explained fully in your own words)
Allocating work involves deciding who should do what
The process should take into account organizational policies
such as health and safety, staff training and development among
others
The decision on who should do what should be based on ;
Their skills
Knowledge,
Experience
21
Availability
Flexibility
Safety awareness
Level of motivation and enthusiasm
The Skills Matrix Method
The preparation of a Skills matrix is a useful method of
determining the skills set required for the work
Step 1; List all the skills required
Step 2: Assess each team member to see whether they have the
skills required to perform the task without help
Step 3: Choose the best suited person for the job
Step 4: Communicate the decision and specify expectations
Sample Answer
Allocation of work is a process that determines who is best
suited to execute an activity in using the stated resources. To
allocate work competence is considered. The process is as
follows:-
List all activities according to the plan. Include the function of
the role, start is expected to last. This will help determine the
best suited candidate.
Prepare a list of potential candidates with each person's
competences. Appraisal documents can be used.
Seek out the candidate with the best track record rather than a
potential. This is because you want to be sure the candidate will
deliver. Make sure you have a back-up for each candidate in
case the first choice becomes unavailable.
It is also safe to consider candidates that twill follow procedure
so that you can stick to the original plan as much as possible.
22
Reconsider the time as planned and see if you might need to add
more time for newly assigned persons to get grips with the role
Contact the preferred candidates and offer the job. Seek your
second choice immediately if first choice candidates are not
available for work.
Once the candidate accepts the offer, confirm with them that
they understand the exact nature of work you expect from them.
Put descriptions of the task and deadlines on paper and get a
signed agreement.
Arrange a team meeting
It is always useful to have a preliminary meeting to gather all
team members together, so as to communicate collective
responsibility, and to get the team spirit going. It is important to
plan for team meetings latter because some team members will
come on board at different times during the project. During this
meeting it's important to:-
Communicate objectives and roles
Go through the objective of the project, nature of activities and
look at how they will overlap. Ask members to introduce
themselves and explain their roles. This helps you sure that they
fully understand their roles. It also gives other members a better
idea of who they will work with. (Lawson K. et al 2008)
Communicate the schedule
Take time to do this as it alerts all members of deadlines and
milestones they have to meet.
AC 2.3 Describe how to check that team members
understand their allocated work
Scope of Expected Response
Provide a correct, complete and appropriate way of checking
that team members understand their allocated work
23
Break down the method into stage by stage giving relevant
details
Suggested Ideas (to be explained fully using your own words)
Ask questions related to the instructions you have given
Require team members to repeat the instructions
Check for body language that could indicate uncertainty
Clarify instructions by asking probing questions
Improve your presentation and communication skills
Sample Answer
A manager can check understanding in the following ways.
1. Explanation of roles
In preliminary meetings, employees should be given a chance to
communicate their roles and duties to their colleagues. This
checks if the employee has fully understand their roles.
2. Ask questions
Asking questions gives the manager an opportunity to assess
whether an employee has understood the allocated work, and
opportunity to check for information gaps. If an employee
answers correctly, it can be assumed that they have understood
and retained the information.
3. Check body language
Checking how an employee behaves during or after briefing
could indicate either understanding or lack of it. Indications of
not paying attention or looking confused can prompt a manger
to engage another method of check understanding.
4. Monitoring Work
A manager can truly know that an employee has understood if
s/he implements as instructed, and delivering in time. Strict
24
monitoring is a tool to determine understanding.
AC 3.1 Outline a method to monitor the team's performance
against the plan (16 marks)
Scope of Expected Response:
Provide a detailed method to monitor the team's performance
against the plan
Describe each of the points outlined
Make a clear, explicit and detailed direct link between the
monitoring of the team's performance and their performance
against the plan is
Suggested Ideas (Fully explain in your own words)
Define the objectives
Make plans
Communicate the plans to the team
Set performance standards
Collect data to measure performance
Compare results with Standards and objectives
If necessary;
Take corrective action--which may involve change of plans
Review the objectives
Sample Answer
Monitoring the team's work is the heart of the control process.
It is your way of knowing what is going on and you can only
keep control of what is happening in your work area by knowing
what is going on and comparing with the actual plan. This will
help you know when corrective action is required. To monitor
team's performance will be done as follows:
25
Inspection: This one requires you to get out randomly into the
area where the work is performed and observe what is going on.
This way you will see whether specifications are being met and
whether there is unnecessary waste or unsafe work practises.
During inspection, you can ask questions and listen to
explanations. For example during food distribution exercise in
the field, you can ask the criteria they are using to determine a
child is under five years when the parent or guardian does not
have any birth records. You can then go ahead to explain that
the child has to have a height of 110cm or below.
Interim progress review: These are communications between
the team leader and the staff responsible for various stages of
the work being done. Review can be done in a group or
individual basis and progress reports can be submitted in
writing. Reviews occur in a fixed time schedule, daily, weekly
or keyed to the completion of project stages. For example in our
organisation, review of the food distribution exercise is in the
evening after the day's work so as to understand any challenges
faced during the day and best ways to go about similar situations
in the next day.
Testing: During testing, certain tests are usually written into the
specifications to confirm that the desired quality is being
adhered to. In our organisation, this can be done randomly by in
the food in the warehouse to find out if the storage specifications
are adhered to
Auditing: This can be done during the course of the job as well
as at its conclusion. After examining the area under review a
report is written usually by expert auditors describing in detail
what was found and pointing out practises that deviate from the
established policy, authorised procedures or sound business
practises. In our organisation, auditing is especially done on the
financial records after project completion.
26
AC 3.2 Describe an action the team leader could take to
rectify underachievement against the plan (20 marks)
Scope of Expected Response
Give a detailed method to monitor the team's performance
against the plan
Provide a detailed description of the method to monitor the
team's performance as opposed to merely outlining
Show a clear link between the monitoring of the team's
performance and their performance against the plan
Suggested Ideas (fully explained in your own words)
Evaluate remaining work to gauge whether work can be done
within remaining time
Offer more incentives to the employees for completion of
work on time
Deploy more resources of necessary
Sample Response
At times actual work progress does not measure up to plan, it is
unrealistic to expect steady and consistent progress day after
day, sometimes you will fall behind and sometimes ahead, but
in a well-planned team you will probably finish on schedule and
within budget. However, if the quality is not up to specification,
this will call for corrective action depending on whether the
deficiency will cause the work to fail in its performance
evaluation (BPP Learning Media Ltd, 2012).
When the job begins to fall behind schedule, the following
actions can be taken by the team leader to rectify
underachievement;
The first is to examine the work that remains to be done and
decide whether the lost time can be recovered in the next steps.
27
For example in our fieldwork of assessment of vulnerable
children in Somalia that qualify for supplementary food, if there
are villages in the selected region that the team did not manage
to cover or a few households whose members were not at home
when the team was going round, they can be covered in an
afternoon when the food distribution has been done at the
distribution centre. If this is not feasible, then the team leader
will consider offering an incentive for completion of the work
on time, the nutrition monitors will have to work a little more
overtime with an incentive so as to finish the remaining
households. The incentive is justified comparing with the
expenditure with potential losses due to late completion. Late
completion or incomplete work may result into a bad reputation
of the organization to the donors who may suspend the
organisation from handling future projects.
The team leader would otherwise consider deploying more
resources, for example adding more nutrition monitors for the
work remaining. This too will cost more but may offset further
losses from delayed completion. When the work begins to
exceed the budget, the team leader will have to consider the
remaining work and whether or not cost overruns can be
recouped on work yet to be completed. If the allowances to be
given to the extra nutrition monitors can be obtained out of the
remaining budget that would be better than having a bad
reputation with the donor firms of not completing work as per
schedule which will hamper participation in the future bigger
and better projects.
The team leader can also perform job rotation and also
reschedule so that the section lagging behind may have more
people to work and the section working faster or ahead of time
can have fewer people in charge of it, so that those who have
more work will not be overwhelmed and will receive help from
the extra people added to their group.
After assessing the team leader may realise that the cause of
28
underachievement would be a faulty equipment that keeps
breaking down time and again, or in a section with more clients
the equipment is only one and each has to wait for a long time
for results to move to the next section, therefore the team leader
in this case can change the faulty equipment for a newer and
faster one and also the team leader can add more equipment in
that section so that several people can be attended at the same
time. For example during a food distribution exercise, if more
people are delayed at the weighing and measuring height, the
team leader can add more scales so that many people are
weighed at the same time.
The team leader can also arrange for some prior activities to be
done before the actual scheduled time so as to help catch up with
the plan. For example the announcements about the distribution
days and time can be done earlier before the actual distribution
day so that the villagers are aware of the exercise; they arrive
early and are registered before the exercise begins. This way a
lot of time wasted waiting for them to arrive and registration
will be saved.
29
References
BPP Learning Media Ltd (2012). Planning and Allocating
Work. ILM Level 3, Leading series, Ricoh House, London
Boone E. L. et al. (1981). Principles of management, Random
house, London, UK
Boody, D. (2008) Management: an introduction, Pearson
education limited, 4
th
Edition, Edinburgh gate, England
Cole, G. A. (2005). Organizational behavior, Thomsons
Bedford Row, London
Robbins P. S, (1980). The administrative process, 2
nd
edition,
Prentice Hall international, London UK
Kernev, H. (2009). Project management; a system approach to
planning scheduling and controlling, John Willey and sons
Inc., New Jersey, USA
Lawson K. et al. (2008), Effective project management, Tangent
Publications, London UK
Ivancerich, J. M. (1994). Management: Quality and
competiveness, Richard D. Irwin Inc., Massachusetts, USA
Ghillyer, W. A (2009). Management: A real world approach
McGraw Hill, New York, USA
Pardey, D. (2007). Introducing Leadership. Elsevier, Oxford,
UK
30
UNIT
223:
UTILISING
DATA
IN
THE
WORKPLACE
Unit Purpose
The purpose of this task is for you to develop an understanding
of gathering, selecting and using information for an identified
requirement.
For this task you will need identify a workplace activity and to
use appropriate company pro-forma (such as time-sheets,
inventory, production control sheets, quality / test data forms,
satisfaction survey information / data) to gather specified
information. This information must then be interpreted to enable
specific information to be selected for identified actions
AC 1.1 Describe how to obtain the required workplace
information using a suitable method (24 marks)
Scope of Expected Response
Distinguish between data and information
Identify two sources of data in your organization
Describe the process of obtaining required information in
your organization.
Give examples of the information collected in the workplace
Suggested Ideas (BBP Learning Media Ltd, 2012)
MIS may be defined as a "System used to provide
management with the information needed on regular basis
Workplace information can be retrieved using Management
Information System (MIS)
The purpose of MIS is to provide information as opposed to
mere data
Two types of MIS 1). Paper based and 2). Electronic systems
31
Workplace data and information that may be retrieve using MIS
includes;
Customer details
Invoices,
Letters
Stock levels
Employee records
Health and safety records
Equipment inventories
Work place policies
Operating procedures
Training records
Stakeholder contacts among many others
Sample Answer
Information can be defined as data that has been organized and
processed in a certain way to meet the needs of managers
(Ivancerich.1994)
Data is defined as unorganized facts, statistics, and predictions
concerning people, objects, events and ideas.
Data is usually collected by data collection tools that are specific
to activities in the plan, and that will ultimately meet objectives.
These tools have to be well designed so that they do not collect
very little information that will not provide information that
meets set objectives, or do not collect too much information
some of which might never be used. When preparing tools,
manages should ensure that they are guided by objectives and
activities set out in the plan.
Workplace information can be obtained from several sources,
these sources can be primary such as interviews, records of
conversations, questionnaires and surveys or they can be
secondary such as published materials, previous report and
statistical information already available. The method to be used
32
to obtain the required workplace information depends on the
information required (BPP Learning Media Ltd, 2012).
Our organisation requires information on Food security
situation in Somalia so that it can be used to write proposal for
food aid to donors. This information can be best obtained from
the two main sources discussed below:
Use of available published materials: This is by searching
information from articles by researchers in the area. For
example the Food Security Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) is
charged with the responsibility of conducting surveys and
publishing updates on the Nutrition situation in Somalia, the
current market prices, the climatic conditions and livelihood
activities. Therefore the best way for our organisation, is to get
the statistical data and other relevant information about
Kismayo district from the latest FSNAU update report for
planning a nutrition intervention.
Interviewing relevant people: In Kismayo, there are local
authorities who are in charge of the community, by interviewing
the local elders, the parents and guardians of the malnourished
children, the current health workers there, relevant information
can be obtained that will be useful to include in the project
proposal.
The method of obtaining the data is as follows;
Definition of the problem and purpose of the information In
our case, the problem is food insecurity in Somalia and the
purpose of the information is to develop a proposal that will be
considered by the donor community for urgent food aid. The
information needed will be for a specific district that has been
hit by drought and where we work in. Since there are several
organisations that work in Somalia in humanitarian activities,
our information will be narrowed down to Kismayo district
where we work. The method of obtaining the information will
be both through survey and use of published materials. These
33
two methods will enable us to get accurate information and in a
faster way that we can use to address the problem.
Determining the ideas to include These will include a list of
all the potential issues for example how the children under five
years have been affected, the approximate number of children
who have been affected, the special groups in the community to
be considered in the food distribution like the pregnant and
lactating mothers and the disabled people, how to reach the
elderly people with food and what other urgent needs might they
have in the community besides the food for example the
medication and sanitation kits.
Collecting the information Since the methods of collecting the
information have already been determined in (a) above,
collecting the information will begin. The published articles that
can be used in this case include reports from the Food and
Nutrition analysis unit on the past droughts in the area, the
extent of the situation and how it was managed. This will also
include what worked best and lessons learnt. The published
materials will also have information on the estimates of the
population in the area and food that will be required. A rapid
assessment survey will also be carried out in the area using short
questionnaires to get information on the real situation on the
ground. During the survey other methods like interviews,
observation and taking body measurements of a few sampled
people will also be used to gather useful information that can
be included in the proposal.
Sorting and evaluating the information obtained - This will
include reviewing the material and highlighting the key terms
and ideas that relate to the proposal writing for Kismayo district
for food aid. All the relevant materials will be put together and
any irrelevant material into a background file. The information
gathered will be used to develop the proposal and no
information gathered will be discarded until the proposal is
complete and submitted to the relevant authorities.
34
Organising the information These will include linking ideas
from both sources to form a concrete argument that can be
considered for food aid. For example the number of
malnourished children under five years of age in the last drought
season obtained from published materials, will be compared to
the approximate number of malnourished children in the current
season obtained from the survey. This will show the severity of
the drought and how much food may be required to curb the
situation. Organising the information will also include which
issues are most important that need to be addressed urgently and
if there are any gaps in the information obtained.
Presentation of the information The information will have to
be presented in an appealing manner, easy to understand and
compare sets of data and where the relationships can be easily
seen so that the donors can see the urgency and the needs on the
ground. Graphs can be used in presentation and colours that
contrast to make it attractive and meaningful. For example red
colour can be used to show severity, Yellow to show moderate
and green colour to show relief.
AC 1.2 Interpret data to address an identified purpose in the
workplace (24 marks)
Scope of Expected Response
Identify a problem in your workplace that can be addressed
using data
Collect a range of different data needed to address the
identified problem
Analyse and provide a detailed interpretation of analysed data
in order to address your identified problem in the workplace
Explain how the interpreted data can be used to address
identified problem
Suggested Ideas
35
Information can be used for 3 purposes in the work place
Problem solving
Decision making
Making a case
Sample Answer
Workplace problem: Supplies always running out before the
prescribed time lapses.
Supplies: This is the treatment package for acute malnutrition
that includes therapeutic spread, antibiotics dewormers and
micronutrient sprinkles.
Data to collected or put together
All children admitted to the project in the last 6 months
Admission dates This indicates when children entered the
program
Discharge dates Indicates when children left the project due
to cure, non-response death or referral
Supplies given to each child Indicates what each child got
bi-monthly
Supplies received in the last 6 months indicates the quantities
of supplies received from UNICEF and will also be used to
indicate stocks available in the last 6 months.
Supplies in store before new consignment. This would help
calculate the amount of supplies in stock and used in the past
6 months.
Data analysis and interpretation
The data is already then fed into the computed and analyzed to
determine:-
Amount of supplies issued per child This indicated that all
36
children got the correct proportion per child.
Admission verses discharge dates This indicated that some
children stayed in the program longer that they should have.
Though they had not recovered, they should first be discharged
as non-respondents, the reason for non-response established,
before they are re-admitted. New children had been admitted.
Discharge rates: It showed that no child had died, none had been
referred to stabilization centered and a couple were cured and
discharged.
Comparing Admission and Discharge rates:
If all children were admitted and discharged as per protocol, and
none overstayed in the program, then supplies ordered could be
enough. The problem arose when more children than planned
for stayed longer in the program.
This indicated that the new staff who joined in the middle of
program and were posted to the new site, were not well trained
on discharge of children with uncomplicated severe acute
malnutrition.
AC 2.1 Select the appropriate information for the identified
purpose (20 marks)
Scope of Expected Response
Describe the appropriate information selected to address
identified purpose/problem
Sample Answer
Information required is that of the nutritional status of children,
pregnant and lactating women, who are most vulnerable in
Beled hawo, Gedo, Somalia.
This information will help decide on the best intervention to
curb malnutrition
Information required will include:
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