Operational Manager, 6 development managers and 7 development officers and a central services team that covers 2 Cops (Sport and Westport). This flat organizational structure leads to high autonomy within our roles. My role within Westport is as a development officer working with the Children and Young People team. I am responsible for the delivery of 2 programs over 2 districts as well as managing the relationships within those districts.
Analysis of the problem One of the difficulties I encounter within my role is when distributing funding from the sportive program throughout the Caldera District. The sportive program is a EYE million Lottery funded London 2012 legacy project that gives young people the chance to discover a sport that they love. The programmer targets 11-25 year-olds who are inactive access to six-to-eight weeks’ of free or subsidizes coaching in a range of sports. After the six-to-eight has finished they will be supported to continue playing sport/staying active.
The amount of funding each district gets is calculated by the number of 11-25 year olds that reside with that district (including the student population). This method dictates that Caldera as a district has a relatively small amount of ending to distribute compared to Leeds, Bradford, Crinkles and Wakefield. This leads to each funding round being heavily oversubscribed. This oversubscribing can lead to number of bids being rejected which in turn can have a negative effects on the company.
Such as break down of essential relationships, create a bad reputation for Westport as well quality work within the district not being carried out. The bids that get rejected may be worthwhile but due to certain PESTLE factors the district can’t fund them. The PESTLE factors that determine what bids get funded are as follows: Political – As the funding comes from the government through Sport England projects that target certain target groups whom are underrepresented within sport need to be priorities (i. E.
Women and girls, BMW communities, participants with a disability and participants age 19+). Economic – Since sportive was first launched there has been an increasing number of groups submitting bids for sportive funding. This can be attributed to a number of financial pressures being placed on clubs/groups such as the cost of training up leaders and coaches has increased over the past few years. Less people are accessing activities hat they have to pay for which has led to decreased income for clubs.
When assessing sportive bids they must be able to demonstrate how their projects will be self-sustaining after the 8 weeks of sessions. If all bids that were submitted were funded by the sportive program it would maintain relationships with partners, lead to less officer time working with groups who were unsuccessful, offering all members of society the chance to partake in new activity rather than targeted groups (improved health across all groups). Investigation and identification of possible solutions to the problem
Problems vary extensively as do their solutions. Sometimes a problem and its solution are clear, but at other times, it may be hard to define what’s wrong or how to fix it. In order to really understand the problem there are tools that can be used to explore the problem further some of the possible methods/tools are outlined below. Regardless of what a problem is, you can use a six-step problem-solving model to address it. This model allows all problems (no matter if they are technical or issue based) to be look at in a structured, systematic way.
There are several infinite for using a structured, systematic approach to problem solving, such as to ensure consistency, to help manage the group process, to solve problems effectively and to build a clear case for change. By following each step, there will be a greater chance that the solutions are a based on facts and objective. It encourages you to look deeper in to the possible cause(s), allows you to get input from others, to be creative when finding solutions, and to monitor your solutions to make sure they’re working.
So by following this model you’re more likely to come up with lasting solutions. The six-step model is a tried-and-tested approach. Its steps include defining a problem, analyzing the problem, identifying possible solutions, choosing the best solution, planning your course of action, and finally implementing the solution while monitoring its effectiveness. 1. Define the problem 2. Analyses the problem 3. Identify as many potential solutions as you can Choose the best solution 4.
Choose the best solution 5. Plan of action 6. Implement the solution Another tool that can be used to help identify multiple components to a problem is by using an Chickasaws diagram. This diagram helps to display the many potential causes for a specific problem or effect in a visual way as it is a cross between brain storming and a mind map. It is particularly useful in a group setting and for situations in which little quantitative data is available for analysis.
To use an Chickasaws diagram you first start with the root cause/problem at one end of the diagram and then identify possible factors that make up the problem such as; people, environment, methods, premises, equipment or materials. Once the Diagram has been completed you should then have a picture/idea f the full extent of the problem Once you have established all the factors that may have an impact on the problem you can then use certain tools to help or support the decision making process such as a decision making tree. A decision making tree is a methodical tool that can be used to aid decision making theory.
They can be particularly helpful in situations that may have multiple solution all that could lead to multiple outcomes. By using decision trees it allows us to investigate possible outcomes of each option and can allow the decision maker to view the risks and rewards of each option side by side as well as how each option could be affected by external factors. As with many problems they can have many causes but it can be difficult to determine what cause to tackle first. By doing a Parent analysis it can help to priorities the issues.
Parent analysis is a very simple technique that helps you to focus efforts on the problems that offer the greatest potential for improvement by showing their relative frequency or size in a descending bar graph. Praetor’s principle, the 80/20 rule, should serve as a daily reminder to focus your time and energy on the issues that really make difference. The 80/20 principle asserts that for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. This tool will quickly identify the major causes of a problem so that resources can be focused on the cause of issues with the most potential for improvement.
Another tool that can be used to help inform key decisions is by using a weighted criteria worksheets. This tool means that several options can be assessed against differing significant criteria, or against a single set of important factors. Factors/options can be weighted and scored appropriately. Evaluation of possible solutions Making complex decisions can be a time consuming process as it is imperative to making the right decision. Identifying and using the right decision-making tools/ processes can help managers to make more effective decisions.
Using a decision making tree will create a visual representation of all possible outcomes this method can also be versatile they can be used by programmers, technicians, troubleshooting as well as business and investment decisions. Also by using this method solutions are automatically priorities. But they can be employ and very time consuming, they require the person completing them to have a vast knowledge of statistics. This raises the possibility of having to train people to complete a complex decision tree analysis.
The costs involved in such training makes decision tree analysis an expensive option, and remains a major reason why many companies do not adopt this model despite its many advantages. So when solving a particular problem (particularly a non- mathematical problem) it may be worth investigating if a decision tree is worthwhile or if another method may save time whilst still supporting the session making process. Even data that is perfectly divided into classes and uses only simple threshold tests may require a large decision tree.
Large trees are not intelligible, and pose presentation difficulties as there is no fool proof way to predict the number of branches or spears that come from decisions or sub- decisions. Chickasaws can help in identifying possible causes of the problem but it does not offer any solutions or any analysis of the likelihood that a given cause is the real one. It also doesn’t point out which of the possible causes is most likely or most important. It would be advisable to not use the Chickasaws method alone for solving problems within the workplace but use it as a stage in your problem solving processes.
Weighted decision criteria worksheets can have the capability to deal with qualitative factors and also allows the decision making process to be transparent by external partners/colleagues therefore allowing decision making to reach a compromise. Unfortunately the majority of scoring systems used can be subjective so may not transfer from one team to another. Another negative aspect of using weighted decision making is it doesn’t take into account the call of relative underperformed in one criteria versus the extent of over- performance in another criteria.
It may be that certain managers prefer certain methods/tools or these methods/ tools can be changed dependent on the situation or used in conjunction with each other. Recommend implementation plan to solve the problem In order to solve or minimize the problem of oversubscribed funding bids I would suggest following the 6 the six-step problem-solving model alongside other problem solving and decision making tools. This in conjunction with building allegations with potential bidders using media lean communication techniques could lead to a reduced amount of bids, more targeted bids and better relationship with partners/colleagues.
By using tools in conjunction with each other it should lead to the best decisions being made. Consider the following tools to be best placed in finding a solution to the problem mentioned previously. The Chickasaws/fish bone diagram to help display the many potential causes and influences. Whilst assessing the bid against national criteria I will be using a weighted criteria worksheets which will allow be to rank the bids. But will also take into account that the weighted criteria may skew data if there is an underperformed or an over-performance in a criteria. Onto be using a decision making tree due to the number of bids that it will need to take into account and the complexity of the mathematics and possible outcomes. Will also concentrate on using media lean methods of communication as I will be meeting with all potential bidders or organizing local funding workshops to fully describe the funding criteria and offering support with the funding bid process or offering directing them to other possible funding pots if sportive is not eatable, this will maintain relationships with local partners whilst insuring that successful bid meet national guidelines.
Monitoring and evaluation Monitoring is not an end in itself. Monitoring allows programmers to determine what is and is not working well, so that adjustments can be made along the way. It allows programmers to assess what is actually happening versus what was planned. Type of monitoring technique will depend on the project but can include project records, formal surveys, interviews, direct observation, focus group discussions and mapping. For the sportive program we will use project records, formal surveys as well interviews with successful and unsuccessful bidders to ensure both the processes and projects run smoothly.
In order to ensure that evaluation of all processes and outcomes occurs as part of the project it will be built in to the GIANT chart that will be monitored on a regular basis. Action plan Action Outcome Resources Timescale Design GIANT chart for the sportive project All tasks outlined in order and shown against time scale This gives an instant overview of a project, its associated tasks, and when these need to be finished. Officer time 1 year before deadline – updated regularly Plan funding workshops Reduced number of weak bids received.
