MIT 502-Systematic Approach to Performance Improvement
Context and Conditions: Pharmacy X was a performance analysis and improvement plan designed and developed as an individual project required by MIT 502, The Systematic Approach to Performance Improvement. The project was completed under the guidance of Dr. Arnold Murdock during the summer of 2006. The performance analysis was conducted for an anonymous pharmacy located in Leland, North Carolina. Other than print services, no budget was allowed for this project. The time frame for this project was one semester.
Scope: The suggested systematic approaches to performance improvement would guide the pharmacists in decreasing the wait time for customers who need a prescription filled. During the course of the project, the following was executed: a perception analysis, a performance analysis, and a gap analysis. Performance intervention strategies were suggested, a feasibility analysis was conducted, and an evaluation was planned. Among many things, I discovered two possible causes to the extended prescription fill time: three out of the eight pharmacy staff were new employees and the non-English speaking customers were increasing in number. Due to these factors, more time was spent trying to train the new employees and “communicate” with non-English speaking customers. After careful examination of the data derived from observations, interviews, questionnaires, and formative analysis reports, I determined the best solution would be to create a job aide.
Role: My roles within this project were performance technologist and instructional designer. My responsibilities included systematically analyzing the characteristics of the pharmacy through interviews and questionnaires. Jack Philips’ Return on Investment in Training and Performance Improvement Programs(1997) guided my examination of the pharmacy, leading me to discover areas of weakness, potential risks, as well as areas of strength. Based on the data analysis results, solutions were devised and recommended.
Reflection: I really enjoyed this class. The most important lesson I learned was training is not always the answer to performance problems. Every opinion, characteristic, and resource must be reviewed with a critical eye. Also, this project provided me with the opportunity to learn about the structure of a typical organization and the roles within the company structure.