AAOM Handbook

INTERNAL

The term First Level of Management is used rather than any specific job title, as job titles vary from organisation to organisation. The First Level of Management refers to the first level of the organisation structure that has a 24 hour, 7 day per week accountability for the performance of an operation. This is in contrast to personnel on continuous shift work who have an accountability only during their working shift. The supervisor accountabilities are dealt with at the end of the document. First Level Manager Following this model, the things that differentiate the work of the first level manager are:  Deliver processes that, internally, operate in statistical control, i.e. no special causes originating from within the process (the FLM does not have control over special causes that originate from outside of the process).  Implement the work policies, procedures, systems, practices and standards that have been designed to deliver correct and consistent operation of the process. The first level of management evaluates process data to identify whether the process is stable, i.e. behaving consistently over time. Where this is not the case they identify special cause issues and define and implement controls to bring the process into stability. The key areas of investigation for internal process improvement will be effective resourcing and consistent execution of the master schedule of production and service strategies, and the timely identification and control of uncommon threats. They also identify special cause events arising from other processes and systems whose performance contributes to instability in the processes for which they are accountable. In such cases they escalate the issue to the crossover manager and contribute to the management of the cause and/or effect. They deal with special cause issues in a way that will bring the process to a stable performance base from which the performance can be optimised. The following are work practices that if executed properly would be predictors of the first level managers’ success in achieving the accountabilities. In the language of “to be accountable” they would be the actions that are judged for appropriateness under the circumstances that impacted the process. People  Build productive relationships with team members. Know them well, their likes, dislikes, hobbies, ambitions for themselves and their families, etc. Know them well enough to assess capabilities and problem solving skills.  Identify the individuals in their organisation that are likely to be involved in a special cause event and design an appropriate intervention. The special cause event could be related to safety, environment, quality, production throughput, cost, or any other chosen business outcome.

© McAlear Management Consultants 2007

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