projects

Jan 2013 onwards...

I've been asked to create a section of the Royal Mail internal Intranet site to highlight the work done at the Royal Mail's Plymouth MDEC along with looking into migrating some of the files used on the local drives to be added to the Intranet which uses Microsoft Sharepoint.

My dream is to write a book and have it published.. One day!

The plot is laid out, characters developed and basic storyline worked out, but I have yet to put pen to paper (or hand to keyboard). My close friends and family love the idea behind the book and regularly ask if its finished yet. The truth is I have yet to start the actual book :(.

I'm hoping for a quiet period where I can start it and keep the flow of ideas going, but life is hectic at the moment. I'm also still adding new ideas and twists to the story, which at the time of writing this (Jan 13) I have the storyline 80% in my head and scribbled down on a small note pad I carry around with me.

I was faced with a situation where my team's performance had been dropping. They knew their job well, but a lack of focus had started to creep in and I knew the timing was perfect for an incentive scheme.

I wanted to create something simple, but effective and The Eliminator was the result.

How it works:

Step 1: Each team member chooses a name. This could be a Cartoon, Film, TV e.t.c character or anything from a number to a colour. (This adds a fun light hearted element and helps to ensure DPA (data protection act) is protected).

Step 2: The names are drawn randomly by the team manager out of a hat and placed upon a knock out style leader board.

Step 3: Each day the team members go head to head. The winning player moves to the next step, the runner up is eliminated. This continues until there is only one team member left who is awarded a prize.

In my team's case I choose Accuracy and Utilisation. For example:

The second criteria is needed to avoid team members drawing constantly on accuracy. The result of which slows the game down for the others. It also adds, in this case a Productivity incentive as high level of accuracy and utilisation (logged in working) means "Chuck Norris" was more productive.

Results from the incentive scheme

+ Focus on accuracy restored. (as a result of the game, the team's accuracy increased to the point they topped the workplace accuracy tables!).
+ Everyone had equal change to win the game. All they have to do is keep a high level of accuracy and ensure they were not late back from breaks.
+ Team morale boost - people who normally never spoke to each other started to as they went head to head and this resulted an increase in team spirit.
+ Once the Eliminator had been won, the team requested it be re used so they can better their last performance.
+ A team vs team version was used with teams of 35 on each side of the table competing so the final 2 players were the top players from each team.

I was asked to look into setting up a system where a shift and team level utilisation results can be displayed to Shift Managers and himself with the aim of making time savings.
This involved a major update to the Team Activity Calculator (details further down the page) and the creation of individual team spreadsheets, together with an overall shift level summary file on the local network drive.

In April 2007 a further update to the Team Activity Calculator had been released allowing utilisation levels to be measured in greater detail from a shift to team to individual level.

In September 2007 the Utilisation project together with the Team Activity Calculator has be recognised as the official utilisation measurement tool and is in the process of being rolled out to all three shifts at the four Data Entry sites.

I was asked by a Shift Manager to find a way to measure activity levels within teams and produce utilisation results from the data. The software used at the Manual Data Entry Centres record Keyers logging on and reasons for logging off, but the information displayed can be difficult to understand.

The Team Activity Calculator is an automated excel program using visual basic coding, designed together with a colleague. The program provides Managers with a daily detailed breakdown of their team's time keeping, a utilisation figure and highlights areas where the losses occurred.

Over my time at my current employment within the manual data entry centre I have developed a number of tools and procedures to assist coaches. These include:

Each of the tools listed above form the standard coaching tools used by coaches at the manual data entry centre.

Together with three others in my team we created an incentive scheme based on the theme of Poker. The job of a data entry Keyer is repetitive and the idea behind the incentive scheme is to reward improvements in performance by awarding the most improved Keyers. The awards range from chocolates to gift vouchers.

Using the Performance Bonus Calculator results (see below) I devised a spreadsheet to automatically display a table of most improved Keyers. If a Keyer performs better than the day before they are awarded a blue poker chip. If their weekly average is higher than the previous they are awarded a green chip and so on... This proved very popular with the team.

There are a number of rules set out for the incentive scheme. A copy of what is displayed can be found here.

Bonus payments are calculated after 4 or 5 weeks of mail processing has been completed and the final results are issued to each team. The bonus scheme is designed to be an incentive for Keyers to increase performance however they only see the end result and nothing in between. If Keyers were able to see how they are performing on a weekly basis, this would allow them to increase their performance to achieve higher bonus levels and therefore process more mail items. Hence the need for the Performance Bonus Calculator.

My idea for creating the Bonus Calculator came from requests by Keyers to see what level of bonus their were currently achieving at any given time. The calculator highlights the bonus levels Keyers can expect to receive on a daily & weekly basis. This allows the team's Manager or Coach to notify Keyers who can increase their performance.

Five teams initially trailed the calculator and each gave positive feedback. Each team noticed improvements in a number of their members. The results below are results from a questionnaire (returned by 60 Keyers).

Plans are currently being made to integrate the Performance Bonus Calculator into a new statistics program.

The local network drive contains thousands of folders and files, many of which Managers and Coaches have to access on a daily basis. For example each day Managers must complete a register. To do this they would previously have to open the drive folder, click through three folders amongst of sea of other folders and finally local the right register for their team. Add to this the sick log that needs to be checked (two folders to reach) and the holiday availability spreadsheet (four folders to reach) time and inconvenience starts to increase.

Coaches having to access multiple tools and information would also have to hunt for files regularly and after I was repeatedly being asked 'where's xx file' I created an information portal where everything is a maximum two clicks away.

The portal provides a front end interface offering time savings and eliminates the problem of finding files. To aid communication there is an area available for Shift Managers to place messages to Team Managers. The portal is also designed using the companies theme.

I was asked to create a board game to help support the companies drive to tackle diversity in the work place. The game "Diversagon" was designed with the aim of increasing the work force's awareness of the company and diversity. I also designed Diversagon to provided a fun element and raised teams morale by encouraging interaction between team members. Plans have been made to develop Diversagon for use by the companies 200,000+ workforce.

The game is played by players answering questions in a multiple choice format. I am unable to go into to much detail due to contact reasons.

Example 1: Individual sheet
While working as a Quality Assurance Manager, a trial was created to test a new interim accuracy measurement system. This involved switching from an automated system, which did not completely reflect the job people where doing. The interim system gave Managers responsibility for assessing their own team members accuracy for quality and bonus payments.

The trial initially required 2 paper forms per employee, which for a average team of 35 required 70 sheets of A4 paper to be complete and stored by the manager while collecting accuracy scores each month. This data was then analysed by myself to ensure consistent marking and to evaluate the trial as it was rolled out. This proved time consuming and for a shift of 24 teams, would require myself gathering over 1680 pieces of paper each month!

I created a Trial accuracy worksheet (please click the image Example 1 to view the sheet in full) to add automation to the process. This was designed to auto calculate the results and display them in an overall team table as each individual sheet is filled in (Example 2). This allowed quicker access to team and individual data for myself and managers. This resulted in a reduction in time spent collecting and analysing the data. The worksheet was promptly issued to all managers.

Example 2: Overall Team
The worksheet was also designed to be printed should the manager wish to do the process manually.

Although not work related, this will show my more creative side.
Halloween was on its way, so myself and 4 others decided to try something different than the basic Halloween costume. With help from Mandy Reynolds I designed and created a Ghostbusters costume, that allowed ease of movement, looked close to the film as possible and fitted within a tight budget of £25 per outfit.

Reaction from people on the night was highly positive, with comments of "where did you hire those outfits" and numerous shouts of "who you gonna call...".

You can see more photos from the night here.