The Operations Manager’s Toolbox: Using the Best Project Management Techniques to Improve Processes and Maximize Efficiency

The Operations Manager’s Toolbox: Using the Best Project Management Techniques to Improve Processes and Maximize Efficiency

by Randal Wilson
Released December 2012
Publisher(s): Pearson
ISBN: 9780133064704

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Book description

Operations managers: use project management (PM) tools and techniques to supercharge efficiency, free up resources, eliminate unnecessary meetings, and get more done faster! Long-time operations manager and PMP-certified project manager Randal Wilson shows how to apply PM to complete the crucial "smaller" tasks that can help your organization quickly achieve sizable performance improvements. Wilson guides you in utilizing PM-style processes, structure, communication techniques, and tools throughout operations, wherever they make sense and drive value. You'll learn how to plan, implement, and measure the success of high-impact changes, and organize key tasks so they actually get done. Wilson introduces specific PM-based techniques for eliminating waste in engineering, manufacturing, distribution, and inventory control, plus a full chapter of insights for improving virtually any supply chain. He shows how to use PM to improve the way you manage teams, schedules, budgets, and other resources, and helps you systematically predict, plan for, and mitigate operational risks. Using PM, you'll learn how to improve cooperation with other managers within operations, in other lines of business, and with senior executives. You'll discover better ways to "design in" efficiency right from the start, and learn how to choose and use tools that make you even more effective over time. The Operations Manager's Toolbox will be an invaluable resource for every current operations manager, everyone moving into operations, and every project manager seeking to apply their skills in new venues.

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication Page
  4. Contents
  5. About the Author
  6. Preface
  7. Introduction
    1. Realities of Managing
    2. Project Management Tools for Operations Management
    3. Is This for Me?
  8. 1. The Power of Completion
    1. How Do You Gain Power from Completion?
    2. Believing in the Task or Project
    3. Proper Assessment of a Task or Project
    4. Managing a Task or Project
    5. Accountability in Completing a Task or Project
    6. Take the Blinders Off
    7. Time Is of the Essence
    8. Organizing a Task or Project
    9. Should a Task Become an Official Project?
    10. Operations Manager or Project Manager—Who Are You?
    11. Managing Processes Versus Reporting on Progress
    12. Power Tools for the Manager
    13. Power Tool Summary
  9. 2. Communication Is King
    1. Why Communication?
    2. The Communication Path
    3. Communication Applications
    4. Communicating in Meetings
    5. Communication Management Plan
    6. Power Tool Summary
  10. 3. Fix the Processes
    1. What Is a Process?
    2. Why Look at the Processes?
    3. Process Development
    4. Documentation
    5. Staffing a Process
    6. Training Staff for Processes
    7. Monitoring and Measuring a Process
    8. Changing the Process
    9. Is There a Better Way?
    10. Power Tool Summary
  11. 4. Waste Management
    1. What Is Waste in an Organization?
    2. Process Organization
    3. Waste or Manufacturing Cost Reductions?
    4. Waste in Procurement
    5. Waste in Shipping and Receiving
    6. Waste in Facilities
    7. Waste in Managerial Decision Making
    8. Waste in Meetings and Decision Processing
    9. Sustainable Change
    10. Power Tool Summary
  12. 5. Managing Your Resources
    1. Knowing your Resources
    2. Human Resources
    3. Managing Versus Leading
    4. Allocation of Resources
    5. New Managers
    6. Capital Equipment
    7. Facilities
    8. Equipment
    9. Power Tools Summary
  13. 6. Budget Control
    1. Establishing a Budget
    2. Scope of the Budget
    3. Controlling a Budget
    4. Contracts
    5. Conclusion
    6. Power Tool Summary
  14. 7. Don’t Be Afraid of Risks
    1. Risk in Today’s Operations
    2. Risk Versus Uncertainty
    3. Risk Management Planning
    4. Learn from Your Experiences
    5. Power Tool Summary
  15. 8. Synergy in Management
    1. Managerial Behavior
    2. Managerial Diversity
    3. Managerial Relationships
    4. Communication System
    5. Needs of the Manager
    6. Power Tool Summary
  16. 9. Tamper-Proof Training
    1. Training Is a Process
    2. Training Plan
    3. Power Tool Summary
  17. 10. The Weakest Link
    1. Procurements
    2. Supplier Relationships
    3. Suppliers
    4. Inventory Control
    5. Power Tool Summary
  18. 11. Organizing for Efficiency
    1. At What Level Should Organizing Be Done?
    2. Design It In
    3. Cost Benefit
    4. Power Tool Summary
  19. 12. Managing Change
    1. Why Change Anything?
    2. Problems with Change
    3. Types of Change
    4. Documentation Changes
    5. Change as a Process
    6. Power Tool Summary
  20. Bibliography
  21. Index
  22. FT Press

Product information

  • Title: The Operations Manager’s Toolbox: Using the Best Project Management Techniques to Improve Processes and Maximize Efficiency
  • Author(s): Randal Wilson
  • Release date: December 2012
  • Publisher(s): Pearson
  • ISBN: 9780133064704