Coordination And Supervision Of Operations: Challenges And Solutions

Background and Scope

Coordination and supervision of operations entails the duty conducted by operation management scope which largely aims at enhancing day to day operations and ensuring that there is adequate management of the unit operations (Wolniak 2019). Production and operation management objectives aims at ensuring that there is high performance and efficiency of group operations. The ideology of operation management is based on competence that is showcased by the stakeholders involved in management process.  In the operational plan of Luton town residences, there are complex issues of management that needs to be solved to ensure that there is adequate flow of information and processes from one level to another. Since decision making cannot be effective without the use of data, processing of that data is equally important and this calls for the need to ensure that there are competent and adequate systems in place which can solve the problems facing the residence (Zheng et al. 2019; Kaoudi and Quiané-Ruiz 2018). As management team, there is need to have an efficient and simple data storage facility which can not only accommodate existing data silos, but also provide means through which the functional unit can process data in real time and make better decisions that can enhance performance of the unit.

The unit has a separate general purpose housing as well as supported housing units which operate in distinct unit plans. The general purpose housing unit is managed through a separate functional team that operate in the organization. The team is responsible for managing and tracking issues within the residence. In addition, there are other distinct units such as facility maintenance team, finance team and customer service team which is responsible for managing and handling issues and complaints from customers in case there are issues that needs to be handled on first priority basis.

The only challenge in regards to management of information is that each of these departmental team currently use a separate system for tracking and retaining information under their operational plan units.  These departments are using email for communication especially when there is a file or information sought. Subsequently, the information needed is conveyed through the use of word or excel documents with staff members being authorized to use Microsoft office program and office 365 in processing data.

Department such as the finance team uses Microsoft excel program and word document as well as sage one accounting where they are conducting computation of information. The company has further developed a shared folder on their SharePoint server which is restricted to access by junior staff. On the other hand, the facilities maintenance teams use Office Amp which is a special cloud-based program which is helping them to manage their operations through the system. to ensure that there is no unauthorized access, the facility team employees are the only individuals allowed to access the system. In regards to the operations of customer service teams, they use plain text document programs such as MS Word and Spreadsheet program for keeping relevant data which relates to operations of the four housing blocks that they are managing. The plain text programs are enabling them to ease operations such as data processing and keeping track of relevant information that is needed for tracking operations and answering to customer queries on time when they arise.

Challenges in Information Management

The supported housing department on the other hand operates in a similar way in that they use similar functional systems used by other departments for management of their operations. They are responsible for assigning personal coach to each residents for the purpose of supporting and troubleshooting any challenges that might be experienced in the facility. The personal coaches who are assigned to each residential units are responsible for protecting confidential information regarding operations of the residence in which they keep the information on company computers which themselves and the supported housing departments have access to alone. In order to aid in their work operations, these personal coaches have made subscription to office 365 program which is used to enhance their work operations.

Since there is no uniform system that is used by all the departments, the challenge facing the residence is that communication between these distinct departments is conducted through the email an aspect that has led many of the employees of this unit to complain a lot that they are facing challenges when it comes to processing and dispatch of information to respective users as they are forced to do double work of creating the documents before uploading them to the email instead of directly engaging with each other one on one over the network.  Information within the organization is shared through the use of newsletters emailed to the staff every day with key information sent in this system often being ignored by employees as not all employees have access to these emails to retrieve the information shared. This aspect has posed a challenge to management who are needed to send reminders periodically to employees to ensure that information shared is received and does what is needed to be done.

Complains are arising even from the customer care unit who complain of information and queries raised from the department on behalf of customers having not been responded to on time. Lack of a common information processing system has led to the unit to rely on a SharePoint drive managed centrally by the finance team for controlling financial information which calls for the need to have a central unit that can ensure that information between the departments can be used distinctively within the department and that there should be no reason as to why the unit should be operating separate programs which are not interconnected as such loopholes are creating challenges of processing information on time.

Challenges of communicating and sharing of information become increasingly worrying especially during the Covid-19 period during which the unit was forced to make its staff to work from home to control contracting of Covid-19. As the pandemic continued to create havoc to UK health system, it was evident that the communication and collaboration systems that were being used at the residences was not effective in supporting remote working as employees often missed deadlines and as a result, they were unable to deliver on the mandate on time. Since employees expressed joint frustrations in regards to working remotely and lack of collaboration among the departments, the senior management was forced to call a meeting through Zoom to meet and deliberate on the way forward as most of these staffs argued that they felt frustrations as they were required to be active on email even when they are not working and this made them to feel the need to introduce a better data management plan that can foster and promote integration of services.

Departmental Systems and Communication

The meeting unanimously proposed that there was a need to have an effective communication system that covers both internal and external system instead of relying on emails. Some of them proposed the need to have a mobile supported app that can enable them to communicate conveniently and share information with concerned parties without being threatened of data safety and security. In the course of deliberating on what to do, a few systems were proposed to be adopted to foster enhanced communication at the unit. These systems included the use of Microsoft Teams, Slack, Flow dock or Discord programs based on affordability and budget limits.

Having noted that the main challenge that the residence is facing is communication hitches whereby the units are unable to communicate in unison especially during the Covid-19 era when it became completely impossible to work remotely and maintain communication among the parties, there is need to come up with a flexible project plan that can help the facility to keep communication track between the stakeholders such as internal communication so as to ensure that in the course of maintaining communication, the parties are able to process data in real time and maintain communication among the parties hence bringing about increased operation and development in the facility. Some of the challenges that are facing the company is lack of proper coordination and communication which can be solved if the facility was able to adopt a system that can enable them to process information by using a uniform technique which will enable them to divert from the current reliance of emails and instead use a uniform system that can integrate operations and  bring about enhanced development in the facility by ensuring that the relevant departments in the company are able to keep communication intact, share files with one another (Habeeb et al. 2019; Tsog et al. 2018).

The challenge of communication can therefore be solved through the use of Microsoft team program. (Amershi et al. 2019). This is a communication and messaging app which can enable the users to communicate with one another even when they are not in close proximity with one another provided they have access to the application. The program offers workspace chat and videoconferencing, integration of applications, file storage and sharing hence providing an opportunity through which the business stakeholders can get real time information and process it for important decision making (Singh and Awasthi 2020; Martin and Tapp 2019).

Among the features that have been built in the system include chats conducted among the team members, the users can also create teams within the application such a consolidate the team members within the department and make them to be able to chat and share information within the avenue. Moreover, the system allows for setting up of channels for sending booth public and private messages. Meetings can be conducted on the platform conveniently with the use of public switched telephone networks, the users are able to share information conveniently with one another. Breakout rooms can also be created on the avenue for private communications such as between team managers hence fostering protection of confidential information by making sure that the information only reaches respective individuals who are key decision makers (Mehta et al. 2020; Ilag 2020).

Impact of Covid-19 on Remote Working

The communication can be saved and retrieved later for use in case there is need to make reference to the past information for decision making purposes. The system has many integration units which are available in Microsoft app source including language meeting controls that can enable different languages to be incorporated if the user uses different language. It is therefore evident that in the course of operations, the residence can effectively use this system to adequately manage operations.

The Microsoft teams provide an opportunity through which telephone calls can be made between individuals across the workplace can hold communication with one another as well as connect telephone conferencing in which more than one individual can come together and hold calls jointly in which they will get to communicate and share ideas as well as issues affecting the operations of the residence. In the process, immediate feedback can be generated that can enhance performance of the company as well as provide an opportunity though which the stakeholders can make decisions quick and efficient. The telephone conferencing mode provides real time processing of information which provide an opportunity through which the users can be able to make decisions efficiently (Ilag 2020). A sample communication model for telephone conference call through the use of Microsoft teams is shown below.

Source: (Ilag, 2020)

Based on the fact that information of a company is very critical, there is need to protect the information by ensuring that such information is protected from external manipulation. In order to ensure that the data of the company is protected, the Microsoft team program has a complex protection system with cloud backup that has a firewall protection system. The system is able to protect breach of data and access by unauthorized personnel which can amount to breach of data policies. Through virtual personal network concentration, the system is able to consolidate data and protect it from external breach hence resulting to protection of the information from external breach (Hubbard et al. 2021).  A sample data protection system can be seen below.

Source: Hubbard et al. (2021)

Data protection assurance is regarded as the basic program through which the company can be able to protect the data from breach from external and unauthorized access. The system requires a user with unique PIN to log in in order to access the information and in an event that the user does not have such a log in access, they cannot be able to access the information even if they try to hack the system. The threat of hacking is protected by having the firewall that limit unauthorized access hence providing an assurance that data will be protected from external manipulation.

Sample integration program integrating SharePoint, One drive and Microsoft teams in a company (Hubbard et al. 2021).

The project can successfully be implemented if there is a course of action plan detailing how operations will be conducted and to what extent the program will be able to benefit the company in the long-term. Introducing a program such as this program calls for the need to have a plan in place that can be able to solve the challenges that the company is experiencing. In order to accomplish the objectives of the company, the project team should have a road map on how the objectives can be solved with adherence to the required deliverables.

Solutions for Improved Efficiency

Since the unit is composed of distinct departments that are operating in autonomy, there is a need to ensure that the project can consolidate all the teams and provide means through which real time data processing can be conducted and the teams can integrate and relate with one another through active processing of information. The proposed Microsoft teams program will operate by linking up the distinct units towards a common platform in which they are able to process data and engage with one another.  A sample design of the Microsoft Teams program is shown below in which a common phase that links up independent branches to the headquarter or central processing zone can be linked together and in the process provide means though which the teams can link up with one another conveniently.

Source: Hubbard et al. (2021).

Having a central processing unit that integrates information from the various departments will provide means through which the challenge of miscommunication or reliance to email communications can also be solved. At the same time, the challenge of high cost of communication especially the one experienced during the Covid-19 era whereby there was a challenge of inability to keep trend to the operations of the company can be solved by using this model which allows the individual departmental units to link up with one another and even if the worker is not available at work in such a day, they can log in from their remote location though their VPN and in the process, they can be able to communicate or post information and direct it to the respective department or users hence facilitating on time communication to be achieved.

Unlike in the past when the company was relying on email communications, nowadays the use of Microsoft Teams provides an opportunity through which the company is able to link up employees even from their respective remote locations. In the past, the challenge that faced the General Administration Team in which they were responsible for helping other staff members to prepare reports and send them via emails has been eased as now the program is able to integrate operations and services through a uniform platform whereby the users will be able to create their reports, daily updates and other information and in the process they deliver the information to the respective parties within a short period of time.

Investment in this program is a one-time event that even though it will require huge capital costs to establish, its benefits in terms of the returns that will be achieved from the project cannot be measured as the project will be a lifetime changer to the operations of Luton Town Residences. The benefits achieved from the investment program is based on the fact that the investment is a one-time investment program in which the project will only be maintained periodically without the need of having to purchase other programs. In the course of using the project, the company will be able to save a lot in terms of salvaging the costs associated with loss of data records. The investment will also provide an opportunity through which the residence will be adequately maintained and any query that has been raised by tenants or any other individual will reach the respective personnel to handle the issue on time. This is contrary to the previous program in which customer care unit were unable to communicate on time with respective parties and this resulted into increased customer complaints and the dissatisfaction affected satisfaction of the company.

Conclusion

The plan documents the risks that will be incurred in the course of implementation of the project. It also outlines the steps that should be taken by the company to ensure that the risks are reduced or controlled to acceptable levels. Having multiple risk plan programs in place will provide means of ensuring that the risks are controlled and there are adequate measures put in place to address any risks that will likely face the business and affect is operations. in the course of implementing the Microsoft Teams program, there are risks that are likely to be experienced and they require implementation plan to be able to solve them. some of the proposed risks in the company operations include.

The project must be implemented with a budget that should be within the reach of the company. The following is the breakdown of the budget that the company will spend in the course of ensuring that the project is able to be delivered on time. The following is the budget breakdown of how the project will be executed.

Conclusion.

The competence of the residential property management unit depends on its ability to enhance communication between the departments and between the management and other stakeholders in the market. It is therefore important to note that in the course of implementing operations at the residence, adopting a competitive information processing system will provide an opportunity through which the company will be able to handle issues and solve any problems that will affect improvement of the residential management reputation. It is therefore vital to note that in the course of selecting an operating system, a company should select an operating system software that has the ability to process information in real time and also be able to ensure that they can stand a chance to process information on time for the benefits of the company and its stakeholders at large. 

Reference. 

Amershi, S., Begel, A., Bird, C., DeLine, R., Gall, H., Kamar, E., Nagappan, N., Nushi, B. and Zimmermann, T., 2019, May. Software engineering for machine learning: A case study. In 2019 IEEE/ACM 41st International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering in Practice (ICSE-SEIP) (pp. 291-300). IEEE.

Habeeb, R.A.A., Nasaruddin, F., Gani, A., Hashem, I.A.T., Ahmed, E. and Imran, M., 2019. Real-time big data processing for anomaly detection: A survey. International Journal of Information Management, 45, pp.289-307.

Hubbard, M., Bailey, M.J., Hess, D. and Hellebro, M., 2021. Mastering Microsoft teams (pp. 57-74). Apress.

Ilag, B.N., 2020. Microsoft Teams Overview. In Understanding Microsoft Teams Administration (pp. 1-36). Apress, Berkeley, CA.

Kaoudi, Z. and Quiané-Ruiz, J.A., 2018, April. Cross-platform data processing: use cases and challenges. In 2018 IEEE 34th International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE) (pp. 1723-1726). IEEE.

Martin, L. and Tapp, D., 2019. Teaching with Teams: An introduction to teaching an undergraduate law module using Microsoft Teams. Innovative Practice in Higher Education, 3(3).

Mehta, J., Yates, T., Smith, P., Henderson, D., Winteringham, G. and Burns, A., 2020. Rapid implementation of Microsoft Teams in response to COVID-19: one acute healthcare organization’s experience. BMJ health & care informatics, 27(3).

Singh, R. and Awasthi, S., 2020. Updated comparative analysis on video conferencing platforms-zoom, Google meet, Microsoft Teams, WebEx Teams and GoToMeetings. Easy Chair Preprint, 4026, pp.1-9.

Tsog, N., Behnam, M., Sjödin, M. and Bruhn, F., 2018, March. Intelligent data processing using in-orbit advanced algorithms on heterogeneous system architecture. In 2018 IEEE Aerospace Conference (pp. 1-8). IEEE.

Wolniak, R., 2019. Operation manager and its role in the enterprise. Production Engineering Archives, 24.

Zheng, T., Chen, G., Wang, X., Chen, C., Wang, X. and Luo, S., 2019. Real-time intelligent big data processing: technology, platform, and applications. Science China Information Sciences, 62(8), pp.1-12. 

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