Leadership Institute
Partnerships for Improvement®
Learning Format: Classroom
Order No. TQ61
People can’t work in a vacuum -- their jobs are linked to other jobs in countless ways. In fact, most of what we accomplish in a workday gets done with the help
of our internal partners.
In this course, employees see the value of reducing unnecessary hand-offs and eliminating non-value-added activities in internal and external partnerships. They also learn a framework for cultivating and improving their partnerships.
Do You Face Any of These Issues?
- Do people in your organization have a hard time getting colleagues to cooperate?
- Do people understand one another’s needs?
- Are work groups afraid to let other groups on
their turf?
Performance Objectives
Helps associates:
- Understand how they can improve the quality of their work by building effective partnerships.
- Identify internal partners.
- Recognize the importance of cooperation, communication, and continuous improvement for building partnerships.
- Learn a systematic method for making
continuous improvements.
Primary Competency Developed
Secondary Competencies Developed
- Building Customer Loyalty
- Continuous Improvement
Course Overview
- Martian Transport -- Round One: Learners begin a simulation that illustrates the problems of ineffective internal partnerships.
- Partnership Model: Learners view the partnership model, which shows how their jobs and tasks are linked to others’ jobs and tasks.
- Success Through Quality: The group focuses on quality and how to define it in relation to customer requirements.
- Three Cs: Learners examine the Three Cs of strong partnerships -- communication, cooperation, and continuous improvement.
- Round Two Preparation: Learners discuss what they need to know about the customer’s requirements to do their jobs better. The facilitator answers questions to clarify requirements, showing learners the importance of data collection. Improvements are made from the data.
- Martian Transport -- Round Two: Learners repeat the simulation, applying their improvements and the Three Cs. They discuss why they did a better job of meeting customer needs and how they felt as employees of the new company.
- The ACTION Cycle: Learners examine the ACTION Cycle as a systematic way to solve problems and make improvements.
- Identifying Internal Partners: Learners discuss the importance of internal partnerships and use the Partnership Diagram to identify their partners. In a final exercise, participants apply the learning to the job.
Video Segment Summaries
- Broad issues around quality and how it can be achieved through continuous improvement are explained.
- The ACTION Cycle is introduced as a systematic approach to problem solving and continuous improvement.
Course Details
- Target audience: All employees up to mid-level leaders.
- Course length: 3 hours, 59 minutes, or 2 hours Fast Track.
- Facilitator certification: DDI-certified facilitator required.
- Prerequisites: None.
- Series: Service/professional, manufacturing, and health care.
- Group size: 10 to 20 people.
- Prework: No.
Related Courses