Business Improvement Training Services

Discover how to build a balanced scorecard that supports the organization's strategies. Understand process to construct and analyze a balanced scorecard.

• Identify shortcomings of traditional performance measurement methods
• Identify benefits of implementing a scorecard
• Interactively build a strategy hierarchy
• Define measurements for strategies and objectives
• Analyze scorecard data

Managers who plan to use the scorecard to make critical business decisions, scorecard architects responsible for constructing and periodically updating the scorecard.

Solid understanding of scorecarding concepts.

A five-week course, which can be taught consecutively or broken into three segments will illustrate and provide a three-phased approach to developing manpower staffing standards, maintaining standards, validating and updating based upon new regulations and organizational changes. Course work is combined with a team approach for implementation.

• Statistics and sampling theory
• Universe Identification
• Work & Methods Analysis
• Problem-solving methodologies
• Work/process measurement and mapping
• Computations/equations needed to develop manpower staffing standards
• Applying manpower staffing standards
• Standard's validity assessment
• Updating standards

Human resource managers and supervisors responsible for developing manpower standards, personnel specialists, management analysts

Must pass a pre-course math diagnostic test.

This course is designed to provide participant working knowledge of how to develop a performance measurement structure. Participants will be taught how to identify the products and services offered that are essential in developing effectiveness measures for services provided. The skills to develop appropriate performance metrics and special techniques to aggregate performance measures across an activity will be highlighted.

• Developing a Performance measurement structure
• Identification of products and services
• Developing effectiveness measures

Anyone involved in management analysis, system and functional improvement, process reengineering, downsizing or rightsizing an organization.

System Process Assessment Reengineering Redesign Comparison (SPARRC), J-Accomplish Analyst Training

A 1/2 day workshop where participants will learn the benefits of using a performance measurement scorecard and will discover how it is used to align activities, objectives and strategies. Understand how to establish appropriate measures, and monitor performance using a scorecard and interpret results.

Managers and executives who plan to use an activity-based scorecard to make decisions.

Solid understanding of scorecarding concepts.

Designed to improve the participant's decision-making skills in developing and evaluating different courses of action in relation to cost and benefits.

• Entire economic analysis process
• Identification of objectives, assumptions, risk and alternative courses of action
• Comparison of alternatives to satisfy established criteria
• Time-value of money
• Tools to rank and rate alternatives
• Development of benefits
• Evaluation of benefits and risks
• Quantifying of benefits, cost and alternatives

Individuals who make decisions on capital investments, who evaluate actions and who create, approve or justify budgets.

None

This course is designed to provide the student a working knowledge of J-Accomplish. The particant will be taught how to enter data into the system, how to use the analysis tools, how to change data, how to document a work center and how to produce meaningful reports.

• Understanding the expert system
• J-Accomplish Data Entry
• Use of the analytical tools
• Documenting a work center
• Documenting Process steps, work count, and other work center resources

Anyone involved in management analysis, system and functional improvement, process reengineering, downsizing or rightsizing an organization.

None

Designed to assist participants in learning the proper steps in maximizing organizations potential during the change process. Participants also learn about areas that could be detrimental to changing an organization.

• Management and psychological processes of organizational change
• The leadership role
• Preparing a direction for change
• Plan of action for change
• Stakeholder analysis
• Dealing with resistance to change and coping with immediate and continuous change
• Importance of communication during change
• Process, principles, sources and opportunities for innovation

Executives, managers and team leaders who are looking for effective ways to optimize their organization during the changing process.

None

Course will provide participants with a fully developed and tested process to restructure/downsize an organization. The participant will learn a workshop facilitation approach that will ensure the organization's personnel directional path is cohesively developed.

• Determining an organization's core competency and manpower required to provide support
• How to apply organizational factors, such as labor utilization and overhead
• Implementation planning
• Execution of downsizing plan

All senior and middle management, first-line supervisors and key informal leaders in organizations facing the reality of Reduction in Force (RIF) or who have already applied some form of downsizing to their organizations.

None

Designed to provide participants with a fully developed and tested process on how to define, analyze, develop and implement a strategic plan.

• Conceptual understanding of strategic planning
• Strategy development for the present and the future
• Defining organization vision, mission, ethos and core competency
• Defining objectives of an organization
• Developing and implementing a strategic plan

Personnel who are involved in the strategic planning process. This program has been designed for participants who are beginning to develop a strategic plan for an organization.

None

This course is designed to provide the student a fully developed and tested process to assess, reengineer, redesign, downsize or right size an organization. With tools provided, participants will have the rudimentary basics to: evaluate the health of an organization; quantify to customers the value of an organization's products and services; determine general productivity of an organization; and perform systems process assessment and redesign of the organization's processes.

• Project Plan of Action
• Documentation and Measurement
• Organizational Effectiveness
• System Process Improvement
• Strategic Redesign
• Cost Estimating
• Implementation Plan

Anyone involved in management analysis, system and functional improvement, process reengineering, downsizing or rightsizing an organization.

J-Accomplish Analyst Training

This course is designed to assist contracting Officials, Solicitation Specialists and CS Team Leaders who are responsible for providing support to the CS team during the solicitation process. Participants will be provided an understanding of basic steps that an organization must complete to compete effectively and to implement Performance-based Service Contracting to comply with the OMB Circular A-76 (Competitive Sourcing) and Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). Participants will gain insight into A-76 study requirements, preparation of the solicitation package, public sector marketing research, and source selection plan development, sources selection evaluation, the cost comparison evaluation and the Technical Performance Plan. Post award procedures will be identified for future management of the Performance Based Organization.

• Basic Organization Steps required
• OMB Circular A-76 and Far Compliance and Regulations
• Basic Steps required for A-76
• Discussion on Performance

Members of the CS Study team, in-house contracting and acquisition team members.

None

This five day workshop is designed to assist Competitive Sourcing (CS) study leaders and analysts perform a CS management study and develop a Most Efficient Organization (MEO) for the Agency Tender. This includes writing the final report and developing the Technical Performance Plan. The primary focus of this workshop is to illustrate how information gathered during the data collection and analysis portion of a CS study can be used to develop a rational and well-designed MEO.

• Purpose of Management Study
• Documenting current operations
• Writing the rationale for changes
• Developing MEO/Agency Tender
• Identifying overhead requirements
• Developing the technical performance plan
• Writing the management study plan report

All CS study members, key personnel from the functional area being studied, as well as labor and management personnel.

None

This four hour workshop is designed to provide Commanders, executives, and managers with an overview of the A-76 Competitive Sourcing (CS) process. In the first hour a concise overview of the entire process is presented sufficient to satisfy questions at the Command/Executive level. The remaining time (which may vary from four to seven hours, depending on the size and complexity of the organization) is spent in more detailed presentation of the process and how to prepare the organization to successfully participate in a CS study.

• Concerns and expectations of managers
• Roles/responsibilities of functional managers
• Discussion of resource allocation
• Detailed explanation of the CS process
• The process to develop a strategic plan

Command level executives (first hour), and managers who will be involved in, or whose subordinate organizational elements will be involved in the CA process.

None

This three-day workshop is designed to provide participants with an overview of the A-76 process. The focus of this workshop is on the different A-76 approaches and choosing the proper methodology as well as activities required to develop the Most Efficient Organization.

• Planning and organizing the CS efforts
• Developing the Performance Work Statement
• Collecting and analyzing the data
• Conducting the Management Study
• Determining the Most Efficient Organization

Study leaders, team members and key functional personnel soon to be involved in CS studies as part time members of the CS study team or who will be interfacing with consultants who are conducting CS studies.

None

This 2-1/2 day workshop is designed for organizations just getting started in the Competitive Sourcing (CS) process. This workshop helps guide your organization in developing a plan for implementing CS.

• Determining the scope
• Study approach
• Use of in-house versus contractor resources
• Scheduling and costs of implementation

Each organization focuses on a CS strategy that best fits their particular culture, planning horizon, budget constraints and in-house resources. This is an excellent mechanism to obtain consensus from key decision makers in an organization on how to approach the CS issue and how to avoid previous pitfalls.

None

This course is designed to provide Competitive Sourcing Managers and participating team members the skills needed to develop, prepare, answer, and effectively submit an award winning written proposal. Participants will understand how to utilize the precise MEO components required to prepare and answer for a Request for Proposal along with the appropriate residual Quality Assurance Surveillance Evaluation needs. (ITG recommends use of SPARRC methodology and use of J-Accomplish as the basis for developing a winning proposal.)

• Re-evaluation of Performance Work Statement and required resources
• Development of a Proposal Team
• Precise Review of the Solicitation
• Utilization of the MEO
• Maximizing all change aspects

CS team members and key decision makers in the CS process. It is recommended that Contracting Principles for Non-Contracting Personnel be taken first.

None

This course is designed to provide Competitive Sourcing managers and participating team members the skills needed to fully understand the contracting process during the solicitation development stages through an appeals or protest process. Participants will understand various contract types, the Solicitation Source Evaluation Board Review, and the need for independent review in developing an in-house solicitation package. A key component will include additional contracting costing comparison techniques during selection process.

• Specific principles
• Review of each contracting step
• Roles and responsibilities in the Contracting process
• Costing comparisons

Members of the CS team responsible for responding to the in-house solicitation CS package.

None

This interactive four-hour workshop is designed to prepare the bench level workers for a CS A-76 study.

• Roles as part of the process
• What type of information they will be asked to supply
• Critical rationale for providing accurate and complete information
• Concepts rationale for providing accurate and complete information

A must workshop for any bench level worker whose job is soon to be a part of a CS A-76 Study. (Class size is established at a maximum of 25 attendees.)

None

In this nine-day tailored workshop, the end result is to create actual Performance Work Statements (PWS) for your Competitive Sourcing (CS) function(s). The course includes approximately two days of training on definitions, formats, concepts, and techniques of how to develop a PWS. The remaining seven days are spent working with the attendees to extract information that can be inserted into a PWS for your CS functions. For this course to be effective, the organization must provide ITG with the Mission and Function Statements, Job Descriptions, a draft list of outputs, processes, and key tasks for the CS function(s) under study fourteen days prior to the seminar. ITG will pre-load this information into computer software (J-Accomplish) for review and analysis so the data can be revised, expanded, and refined during the workshop.This course is taught only on-site so the attendee has ready access to all the information that will be necessary to develop a PWS. During the training attendees will use J-Accomplish software to store, access, retrieve, and manipulate the information such that Section C-5 of the Performance Work Requirements Summary (PWRS) can be generated. The PWS can be exported from J-Accomplish to Word Perfect, Microsoft Word, or other Windows based programs.

• Analysts and team members who will be writing a PWS.

None

This three-day workshop is designed to provide participants the maximum detailed process on how to develop and write Performance Work Statements (PWS) for CS cost comparisons.

• How the PWS is used
• Format of the PWS
• Role of the PWS in the acquisition process
• Writing the PWS
• Quality Assurance Surveillance plan

Analysts and team members who will be providing input and/or writing the PWS.

None

This two-day workshop is designed as the fifth element needed in working toward completion of a Competitive Sourcing Study. The workshop compliments and combines a Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) development with the preparation of the Performance Work Statement (PWS). The course will provide participants the required tools, analytical approaches and knowledge to effectively design their quality assurance plans as well as the ability to perform surveillance for the Competitive Sourcing (CS) efforts.

• Terminology
• Basic quality concepts
• Overview of the CS process
• Design of surveillance plans
• Documentation of surveillance results

Quality Assurance evaluators and others who are responsible for the development and/or implementation of QASP for CS contracts.

None

Learn principles of ABC/M (activity based costing/management) through lectures, discussion, case studies and computer demonstration to show how results enable better management to accomplish organizational goals.

• Introducing activity-based cost management
• Costing activities, processes and products
• Supporting continuous improvements
• Measuring performance

Those program managers and functional experts who are interested in expanding their activity based costing models to evaluate an organization's current cost system and identify alternatives.

None

A one-day workshop covers basic integration concepts, including what an ABC/M database is, how queries extract data from a model, and the basic ways of importing and exporting data to and from the model. Learn the database schema, how to extract data using queries, efficient methods of importing and exporting.

• Describe what a data base is
• Describe how a query extracts data from a model
• Demonstrate an ability to build queries using properties and filters
• Discuss different ways to import and export data out of and into a model
• Demonstrate an ability to use key properties in queries to import data
• Demonstrate a good working knowledge of the relationships in a model

Those program managers and functional experts who are interested in expanding their activity based costing models to evaluate an organization's current cost system and identify alternatives.

ABM, Modeling Basics

Understand the fundamental skills needed in a successful modeling process. Learn how to build an ABC/M model, import structure, export, and create reports. Learn how to use attributes, drivers, and dimensional cost intersection for sophisticated analysis.

• Plan an ABC model's structure before beginning to build an ABM model
• Interactively build and expand an ABC model
• Assign costs based upon consumption
• Use import files to bring data into the model
• Calculate activity and product or service costs
• Use of report to validate model and meet project goals and objectives
• Creation of multi-dimensional views to analyze profitability

Those program managers and functional experts who are interested in expanding their activity based costing models to evaluate an organization's current cost system and identify alternatives.

ABC's of Activity Based Costing/Management (ABC/M) or similar concept course.

Learn how to leverage ABC data with Excel. Discover capabilities that save time and improve exporting and reporting.

• How to connect a worksheet to a model
• Analyzing and reporting model data using Excel
• Sending worksheet data to the model
• Creating a profit cliff chart

Those program managers and functional experts who are interested in expanding their activity based costing models to evaluate an organization's current cost system and identify alternatives.

ABC Modeling Basics