The Multimedia Centers:

Recommendation Report

Matthew Mays
Westminster College

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

Introduction

Define

Measure

Analyze

Improve

Control

10

Conclusion

10

Executive Summary
I have been acquainted with The Multimedia Centers (TMC) organization for several years. The
purpose of this project has been to identify barriers to TMCs productivity and to provide
recommendations for improvement. Working to it help it become more productive has been a
great experience.
DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) methodology, an effective approach for
organizational improvement, has been utilized throughout this project. Each stage of the DMAIC
processes is explained relative to TMCs challenges and is supported by data obtained through
observations, interviews, and research.
Define
The purpose of the define stage is to ensure barriers to TMCs productivity are properly
diagnosed and understood. The barrier that has been identified centers on organizational
commitment, the extent to which an employee identifies with an organization and is committed
to its goals. In varying degrees, TMC employees are committed to the company. However, their
commitment is not a shared or communal experience; it is much more individual, meaning there
is great opportunity to strengthen staff relationships and increase their collective commitment.
Measure
The goal of the measurement stage is to establish a baseline for improvement. TMCs
productivity as a whole was not measured. However, organizational commitment as a means to
improve TMCs productivity was evaluated. Two methods were used to complete this evaluation:
participant observation and employee interviews. Participant observation allowed me to observe
processes and interactions from a distance, as well as engage employees in casual conversation.
Employee interviews were used as a means to ask questions that centered on organizational
commitment.
Analyze
All of the data collected from observations and interviews was collected and examined during
the analyze stage. The analysis yielded three major themes that contribute to organizational
commitment: communication, training, and the physical environment.
Communication is a concern in that employees do not always feel comfortable
communicating with another and with leadership. At times, they feel, it can be easier to
not say anything.
Backroom employees are not particularly comfortable working at the front desk and
interacting with customers. Conversely, the front-desk employee is in need of additional
training relative to backroom processes and procedures.
The physical environment at the TMC store is cause for concern. Each employee
expressed a desire to work in a cleaner and more organized environment.

Improve
The purpose of the improvement stage is to offer solutions that resolve the problems at hand.
Through analysis and research, I have provided three recommendations for improvement: hold
regular team meetings, cross-train employees, and set time aside for employees to clean and
organize the store.
Regular team meetings can be an opportunity for the staff to calibrate regarding customer
satisfaction and procedural concerns, as well as provide a forum for employees to voice
their suggestions for improvement.
Training backroom employees and giving them additional opportunities to work at the
front desk frustration will alleviate their concerns, strengthen the business, and improve
customer satisfaction. Likewise, further educating the front-desk employee relative to
backroom procedures will help resolve situations in which customers need to be
deescalated and educated.
Cleaning and organizing the TMC store regularly will reduce mental stress and lower the
frequency of misplaced items; thus, it will improve the quality and efficiency of
employee tasks.
Control
Improvements are only meaningful if they are sustained. The best way to maintain improvement
is to use a control chart. A control chart lists each recommendation for improvement and
provides space for the staff to evaluate their performance relative to each recommendation.
Additionally, the staff can see their progress overtime and collectively brainstorm additional
ways for improvement as needed.
Implementing the recommendations as outlined will give TMC the opportunity to strengthen its
employees organizational commitment, which will in turn increase companys productivity.

Introduction
Having been acquainted with The Multimedia Centers (TMC) for some time, and understanding
the purpose of its business, I was pleased to receive the opportunity to work with TMC. Studying
organizations and helping them become more productive have been passions of mine throughout
my academic career. Furthermore, partnering with an individual and a company with which I
have a personal connection has made this a particularly positive experience.
The intent of this project has been to help TMC become more efficient and productive from an
organizational communication standpoint. At its core, this project has identified specific barriers
to TMCs productivity and to provided salient solutions.
Critical to this projects success is the methodology followed throughout. The DMAIC (Define,
Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) approach has served as the vehicle to identify obstacles to
productivity and to determine the best course of action for sustained improvement. In this report,
each stage of the DMAIC process is explained relative to TMCs circumstances and is
substantiated with data derived from observations, interviews, and research.
Spending time in the TMC store afforded me the opportunity to grasp the organizations
infrastructure, the day-to-day operations, and the mental, physical, and emotional demands on
TMC employees. Moreover, through extended participant observation I was able to establish
trust with TMC employees in such a way that they were open and honest with their thoughts and
feelings regarding the organization and how it might be improved.
The overall success of this project is contingent on TMC taking action and working to implement
the recommendations contained in this report. I am confident that doing so will yield greater
organizational efficiency and productivity, among other ancillary benefits. The first step in the
process is to ensure the barriers are understood.

Define
Problems are best resolved when they are accurately understood and when the contributing
causes are identified. Thus, the define phase of this project has served as a means to determine
TMCs barriers to desired productivity. At the beginning of this project, TMC conveyed its
problems as communication problems that impact productivity. Having communication problems
is akin to having car trouble. There are numerous causes that can impact a vehicles
performance. Implementing a multitude of solutions to get the car working may or may not solve
the actual problem. However, effective diagnostics leads a mechanic to the root cause, greatly
increasing the prospect of resolution. Likewise, diagnosing TMCs communication problems
through participant observation, employee interviews, and research has helped me comprehend a
significant barrier to productivity.
The barrier that has been discovered throughout this project centers on organizational
commitment. Simply put, organizational commitment is the extent to which an individual
identifies with an organization and is committed to its goals. An employee with strong
organizational commitment works diligently to achieve organizational goals and maintains a

greater desire to stay employed. Conversely, an employee with low organizational commitment
pays little attention to organizational goals and does just enough to get by.
Early on in my visits to the TMC store I suspected organizational commitment might be an issue.
Employees verbal and nonverbal communication to one another and toward the work seemed to
reflect low levels of commitment and satisfaction. Over time, however, I came to understand that
TMC employees do in fact care about the business and its success. On multiple occasions, each
employee made comments and exhibited behavior that characterized, in a positive way, his or her
commitment to the organization. These experiences led me to the conclusion that TMCs
problem with organizational commitment is not that it doesnt exist, but that it does not thrive
from a team perspective.
Employee commitment at TMC is not particularly collective or communal, but is much more
isolated and individual. In essence, each TMC employee is, to varying degrees, committed to the
organization, but rarely is it a shared experience. In all my time at the store, I was never fully
convinced that TMC employees operate as a complete team. Coming to this realization guided
my efforts as to what should be measured.

Measure
The purpose of the measurement phase is to establish a baseline as a starting point for
improvement. There is always a gap between where an organization is and where it wants to be
in terms of productivity. For this project, productivity itself was not quantified and measured.
However, organizational commitment has been evaluated as a means to improve TMCs overall
productivity. Two methods were used to evaluate organizational commitment: participant
observation and employee interviews.
Participant observation offered several benefits. Spending time with employees and engaging
them in discussion provided insight as to how employees feel about their jobs and the company
as a whole. I also spent time observing employee behavior from a distance, watching to see how
employees work individually and with their peers.
Conducting employee interviews was a critical component to this projects success. I worked to
build rapport with the employees, so each would feel comfortable in an interview setting and be
willing to provide honest feedback. The interview questions centered on organizational
commitment from several perspectives: feeling valued as an employee, working as a team, and
what could be done to make a TMC a better place to work. All questions and responses from the
employee interviews can be found in Appendix BEmployee Interviews.
Through careful analysis, these two studies yielded data that have provided a framework for how
TMC can strengthen employees organizational commitment and ultimately achieve desired
productivity.

Analyze
During the analysis stage, all of the data was examined in order to identify and list potential
causes for the problems at hand. For this project, notes from the observation sessions and the
responses from the employee interviews have been combined and categorized. Moreover, major
themes from these data have been grouped into three categories: communication, training, and
the physical environment. All the raw data from each analysis can be found in Appendix A
Employee Interviews and Appendix BTMC Notes.

Communication
On more than one occasion employees expressed concern with providing feedback to one
another and to leadership on how particular processes might be improved. In some cases, they
feel it is easier to just not say anything, because their feedback may not be taken to heart.
Similarly, one employee shared that sometimes individuals dont say what needs to be said,
relative to work procedures or interpersonal concerns, because he or she wants to avoid
confrontation. Consequently, employees operate with burrs under their saddles, so to speak,
making the work environment uncomfortable at times.
These communicative challenges are only exacerbated by the physical layout of the store. Each
employee has a dedicated workspace and, for the most part, works in seclusion. Thus, at times,
the tendency to not communicate is reinforced. One concept that is greatly impacted by
communication difficulties is training.

Training
The backroom employees are rather uneasy about working with customers at the front desk. It
seems they feel unqualified and unprepared for that type of responsibility; they fear having to
deal with an agitated customer, or committing some type of operational error. In my view, they
feel inept unnecessarily.
Conversely, the front-desk employee could stand to be more familiar with backroom processes
and capabilities. On one occasion, a customer came into the store to express dissatisfaction with
a job completed nearly a year ago. The front-desk employee tried to empathize with the customer
and to provide an explanation as to what may have gone wrong. Ultimately, the front-desk
employee committed to reprocessing the job. After the customer left, the front-desk employee
went to talk to the backroom employee about the issue. The backroom employee immediately
provided insight and clarification relative to the customers concern and knew how to correct the
issue. (The job still needed to be reprocessed.)
Had the front-desk employee (a) been more familiar with backroom processes or (b) brought the
backroom employee into the conversation with the customer, it would have deescalated the
situation much faster and provided a better customer experience.

The final theme that emerged during the analyses differs from the interpersonal domain of
communication and training challenges, but is equally important and impactful to organizational
commitment and productivity. It centers on employees workspaces.
Physical Environment
The physical environment at the TMC store is cause for concern. As previously noted, the
physical layout of the store inhibits staff communication and collaboration. Additionally, the
concluding question for each employee interview was, What is one thing that you would
change, add, or implement to make TMC a better place to work? Each employee feels there is
need for improvement. Two employees, without hesitation, expressed that the cluttered
environment is bothersome. Both said they would like to spend time cleaning, organizing, and
discarding materials that are no longer needed, and that doing so would increase morale, be
better for the equipment, and reduce the frequency of misplaced items.
Addressing the three topics discussed in this section will give TMC the greatest opportunity to
remove communicative barriers, which will in turn increase employees organizational
commitment and improve productivity.

Improve
The purpose of the improvement phase is to implement solutions to the problem. Solutions are
most effective when they target root causes. As noted in the analyze stage, major findings
centered on communication, training, and the stores physical environment. Therefore, the
proposed recommendations target each topic specifically. There are three recommendations for
improvement: hold regular team meetings, cross-train employees, and provide employees time to
clean and organize the store.
Team Meetings
Contrary to popular belief, meetings are not a waste of time; at least they dont have to be.
Meetings provide an opportunity to communicate, problem solve, motivate, and recognize
employees for great work. For TMC, holding regular team meetings will enable the staff to get
on the same page regarding customer satisfaction and procedural issues. Additionally, meetings
will allow employees to voice their suggestions for improvement, which will in turn increase
buy-in and commitment to the business.
Citing studies completed in the UK, experts suggest that meeting consistently as a team has been
linked with greater levels of innovation and teamwork. Likewise, studies on teamwork,
completed by scholars in the medical field, contend when groups fail to meet regularly, it is
believed to have a negative impact on team building and communication. It is in TMCs best
interest to hold meetings on a monthly basis. If each meeting has a clear objective and a prepared
agenda, the meeting shouldnt need to last more than 3040 minutes.

It is important to remember that the purpose of these meetings is to accomplish practical tasks
and to also create an environment of shared meaning and team unity. Regular meetings will only
increase the level of commitment that each employee has to TMC and its organizational goals.
Cross-training Employees
From a practical standpoint, it makes sense that each TMC employee has his or her own area of
responsibility and expertise. That being said, the recommendation to cross-train employees is not
suggesting that employees rotate positions necessarily, but that steps be taken to better
familiarize backroom employees with front-desk operations and vice versa.
The level of discomfort that backroom employees expressed with regard to front-desk procedures
and working with customers is concerning. Empowering backroom employees by giving them
additional training and the opportunity to work with customers will build their confidence,
strengthen the business, and improve customer satisfaction. Moreover, further educating the
front-desk employee with regard to backroom processes and procedures will improve situations
in which customers need to be deescalated and educated relative to their concerns.
Empowerment is one of the primary benefits of cross-training employees. Research by Jon
Hultman, an expert in field of employee management, has shown that empowered employees are
one reason mom-and-pop businesses can operate with fewer employees. Empowered employees
are able to make decisions and solve problems with greater efficiency than employees with
limited skillsets. Lastly, empowered employees are also known to possess greater levels of
organizational commitment due to the variety of contributions they make to the business.
After strengthening the lines of communication and expanding employees skillsets, the final step
for improvement is to enhance the physical working environment.
Cleanliness and Organization
In both interviews and personal conversations, each TMC employee expressed a desire to work
in a cleaner and more organized workspace. This desire to work in a better environment is
validated by Pat Heydlauff, a specialist in workplace development and design. Heydlauff argues
that working in cluttered environments can negatively impact employees in at least two ways.
First, working in disorganized and messy environments can cause undue mental stress, making it
more difficult for employees to complete quality work. Second, working in cluttered
surroundings impacts productivity from a practical standpoint: it takes longer to find materials
when everything is in disarray. More than once employees shared comments about time that is
wasted trying to find items that have been misplaced.
TMC would benefit a great deal from cleaning and organizing the store. Perhaps at first, the
entire TMC staff could spend time together working to get the store in shape. This would be a
good opportunity to build and strengthen team relationships. Moving forward, employees could
then be allotted one or two hours a week to straighten and standardize their surroundings.

Improving the TMC store from a physical perspective will surely improve employee morale,
performance, and commitment to the organization. To reiterate from the analyze stage of this
report, two employees feel that cleaning and organizing the store is the number-one thing that
can be done to make TMC a better place to work.
Implementing the solutions described in this section will put TMC in a position to increase its
employees organizational commitment, which will then yield greater productivity. From there,
the next step is to ensure the improvements are sustained.

Control
In many ways the control phase is the most important of the DMAIC process. Assuming the
previous steps are completed with accuracy, it becomes imperative that a plan be put in place to
ensure the improvements are ongoing.
TMC should hold a kickoff meeting with the entire staff to outline the improvements and
changes that are going to take place. This setting provides an opportunity to gain employee buyin moving forward. The most effective way to track progress and to hold one another
accountable is to use a control chart. A control chart for this type of project will list all three
recommendations for improvement and provide space for the staff to evaluate itself relative to
each recommendation. From there, the staff can review their progress on a monthly basis and
strategize additional ways to improve. Control charts can be a large artifact displayed in the
store, or a simple spreadsheet, whatever works best.

Conclusion
Working with TMC over the last several months has been a wonderful experience. It has given
me the opportunity to implement and utilize all that I have gained throughout my academic
career. Through personal study and research, I have come to appreciate the principle of
organizational commitment. From my perspective, it is often overlooked or taken for granted,
especially when organizations are searching for ways to become more productive.
TMC has the opportunity to capitalize on and strengthen its employees organizational
commitment by implementing the recommendations included in this report. Doing so will
provide TMC with a united and skilled staff that is able to do more with less.