BECOME AN
OPERATIONS MANAGER

In this class, the students will understand what operations management is and will define the main skills for operations managers.

• What is Operations Management?
• Core Competencies for Business Leaders for any industry
• Understand your product and the target audience
• Management as a skill set
• Breakout Room Group Discussion: What is one blind spot you have in your leadership? What are some steps you have taken, if any, to improve in this area?

Assignment 01: Personal Development Plan
Look up vacancies for operational management roles and create a personal development plan to upskill according to that role(s).

Strategic thinking is an essential skill for any operations manager. The students will learn how to achieve operational success and will learn the difference between organizational strategy and tactics.

• Why is productivity important: results matter
• Factors of Achieving Operational Success
• Understanding How you influence the deliverables
• Organizational strategy vs. Operational Tactics
• Quick Steps for thinking strategically

Assignment: 02. Krispy Kreme Case Study part 1: Market Penetration Strategy
- Create a strategy to where Krispy Kreme could have penetrated the grocery market successfully and/or retail industry while maintaining brand integrity and quality delivery?
- Should they have tried to penetrate the grocery market, and if so, how could they have done that better?
- What are the key elements that led to the positive trend in the company’s performance?

Students will be able to translate business processes into simple tasks by understanding modeling processes, tools, and standards.

• Define Process Modeling
• Overview of Modeling tools
• Modeling Consistency and Standards
• Creating Flow Chart Diagram
• Group Discussion in Breakout Rooms

Assignment 03: Krispy Kreme Case Study part 2: Business Process Analysis
Identify any ideas for improvement, innovation, or automation to improve the manufacturing process and increase output. Consider quality standards and the customer/end-user.

Lean operations is a business strategy driven by the principle of doing more with less. The students will learn to define lean and its goals and will understand the main principles behind it.

• Defining Lean and its goals
• Lean Processes
• Lean Services
• Lean Thinking
• Group Discussion on Siemens Canada Case Study

Assignment 04:
- Part 1: Identify a way to truncate 30 min of time in your daily morning routine before getting your day started.
- Part 2: Siemens Canada Case Study: Lean Management analysis
One of the foundational principles of Lean is “Continuous Improvement.” Although the company significantly improved productivity, what are more ways Siemens could further increase productivity.

In this class, the students will learn about supply chain management and inventory management by listening to the invited speaker from the industry.

• Components of a Supply Chain
• Functions & Activities
• Key Aspects of SCM
• SCM Issues

Assignment 05:
Reflect on the guest lecture, write down your learnings, and how have these learnings upskilled you in your career journey.

Forecasting is an essential part of operations management. The students will learn to pick forecasting models and approaches and build realistic forecasts that match organizational needs.

• Forecasting Models
• Forecast Accuracy and Control
• Forecast Approaches
• Keep this in mind before you forecast
• Group Discussion Highlighting Forecasting Errors and Reasons Why

Assignment 06: Krispy Kreme Case Study, part 3: Sales Forecasting Model
Through your preferred forecasting model (whether discussed in class or learned externally), identify what the projected Q4 2020 output for Krispy Kreme retail sales would be.

Michael will talk about quality management, different frameworks, tools, and strategies.

• Quality Comprehension
• Quality Management Frameworks
• Quality Management Tools Overview
• Quality Strategies
• Group Discussion on Quality Management Principles Video

Assignment 07: Krispy Kreme Case Study, part 4: Quality Management System analysis
Through reading the Krispy Kreme manufacturing process, identify what is the most important aspect of their Quality Management system. Why do you feel this is the most important aspect in their supply framework? How could they improve this process?

Students will identify practices to get the most out of their scheduling.

• Effective Scheduling
• Importance of Prioritization
• Scheduling Tips

Assignment 08:
- Read an article on effective scheduling.
- Strategize your monthly calendar based on prioritization and goals. Bring in a renewed scheduling method and discuss the change approach and how it will assist your bottom line.

The students will learn to plan the execution of operations ​​in a way that proposes an increase in the quality of products and services, potentially reducing production time, and leading to lower operational costs.

• What is Operational Excellence?
• Key Concepts and Tools
• Manifesting Operational Excellence

Assignment 09: Krispy Kreme Case Study, part 5: Operational Excellence Strategy analysis
From case study, analyze the following: What are some key factors of operational excellence that led to the second half growth of Krispy Kreme? Although the end-goal was successful, Identify the potential risks taken by that operational approach and ways to mitigate those risks.

The students will learn best practices in managing and developing their teams, both virtually and in-person.

• Managing Virtual Teams
• Boosting Teams Productivity
• Enhancing Team Innovation
• Content -vs- Context
• Team Development
• Group Discussion in Breakout Rooms

Assignment 10: Employee Experience analysisy
- Part 1: What are your takeaways from the Celeste Headlee TedTalk?
- Part 2: From the Uber Work Culture Case Study, create a strategy to repair the culture where customers and employees have a better experience. In your strategy, highlight 3-5 key initiatives that you will drive, explain how they will lead to improved culture, and how you will continuously drive improvement through those initiatives.

This class is focused on a very important soft skill for operations managers - personal branding. The students will learn about the importance of creating their personal brand as well as tips and tricks on doing that.

• Creating Your Personal Brand?
• Branding Yourself in Authenticity
• Transform Your Personal Brand
• External Factors of Personal Branding
• Group Discussion in Breakout Rooms: What were some “aha moments” for you from this talk? How will you implement these into your career?

Assignment 11: Personal Brand Strategy
What are some examples in your work or personal history that have affected your brand (positively or negatively)? Document this in 2-3 paragraphs of personal branding strategy identifying the root cause and path forward.

This class is focused on personal development and career growth. The students will learn to work with their strengths and weaknesses, recharge and build self-confidence to grow personally and professionally.

• Updating your resume
• Building Self-Confidence
• Working with your personal strengths and weaknesses
• Recharging & its benefits
  • Importance of Delegation
  • Identifying when you or your employees need a break
• Group Discussion in Breakout Rooms

Assignment 12: Resumé
Update your resume based on the skills you have received in class, as well as your personal strengths, and send it to Michael for feedback.