IMPQI227 – Provide organisational support for improvement in food operations

Overview 

This standard is about the skills and knowledge needed for supporting improvement teams to support your organisation's drive to improve food operations. This is important to increasing productivity and success of manufacture, processing and supply within the food supply chain.

You will need to show and understand how you provide positive communication, involve team members in planning and steer them through improvement challenges. You will need to show and know how to provide support, advice and encouragement to team members and actively listen. You will need to recognise creativity and innovation, and encourage members to take the lead where this is appropriate. It is about ensuring that the improvement team is sufficiently supported to achieve the objectives required by your organisation's improvement strategy.

This standard is for you if you support and assist improvement teams working in food or drink operations including manufacturing, processing, packing or supply chain activities. You may have responsibilities for aspects of organisational improvement in a team leadership or management role.

Performance criteria

You must be able to:

1. communicate the purpose and objectives of the improvement programme in accordance with the improvement plan
2. involve members in planning how the team will achieve its objectives using permitted improvement techniques
3. encourage and support team members to implement improvement techniques
4. steer the team through difficulties and challenges, including conflict, diversity and inclusion issues within the team in accordance with the improvement plan
5. encourage and recognise creativity and innovation within the team in accordance with the improvement plan
6. advise and support team members to ensure the effective implementation of improvement techniques
7. encourage team members to present their own improvement ideas in accordance with the improvement plan
8. listen to and feedback about suggested improvements in accordance with procedures
9. encourage team members to take the lead when they have the knowledge and expertise required to implement improvements in accordance with the improvement plan
10. monitor improvement activities and the progress of the team in accordance with procedures

Knowledge and understanding

You need to know and understand

1. how the different improvement techniques benefit from effective team work
2. different ways of communicating effectively with members of a team
3. how to set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound objectives (SMART)
4. the importance of and being able to show team members how personal work objectives contribute to achievement of team objectives
5. how to select and successfully apply a limited range of different methods for motivating, supporting and encouraging team members
6. how to recognise the achievement of team members
7. types of difficulties and challenges that may arise, including conflict, diversity and inclusion issues within the team, and ways of identifying and overcoming them
8. the importance of encouraging others to take the lead and ways in which this can be achieved
9. how to encourage and recognise creativity and innovation within the team
10. how to listen and give effective feedback
11. the formal and informal communication channels used
12. the benefits of encouraging and recognising creativity and innovation within a team
13. legal, regulatory and ethical requirements in the industry/sector
14. the types of support and advice that team members are likely to need
15. how to advise, support and coach team members to ensure the effective implementation of improvement techniques
16. the standards of performance for the improvement work

Keywords: Food operations; Manufacturing; Excellence; Improvement; Organisational development; Change; Management; Support