CPLP Performance Improvement: Chapter Quiz

Which of the following is NOT a category of root causes? (Choose the best response.)

A training class

A facilitator is working with a group and notices the following behaviors in its development process: Depending on the stage of team development, some members seem to be neglecting their own concerns to satisfy the group's or other individuals' concerns. This type of response is known as ______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)

Accommodating

What analysis tool is used to refine a list of brainstormed ideas into something clearer and more easily understood? (Choose the best response.)

Affinity diagram

Which of the following is an approach that shifts the focus of analysis and dialog from problems and concerns to opportunities and visions by focusing on the positive? (Choose the best response.)

Appreciative inquiry

Gap analysis should define all of the following EXCEPT ______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)

Appropriate initiatives

The sales manager of your company has contacted you. Sales have dropped 20 percent below target in the last month, and he wants you to quickly design and deliver training on sales-closing techniques. What should you do first? (Choose the best response.)

Ask the manager what the desired level of performance is

Which of the following is NOT a measurement criterion that reflects whether objectives have been met? (Choose the best response.)

Business analysis

You are a facilitator working with a small company. An early task is to conduct a meeting of all staff to discuss the launch of a new service line. You begin your section by telling a personal story about the pain and reward of adapting in today's world. You used the storytelling technique to ______________. (Choose the best response.)

Capture the attention of the audience and Build credibility

Which root cause analysis tool is also known as the Ishikawa or fishbone diagram? (Choose the best response.)

Cause-and-effect diagram

Part II: You return to the Contracts Department after a week and find that they have gathered data and found 28 reasons for the increase in PAM scores. Each division director is blaming someone else. The contract specialists each have their own reason for which of the 28 causes they should attack first. The Contracts Department Director still wants you to provide a training program for everyone in the department, even those who have been around for years. You suggest that they __________. (Select the best approach.)

Complete a Pareto analysis.

Which of the following is part of a business analysis task? (Choose the best response.)

Conducting a benchmark study of competitors

What would be the best action for a facilitator at the end of a meeting? (Choose the best response.)

Confirm agreement and record in meeting minutes

Which of the following identifies the project's limiting factors? (Choose the best response.)

Constraints analysis

Which of the following should be the first step a team takes when trying to solve a problem? (Choose the best response.)

Define the problem.

Part I: A performance improvement practitioner has been hired to help your organization solve some performance issues after a recent merger and subsequent downsizing. In observing some of the staff, the practitioner tells you that several people say they do not know where they fit in the organization and that they use their time trying to understand what to do in the new structure. Which of the four stages of transition are these individuals in? (Choose the best response.)

Disorientation

All of the following factors affecting an organization should be considered during an external analysis EXCEPT ______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)

Emotional

Behavioral styles of individuals are categorized into all of the following EXCEPT ______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)

Emotional differences

Which situation is LEAST likely to require a front-end analysis? (Choose the best response.)

Employees' ethical behavior is in question.

Which of the following is NOT a way to ensure that all team members are included in the team's work? (Choose the best response.)

Ensure that everyone on the team states his or her agreement with the conclusions of the team.

What best represents a guiding principle for the way human performance is developed and changed? (Choose the best response.)

Expected performance must be defined and reinforced by management.

The following are all examples of tools used during a root cause analysis EXCEPT ______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)

Expert opinion

Which of the following analyses helps to define the environment in which the organization is operating? (Choose the best response.)

External analysis

Which of the following root cause analysis tools involves asking why a problem persists and continuing to ask why for each response for five iterations? (Choose the best response.)

Five whys technique

During the pilot phase of a performance intervention, you used several methods of evaluation to determine if the real root cause is being addressed by the solution, if the client's expectations are being met, and if the initiative is effective. What kind of evaluation are you using?

Formative evaluation

According to the Tuckman model, the stage of team development where team output is low and team members tend to be very polite and avoid serious topics is which of the following? (Choose the best response.)

Forming

A midsize company approaches you about a leadership development issue. There is concern that the high-potential talent pool is not large enough to support expected vacancies at the branch manager level. You conduct an activity to identify exceptional performance in the branch manager role and determine potential barriers to conducting the role successfully. Which Performance Improvement Model are you using? (Choose the best response.)

Holloway-Mankin's performance DNA model

The purpose of a resource analysis is to ______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)

Identify the content or resources available in an organization now that may help with designing and implementing a performance improvement solution

Once a performance gap has been identified, the next step is to ______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)

Identify the root cause of the gap

Pharmacy technicians at a mail-order pharmacy have been seeing more mistakes in filled prescriptions in recent months. During interviews, technicians complain that once they fill a prescription and send it over to be checked by a pharmacist, they do not receive any feedback on the accuracy. You are leading this project and initiate several solutions, including the implementation of a weekly team meeting to discuss accuracy and review important compliance issues. The solution that best fits with this performance improvement issue is: (Choose the best response.)

Improve information

Which performance improvement solution category uses debriefing, newsletters, and knowledge management to address performance issues? (Choose the best response.)

Improving information

The following are all examples of performance improvement solution categories EXCEPT _____________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)

Improving rewards and compensation

To help guide practitioners, performance improvement solutions are grouped into six categories for ease of use. Which of these categories focuses on the sequence of workflow? (Choose the best response.)

Improving structure and process

Customer service representatives are not verifying all required information while on the phone with customers. During coaching sessions, they are able to list the items that need to be verified and successfully role-play the verification process. Which performance improvement solution should be used? (Choose the best response.)

Incentives/consequences

You have been asked to facilitate a new task force formed to conduct an external market analysis for the company. The group is composed of employees from all levels of the company, from every department, and from several countries including the United States, Brazil, and India. As the facilitator, you ask the task force to begin by establishing agreement on the goals and objectives of the group, and implement a code of conduct. You have invited an expert to help educate the team on the cultural dynamics that require consideration. What consideration of group dynamics are you implementing? (Choose the best response.)

Inclusion practices

Of the following, which are the four basic components of a process? (Choose the best response.)

Inputs, outputs, process controls, resources

What tool is the best choice when specific, detailed information is desired from a group of people? (Choose the best response.)

Interviews

During a root cause analysis, you assembled a team of employees, managers, and executives to discuss the organization's recent lowered margins on a specific product line. Corporate managers immediately began blaming a lack of industry knowledge by sales staff. You redirected the conversation to discuss all possible causes of the issue, including processes, resources, information, knowledge and skills, and motivation. You turned to a flipchart and drew each topic as what kind of diagram? (Choose the best response.)

Ishikawa diagram

Why is a business analysis important to the performance improvement process? (Choose the best response.)

It identifies what is important to the organization to ensure that resources are not wasted on performance issues that have little effect on important business outcomes.

Which of the following statements best defines performance analysis? (Choose the best response.)

It is the process of identifying the organization's performance requirements and comparing them with actual performance.

Systems thinking is important in performance improvement because ______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)

It looks at problems holistically, Small, incremental changes can have disastrous effects on organizations, It enables the practitioner to identify the potential for the most successful changes

The management team of a manufacturing firm is constantly reacting to new problems and does not make long-range plans. You want to tell the management team that it needs to apply a systems thinking approach. What rationale will you use? (Choose the option that is the most accurate.)

It will allow the management team to uncover the root causes contributing to the problems and consider the effect of any implemented changes.

Which of the following models represents different ways individuals deal with everyday events? (Choose the best response.)

Ladder of inference

All of the following are decision-making matrixes used during performance improvement solution selection EXCEPT _____________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)

Linear responsibility charts

Of the following, which is NOT a facilitation activity? (Choose the best response.)

Making decisions for the team

During a change management process, stakeholders can be assets or liabilities in implementing the new process or program. Which of the following practices should a TD professional avoid using to help create buy-in for a solution? (Choose the best response.)

Mandating participation to ensure organization-wide participation

A meeting facilitator is using a problem-solving technique that limits face-to-face interaction to maximize task orientation while minimizing interpersonal conflicts. Which of the following decision-making approaches is this facilitator using? (Choose the best response.)

Nominal group technique

A team has been working on a project for a period of time. At this point, team members are beginning to exhibit more cooperation and understanding of each other. Overall, they are becoming a more cohesive group. In which stage of group development is the team operating? (Choose the best response.)

Norming

Which of the following is NOT a tool for process improvement? (Choose the best response.)

Outputs

Which root cause analysis tool uses the 80/20 rule, which states that 80 percent of the effects come from 20 percent of the causes? (Choose the best response.)

Pareto analysis

Which root cause analysis tool uses the results from a tally sheet to plot the frequency of occurrence of causes in a diagram to facilitate analysis? (Choose the best response.)

Pareto analysis

A TD professional has conducted a root cause analysis and is ready for the next step in the performance improvement process. This next step should be ______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)

Performance improvement solution selection

You have been enlisted by the senior staff to facilitate a culture change surrounding the company's new vision statement. The company management has a history of actively and enthusiastically embracing management fads, but none of their past five initiatives lasted more than a year. What will be most important in the change management process to ensure a true culture shift? (Choose the best response.)

Periodic reviews and adjustments to support systems

Which of the following is NOT a tool for facilitating? (Choose the best response.)

Process controls

You are a TD professional who is leading a process-level gap analysis for a manufacturing company experiencing issues during assembly. You discover that the process does not reflect the procedures documented by the company, and the workers involved in the assembly unit do not have prior experience or training. These issues relate to______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)

Process controls

Which tool's purpose is to use diagramming to understand the process currently used and to identify appropriate benchmarks for measuring process results? (Choose the best response.)

Process mapping

Part II: You ask the performance improvement practitioner to meet with the manager of these employees to discuss the observations. You ask the practitioner to provide coaching tips that will help solve some of the issues. Which of the following is the best approach a supervisor should take in a situation like this? (Choose the best response.)

Provide information and direction.

Another model of how teams develop is known as Cog's ladder. In this model, in which stage does the team question why they are here and explore what they're supposed to do? (Choose the best response.)

Purpose

Which of the following is NOT one of the three perspectives on problems? (Choose the best response.)

Resources

You are an HPI consultant. A sales organization has called you to request customer service training for their front desk staff. You meet with two of their managers who discuss the poor results of their latest customer service survey and the organization's goal of being the market leader in customer service. In further examination of the survey results, you discover that most customers cited a lack of salesperson response time as the biggest complaint. You state that you are happy to conduct customer service training; however, you recommend that they begin with a solution that quickens salesperson response time. You suggest that they gather data along the way and talk again with you in a few months. What approach are you using? (Choose the best response.)

Results-based

Your senior management team is notorious for controlling meetings and doing what they want rather than following the original agenda. You were recently asked to facilitate a quarterly meeting. You decide that at the start of a senior management meeting, you will ask the individuals in the room to explain their expectations for the meeting. As they discuss their expectations for the meeting and themselves, you will post the expectations on a flipchart. You are hoping that this facilitation tool will be helpful; it is called______________. (Choose the best response.)

Shared framework of understanding

A department manager knows that floor installers are often questioned while they are on the job by clients about alternative products. The manager sees this as an opportunity to make more money and talks to you about the solutions required. You tell the manager that you want to examine the effects of multiple solutions on both the installers and the sales team, as well as the effects on the company's interactions with customers and suppliers. After a week, you return and explain the advantages and disadvantages of each option to the manager. In this example, you are serving in the role of a human performance improvement: (Choose the best response.)

Solution specialist

Which of the following is NOT a principle of systems thinking? (Choose the best response.)

Solutions should be chosen and implemented as quickly as possible.

A facilitator has been brought into a project team to observe some behaviors in meetings and to help the group develop and begin performing effectively. According to the Tuckman model, which phase is characterized by power struggles or conflicts and testing boundaries? (Choose the best response.)

Storming

The following are all examples of situations that cause groupthink EXCEPT ______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)

Strong norms related to methodical decision-making procedures

Which of the following are best described as generic configurations or templates that can be applied to many situations? (Choose the best response.)

System archetypes

What indicates the need for a holistic approach in performance improvement to ensure that fixing one component of an organization does not negatively affect another part of the organization? (Choose the best response.)

Systems thinking

Which of the following recognizes the interrelationships of parts and the importance of their interaction to create the whole? (Choose the best response.)

Systems view

Which of the following is important for the performance improvement practitioner to understand about the organization being analyzed? (Choose the best response.)

The competitive environment, Compliance issues, and The industry segment, organizational structure, formal and informal power structures, knowledge transfer, and business awareness

Which of the following best describes Gilbert's Behavior Engineering Model? (Choose the best response.)

The model identifies six major sets of factors that affect workplace performance, including information, resources, incentives or consequences, knowledge and skills, capacity, and motivation.

Which of the following best describes Rummler and Brache's model? (Choose the best response.)

The model indicates that optimal performance is attained when three levels (organization, process, and job/performer) work together.

Understanding group dynamics is important to the practitioner because ______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)

There is complexity in human interactions, and some of it is predictable. and Processes within groups (such as groupthink) may affect the outcome of a solution. and Personality traits influence group interaction and behaviors.

When managing a change, such as a merger, why should a TD professional try to identify the organization's unstated values, ways of interaction, informal rewards, and traditions? (Choose the best response.)

These factors are components of an organization's culture.

Part I: You have been asked by the Contracts Department to help them identify why their Performance Achievement Measures (PAMs) are so high and to provide training to help reduce them. The goal is to complete a contract upon receiving an approved proposal within 60 days. The department's PAM scores have been inching upward for the past nine months, and the director is concerned. Employees have put stop gap measures in place, but nothing seems to halt the upward climb that currently stands at an average of 87 days. You tell the Contracts Department that ______________. (Select the best approach statement.)

They have been implementing solutions, but actually need to step back to collect data that will help to identify the causes and specifically the root cause of the delayed actions.

Why is it important for the learning and performance professional to look at organizational problems holistically when identifying performance improvement solutions? (Choose the best response.)

This helps determine how a change in one part of an organization may affect the other parts of the organization.

Networking and developing partnerships are important in performance improvement for which of the following reasons? (Choose the best response.)

To use professional resources when expertise is needed, To enhance problem solving by discussing challenging questions, To get accurate information before investing time and money in a certain direction

A practitioner identifies that unequal distribution of work is causing the performance issues within a department. When identifying the performance improvement solution that would address the cause, which of the following is NOT an appropriate solution? (Choose the best response.)

Training

After a TD professional identifies a performance gap, he or she must then select and implement a solution to bridge the gap. When in this process should a resource analysis be conducted? (Choose the best response.)

When considering appropriate solutions

Which question is NOT part of performance improvement project scope? (Choose the best response.)

Which tools should be used to assess the need?

You have developed a block diagram to graphically display the steps used in a manufacturing process. Which of the following analysis techniques are you demonstrating? (Choose the best response.)

Workflow analysis

A technique to give each team member clear guidance about team roles is to______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)

Write down what the group roles will be and what to expect from each