 we learned in the MMS Overview Program. Periodic review and analysis of work performance and productivity are management tools used to monitor effectiveness of an annual maintenance program. It is the last major element of a maintenance management system and it is called work reporting and control. Work control is making sure work is done according to plans and standards and then taking corrective action when needed. It is part of the management cycle of planning and scheduling, organizing, directing, and controlling maintenance operations. The steps are interdependent. Planning and scheduling are not effective without proper supervision and are useless without control. Work control also prevents or corrects critical exceptions to plans and standards. In this program, we will cover work reporting, work control, and taking corrective action. An important part of the MMS is timely and accurate field reporting. Field reports tell managers how the real world compares to the work plan. They provide information on production, productivity, and cost. There are some basic reporting principles to keep in mind. Reports should require only necessary information. They should be periodic and be useful for evaluation. Only those managers and others who have a need for them should get them and they should help a manager make judgments about what is actually happening as well as take corrective action if necessary. Where do reports come from? Several sources. Field personnel report accomplishments and resource expenditures. Supervisors prepare reports telling what percent of work is complete. And with programming, the computer will automatically generate other standard reports based on predetermined guidelines. There are three basic types of reports. Performance reports include work accomplishment and resource expenditure by activity. Productivity reports compare standard versus actual productivity for each activity. And cost reports include budget status and unit cost variations. Let's look more closely at some typical reports. The maintenance crew usually fills out a daily activity report. It is usually part of the crew day card or work order. This report provides such information as the activity name and number, work units accomplished and resources expended. Foremen usually provide a monthly activity report. It lists all work accomplished for one particular activity. It is based on daily activity reports and includes the activity name, the reporting period, the number of crews, and the resources used. Foremen also create a monthly activity status report. It summarizes all activities worked on by each unit and includes both planned and actual information, such as crew days per month and total to date, as well as accomplishments to date. Headquarters maintenance staff usually produce a maintenance performance statement every quarter. For each activity, it shows planned, actual, and percent of expenditures, planned work units from the work program, mandays, units per mandate, and cost per unit. A maintenance cost analysis is also produced at headquarters. It shows costs and percent of cost for labor, equipment, and materials by time period or activity. Finally, the annual maintenance activity production analysis is another headquarters report. For each activity by organization unit, it shows accomplishment, expenditure of resources by type in terms of hours used or quantity, costs, total and per accomplishment, and percent of cost distribution. This report is particularly useful in system revision and update of the work program and standards. Work control is an all-important aspect of the MMS. It is an active, time-consuming process, but it means that plans and standards will be followed, and it provides feedback from workers. All managers at all levels are responsible for evaluating and controlling performance. They should check work procedures used, degree of workmanship and staffing patterns, or the combination of resources used. When they check these items, they help control total costs. There are six steps to work control. The manager must know the quality, production, productivity, and costs of the work being done by personally visiting work sites and by reading reports. A manager must compare the results with plans and standards. That means first knowing the work program and budget and the long and short-term schedules. These comparisons serve as a basis for evaluating differences between actual results and plans and standards. A manager must first know there is a difference before he can evaluate results and find out what went wrong. He must evaluate the results and determine the cause of critical exceptions to plans and standards. He must take corrective action when necessary to bring results in line. He must gain active acceptance of the work control process from his subordinates. And he must follow up the control process by again comparing results with plans and standards. Evaluating results is one of the most important aspects of work control. No manager has enough time to evaluate each and every difference between actual results and plans and standards. So it is important for him to know what is critical and what is not. Not all differences between results and plans and standards are critical. A critical exception is one that may prevent the agency from reaching its overall objectives. It is necessary for top management to provide guidelines for deciding what is and what is not important. Their guidelines should provide limits and ranges of acceptable performance. Productivity comparison charts may help. If a manager discovers a critical exception he must determine the cause and causes can vary. The crew may have done more work than called for in the standard. The foreman may have overestimated production or the plan may have been out of line from the beginning. Before a manager can take corrective action he must investigate each possibility and if he decides corrective action is necessary he should base it on the causes and move quickly. No solution is possible without action. Working with subordinates to solve problems is critical. Too often supervisors fear that subordinates will resent and resist change and correction. There are several ways to avoid this reaction. Use a positive approach. Start with compliments. Recognize previously successful corrective measures. Explain the reasons for the corrective actions. People want to know why. To refuse to tell why insults their intelligence. It also denies them the chance to be part of the solution. Make sure work control efforts improve results. Most employees will not resist efforts that succeed. Continued follow-up is also necessary. A supervisor must see if corrective action is working. Have workers fallen back into bad habits? Are they overdoing the corrective actions? During any follow-up work a manager must compare and evaluate results in a consistent manner. If the right correction is made no further action is required. If not, the supervisor may need to try another approach in correcting the problem. In this program we have covered work reporting, work control and taking corrective action. Work control is making sure work is done according to plans and standards and then taking corrective action when needed. It is part of the management cycle of planning and scheduling, organizing, directing and controlling maintenance operations. The steps are interdependent. Planning and scheduling are not effective without proper supervision and are useless without control. Work control also prevents or corrects critical exceptions to plans and standards. An important part of the MMS is timely and accurate field reporting. Field reports tell managers how the real world compares to the work plan. They provide information on production, productivity and cost. There are some basic reporting principles to keep in mind. Reports should include only necessary information. They should be periodic and be useful for evaluation. Only those managers and others who have a need for them should get them and they should help a manager make judgments about what is actually happening as well as take corrective action if necessary. There are three basic types of reports. Performance reports include work accomplishment and resource expenditure by activity. Productivity reports compare standard versus actual productivity for each activity. And cost reports include budget status and unit cost variations. Work control is an all-important aspect of an MMS. It is an active, time-consuming process, but it means that plans and standards will be followed and it provides feedback from workers. There are six steps to work control. The manager must know the quality, production, productivity and costs of the work being done. A manager must compare the results with plans and standards. That means first knowing the work program and budget and the long and short-term schedules. These comparisons serve as a basis for evaluating differences between actual results and plans and standards. A manager must first know there is a difference before he can evaluate results and find out what went wrong. Evaluating results is one of the most important aspects of work control. Working with subordinates to solve problems is critical. Too often supervisors fear that subordinates will resent and resist change and correction. There are several ways to avoid this reaction. Use a positive approach. Explain the reasons for the corrective actions. And make sure work control efforts improve results. Continued follow-up is also necessary. A supervisor must see if corrective action is working. Have workers fallen back into bad habits? Are they overdoing the corrective actions? During any follow-up work, a manager must compare and evaluate results in a consistent manner. If the right correction is made, no further action is required. If not, the supervisor may need to try another approach in correcting the problem. For more information on this or other IRF videotapes, write to the International Road Federation or call the numbers on your screen.