Work study at Post offices :
It is the basic need for every Postmaster on assuming charge of the Post Office to understand its staff , transactions , mail arrangements , area of service , volume of mails , the people and the culture in and around the Jurisdiction . It will provide a clear idea about what is what .
Staff
The establishment and the working strength to be studied along with the previous statistics about the staff that was allowed to continue in the office. A rough calculation should be made with the available statistics ie MPCM , Savings Bank , accountable articles for previous 3 year period. After satisfying yourself with the work load , the actual requirement of staff is to be take note of.
Transaction statistics
The MPCM , SB and all other accountable articles should be studied for a specific period say for previous period and make a small comparison about the improvements / decrease in the transactions. This will give you a knowledge about the overall performance of the post office and its functions.
Mail Arrangement
Make a study on the receipt and dispatch of mails at office and find out the suitability . This will provide a scope of identifying number of staff required at the receipt time and dispatch time for ordinary mails. Cross check the mail arrangement with the office working hours and identify dead time wherein there is a difference between receipt of bags and opening cum processing along with the closing of bags and the dead time between closing and dispatch of mails. This provides a opportunity to identify and shift staff for the work and for modification of working hours according to the mail timings.
If mail is received early and the office also commences immediately
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Check the counter service requirements ie no of staff to attend counter
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If mail is received early and the office opens after a short duration
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Check for staff requirement for the mails to be processed and modify the timings for staff accordingly
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If mails is received after opening of office
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Check the mms and mail arrangement schedules for modification and possibility to receive mails within time
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If mails received at frequent intervals ie twice in the morning
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Check the interval time between the two arrivals if the time is short try processing together and if there is a good gap say 1 hours. Process only the ordinary mails first and the accountable mails together. ( you can also prepare two list for postman ie Delivery SLIP no 1 & 2 by creating duplicate beats for postman) There can be no restrictions on creation for the same beat and only requirement is to send all mails received for delivery on the same day..
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Area of service
Different post offices have different geographical dimensions for delivery and service. Have a study about the area within a short period of time which will help a lot in the day to day work as a Postmaster
If the area is have a good dimensional size
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Prepare to work according to the area requirement ie The Postman who should proceed first , second and so on and deploy staff accordingly
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If the area does not have a good dimensional size
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Prepare a dimension your self and plan to send the postman accordingly.
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If the area is like a square or rectangle in shape
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Prepare Postman for beats and not beats for postman. Select the postman with service hierarchy and provide nearest square for the most senior and next to his junior and so on.
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If the area is a butterfly type in shape
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Prepare customer wise postman beat or location based ie. Two postman should not be allowed to share one area . Hence one full area should be provided for one postman . They can also be some rotation within the beats at regular intervals.
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Volume of mails
Analyze the volume of mails ie Ordinary mails on a day to day basis and understand variations in the volume ie Monday will be heavier than Tuesday , and Tuesday will be easier than Wednesday and so on This provides an understanding in how the Postman can be controlled or used effectively in other activities of the office ie . PLI , RPLI , Account Opening etc
Accountable mails also needs some study for analyzing the work load of the postman . The number of bulk mails delivered by each postman and the details of such customers to be taken note of for providing window delivery. The newly created townships should also be studied about the requirement of manpower for mail delivery.
People and culture
This is the most important aspect in analyzing the functioning of a post office . Each place has its own culture and tradition , business and profession . we have to go thro the life of the people , especially their requirement from Post office. This will be helpful in deciding the product to be concentrated at the post office rather than concentrating on all the products and services of a PO.
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
What can a Postmaster do on the following situations
Leave of staff
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Should be regulated within the office and should see that each and every staff can avail their required leave in time.
Emergency situations are exempted and upto the postmaster to decide.
Do not recommend leave for staff for long durations for silly reasons . Just make a remark on the leave application on your disinterest ( Instead you can request your staff to cutshort their leave)
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Deputations
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When you have already studied about the staff engagement for the past years and also current requirements , the transactions , the mails , the people now you can readily fight with the administration about the necessity on production of the statistics . You may also communicate the authority that you should not be held responsible for any deficiency of service at the counter when staff are being compelled for deputations.
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Shortage of staff due to leave and deputation
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Open only those counters where you can provide service. Ask customer to stand in a single queue . Accept transactions on First in and First Out method . Take your standard timing for completion of transactions . Put a notice to people on the present day staff position of your office.
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Business development activities
At present the Administration is highly worried about the BD products and its revenue. It becomes inevitable to do some business for the management even though we may be at a hectic situations. After completion of the above study and implementation of the CRISIS management technique , one can be free enough to identify products and services for business.
Stages for business development
When you find that there is business in mails
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Concentrate only on mails for a period of 6 months and do not consider admin pressure and achieve some good jumps in regd, speed , parcels bookings and record it for you support
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Product change
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Identify the next product ie Savings Bank and concentrate to open more number of accounts for a period of 6 months and create a record of the same for support
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Modify supervising Techniques
Our traditional supervising techniques needs lots of modifications and to be brought to suit the present environment that can protect against the management , staff and the public
Delivery performance
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Check returns by yourself and concentrate only on those articles returned undelivered ( Do not waste time from invoicing for supervision )
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Postman Delivery time
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See that sufficient people are attending the work to ensure the postman leaves in time
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Reporting
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Always report on all discrepancies ie misspent , misdirected , complaints etc and do not take your self into problems
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Technology problems
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Do not try to rectify it by yourself . There are people to do their job so just report and record it for support . Do not try to be over enthusiastic as it will not support your job.
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Late arrival of Postman
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Modify staff timings accordingly and make yourself convenient to supervise it after that. Ie for office which starts from 09.00 to 05.00 make a staff to attend from 10.00pm to 06.00pm and modify your time accordingly
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