Your Child Is a Gymnast and a Manager

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Keisha_D_Bentley]Keisha D Bentley
Performing a double full twist is an example of innovation, procedure, and efficiency. I bet you never knew gymnastics could relate to Operations Management. For several years I have taught gymnastics to boys and girls ranging from 2 to 18 years old. Watching a child become proficient in gymnastics is an example of a transformational process. A transformational process is defined as a user of resources to transform inputs into some desired outputs. An input is everything you need to make a product or service. The output is the result. The inputs in this situation would be the practice, time, effort, money spent for lessons, and dedication to the sport. The outputs are anything from a forward roll to a "series", which consists of a combination of complicated gymnastics stunts performed sequentially. A "series" is a good example of a process on its own.
A series begins with a short run, followed by a round-off, which is followed by a choice of back-handsprings, tucks, twists, or layouts. It is ended with a gymnastics stance, by which the gymnast lands on both feet and then steps back with one foot while raising both hands in the air. Start to finish, the process lasts anywhere from 5 seconds to a minute. The gymnast has to be efficient during the play. If she does not get a powerful run in the beginning, the entire routine will suffer. She has to ensure that she is squatting low enough in each preparation to get a sizeable jump to ensure enough time to flip in the air before reaching the floor. Much time is spent on perfecting these processes. Gymnasts earn scholarships and even Olympic medals for their precise execution of processes. The next time you look at a gymnast, you can think of him or her as a Process Manager.
Companies compete on competitive dimensions. Selling gymnastics lessons is no different. We compete on quality. Our students learn technical skills in a sequential order, without being progressed until the current level of skill is satisfied. The cycle time for each student to progress to the next level is typically one school year. Most of our students perform for competitive cheerleading squads and/or cheer for high school squads. Productivity is a common measure on how well resources are being used. In the broadest sense, it can be defined as outputs divided by inputs.
To be useful, there needs to be a baseline. The best indicator of success is benchmarking previous results of our own school. By having a long history in the business, as far as gymnastics is concerned, we are able to judge exactly how many students we should have, how many should be performing at each level, and what we need to be doing to improve each area. Any indicator of slack is dealt with quickly because it only takes one child lagging in a class to pull the rest down. This child may be referred to as a bottleneck. The only bottleneck allowed in our gym is a cold Root Beer after practice.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Your-Child-Is-a-Gymnast-and-a-Manager&id=6455722] Your Child Is a Gymnast and a Manager