Part 3 Observation Project-Intervention Plan

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Observation Plan for A Target Behavior

Name

Institution

Course

Instructor’s Name

Date

Identify and define the target behavior/pinpoint.

Target Behavior

This observation project is to observe the target behavior of employees greeting customers within five seconds of entering a retail store. This behavior was selected because greeting customers is an important customer service activity that can contribute to a positive environment and good customer and employee interaction. Quickly greeting the customer can enhance their experience and lead to higher satisfaction with the business. Positive employee-customer relationships have been shown to correlate with higher customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and more positive views of service quality (Pham & Nguyen 2025). Thus, welcoming the customer with a timely entry is a concrete action that can have an impact on the customer and on the organization.

Operational Definition

The pinpoint behavior is defined as an employee verbally greeting a customer within five seconds of the customer entering the store. Some acceptable greetings are: “Hello”, “Welcome”, “Good morning”, or “How can I help you today?” The behavior starts when a customer steps through the entrance threshold of the store. The behavior is counted if the employee verbally greets the recipient within 5 seconds. If no greeting is given or a greeting is given after 5 seconds and only a nonverbal acknowledgement is given, then the behaviour is not recorded. This behaviour is observable, measurable, reliable, and passes the dead man's test, as it requires a response from the employee.

Category of Performer

The performers who will be observed are the retail store employees. These employees have the usual responsibility of communicating with customers and offering customer service during regular business hours.

Data Collection Process

Observation Setting

The observation will be conducted in a retail store setting where staff are in constant contact with customers. The business name will be anonymous, but the setting is a customer service area where customers enter the store and staff are available to serve them. In this environment, there are several chances to see if customers are welcomed at the door.

Type of Data Collected

The data collected will be frequency data. The observer will determine the number of customers entering the store and the number of customers who are verbally greeted in the first five seconds of entering the store. These data can then be used to help determine the percentage of customers greeted in each observation session.

Observation Duration

Each observation period will be 20 minutes. Consistency of observation time will facilitate data reliability and, over time, data that are comparable.

Observation Schedule

Observations will be made three times a week at different times of the day. Several observation sessions per week will allow for enough opportunities to observe the target behavior and assess patterns of employee performance. The observation schedule will also enable data collection to be completed in a timely manner during Part 2 of the project.

Summary of PIC/NIC Analysis Results

The PIC/NIC analysis suggests that employees may not consistently greet customers because the current consequences support the undesired behavior. Often, staff will be filling the shelves or tidying up the stock or doing other work rather than attending to customers. This effect will typically be immediate, beneficial and definitive, because the employee will work without interruption. However, there are not many immediate repercussions for not greeting the customers, which increases the likelihood of it continuing.

The analysis also reveals a number of factors that could enhance the desired behavior, greeting customers within five seconds of entering the store. Setting clear expectations, customer service training, reminder signs, feedback on performance and employee recognition programs can all act as antecedents and consequences to promote desired behavior. When a customer responds positively, and a supervisor gives praise, it may reinforce the employee to continue to greet customers in the same way.

Overall, the analysis of the PIC/NIC shows that making the environment conducive to the target behavior, and providing positive consequences for the target behavior, is more likely to lead to behavior change. An opportunity to be recognized, receive feedback and engage with customers in positive ways can help boost the chance of staff being able to greet customers promptly. The analysis results will be used as a basis for future observations and recommendations that will enable to enhance the performance of customer services.

References

Pham, D. N., & Nguyen, G. T. (2025). The relationship between employee satisfaction and customer loyalty: The mediating role of customer experience.  Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology,  9(3), 1531-1543. DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v9i3.5598

Part 3: Intervention Plan-Final Paper

The purpose of this assignment is to summarize the results and completion of your observation plan.  In addition, you will be tasked with proposing interventions based on the collected data/assessment. 

 

Within your paper, please address the following components:

 

SUMMARY OF DATA COLLECTION PROCESS

This section of your paper should address your data collection process. The following components should be addressed.

1. What was the target behavior and why was it selected (i.e., rationale)? 

2. What was your pinpoint/operational definition?

3. How did you measure data (e.g., frequency, duration, etc.)

4. What were your data collection procedures (e.g., where did you collect data, how often did you collect data, what time of day, methodology, etc.)

5. Were your data collection procedures helpful in obtaining accurate data? Why or why not? 

6. Discusses aspects of data collection that went well and adjustments that would be made if you were to collect data on this behavior again

DATA ANALYSIS SUMMARY

This section of your paper should provide a summary of the results of your data.  The following components should be addressed.

1. Summarize the results of your data collection.

1. Describe the level of the target behavior(s) (e.g., high, moderate, low)

2. Describe the trend of the data (e.g., increasing, decreasing, no trend)

3. Describe the stability of the data (e.g., variable vs. stable)

2. Include the most up-to-date graph(s) of the data collected.  This should be labeled as Figure # (e.g., Figure 1, Figure 2) and include a figure caption for each figure included (e.g.,  Percentage of days employee was tardy).

3. Were you successful in obtaining a good baseline sample of data? Why or why not?

4. Did the results of the data collect match with your hypothesis of the data collected

 

INTERVENTION PROPOSAL

This section of your paper should discuss possible interventions based on the observation/ assessments.

** This is just a proposal of an intervention-you do not need to actually implement the intervention. If you do want to implement the intervention, make sure you get appropriate approval/consent prior to implementation.**

1. What environmental variables did you find to be the most influential on the target behavior occurring or not occurring through your observations? Did your observations correspond with your original PICNIC analyses? In what ways did they differ? In what ways were they similar?

2. Given your data and findings, what recommendations do you have for interventions that could potentially help change the target behavior? (or what would be a solution that you could hypothetically implement).  Note: You  do not need to implement an intervention for the purposes of this assignment, you just need to propose intervention ideas. If you do decide to move forward within implementing an intervention, please make sure you have the appropriate approval process within your organization.

1. Propose at least  one antecedent-based intervention.

1. Why was this intervention selected to address this target behavior?

2. What would this realistically look like within the organization setting?

2. Propose at least  one consequence-based intervention.

1. Why was this intervention selected to address this target behavior?

2. What would this realistically look like within the organization setting?

 

 

REFLECTION/SUMMARY OF LESSONS LEARNED

This section should comment on your reflection of the observational project.

1. If the observational project had problems or confounds, what were they(e.g., a new employee was hired)? How would you address them? If no problems occurred, how would you conduct things differently if doing the project again? (e.g., replication of data collection with a different behavior/employee, etc.)

2. Discuss some of the successes found during your observations and data collection.

3. Discusses different ways that you can incorporate data collection and data analysis into your future practice in the workplace (can be different behaviors that are targeted, different ways to measure behavior, different ways to analyze behavior etc.).

4. Provides discussion about how managers/leaders could utilize behavior pinpoints, data collection, and data analysis into the workplace.

PAPER LOGISTICS

1. Paper utilizes APA formatting (Includes title page, page numbers, figure(s), figure caption, reference page (if applicable)). 

2. Paper is free of grammatical errors.

3. Paper is 4-6 pages double-spaced (not including title page or reference page if references are used).

4. Paper utilizes 12-point Times New Roman font

5. Paper is written independently

**When completing this assignment, please format this as a paper.  Subheadings can be utilized to organize the paper.**

Final PM Observational Study Reflection/Paper

Final PM Observational Study Reflection/Paper
Criteria	Ratings	Pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeData Collection Summary Summary includes information of the: target behavior, pinpoint/operational definition, setting observation data collection method, how often visits were conducted, time of day the observations were conducted, and whether the activities were successful in obtaining accurate data		7.5 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeData Analysis Summary Information includes the most up-to-date graph of the data collected and an explanation of the findings. Including the levels of target behavior overall, ranges, data trend. Discusses if data were representative of target behavior.		7.5 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeOverall Reflection/Lessons Learned Summary includes if there were any confounds identified that could be impacting the target behavior. Problems faced during observations. Changes if student were to redo the observational project. Successes of the project. Lessons learned about collecting data as a hypothetical PM consultant in this setting. Discussion about how they personally could incorporate data collection and data analysis into their future practice. Discussion on how managers/leaders could utilize pinpointing, data collection, and data analysis.		15 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeIntervention Proposal Discusses environmental variables that may impact target behavior based on observation/PICNIC analysis. Summary provides and describes recommendations for antecedent- and consequence-based interventions. Describes why each intervention was selected and how it would be implemented.		15 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeContent Paper meets page requirements (4-6 pages). Paper utilizes APA formatting. Paper is free of grammatical errors. Paper is written independently.		5 pts

Total Points: 50