Application of Sarit Ventura for the IE Global MBA+

Effective Communication Flow of
Important Information in Business
Zurich, June 2013
Sarit Ventura, Applicant for the IE Global MBA+ (intake 2013)
Kleinweid 8 | CH-6330 Cham | Switzerland
Phone +41 78 789 8090 | sarit.ventura@gmail.com

By Sarit Ventura, Applicant for the IE Global MBA+ (intake 2013)1
Agenda
• Task description
• Overview of communication concept
• Detailed roadmap & action plan
• Key success factors

• Meeting with my superior occurred, in which important
information was conveyed
• This information must be distributed to subordinates,
suppliers and clients
• Recipients are spread out across the world
• Correct receipt of the information must be ensured
• What are the appropriate means of communication?
• What priorities and treatments must be considered for
the three types of recipients?
• What control mechanisms can be used to ensure correct
receipt of the information?
Task description
Complication
Situation
Question

By Sarit Ventura, Applicant for the IE Global MBA+ (intake 2013)
Assumptions
Without trying to limit the scope of this assignment, I will make the
following assumptions:
• My role is that of a Head of Corporate Communication
• My company counts about 1000 employees
• We are a typical industrial manufacturing company
• The meeting with my superior took place on Monday morning
3

Agenda

• Distribution of the information
within the company
• Assignment of roles &
responsibilities to specific teams
that inform suppliers and
customers
• Communication to suppliers and
customers through suitable
channels
• Collection of receipt
confirmations
• Maintenance of tracking lists
This communication project can be split into two
phases
Informing phase Tracking phase

Company
Detailed
instructions
Detailed
instructions
CustomersSuppliers
Flow of instructions in the “informing phase”
6
R&D Purchasing
Suppliers
Production Sales …
A customers B customers C customers
Visits Phone calls Newsletter
Email
My direct
subordinates
Personal meeting with
department heads
Meeting
Company wide Email

Company
Tracking list
CustomersSuppliers
Flow of receipt confirmations in the “tracking phase”
7
R&D Purchasing
Suppliers
Production Sales …
A customers B customers C customers
Visits done Phone calls done
Newsletter
statistics
Confirmation
Email
My direct
subordinates
Meeting
Tracking list

Agenda

Communication roadmap
Myself My team
ThuTue WedMon MonFri FriWed ThuTue TueMon
Meeting with direct subordinates
Personal meetings with all
department heads
Detailed instruction to sales
& purchasing departments
Company wide email
Email to suppliers
Customer visits
Customer phone calls
Customer newsletter
Send tracking list to my team
My team reports to me
Suppliers CustomersOther colleagues
1
2
3
4
5 Confirmation emails
Customers open newsletter
6
7
8
9
10
Informing phase Tracking phase

Meeting with direct subordinates
• Subordinates need to be briefed in order to
answer possible questions from colleagues,
suppliers and clients
• Share information in detail and ensure
understanding within the team
• Email agenda beforehand and organize a
team meeting / VC (if not located in the
same office)
• Create company wide shared document to
collect FAQs
• Repartition of company departments among
my team
• Responsible persons for the sales &
purchasing departments shall collect the
tracking lists and report to me
• Other tasks given:
- Press release for media
- Update of company website and intranet
1
Company
CustomersSuppliers
Suppliers
R&D Purchasing Production Sales …
A Cust. B Cust. C Cust.
My direct
subordinates
Ensure task is understood and roles
& responsibilities are assigned

Personal meetings with all department heads
• Share information with the department
heads and inform them of the next steps to
be taken and the possible involvement of
their teams
• Check capacities of the departments and
prioritize tasks with the department heads
- In particular, resources are required in sales
and purchasing departments as they have to
inform clients and suppliers
• Inform department heads that my team will
inform their teams directly and their teams
shall report directly to my team i.e. my
team is the point of contact in case of
queries
• The respective department head shall
appoint the responsible person in his team
and inform this person accordingly
2
Company
CustomersSuppliers
Suppliers
My direct
subordinates
Ensure management buy-in and
availability of resources

Detailed instruction to sales & purchasing departments
• The allocated persons for the sales and
purchasing departments of my team send a
detailed facts-sheet to the respective
departments with clear instructions
regarding what information shall be sent out
to the customers and suppliers
• In case of queries from customers or
suppliers, the respective departments shall
directly contact the responsible person in
my team
• Request that each department creates a
tracking list including the names and
reactions/comments from the different
suppliers and customers
3
Company
CustomersSuppliers
Suppliers
My direct
subordinates
Convey importance of this task that
requires additional work

Company wide email
• My team will send out a company wide
email with a brief description of the new
information and important changes
• In case of queries from outside the
company, the respective departments shall
directly contact my team (name a contact
person of my team)
4
Company
Newsletter
statistics
CustomersSuppliers
Suppliers
My direct
subordinates
Ensure nobody is left out

Email to suppliers
• The purchasing team shall send out an email
to all suppliers with a brief description of the
new information and important changes
• Request an acknowledgement of receipt of
the email
 It can be expected from the suppliers that
they will reply to an email as it is in their
interest to stay in contact with their
customers
• The purchasing team shall collect the
confirmation emails of the suppliers and
create a tracking list including the names
and possible comments of the suppliers
5
Company
CustomersSuppliers
Suppliers
My direct
subordinates
Keep this step simple & brief to
ensure quick response

Customer visits
• The sales team shall contact the key
accounts (A customers) and set up a
customer visit to share the new information
from our company
• It is important to stay in contact with your
customers, especially with the key accounts
 visits will strengthen the personal
relationship and leave a better impression
than phone calls or emails
• Ensure strong flow of communication
between the responsible person of my team
and the sales person who visits the key
account customers to make sure that the
customers receive the complete and correct
information
6
Company
CustomersSuppliers
Suppliers
My direct
subordinates
Use this occasion to keep close
contact to key customers

Customer phone calls
• The sales team shall contact the B
customers by phone and share the new
information from our company
• B customers still require a personal contact
but as there are more B than A customers,
phone calls are effective and fast but still
personal means of communication
• Receipt of the information can easily be
ensured
• Ensure strong flow of communication
between the responsible person of my team
and the sales person to make sure that the
customers receive the necessary and correct
information
7
Use this occasion to keep close
contact to key customers
Company
CustomersSuppliers
Suppliers
My direct
subordinates

Customer newsletter
• The sales team shall send a newsletter to
the C customers containing the new
information and important changes of our
company
• As there are usually many C customers, the
most efficient way to share this information
to many recipients is via a newsletter
• Before sending out the newsletter, the sales
person shall send it to the responsible
person of my team to check the correctness
• The newsletter will be sent out via a
newsletter tool (e.g. Mailchimp), which
tracks views and clicks that can be seen in
the newsletter statistics
8

Send tracking list to my team
• Purchasing team sends tracking list
including the feedback from the different
suppliers
• Sales team creates a summary of the visits,
phone calls and newsletter statistics and
sends it to my team
• The tracking lists are a precise yet simple
tool to ensure receipt of the information
18
9
Company
CustomersSuppliers
Suppliers
My direct
subordinates
Ensure tracking lists are complete

My team reports to me
• My team reports the status of the tracking
lists
• Customer & supplier feedback is passed on
in aggregated form
• These inputs allow me to report the success
of the communication initiative in detail to
my superior
• Together with my superior we will decide if
a second round of communication is
necessary
19
10
Company
CustomersSuppliers
Suppliers
My direct
subordinates
Thank everybody for the prompt
execution

Agenda

Key success factors
• Divide the project into well defined tasks with clear owners
• Ensure tasks are understood and roles & responsibilities are
assigned
• Implement detailed tracking lists
21
Care for
politics
Project
management
Good
communication
• Ensure management buy-in and availability of resources
• Make sure nobody is left out
• Select appropriate communication channels
• Keep communication simple & brief to ensure quick response
• Keep close contact to key customers

Application of Sarit Ventura for the IE Global MBA+

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