Journal Entry: At the end of units you need to complete a Journal Entry (500 words) in response to the questions in the EFP case study from each set of units. Please consult each unit’s case study for further information with regards to the below activities. In unit 9 you will submit a summary entry, which will be based on all of your learning from the module.
Unit 3: Have you heard yourself?
Your manager has informed you that a sales system is to be implemented into the organisation, allowing sales processes to be streamlined and access to high-quality sales leads to grow your organisation’s pipeline. It will also enable easier extraction of data from the system which would be analysed for the company’s quarterly budget and business plan as well as for the performance management of each individual OSD agent.
This new system/ process ultimately affects the daily routine of your team and therefore your team needs to be made aware of the protocol, implementation and process immediately.
Activity: (to be completed as part of your Unit 4 Journal Entry in the Journal Tool)
Thinking about how to best communicate this to your team, so that the message is clearly heard (and not misunderstood), your team has the opportunity to feed back their concerns etc. so that a record/ audit trail is easily identifiable. How would you (as the Team Leader) communicate this new process to your team and why? What could the impact on the team/ team performance be if this message is not effectively communicated?
Unit 4: Talk to the hand
It has been 3 months now since the new sales system and its processes has been implemented into your team’s daily routine, and you have extracted the data from the new system in terms of lead conversion rates for each of your team members. Unfortunately, one of the new members of your team is not achieving their set lead conversion target from the last quarter.
How (as the Team Leader) would you deliver the feedback on this individual’s performance over the last 3 months? Would you merely discuss the performance of the individual on the basis of the extracted data? Would you call for feedback from their team members on their attitude and ethos in the role as an OSD agent? Would you call for a one-to-one meeting with the individual or write to them officially?
Activity: (to be completed as part of your Unit 4 Journal Entry in the Journal Tool)
Taking everything into consideration over the past 3 months, what process would you adopt in order to feedback on the performance of this underperforming team member?
References:
Velentzas, J. & Broni, G. (2014) Communication cycle: Definition, process, models and examples. Business and Economics Series 17: 117- 131 Online at WSEAS eLibrary: http://www.wseas.us/e-library/conferences/2014/Istanbul/FINANCE/FINANCE-17.pdf [Accessed 7 July 2015]
Bowman, J. P. & Targowski, A. S. (1987) Modeling the Communication Process: The Map is Not the Territory. Journal of Business Communication, 24 (4), 21-31, Online at EBSCO via the Essex Online Library [Accessed 10 November 2017]
Kessler, E. H. (2010) Management Theory in Action: Real-World Lessons for Walking the Talk. Chapter 5: Communicating Effectively with Others. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Wellington, P. (2011) Effective People Management. London: Kogan Page.
Chapter 7 (pages: 133 – 134): Giving effective feedback
London, M. (2003) Job Feedback: Giving, Seeking and Using Feedback for Performance Improvement (2nd Ed). New Jersey: Psychology Press.