This assessment task is to be completed using the simulated workplace scenarios provided.
This assessment task is to be completed using the simulated workplace scenarios provided.
Instructions to Students:
The focus of this assessment task is to: Liaise with Stakeholders
For this assessment, you are required to demonstrate the skills and knowledge required to manage team effectiveness by liaising with stakeholders, including:
creating and maintaining open and effective communication
passing on information from management to the team
passing on matters raised by the team to management
responding to matters raised by stakeholders that have not been resolved
Before you commence this assessment, you need to read:
Scenario 1 before attempting Step 1
Scenario 2 before attempting Step 2
Scenario 3 before attempting Step 3
Scenario 4 before attempting Step 4
Appendix A: The Righteous Bean Written Communication Policy and Procedures
For this Assessment you must:
Answer the questions that follow each Scenario within the context of the Scenario and associated information and documentation
Submit a draft email to the team passing on information from management
Submit a draft email to a line manager to communicate and follow-up on an unresolved issue
Submit two (2) draft emails to individual stakeholders addressing unresolved concerns raised by them.
Step 1: Create and maintain open and effective communication with stakeholders
To complete this Step, read Scenario 1 and answer the questions that follow:
476255978800 Scenario 1
As one of the first tasks you need to do in your new role as team leader of the Sales, Marketing and Customer Engagement team is to ensure that you and the team have a free, open and effective flow of communication with stakeholders.
You have seen too many teams fail simply because they didnt stay in touch with their stakeholders, or lost track of what those stakeholders wanted or were thinking.
You dont plan on letting that happen to your new team!
1.1. The Righteous Bean has plans to expand the business interstate and enter a variety of wholesale markets, identify two (2) or more, examples of external stakeholders you would want to establish an open communication process with and explain why you would want to establish that link.
Type of external stakeholder Reason for wanting to establish open communication with this stakeholder
(1)
(2)
(3)
1.2. In addition to external stakeholders, you know there is a need to establish open communication process with internal stakeholders: identify two (2) or more, examples of these explaining why you would want to establish open communications with them.
Type of internal stakeholder Reason for wanting to establish open communication with this stakeholder
(1)
(2)
(3)
1.3 You know that one of the keys for open communications with stakeholders, is the need to be honest in what you communicate but that this is always subject to organisational confidentiality requirements: describe two (2) or more, examples of topics about which confidentiality requirements apply.
(1)
(2)
(3)
1.4 You understand that the process of creating and maintaining open communication relies on several key actions: describe two (2) or more, of these.
Explain why they are necessary/important.
Keys to creating and maintaining open communication Reason the key is necessary/important
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
Step 2: Passing on information from management to the team
To complete this Step, read Scenario 2, answer the questions that follow, and prepare and submit an email sent to the team passing on information from management.
Scenario 2
About six weeks after being appointed team leader of the Sales, Marketing and Customer Engagement team at The Righteous Bean you have just finished a regular management meeting where team leaders and line managers get together to plan and discuss operational and management issues.
At the meeting you received information from line management in the business that:
A new roast has been developed for the company and the Roasting Department want your team to publicise it and invite existing and potential customers into the store to sample it
A new Fairtrade bean has been sourced from South Africa and the Packaging Department want your team to promote the sale of ground and whole bean 1kg and 2kg vacuum packs to hotels, clubs, cafes and the like.
The Roasting Department line manager gave you a handout containing details of the new roast, together with times and dates when tastings would be available. The line manager asked you do what you need to do in order to cultivate interest and get people to attend and sample the new product.
The Packaging Department line manager gave you a detailed Fact Sheet about the new bean providing details of the region where the bean was grown, information on Fairtrade certified products and the price list for the packs.
You decide to notify the team about this information using an email and make a note to ensure you observe appropriate conventions and protocols when writing the email, and adhere to applicable requirements of The Righteous Bean Written Communication Policy and Procedures.
2.1 You are always happy to pass on information from line management to your team because you know there are many reasons why this needs to be done: explain two (2) or more, of these reasons.
(1)
Why do we need to pass down information from line management to team?
(2)
(3)
2.2 You considered sharing this information with team members one-on-one over the phone, but rejected the idea: give two (2) or more, reasons why you might not use this approach.
(1)
(2)
(3)
2.3. You also considered passing on this information at the next team briefing: what are two (2) or more, benefits of using a team briefing to do this?
(1)
(2)
(3)
2.4. Give two (2) or more, reasons that explain why you chose to use email to advise the team of this information from line management.
(1)
(2)
(3)
2.5. You know there are certain techniques you can use to assist with effective communication of this type of information: describe two (2) or more, of these techniques.
(1)
(2)
(3)
2.6. You take the time to plan and draft an email to send to the team advising them about the information you have been asked to pass on from the two line managers: ensure you cover all the information that needs to be communicated, use appropriate organisation conventions and protocols and ask for feedback on the information in your email.
Submit a draft of the email as part of your assessment portfolio.
Attach printout of email ensuring:
Grammar, spelling, punctuation and tone is correct and appropriate.
A Read Request is included.
One attachment is included.
All required information is communicated clearly and succinctly.
Adherence to requirements of The Righteous Bean Written Communication Policy and Procedures.
Step 3: Passing on matters raised by the team to management
To complete this Step, read Scenario 3, answer the questions that follow, and prepare and submit an email sent to line management.
Scenario 3
Your Sales, Marketing and Customer Engagement team have come to you on several occasions over the last month and complained that the Distribution Department is failing to process orders they have secured properly.
New supermarket, hotel, caf and bistro customers have complained that deliveries are taking too long to arrive and they are running out of coffee before their order arrives, despite placing it seven days in advance of the required delivery date. There are also numerous instances where the wrong type of bean and the incorrect roast has been supplied. Last week alone there were four issues involving the wrong pack size.
You have mentioned this problem with the Distribution line manager (Taylor Grant), with whom you have a good working relationship, since the first problem emerged four weeks ago and have always been advised the issue was being looked into, and it was being fixed.
The situation has obviously not been fixed and this morning you received two phone calls from new outlets saying that is another order was late or wrong they were taking their business elsewhere.
3.1. Provide two (2) or more, reasons why you need to take action to follow-up and communicate this unresolved issue to the Distribution Line Manager.
(1)
(2)
(3)
3.2. You know you need to be sensitive and diplomatic in communicating this problem to the Distribution Line Manager and you have decided to use an email to do this, on the basis that your previous one-on-one talks have failed to resolve the situation. Take the time to plan and draft this email ensuring you cover all the issues you want resolved, making sure you use appropriate conventions and protocols and ask for feedback on the information in your email.
Submit a draft of the email as part of your assessment portfolio.
Attach printout of email ensuring:
Grammar, spelling and punctuation is correct.
A sensitive and diplomatic tone is used.
Appropriate email conventions are followed.
A Read Request is included.
All identified issues are covered.
Required information providing examples of issues is communicated clearly and succinctly.
Mention of the potential damage being caused to the business is included.
An offer to work cooperatively with the line manager to fix the problems is included.
Adherence to requirements of The Righteous Bean Written Communication Policy and Procedures.
Step 4: Responding to matters raised by stakeholders that have not been resolved.
To complete this Step, read Scenario 4, and answer the questions that follow, prepare and submit two emails sent to each of the stakeholders.
Scenario 4
This afternoon you have set aside time to respond to unresolved matters raised with you by two separate stakeholders.
The first stakeholder is an advertsiing supplier (Jo Williams from Food Ads) who is concerned at repeatedly delivering draft promotional material to your team but not being able to find anyone who can sit down with them to discuss and assess the items, to provide feedback about them and to give approval for final production. This is wasting their time and costing them money, and they are ready to ditch you as a client.
You have established a good working relationship with this supplier and want to maintain the association because they are excellent at what they do, their prices are very competitive and their products are creative and attention-grabbing.
Your research into this unresolved issue shows that the team are not prpeared to make a decision on the drafts because they are unsure whether or not they have the authority to do so. You have now arranged that Drew and Taylor together can make the final decision on any future drafts without the need for them to refer to anyone else.
The second stakeholder is a customer (Blake Gordon from Gordons Groceries) who has emailed you to say they are still being billed for free-of-charge promotional coffee one of your team members gave them as part of a deal to win their business.
The team member (Blake Woods) gave them 20kgs of Tanzinian Gold and they have received weekly bills for it for the past eight weeks. They are getting sick of contacting Blake to handle the matter so they have decided to raise the matter with you, and threatened to buy their coffee elsewhere if they receive another account for the free coffee.
You have confirmed with Blake that the coffee was provided as part of an incentive to Gordons groceries, have contacted the Accounts Department and had the billing stopped and the coffee charged out against your promotional budget.
Now is the time to address both of these unresolved matters and move forward good suppliers and customers are hard to get but so easy to lose!
4.1. You are annoyed at yourself for not addressing and resolving these two matters because you know how important it is to manage unresolved issues promptly: give two (2) or more, reasons that illustrate the need to address unresolved stakeholder issues as quickly as possible.
(1)
(2)
(3)
4.2. What actions should you do before responding to each of above situations?
4.3. Take the time to plan and draft an email to send to Jo Williams from Food Ads apologising for not responding earlier, explaining the revised protocols you have put in place, suggesting an appointment is made with Drew and Taylor before arriving with drafts for approval, and expressing a desire to continue a mutually beneficial association with them: ensure you cover all the information that needs to be communicated, use appropriate conventions and protocols.
Submit a draft of the email as part of your assessment portfolio.
Attach a draft email ensuring:
A recap of the issue is included.
Team members are not blamed for anything.
An apology for not responding earlier is included.
An explanation of the revised protocols is included.
A suggestion to book an appointment with Drew and Taylor before coming is included.
An expression hoping to continue a mutually beneficial relationship is included.
All required information is communicated clearly and succinctly.
Appropriate email conventions are followed.
Grammar, spelling, punctuation and tone is correct and appropriate.
Requirements of The Righteous Bean Written Communication Policy and Procedures are adhered to.
4.4. Take the time to plan and draft an email to send to Blake Gordon from Gordons Groceries apologising for not responding earlier, explaining action taken to address the issue and expressing hope of a long and mutually beneficial business relationship: ensure you cover all the information that needs to be communicated, use appropriate conventions and protocols.
Submit a draft of the email as part of your assessment portfolio.
Attach a draft email ensuring:
A recap of the issue is included.
An apology for not fixing the problem earlier is included.
Team members are not blamed for anything.
An explanation of the action taken to ensure the free coffee is not billed for again is included.
An expression hoping to continue a mutually beneficial business relationship is included.
All required information is communicated clearly and succinctly.
Appropriate email conventions are followed.
Grammar, spelling, punctuation and tone is correct and appropriate.
Requirements of The Righteous Bean Written Communication Policy and Procedures are adhered to.
Appendix A: The Righteous Bean Written Communication Policy and Procedures
Use this document as a reference for the emails you produce for this Assessment Task.
46964607937500Written CommunicationPolicy
The Righteous Bean is conscious that all written communication, whether internal or external, plays an essential role in the conduct or our business. How we communicate with people reflects on our business, and on our employees.
We have established written communication protocols to help ensure that method of written communication used, and the format of the communication, is consistent and appropriate to the context of the messages being sent.
All written correspondence should reflect the attitude of excellence that The Righteous Bean wishes to convey to all its workers, customers and partners. The Company wishes all staff to adopt plain English principles, use correct spelling, grammar and punctuation in all documents and refer to the Companys Style Guidelines with regard to format.
Procedures
Effective written communication
All correspondence should be written in a way that reflects the 5 Cs of effective written communication. The 5 Cs are:
Complete Presenting all of the facts to ensure the receiver has all of the information needed to respond or act.
Clear Being specific, leaving no doubts in the receivers mind. Ensuring messages are easily understood by the reader by ensuring information is presented logically and in plain English
Correct Means checking the document for accuracy of all statements, details and spelling
ConciseWriting the message in as few words as possible.
Courtesy Showing consideration for the receiver of the information by using such words as please and thank you. Ensure all documentation has a polite tone.
Writing Style
All written documentation and compositions should project a friendly and professional tone. Documents should be visually appealing and use clear, unambiguous language.
Plain English should be used in all business documentation, to ensure that the information contained is easily understood, and free from jargon or other technical language.
Methods of communication
Internal communication
Employees should use the following methods to conduct and record internal communication
email (whenever possible to save time and to provide a written record which is dated)
telephone calls (between individual employees, to discuss and negotiate. Confirm discussions with email)
Face-to-face discussion (between individual employees, to discuss and negotiate. Confirm discussions with email)
meetings (to inform and discuss issues and make decisions. Record meeting discussions through meeting minutes refer to Staff Meetings Policy and Procedure)
External communication
Employees should use the following methods when conducting internal communication
emails (where time is an important issue)
telephone calls (to discuss or negotiate. Confirm any decisions by email or letter.)
fax (where time is an important issue and email is not an option either because it is not available or the information is in an unsuitable form for email)
letters (to formally communicate information, when time is not an issue.)
Templates
Templates have been designed for a variety of commonly used business documents including (but not limited to):
Letterhead
Reports
Invoices
Meeting minutes
Meeting agenda
Staff must use these templates when creating business documentation on behalf of The Righteous Bean.
Responding to communications
Generally, respond using the same method as the original communication (eg if you receive an email, reply by email).
Timeframes
Respond in the following timeframes wherever possible:
Email same day
Faxsame day
Letterswithin three (3) working days of receipt
Inclusive language
Use non-sexist and non-racist language by:
avoiding male-dominated terms. For example, use chair or chairperson instead of chairman.
eliminating the unnecessary use of the persons gender, e.g. female manager
avoiding the use of pronouns such as he or she. Use their instead of his or her.
