INTRODUCTION TO CONSULTING TEAMS 
 

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Welcome to The Company!!  MC Consulting is an organization which provides advice and training for businesses which need  assistance in areas related to organizational communication.  As a new company MC Consulting has, thus far, primarily served  business through responding to communication problems referred to it by executives who seeking advice and assistance for improving their  communication environment on a case-by-case basis (i.e. managers have come to us for help on specific problems).  Recently the company president, Chet Amagan, has determined that MC Consulting should develop communication training packages that can be "sold" to various organizations.

To accomplish this goal, you, as a new employee of  THE COMPANY, have been appointed to a consulting team.  Each team will be expected to develop a communication training package suitable for marketing to other organizations.  The future profitability of MC Consulting depends on the appeal and effectiveness of the training packages developed by the teams.

The procedures to be used in developing training packages are as follows:

 

 1.  Teams meet, organize, and select a general area of communication in which to specialize after discussion with The Company President.  Select team liaison (who will make reports to the President on team meetings, etc.).  [Keep in mind the goal of training is not to "tell people something," it is to change behavior.]

 

2.  Teams develop expertise in specialty area;  build a bibliography (including material on training).  [The usual major bottle neck is team members don't do adequate research and reading on a topic.  Thus, they can't get ideas on what/how to train people since they don't know anything to teach.]  Develop training package possibilities.  See my suggestions on how to do training program content research.

 

3.  Teams conduct client pre-training needs analysis.  Determine general client type (e.g. public service, professional, sales, etc.).  Develop a potential client list.  Determine client needs (using the instructor and others as potential clients for interview/survey purposes).  [Steps 2 and 3 go hand-in-hand.]

 

4.  Develop (SPECIFIC) training objectives and a preliminary  training outline.  [If you do this well the rest of the task becomes clear and easy.  If you don't get specific here the rest of the project tends to become confusing and very frustrating.  No team ever does this well without extensive discussion with Chet or Dr. McGaan (Chet's consultant).]

 

5.  Develop training modules (units, sessions) and select the sample module or partial module (1 hr. of training to be presented to The Company).  Consider training technique(s).  [The CATA Departmental library may be helpful.]

                                                   

6.  Prepare written materials (2 copies - one print and one electronic) for your "product pitch" to The Company and the President .  [See below.]

 

GUIDELINES ON "PRODUCT PITCH" PRESENTATIONS

WRITTEN MATERIAL

The written material submitted at the time of your product presentation will include the following (5 separate, labeled sections):

  1. Introduction -

       A.  Include an overview of the organizational communication subject matter your group has focused on and a brief overview of the training package you will produce.

       B.  Provide evidence/support showing that training in this area of communication is likely to improve organizational/ individual effectiveness!!  [Be sure it is clear who will be trained to do what]

     

  2. Market Potential -

       A. Indicate the type(s) of organization(s) or individuals who maybe potential clients. (Clients are those organizations or individuals who pay MC Consulting to conduct training.  "Clients" does not refer to trainees who are typically employees of the client.  Are there enough clients to make developing this product worthwhile?)

       B. Present a “selling strategy” for this product indicating how you think the company President can sell this program to potential clients (Your client needs assessment information may be helpful here.  Also, including a sample "sales brochure" with "ad" copy may be helpful.). Emphasize USPs of your program in this section.

     

  3. Training Objectives -

    A. Indicate specifically who your target training audience will be and what these trainees are like.

    B. List the overall behavioral objectives of your training package. [Be specific.]

     

  4. Program Outline -

    Present a tentative outline/schedule of the training package you will produce.  Main points/session topics are sufficient for this presentation.

     

  5. Preliminary Bibliography -

    Include references on training as well as material on the subject you will develop in your training package

 

 ORAL PRESENTATION

1.  Prepare oral presentation (15-20 minutes, TBA).  Your goal is to make a sales presentation that will convince The Company (that is, Chet) to produce and market your training package (and give you a bonus).  Naturally, you will want to cover some of the same material as the written materials but you do not need to duplicate it orally.  Persuasion is your goal.  The President is your audience.  Convince him your ideas are HOT; your team is competent/ brilliant; there are big bucks in this project. [ Highlight your key points but don’t READ to Chet from the report.  He’ll be insulted and bored.]

 

2.  Receive feedback and revise your product plan as appropriate.   Submit a revised plan to The Company for approval to proceed with product development.  Continue revisions until approval is  received from the President.

 

 

OTHER ADVICE

NOTE: the first sections of the final product report will be very similar to the first sections of the written materials used in the initial product presentation.  Submit TWO copies of all written materials, one hard copy and one electronic copy.

 

Keeping the project limited and very specific will produce the best results.  Getting organized and not leaving things until the last minute will be critical.  You will need to show initiative and seek out advice from the President on your own and regularly.  He will be happy to help you; he wants the company to succeed.  He can make your job easier and will insure that your product meets specifications -- if you give him the chance.
 

REMEMBER:  Your "product pitch" is NOT a description of the content of your training product.  It is a sales presentation.  The goal of this demonstration is to convince the Company President that your program has a substantial potential market (that is, it can make money for MCC) and to demonstrate that a training program like yours can achieve positive results for clients.                                                 

 

The boss (Chet) will expect regular written progress reports from your group (at least weekly). These team reports will be submitted electronically and each will contain the following information: Team name/number, number of the report, date of meeting/report, names of members at each meeting, items of business discussed at each meeting, work assignments of team members.

 

Your first product presentation may not be approved.  Don't be surprised if your efforts are rejected.  The company cannot afford second-rate products.  However, it is the final product that counts.  Careful, detailed planning and presentations are the key (not the vastness of the project). 

 

 GENERAL TRAINING TOPICS FOR MCC DEVELOPMENT

 

Effective Business Writing

Letter Writing (various types)

Report Writing

 

Effective Presentations

Effective Oral Reports (various aspects)

Persuasive Presentations

Multi-Media/Visual Aids

 

Group Communication

Problem-Solving Methods

Group Communication Skills

Conducting Effective Meetings

 

 

Interpersonal Communication

Effective Listening

Giving Performance Feedback

 

Management (skills)

Conflict Management

Superior/Subordinate Comm.

Leadership

 

Job Search & Interviewing

              For Applicants

               For Employers

 

[Pick a topic from above that you already know a fair amount about OR a topic which you KNOW has a specific and narrow body of information that you can easily get a hold of and distribute to all team members.]

last updated 8/25/2009