As a Regional Director of Sales to PepsiCo, I am required to hold quarterly meetings with all sales managers for my eastern region. I was instructed by the CEO of PepsiCo to schedule a meeting, not only for our managers but for the stockholders, salespeople, and customers of PepsiCo. This will be the most important meeting for my career since I will be communicating with many of our key people that are crucial members to our team and to the business of PepsiCo. In order for this meeting to be a success, I will prepare accordingly and understand many factors such as which characteristics must be considered for the audience. Other factors are the channels which would be used and keeping in mind the diversity of the audience and how to ensure my message is effective. After setting up for the last five days, I have come with a strategy which will be successful in communicating my audience the quarterly sales information. The approach in which I have decided to use to build trust amongst this diverse audience is to take in consideration the different characteristics each individual has. Days before this meeting, I knew who my audience was going to consist of. I gathered enough information to know that in the group of people that where going to be present for the quarterly sales presentation where a group of diverse people. There where men and women of different ages ranging from 25 to 62. Another characteristic which needs to be considered in these diverse groups is race. Race is very important since most our staff is extremely diverse, from Hispanics from all parts of Latin America, to also employees from Europe, and many others from all parts of the world. Let’s not forget our customers and our stockholders who are also much diversified. The reason why these characteristics are being taken into considerations is to avoid any misunderstandings and to avoid stereotypes. “Ineffective communication can result in poor cooperation, lower productivity, negative undercurrents, gossip, rumors and increased turnover and absenteeism.” (Adkins, 2005, p. 52) Everyone’s culture must be understood along with each individual’s qualities. Secondly, the communication channels used for PepsiCo’s quarterly meeting are very imperative. It is understood that in corporate America, excellent information is critical for good decision making. A PowerPoint presentation is always used in my meeting to use more than one means of resources. PowerPoint presentations are great tools to pass on information in a more visible way to make sure all involved understand what is being said. To make the PowerPoint more interesting, pictures are used to give the audience a more personal touch, therefore; I use pictures of the company’s logo and picture of the product that PepsiCo uses. Another channel of communication is the actual information that is being discussed. A handout of the PepsiCo’s quarterly reports is giving to each individual so they have the numbers at hand. By providing each person with a copy of the quarterly reports, avoids miscommunication. There are considerations that must be kept in mind when given the diversity of the audience. Beliefs, values, and practices are main characteristic that need to always be considered when dealing with large groups of people. The quarterly meeting should be pleasant for all involved. Since PepsiCo is a global company, many of our employees have changes to move to positions in many parts of the world. This means that different cultures are amongst our staff members, along with our customers and stockholders. Using courtesy titles to anyone that is from our organization or outside our organization is the proper way to treat all the members that are involved in the quarterly meeting. Locker and Kienzler (2008) state that in order to have an accurate cultural understanding, effective oral communication is essential. Each person should feel comfortable and everyone should be treated equally. This will only lead to get the attention required and an effective meeting will result.
Last, the message that I want to bring across must be effective. In order for me to ensure the message effectively is to support PepsiCo’s mission and goals. Hochberg (2007) included eight rules which she considers that if followed, the message will be effective and will cause people to take proper action. One of these rules is not rushing the process because it is not effortless development. Avoiding the use of negative remarks or outcomes is best to not use to show credibleness. How I maintain a positive tone is one key benefit of this method. Eye contact at all times shows confidence and a reach on a personal level.