Communication Channel Scenarios Management MGT/521 March 18, 2012 Instructor: Patrick Murray

When tasked to head up a team to develop a strategy for introducing a new beverage in the global market, the best form of communication would be sending out an e-mail and scheduling a conference call. Time management is crucial for this type of short-term deadline. Delegation, prioritizing tasks, and setting goals are vital to ensure completion of the task at hand as well as making sure the deadline is met. The email is grouped with the key players so they can communicate with one another and everyone will be aware of his or her responsibility. During the conference call, brainstorming for ideas as well as the delegation of assignments will be set. Each member is tasked with an assignment regarding the product details. A breakdown of how information is received is included in the call. This will include names of each member and his or her responsibility with regard to the task as well as a time schedule of when information is to be presented. The importance of the mass group emailing will be beneficial for members who may have questions of another team member who may tie into his or her portion of the project. Another conference call is conducted by the third day to try to bring the project to life and questions can be asked if there are any conflicts or unknown issues. The information for the project is submitted by the end of the fourth day. The information is compiled and put into a package for submission; a face-to-face meeting with the Vice President of Operations is scheduled. This type of communication channel is best simply because it provides a more personal way to present the final presentation. Visual aids, i.e. spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentation, and other information will enable the project to come to life. Also this type of communication will allow for questions, comments, or clarification on any part of the project. Enthusiasm of the final project will be most prominent while conducting the presentation to show to show off the efforts put forth by the entire team. From time to time, unforeseen issues will occur, such as realizing that the company login and password expired. With a large travel agency, it is imperative to ensure all employees have the tools needed to perform their job effectively. Once the issue is first made known, best form of communication is to call the IT Department to get the login and password restored. Time is of the essence, so this would be a priority particularly as the rest of the staff begin to come to work. Once the login and password are restored, the need for informal groups to give the new information would be beneficial. After the initial group is informed, face-to-face meetings with each employee, upon arrival to work, is set up for the information to be given directly and accurately. The use of emails or postings for this task is not warranted in this scenario because of the delicate nature of exposing a password to people other than the intended users. After the initial password is given, it will have to change make it unique for each user. Therefore, a face-to- meeting with everyone to give the generic password as well as instructions on how to change will ensure everyone will proper instruction on how to change his or her password correctly going forward. Downsizing is never a good thing. However, when business is slow and revenue is not at a sustainable level for profit and compensation, it will affect the number of employees. The best communication of channel for having to downsize the employee number from 10 to six is to have a face-to-face with those who will be affected the most. During this time, it is important to allow them to process the news as well as offer any help to them support and any assistance such as referrals. Once the task of meeting with the affected employees is completed, gathering the rest of the staff to advise them of the changes would be the best way communication channel. By having a formal meeting with the remaining staff members will enable them to process the information as well and to answer any questions they may have. It is important to communicate with everyone to ensure there are no unanswered questions, and they are not hearing information from rumored sources that may not be factual. On a personal note, my hospital just went through a downsizing. Although my department was not directly affected, the director and I had an informal meeting to pass on the news to the staff. It is never easy to tell staff members of someone losing his or her job, but we informed them of the information to curtail any rumors and innuendos when they can hear directly from the source, and we could answer any questions to the best of our knowledge and scope of information. In conclusion, there are various communication channels to relay information. Three scenarios were raised, and although there were suggestions given for each one, the key word is communication. The primary source of communication channel appears to be face-to-face communication is one of the best forms to convey a message. However, technology is also useful in the form of email and conference calling when the availability of employees or other personnel are not within reach.