Delivering the product to the client

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1 PART FOUR Deliverig the product to the cliet Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

2 Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

3 CHAPTER 12 Commuicatio skills ad presetig your ideas Learig outcomes The key learig outcomes from this chapter are to: recogise the importace of effective commuicatio to cosultig success; uderstad the process of commuicatio; be able to establish objectives for commuicatio; recogise that commuicatio has ratioal ad emotioal aspects; appreciate the advatages ad disadvatages of verbal, writte ad visual mediums for commuicatio; recogise the importace of deliverig your fidigs to the cliet; uderstad the meas by which those fidigs ca be delivered; appreciate some rules which will make the commuicatio of fidigs more effective The ature of busiess commuicatio Commuicatio is a fudametal aspect of our lives. The facility to commuicate subtle ad complex messages is what eables us to orgaise tasks: to decide what eeds to be doe, to allocate differet jobs to differet people, to discuss how they should be udertake ad to agree how the rewards of that cooperatio are to be shared. I brief, commuicatio allows us to build orgaisatios ad use them to create value to maage ad udertake busiess. It is ot surprisig that uderstadig commuicatio ad beig a effective commuicator are critical to success as a cosultat. A cosultat aims to develop ad promote a ew course of actio for a busiess. If the busiess is to take the cosultat s advice, the cosultat must commuicate his or her ideas effectively. But commuicatio is ot just about iformig people. It is also about motivatig them to act i a particular way. Successful maagemet is ot just about uderstadig the busiess oe is i, or eve about beig Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

4 258 Part 4 / Deliverig the product to the cliet able to make the right decisios. It is also about ispirig people, motivatig them, developig the power to push ideas forward ad takig a leadership role. These skills may seem elusive, but a major part of them is uderstadig how to be a proficiet commuicator. To be effective as a commuicator oe eeds to uderstad commuicatio at several levels. Commuicatio is ot just about trasferrig iformatio: it is about ifluece as well. Good cosultats ot oly relate their ideas but also actively advocate a course ad motivate others to follow it. People are social beigs ad whe they commuicate they iteract at may levels. People act as a result of the iformatio they are give ad their actios are coloured by the ature, toe ad cotext of the commuicatio as well as its cotet. Cosultats must uderstad the how of commuicatio as well as what is to be commuicated. As we will see later, effective commuicatio is a itegral part of leadership. Commuicatio ca be thought of as a process. As is ofte the case whe relatig ideas it is helpful to create a model that ca describe ad be used to explore them. A geeral model of commuicatio has bee developed which highlights some of the importat features of the process. I this model there is a distictio betwee the seder of the message ad its receiver. The first stage ivolves the decisio by the seder o what they wish to iclude i the message that has to be set, that is, what iformatio they wish to sed. The ext stage ivolves ecodig the message i some form, that is, expressig it i some way usig a symbolic system a laguage of some sort. The third stage ivolves trasmittig the message through some medium. It is possible that the message may be cofused by oise iterferig i the commuicatio medium at this stage. The fourth stage ivolves the receiver of the message actually receivig it ad decodig it. The fifth stage ivolves the receiver iterpretig ad actig o the message. The whole process is govered by a feedback mechaism. The act of commuicatig is modified i respose to the reactios of the receiver. We may illustrate this process i the form of the diagram i Figure Figure 12.1 The commuicatio process Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

5 Chapter 12 / Commuicatio skills ad presetig your ideas 259 This model, though quite simple, actually tells us a lot about the ature of commuicatio ad how we ca go about maagig it. I particular it highlights: the fact that we ever sed iformatio directly; it must first be ecoded i some way; that commuicatio ca occur oly if both the seder ad receiver uderstad ad share the rules of ecodig/decodig the message the laguage used; that the message may be iterfered with by oise i the medium through which it is beig trasmitted the message may be misuderstood; that receivig a message is a active part of the commuicatio process, ot a passive oe; that actios are take as a result of commuicatio. These are importat poits that we will eed to keep i mid whe we start to cosider the maagemet of the commuicatio process Commuicatio as a busiess tool Commuicatio is a fudametal aspect of busiess life. Busiess commuicatio is ot somethig that is udertake for its ow beefit. Commuicatio is effective oly if it leads to the right decisios made ad, as a result, the correct courses of actio followed. People caot make the right decisios uless they have the right iformatio to had. Commuicatio is the meas by which people obtai ad trasmit iformatio ad idicate what iformatio they eed i order to make decisios. Actios are a result of the decisios that people make. Commuicatio ca ecourage them to take oe particular course of actio over others. It is a process govered by feedback. Oce iitiated, commuicatio leads to further commuicatio. We judge other people s perceptios of our actios by the feedback (respose commuicatio) we get. I geeral, positive feedback ecourages or reiforces particular actios. Negative feedback discourages them. Commuicatio, iformatio, decisio-makig ad actio-takig are the liked i a loop. Maagig commuicatio effectively, usig it as a busiess tool, is about maagig this loop i its etirety. Commuicatio is ot simply a passive, backgroud aspect of orgaisatioal life; it is the very thig that makes orgaisatios happe. It is therefore importat that commuicatio is looked upo as a active part of busiess activity. Ad, as with ay busiess activity, the objectives of commuicatio eed to be cosidered. Of course, the extet to which formal ad explicit objectives are set will deped o the ature of the commuicatio. A major presetatio to the cliet will demad a formal cosideratio of objectives. A telephoe call to check o some facts will have objectives that are implicit ad will ot eed much explicit cosideratio. Noetheless, all commuicatio should be udertake with some objective i mid. The followig is a quite geeral framework for settig commuicatio objectives. They apply to ay commuicatio: ot just those betwee the cosultat ad cliet but those betwee members of the cosultig team. Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

6 260 Part 4 / Deliverig the product to the cliet The critical objective is: What do I wat to happe as a result of this commuicatio? I other words, the questio to be aswered is ot, What do I wat to say? but What do I wat to happe as a result of sayig it? Oce this objective has bee resolved the followig questios eed to be asked: Who will be the recipiets of the commuicatio? What iformatio eeds to be coveyed? What actios should the recipiet(s) take as a result of the commuicatio? Oe of the key actios that the recipiet might take is to provide you with some iformatio, so it is also importat to cosider: What iformatio should they give as part of their respose? (I other words, What do I wat them to tell me? ) People act o emotioal as well as ratioal grouds. They emerge from commuicatio ecouters feelig motivated or demotivated. So cosider: How should the recipiet feel as a result of the commuicatio? A further questio that should be asked is: What iformatio do the recipiets eed i order to act i the way desired? Do t flood the listeer(s) with iformatio. Cosider what is the miimum iformatio the audiece will eed to complete the actios required. Cosider whether it will be a hidrace if the recipiets have to come back for more iformatio. Or will this i fact help? This questio is related to a further oe that must be asked: What level should the iformatio be at? How deep is the audiece s uderstadig (ad desire to uderstad) specific details? Do they wat a broad picture or a highly detailed accout? How techically competet are the audiece? How much techical detail do they eed? Do t forget that commuicatio is a cotiuous process, ot a oe-off exercise. Cosider what follow-up actios will be eeded as a result of the commuicatio to esure the desired actios occur. The cosultat is egaged i a cotiual process of commuicatio with the cliet. This process does more tha just trasfer iformatio it is the basis o which a effective ad rewardig workig relatioship is built. We ca itegrate these questios ito the model of busiess commuicatio illustrated i Figure Verbal ad o-verbal commuicatio If the writte word is the skeleto of orgaisatioal commuicatio the the spoke word is its flesh. Oral commuicatio is so pervasive that we ofte forget that it costitutes a distict aspect of orgaisatioal life. The types of spoke commuicatio vary eormously ad the situatios i which it occurs are diverse. Oral commuicatio ca occur betwee just two people, withi a small group Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

7 Chapter 12 / Commuicatio skills ad presetig your ideas 261 (the cosultig team) or to a large audiece. The commuicatio ca be oe-way or iteractive. The forum i which the commuicatio takes place ca be either formal or iformal. It ca occur with the commuicators located together, or with the assistace of moder commuicatio techology, separated by eormous distaces. Telecoferecig allows log-distace group commuicatio to occur. The spoke word ca be stored, although this requires the use of soud recordig techology. The advatages of oral commuicatio are: 1 it is flexible: commuicatios ca be geerated quickly; 2 it is of relatively low cost; 3 the commuicatio ca be supported by persoal cotact: persuasio may be easier; 4 the meaig of messages ca be complemeted ad modified by paralaguage ad o-verbal commuicatio (see below); 5 it allows istat feedback. There are, however, a umber of disadvatages: 1 It does ot (usually) leave a permaet record. 2 It ca be difficult to cotrol ad direct (especially whe large groups are ivolved). 3 Resposes are expected quickly: there may be little time to pla ad thik ahead. 4 It ca easily be domiated, especially where there are strog-willed people with opposig views. The fact that verbal commuicatio is istataeous ad iexpesive leads to such commuicatio ofte occurrig o a ad hoc rather tha a plaed basis. We ca be called upo to respod to a oral commuicatio (say, to give a immediate aswer to a questio via a telephoe call) i a way that we are ot with a writte commuicatio. We ca have time to thik before respodig to a memo or . Ideed, as social beigs, we are required to idulge i oral commuicatios to a much higher degree tha i other forms of commuicatio. Note that every huma society has access to a spoke laguage though, historically, oly a miority has foud the eed to develop writte versios of that laguage. This isistece that we egage, almost istataeously, i verbal exchages meas there is a particular challege i plaig for oral commuicatio. However, there is still a great deal to be gaied from plaig ad a little time dedicated to this ca reap eormous beefits i terms of its effectiveess. Some situatios, particularly those that are formal ad those that ivolve commuicatio to larger groups presetig the fial report, for example are relatively easy to prepare for. With a presetatio or a speech, the plaig has a great deal i commo with that of writte commuicatio. Ideed, the words spoke may be from a writte script. With less formal commuicatios, or those to small groups where the oral iteractio is highly iterative ad built o feedback, the plaig may have to occur while the coversatio is ufoldig. Plaig for oral commuicatio falls ito two types: prior plaig, where what is to be said is decided before the coversatio occurs, ad ogoig plaig, which occurs while the coversatio is takig place. This secod form of Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

8 262 Part 4 / Deliverig the product to the cliet plaig is, i a sese, more atural i that to some extet or other we all do it ayway. Yet, because we are ot beig give much time to thik, it is perhaps the more difficult. It ca be made much easier by a little prior thikig about the coversatio that is to take place. Oral commuicatio has the same objective as other forms of commuicatio ad the same questios, such as the followig, should be cosidered: What actios do I wish the recipiet of the coversatio to take? What iformatio should be give? What should be the toe? How should the recipiet feel? Additioally, however, some cosideratio should be give to the kid of respose the recipiets might make: What kid of questios are they likely to ask? What additioal iformatio will be requested? What kid of problems ad objectios might be ecoutered? Cosiderig these questios before the commuicatio starts will aid ogoig plaig durig the commuicatio. It will greatly ehace the effectiveess of that commuicatio. The meaig trasferred through verbal commuicatio is ot just ecoded i the words used, it is also related by how the words are used. The impact of a verbal commuicatio is govered at several levels. The meaig ecoded i verbal commuicatios must be cosidered i terms of paralaguage as well as formal laguage. Speech carries iformatio through the souds that are made (laguage). But it also carries importat iformatio i the way i which that laguage is used. Those aspects of spoke laguage that are ot related to the actual cotet of what is beig said are collectively kow as paralaguage. As a old sayig goes: It s ot what you say but the way you say it. Paralaguage icludes aspects of spoke laguage such as: Toe of voice idicatig emotios, for example ager, expectatio, etc.: They souded very positive about the idea! Timbre of voice idicatig attitude, for example tremblig with apprehesio, seerig with codescesio, etc.: It s a complicated idea. I do t uderstad it. It certaily does t help whe experts talk dow to you about it! Timig particularly importat for idicatig degree of cosideratio ad covictio, for example: The cliet has fially agreed. Mid you she took some covicig. She paused for ages before she said yes to the budget we proposed. Paralaguage is particularly importat i commuicatig the emotioal cotext of what is beig said. Cosider how flat ad uemotioal a voice sythesised by a computer ca soud. This is because such a voice cotais o paralaguage sigals. A challege i plaig oral commuicatio that is ot ecoutered i plaig writte commuicatio is the cosideratio of o-verbal ad paralaguage aspects of the commuicatio. We do, of course, deal with these aspects costatly without really thikig about them. We are, to a great extet, istictive commuicators. If, however, we wish to effectively maage commuicatio ad its effects, the ability to cosciously cotrol these aspects of our commuicatio Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

9 Chapter 12 / Commuicatio skills ad presetig your ideas 263 is a powerful tool. The fact that there are ratioal ad emotioal aspects to all commuicatios meas that the effectiveess of commuicatio is a itimate mixture of cotet ad cotext; of what is said ad how it is said. With verbal commuicatios, paralaguage ad body laguage are particularly importat sigifiers of cotext. No-verbal commuicatio icludes such aspects of commuicatio as the followig. Facial expressio Particularly expressive elemets of the face, chages i which costitute forms of o-verbal commuicatio, are the eyes, eyebrows ad mouth. Cosider: It was a radical idea he raised his eyebrows at the thought of it. She was a bit critical but with a smile. Body laguage Body movemets add to ad exted spoke commuicatio. It is easy to sed both positive ad egative messages with body laguage. Most body laguage sigals are set ad received subcosciously. Posture The positioig of the whole body with respect to what is beig commuicated ca be a form of expressio. A ope posture (arms relaxed by the side of the body) is more ivitig tha a closed, defesive posture (arms folded across the chest). Gestures Specific movemets may add emphasis, for example poitig, arm opeig (idicatig welcome), lookig at the watch (idicatig boredom) or brigig the had to the chi (idicatig cosideratio). Gesture ca mirror meaig. Relaxed body postures are more ivitig tha tese oes. Facial gestures ca idicate whether somethig is a equiry or a statemet. Ope body postures are a idicatio that the debate is still ope, closed body postures that it is closed. As discussed above, the objective of busiess commuicatio is ot so much oe of deliverig iformatio but oe of elicitig actio. The maagemet of commuicatio ca the be cosidered i two iterrelated parts: first, makig people receptive to the commuicatio that is, buildig rapport ad, secod, ecouragig them to act o the message that is, motivatig actio Writte ad visual commuicatio Writte commuicatios are the backboe of orgaisatioal commuicatio systems. The cosultat s report, whether backed up with a presetatio or ot, is ofte see by the cliet as the product of the cosultig exercise the thig Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

10 264 Part 4 / Deliverig the product to the cliet that is actually beig paid for. The use of a writte medium has a umber of advatages i a busiess cotext: 1 With the writte medium there is time to pla the commuicatio before it is delivered. 2 Writte commuicatio is permaet; it ca be stored. 3 It is uambiguous: what s writte is writte! 4 Writte commuicatios are easily copied. 5 The receiver has time to aalyse the cotet of the commuicatio at leisure. 6 It ca be supplemeted with visual commuicatios (e.g. diagrams, graphs, etc.). There are, however, a umber of disadvatages to writte commuicatio: 1 It is slow compared with verbal commuicatio. 2 There is little opportuity to modify the commuicatio with paralaguage. 3 Feedback is restricted: there is a limited opportuity for the receiver to explore the commuicatio with the seder (uless verbal commuicatio is used as a supplemet). Moder commuicatio techology such as makes feedback easier. However, it is still slower tha verbal commuicatio. The most importat pieces of writte commuicatio the cosultat makes are the iitial project proposal ad the fial report. The visual image is a fudametal form of commuicatio. It has a umber of advatages: 1 The visual image ca be very powerful. 2 It ca be used to simplify complex ideas ad relatioships. (This is a idea discussed earlier, i Sectio 9.4.) 3 It ca be used to support ad add impact to other forms of commuicatio. 4 Images are remembered (more so tha words). There are, however, a umber of disadvatages: 1 Without supportig explaatio the image may be ambiguous. 2 It may require special iterpretatio skills. 3 Productio may be costly. Visual images used i commuicatio are diverse: diagrams, graphs, photographs, sketches or drawigs. Some techiques for visualisig iformatio so that patters ad relatioships become clear were discussed i Sectio 9.3. Visual stimuli ca be three-dimesioal, for example models. The visual image ca be used i a variety of commuicatio scearios: whe the subject of the commuicatio is primarily visual; whe complicated ideas eed to be simplified; whe complex relatioships eed to be demostrated; whe the commuicatio requires emotioal impact; whe the message eeds to be remembered: we remember iformatio i the form of images much better tha i a verbal form. Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

11 Chapter 12 / Commuicatio skills ad presetig your ideas 265 Give its stregths ad weakesses, visual commuicatio really comes ito its ow whe it is used i cojuctio with other forms of commuicatio. Some particularly importat forms are: with writte text: diagrams, graphs ad charts i reports; images ad pictures i product guides; images ad pictures i prited advertisemets; with the spoke word: slides ad overheads used i presetatios; images i sales presetatio materials; images i televisio ad prit advertisig; models used with small group forums. Particularly importat here are stimuli for braistormig, focus group ad other creative sessios. The visual medium is very effective at represetig iformatio i a way that is memorable, draws attetio to relatioships ad has impact. Take it as a rule of thumb that people will remember five to seve pieces of iformatio from a visual image. Try to orgaise the iformatio that you wish to commuicate so that each image has aroud this umber of key poits. Key poits iclude ot oly facts but also relatioships betwee facts; so ot oly that this year s sales are 2 millio but also that they are larger tha last year s ad smaller tha is hoped for ext year. Be creative with visual images. Graphs are a good way of illustratig facts ad the relatioship betwee them but their impact ca be made greater by customisig them with bespoke images. Complex argumets ca be made clearer by the use of flow diagrams that idicate how differet aspects of the argumet are logically iterrelated. Images ca also idicate the way the audiece is expected to feel about the iformatio. Imagie a graph of a compay s sales performace to which has bee added the illustratio of a rocket soarig away i flight or the illustratio of a sikig ship! As a test for a visual image, ask the followig questios: 1 If the audiece were asked to summarise the image, what five facts would they idicate? 2 How would they feel about those facts? (That is, would they react positively or egatively?) These poits will be developed later i this chapter, whe we cosider the formal presetatio of fidigs Plaig the commuicatio The commuicatio of the fidigs of the cosultig exercise to the cliet is a evet of great importace. The cliet is likely to see this as what he or she has paid for. If the cosultig exercise was a iformatio-gatherig exercise the the commuicatio is the meas by which the iformatio is delivered. If the project is offerig advice o a busiess developmet strategy the the fial commuicatio is the meas by which that advice is made kow. Eve if the Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

12 266 Part 4 / Deliverig the product to the cliet cosultig has take a process approach ad the outcomes delivered are a result of the cosultat cliet iteractio, the fial report provides a tagible capstoe to the project. The cosultig project will have geerated a lot of iformatio ad ideas. The mai challege i producig the commuicatio is orgaisig that material so that the message you wat to sed is delivered i a coheret ad covicig way. Barbara Mito, a cosultat for McKisey & Compay who wet o to specialise i commuicatio, describes oe very effective approach i her book The Pyramid Priciple. The basis is to orgaise ideas ito a hierarchy (a pyramid) so that they are sorted ad iterrelated. Mito lays dow three rules for coectig ideas: 1 Ideas at ay level i the pyramid must be summaries of the ideas below them; coversely, ideas at ay level may be expaded upo at a lower level. 2 Ideas i each groupig (pathway i the pyramid) must be ideas of the same kid that is, they must relate i some way ad ca be grouped together. 3 Ideas i a groupig must be ordered accordig to some iteral logic. Mito s ideas apply to busiess commuicatios i geeral. There are a umber of ways i which they might be applied to the challege of producig a cosultig report. The followig is my ow approach. You may iterpret directly Barbara Mito s ideas to devise your ow. I use four levels. These are illustrated i Figure The big idea The big idea is what the whole cosultig exercise is about. It is the cetral theme that uifies the exercise. It should be related to the origial aims ad objectives of the project. So, the big idea might be to expad the busiess or to improve profit margis or to eter a iteratioal market ad so o. Figure 12.2 The pyramid of ideas for relatig cosultig fidigs Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

13 Chapter 12 / Commuicatio skills ad presetig your ideas 267 Meas of achievemet How ca the big idea be achieved? Expadig o this is where the cosultat adds value. So, if the big idea is to expad the busiess, this level must expoud o the optios for expadig the busiess. It might iclude icreasig market share i existig markets, developig ew products or eterig ew markets. If the big idea is to icrease profit margis, the meas of achievemet level might cosider icreasig prices, alterig the portfolio mix or reducig costs. This level may also be used to close off optios which it is felt will ot deliver the big idea. Logic This third level coects the meas of achievemet to the big idea. It provides the explaatio of why the big idea will be achieved by the meas described i the secod level. I some cases the logic will be obvious (to you at least). I others it will rely o subtle iterpretatios. If i doubt, assume your audiece would like to have the idea explaied. Evidece This fial level cotais ay evidece that is available to justify the logic. It might iclude iteral data o sales or costs. It might be data obtaied through market research o the market, its potetial ad the opportuity it presets. It ca iclude discoveries made through creative sessios ad exploratios of the type reviewed i Chapter 9. Ay of these levels ca be expaded ito sublevels if this helps clarify commuicatio of fidigs. The pyramid of ideas ca be developed as a team exercise through a braistormig sessio. A example is show i Figure Figure 12.3 A applicatio of the pyramid of ideas Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

14 268 Part 4 / Deliverig the product to the cliet Do t forget, this expasio should be udertake with a clear view of the objective of the commuicatio. As discussed i earlier i this chapter, a commuicatio objective relates to what you wat the recipiet to do, ot just what you wat him or her to kow. Presumably, you will wat the cliet to be impressed by your ideas, recogise their value to his or her busiess ad make a effort to implemet them. No good cosultat would wat less The cosultig report A report provides a tagible, accessible ad permaet commuicatio of the fidigs of the cosultig exercise. It eed ot be a log documet. I fact, it is a safe assumptio that maagers do ot like to read log reports. What it should be is a succict ad impactful presetatio of the opportuity you have discovered for the busiess. Remember your objectives: it should be a call to actio. For a example of a cosultig report, please see the Appedix (Marketig pla for Supergelato Ice Cream Ltd). The report may comprise the followig sectios. Executive summary This is a summary of the fidigs of the cosultig project. But it must be more tha just a summary. The executive summary is the gateway to the report. It must be short but ivitig. A good rule is a oe-page maximum. Use bullet poits to isolate ad summarise your ideas ad recommedatios. Use a active laguage style. Be positive. Talk about what the busiess might achieve if the ideas i the report are implemeted. Ask two questios about the executive summary. First, does it ivite the reader i? O readig the executive summary will the reader be motivated to delve further ito the report? Secod, if the reader reads oly the executive summary, what is the message he or she will get? Briefly, will the executive summary deliver your objectives for the commuicatio? These two questios may seem cotradictory but they are ot. If the executive summary is both complete i itself ad a ivitatio to go further it will have impact ad set the scee for the expasio of the ideas it relates. Itroductio The itroductio should illumiate the cotext of the report. It should give ay relevat iformatio o the busiess ad its situatio. It should also specify the goals, objectives ad outcomes that were agreed origially. The itroductio will repeat much of the groud covered by the origial project proposal. This proposal will provide a template for the itroductio. The itroductio might be used to give a flavour of what is to come: a further ivitatio to move ito the body of the report. Body of the report This is the part of the report where you ca expad o your ideas ad develop your case. The body of the report ca be give a suitable title. It may be broke Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

15 Chapter 12 / Commuicatio skills ad presetig your ideas 269 dow ito subsectios if appropriate. Do t forget, it is geerally better to have a lot of short, well-defied ad titled subsectios tha log sectios. They make readig ad later accessig easier. The pyramid discussed i the previous sectio ca be used to orgaise the material for the body of the report. It is better to work your way across the levels rather tha dow the groups. You do t eed to provide logic ad evidece upfrot for every idea. Lay out the skeleto of your overall case first, the flesh out the details later. Be explicit. Tell the reader what your case will be ad promise to support it later. Layer your ideas. The writte page must be liear. But our thikig is ot: it is hierarchical. Expad your themes i a hierarchical maer. Use iteral refereces to sigpost where your ideas are goig. If the reader feels tempted to jump from oe sectio to aother, fie. You may also wat to use visual represetatios of ideas ad iformatio. Some techiques are discussed i Sectio 9.4. A picture really is worth a thousad words! Summary ad recommedatios Remember your objectives. You should close your report with a fial call to actio. A good way to do this is with a succict summary of fidigs ad the recommedatios listed as bullet poits. This format ot oly repeats the message but also makes the recommedatios accessible. We value origiality. Some people feel ucomfortable with this approach to report writig. They feel that they are repeatig themselves by sayig the same thig i the executive summary, the body of the report ad the agai i the summary of recommedatios. So what? It has bee observed that a good busiess commuicatio tells the reader what it will say, says it ad the tells the reader what has bee said! If the message is a good oe, do t be afraid of gettig it across. Appedices The trick with appedices is to be cyical. Assume they wo t be read! They are a good place to put ay iformatio that you have used to make your case ad that might be of iterest to the reader i the future. If the iformatio is valuable to your case the a summary of it (perhaps usig a visual represetatio) should be i the body of the report. Iformatio that will be of use i the implemetatio of recommedatios (say a list of potetial customers) should ot be hidde away i appedices, it should be highlighted ad accessible i the body of the report. Clearly, the report will speak for you. It will be a represetatio of your efforts. You should be proud of it. Make time for its plaig ad preparatio. Check the copy ad make sure that typographical, spellig ad grammatical errors have bee removed. Be wared. May people fid it difficult to check their ow copy. It is better to have someoe other tha the report writer to do the copyeditig. Moder word-processig techology makes report writig easy. Sectios ca be added, revised ad moved with ease. Spellcheckers take the strai out of copy checkig. Impressive visuals ca be edited i. A variety of graphics ca be used to decorate the report. But ultimately, it is the substace of the report that matters. A simple, well-writte, well-laid-out report relatig ideas that will have a real impact o the performace of the busiess is much better tha a report rich with graphics but lackig substace. Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

16 270 Part 4 / Deliverig the product to the cliet 12.7 Formal presetatios A formal presetatio is a very effective meas of gettig your message across. It allows the message to be fie-tued usig both verbal ad visual commuicatios, to get istat feedback from the cliet ad to respod immediately to poits ad questios. Formal presetatios are beig used icreasigly as a meas of iter- ad itra-orgaisatioal commuicatio. The formal presetatio is, however, a challegig mode of commuicatio. To be effective it must be well orgaised ad delivered with cofidece. This cofidece comes through preparatio ad practice. It is worthwhile to take time to pla the visual aids to be used. The images eed careful cosideratio if they are to have a impact. They ca be relatively expesive ad take time to produce ad copy, so pla ahead. Some useful poits to remember are as follows. Aalyse the audiece. What images will they fid relevat ad will have impact? What iterpretative skills do they have? Do t make the images too complicated. Clear, simple images have much more impact. Cosider the relatioships you eed to commuicate. Use images that emphasise the relevat relatioships. Do t forget you ca use a sequece of images to build up ideas. Use the pyramid priciple to orgaise your message. The images i the presetatio should be used to support the presetatio. They are aides-mémoire for the preseter ad add impact to what the preseter says. There are a umber of techologies for producig visual material. The oldest ad simplest is just a pe ad paper. With a little care ad attetio, quite professioal diagrams ad graphs ca be produced. Word-processig ad desktop publishig systems ad drawig packages are readily available ad with a little practice they ca be used to produce sophisticated ad professioal visual material. Colour is a effective stimulus i visual commuicatio ad ca be used to differetiate relatioships (say, by the use of differet coloured lies o graphs). Primary colours have most impact. Desktop publishig packages usually have colour facilities. Colour is reproduced well o overhead acetates ad i electroic presetatios. Beware, however, if it is iteded to photocopy the overheads for later distributio colour iformatio is lost i black ad white copies. A good deal of iformatio ca still be represeted i black ad white by usig broke ad dotted lies ad differet cross-hatchig styles for areas. The most commo devices for visuals are the overhead projector that uses A4-sized acetates ad, more commoly ow, laptops with electroic presetatios, e.g. PowerPoit (these are better for large audieces ad more formal presetatios). The followig are a few poits for producig effective visual support of the presetatio: Remember that the visual material is supportig the presetatio ot makig it! Do t put text o the scree ad read from it. Keep the images simple. They should add impact to the presetatio, ot distract from it. Put up bullet poits to idicate to your audiece the key issues you are idetifyig. These will also act as aides-mémoire if you are presetig without otes. Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

17 Chapter 12 / Commuicatio skills ad presetig your ideas 271 Use lower-case text. Upper case is austere ad ca be difficult to read. Use a poiter (either a traditioal stick or oe of the laser type). Cosider your positioig relative to the projector. You wish to face the audiece, ot the scree, so positio yourself so that you ca see the scree with a slight tur of the head. Avoid blockig the audiece s view ad do t block the image by stadig i the light path. The audiece may fid it useful to retai copies of the slides you have used, so photocopies may be provided. You must decide whether you wish to give out the copies at the begiig or at the ed of the presetatio. Givig them out beforehad allows the audiece to aotate them durig the presetatio. However, the audiece will ievitably flip through them. They may feel that all they eed is i the hadouts ad so they do t eed to follow the presetatio i detail. Also you will lose cotrol of whe the audiece sees particular images for the first time. For these reasos the presetatio may lose some of its impact if hadouts are distributed first. The formal presetatio ca be quite erve-rackig for the iexperieced, but plaig, preparatio ad practice are great builders of cofidece. The rules for a presetatio are the same as for ay other commuicatio. Thik about what you wat to achieve from it. Be sure of what you wat people to do as a result of the commuicatio. Aalyse the audiece. Some simple rules for a effective presetatio are as follows. Rehearse ad practise the presetatio. This is best doe as a team. Not everybody eed be ivolved i the actual delivery, but all ca add to it. Use otes as aides-mémoire but try ot to read from a script. It is better to cosider the poits you wish to make ad lear them usig the visual stimuli as a prompt. Time your presetatio. Make sure it is the right legth for the time available. Make metal otes of some time-poits to eable you to time the presetatio ad make sure it is o track. Place a watch or clock where you ca see it discreetly (say, beside the laptop). Avoid lookig at a watch o your wrist. It seds a bad message to the audiece. O the day, dress appropriately, but comfortably. You ll feel much more cofidet. Before the presetatio check that the equipmet (e.g. overhead projectors, laptops, beamers, microphoes, etc.) is workig. It is stressful to have to sort out equipmet i frot of the audiece before the presetatio ca begi. Make sure that the slides you ited to use are i the right order. Whe makig the presetatio use cofidet body laguage: make ope gestures ad avoid the temptatio to cross your arms i a protective gesture. Try to make eye cotact with the audiece. Smile! Pace your speech. Take regular deep breaths. This will help cotrol ervousess. Try ot to be axious about the presetatio. The audiece are ot out to get you! They are iterested i what you have to say. With a little practice effective presetig becomes secod ature the you ca cocetrate o what you wat to say! Icreasigly, beig able to give a effective presetatio is a key skill i the moder busiess world. Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

18 272 Part 4 / Deliverig the product to the cliet 12.8 Makig a case: persuadig with iformatio Iformatio is eeded for makig decisios but decisios are ot made o the basis of iformatio aloe. How it is preseted ad the cotext i which it is preseted is also importat i ifluecig decisio-makig. I busiess, iformatio is usually preseted with the itetio of ecouragig the recipiet to take a particular course of actio (the what do you wat the audiece to do as a result of receivig the iformatio? objective). Beig ifluetial with iformatio is a matter ot oly of idetifyig that iformatio which makes your case but also of deliverig it sympathetically to the audiece. Iformatio will be more ifluetial if it: is relevat to the decisios the recipiet eeds to make; is pitched at the right level of uderstadig; is preseted i a form which makes it easy to uderstad ad digest; is supported by impactful visual stimuli; is placed i appropriate opiio ad feelig cotexts; is delivered i a situatio of good rapport (see Chapter 7); is part of a iteractive process where the recipiet is ecouraged ad supported to explore the iformatio; has key poits sigposted ad highlighted. Do t forget, if you eed to orgaise the iformatio before presetig it, use the pyramid priciple described i Barbara Mito s book Aswerig questios ad meetig objectios i presetatios Formal presetatios usually ed with a ivitatio for questios to be asked. It is useful to develop some skills i dealig with the questios ad their close relative: objectios. After havig ivited questios, look aroud the audiece for sigs of someoe wishig to ask oe. As the preseter you are i cotrol. Eve after you have ivited questios potetial questioers may still be lookig for a sig from you that they have a right to speak. Eye cotact ad a yes will usually be sufficiet to elicit the questio. Whe the questioer speaks, really liste to the questio beig asked. Use active listeig. Cosider the ature of the questio beig asked as well as the questio itself. Is it a head questio, a ratioal seekig of further iformatio, or a heart questio, a more emotioally rooted seekig of reassurace? Some useful poits to remember i aswerig questios are as follows. Summarise the questio beig asked before attemptig a aswer. This will esure that you have uderstood the questio ad that the rest of the audiece have uderstood it. It will also give you some thikig time. Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

19 Chapter 12 / Commuicatio skills ad presetig your ideas 273 If the questio is complex ad, i fact, cotais more tha oe questio, break it dow ito idividual questios. Idicate that you will aswer each i tur. Aswer the questio to the best of your ability. You ca do o more! If you do ot have the ecessary iformatio to had, say so. Take the questioer s details ad offer to get back to him or her with the iformatio. But do t forget to do so! After aswerig a questio do t just move o to the ext questioer. Close the aswer by askig the questioer whether the aswer is satisfactory: Is that OK? Does that aswer your questio? I hope that s a little clearer etc. Objectios are a little more difficult to deal with but there are a few good poits to remember. Objectios may be more heart tha head. They may be idividual or may summarise what might be the cocers of the etire audiece. Meetig objectios may require more tha fightig fact with fact. If you come up agaist a objectio, try the followig. Start by recogisig (ad eve welcomig) the objectio: Thak you. I m glad you raised that ; Right. I ca uderstad your cocers there ; A iterestig poit. Let me see if I ca deal with it. Cosider the speaker s feeligs whe meetig objectios (eve if he or she does t seem to be cosiderig yours). If he or she is seekig reassurace rather tha iformatio, give reassurace. If the objectio is clearly emotioal or o aswer is obvious, ask a questio back. This is obviously a major cocer for you. Why is that? Have you ecoutered this kid of problem before? etc. This will get the objector to explore his or her objectio (forcig him or her to put it o a ratioal footig). It will also give you some thikig time! It may soud difficult, but lear to regard objectios as a opportuity to make positive poits. Team discussio poits 1 Go back to the project proposal you have made to the cliet. Aalyse it as a piece of commuicatio. Ask the followig questios: (a) What was the objective of the commuicatio? (b) Does this objective meet the criteria set for objectives discussed i Chapter 5? (c) What actios did you wat the cliet to take as a result of readig the proposal? (d) What is the mix of ratioal ad emotioal elemets i the commuicatio? (e) Did you talk the cliet through the proposal o a oe-to-oe basis? If ot, do you thik this might have added to the impact of the proposal? Discuss these issues i your team. 2 Prepare a short formal presetatio (of five miutes with oe or two slides) o the theme of what you feel you have gaied from the cosultig project experiece i terms of learig outcomes, trasferable skills ad ehaced career prospects. Each member of the team should give this presetatio ad ivite (positive) criticism from the other members of the team. Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

20 274 Part 4 / Deliverig the product to the cliet u Summary of key ideas A ability to commuicate effectively is a critical skill for a cosultat. Commuicatio is ot just about passig iformatio; it is about gettig the recipiet of that iformatio to act i a particular way. Commuicatio has a impact at a ratioal ad emotioal level. Objectives should be set for commuicatio. Commuicatio ca take place through verbal, writte ad visual mediums. Each has its ow advatages ad disadvatages. Verbal commuicatio is iflueced by more tha just cotet: paralaguage ad body laguage are also importat. The fial commuicatio of the cosultig fidigs is the product the cliet is payig for. The commuicatio may take the form of a report, a persoal presetatio or a combiatio of the two. The commuicatio should be plaed with the objective of positively ifluecig the cliet ad gettig him or her to implemet the ideas preseted. Usig the pyramid priciple, orgaise your message ito four levels: the big idea, meas of achievemet, logic ad evidece. The most importat part of the report is the executive summary: this sells the report to the reader ad ivites him or her i. A presetatio should be plaed i advace. Impact will be gaied if the presetatio is pitched to the audiece, their level of uderstadig ad iterests. Visual materials should support the presetatio, have a impact ad reiforce the key ideas. Key readig Zelazy, G. (2006) Say It With Presetatios: How to Desig ad Deliver Successful Busiess Presetatios. Maidehead, Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Publishig. Mito, B. (2001) The Pyramid Priciple (3rd ed). Harlow, Essex: FT Pretice Hall. Further readig Bowde, R. (2004) Writig a Report: How to Prepare, Write ad Preset Effective Reports. Oxford: How to Books Ltd. Bradbury, A. (2000) Successful Presetatio Skills (2d ed). Lodo: Koga Page. DiResta, D. (1998) Kockout Presetatios. Worcester, MA: Chadler House Press. Hase, M.T. ad Haas, M.R. (2001) Competig for attetio i kowledge markets: Electroic documet dissemiatio i a maagemet cosultig compay, Admiistrative Sciece Quarterly, 46 (1), Hargie, O. (2006) The Hadbook of Commuicatio Skills. Lodo: Routledge. Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.

21 Chapter 12 / Commuicatio skills ad presetig your ideas 275 Laborde, G.Z. (1995) Ifluecig with Itegrity: Maagemet Skills for Commuicatio ad Negotiatio. Carmarthe, Dyfed: Crow House Publishig. Thompso, N. (2002) People Skills. Lodo: Palgrave Macmilla (Part II). Weissma, J. (2006) Presetig to Wi: The Art of Tellig Your Story. Harlow, Essex: FT Pretice Hall. Case exercise Holroyd Egieerig Holroyd Egieerig is a private compay fouded some 20 years ago by David Holroyd. The mai lie of busiess is machiig parts for the automotive idustry. The compay has 20 employees. David is ow 63. He is i the process of passig over cotrol of the busiess to his so, Doald. However, he still comes i most days. Doald is i his early forties. He heads the maagemet team that cosists of four directors. The others are Graham Sulliva, the marketig director, Philip Kig, the productio director, ad Toy Milliga, the fiace director. Graham, 36, is ew to the firm. He joied from a firm of cosultats after udertakig a project for the firm. Doald recruited him. David Holroyd recruited Philip, 59, ad Toy, 61, shortly after the firm was fouded. Doald Holroyd has called i a cosultig team to udertake a full strategic review of the busiess. He is coviced that it has growth potetial that his father has missed. He has asked Graham to lead the project. The team visited the site. Graham had arraged a short presetatio o the compay ad its market. Graham the moved o to show them aroud. While o the tour they met David. David rather took over ad isisted o showig them the latest machie tools. He asked them about the project they were udertakig. Whe they metioed lookig at the marketig strategy, he grabbed a gear wheel that had just bee cut. He held it up. Do t worry about marketig, he said, a good product sells itself! The cosultats have ow cocluded their work ad are due to report to the busiess at a meetig where all the key players will be there. Q1 Give the sesitivities outlied above, if you were the project leader for the cosultats how would you prepare for the meetig? Q2 I the meetig itself, what steps would you take as cosultig team leader to esure that the presetatio rus smoothly? Q3 What would be your defiitio of a successful outcome for this cosultig project? Maagemet Cosultig: Deliverig a Effective Project, Third Editio, by Philip Wickham ad Louise Wickham. Published by Pretice Hall Fiacial Times. Copyright 2008 by Pearso Educatio, Ic.