Building_Partnerships

Performance Technologists and others in the organization can initially look to the mission for clear guidance when making challenging decisions, knowing that it is strategically aligned with the shared goals and objectives defined (Pershing, 2006). Organizations today, stressed by enormous competitive pressures, often jump into action before stepping back and analyzing exactly what action is most appropriate. In order to build a solid partnership with these three organizations and a better understanding of what these departments need, I would first have to recognize what goals and objectives we share. Shared goals and objectives cannot, however, be limited to those of the organization; and will not succeed without the support of their partners and the ability to make valuable contributions to their clients and their clients’ clients (Pershing, 2006). In aligning goals and initiatives, I have to develop a common vocabulary. FedEx as an example uses acronyms for just about everything, POC means percent of contribution, QDM, WFM mean Work Force Management. Understanding and using the same language allows departments with an organization to communicate effectively. Knowing and using the same vocabulary assures each department is of like minds. It would be very frustrating to collect data only to find out that you have collected the wrong information because you thought they wanted something else. In building a partnership I need to identify, analyze and eliminate obstacles that have a negative effect on the achievement of the business deliverable by understanding the situation through defining the objectives, the people who are impacted and the tasks that will be required for them to do. Also before any contact with the executives I must make sure that all changes will complement one another. The Customer Service department, the Training department, and the Marketing department would be my focus to see if I could align and build partnerships for new work with these three departments and how do their departments interact. What does the Customer Service department need form the Training department and how will it be marketed by the Marketing Department. As an example, the Customer Service reps may frequently get inquiries from customers to offer Sunday delivery or the customer is asking if they could be notified by telephone or email if the package will be late. This is why it is so critical that collaboration between departments is critical. Often times, many departments within an organization work alone and do not sharing information within the organization. The Sales department may have no idea of what the Marketing department is working on. Products are pushed out before Sales is even aware of it, causing confusion and can often affect many departments within the organization. Once the needs have been identified, I would have to define the process tasks and what steps need to take place. Who are the owners of the process tasks and steps' And what are the handoffs between process steps and between owners (The Learning Key, 2006). Collecting Information from a variety of methods such as customer and rep surveys, questionnaires, interviews from potential customers and observations is a way for me to gather what I need to make a determination. Surveys may have questions such as: 1. How many days of the week would you like to have your package delivered' 2. What price range are you willing to pay for such service' A variety of quantitative methods can be used in data collection and analysis. Data can be ranked in order of priority so that the participating departments can compare. There may be areas of common needs as well as uncommon needs. Once the data has been analyzed then planning the implementation comes into play. Often, recommendations coming out of a needs analysis process form the basis of both a short and long-term plan. The data collected is analyzed to prioritize needs and create an implementation plan. To do this I must prioritize the information by ranking data by importance of desirability, the frequency selected, the presentation of ranked data, relaying the preliminary conclusions to the Executives who are able to weigh all the information, the importance of the information and come to a consensus. Once that is done, I then need to incorporate the recommended modifications and revisions.