imagine you were the VP of Human resource department an you need to find An issue of internal communication Since a lot of people were working remote, a solution and proposal benefits 

 

See Example below

 

 

Areas of Concern: Finding Common Issues

 

Covid-19 has certainly changed the way the world communicates and interacts. Due to the current situation, ELC has been forced to virtually communicate with its employees, retailers, and vendors. This has been quite challenging, to the point of causing internal and external issues.

 

Reviewing the issues per department:

 

Sales Department: *Deborah & Yanlay are working on it*

 

Marketing Department: *Mikayla & Tyarra are working on it*

 

HR Department: *Joselyn & Jules are working on it*

 

Procurement Department: with the interruption of the supply chain due to shutdowns, and the closure of airports and ports around the world, ELC inventory has been severely affected. Thanks to the close relationship and open communication we have with our supplier and vendors, and understanding that Covid-19 restrictions are being lifted, they are willing to fulfill our purchase order by speeding up their production and shipping, so we can receive the products as soon as possible. Even with this effort, we will not be able to bring the inventory levels back to normal nor to satisfy all the pending orders. It is also important to consider that most of our vendors and suppliers are working remotely; therefore, we are not receiving timely responses thus our inventory system is lacking accuracy.

 

After reviewing these issues, I was able to identify a pattern within all the departments.

 

*Mention the patterns*

 

*Pattern 1* Lack of communication within ELC and with external parties

 

*Pattern 2* Lack of product knowledge within these departments

 

Proposed Solutions: Improve Virtual Communication and Product Education

 

It is undeniable that the pandemic has challenged ELC; however, we have the technology, physical, and human resources that could help us overcome this situation and strengthen our operation. Here I'm proposing solutions to improve the communication with our internal and external parties. I would like to mention that the involvement of our IT Department will be key, because to succeed, we should transition from in-person interactions, and focus on virtual communication. At the same time, our Product Development Department will be responsible for providing training to the department mentioned on this memo, so they can better understand what to offer, what to buy and what to promote.

 

Improve virtual communication

 

As mentioned before, the Procurement Department has been facing communication issues with the vendors and suppliers overseas, this is directly affecting our inventory levels; therefore, sales have declined due to lack of inventory of certain products, the Marketing Department has been forced to change their current campaigns, improvise, and focus on promote the products that are currently in stock. On the other hand, most of ELC's employees are working remotely and some in different time zones. Consequently, there is a lot of miscommunication between and the systems, including our ELC Inventory, are not being updated on time. 

 

The IT Department has offered their help with this communication issue and has created an ELC virtual platform that will allow ELC employees to communicate easily so the information does not get lost, and the systems are updated on time. At the same time, IT has enabled Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, and Skype in all laptops and computers so there are no more internal and external miscommunications. We are certain that this will alleviate the current communication situation and will help us adjust and have a better performance during the current situation. 

 

Product Education

 

Understanding the challenging situation with the supply chain, the procurement department will focus on the demand, so the inventory levels are kept at the required levels. At the same time, the Product Development Department will start training the Sales Department, the Procurement Department, and the Marketing Department, about the product available, so they can sell, buy, and promote them with their best knowledge and expertise. This will help improve sales, keep inventory levels, provide time so the rest of the product arrives, as well as the campaigns will be based on the products in-stock. It is also important for the HR Department to advise the whole company that we are only selling what we have in-stock.