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Mr. Rickenbacker, Thank you for allowing the BMGT 485 Class Consulting Firm the opportunity to analyze the communication issues you are having with one of your teams. After reviewing all pertinent information, we have concluded that the issue is multilayered and is affected by the Easy Chairs organizational policies, as well as the leadership attributes of the team leader [Josh], and the communication skills of the members within that team. We will need to address each of these issues in order to correct the root cause of the communication breakdown. At the company level, we noticed a tendency for official policies on projects to be communicated via e-mail, and major changes to projects that affect multiple stakeholders to be communicated via ononone conversation as employees pass each other in the hallway. These may have been efficient and reliable practices when Easy Chairs was a small start-up company, however now that this organization has grown to a major player in the American wheelchair market with $7 million in sales and aspirations of international expansion, it is time to move to a more conventional level of business communication. As the BMGT 485 Class Consulting Firm looked at the specific actions ofJosh and his team, we saw that Josh is a valuable contributor to this team with a knack for creative and innovative ideas. However, Josh could use some training on the key components of Project Management in order for him to be an effective leader of his team. Training in Project Management will teach Josh the specific requirements for completing group assignments at a high level; such as identifying the needed resources (people, equipment, and electronic needs], time durations of a project [task durations, schedule management, and a glide path to completion}, funding concerns [initial costs, contingencies, and expected profit}, and the scope of the project (size, goals, and requirements] [Wich, 2009, Paragraph 2]. It will be important to discuss this training need with Josh and decide if he is willing to grow in this area, or if the company would be better served to bring in an outside Project Management Professional, and allow Josh to continue functioning on his innovative ideas for the company. The BMGT 485 Class Consulting Firm also found some room for growth with the members ofJosh's team, as they are hesitant to ask him direct questions about projects, and there is little internal communication between the team members on what each person is focusing on for the assigned project. This has led to instances of two or more employee's duplicating efforts by unknowingly.r working on the same portion of a project. These employees could use a class in workplace communication in order to open the lines of communication between all members of the team. A good method for entry level workplace communication training is to introduce the team to the 7 Us of Communication. While observing this communication method the team will learn to; empathize with each other and be courteous, state a clear purpose for the discussion, relav messages that are brief and concise, as well as focused and concrete, free of mistakes and correct, and finally those messages will be specific and complete {MindTools'v'ideo, 2018}. The issues outlined above are common problems for a small company that experiences sales growth which outpaces their growth as leaders. Easy Chairs can overcome these issues by putting more focus in their management and workplace communication. BMGT 485 Class Consulting Firm has identified six key changes that Easy Chairs can make in order to move past these current issues: Item 1. Implement Companywide Training in Workplace Communication: The basic aspects of communication is something that all business leaders are expected to know, but little time is spend during format training addressing these issues. A block of instruction on the main components of effective communications should help to close the gap on this important skill. The training should start with the specific aspects of nonverbal communication which includes items such as body language and posture, as well as eye contact, and nonverbal cues to let the speaker know that their message is being received (Patel, 2019, Paragraph 1). The training should also include general components of vocal communication such as understanding how the speaker is responsible for encoding the message in a manner that is understandable and then transmitting that message, the receive is then responsible for decoding the message and providing feedback on what they understand the message to be (Sanchez, n.d, Paragraph 4]. Finally, the instruction should include information on how to present information in a business setting. One approach to this is the PIP method which requires the presenter to; state the Purpose of the brief, state the Importance of understanding the information, and give a Preview of the main components before going into specifics (Patel, 2019, Paragraph 7]. Item 2. Solidify Roles within each Team: During a review of the current operations of Easy Chairs it was found that multiple team members are responsible for multiple tasks in the design and production of custom wheelchairs. This forces the employee's to be generalists [who know a little about a lot of different tasks} as opposed to specialist {who are experts in certain areas of a project]. A recommendation is to review the tasks that each employee is most proficient in and create a Company Task List. This Task List will identify each required task in the process of designing and manufacturing a custom wheelchair. For each task there will be an employee listed as "Primary," another employee listed as \"Secondary," and a third employee listed as "Alternate." Employee's will be expected to be subject matter experts for the tasks where they are listed as primary, and have a general working knowledge in the areas where they are listed as secondary or alternate. This will allow employees to hone their skills on a few tasks, while also providing a backup plan in case the primary employee is out of the office. Item 3. Create a Work Breakdown Structure for Projects: A Work Breakdown Structure {WES} is a core component of project management and is a hierarchical Visual aid which display's all of the individual components that go into a project [Project Manager, n.d, Section 1}. The WES can be created byhand using most office software products, or a fillable template can be purchased on-line. There are also multiple 1wariations of the WES that can be used depending on the type of project. These variations include a DeliverableBased WES that lists all of the team members and their responsibilities, or a Phase- Based WES that shows all of the major phases of the project from; initiation, to planning, to execution, to closeout {Project Manager, n.d, Section 3]. Regardless of the type that is used, a WES provide a graphical representation of the work to be performed and reduce the communication errors within the team. Item 4. Implement a Weekly Project Team Meeting: A weekly project team meeting should be scheduled at a certain time each week to cover all current and pending projects. The meeting should be attended by all stakeholders for the current projects that the company is working on. At this meeting, the Project Manager will present a WBS for all current projects and discuss timelines for each project. If there are multiple projects being worked simultaneously, the Project Manager will identify priorities so that workers know which project should be focused on first. Additionally during this meeting the Company Task List should be reviewed so that employee's understand which items they are listed as a Primary, and if there are any items where they are listed as Secondary or Alternate but will need to take on those responsibilities due to the Primary not being available. Item 5. Introduce BackBrief Requirements: At the end of each Production Team Meeting there should be time allotted for each stakeholder to give a short backbrief on their specific portion of the project. This is done for several reasons. First, it allows the Project Manager to feel comfortable that each team member fully understands their role in the project. Second, if there are misunderstandings in the requirement for a specific team member, the Project Manager can correct those on the spot before any effort is wasted. Third, when all of the components of a project are briefed in sequential order by the members who will be responsible for them, it will be easier for the Project Manager and the team members to pick up on any gaps that have not yet been identified. Item 6. Implement a Project Change Policy: Ineyitably there will come a time when after implementing all of the processes listed above, a project will change {either in scope or requirements] after it had been started. There will need to be a set policy on how to deal with these changes, that is more advanced that oneonone conversations as employees pass each other in the hallway. For minor changes in a project, an email sent by the Project Manager to all stakeholders may suffice. However, there needs to be a requirement for all stakeholders to reply with an acknowledgement email so that the Project Manager knows that all team members are on the same page. For major changes to a project, there will need to be an Emergency Change Meeting that is attended by all stakeholders. During this meeting the Work Breakdown Structure will be updated to show the new tasks and timelines. All team members will complete a backbrief on their portion of the task to ensure that the changes are understood. One important trend that the BMGT 485 Class Consulting Firm has identified in our years of helping companies with their management and communication needs, is that employees are often resistant to change. The recommendations listed above mark a major shift in the managerial operations of Easy Chairs, and how these changes are presents to employee's will make a big difference in how the new polices are received. It is recommended that this information be communicated via a multilevel approach, starting with a sitdown meeting with the BMGT 485 Class Consulting Firm and the Easy Chairs executive team. During this meeting we would discuss the implementation of the needed changes and generate a Policy Change Memo for the organization. This memo would include all of the main requirements for the move towards a project management focused organization; to include the move toward utilizing a Work Breakdown Structure, weekly team meetings, and the requirement for backbriefs from each section. The Policy Change Memo would be presented at the first weekly team meeting and published on the company SharePoint for easy access. However before the first weekly team meeting, it is also recommended that we have a discussion with Josh to provide some feedback on the current status of his team and present opportunities for improvement, with actionable steps that can be taken. This will avoid the possibility ofJosh feeling blindsided by the changes when they are presented to the group. Once we are assured that Josh is onboard with the needed changes, the Policv Change Memo would be communicated to the rest of the team during the first weekly meeting, in which the new policies will be discussed and feedback from the team will be taken into account before the polices are officially put into effect. It has been a pleasure working with Easy Chairs to identify the root causes and possible solutions to this communication problem. Please feel free to reach out to the members of BMGT 485 Class Consulting Firm for am,l additional questions or training needs. We look forward to seeing these six steps implemented and observing how they allow the organization continue to learn and grow