Reference no: EM133343127
Case: You are being considered for the role of sales manager for your current employer, Fly Athletic Company. They are a rapidly growing athletic equipment and apparel company looking to expand globally to compete with companies such as Nike, Adidas, and REI. The previous manager left to work for another sales organization without providing a two-week notice, and he is not available as a resource to train for the position. The company is giving you a trial period of one month as an "interim" sales manager since you've only been working for the company for three months. If you do well, you will be promoted to the position officially.
As interim sales manager, you will work to develop the team's structure, organization, and communication cadence that will enable the team to deliver successful sales results for Fly Athletic. The team members are relatively new to the company and require strong leadership in business and financial acumen from you. You will hire a new employee to fill one open position on the team as well. You will have access to Rita McMahon in Human Resources (HR) to provide company records for your employees if necessary. She will also be available to aid in the hiring process so that the proper protocol is followed.
Your manager asked you to make a User Guide for three members of the larger global team that are part of the finance, operations, and engineering teams. These supportive roles are vital for your sales employees to know, trust, and communicate with on a regular basis to be able to do their job. Due to globalization, they are spread out throughout the world.
Instructions
Develop a User Guide using Microsoft Word for some of the cross functional associates that your sales team interacts with on weekly basis. The guide should describe each person's culture, ways of working, business hours (in a standard time zone), languages spoken, educational background, holiday schedules, and preferred methods of interaction with other people on the team. Summarize what the foreseen challenges are in working with your team and how to help mitigate them as the sales force manager.
Employee Profiles
Employee - Danny Jenkins
Department - Operations
Location - New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Employee - Sunjeet Singh
Department - Finance
Location - Delhi, India
Employee - Oliver Warner
Department - Engineering
Location - London, United Kingdom
Remember it's important to learn about the culture, business practices, norms, and linguistic barriers that are in play. Don't just assume that you know what they are. Part of being a great sales force manager is being flexible and tailoring your style of business to your audience (whether that is the customer or your employees). Everyone is different, and the best way to succeed in your role is to learn about your audience so you can connect with them.