PR has recently joined FPC Company as the new Finance Director. He is needed to work towards getting the finance staff to play a fuller role in the company, becoming more integrated into the strategic and business activities of the organisation. Though, PR is aware that this will not be an simple task since his impression is that the Finance Department has a very poor reputation in the company, and current relationships among the finance staff and other departments are not good.

Discuss what should be covered in the series of training sessions to help members of staff in the Finance Department better their communication skills.

If the finance staff are to play a fuller role in FPC Company they will require a broader understanding of business. They will need to be trained not just to furnish and assemble financial information but draw insights and to communicate these effectively to support other functions in the company in decision making. To achieve this, developing effective communication skills will be crucial.  

The training on communication could begin by getting the Finance Department staff to explore the barriers that currently live in their communications with other members of the company. For instance, helping them to appreciate that the messages they currently send are often too difficult and are not fully understood by the other members of staff because of the technical jargon used. Also, that the receivers feel that they are overloaded with emails from the Finance Department and it can be complex to find relevant information on the spreadsheets they receive. As, they may not be picking up the most significant elements of the message to inform decisions.