10 minute presentation

Hi,

I have been succesful in getting a second interview for a job as team coach within a large and busy operational team for which I already work in.

I have been asked to provide a 15 minute presentation on the approach I would take to meet the specific technical knowledge requirements within a busy operational team.

I already work on this altough in a different role and I would like to base the presentation around the true facts which are:

We have a high turnover of staff as morale within the team is quite low. We are a very busy team and people are trying to train newcomers as well as do more than one job all the time. The new people then leave as they can't take the pressure and are trained only the basics which means the vicious circle starts all over again. The job I am applying for is the role of team coach. The aim is to have one designated person who will then take responsibility of all the new staff as well as multi skilling all our other staff to minimise risk to the business. Any help would be absolutley great as I have never done a presentation before.

I think you have already written the first 3 minutes of your presentation! Spell out the situation as you see it. Staff join the company with high expectations, but don't have a clue what they are doing, become disengaged with what's going on, get demotivated and leave. Existing staff are no doubt getting hacked off as they have to work harder to cover the gaps. Chances are they don't get any variety and can't multi-skill, so they feel stuck in a rut. Sales / productivity are down - put some facts and figures to it if you can.
Then move on to the key points of your presentation, which need answer the following:
1. The specific actions the person in this role should take.
2. What the outcomes would be
and, most importantly:
3. Why it should be you that does the job!

Section 1 - I'd start with a fact finding mission, some hard facts and observations on what is going on, plus some of the annecdotal stuff about how exisitng staff are feeling. Maybe sound out those new entrants that didn't quit, what were the main things they learned, what was it that meant they survived whilst others quit. I would also suggest you observe the top and bottom performers within the unit, so you can build the best practices that go on in to your coaching. I'm making the assumption that your company brings an intake of people in to the business in one go rather than one by one. Woring on that basis, you would need to design a plan to make sure everyone that is new to the business is kept busy. Sounds like they have an induction training course they attend, so you will need to find out what they learn on that, and perhaps more importantly what they don't learn. Your coaching can then build on their existing knowledge first, showing them how things are done in the real world. Given that you work in the department, you will be able to show new entrants the tacit knowledge and skills (the way things are really done).

Things I've seen work well:

Issue a Job Passport - Give all staff a list of jobs and they tick them off as they do them. You as the coach also sign them off. I've found staff get quite competitive to learn more and take charge of their development - a real bonus!
Appoint Role Champions - sit new entrants with key staff already on the unit. This has a number of benefits: They see the job being done well. You can deal with a large number of people. The Champions get kudos. The coaching comes after when you gather the staff back together to discuss what they've learned - you get some case studies to talk about, real examples of learning. You as the coach need to provide structure if this is to work - you know what the key things are in each role - could you give them a list of things to find out from the Champion?

Finally I would talk about how you would organise things, who learns which job and when - keep in mind that whilst there are benefits to being multi-skilled, the business needs to keep running in the meantime! Talk about how you would engage team leaders, senior management etc in your plans.

2. Try and be specific around benefits, don't say all the staff live happily ever after. Talk about what success means - 20 staff trained in this area means that, as a business, we will have x amount less down time, because staff won't be sitting around with nothing to do, or we can operate with x amount less staff, or we will produce this much more - justify your existence in clear pounds and pence!

Finally, the close

3. Talk about YOU - skills - yes, you know the roles - but remember the best person at the job won't neceassarily make them the best coach. Talk about passion, commitment, organisational skills, ability to record key information, track progress, inspire staff to monitor their own performance and strive to improve it.


Good luck!

I think you have already written the first 3 minutes of your presentation! Spell out the situation as you see it. Staff join the company with high expectations, but don't have a clue what they are doing, become disengaged with what's going on, get demotivated and leave. Existing staff are no doubt getting hacked off as they have to work harder to cover the gaps. Chances are they don't get any variety and can't multi-skill, so they feel stuck in a rut. Sales / productivity are down - put some facts and figures to it if you can.
Then move on to the key points of your presentation, which need answer the following:
1. The specific actions the person in this role should take.
2. What the outcomes would be
and, most importantly:
3. Why it should be you that does the job!

Section 1 - I'd start with a fact finding mission, some hard facts and observations on what is going on, plus some of the annecdotal stuff about how exisitng staff are feeling. Maybe sound out those new entrants that didn't quit, what were the main things they learned, what was it that meant they survived whilst others quit. I would also suggest you observe the top and bottom performers within the unit, so you can build the best practices that go on in to your coaching. I'm making the assumption that your company brings an intake of people in to the business in one go rather than one by one. Woring on that basis, you would need to design a plan to make sure everyone that is new to the business is kept busy. Sounds like they have an induction training course they attend, so you will need to find out what they learn on that, and perhaps more importantly what they don't learn. Your coaching can then build on their existing knowledge first, showing them how things are done in the real world. Given that you work in the department, you will be able to show new entrants the tacit knowledge and skills (the way things are really done).

Things I've seen work well:

Issue a Job Passport - Give all staff a list of jobs and they tick them off as they do them. You as the coach also sign them off. I've found staff get quite competitive to learn more and take charge of their development - a real bonus!
Appoint Role Champions - sit new entrants with key staff already on the unit. This has a number of benefits: They see the job being done well. You can deal with a large number of people. The Champions get kudos. The coaching comes after when you gather the staff back together to discuss what they've learned - you get some case studies to talk about, real examples of learning. You as the coach need to provide structure if this is to work - you know what the key things are in each role - could you give them a list of things to find out from the Champion?

Finally I would talk about how you would organise things, who learns which job and when - keep in mind that whilst there are benefits to being multi-skilled, the business needs to keep running in the meantime! Talk about how you would engage team leaders, senior management etc in your plans.

2. Try and be specific around benefits, don't say all the staff live happily ever after. Talk about what success means - 20 staff trained in this area means that, as a business, we will have x amount less down time, because staff won't be sitting around with nothing to do, or we can operate with x amount less staff, or we will produce this much more - justify your existence in clear pounds and pence!

Finally, the close

3. Talk about YOU - skills - yes, you know the roles - but remember the best person at the job won't neceassarily make them the best coach. Talk about passion, commitment, organisational skills, ability to record key information, track progress, inspire staff to monitor their own performance and strive to improve it.


Good luck!

[cheri]

this is great - i would also ensure that the objectives/mission statement for the company is incorporated as you are helping them reach their goal! its helped me in the past.

Cheri