Different stories for different audiences ( 4 of 17) Capacity Management, Telling the Story

When we say different audiences what we are talking about is the different layers of your Organization, the people who are involved in the process. We’ll start with the ‘C level executives’.

“C” level executives

At the very top we have the “C” level executives. When we are telling the story to our “C” level executives these are the key points that we need to make sure we follow when presenting our information:

•         Keep the information concise – we have to make sure that they understand very quickly what we are trying to say to them.

•         Elevator talk – keep your information as brief and to the point as possible, they don’t have the time or inclination to wade through pages of reports.

•         Summary and findings first – make sure at the top there is always something called the management or executive summary, where it clearly states the relevant points of our findings. They just need the facts.

•         Findings – Do we need more resources? When are we going to hit our limit? What hardware do we require? How much money do we need and when do we need the money? Make sure that the requests are clear and concise.

•         Leave detail reports in pocket – The detail which provides the basis of our findings is important as it backs up our management or executive summary. They need to be included but are unlikely to be read at this level.

Business owners

At the Business level, you will need to focus in on a specific area and the business owner will want to know:

•         What are the trends for their area?

•         How does it affect their area?

•         What do they need to budget for?

The information provided to the business owner will be only that which is pertinent to their department.

Technical

At the technical level you will need to provide all the information that went in to the pocket of the management or executive summary.

•         Show me the details – they will want to see the full reports, graphs, data and drill downs. At this level the figures mean something.

•         Show me the trends – they will want to see the trend reports and the what if scenarios.

Be prepared when imparting good or bad news at any level – anticipate your audience reaction and be ready for it.

On Wednesday I’ll be looking at the different presentation mediums that we have at our disposal.

Check out our on-demand webinars and watch at your leisure
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Charles Johnson

Principal Consultant