CRA Inc

14 May 04 @ 1:09 pm

Five-Fifteen

The latest edition of SalesForceXP includes an article about the importance of internal communication–and in particular, the importance of a two-way dialogue between leaders and their direct reports. (Read the entire article here…)

The more I speak with and read advice from top entrepreneurs, sales coaches and highly regarded business authors, the more it becomes obvious that communication is a top-three common denominator among successful sales managers, sales teams and sales channels.
…

The emphasis on dialogue, however, doesn’t begin and end with salespeople and their customers and prospects. In fact, it’s a good bet that the quality of communication between a sales team and its roster of clients and prospects will mirror that of the sales team and the sales manager.

The author, Paul Nolan, describes the approach Pat Croce, former president of the Philadelphia 76ers, uses and calls Five-Fifteens.

Each Friday, all employees and managers write a progress report that lands on their supervisor’s desk (or e-mail in-box). Eventually, all of the information trickles up to Croce in what he calls a “sort of corporate Cliffs Notes. ”

The idea is that the report takes five minutes for Croce to read and 15 minutes for the employee to write – hence “Five-Fifteen.” “Five-Fifteens serve two purposes,” Croce states in a recent article he penned for Forbes Small Business. “They keep information flowing, and they get the accolades going. Not only do employees write about their goals, but they also take the opportunity to brag about feats great and small. They think of the Five-Fifteens not as a chore, but rather as a chance to be heard – and hopefully to steal the spotlight.”

Seems like a simple way to encourage employees and leaders to keep each other updated.

posted in category(s): Tools in Practice