in  association  with

Results Driven Business Communication

Table Of Contents

Executive Summary ……………………………………………………………. 3

Background ……………………………………………………………. 5

Training Flow ……………………………………………………………. 6

Results ……………………………………………………………. 7

L1: Reaction ……………………………………………………………. 8

L2: Learning ……………………………………………………………. 11

L3: Application ……………………………………………………………. 14

L4: Impact ……………………………………………………………. 17

Challenges ……………………………………………………………. 20

in  association  with

Executive Summary

The Results Driven Business Communication (RDBC) program, conducted by GreenBooks Learning Solutions for the Chennai Elsevier team,

adopted the Blended Learning methodology. This methodology combined classroom training , e-learning and email coaching to optimize

the effectiveness of training.

The classroom sessions comprised two modules on:

1. Email Excellence 2. Professional Business Conversation

Customized Assessment:

Pre and post assessments were administered to identify and track the proficiency of the participants’ communication skills. Department specific assessments were designed to make it relevant to the participants.

Online Exercises :

Participants took up individual online exercises on the Learning Management System, which allowed them to practice classroom concepts

at their own pace and time.

Email Coach (Post Training Support):

As a part of the learning transfer strategy, the participants sent real-time emails to the Email Coach to receive personalized feedback for

focussed development plans.

3

Workbook Content Customization:

An immersion exercise was done to understand each department’s process, workflow and also to extract participants’ emails to be used to

customize the training content.

Quick Summary of Results:

• 77% of the ICs showed improvement after the training

• 95% of the PMs showed improvement after the training

• 90% of the participants said they found most or all of the content relevant to writing emails

• 91% of the participants felt that they’ve been able to structure their emails better as a result of the program

• 61% of the participants said they received positive feedback as a result of applying the skills learnt from the program

• 83% of the participants recommended this training for others

• 86% of the participants felt the training was a worthwhile investment for Elsevier

Executive Summary

4

Background

RDBC program focusses on enhancing the email writing skills of the participants to help them communicate in a professional manner with

Indian and global teams.

Elsevier’s Business Challenges:

1. Reduce escalations due to ineffective communication

2. Reduce the number of iterations to clarify issues

3. Demonstrate excellent communication ability to the global teams to retain existing business and win more business

4. Improve the brand image of Chennai operations

5

Business NeedsJob NeedsLearning Needs

Skill/ Knowledge Assessment of the participants to determine the communication proficiency

Complete content customization

Instructor led training + Online Practice (LMS)

One-on-One Coaching

Participant sends realtime emails to

the coach

Coach calibrates the email using the

scorecard

Feedback and learning content is

sent to the user

L1: Training Feedback L2: Post Training Assessment L3: On-the-Job assessment L4: Business Impact

Dashboards

- Leaners Reports

- Manager Reports

- Project owner reports

+ 1

2

3

4

5

Analysis & Assessment

Customization

Blended Learning

Learning reinforcement & transfer

Measurements & reporting

Approach

Week  1 Week  2 Week  3 Week  4 Week  5 Week  6 Week  7 Week  8

PreAssessment

Classroom & Online Training

Post Training Support ( Email Coach )

PostAssessment

* the duration underwent some variations for some groups

Training Flow

7

Results

Reaction Learning Application Impact( level 1) ( level 2) ( level 3) ( level 4)

8

Reaction( level 1)

Measured reaction to, and satisfaction with,

the experience, ambience, content

customization, facilitator effectiveness and

value of the program.

Tool used: Questionnaire

9

44% very well customized

Do you feel the content of the program has been customized well and targets real issues?

47% fairly well customized

9% could be customized a little more

Results L1: Reaction

10

Have the online tools been available and effective to learn at your own pace?

32% always available and very effective

60% available and fairly effective

6% hardly available and a little effective

2% not available and not effective at all

Results L1: Reaction

11

Learning( level 2)

Measured what participants learned from

the program - information, knowledge and

skills.

Tools used: online test, interview

12

23%

77%

77% displayed

learning improvement

5%

95%

95% displayed

learning improvement

Individual Contributor People Manager

Results L2: Learning

13

Application( level 3)

Measured participants’ progress after the

program - the use of information,

knowledge, and skills on the job.

Tools used: On-the-job emails, questionnaire

14

grammar errors have reduced

88%G

ram

mar

Erro

rs

Emai

l Str

uctu

re

said

structure has improved

91% said

Results L3: Application

15

they feel more confident about their email writing skills

87% said

they received positive feedback on their emails

61% said

Results L3: Application

16

Impact( level 4)

Measured changes in the business impact -

reduction in email iterations, reduction in

escalations, enhance brand image, retain

existing business and win more business.

Tools used: Questionnaire, interview

17

the number of emails exchanged to clarify an issue has gone down

88% said

the training was a worthwhile investment for Elsevier

86% said

Results L4: Impact

18

0

1.8

3.5

5.3

7.0

2011 2012

Escalationsreduced to 0

Multimedia department’s success story

No. of Escalations

Results L4: Impact

19

(  as  of  June  )

Challenges

Challenge:

Manual tracking of emails in post training support.

Solution:

Email Coach application is being developed to automate the process of tracking and reporting.

Challenge:

Online exercises were not attempted and completed after every classroom session. This led to some of the participants not

applying the skills learned in the classroom at work.

Solution:

Periodic reminders and involving the supervisors for more accountability.

20

Contact us:

99-4, Sneha Sadan,Nungambakkam High RoadChennai - 600 034

P: 044 4356 0077E: info@greenbooks.co.in

www.emailcoach.netwww.greenbooks.co.in