THE SITUATION

Welcome aboard!

I just wanted to welcome you to the team. You’ll find that this place offers many challenges that give you the opportunity to go as far as you want.

I'm sorry that you have to join me in Vancouver on Monday and that you'll have to communicate in writing with people you've never met before, but it's really essential that I introduce you to some clients and partners in the west while I'm here. Also, we can talk about the key issues and challenges that lie ahead for you.

I just sent an email to everyone announcing your appointment so that you could get in touch with your new employees and peers before formally meeting them next Wednesday.

I know that you're just starting but I would need your plan to improve the effectiveness of your department as soon as possible. This year we want to focus on the quality of our customer relationships. We could discuss your preliminary findings next Friday at 4 pm, after our client management committee meeting, okay with you?

I look forward to working with you!

Pat

Patrick Fraser
VP, Services and Maintenance
514-333-4785

Hi! I’m your new assistant, Nadia Fitzpatrick. This is my first job and I’m looking forward to meeting you. Everyone has been so nice to me since I started 5 months ago.

Anything I can do before you arrive on Wednesday?

You will find emails that came in since your appointment, as well as messages sent to your predecessor, Rachel Simon, which were not handled and which I forwarded to you directly.

For your information, the next client management committee meeting, led by Mr. Fraser, will be held on Friday, September 9, from 2 pm to 4 pm.

Rachel used to hold project status meetings with project managers every 2 weeks; the next meeting will be held on September 9 at 4 pm. Let me know if you want this meeting to take place and if this frequency suits you.

Let me know if you need anything. Here is my cell phone in case you need it.
514-753-9521

See you Thursday!

Nadia Fitzpatrick
Administrative Assistant

Hi,

I wanted to be the first to welcome you aboard. You’ll find that this is a great place to work. People really support each other here.

We finally finished deploying the Mega Bock project! I wanted to organize something for the implementation team because this was a tough one and we should celebrate. I never thought we’d pull it off!

I need money to set up a cocktail for the technicians who worked on the project. I’m sure the team would appreciate it, especially given the high number of new employees.

The last time I set something like this up it was so complicated, we went through accounting and had to fill out all these authorization forms. By the time we finally got approval, there was nothing left to celebrate! Everyone had already been assigned to other projects.

I hope I can count on you to find the funds this time. It would send a positive message to the gang and give them a very good first impression of you. It would certainly boost their morale!

Thanks for your support.

Paul Brown
Project Manager

Hello Rachel,

As requested, you will find attached an updated list of the technicians assigned to the implementation projects and the clients for whom they are responsible.

K

Kim D’Arcy
Director, Human Resources

Rachel, please take care of this. This is no time to lose this person.

Patrick

Rachel…

I just listened to my voicemail and believe it or not, my client Transtube wants to cancel the Environment XL contract! Someone from the implementation team told him that the functionalities that we had promised him were not available. It was a long and technically complex sales process, and I had even verified with the R & D team – and now the implementation team can’t tell me the functionalities aren’t even part of the software program!!!!!!!

MAKING ME LOSE FACE LIKE THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!! I won’t have this contract compromised because of incompetent implementation technicians. Go ahead and check with your people, but I have a feeling that they don’t have all the facts.

I’ll need your help to sort this out. Fortunately, the client is willing to meet with us on Thursday, September 8th at lunchtime. I really think this is our last chance, and I would like to confirm to the client that you will be attending as soon as possible.

Can you please confirm whether this works for you too?

Audrey Colin
Account Executive

Rachel,

The account executives keep promising the moon to our customers, but when it’s time to implement, we’re stuck telling them that the functionalities that they bragged about aren’t really available.

I just spoke to our client at Transtube. He was very upset because they had been promised particular functionalities, which is the only reason they chose us over the competition. Now they are ready to cancel the contract because the product doesn’t live up to the specifications that had been promised.

I’m supposed to speak with the client next Wednesday morning. I thought I would explain that unfortunately for him, he fell on an overly “creative” account executive.

Paul Brown
Project Manager

Hi Rachel,

I’m sorry it’s taken so long to get back to you but we’re totally swamped over here. I’m surprised to see that you seem to forget that we can’t always control the amount of time that is spent on projects. Clients often ask for never-ending changes, which inevitably delay delivery times. The account executives promise them the moon and then we have to deal with their expectations and demands. A small change here, another one there… It all adds up! Some clients make unrealistic demands and expect that it won’t affect the implementation time.

Our team works very hard, so anyone who thinks that we’re wasting our time couldn’t be more wrong: we go out of our way to please clients.

Emilio Fernandez
Project Manager

Hi Rachel,

I just got your message about the bug in the latest version of Vision360. I’m just about to close on the sale with Unique. R&D says it will take 6 months to fix. I can’t go back now and tell them that! They probably won’t even notice it right away, and the impact is minor anyway. I have a win-win solution to propose.

My contact at Unique was asking me if we might have a job for his daughter who just got a computer science degree. This is perfect: we’ll make the client happy, you can meet your delivery deadline, and I can close the sale. Of course, we’ll send him a patch to fix the bug as soon as possible.

Unless you object, I’ll tell him the answer is yes on Monday.

So what do you say? Let me know, so I can move forward with the sale.

David Durand
Director, Sales
514-987-4563

Good morning Rachel!

A new customer just approached us. He’s interested in a client account management module similar to the one we developed in the Horizon180 application. I told him we could probably recover the technology and integrate it into his current application, but it would entail a certain amount of programming. I know this project isn’t on the schedule, but the programmers wouldn’t have to spend that much time on it since they would be working from an existing application.

The customer is also currently looking at what is available on the market and is interested in a similar module offered by Technologies Without Borders, which would already be compatible with his application.

I was hoping you could meet with us to assess the feasibility of this project. He’s going to be in town on Thursday, September 8th for a convention and will be leaving the next day. I asked him if we could discuss the matter over lunch. I’ve already told him that you could join us.

If we don’t move on this fast, we could lose another job to TWB!

I am waiting for your confirmation please!

David Durand
Director, Sales
514-987-4563

Rachel,

We have to go over the Horizon 180 project for Anderson Papers, because the client decided to cancel the implementation due to financial problems. Naturally, this will generate tangible repercussions on the technicians reporting to your project manager, as the operating budget will have to be cut by $250,000 (the equivalent of 4 full-time technician jobs). It’s especially bad news considering that new people were hired specifically for this project.

I’ll leave it to you to break the bad news this week. Also, I expect you to propose some ideas on how to tighten the budget and keep the troops motivated. If we don’t land new projects, we may have to lay people off. We must stay on top of new opportunities!

Please get back to me as soon as possible to let me know your action plan to communicate the news and when you will announce this change of plan.

Pat

Patrick Fraser
VP, Services and Maintenance
514-333-4785

Rachel,

My client just called me and he’s furious! He claims that your project manager, Paul Brown, who oversees the Bouchons Plus project, was arrogant and made him feel like he had no clue about IT implementation schedules. I don’t want to spend another 3 months on this project like we did on the Mega Bock project!

Can you find me a back-up Vision 360 expert? Clearly, Paul doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It is imperative that I meet with my client this week to reassure him.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Julia

Julia Forest
Account Executive
Cell: 604-258-7845

Rachel,

Things can’t go on like this! I keep explaining to Emilio that he must charge the client for all the extras requested during the implementation, but he doesn’t care. It’s starting to get back to our clients, and I’m afraid we’re going to be accused of favouritism. I also want our clients to be satisfied, but I think we need to charge in order to be fair to all clients.

It is time for you to standardize our implementation service rates once and for all. If we don’t, we could lose all credibility with our clients. What do you intend to do about this?

Please keep me posted.

Catherine Colin
Project Manager

Hi Rachel,

Could you prepare a status report for me on the progress of that big Environnement XL project for Energinex phase 1? I’m meeting with our CEO late Wednesday, September 7th because he’s going to Europe the evening of September 8th.

I’d like to get a draft copy of the report to make sure everything is under control. I need good news… I’m counting on you to get something to me, even if it’s preliminary.

Thanks!

Pat

Patrick Fraser
VP, Services and Maintenance
514-333-4785

To all managers,

As you know, we will soon be implementing our new code of conduct as part of an effort to promote our new values of Respect, Equity, and Ethics.

As you recall, when we introduced this new code of conduct, we gave ourselves a clear direction on what constitutes ethical behaviour in the organization.

On this note, I would remind you not to accept or offer gifts, privileges, or services.

I am counting on you to apply these principles, which are designed to help us behave in a highly responsible manner at all times.

At this stage, I’d like to organize working groups to examine each of these three values. Please tell me which value you wish to work on by September 5th, indicating your observations of your team behaviors and what you have seen in the company.

Sincerely,

Richard Prescott
Your Chairman and CEO