Internode: Implementing Six Sigma

📄 Words:	2183
📝 Subject:	Management
📑 Pages:	8
✍️ Type:	Essay

Team Setup

Task Requirements: Skills and knowledge

The task at hand will require strategic and operational management knowledge and competence with an emphasis on communication, team building, customer satisfaction, service quality, and customer analysis skills. Since the core areas of focus are centered around quality of service, ethical values, and community, it is important to orient the efforts for the consumers and their needs, where the proper adjustments need to be made in business operations and service delivery. These skills and competencies will be essential for making appropriate modifications and enhancements within the selected company of interest, which is an Australian internet service provider Internode.

Team Assessment: Available skills and knowledge

NAME	DEPARTMENT	QUALIFICATION	EXPERIENCE
David	Operations Department	Master’s degree in electrical engineering	5 years of experience in Vocus Group company.
John	Sales Department	Bachelor’s degree in business administration	7 years of experience in sales in Rio Tinto. Made a sales deal, which was worth approximately $15000000.
Sarah	Marketing Department	Master’s degree in digital marketing	6 years of experience in a digital marketer position at Google Australia.
Helen	Human Resource Management Department	Master’s degree in human resource management	11 years of experience in HR and talent management in several large internet provider companies.

Team’s skills and knowledge map

Skill Matrix.

Work	Plan	Name	Skills	Experience
Advertising, PR	Sarah will launch a digital marketing campaign with an emphasis on the company’s core focus areas to generate customer appeal.	Sarah	Communication	Conducted digital marketing campaigns for Google.
Human resource management, talent acquisition	Helen will work on internal human resources to build teams with an emphasis on continuous improvement.	Helen	Team building	Has more than a decade of experience in the relevant industry.
Digital market analysis	Sarah will also conduct digital market analysis through online surveys, focus groups, and questionnaires to improve the company’s understanding of the market.	Sarah	Customer Analysis	Worked with big data instruments at Google to improve the relevance of Google Ads exposure.
Operational management	David will oversee the service delivery protocols and processes in order to make necessary adjustments with the use of his knowledge of technical aspects of internet provision.	David	Service quality	Worked several years at Internode’s largest competitor in the equivalent position.
Sales management	John will integrate the proposed methods derived from market analysis to deliver the best customer experience and satisfaction in order to generate a higher volume of sales.	John	Customer satisfaction	Made massive sales in one of the largest Australian corporations, Rio Tinto.

The core SMART objective

To double the current revenue through community focus, ethical values, and quality service improvements by launching massive digital marketing campaigns, analyzing customer and market needs, and implementing Six Sigma methodological frameworks into the operations within a 12-months period.

Additional SMART objectives

To increase brand awareness among the consumers about Internode by 50% by the end of the 12-month period through a launch of three online digital campaigns within the given period separated by 4-months for marketing developments.
To reduce the waste points in the operational processes by 50% by the end of the 12-month period with the integration of Six Sigma and lean management principles.
To identify the most critical customer needs in the market within 3 month-period through online customer analysis methods.

Project Tasks

Helen – talent acquisition, team-building;
David – operational enhancements, waste reduction;
John – customer experience improvements, sales increase;
Sarah – digital marketing, brand awareness, market analysis.

Roles and Responsibilities of Each Team Member

NAME	DEPARTMENT	DESIGNATION	RESPONSIBILITY
Helen	Human Resource Management Department	CHRO	To set up the framework of work environment by integrating core Six Sigma principles and manage talent, which would improve customer experience.
Sarah	Marketing Department	CMO	To increase Internode brand awareness through digital campaigns and identification of the core consumer needs.
David	Operations Department	COO	To oversee the business operations to identify major waste points with their subsequent elimination.
John	Sales Department	CSO	To improve customer experience by implementing proposals from the marketing department and realize the revenue goal.

Teamwork Protocols

The teamwork protocols and policies will be centered around professional cooperativeness and collaboration with an emphasis on work ethics as well as a professional courtesy. Since the objectives are heavily focused on ensuring that various departments aid and assist each other, each unit needs to be open and eager to put team goals over their personal or individual ones. In other words, departments will not be put in a position where they are evaluated through competition, but rather their input in the common objectives and collaboration. Thus, communication policies will also provide a flow of information and knowledge without any barriers in the form of approvals or verifications, which could delay the teams.

Resources and Logistics

The main locations used for the majority of operations will be allocated within Internode headquarters located at 150 Grenfell Street, Adelaide, Australia. In order to conduct the meetings, the currently present conference rooms will be utilized. The only exception will be centered around the operations management since these service delivery procedures will involve departure to the sites of interest and orders of the clients. Resources will mainly include standard office supplies and on-site instruments since the majority of efforts will not involve frequent relocations, especially the marketing campaign, which will be held online.

Guidelines, Procedures, and Protocols

The first and the most important point of the protocol of work is transparency since the goals require cooperation between the different departments, especially between marketing and sales. Information and exchange of recommendations and propositions will need to have no communication and power dynamics-related barriers. For example, the sales department will need to follow the recommendations made by the marketing team after the customer and market analysis, which can cause tensions due to authority. The second critical aspect of trust and collaboration because each department will have to rely on the competence and professionalism of others. The third principle is rooted in servant leadership, which needs to be used by each head of the department.

Team Communication Method and Strategies

Communication is critical for the achievement of Internode’s goals, which is why the most straightforward methods will be utilized. The weekly report meetings will be critical in order to track and monitor the overall progression of the teams’ efforts and meet the allocated deadlines. In addition, the methods of communication will adhere to core principles of being supportiveness, openness, and conversational measure (Floreddu and Cabiddu, 2016). The main reason is that these communication strategies are effective for both internal and external communications as well as in tune with the company’s objectives.

Team Performance Plan

Team Member	Goals & Objectives	Team leadership dynamics and approach	Performance Measures KPI’s	Strategies for support, mentoring and/or coaching	Strategies for maintaining team performance	Action Plan	Time frame
Helen	Team-building and talent management	Mentoring new team members	Employee performance metrics and talent quality increase	Kaizen management	Team-building activities	Online and offline hiring, training	3 months
Sarah	A digital marketing campaign, brand awareness, customer analysis	Conducting proposal meetings	Market analysis findings quality	Transformational leadership	Transformational leadership	Presentations and research	Monthly
David	Operational enhancements and waste reduction	Problem solving	Operational efficiency improvements	Lean management	Transformational leadership	Efficiency reports	Monthly
John	Sales increase and implementation of proposals	Chairing the meetings	Implementing the proposals	Transformational leadership	Transformational leadership	Effectiveness reports	Monthly

Project Report

Executive Summary

The selected company of interest is Internode, an Australian internet service provider, which was acclaimed to have the highest degree of customer satisfaction among all other competitors in the market (Internode, 2021). The objective is to utilize the Six Sigma continuous improvement model to maintain and further improve these metrics by focusing on maintenance and sustainability as well as reducing variability and waste (Bach, 2021). The areas of interest are community focus, ethical values, and quality service, which will enable the company to have continuous and high customer satisfaction.

The team will work to implement a multifaceted approach to achieve the common objective by maximizing the use of both internal and external resources. The expected benefits of implementing Six Sigma in Internode’s operations include consistent improvement in customer service, customer satisfaction, sustainability, and a high degree of efficiency due to the elimination of ineffective business operations.

Project Description and Objectives

The project is focused on improving the quality of service, brand awareness in communities, and upholding high ethical values. Therefore, customer needs need to be identified, operations made more efficient, customer service improved in accordance with the identified needs, and internal resources and talent enhanced. The objectives are:

To double the current revenue through community focus, ethical values, and quality service improvements by launching massive digital marketing campaigns, analyzing customer and market needs, and implementing Six Sigma methodological frameworks into the operations within the 12-months period.
To increase brand awareness among the consumers about Internode by 50% by the end of the 12-month period through a launch of three online digital campaigns within the given period separated by 4-months for marketing developments.
To reduce the waste points in the operational processes by 50% by the end of the 12-month period with the integration of Six Sigma and lean management principles.
To identify the most critical customer needs in the market within 3 month-period through online customer analysis methods.

Team Members

Name of the Team Member	Qualifications	Experience	Designation assigned	Key tasks
Helen	Master’s degree in electrical engineering	5 years of experience in Vocus Group company.	CHRO	talent acquisition, team-building
Sarah	Bachelor’s degree in business administration	7 years of experience in sales in Rio Tinto. Made a sales deal, which was worth approximately $15000000.	CMO	digital marketing, brand awareness, market analysis
David	Master’s degree in digital marketing	6 years of experience in a digital marketer position at Google Australia.	COO	operational enhancements, waste reduction
John	Master’s degree in human resource management	11 years of experience in HR and talent management in several large internet provider companies.	CSO	customer experience improvements, sales increase

Roles and Responsibilities

Name of the Team Member	Qualification	Experience	Designation assigned	Roles and responsibilities
Helen	Master’s degree in electrical engineering	5 years of experience in Vocus Group company.	CHRO	To set up the framework of work environment by integrating core Six Sigma principles and manage talent, which would improve customer experience.
Sarah	Bachelor’s degree in business administration	7 years of experience in sales in Rio Tinto. Made a sales deal, which was worth approximately $15000000.	CMO	To increase Internode brand awareness through digital campaigns and identification of the core consumer needs.
David	Master’s degree in digital marketing	6 years of experience in a digital marketer position at Google Australia.	COO	To oversee the business operations to identify major waste points with their subsequent elimination.
John	Master’s degree in human resource management	11 years of experience in HR and talent management in several large internet provider companies.	CSO	To improve customer experience by implementing proposals from the marketing department and realize the revenue goal.

Analysis of Project Outcomes Against Stated Objectives

Stated objectives	Expected outcome and its analysis
Revenue increase	Although doubling the current revenue is a highly ambitious goal, a significant increase in sales is to be expected since the company is already in a position of competitive advantage due to high levels of customer satisfaction. By launching powerful marketing campaigns alongside operational, talent, and customer service improvements, it is evident that the currently low market share will be increased (Granwal, 2021).
Brand awareness	The marketing campaign will be primarily focused on digital variants, which will be effective given the fact that Internode is an internet provider companies meaning the strategy is relevant. The launch of 3 campaigns within a year will substantially increase brand awareness, which the company severely lacks.
Operational efficiencies	Operational inefficiencies are present in the company, and despite of it, it was able to achieve the highest degree of customer satisfaction. Eliminating unnecessary and wasteful product lines and packages will further enhance service quality and customer experience.
Customer needs	Customer needs to be identified in order to improve customer service in both direct company-customer relations as well as technical aspects of service itself. Properly integrating these measures will ensure continuous improvement in customer satisfaction and sales.

Team Problems

No significant problems were faced by the team due to the competence and professionalism of each member.

Performance Problems

No significant performance problems were present throughout the project due to the diligence and work ethics of the team members and employees.

Unresolved Issues

Further improvements could be made in regards to increasing brand awareness and sales increase, but these goals require more time investment because brand awareness is tied to market share increase, and sales are connected to internal efficiencies.

Reference List

Bach, N. (2021). What to look for in a continuous improvement model. Web.

Floreddu, P. B., and Cabiddu, F. (2016). ‘Social media communication strategies’, Journal of Services Marketing, 30(5), pp. 490-503.

Granwal, L. (2021) Retail market share of fixed broadband services in Australia as at June 30, 2019, by provider. Web.

Internode. (2021) About Internode. Web.