Best of Kuwait Rehearsal Schedule

Please be sure to arrive well in advance and take no more than 15 minutes to rehearse . . . kindly avoid cutting into the next team's rehearsal time. Rehearsal period ends at 5:45 p.m. to prepare the auditorium for guests.

When you rehearse, get comfortable with the stage, the podium, the mircrophone, etc. Check your presentation slides and make sure they are loaded on the computer that you will use for your presentation. If we must change computers between presentations, please be prepared to move quickly -- know which cables you need to connect to your computer. For video, it's best if you load the video to YouTube in advance . . . some videos may work fine if they are imbedded in your PPT presentation, but you can't always be certain. Test everything in advance several times.

If you plan to distribute handouts, brochures, gift items, etc., please do so at 5:45 p.m. or at the door as guests arrive.

We will meet briefly in the auditorium at the end of the presentations.

4:00 p.m. Team Samar

4:15 p.m. Team Nouf

4:30 p.m.  Team Shaza

4:45 p.m.  Team Shahd

5:00 p.m.  Team Khalid

5:15 p.m.  Team Raith

5:30 p.m.  Team Hala

Send Invite To Family, Friends, Coworkers, Colleagues & More

You Be The Editor. Your Comment Is Required.

Following are three introductions from the Bad News assignment. The introductions are the opening sentence or paragraph/s from three assignments as they were written and emailed to me by students.

Based on the knowledge that I presented to you prior to the assignment, and based on what you know about how to present bad news, please do the following:

Directions

1. Read all three introductions. 
2. Comment on two of the introductions. You can include both of your comments in one post. Or, you can add two Comments if you must. 
3. Use the Comments section of the Blog to comment . . . keep your comments concise and specific. 
4. Check to make sure your Comment was posted (Blogger limits the amount of words you can include in a Comment). . . I will only grade Comments posted on this Blog. If you have a problem using the Blog, please visit IT and ask for help, or ask another student to help you. Do not email your comments to me. 
5. In your Comment, number the introductions (use the numbers presented below) so that I know which two introductions you addressed and evaluated. 
6. State whether or not each introduction is an acceptable way to present bad news. Answer Yes or No. 
7. Explain why you answered Yes or No for each introduction. Be specific. This will require more than a few words about each introduction.
8. Check your Basic English because, of course, it counts.   
9. Deadline for posting your Comment: Tuesday at 12:00 p.m. in Kuwait. 

Purpose

The goal: Demonstrate that you understand how to introduce bad news to employees. Demonstrate that you can differentiate introductions. Demonstrate that you can identify what works, or doesn't work, in a bad news introduction.

Here are the three introductions:  

1.  I decided to hold this meeting today to deliver news that I am sure you don’t want to hear. Unfortunately, I have to inform you that our Company has decided to reduce the percentage paid for college courses to 40%.

2.  Our firm has always given our employees the best of benefits for the past 10 years.  We have always survived in the good and hard times to obtain success. There is a change in the management firm that all managers agreed to. The change is that we will pay you 40% rather than 67%.

3.  We have enjoyed a positive and profitable working relationship between the employees and The Management Firm, Inc. Over the last five years, we have found your company to be a great help in fulfilling our clients’ needs. Your assistance has been invaluable.

Unluckily, the economic climate is changing, and therefore we are forced to observe our current needs. Although we have enjoyed a successful working relationship in the past, we find that we are no longer in a good financial situation. This is no reflection of the quality of your goods; we are simply going in a different direction. The company now will cover only 40 percent of the tuition for approved courses.

Excellent Example: Read This "Bad News" Memo

I suggest you read the "bad news memo" that was crafted Tuesday night by one of your colleagues -- overall, it is an excellent example of the work an MBA should produce in Business Communications. One way to improve skills is to read (listen to or view) the work of others who have mastered the skills.

Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of the "bad news" assignment, as explained prior to the assignment, was to present "bad news" to employees without de-motivating them. You were provided with a "backgrounder" and you were to select the pertinent information that had to be explained to the employees of The Management Firm, Inc. (This would demonstrate your ability to analyze a situation and make sense of it for others in a memo format). In addition, you were expected to demonstrate some of the principles that I presented to you in my discussion, i.e. upbeat tone, scholarly approach, prepare for fallout, focus on future, use statistics, etc. You had at least 90 minutes to complete this assignment.

Exceeded My Expectations

I'm particularly pleased that the referenced memo includes not only a professional and caring tone, but also all of the pertinent information. The MBA incorporated some of the ideas that I recommended during my presentation -- this demonstrates his ability to absorb content quickly and to turn knowledge into skills. When students perform at this level, it's clear that they grasped the information, understood it, and immediately used it. This is a good way to exceed a professor's expectations! Of course, if you did not grasp the information, understand it, or know how to use it, those would have been good reasons to ask for clarifications. (I also continue to recommend that you take notes during faculty presentations -- and very few MBAs do).

What Would You Change?

When you read the memo, see if you can detect the student's methodology for presenting the information, and also identify the techniques that he used to "soften the blow" of the bad news that had to be shared with employees. Finally, several editing changes are required -- what are they? 

Individual Presentation Evaluations Must Be Completed On 22 May

Each student is required to complete a Presentation Evaluation for each student who presents during the Best of Kuwait on 22 May. Produce 20 copies of the Presentation Evaluation form. Bring the copies with you to the Best of Kuwait presentation. As each student presents, you can sit in the audience and complete the student's evaluation. Use the Notes section of the form to justify your evaluations. In other words, explain your decisions for evaluating the student in each category.

If you do not understand a category, or you do not understand how to effectively evaluate a presentation using this form, please ask me. If you do not justify your evaluations, you will not have fulfilled the requirements of this part of the assignment.

Turn in the completed presentation forms to me at the end of the evening. Failure to provide a complete set of evaluations will result in a loss of 5 points from your final assessment individual grade.

Note: This is one of two evaluation forms that you are required to complete relative to Best of Kuwait. The other evaluation is explained in another article. 

Team Evaluations Must Be Completed By 22 May

Each student is required to evaluate his/her Best of Kuwait team member/s. Click the link for the evaluation form. Complete the evaluation after your project has been completed.

Print one form for each team member (excluding yourself). Evaluate each team member separately -- one form per member. Be sure to fill in all the requested information. Use a pen to complete the form.

Turn in the completed evaluation/s to me by the end of Best of Kuwait on 22 May. Failure to turn in a complete set of evaluations will result in a loss of 5 points from your individual final assessment grade. If you do not understand the criteria on the form, please ask me in advance.

Note: This is one of two evaluation forms that you are required to complete. The Individual Presentation form is explained in another article. 

BOK Rehearsal & Presentation Reminders

Seven teams will present the following reports (not in this order):

Diet Centers
Nail Spas
Banks
Kuwaiti Restaurants
German Auto Dealerships
Hotels
Arabic Newspapers

The order of presentation will be determined before the 22nd of May. Each team will have up to 20 minutes to present. Your team must not exceed the time limit, but make certain that your team presents for at least 15 minutes. Presentations will be timed and failure to comply will result in the team losing points. A professional presentation is part of the learning outcome for this final assessment.

Each team is strongly encouraged to rehearse several times before the actual presentation. I don't think it's possible to over-rehearse. A requirement of the presentation is that no one reads to the audience (the team loses points if this occurs, and the individual loses points). Record on your Action Plan the dates that you will rehearse.

22 May Rehearsal
Each team can rehearse on 22 May. Starting time in W6-200 (Conference Center) is 4 p.m. We will open the doors to the public at 6 p.m. so all rehearsing must be finished by 5:55 p.m. Each team gets approximately 15 minutes for rehearsal. I will establish the order of rehearsal on a first come first served basis. Please send me an email with the Subject Line: Rehearsal Time. Tell me the time you would like to rehearse, beginning with 4 p.m. I will then set a schedule based on the order of receiving your emails. You can send your team's email now -- but please be certain that your team members can be present at the time you request.

During your rehearsal on 22 May you need to set up your presentation -- load Powerpoints and videos, if necessary. Test your video and slides to make sure everything is working. Get comfortable with the stage. You can run through your presentation -- but you are limited to 15 minutes and you will need some of that time to set up your presentation. Please be cooperative so that all teams get an opportunity to rehearse. If you are using video, make sure you upload the video to YouTube so that it's easy to access. Using Dropbox also makes it extremely easy to access your documents, including PowerPoints.

Handouts
You are not required to use handouts, but should you decide to give the audience a handout (or any other item) please figure out how you'll do that. One way is to distribute the handout on each seat prior to the start of the presentation (so you can do this during rehearsal time). Another way is for team members to stand at the doors and provide handouts to people as they come through the doors. If you plan to give out materials during your actual presentation, keep in mind that this is usually a cumbersome process and you cannot stop the presentation to give out materials.

Company Handouts
You are encouraged to invite the companies you've researched to attend the Best of Kuwait. You should not tell the companies their order in the competition. However, any company that desires to do so may bring handouts, promotional or gift items for our audience. We cannot predict how many people will attend, but the auditorium seats 200 people. Please tell the companies that they may distribute material prior to the start of our evening, or they may stand at the door to hand out items as people enter the auditorium. They also can have a table outside the auditorium (if so, please let me know one week in advance). They can also distribute materials during intermission.

Presentation Schedule
There will be 4 presentations, then a 10 minute break, and 2 more presentations. We will tell the audience the break is for 10 minutes, but we will plan on a 20-minute intermission. The evening will begin with an introduction, then the first presentation at 6:15 p.m.; second presentation at 6:35 p.m.; third presentation at 6:55 p.m.; the fourth presentation at 7:15 p.m. . . . a break for 20 minutes . . . the fifth presentation at 7:55 p.m.; the sixth presentation at 8:15 p.m., and the final presentation at 8:35 p.m.

End of Semester
Best of Kuwait completes the MBA semester for Managerial Communications. That night you are to turn in your completed final assessment -- which means the final paper, the PowerPoint, and any other materials that you want to include as part of your presentation. In addition, you are required to complete an evaluation of each student who presented during the evening, and the completed evaluations are to be turned in to me at the end of the evening. You can complete the evaluations during each student's presentation. You will receive a team grade for your presentation and an individual grade. These grades will be factored into all grades earned during the semester to calculate your final grade.

Bonus Points
Early in the semester you had an opportunity to earn bonus points by completing surveys. The bonus points will be added to your final grade. To make certain that you receive your bonus points you need to send me an email with the Subject Line: Bonus Points. In the body of the email, tell me the number of surveys you turned in. Please do not confuse this issue -- some of you who missed the Business Letter assignment chose to make it up by completing additional surveys -- do not include those surveys in your count (you already have received credit for making up the assignment).

Please remember that if you have any questions related to the final assessment, ask! Send me an email or visit me during office hours. The final assessment represents 40% of your grade -- so it's significant! I am looking forward to seven outstanding presentations!