Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/302559
37 BizEd May/June 2014 J U PITE R I MAG ES/TH I N KSTOCK Advancing Communication Skills BY RON KING, ELIZABETH A. PETRE, AND JAMES T. PETRE W hile it's common for MBA students to work as consultants on real- world projects, it's rarer to find under- graduate business students in such roles. At Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, the Management Communication Client Project (MCCP) doesn't just give undergraduates a chance to consult with actual clients; it also trains them to hone their communi- cation skills. As part of the MCCP, representatives from local corporate and cultural insti- tutions come to the school during the third week of the semester and deliver presentations to an auditorium full of undergraduate business students. They describe communication issues they're currently experiencing, whether they're trying to improve a brand or branch into social media. While all students hear all presentations, each client is assigned to work with one 20-student subsection for the rest of the semester. Over the next 12 weeks, the students analyze the communication challenges experienced by their particular client. Each subsection is broken into four teams of five students, and each team tries to create the best solution. Stu- dents learn a variety of skills, but two are particularly valuable: how to com- municate professionally and how to work collaboratively. Developing Professionalism After students formally meet their cli- ents, the teams narrow the scope of the issues they're addressing and determine which factors are most important. They also reflect on interpersonal and professional interactions as they learn to translate classroom lessons into real- world situations. During the semester, students learn how to hold group meetings with cli- ents, listen closely, and avoid monopo- lizing conversations—in short, how to communicate professionally. Midway through the semester, the client for each subsection of students visits his or her assigned class and answers questions about pressing issues. A few weeks later, the class visits the client's firm to meet key executives and get a peek behind the scenes. During these visits, the students notice elements of the organization's culture and gain a feel for how the communication issue they're studying connects to the broader goals of the organization. As the semester progresses, students consider the differences between com- munication channels such as emails and phone calls, and they learn how to contact their clients when something unexpected comes up. They discover that busy professionals don't always respond to queries immediately, so they must pay attention to their clients' schedules as well as current local busi- ness news. Finally, they see how their clients handle themselves in various situations. Throughout the course, stu- dents reflect on appropriate, effective, and ethical communication practices. Working in Teams Toward the end of the semester, stu- dent teams present their final analyses to the other students in their subsec- tion. Collaborative teamwork becomes especially important now: While each team presents to the class, only one team from each class delivers a formal presentation to the client at the Show- case Finale Event, and that team must represent the class as a whole.