After talking with her team about why she was not able to get management’s buy-in, Susan has taken notes about how to better present such a case to management.

In this activity, you will organize Susan’s notes so that she and her team can build and present their case for dedicating resources to early preparation and planning for the next potential crisis.

You will be given her notes and three briefing sheets. Take each of the items from her note pad and place them on the planning sheets. When you are finished, press the "Planning Sheets Are Ready" button to check your answers.

Tip: In addition to reviewing the Learn More About resources, you may want to review the TV report, Web site and newspaper clippings before doing this activity!

 

Summary

The purpose of this activity was to help you apply a systematic three-step approach to convincing management: case building, presentation preparation, and follow-up activities.

During the development of your case, you may find the need to revisit a previous step in order to complete the step you are on. For example, after creating a list of the attendees’ wants, needs, and special interests in the second step, you may find that you need to go back to step one and talk to more people or gather new facts.

The process of developing your case is not likely to be linear; think instead of a circular process, refining each piece until you are ready to make the case.

You can review the placement of Susan's notes organized into the three briefing sheets used in this activity.

Press "Continue" to review some case building strategies.

Case Building Strategies

One of the most effective ways to present your case is to “personalize” it by identifying the possible negative consequences to each individual in your audience.

Although organizational consequences are important, individual action is most often initiated by a desire to avoid negative consequences to oneself.

Including in your presentation examples of what happened in similar situations or other places where top health department management was replaced because they failed to plan early and adequately for a public health crisis can be very effective.

But presenting the problem and its possible negative outcomes is only half of an effective presentation. Offering solutions that will help your audience avoid personal negative consequences is the other half.

Be sure to include how your solution will benefit each member of your audience.

Here are some considerations for thinking through your presentation:

The challenge/opportunity.

• What is the challenge facing us?
• What is changing in the environment that will present this challenge/opportunity?
• What evidence supports this – trends, cases, examples, etc.? What logic and reason supports this?

The proposed solution.

• What, specifically, should we do?
• How will this meet the challenge?
• Why are we the right organization to respond?
• Why will this work?
• Why this action and not something else?
• What alternatives did we consider but reject?
• What outcome do we expect if we take this action (financial/mission/strategic)?
• What are the risks of not acting?
• What will be the overall investment?
• How will this affect our organization internally?
• How will this affect our organization’s position?

Plan of action.

• If we take this action, what specific steps should we take to implement it?
• Why is this action the best way to get it done?
• Who will lead it?
• Who will work on it (organizations and/or individuals)?
• What are the schedule, labor, and organizational change requirements?
• What are the alternatives for implementation and what are their relative risks/costs?
• What is the detailed breakdown of expenditures/labor/materials supplies for the preferred alternative?

Conclusion.

• Restate desired outcome/goals.
• Discuss potential return on the organization’s mission.
• Ask for management action.