Running head: Pacific Justice Institute Final Portfolio 1

Pacific Justice Institute Final Portfolio

Joshua Losey

COM 453
Pacific Justice Institute Final Portfolio 2

Abstract

In this Final Portfolio, I will put together all of the information I have gathered, and share my

training plan for Pacific Justice Institute. Combining the Needs Assessment, the skill I have

chosen and methods I will use for training.

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Biography

My name is Joshua Losey, and I am a student at Arizona State University. I am studying

Business Communication, and will be receiving my Bachelors Degree within the next year. I am

a store manager for Starbucks Coffee Company, and have a staff of 30 employees. I am

responsible for ensuring the proper training of all of my employees, as well as teaching them

skills for work and life. Over my 12 year career with Starbucks Coffee Company, I have trained

over 200 employees, many of which have gone on to management positions inside and outside of

the company.
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Table of Contents

I. Description of Pacific Justice Institute

II. Needs Assessment Findings

III. Skill to be Taught

A. Selected Skill

B. Training Methods to be Used

IV. Detailed Delivery Plan

A. Time Frame

B. Length of Program

C. Trainer Skills Needed

D. Methods Used for Each Section

V. Learning Outcomes

VI. Reference Page

VII. Appendix 1: Contact Information for PJI Point Person

VIII. Appendix 2: Completed Needs Assessment with Analysis

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Description of Pacific Justice Institute

Pacific Justice Institute(PJI) is a non-profit organization that legally represents families,

churches and individuals pro-bono. They specialize in civil liberties defense. They have

attorneys all across the country, and have 6 law offices in California. Pacific Justice Institute has

many volunteers each year to support them, these volunteers do many different tasks, from

making calls to donors, to data entry. PJI was founded in 1997 by Brad Dacus, who is still their

President. Both the employees of the organization and the volunteers are the audience of this

training.

Needs Assessment Findings

I began by selecting an open question format for my needs assessment. The employee

taking the assessment is a professional, and has a background in management, training and

communication. She has also been with the organization for many years, so her insight would be

beneficial, and allowing for written answers was necessary. After having my contact fill out the

needs assessment(See Appendix 1) I came to the conclusion that phone etiquette was the biggest

need for Pacific Justice Institute. All of the current employees could use training in proper

etiquette communicating over the phone between offices. Also, all of the volunteers who come to

PJI would benefit from a course in how to successfully communicate over the phones, whether to

donors or other companies they make calls to. This skill was the uniting factor throughout the

assessment. Phone etiquette would benefit the most people, and was a main factor in the needs of

the organization.
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Skill to be Taught

Phone etiquette is an oral communication skill. Teaching the proper methods for

communication over the phone is critical to ensuring positive impressions of the trainee and the

organization they represent. Never underestimate the power of a first impression... so make sure

it's memorable and positive.(Practice Good Phone Etiquette, 2015) In my phone etiquette

training, we will cover the steps to ensure that you leave a great impression of yourself and the

organization.

The objective of the training course is to train each person in the skills of positively

communicating over the phone. Each trainee will leave with simple, easy to understand methods

of communication which I will cover in the next section. The methods I will use for the course

will also be covered. We will use the general strategy for teaching a skill (tell, show, invite,

encourage, correct).(Beebe, 2012) and I will indicate which steps we are using at what times of

the training program.

I will be using a mixed format of lecturing, videos, and role-playing in my training

program. This will ensure the trainees are able to not only absorb the information, but practice

the skills in the classroom to ensure success. It will also allow for adherence to the 20 minute

rule which states, As a rule of thumb, we suggest you move to a different activity or learning

method at least every 20 minutes.(Beebe, 2012) The purpose is to encourage engagement of the

trainees by switching the stimulus.

Detailed Delivery Plan

For my delivery plan I will be using the Multicolumn Training Plan Format. The most

structured plan, the multicolumn format organizes the information in four columns that support

each training objective.(Beebe, 2012)

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Time Content Methods Resources

9:00am Introduction: Hand Out
Instructor Introduction, and Participant
Trainees Introduction. Guide(PG)
and
PP Slide 1.

9:10am Set Ground Rules and Wall Note

Team Commitments Pad

9:20am Ice Breaker: PP Slide 2

Ice Breaker All Together PG p. 2
Now

9:45am Lecture Lecture (Tell) PP Slide 3-9

Set objectives of course PG p. 3-9
-To learn phone etiquette
skills.
Lay-out 5 steps
-Tone of Voice
-Service Attitude(Scott,
1999)
-Speaking Clearly
-Giving all Attention
-Using Manners(Artunian,
2003)
Lecture slides on 5 steps

10:05am Video on phone etiquette Video (Show) Video #1

Industry examples of good
and bad etiquette.

10:20am Role-Playing Role-Playing (Invite) Handout 2

Have two trainees at a time Role-playing
work the scenarios on Cards
cards.
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After each card, open up Role-Playing Feedback

for feedback from group (Encourage/Correct)
and instructor.

10:45am Conclusion Debrief Activity PP 10

-Reinforce Behaviors PG 10
-Direct to handout for all
key points
-Ask for commitments,
allow time to write in notes
section of PG

10:55am Instructor Review Feedback for Instructor Review

-Ask for feedback on the Survey
training program from
quick survey

11:00am End of Training

The training program can be structured for any day of the week, and will not need to be

administered more than once. The time of day should be at the beginning of the day, since it will

have application for the rest of the day. It will be beneficial for the trainees to be able to apply

what they have learned throughout the rest of the day. The trainer needs to have a strong

understanding of the content and be able to model the behaviors. Good communication skills

would be preferred, and an ability to share past experiences for the audience.

Learning Outcomes

The ultimate test for whether the training is a success or failure will be determined by

Pacific Justice Institute. If the program is deemed to improve the skills of the employees and

volunteers, then it is a success. Also, asking the trainees if they have learned skills that will make
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them better communicators will be important. The survey taken by the trainees will also help to

discover what things can be improved in the training experience.

Taking an honest look at the training program, I believe that the role-playing could be

improved, or replaced by a different method. Whether that be a case study, or something else

will be determined by the trainees response to the role-playing. From my vantage point, I think

that role-playing offers the best opportunity to encourage/correct, but it will be left to be seen in

action.

For learning outcomes, I will supply PJI with a copy of the objectives of the learning, and

to rate the trainees on their ability to perform said objectives after the training. This will be very

helpful for me in making adjustments to the training program.

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References

Artunian, J. (2003, May 05). Phone etiquette pays in business ; tone of voice, attitude

critical. Chicago Tribune Retrieved from

http://login.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/docv

iew/419828356?accountid=4485

Beebe, Steven A.; Mottet, Timothy P.; Roach, K. David. Training & Development:

Communicating for Success (Page 95). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

Beebe, Steven A.; Mottet, Timothy P.; Roach, K. David. Training & Development:

Communicating for Success (Page 98). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

Beebe, Steven A.; Mottet, Timothy P.; Roach, K. David. Training & Development:

Communicating for Success (Page 208). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

Practice Good Phone Etiquette. (2015). Nonprofit Communications Report, 13(8), 8-8.

doi:10.1002/npcr.30193

Scott, J. T. (1999). Market yourself by minding your manners: Business etiquette. Office

Systems, 16(11), 18-24. Retrieved from

http://login.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/docv

iew/216426677?accountid=4485
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Appendix 1

Contact Information for Linda Losey, Administration Assistant:

E-mail Address- Llosey@pji.org and scheduling@pji.org

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Appendix 2

Completed Needs Assessment:

Pacific Justice Institute Needs Assessment

Name: _______Linda Losey___Title: Executive Assistant to President, Brad Dacus

1) How many years have you been involved with Pacific Justice Institute?

10 Years

2) If you could choose three topics of training and development for your organization

right now, what would they be? 1) We have a small organization as far as employees, but

those who give to our organization each year are close to 3,000 people. About 200 of those

attend our Advisory Board meetings and want to be involved in our organization in some

way. If even a portion of these people were trained in how to promote Pacific Justice

Institute and communicate our vision and how we serve, that would be a huge success. 2)

Training for Volunteer Administrators in office function, 3) Development and Marketing

Training.

3) Are there any future needs for training that you anticipate within the next couple of

years? Our Media Department exists to advance the message of PJI. Training in how to

market our founder, Brad Dacus, to TV and News Outlets would be most beneficial. Our

Media Studio in Rancho Santa Margarita has live-streaming abilities and Brad is able to

respond to an interview request at a moments notice. To utilize this great resource

requires strategies and oral communication skills that our staff does not currently possess.

4) What training programs have you or your employees been a part of in the past?
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Non-Harassment Training. Some online training for specific software such as

Hootesuite, Salesforce data base, Donor Tools data base, etc.

5) How effective were those trainings in addressing organizational needs? Not very

effective, spotty and no way to measure results.

6) Are there any resources that you can think of that would help employees work more

efficiently? Sales Training, Phone Etiquette training, Microsoft Office training, and ways to

be more connected between our remote offices.

7) Have you been to any workshops or paid training courses in the past that you would

recommend for employees of your organization? I attended a one-day time management

course at another company that was probably the most beneficial to my personal and work

life. I also attended a one-day business writing course years ago. I still use the basic

concepts from these on a daily basis.

8) What oral communication skills are used within your organization? We converse

with our top donors on a daily basis over the telephone. But, we tend to use email more

often due to our lack of training in oral communication, etc. For potential donors, Brad

usually makes first contact at a conferences and business meeting. The staff is given

business cards, names, phone numbers, etc. from these initial meetings to follow up and try

to schedule a one-on-one meeting with Brad. Brad prefers we talk by phone to these

prospective donors but we tend to still use email. A training in basic phone etiquette, sales,

development and marketing may help us feel more comfortable in attempting to set up

these second meetings

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9) How is conflict resolution handled within the organization? Our employee manual

states that we should address our supervisor with a conflict and we also have a

whistleblower policy. We would benefit from some training in this area.

10) What are the main modes of communication between employees and different

branches of the organization? We usually communicate via email or text, which can be

interpreted several different ways. We also have conference calls on a weekly basis with

top 3 management. Then, we usually have a conference call with all employees every other

month, but that is basically a listen in call.

My Analysis

The completed needs assessment gave me many details into the workings of PJI and the

communication skills used on a daily basis. Also, understanding the business culture and rules

helped to shape my decision to use phone etiquette as the skill to train. The answer to question 8

was particularly helpful, because I was able to see that people were shying away from using the

preferred method of communication because of a lack of skills training in phone communication.

This paired with the information I gleaned from question 2 about needing communication skills

to be increased to better represent the firm. The needs assessment was very good, and I think that

it helped me hone in on one skill. In retrospect, I would have changed a couple of the middle

questions, and tried to focus more on the oral communication skills, versus past experiences with

training.