Questions and answers

As the excitement surrounding the move into their new offices wound down, the two principal owners of LearnInMotion.com, Pierre and Jennifer, turned to the task of hiring new employees. In their business plan they’d specified several basic goals for the venture capital funds they’d just received, and hiring a team topped the list. They knew their other goals – boosting sales and expanding the Web site, for instance – would be impossible without the right team.

Pierre and Jennifer were just about to place their ads when Pierre asked a question that brought them to a stop: “What kind of people do we want to hire?” It seemed they really hadn’t considered this. They knew the answer in general terms, of course. For example, they knew they needed at least two salespeople, plus a programmer, a Web designer, and several content management people to transform the incoming material into content they could post on their site. But it was obvious that job titles alone really didn’t provide enough guidance. For example, if they couldn’t specify the exact duties of these positions, how could they decide whether they needed experienced employees? How could they decide exactly what sorts of experiences and skills they had to look for in their candidates, if they didn’t know exactly what these candidates would have to do? They wouldn’t even know what questions to ask.

And that wasn’t all. For example, there were obviously other tasks to do, and these weren’t necessarily included in the sorts of things that salespeople, programmers, Web designers, or content management people typically do. Who was going to answer the phones? (Jennifer and Pierre had originally assumed they’d put in one of those fancy automated call directory and voice-mail systems – until they found out it would cost close to $10 000.) As a practical matter, they knew they had to have someone answering the phones and directing callers to the proper extension. Who was going to keep track of monthly expenses and compile them for the accountants, who’d then produce monthly reports for the venture capitalist? Would the salespeople generate their own leads? Or would LearnInMotion.com have to hire Web surfers to search and find names of people for the sales staff to call or e-mail? What would happen when the company had to purchase supplies, such as fax paper or computer disks? Would the owners have to (do) this themselves, or should they have someone in house do it for them? The list, it seemed, went on and on.

It was obvious, in other words, that the owners had to get their managerial act together and draw up the sorts of documents they’d read about as business majors – job descriptions, job specifications, and so forth. It all had seemed a lot easier when they read the textbook. Now they want you, their management consultants, to help them actually do it. Here’s what they want you to do for them.

1 – job description for the salesperson and for the Web designer. Needing job descriptions and lists of duties that apply specifically to dot-com

2 – a job specification for those two jobs, salesperson and web designer, including desirable work habits, skills, education, and experience.

3 – With the company being on a tight budget, how would it accomplish the other activities it requires, such as answering the phones, compiling sales leads, producing monthly reports, and purchasing supplies.