Block House Developments (BHD) is a real estate development company that provides affordable accommodation for students. The vision for BHD is to become the market leader in student accommodation, by providing quality individual living spaces as well as communal living arrangements where students can build a community and share resources.These communal living spaces include facilities such as a library, BBQ area and a games room. This can help their tenants to form a student community where they can share books, meals and take part in fun activities.
The company has constructed its first apartment building and have just completed its first year of operations However, the company currently faces several problems that must be addressed, namely:
• After one year of operations, only 50% of the rooms are occupied. The company wants to increase its occupancy rate. However, the sales team don’t get any commissions for obtaining clients, so they lack motivation. The company also don’t have an advertising or marketing strategy to attract more tenants.
• The company initially told students that it would provide access to a gym and swimming pool for its tenants, but later on decided not to provide these facilities due to the costs involved. Some of the tenants are now complaining that these facilities are not available to them.
• As the company had lower revenues this year, it had to take out a high interest cash loan of $400,000 to help cover its operational costs. The interest payments on this loan is very high and it is now negatively impacting the cash flow position of the company.
After the first year of operations, the company can spend $100,000 to help solve the above problems.
The General Manager of BHD has asked that you meet with two of your colleagues to solve the problems listed above.
A brief summary of the responsibilities for each of these team members is provided below:
• Marketing Manager. Responsible for designing and executing a marketing plan, managing the sales team and increasing the number of tenants.
• Financial Manager. Responsible for managing and controlling spending and putting in place strategies to ensure the long-term financial viability of the business.
• Operations Manager. Responsible for maintenance of buildings and infrastructure, customer service and solving complaints from tenants.
1. Identify who can assist in the resolution of the problems BHD are facing and who else needs to be involved and informed by completing the following:
(a) Describe how each of the team members can contribute to resolving the problems BHD are facing. (60 words)
2. Formulate your own personal position for each of the problems by completing the following:
(a) Based on the information provided in the case study, list 2 other stakeholders you can consult with.
(b) List 3 questions you can ask the salespeople to help you determine your position about the problem of low room occupancy.
(c) What are 2 reliable sources where you can get advice on the legal implications of telling the tenants that a gym and swimming pool will be provided and later deciding not to.
(b) Prepare a PowerPoint presentation of your possible solutions for use in the meeting. Have one introductory slide and one slide for each problem/solution. Upload your slides with this completed assessment.
5. Describe the communication style that you plan to use in the meeting and explain why you chose this.
prepare an email that you will send to the team members to invite them to the meeting. In the email, make sure that you include the following:
• A brief introduction to the situation
• Authority provided to you by the General Manager
• The need for and purpose of the meeting
• A summary of the key issues
• An invitation to the meeting with date, time and venue
8. List 3 types of information that may be subject to confidentiality and describe how you will manage that information in the meeting and in any correspondence or presentations to staff, management and/or other stakeholders.
You have arranged a meeting with the other team members to discuss the performance to date and address the key issues.
9. Conduct a role play of the meeting with 2 members from your class. Each member will select one of the following roles making sure that all 3 roles are selected:
• Marketing Manager. Responsible for designing and executing a marketing plan, managing the sales team and increasing the number of tenants.
• Financial Manager. Responsible for managing and controlling spending and putting in place strategies to ensure the long-term financial viability of the business.
• Operations Manager. Responsible for maintenance of buildings and infrastructure, customer service and solving complaints from tenants.
In preparation for the meeting, review your answers to Part A with regard to your position, other possible positions and potential solutions.
Also review the Observer Checklist in Appendix A. You will be assessed in your ability to demonstrate ALL the items in this checklist.
The meeting should take approximately 30 minutes (15 minutes for presentations and 15 minutes for discussions) and you must meet all the requirements set out in question 9. You will also be required to take minutes for the meeting using the template in question 10.
You will need to do this role play at home either with 2 members from your class or, if this is not possible, with family and friends. You will need to brief family and friends on the context of the role play. Record the video and submit with your written assessment. The instructions on Recording and submitting a video role play are located in additional information on Canvas.
During the meeting role play making sure to complete the following:
(a) As a group, agree on one agenda to use for the meeting.
(b) Each participant to present their proposed solutions at the beginning of the meeting. Allow 5 minutes per participant and use the PowerPoint slides prepared in question 4.
(c) Prepare and ask one question of each meeting participant during their presentation.
(d) Agree on 3 actions to be taken.
10. Complete the observer checklist found in Appendix A for each member of your role play team and ensure one is
11. Once the meeting has been concluded, complete the minutes to the meeting using the template provided below. Make sure that you provide an accurate summary of the discussion and the conclusion of the meeting. Also make sure that you provide a list of action points necessary for the implementation of the solutions you identified.
It is important to let the tenants and internal staff know what the company position is about the swimming pool and gym facilities. Complete the following.
(a) Prepare a written notice to the tenants to explain the agreed position and actions regarding the gym and swimming pool. (80 words)
(b) You want to personally present this to staff and management. Describe 3 forums you can use to do this and select what you consider to be the best forum for this situation. (60 words)
13. Reflect on the discussions you had with your teammates in the role play by answering the following: (60 words each)
(a) What have you learned about your personal communication style? How do you think it impacts on your ability to communicate in the workplace?
(b) What communication styles did the other team members display in the role play? How do you think it impacts on their ability to communicate in the workplace?
(c) Based on what you have learned in this unit, what are 3 ways you can adapt your communication style in the workplace to communicate more effectively? You can select 3 attributes from other communication styles.
