The ICON9^TM TOOLKIT

In this video, Andy Betts gives an overview of the ICON9 tools and methods. The style is similar to that of the ICON9 eLearning material, but with fewer details. It can either be used as a first introduction to ICON9, or as a refresher if you are coming back to the system.

The toolkit provides simple tools both for doing routine things efficiently and for coping with complex situations. It gives Customer-Facing Engineers the support they need when they need it, but does not encumber their natural communication abilities or style.

The eight tools of ICON9^TM are organised around an Encounter Process (the Prepare, Engage, Do, Check and Follow-up steps). This serves to structure meetings and the work that supports them. The other tools either fit into this process, in the sense that their use can be linked to specific process steps, or they support it in a more general sense.

Click the icons in the header bar to explore the Toolkit ... and HERE to email a request for the kit!

The MAP tool, which is used in the Prepare phase of an encounter to clarify my objectives, audience and plan, is not only a stand alone device but also a front end to five other tools: PAGE, used to align meeting participants, DISCOVER-Y, for discovering data, the TWO-MINUTE MESSAGE, used when informing clients through presentations etc., TABLE, used for negotiating anything from a meeting agenda to a complex product specification and OAR, for improved collaboration with internal clients.

Complementing the above, and used in all phases of any encounter, is the SUBROUTINE, for listening and explaining. For written communication, the TWO-SECOND MESSAGE completes the toolkit.

The ambition of ICON9^TM is to cover the essential aspects of customer-facing communications with just a few, carefully chosen tools, and so the number of tools in the core of the system is deliberately fixed at eight. Or nine, if we include the Customer-Facing Engineer themselves - TOOL9.