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Home » The Structure Key » 3K. Single Point of Contact
- 3K1. A single point of contact is the point of interface between two teams or two areas.
- 3K2. In a matrix, there are multiple interfaces which require a specific single point of contact:
- 3K2i. Between a team member and each stakeholder.
- 3K2ii. Between a customer and a supplier.
- 3K2iii. A single point of contact is needed when one group organizes around one segment, and it must link to groups organized around different segments.
- 3K2iiia. For example, if one group is organized around commodities that are common to all products, and another group is organized around products which use common commodities, these two groups must interact. There could be a dozen commodity managers within the commodities group and a dozen product managers within the product group. If each commodity manager needed to interface with each product manager, and each product manager needed to interface with each commodity manager, there would be 144 interfaces. If, instead, the product team creates a single point of contact person who sits on the Commodity Steering Council and the commodity’s single point of contact sits on the Product Steering Council, there are only two interfaces.
- 3K2iv. The goal of the single point of contact is to deliver a single set of priorities that funnel into the receiving group.
- 3K2iva. Figure 3.6. Example of product and commodity points of contact.
