I was at work one day and the phone rang. I answered; it was a carry out order. The lady over the phone ordered 100 wings extra crispy. Normally when people order extra crispy, they prefer them without the breading, so that’s the way I put the order in. She came to pick the order up; the order was wrong because she wanted breaded wings.
1. Who was the sender?
Customer
2. Who was the receiver?
Me (employee)
3. What was the message?
Breaded wings extra crispy
4. What channel was used?
Telephone
5. What was the misunderstanding?
I assumed the customer wanted naked wings based on previous experience, when she indeed wanted not breaded.
6. How could the misunderstanding be avoided?
The situation could have been avoided by me not assuming when she ordered extra crispy meant not breaded.
1. It is important not to assume what someone wants. Be sure to ask if unsure about anything because mix ups can occur. Some may be harder to fix then others.
2. The main cause of the misunderstanding was me making the assumption based on previous orders. The customer never said she wanted not breaded, there for I should have asked if I was unsure.

A family was sitting at a table, the server kept messing up on little things, like forgetting straws, or extra napkins. The parents at the table found everything and anything to complain about. I noticed they were giving their serve a hard time, so I decided to go over and help her out with the table. I took over the table for her because at that point she was already in tears. So I finish up with the table and I’m standing behind the bar because I’m the bartender, and they used hand signals to ask for their check. I hand signaled them back with what I though was an ‘are you all set?’ hand signal and they took it as they didn’t have a bill because of all the things they complained about. When I went to present them there check they were already halfway out the door.
1. Who was the sender?
Me (employee)
2. Who was the receiver?
Customer
3. What was the message?
Are you all set?
4. What channel was used?
Hand signals
5. What was the misunderstanding?
The misunderstanding was me hand signaling all set, and they taking it as no check
6. How could the misunderstanding be avoided?
If I would have walked over to the table to ask them if they were ready for their bill or not instead of assuming what my hand signal meant.

1. I learned that not everyone takes hand gestures the same way.
2. The main cause of the misunderstanding was me assuming that the customer would know what I meant when I signaled are you all set.