COMMUNICATION CHANNEL SCENERIOS 2

ABSTRACT

Communication within an organization plays a vital role in business functions. Using poor communication or the wrong type of communication channel can have major negative impacts. Good communication skills and the knowledge to identify when to use a particular communication channel is vital in sending and receiving business information. The communication channel scenarios assigned demonstrate the challenges that occur when there is error in communication. The first scenario highlights the risks of not choosing the right communication channel when dealing with important business matters. The scenario also shows what can occur when important conversations take place via e-mail rather than one on one, and how the evidence of the conversations can cause future damage. The second scenario shows how the internet has changed communication and created new challenges for organizations. Both scenarios demonstrate that it is essential to understand the different channels of communication.

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Communication Channel Scenario 1

In the case incident between Diana Abdala and William Korman, I side with Mr. Korman. I feel that Ms. Abdala handled the situation in a very unprofessional manner. It is my understanding that both parties initially used face to face communication as a channel for information exchange during the interview process, offer, and acceptance. I do believe Mr. Korman should have had a contract available upon his offer of the position to finalize Ms. Abdala’s acceptance. Without the contract she was not legally obligated to start the position. When Ms. Abdala decided to decline the position she opted to communicate by leaving a voice mail at Mr. Korman's office at 9:30pm and then followed by sending an e-mail. The possibility that Mr. Korman was at his office at 9:30pm was low, leading me to believe that it was her intention to avoid direct contact with Mr. Korman. The e-mails that followed lacked respect and courtesy of Mr. Korman’s time spent interviewing, offering her the position, and the steps he took to prepare her for the start of the position. Given that Mr. Korman's is an experienced attorney in a small legal community I believe there is a great chance that Ms. Abdala's behavior may damage her future career opportunities. I believe it is fair to say that when communicating important information it is best to communicate verbally. Once the information is typed, it can become the opposing side’s ammunition. Especially when the information exchanged is written with emotion rather than professionalism. As in the case of Mr. Patterson the CEO of Cerner Corp, when he sent a highly emotional email to 400 managers criticizing their performance in a very demeaning manner. Within three days the e-mail made it to a public internet site and the company’s stock decreased by 22% (E. Wong, “A Stinging Office Memo Boomerangs” New York Times April 5, 2001) Hopefully Ms. Abdala’s chancing for future employment do not plummet as drastically as Cerner Corp.

COMMUNICATION CHANNEL SCENARIOS 4 Communication Channel Scenario 2

Scenario 2 deals with the topic of company’s blogging about layoffs before announcing the information to the employees. Company leaders feel that they can beat negative feedback from bloggers by announcing the information first. I do not agree with this strategy! I cannot imagine what it would feel like to be committed to a position within a company and to find out on a blog that the company would be performing layoffs. I believe it is a company’s ethical responsibility to be professional and communicate the information to the employees. Anytime vital information such as layoffs or company changes are not given directly to those involved it creates confusion and chaos in the work environment. I believe that people that are actively employed have the same ethical responsibility to treat information about their company professional. If an employee feels so negative about things going on in the work place I feel the best move would be to find different employment rather than spending time blogging about what he or she doesn’t like. If it is a disgruntled former employee it is that person’s right to express their feelings. Disclosing an identity will damage the career of an active employee, therefore as much as I assume management would like to know the identities of the negative bloggers it is not a wise move. If a company has critical information and they want to be proactive like former PepsiCo executive Rusy Ruff and say “here’s what’s going on” rather than letting someone else write the story (M. Allison, Seattle Times), I believe the best practice would be to tackle the issues internally and externally at the same time. I would recommend having a face to face department meeting to give employees the opportunity to hear the information from a manager, this will give employees to opportunity to ask questions and digest the news rather than being caught off guard. At the same time the department meetings are being held, PR would have the opportunity to release the information on a blog. This type of communication covers both the areas of giving employees respect and also allows management to be proactive.

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References (E. Wong, “A Stinging Office Memo Boomerangs” New York Times April 5, 2001) (M. Allison, “More Layoffs Expected at Starbucks” Seattle Times January 24, 2009)