Current Business Research Project
The ability for a supervisor to communicate is one any organization expects. Although communication normally comes naturally to someone, being able to communicate and transfer skills to an associate is something that may need to be learned. There have been numerous studies conducted to determine the effectiveness of formal training and development. Once the skill is learned, how the skill is used in on the job training is very important. The research conducted in this article is trying to determine whether or not the physical environment of an organization has an impact on supervisory communication skills transfer. Some of the factors being looked at are actual physical properties within a work environment. Examples of this would be how a cubicle or workspace is set up. Organizations need to determine if the physical environment is affecting a supervisors ability to transfer their skills. They also want to determine if the physical environment has an effect on the employees ability to transfer the skills they learned to on the job work. For this research project, interviews were conducted with the supervisors that were selected for the project. They used the Heuristic Elicitation Methodology for the interview process. They also conducted surveys of the supervisors. The results of the research showed supervisors would like to have a private office with a door to be able to enhance face-to-face interactions with employees. The supervisors also said that having a private, convenient meeting room was very important to being able to communicate clearly with their employees. They determined that the supervisors ability to communicate and teach the employees was hindered when there was no private location to meet. Not having the ability to provide feedback to an employee without having heavy traffic and interruptions was a reason for the breakdown in communication. Although most environments assist a supervisor in being able to provide clear communication, there are many factors that hinder it. Whether a supervisor has his or her own office or has somewhere that he or she can go to have a private conversation, this is something a majority of supervisors say is a must. If they don’t have a place to have these conversations, the communication is often interrupted.