CASE 4:

One garbled memo – 26 baffled phone calls Joanne supervised 36 professionals in 6 city libraries. To cut the costs of unnecessary overtime, she issued this one-sentence memo to her staff: When workloads increase to a level requiring hours in excess of an employee’s regular duty assignment, and when such work is estimated to require a full shift of eight (8) hours or more on two (2) or more consecutive days, even though unscheduled days intervene, an employee’s tour of duty shall be altered so as to include the hours when such work must be done, unless an adverse impact would result from such employee’s absence from his previously scheduled assignment. After the 36 copies were sent out, Joanne’s office received 26 phone calls asking what the memo meant. What the 10 people who didn’t call about the memo thought is uncertain. It took a week to clarify the new policy.
1. who is communicating to whom about what, how, and why?
2. What was the goal of communication in each case?
3. Identify communication error.
4. Explain what costs/losses were incurred by this problem.
5. Identity possible solutions or strategies that would have prevented the problem, and what benefits would be derived from implementing solutions or preventing the problem.?