PMGT 402-103

Assignment # 1

PREPARED FOR

Professor Muhammad Khan

Prepared by

Mihir Naik
STUDENT ID   # 300613927

October 21, 2010

Solution for Assignment # 1 [ PMGT 402 – Project Leadership ]

1) In the given case regarding the Voyant Technologies, the major barrier to communication is

IMPROPER ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION. Specifically, the upward and

downward communication are not carried out properly i.e. there is a communication gap between

the Product Managers and Top Engineers, it is clearly said that both these groups of employees

do not listen to each other. The lack of sharing information between these two levels of

employees results in low productivity and inefficient work. The another communication barrier

at Voyant is the language used by the technical people, so called “computer ‘geeks’”, to share the

information or message with the Marketing people. This is also a kind of cultural barrier as they

both belong to different department of the company and they both have their own work oriented

language to communicate. So this language as well as cultural barrier also existed in the

company.

The another likely barrier to communication at Voyant may be the SELECTIVE PERCEPTION

of the CEO towards the new idea of adding streaming media. As a CEO of the company, a

person should discuss about the new idea of any product or service to be initiated, its Pros and

Cons. Due to the selective perception, the CEO might have not taken into consideration the

market requirement or the customer expectations. Selective perception about adding streaming

media may be that it will be a successful service and all the employees will be agreed to work

effectively and efficiently on this new project. In this way, the selective perception can also be

considered a barrier to communication at Voyant.

2) The employees of Voyant might have used the following ways to overcome the

communication barriers:

Use of Feedback – The employees can be suggested to provide the feedback for the new ideas or

projects in terms of the market requirements, customers’ expectations, use of technology and all

other updates required to carry out a project. So that the feedback can improve the

communication between the employees and there can be a better performance by all the

employees. Also the feedback to higher management can be helpful to make decisions which are

in favor of the company.

Simplifying the Language – The language can be a barrier to communication which may affect

the company very seriously, so all the employees should be suggested to use the simple form of

language that is understood by each of the employees. The technical people should try using a

simple language so that marketing people can get the actual meaning of the message and can

work in a better way to satisfy the customer needs and even the marketing people should also

make their message clear to other emoloyees so that company can meet the customer

requirements and satisfy them.

Organizational Communication Network – The employees at Voyant should follow a proper

network of the Organizational communication so that there is no gap between the Product

Managers and Top Engineers. The Upward as well as downward communication should be

carried out effectively and all the employees should listen to both their higher level and lower

level colleagues. This can surely improve the interpersonal communication in a company.
3) The only reason for Ernstorm to believe that the company’s customers are happier than ever

before is lack of the knowledge regarding the actual market scenario. Ernstorm thinks that the

company invested $200,000 in adding the streaming media to the company’s Flagship product

which is a successful investment. In fact, the company sold a very small number of units and

Ernstorm was unaware of that information. So I think, till Ernstorm was informed about the

Sales, he believed that the company’s customers were happier than ever before.

Communication plays a vital role in any organization. Important roles of communication are in

terms of controlling the behavior of employees at the work place, motivating the employees,

helps in sharing the emotions and feelings, and lastly for exchanging the information among the

employees.

Communicating the way of working in an organization is very important to create a well

disciplined atmosphere and here the skill of communicating in the best way plays its role. In this

way, it controls the behavior of the employee at work place.

Communication helps in encouraging motivation of the employees to achieve the set goals and

getting feedback for their progress. Positive feedback and supportive communication from a

manager motivates an employee to do the job more effectively and efficiently.

Communication also helps to share the emotions and feelings about the work among the

colleagues; it plays an important role in socializing with the other employees. This type of

communication can be helpful for the employees to get relaxed and fulfill their social needs.

Communication is the base for exchange of any kind of information in an organization. A

manager can make decisions based on the information available from the fellow employees, the
staff can get the message regarding their work responsibilities, and any other sort of information

that is to be exchanged can be done by an effective communication.

Hence, Communication plays a vital role in any organization.