Case Study: A Breakdown in Communication

Linda Barry, a single mother with 3 children, was hired as an order-entry clerk for a

trucking firm. Her first 2 weeks on the job were spent in a special class from 8am-4pm, where

she learned how to sort, code and enter the orders on the computer, as instructor with her

constantly at first, and then less frequently as she gained knowledge, skills and confidence.

Linda was happy to have the job and enjoyed her work schedule. When the training was

completed, she was told to report to the order entry department the following Monday.

When she was first employed, either Linda failed to read and understand the printed information

about her regular work schedule or perhaps the recruiter forgot to tell her that she was to fill a

spot in a special shift that worked from 4am till noon.

In any case, Linda failed to report to work on the early schedule on the first day of

regular work. When she did arrive at 8am, her supervisor criticized her for lack of responsibility.

Barry responded by saying that she could not work at the early shift because she had to prepare

her children for school, and she threatened to resign if she could not work on the later shift.

Because of a heavy work load and a difficult labor market, the supervisor needed Linda to do the

job yet no room for her in the 8am-4pm shift.

QUESTIONS:

1.  Analyze the communication blockages in this case.  Discuss what ideas of upward and

downward communication, listening, realistic job previews, feedbacks and interference it has.  

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2.  Explain how you would handle the employment situation at the end of the case.  What ideas

could be applied to help solve the problem?

ANSWER:

1. Linda Barry’s case obviously lacks proper communication. As discussed in the case, she

was not able to report for work on time as scheduled which is from 4Am to 12NN. Instead she

came to work at 8 AM and was reprimanded for being late and was criticized for lack of

responsibility.

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 To analyze this case, certain points and ideas should be explored to find the root cause

and possible alternatives the company and Linda can do.

The job descriptions and work schedule should be done during interviews and the

Realistic Job Previews related to roles and employees working hours should be asked by the job

seeker and should be discussed by the interviewer. Both parties became less specific with the

working hours.

Linda, although was trained for two weeks for the specific roles, either may not properly

informed about the work schedule or she did not confirm as well about her schedule. On the

other hand, she may have failed to listen about the work details of what the HR/recruiter has to

address.

One of the key issues about the case is Listening. In this case, either Linda or the

recruiter, or both may have failed to listen. The HR/recruiter may have not listened or failed to

listen to Linda’s preferred work schedule considering that she is a single mother who do all the

stuffs. Linda, on the other hand, might have not listened, or read the instructions regarding the

work details. Communication involves a two-way process, this process should be done by the

one being addressed, and the one who sent the message. Active listening is an important business

communication skill and that requires the listener to provide feedback on what he or she hears to

the speaker. Feedback would then be important to know whether the persons who would receive

the message would actually capture the message correctly. Both Linda and recruiter/HR

definitely received feedbacks, but those feedbacks are incorrect. This is maybe because of some

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interferences. Interference could be from different perceptions between Linda and HR. Linda

was expecting her schedule to be the same as the work schedule during her training that starts

from 8AM, while the supervisor was expecting they will be able to employ Linda within the

4AM to 12 noon schedules.

The next idea is upward and downward communication. Effective downward and

upward communication is crucial to an organization's success. When leaders and managers share

information with lower-level employees, it is called downward, or top-down, communication.

While downward communication may sometimes invite a response, it is usually one-directional

rather than reciprocal–the higher-level communicator does not invite or expect a response from

the lower-level recipient. The upward communication, on the other hand, is the opposite.

Upward communication moves from lower to higher levels within an organization. Upward

communication often comes in response to downwardly communicated requests for information,

opinions, or actions. In the case of Linda, there was either a misunderstanding by Linda because

she did not confirm or request information about the work schedule (which would then be by its

downward communication), or by the recruited/HR who possibly misunderstood her (which

would be a problem residing in the upward communication).

2. The family comes first, and job security is needed to for the family to survive. Business is

business, and business has rules to be followed to survive and make money. But business makes

money for their employee as well.

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Both parties are facing issues. The issue with Linda is kind of a personal issue. She might have

some difficulty addressing her work schedule as well as attending to her family needs as a single

mother. On the other hand, because of a heavy work load and a difficult labor market, the

supervisor needed Linda to do the job yet no room for her in the 8am-4pm shift.

I believed, in order for both parties to move forward, it is better for the company to find a

replacement for Linda, considering the Linda’s situation. Linda is willing to resign though. It

might impact and may have affect the business because of the required workload, but it could be

on a very short term only. They should be looking into the long run. Keeping Linda on a wrong

schedule (8AM to 4PM) will impact the business’ productivity because of losing work hours.

The business can deal with the backlogs once they find the suitable person for the job. For the

interim, they can have someone from the existing manpower to attend to the position but

alternately, let’s say during their rest day. The company can explain the situation to the team in a

very polite and effective downward communication process. Employees should be able to

understand the company’s situation and the company should explain to them that this is for the

betterment of the company. Same goes for Linda. Since she willing to resign because she will

not be able to give up her role for the family as single mom, she should understand the possible

consequences of losing the job if she resigns. But looking also into the long-run, it could be the

best thing to do in order to fulfill her duties as a single mom. She could find a suitable job that

fits her requirement. She should think about the work-life balance as well. Job seeking might be

difficult at first, but it is her determination that will lead her to the right working place.

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 Both parties, Linda and the business, should have learned their lessons. It is very

important to communicate properly, ask questions and responds. Practicing effective

communication by listening attentively and making sure each one clearly understands the

information.