Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Worst Organizational Communication Episode
When thinking about the worst organizational communication experience that I have ever been involved in, I will always remember one of the first few weeks I was working as a park ranger at Knightville Dam and Littleville Lake. One of the first shifts that I worked by myself my boss left me a "To Do List." Included in the list was to "clear brush on the Eagle Cliff Trail." For starters my boss never showed me this trail before. With that said, there was a trail with a sign that pointed to the Eagle Cliff Trail, so I assumed that that had to be it. After five hours of clearing brush and 1.2 miles later, I saw a small path with a sign that said "Start of Eagle Cliff Trail." Clearly, I had no idea where this trail was and my boss assumed that I knew where it was even though he never showed it to me. It was obvious that there was a lack of communication and understanding. It turned out that it wasn't a big deal but I was really ticked off after doing all that hard work for nothing. The following day I came into work, I had to clear brush on the actual Eagle Cliff Trail and not the road that lead up to it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Michael, I think this is a great example of how face to face communication can be much more effective than written communication. Rather than make assumptions in written communication, face to face communication brings immediate reconciliation to incorrect assumptions like your boss'. We're all guilty of making assumptions in our communications now and again, but it is easy to see how frustrating it must have been that he made the assumption on your very first solo shift.
ReplyDeleteGood point about the value of face-to-face communication. Communicating in this way allows both parties to gain a much more in-depth understanding of the topic at hand. If assumptions are made they can be corrected, and if questions arise they can be answered. Your post speaks to the value and importance of clear communication to achieve desired results.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree on the above two posts that face-to-face communication can come in handy with certain situations. However, I think your boss could have achieved effective communication if he spent a bit more time by writing something more clear. Even if he assumed you knew where the trail was, since you were new he could have said "...as a reminder, the Eagle Cliff Trail is about 1.2 miles up the..."
ReplyDeleteYour example shows the poor example of a managers communication style and method. I would bet that because of what happened to you
ReplyDeleteyour first day on the job you will never communicate this way as a manager.
Although face to face communication is almost always preferable, I think that the lack of details from your boss was also a big part of the problem. People sometimes think that you just "know" what they mean but the fact is that you actually don't, most of the time. I believe that when communicating, especially in the work environment, it is always better to assume that the other employees do not know exactly what you mean and provide additional details. This does not mean that we have to break every single thing down and explain it, instead, we can keep providing details until the recipient show a sign of their understanding!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI fish at Littleville!
ReplyDeleteMy dirtbike club maintains Beartown State Forest. We meet with the DCR to establish our annual trail maintenance plan. This includes individual maps to designate which bridge, waterbar locations, things like that. All the boss had to do was circle a spot on the map. A picture speaks a thousand words.
This is an aspect of D'Aprix's first question a manager should answer for the employee - "What is my job?" It should be clear and the manager is responsible to make sure the employee understands. Miscommunication here can spoil the employee's confidence in their manager - especially if the manager ridicules or rebukes the employee!
ReplyDeleteNothing to do with communication other than I was nearly fooled by the same sign. Googled trail name after visiting lake and seeing sign a hoping to find a trail map. Sign could easily misinterpreted as "this is the trail head to the 1.2 mile eagle cliff trail" not "the trail head is 1.2 miles from here. In any event, ggoing to check it out soon and will pause for a moment to appreciate your extra (though misguided) effort. Thanks!
ReplyDelete