Executive Summary
The present paper provides an analysis of communication issues in STEP. The report is based on the data obtained during the interview with the company’s employee, Nancy Watson. It has been found that communication in STEP is effective, but it is possible to improve it.
For instance, it is stated that motivation and persuasion techniques used can be reconsidered since it is possible to use more strategies. It is necessary to enact strategies of resolving conflicts which take place in STEP because of poor individual performance in teamwork. Finally, there exist certain language barriers which should be addressed to by providing language courses and cultural diversity trainings.
Introduction
Communication is one of the most important parts of human’s life. Effective communication is also important for organization development. Admittedly, when people clearly understand the major objectives of their organization, know exactly their duties and responsibilities, the organization inevitably benefits.
The present report is based on the interview of an employee of an organization where communication is rather effective. Notably, the interviewee claims that teamwork plays a significant role in their work which is also beneficial for the organization. Nevertheless, there are several points to be improved in the organization under consideration.
Methodology
The interviewee is a young female (hereinafter referred to as Nancy Watson) who is working for a company selling various products. The company will be referred to as STEP. Nancy is working in the company for four years. She is a sociable person who is open and sincere.
These criteria are important for an interviewee, so Nancy fitted the best the present research. She was also eager to be interviewed.
As far as the interview techniques are concerned funnel question sequence was used. This is the most common sequence which is very effective and Nancy is the interviewee who “knows the topic and feels free to talk about it” (Witsel 119).
It goes without saying that in the beginning of the interview the objectives of the conversation were outlined and friendly atmosphere was set. Therefore, Nancy was responsive, precise and informative. Thus, the interview can be regarded as a valuable source of information about the communication issues in STEP.
Findings
There are about 250 employees in STEP and eight people in the branch where Nancy works. Nancy likes working there because she likes people working with her, “the stability” her work (i.e. company) provides, and possibility to communicate with different people (clients, partners, etc.) (Watson).
As for the cultural diversity in STEP, Nancy claims that there are employees pertaining to different cultures. Nonetheless, she notes that she does not face cultural difficulties stating: “I am sort of open to everyone who comes in” (Watson). She only points out that there exist certain problems concerning language barrier.
As far as motivation and persuasion techniques in STEP are concerned, employees have meetings twice a week. During these meetings they discuss their performances, their goals, possible issues, have teambuilding activities.
During these meeting product specialist gives presentations about new products. During these presentations visual aid like slides are used. Once in three month they have “appraisals” meeting with a manager where individual performances are discussed (Watson).
STEP employees have “key performance indicadance” and they also get bonuses when certain targets are achieved. Nancy believes that teamwork is crucial for achieving aims claiming that “if everyone is willing to work together you can achieve more as part of a team” (Watson).
Finally, Nancy notes that there are conflicts in their workplace. They usually take place when an employee lets down the team and another employee has to complete extra work.
Discussion
It is important to note that STEP management pays much attention to proper communication within the company. There are many meeting where employees can discuss the most important issues.
Cummings and Worley note that meeting are essential for effective communication in the organization since employees can share their ideas and get feedback from other employees or management (141).
These meeting are often useful in terms of persuasion and motivation. It goes without saying that motivation presupposes inspiring employees “to exert effort, to commit to and persist of an organization’s values or goals” (Latham 4).It is possible to note that in STEP there are two major ways of motivation: discussion (discussion of individual performance) and fiscal award (bonuses).
Apart from motivation and persuasion STEP management also pays much attention to teamwork. Reportedly, teams are “the best way to enact organizational strategy” (West 9). Notably, employees of STEP (e.g. Nancy) understand the importance of working in teams and, therefore, try to complete their tasks in the best possible way.
It is also necessary to note that teamwork presupposes certain team agreements, sharing responsibilities and following certain instructions (Avery et al. 116). In STEP this is the weakest point in teamwork, since according to Nancy there are conflicts since sometimes employees do not act in the rightful way and let the entire team down.
Finally, it is important to point out that STEP is characterized by cultural diversity (there are employees of different cultural backgrounds) which is beneficial for the contemporary organization which has to compete in a globalized world (Witsel 91). Though, Nancy claims that she does not have any difficulties because of cultural differences, there are certain problems because of language barrier.
Conclusions
On balance, it is possible to state that communication in the company is quite effective. Employees understand the importance of teamwork. They share their ideas and get the feedback during numerous meetings. However, there are still certain points to be improved.
For instance, motivation techniques can be reconsidered. It is also necessary to enact certain strategies to resolve conflicts arising from teamwork. Finally, communication can be improved by removing language barriers.
Recommendations
As far as motivation is concerned Nancy stated that she likes that company provides stability and she also enjoys working in the existing workplace. These criteria should be used apart from fiscal rewarding and discussion.
Notably, stability and positive attitude towards colleagues are components of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, so it is but natural to use these concepts when creating motivation strategies (Griffin and Moorhead 86).
As for conflicts they also should be addressed. In the first place, it is essential to implement analytical approach to the conflict solving (Mitchell 245). If an employee lets down the team it is essential to put mere accusations aside and discuss the reasons why it happened.
Here it is possible to use DESC Script technique which is based on the following concepts: describe, express, specify, consequences (Thompson 296). Thus, it is essential to analyze the problem in details, express all opinions and decide what the employee who let down the team should do to become better in future.
Finally, language barrier is the easiest one to be solved in STEP. It is necessary to provide language courses for employees. Besides, it will be helpful to provide training concerning cultural diversity issues since even Nancy does not report about problems they can appear in future. Besides, such conflicts can already take place in STEP (involving other employees).
Works Cited
Avery, Christopher M., Meri Aaron Walker and Erin O’Toole Murphy. Teamwork Is an Individual Skill: Getting Your Work Done When Sharing Responsibility. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2001.
Cummings, Thomas G. and Christopher G. Worley. Organization Development & Change. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2008.
Griffin, Ricky W. and Gregory Moorhead. Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2009.
Latham, Gary P. Work Motivation: History, Theory, Research, and Practice. London: SAGE, 2007.
Mitchell, Christopher. “Problem-solving.” Ed. Cheldelin, Sandra, Daniel Druckman and Larissa A. Fast. Conflict: From Analysis to Intervention. London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003. 241-254.
Thompson, Rosemary. Counseling Techniques: Improving Relationships with Others, Ourselves, Our Families, and Our Environment. Abingdon: Psychology Press, 2003.
Watson, Nancy. Personal Interview. 17 May 2011.
West, Michael A. Effective Teamwork: Practical Lessons from Organizational Research. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2004.
Witsel, Mieke. Communication in Organisations. East Lismore: McGraw-Hill, 2009.