Bcom 275 Week one 1.1

Example 1

Who was the sender? Myself

Who was the receiver? Several Senior Managers within my workplace

What was the message? I was pointing out a possible business opportunity.

What channel was used to send the message? E-mail

What was the misunderstanding that occurred? One of the Senior Managers misread my intentions within the e-mail and felt I was creating internal competition.

How could the misunderstanding have been avoided? I am still not sure. While I feel my e-mail message was very clear - several other managers completely understood the communication; this one particular manager did not. I feel there were some pre-conceived notions that I was unaware of and could not have addressed until something like this occurred.

1. What did you learn about the communication process from this activity?

This particular communications issue is still fresh; it has recently happened. I am still trying to determine the exact issue and the best way to resolve the situation. Admittedly I have avoided the manager for quite some time to allow for a cooling off for both parties. Since it was a 'group' e-mail and the entire traffic was part of a group conversation, I had multiple 'witnesses' to the conversation to ask for guidance and input. Others within the traffic felt I did not do or say anything inappropriate. What I have learned from a situation such as this is that pre-conceived notions can play a role in the feedback you receive even when they are not relevant to the topic being discussed. Misunderstandings can happen even without communication; and be brought up later as hostile ammunition in a discussion. But, I have also learned that there is only so much I can do about things I am not aware of. Regardless of the tone of the feedback that I received in this communication; I have remained professional with the group. I gathered other feedback to ensure that my communication was appropriate. Therefore, as of right now, I feel I have done everything I can to resolve the misunderstanding.

2. What seemed to be the main causes of the misunderstandings?

The main cause of the misunderstanding seemed to stem back to a communication among other managers that I had not been privy to. While the hostile communication (misunderstanding) seemed to be directed at me; it was part of a greater misunderstanding that came about prior to my communication.