RE: Curative Communication, Problem Solving Project –Planning Document
Purpose for Writing: I would like to alert you to a communication problem I have with the new Human Resources manager where I am employed. I finished college, and post-graduate studies all with high marks. I am an employee of Republic Airways which is located in Indianapolis and has a number of subsidiaries all offering passenger service throughout North America. I have always had positive employee evaluations in the past.
Unfortunately the new manager is never pleased with my answers to her questions about work. The new manager speaks to me in a very negative way. I am never quite sure what it is that I have done that makes her unhappy. I have been doing work with the same quality as before she arrived. In order to solve the problem I have prepared this document as guide to how I will proceed with the problem solving project.
Audience: The new Human Resources manager is the person all the department heads in all the Republic subsidiaries report to. This includes mainland U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean Islands. Her responsibilities the usual responsibilities like personnel qualifications, training, and also labour relations.
Goals of Information: I will gather information for the purpose of pinpointing the most likely reasons for the communication problem and strategies to solve the problem of not understanding what my manager wants. This is an important problem to solve not only for my job satisfaction but also because as Woods (2010) pointed out “Employees estimated this resulted in up to 40 minutes of wasted time per day – the equivalent of 83 employees in a company of 1,000 doing nothing every day.” Ineffective communication has been cited often in Human Resources literature especially for the negative effect it has on productivity. (Allen, 2011; Woods, 2010)
Information Objectives: I want the information I gather to meet the following objectives. The likely reasons for the communication problems need to be determined. I feel the problem may stem from our age difference, the negative attitude of the new manager or some competitive feelings; perhaps the new manager feels threatened because I am young. I would like to gather information on how to best negotiate with my manager in order to make work a pleasant place to work. I plan to write a literature review which will include communication research on workplace negotiating skills and successful implementation of strategies in the real world.
Information Verification: I will collect the most recent ten to twelve years of research from peer reviewed journals in order to find data that is reliable.
Schedule of Milestones:
I will start my and identify the problem. I can write out examples of some of the conversations that have taken place and how the failed conversations have affected my work productivity and my attitude. I will also define what I will accept as a positive, successful solution. An acceptable solution is the goal and the objective of my research project. I will define the Communication problem in detail as a problem unique to the workplace and having to do with someone who has a higher ranking at the company. The problem is different than anything I have experienced in my family or my neighbourhood. Therefore I think the problem is a management skills problem.
I will outline whit I know about the problem and the process that is taking place. I will determine the theory I can work from and develop a hypothesis.
I will conduct a literature view by finding research which addresses the communication problem I am experiencing. The literature review is my way of studying the problem and analyzing the choices I have for solving the problem. I will use databases like EBSCO and Questia to find the journal articles. I will also try to do some searches on the Internet and find appropriate articles in journals that may not be in the databases. I will also look for e-books in the databases. And the library will have books on the subject. I can start by using the following search words and phrases. Communication, Workplace negotiations, Curative Communication, Management Skills, Leadership
I will try my new information at work and see if I can improve the situation.
I will evaluate my success or failure at solving the work problem. I will include this in the final project report write up.
References
Allen, L. (2011 October 2011). Poor Management Communication Leads to Low Employee Productivity. Daily Blogma. http: Dailyblogma.com
Hambrick, R. S. (1991). The Management skills builder: Self-directed learning strategies for career development. New York, NY: Praeger Publishers.
Part 1: Theories of Motivation. (2012). Improving Management/Employee Communication. American Jewish University. www.ajula.edu
Potter, W. J. (1996). An Analysis of Thinking and Research about Qualitative Methods. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Access
Woods, D. (2010 January 15). Poor communication between managers and employees wastes times and impacts productivity. HR, www.hrmagazine.co.uk.
