Lack Of Communication The Problem example essay topic

Case Study 1: Lack of Communication The problem we identified is a lack of communication regarding changes in responsibilities within associate positions in turn effecting customer responses. Changes are not communicated to the people who are affected most by the changes. How we identified the problem: When an employee goes to a designated employee who is in charge of a certain account, the designated employee says, "I do not do that account anymore". Now the new mission is who "does" this account belong to now.

After speaking to the supervisor to find out who handles the account, the new contact is approached. When the original inquiry is made, the response is, "I do not handle that account". After informing him or her that she does, the new response is, "No one told me that, I do not know anything about that account". So, after all is done, fifteen minutes or more has been wasted on finding out who handles the account and still there is no answer to the original question. For everyone who has to get information regarding that account, now has to go through the same process and frustration. The reassigning of positions without communicating it with the rest of the organization could cause a lot of problems with providing good customer service.

For example, if an employee receives a phone call inquiring about a situation they do not know about and are not able to get an answer for the customer right away, may cause the customer to become impatient and possibly irate. Another situation would be, if something specific needed to get done, but no one is there to help, the task would just sit there and maybe forgotten, "out of sight, out of mind". Which would then cause problems in trying to figure out who had originally taken the call from the customer and did not follow through the proper channels to get the help. Other problems may arise for employees who accepts a new position, for instance, if employees know of a person who used to work a certain account they would then try to burden them with problems that need to be resolved. This would be a big problem not only for the employee answering the phones, but for the employee who just accepted a new position as well. His or her new position may require as much of his or her attention as needed.

Therefore, the help may not be there when needed. Another problem would be, is if a certain employee knows a specific procedure or way of doing things and does not share with or cross train anyone else in the organization, it could cause a major problem for the company if that particular employee decides to leave. No one would know what to do or who to go to, to help resolve a problem. Resources for solving the customer service issues related to missed calls would consist of the employees affected by the changes or reorganizations. To solve this problem it is important to identify the root cause of the problem first.

Why is there a gap in communication? Why are people not communicating the changes in the organization? To solve this issue it will be important to use the supervisor as a resource. The supervisor should design a process for reorganization and include a communication plan. The process would need to be shared with all customer services representatives. Anytime there is a change, like someone gets reassigned or there is a new duty for someone, a process needs to be created to follow.

When someone gets reassigned they need to hand off their open issues to their immediate supervisor so he / she can delegate or do it themselves. The supervisor needs to take the initiative and follow up with the employee to make sure all loose ends are tied up. When a new responsibility is given to an employee. A training session should be held for the team and supervisors so all are aware of who is doing what.

When a question arises there should never be a question of who to go to who will know the answer. The supervisors / team leads should let all of the teams know when a new change is implemented so no one loses a step. Email is a great resource to communicate changes. Staff meetings can be an efficient way to discuss changes and follow up with unresolved issues from employees.

In conclusion, with regards to our lack of communication problem we find that our resolutions mentioned above can solve this conflict. This of course can not be done without the help of our supervisors and other team members. Communication flows both way and we need to be open with one another.