Team Case Analysis Final Outlne (1)
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Communication Difficulties Leading to Bob’s Meltdown
Informative Presentation
By:
Abby F., Abby C., Hannah, Lucy, Madison, and Alyssa
General Purpose:
To Inform
Specific Purpose:
To inform the audience of the key communication problems that lead to Bob’s meltdown, the underlying cause for the workplace argument, and possible solutions that could be utilized to repair the hurt relationships due to the poor communication.
Introduction:
Attention Getter:
Work: a place that is not notorious for the great fun it inspires. With the constant pressure by your boss, the never-ending paperwork, and the sleep-inducing meetings, it seems fair that most employees can’t wait until the clock ticks to 5:00 and they can be released from their prison-like cubicles. But for most employees, the stress doesn’t even begin in the workplace. Family obligations, frustrations with kids, and an assortment of other factors can all lead to an employee starting their day off with a poor attitude.
I want you to imagine the following situation. You are the CEO of a company. You get a call that one of your employees has caused a disturbance in the workplace and that an employee, Bob, screamed at one of your new hires, Annette, and she is extremely shaken. However, after talking to bystanders of the incident, the incident goes much deeper than expected. Do you fire Bob, who was under pressure professionally and personally and feels terrible about his actions? What do you do about Annette, who is new and still learning the culture of the company? Who
do you believe is right in the situation? Belle Ragins, a professor of management, says that stressful events outside of work can “spillover” into the workplace, and, for most people, this “spillover” often causes disagreement, tension, and arguments between employees (Ragins, 2014). If such situations are not remedied with good communication skills, the workplace can soon turn into a desolate disaster.
Bob Dunn, the senior Vice President for Concord Machines, is not immune to these difficulties and during a particularly intense day at work, he loses his composure and shouts at a new employee, Annette. Though he is terribly sorry for his unprofessional response, Bob feels the situation was not entirely his fault and that others should be held responsible for their actions as well.
Credibility Statement: Given this, we researched the many communications difficulties that produced Bob’s meltdown and considered different ways we could remedy the situation so Bob’s
company could communicate with greater success.
Thesis Statement: Understanding the communication difficulties that lead to Bob’s meltdown and the possible solutions that could be used to repair the situation can help reduce the possibility
of such an inflammatory situation occurring again within Bob’s company.
Preview of Main Points: To do this, we must first understand
(1) The key communication difficulties that lead to Bob’s meltdown. Then, we will discuss
(2) The underlying cause for the conflict between Annette and Bob. Finally, we will propose
(3) Possible solutions to both remedy the tension in Bob’s workplace and prevent future situations from occurring ever again
Transition Statement: To begin understanding how to reduce the possibility of Bob having such a fierce argument again, let’s first discuss the key communication difficulties that led to Bob’s meltdown.
Main Point 1: Bob’s meltdown occurred because of many communication issues, including the lack of clarifying questions, the poor listening skills exhibited by Annette, and the failure of the team to schedule a follow-up meeting after the incident.
A.
One of the first communication issues that led to Bob’s meltdown was the lack of clarifying questions on the part of both Annette and Bob.
a.
Even before the incident, Annette admitted she felt out of place at the company and that her unique ideas, although encouraged by Jay, did not seem to fit well with the company’s typical business style. Despite knowing her ideas were slightly different than what her co-workers were used to, Annette was quick to assume she held her co-worker’s approval at
her proposed Knowledge Management Committee. According to a 2019 article published by Megan Hartford in the Journal of Language Awareness, it is the job of new employees, in particular, to pay a lot of attention to their new company’s culture and lingo, as understanding how each employee communicates with one another is vital to fitting in to their
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new workplace (Hartford, 2019). Annette, unfortunately, does not take this
advice. After being briefed about her proposition, Jay simply said her plan “looked like a promising idea”. Annette, excited about her manager’s interest, didn’t take the time to speak with Jay about the next steps of the project or make any clarification that she should fully proceed with it. Ronald B. Adler, a professor of Communication, says that listening is the most important communication skill a person can have throughout their career. If Annette had taken the time to listen to what Jay was actually saying and ask detailed questions, that would have saved her from misreading her superior’s interest as complete approval, which later led to Bob’s frustration. According to
b.
In addition to this, Bob neglected to contact Annette about her proposal or make an effort to learn more about her plan before becoming antagonistic. Although it is not wrong that Bob disagreed with her point of
view, he let his emotions take control of the situation before even fully understanding what Annettee was proposing. If he had simply called a meeting with her or emailed her some clarifying questions as to what his portion of the project would be and the time commitment that would be expected of him, the two could have worked out the disagreement in a civil and professional way. By asking Annette questions calmly, Bob wouldn’t have had to make a scene in the lunchroom and could have used the situation as an opportunity to get to know and respectfully welcome a new co-worker.
B.
Bob’s meltdown was further problematic due to the team’s failure to schedule a follow-up meeting after the incident.
a.
The many differing perspectives in this workplace, combined with the varying levels of experience and the unique personal situations each employee was experiencing added to the conflict. According to a 2006 article written in the Journal of Politeness Research by Fred Bargiela-
Chaippinu, most office arguments stem from frustrations in the personal lives of employees and traditionally have very little to do with the workplace (Fred Bargiela-Chaippinu, 2006). We can see this very clearly in Bob’s meltdown. Annette, being a new employee to the company, was still uncomfortable with the unique company culture and language, and as such, might not have understood Jay’s response to her proposal to be one of hesitance.
b.
In addition, Bob was under severe stress and pressure on multiple levels, both professionally and personally, and his outburst was not totally without cause. Both Annette and Bob had reasonable explanations for the way they acted in the scenario and could have benefited from a calm and rational team meeting with one another after the event. This would have allowed them to express their point of view, explain their actions, and formally apologize to one another. However, the team did not hold such a meeting. causing both Bob and Annette to feel disrespected and hurt by the day’s events. This example of poor communication hurts not only Bob and Annette’s relationship, but also the morale and culture of the entire
company long term, as many employees may begin to feel they don’t want
to belong to a company with such poor management of staff relationships.
Transition:
Now that we have discussed the key communication problems occurring during the entirety of Bob’s meltdown, let’s now discuss the underlying cause of the conflict.
Main Point 2:
Despite the several communication issues presented in Bob’s meltdown, the underlying cause of the argument included generational communication differences and the high stress levels infiltrating the workplace.
A.
One of the greatest influences in Bob’s meltdown was the generational differences between Annette and Bob.
a.
Concord Motors holds employees from a variety of generations, from the Baby Boomers to Millenials. These differences mean each employee holds different perspectives on how the business should run and who should run it. From the beginning, Annette even admits that “Concord Machines is an old-line manufacturer that’s very set in its ways.”. Jay Nguyen, the president and CEO of Concord Motors, agrees saying he brought Annette in the “because I was convinced that the company needed some fresh thinking.”. Because of these generational differences, Bob does not view Annette’s work to be refreshing, and is instead frustrated by her out-of the-box perspective. His many years at the company give him a feeling of superiority and it is because of this that he
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has a meltdown at Annette’s business proposal. In addition, Bob’s age range suggests he is part of Generation X. According to Fred Henderson in
a 2012 article published in the Journal of Generational Communication, employees born between 1965-1980 (Generation X) show a proclivity towards competition, loyalty to their employers and “paying one's dues” to
progress (Henderson, 2012). This explains Bob’s may frustration at Annette’s proposal, seeing that she is very new to the company, already begins to spin out new suggestions to her fellow employees, and has very little loyalty bult up with the company yet.
b.
Annette, on the other hand, belongs to the Millenial generation, who tend to be much more resourceful, self-reliant, and place a value on work-
life balance. In the workplace they prioritize fun, informality, and creativity on the job (Henderson, 2012). Because Annette belongs to this generation, she may not perceive her unique ideas as an uncomfortable change for the company, as she views the workplace to be much more informal and creative as Bob and his counterparts. Her differing perspective explains why she believes Bob acts irrationally when becoming frustrated with her proposal, as she is not used to her superior’s dedication to loyalty and formality.
B.
Bob’s meltdown also occurs because of the high stress levels infiltrating the workplace.
a.
Bob, throughout his testimony in the after-incident write-up, maintains
the fact that Annette was not the only motivation for his meltdown. Outside of work, he was facing many other stresses that were causing him severe anxiety. He is under severe pressure from Jay and other corporate executives to pick up the slack in the falling revenue and income from past
quarters. Despite all he has done to build the company from scratch and successfully change the entire way the company makes profit, he feels he is getting little recognition for his commitment, and has instead just received more work and responsibility. Bob is burnt-out and outside of work, struggling with his family. His marriage his struggling and his son was recently in a horrifying accident. Thus, by the time he gets to work on
the day of the incident, Bob is far from relaxed. His frusration at Annette is not the major issue, but rather a combination and accumulation of all the
workplace pressure and familial struggles all coming together to create grreat strain.
b.
Annette, meanwhile, is new to the company. Her little experience makes it difficult for her to fit in to the workplace and in her defense, she has not had enough time to adapt to the culture and lingo of her co-
workers and superiors. She is far from being comfortable in her new working environment and with the addition of the stress of learning Jay’s new expectations and proposing a business initiative so quickly, her blindness to Bob’s frustration could easily slip under the rug. According to
the Pew Reserach Center in a 2020 study published in the Journal of
Generational Reser
ach, In today’s workplace, it is essential employers frequently check-in on the personal and emotional lives of their employees, otherwise “burn-out is quick to set in” (Pew Research Center, 2020).
Transition:
Now that we have discussed the underlying cause for the conflict between Annette and Bob, lets consider possible solutions to both remedy the tension in Bob’s workplace and prevent future situations from occurring ever again.
Main Point 3: The conflict that arose in Concord Machines should never have happened. However, we have come to the point in which the company must decide how to reprimand the situation. We believe that the company should enforce a company wide training course on how to manage stress, a widespread apology from Bob Dunn, and finally how both Bob and Annttete should be reprimanded.
1.
One way to address Bob’s actions and prevent something similar from happening in the future, the company could require all employees to complete a training course on how to manage stress.
1.
There should be a company wide training course on how to manage stress.
1.
We have all been there where there is a situation at work and you are already stressed out to the max. Our proposed solution is to make a company-wide training course on how to manage stress. Stress within the workplace is very prevalent and should most definitely be addressed. It is so important that it has even been shown that “Work pressure variables were generally significantly associated with hypertension and job
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gratification variables showed an association with hypertension and high cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors” from professor Kyaw-Myint in
2015. There are many benefits to what this would help within the company. “Short-term workshops such as those offered by the American Management Association can help with moderate stress” according to Editorial Direction Daniels in 2002. Putting stress management classes within Concord machines would help everything run more smoothly. We believe that these should be required yearly to keep up to date with the latest stress relieving tactics. If the company paid for the sessions to reduce outbursts it would most likely boost company morale. They could even pay the employees for attending to gain extra attendance. Regarding the situation between Bob and the company, we believe that if there were stress management classes there would have been healthy habits put into place to deter these actions from occurring. This would not only benefit Bob but the entire company and prevent this from happening again.
1.
This would help build a strong relationship between workers and their stress levels. Knowing how to deal with their stress would help prevent outbursts like Bob Dunns.
2.
In addition, according to a 2021 article written by Laura Newcomer, “The greatest way an employee manages their stress is by first understanding how to recognize it” (Laura Newcomer, 2021).
2.
Even though Annette was the victim of Bob’s meltdown, she still needs to be reprimanded for her actions that affected the company as well.
1.
Through the miscommunication, Annette made a massive mistake that ultimately pushed Bob Dunn over the edge. In a 2018 article written by Linda Finkle,
“
One of the leading cause of workplace friction is employees who are uncomfortable with and unaware of the backgrounds and points of view of their co-workers” (Linda Finkle, 2018). Going through with completely uprooting the company's best hires will obviously cause some stress among the company. We propose that the company should talk to Annette to help her better understand that she should not go through
with large scale plans until she gets the complete all clear. Not only did she change an abundance within the company she also created a lot of confusion by not getting a clear understanding of what her superior said. If Annette gets a clear understanding of what she needs to do before moving on with a project of that magnitude the company will move much smoother. The need for clear communication is important in this situation.
Transition: After assessing the key communication difficulties of Bob’s meltdown and identifying ways to solve them, we will now review this information.
Conclusion
Re-Statement of Thesis: Understanding the communication difficulties that lead to Bob’s meltdown and the possible solutions that could be used to repair the situation can help reduce the
possibility of such an inflammatory situation occurring again within Bob’s company.
Review of Main Points: When discussing this today, we touched on
(1) The key communication difficulties that lead to Bob’s meltdown. Then, we discussed
(2) The underlying cause for the conflict between Annette and Bob. Finally, we proposed
(3) Possible solutions to both remedy the tension in Bob’s workplace and prevent future situations from occurring ever again
Tie Back to Introduction: For most employees, stress often doesn’t begin in the workplace but it is often
where it is focused. Family stresses, kids, and personal frustrations can often cause an employee to start off the day with a poor attitude. While conflicts in the workplace due to stress are bound to happen they can be easily resolved with good communication skills and strategies. Now that you know the main communication issues causing Bob’s meltdown, you as CEO can find ways to build company morale before tension ever builds. know how to recognize and deal with it when it occurs, and be aware of what to do to prevent tense workplace blow-ups for the future References:
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