Executive summary
Communication is a critical aspect of the success of any organisation. Most organisations fail to produce the best results because they do not have proper mechanisms to ensure information flows well from the top to the bottom of the organisation. The paper will look at a scenario where Access Wimbledon, an organisation that specialises in organising Wimbledon events, has had a communication breakdown. The report will look at the possible causes of the failure.
Introduction
Access Wimbledon is an organisation that has experts who help in organising Wimbledon events. The ability of the company to hold such events is not in doubt as it has been producing the best results for the activities they have been organising. The problem that is currently in the company is the fact that there is communication breakdown to the extent that work is not flowing smoothly. Without communication, there can be no meaningful improvement that the organisation can make. Different reasons can explain the situation as it is. Based on the interviews that have been carried out in the organisation, it is evident that the problem lies with the staff of the company. They have allowed their prejudice, culture, and individualistic nature to control the manner in which the organisation operates.
Analysis of the situation in the company
Access Wimbledon has problems that originate from the workers. It is evident that there are situations when other workers feel that they should not be directly answerable to an individual employee in the organisation. Such problems in the organisation have made it very hard for the management to achieve their goals. They are also not able to organise events in the manner they should. The knowledge and skills of the workers cannot be put in question as it is evident from the previous events that they qualify for the job. They know a lot about the game and can help children to gain more skills. The problem in the organisation is the ability of the staff members to pass information from one person to the other. In some situations, it is evident that employees believe that a given group of employees is not doing the job well. Such thoughts might result from the fact that the employees are not using their preferred method of training or maybe they have a negative attitude towards the employee.
The following are some of how the workers have contributed to the communication breakdown in the organization.
Power distance
There are employees within the organization who believe that the manner in which power has been distributed makes it hard for them to perform their duties. They also wish to be given the opportunity to make a decision based on the positions they hold. Some of them even believe that there are employees who have been given more freedom in the organisation compared to them. Most of the employees think that they should be allowed to contribute towards the decisions made in the company. It is also one of the reasons why they continue to complain in the company. Most of them believe that there are many ways can be used to correct the problems they experience in the organisation.
Context sensitivity
In this case, employees feel that a particular group of employees or people is not being treated in the manner they should. The organisation mainly has volunteers and participants who are not part of any payroll. Getrude who is the event manager believes that Stephanie and Lee are not treating them in the best way. She argues that since these are people who are not being paid by the company, they should be treated in the best way possible. The event manager believes that the only way they can retain the volunteers is by ensuring they are treated well.
Uncertainty avoidance
Any organisation has to put measures so that they can cope up with any uncertainty that might arise. Access Wimbledon, just like any other company finds it essential that they try to come up with ways of dealing with the issues that might affect the company in future. The event manager feels that the volunteers should be treated in the best way so that they do away with the risk of losing them. She believes that since they are not on any payroll, poor treatment can make them give up.
Prejudice
The organisation also has employees who feel that they are being treated in a given way as a result of their culture or skin colour. Andi who is the nurse that has been assigned to help in all events believes that Getrude and Carmelo do not treat her in a right way because of the skin colour. Andi also boasts of the knowledge that he has in the medical field. He believes that he should be treated well and all the bossing should stop because the organisation needs him more than it requires the two managers. It shows a level of prejudice that causes a breakdown in communication within the organisation.
Individualism
Another case that causes breakdown within the organisation is the fact that some employees only think about their roles. Dennis believes that he cannot take part in answering questions that are meant for the management.
Collectivism
Collectivism provides an opportunity for the workers within the organisation to include all players during the game. Getrude is mad at Stephanie because she does not coach the team as a whole. She is not happy with the methods that Stephanie uses to carry out the training process. She believes that Stephanie should concentrate on building the team as a whole and not just one player who she thinks is good.
Recommendations
Solving these problems requires a simple and clear outline of solutions like the one below. They will ensure that the employees work together to achieve the common goal of creating events that will be a success.
• Encourage consultation and teamwork. To solve the problems of employees complaining about what other workers are doing, they should always be encouraged to consult. When employees consult with one another, they can come up with the best solutions for the problems that affect their operations. The management should also keep asking for the opinions of the staff on the best ways they can use to do a specific task.
• The organisation should provide a certain standard of which the volunteer should be treated. It will provide a comfortable environment for them so that they also feel like they are part of the organisation.
• The organisation should also provide a clear guideline on how workers should relate with one another. The cases of one employee feeling like they are not treated well by the rest of the employees can best be solved by using this method. Prejudice cases are not suitable for any company.
Conclusion
Dealing with the problems affecting Access Wimbledon can be very easy if the organisation looks at the recommendations provided. It is the only way that such an organisation can come up with the best events. When the proposals are put in place well, the organisation will notice that there will be improved worker performance.
References
Cullen J, et al. 2017. Business communication. Hampshire: Cengage
Hofstede, G. Pederson. Exploring cultures: exercises, stories and synthetic cultures. Yarmouth Intercultural Press 2002.
Hofstede G. and Minkov M. 2010. Cultures and organisations: software of the mind: international cooperation and its importance for survival. London. McGraw Hill.
Nakata C. 2009. Beyond Hofstede: Culture frameworks for global marketing and management. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
