Jan Davis, Communications Manager for Kingfisher Retailers, was stunned. Megan D
ID: 460611 • Letter: J
Question
Jan Davis, Communications Manager for Kingfisher Retailers, was stunned. Megan Drake, president of Kingfisher had just announced during an employee teleconference broadcast by satellite to over forty stores that she believed Kingfisher was losing its competitive edge in the electronics market and would have to engage in significant restructuring. Jan knew, of course, that revenues for the last two quarters had not met expectations and that Megan was upset. But to announce her displeasure and hint a major changes without a plan in place was dangerous for Kingfisher and for Megan herself. At the end of the conference, Megan knew she had made a mistake. She told Jan she was tired and angry at the lack of action from her senior vice presidents. She knew she should not have announced her concerns to the employees but had done so in an uncharacteristic fit of temper. Megan asked Jan what she should do next. Questions: 1. If you were Jan, what would you suggest? 2. What should Megan do next with regard to her senior leadership? 3. What happens when anger, fatigue, or a host of other circumstances contributes to individuals saying publicly something they immediately regret? 4. Should Megan hold another teleconference to put her concerns in context? Why?
Explanation / Answer
The connection between the members is crucial and angry outburst or expressing concerns in an uncharacteristic fit of anger can be interpreted differently according to R Waldron. Organizations are primarily perceived by Communication scholars as social entities with identities instead of static structures which are defined and sustained by current discourses. There are created through talk, rituals, symbols, campaigns and myriad symbolic behaviours (Fairhurst and Putnam, 2006).
It is necessary to acknowledge feelings and effective leaders who are communication managers acknowledge the feelings of frustration, disappointment and betrayal of the members of the organization. The effective recommendation for Megan to express feelings to surface and express her concerns and issues in a constructive manner and this will begin by ensuring the creation of safe forums and support of her expression.
It will be effective for Megan to accept the issue and not resent the feelings. She can be advised to acknowledge the thoughts and not escalate and interject the opinion of comments of others.
It will also be useful to keep a clear communication with other members of the organization to find the correct solution for the issue. Anything that has the potential to be misunderstood can be corrected by mirroring the conversation. This helps to eliminate the confusion.
It will also be useful for Megan to reduce her message to few words and focus on the quality of the message while reaching out to the employees. This use of conflict management technique by the communication manager will ensure that the lines of communication are kept open.
Emotional responses of anger, frustration are the outcome of messages creates by organizations and their members. They are expressed unintentionally at work and can be regretted later.
It will be useful for Megan to hold another Teleconference after addressing the previous issue of tackling the situation in an uncharacteristic fit of anger. This can be achieved by acknowledging the concerns and understanding the nature of the conflict before addressing the same and bringing it in front of the employees.
It will be useful to arrange a meeting and discuss the issue by taking everyone into confidence. This will be a great opportunity to present concerns and discuss the problem by hearing all sides and garner a complete understanding.
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