Question

Joanne supervised 36 professionals in 6 city libraries. To cut the costs of unnecessary overtime, she issued this one-sentence memo to her staff:
When workloads increase to a level requiring hours in excess of an employee’s regular work, and when such work is estimated to require a full shift of eight (8) hours or more on two (2) or more consecutive days, even though unscheduled days come in between, an employee’s work responsibilities shall be changed so as to include the hours when such work must be done, unless an unfavorable impact would result from such employee’s absence from his previously scheduled assignment.
After the 36 copies were sent out, Joanne’s office received 26 phone calls asking what the memo meant. What the 10 people who didn’t call about the memo thought is uncertain. It took a week to clarify the new policy.

What do you think acted as a barrier to communication in the above scenario? How could this information be given clearly?

Answer 1

Answer:

To cut the costs of unnecessary overtime, she issued this one-sentence memo to her staff: “When workloads increase to a level requiring hours in excess of an employee's regular duty assignment, and when such work is estimated to require a full shift of eight (08) hours or more on two (02) or more consecutive days, even