Case Study
Case study: One garbled memo – 26 baffled phone calls
Joanne supervised 36 professionals in 6 city libraries. To
cut the costs of unnecessary overtime, she issued this one-sentence
memo to her staff:
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.
Memos are the primary means of in-house communication in US
businesses. After reading the case, answer the following
questions:
1. What are the major mistakes in this memo that led to
workers’ misunderstanding?
What are some of the techniques Joanne might follow to improve this memo?
Critical Thinking
3. Describe a situation in your experience where the
communication went wrong. Analyze that situation taking the
following criteria into your consideration:
– The type and the medium of communication
– The communication barriers
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