Communication, Communication Skills, and Communication Barriers - TMA Case Study B628

This TMA is based on a case study. The case study is about communication, communication skills and barriers to communication. After reading the case, you have to answer to the TMA questions with reference to B628 course material and external resources.

You are supposed to answer your TMA in 1500 words. Only a 10% deviation from the word count limit is acceptable. Critical discussion and link between theoretical frameworks and the case should be clearly highlighted. You are also expected to refer to external references to provide more evidence to your discussion.

For all questions, your answer has to be in an essay format divided into introduction, body and conclusion. In all questions, you have to refer to relevant B628 course material; the case and external resources when needed.  You have to provide critical analysis and be innovative in your answer and not only descriptive.

Barry and Communication Barriers

Effective Communication as a Motivator

One common complaint employees voice about supervisors is inconsistent messages – meaning one supervisor tells them one thing and another tells them something different. Imagine you are the supervisor/manager for each of the employees described below. As you read their case, give consideration to how you might help communicate with the employee to remedy the conflict.

Barry is a 27-year old who is a foodservice manager at a casual dining restaurant. Barry is responsible for supervising and managing all employees in the back of the house. Employees working in the back of the house range in age from 16 years old to 55 years old. In addition, the employees come from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. For many, English is not their primary language.

Barry is ServSafe® certified and tries his best to keep up with food safety issues in the kitchen but he admits it’s not easy. Employees receive “on the job training” about food safety basics (for example, appropriate hygiene and handwashing, time/temperature, and cleaning and sanitizing). But with high turnover of employees, training is often rushed and some new employees are put right into the job without training if it is a busy day. Eventually, most employees get some kind of food safety training. The owners of the restaurant are supportive of Barry in his food safety efforts because they know if a food safety outbreak were ever linked to their restaurant; it would likely put them out of business. Still, the owners note there are additional costs for training and making sure food is handled safely.

One day Barry comes to work and is rather upset even before he steps into the restaurant. Things haven’t been going well at home and he was lucky to rummage through some of the dirty laundry and find a relatively clean outfit to wear for work. He admits he needs a haircut and a good hand scrubbing, especially after working on his car last evening. When he walks into the kitchen he notices several trays of uncooked meat sitting out in the kitchen area. It appears these have been sitting at room temperature for quite some time. Barry is frustrated and doesn’t know what to do. He feels like he is beating his head against a brick wall when it comes to getting employees to practice food safety.

Barry has taken many efforts to get employees to be safe in how they handle food. He has huge signs posted all over the kitchen with these words: KEEP HOT FOOD HOT AND COLD FOOD COLD and WASH YOUR HANDS ALWAYS AND OFTEN. All employees are given a thermometer when they start so that they can temp food. Hand sinks, soap, and paper towels are available for employees so that they are encouraged to wash their hands frequently.

Question 1 (34 Marks) (Word limit: 500 words)

What are the communication barriers and challenges that Barry is facing?

Question 2 (33 Marks) (Word limit: 500 words)

What would you consider Barry is more implementing: an open climate communication behavior or a closed climate communication behavior?

Question 3 (33 marks) (Word limit: 500 words)

Based on your course knowledge and external resources, propose ways that could help Barry to address the challenges and barriers is facing.