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Samson Kimani was recently appointed as the finance manager of Bita Chemicals Ltd. He qualified as an accountant one year ago and this is his...

Samson Kimani was recently appointed as the finance manager of Bita Chemicals Ltd. He qualified as an accountant one year ago and this is his first managerial position. The finance department is made up of ten members of staff who have been working for the company for several years but since they are not qualified accountants, they were not considered when the appointment was being done. Members of the department are not happy with the appointment as they would have liked someone who has been with the organization for a longer duration and therefore with more experience to have been promoted to that position.

Although Samson is a good accountant, he has a problem relating to people. Consequently, there has been little social contact between him and members of his department.

To overcome his communication problems, Samson has been relying on internal memoranda and placing instructions on the department’s notice board as the main methods of conveying information to his staff. These new methods of communication have not been well received by the staff and have resulted in several complaints being made to the chief finance officer regarding Samson’s inability to effectively communicate with his staff. There has also been a lot of confusion within the department and team spirit is at an all time low.

The chief finance officer has talked to Samson and was able to establish the following as the reasons for Samson’s reliance on written communication only:
To avoid confusion since there is a documented record of his instructions.
When chairing departmental meetings he feels intimidated with so many experienced and older employees and as a result the meetings always end in chaos with no decisions being made.
As a manager in a consultancy firm, you have been approached by the chief finance officer to help Samson improve on his communication skills.
Required:
(a) Explain to Samson why he should use different styles of communication to improve the working relations in his department.
(b) Outline to Samson the guidelines of conducting effective meetings with members of his department.

Answers

Kavungya
(a) (i) Need for clarification/eliminate ambiguity
There is need to verbal communication in order to provide clarification to the staff on the various issues he is addressing.
(ii) Need for future reference
In case he needs evidence or reference in future, he needs to use written documents like the memo.
(iii) Time
The urgency of the issue being communicated determines which method to use. If the notice is short, then verbal communication is preferred.
(iv) Need to demonstrate
In case a process is to be explained to the staff, for example, the process of having a requisition paid, Samson it is better using non verbal style such as flow charts.
(v) To eliminate different assessments
People have different assessment about various issues and therefore to clarify the main object, it is better is Samson uses verbal communication that allows room for answers.
(vi) Need to cultivate trust and relationship with the staff
This requires him to engage more in verbal communication where he gets to be in direct contact with the persons themselves.


b) Guidelines of auditing effecting meetings
(i) Agenda
The agenda of the meeting needs to be clearly communicated to the staff in the department.
(ii) Subject matter understanding
To enhance his confidence, he needs to have a thorough grasp of the subject matter for discussion. Therefore, he needs to do thorough research before.
(iii) Well versed with the organization structure and policies
He needs to be well acquainted with the running of the organization so as to be at par with the experienced and older employees.
(iv) Give everyone a chance
It is paramount that each employee be given a chance to speak and their views taken to account
(v) Punctuality
All persons attending meetings should observe punctuality.
Kavungya answered the question on April 29, 2021 at 09:48

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