In the Sundown Bakery scenario, the business started as a small operation, but as it expanded it led to changes in the way it was run. The family feeling, and closeness that was once strong was less noticeable. The new employees did not even know Bruce and Carol, the owners, and the old employees did not like receiving orders from corporate management. There was no longer any face-to-face communication. As a result, there was less give-and-take of ideas, and the communication channels were closed.
To make business more productive Bruce and Carol should bring back face-to-face communication, so that the employees will feel that the owners care about their ideas, and their opinions. When the family feeling was strong, it was only one small store. Carol ran the shop up front, and Bruce ran the bakery and ordered supplies. Carol hired two clerks, Marina and Kim, and Bruce hired an assistant, Maurice. They worked closely, and talked face-to-face about things that needed to be done. They also worked intimately with the customers. Everyone was very tight, and things ran smoothly because they talked to each other.
Bruce and Carol asked Maurice, Marina and Kim about their ideas and their plans on what could make the store run better, and make business more productive. They all told each other what they thought, and shared their opinions with each other. If Marina, Kim or Maurice had a idea about a new product or a new way to decorate the store, all they had to do was talk to Bruce or Carol about it face-to-face. As it began to grow, Maurice was now master baker, and he had two assistants. Which made him have less time to work with Bruce, and help order supplies. Marina and Kim supervised the shop, which caused them to no longer have time to help Carol.
Carol was too busy managing general sales to spend time in the shop. So she no longer got to talk to Marina and Kim about how the shop was running or what needed to be done. Bruce still tried to spend three to four hours in the bakery, but most of that time was spent coordinating production. Bruce, Carol, Maurice, Marina and Kim no longer talked to each other about how to run things in the shop or what new pastries to make. The closeness that was once very profitable, had started to diminish. While it continued to grow, adding two new shops and two kiosks, Carol and Bruce hired a operations manager, Hans Mikelson.
Hans had a lot of new ideas and changes. Instead of talking face-to-face with the employees about them, he announced them in memos. Since the new ideas were distributed in memos, there was no longer any face-to-face communication between the employees and the owners. The memos were distributed by store managers. Now that there were managers, the employees never got to talk to Bruce and Carol like they use to. As a result, the employees were not happy with the way things were being done, and did not like that they could not talk to Bruce and Carol face-to-face about the changes.
The employee’s did not like receiving orders from managers through memos. The memos made the employees furious. They did not like that things were changing and that they were being notified by managers instead of Bruce and Carol like it used to be. Face-to-face communication would incorporate more feedback from the employees for the owners to receive. Bruce and Carol would know how the employees felt about their ideas, and they would also be able to get the employees thoughts on what should be done to change things to make it better.
Bruce and Carol knew that they needed to keep the lines of communication open, but they were not sure how to do it. Therefore, if Bruce and Carol were to incorporate monthly meetings with the employees, they could keep the face-to-face channel open, and bring back some of the closeness that was once strong. They could talk to each employee about their ideas and their opinions. Bruce and Maurice could work on making new pastries together, and oversee supply ordering together. Carol, Marina and Kim could talk about what needs to be done in the shop to help things run smoother and quicker.
Marina and Kim could also help Carol manage general sales. In conclusion, it is best to have face-to-face communication rather than the written text. If you have face-to-face, one will have the satisfaction of knowing and seeing the other person’s reaction and be able to get their ideas and opinions. It is important to get their feedback on the matter at hand. You also get to work closely with them, and build a relationship with each other. Therefore, face-to-face communication should be brought back to Sundown because it would bring back a lot of the closeness and family feeling that was once there.
