Communication Barriers

Summary

Feedback doesn’t need to be a one-way communication. An honest and appropriate feedback can prove to be a useful tool for sorting out the differences between the boss and the employees. Focusing on the critical issues while providing the feedback will make it more productive and positive without risking a fallout with the boss.

Introduction

Gagan and Rahul were working as Data Analysts for M&S Consulting Services Private Limited for the past 11 months. They were batch mates at their college and were hired through campus placement. M&S Consulting Services, a sales and marketing consulting firm, has its headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, USA. It was consistently ranked among the top consulting firms in the world. It had a global presence with offices in over 20 countries. In India, it had offices in New Delhi and Pune with close to 2500 employees. Sahil was a project consultant at New Delhi office and also the reporting manager for Gagan and Rahul. He had joined the company 3 months back after completing his MBA.

The team of 3 worked on a sales project for a US based pharmaceutical client. Apart from the off-shore team there was an on-shore team consisting of a Principal and a Manager which coordinated with the client and the off-shore team. On account of working for a client in a different time zone, the working hours were fairly long. Recently some of experienced team members have moved out of the team which has led to additional work pressure on the team.

The Problem

Gaurav despite being the team lead of the off-shore team was not showing requisite involvement in the project. He was recently married and would leave the office around 5 P.M. on most of the days while the other team members would have to stretch till the midnight. This resulted in added workload on both Gagan and Rahul. They were not only doing the work expected from them but also looking after other aspects of the project which were supposed to be looked after by a senior team...