Project Synopsis Draft

Project Synopsis (First Draft)

The interpersonal communication identified is how employees receive and respond to negative feedback from their superior. It is common in any organization to provide feedback to their employees such as through performance appraisals.  Regardless of the career stage, receiving negative feedback may not be the most pleasant feeling. Different employees take feedback differently. Some may view it as an opportunity to learn and grow, whereas some may view it as a personal attack. Everyone will receive at least one negative feedback in their life. However, how you handle it, is what makes you stand out from the others and defines your character.

Project’s Thematic Focus

The focus of the intercommunication problem is in a hotel context. In a hotel, there are many interactions ongoing in the lobby. There will be instances when an employee receives feedback from the superior in the guest's’ presence. A front-line employee of the hotel had been facing grooming issues and is not performing up to the hotel’s standard. The duty manager had been observing this employee for months and given numerous feedbacks to her.

On one occasion, the employee did a wrong check-in for a guest whereby the room was assigned to an existing staying guest. The duty manager reprimanded her while she was serving the guest. The employee felt embarrassed in front of the guest but managed to suppress her emotions. However, the duty manager was still not pleased with her actions even though she had made an effort to change in both situations. It is also the period of conducting performance appraisal. The employee was then given a negative feedback in her appraisal on the above mentioned issues which led her to be demoralised and having thoughts of resigning. If this continues, the hotel may face high employee turnover if the employee does not know how to deal with such feedback in a positive mindset.

The challenge that employees faced is to respond to the negative feedback given the different situations in a hotel. The ability of handling the feedback sets them apart in their way of learning and developing in the organisation. According to a survey conducted by Zenger and Folkman, 96 percent of the respondents mentioned that when negative feedback is delivered and received appropriately, it is effective at improving performance. Hence, it is important that the manager substantiate with reasons behind the negative feedback and the implications as a result of the employee’s actions.

Nature of project’s professional importance

In today’s hospitality industry, service is not the core drive for revenue. New factors such as experience and quality of engagement also contributes to the satisfaction of the guests. Therefore, communication is at utmost importance and is inevitable. Employees faces communication in all areas of their work phases, be it in the frontlines or at the backend operations. Hence, it is important to surface the potential communication issues in this area.

As the industry is driven by sales and experience, feedbacks are valued. Therefore, it is crucial to point out the various responses employees could have when receiving feedback. As what was mentioned above, we will be focusing on the responses to feedback from the upper management.

Objective and scope of study (Missing)

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Proposed data collection (Missing)

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Potential Solutions

As mentioned, the company may face major challenges such as high turnover and employee dissatisfaction if their employee do not have the right mindset to deal with negative feedback. The solution proposed for this problem have to be long-term rather than a short-lived one whereby it has to solve the root cause of the problem. In order to do that, the employee have to understand the concept of feedback. A feedback is given so that an individual will know if their behaviour was good or bad, it is not a personal attack. It is simply allowing the individual to know if he or she should continue what he is doing now or to change that undesirable action. It all leads down to understanding where the other party is coming from.  

The proposed solution will be in the following ways:

1. Listen carefully and don’t react first - This is to ensure that the you understand what the criticism is about first before reacting. Do not get defensive and give yourself some time to absorb the feedback.
2. Assess the feedback - Is the feedback a fact or just an opinion from the others? Being able to differentiate between an opinion and fact will allow you to respond effectively and comprehend the situation more clearly. Also, check if the feedback is accurate, have you really done such a thing? Evaluate the feedback objectively.
3. Ask for time to think - Thank the person for his feedback before confirming with him that you understand his concerns and that you would like to get back to him at a later time. Also, add on to ask him if there is anything else he would like to let you know. This shows that you take his concerns seriously and will ensure there’s nothing left unsaid. By asking for time to consider,  it helps you to defuse the emotional load and put yourself in the person’s shoes to see where he is coming from. Furthermore, even if it is hard to understand from the person’s point of view, you can seek out friends or family members to get alternate opinions.
4. Understand it but don’t dwell on it - After having the opportunity to think and discuss with others, understand the feedback that the person gave and get an understanding on what you have to work on. Use this opportunity to think about all the ways in which you can improve your behavior and attitude. After working through your feelings, let the negativity go by remembering that it is just your job and it does not correlate your value as a human being
5. Apologise and clarify - Head back to the person and apologise to him. Let him know that you know that you have done wrong, how you have felt as well as what you could have done better. The other person will appreciate the effort you took to analyse the problem as well as you are clear as to what are the next steps to take to get rid of that negative attitude or behaviour.
6. Use it to make yourself better - Negative feedback may be positive as the person wants you to become better and allows you to have opportunities to grow. Even though such feedback might not be pleasant to hear, it gives us another perspective to consider. Remember that it is how you handle negative feedback from others which makes you stand out from the crowd. Therefore, whenever you receive a negative feedback, process it, think about what you can learn from it and move on.

Benefits to the workplace

Every company seeks to create a culture whereby feedback can be shared and received effectively. The benefits of an improved feedback system would bring long-term benefits to the company which includes higher employee engagement, job satisfaction and lower turnover.  

Conclusion (Missing)