Given the fact that Terence needs to discuss a difficult situation with his sales manager—the poor financial performance of their store—the best communication channel for such a conversation would be a(n)

Question

Scenario: Terence, a store manager at Imperial Office Supply Inc., received an e-mail from Martin, the chief financial officer for the company. Terence read through the e-mail and interpreted the information that required him to give an update on the sales of the month. Though the sales figures at Terence's location were not satisfactory, he did not want to disappoint Martin by revealing the true situation, so he told him that the store was meeting or exceeding revenue goals according to all of the relevant metrics. Terence then decided to discuss the current problem with the sales manager and get her feedback.

A) e-mail message.
B) videoconference.
C) telephone conversation.
D) face-to-face meeting.
E) text message.

Answer 1

D) face-to-face meeting.
The telephone is less rich than face-to-face communication; electronic mail is less rich yet. A person should send difficult and unusual messages through richer media, and transmit simple and routine messages through less rich media. Since Terence has to discuss an important issue with his sales manager, he should use face-to-face communication.