1.2 Communication: Justin and Kaya’s Story
To see the sorts of things we’ll be talking about, let’s begin with a story. The story features two coworkers, Justin and Kaya, who exchanged emails over the weekend. Their exchange wasn’t exactly pleasant, and so they’re meeting to talk about what went wrong. Justin and Kaya’s story will illustrate many aspects of communication in business that we’ll be exploring.
As you read, you might ask yourself the following questions:
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What aspects of business communication does the story illustrate?
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Which parts of Justin and Kaya’s communication went well, and which could be improved?
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Have I been in a situation like this before?
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Have I acted like Justin before? Have I acted like Kaya before? Why?
Justin scrambled through the office on his way to see Kaya, dropping his phone twice. He was worried he’d be late because the office kitchen had been a mess when he went to make lunch, and eating took a lot longer than he thought it would. But he skidded to Kaya’s door at 1:30, right when they said they’d meet. He knocked.
“Who is it?” said a muffled voice from inside.
“Hey Kaya, it’s Justin. Stopping by to chat, like we said.”
“Hey, Justin,” Kaya said. “Come on in.”
Justin rattled the doorknob. “I think it’s locked.”
“Oh, sorry. Let me get it…there.” Kaya opened the door and led Justin into the room. She pushed a chair toward him and rolled her chair from behind her desk to a circular table in the corner. Justin went over to the table and they both sat.
“So, I don’t think this needs to take long,” said Justin. “First, I want to apologize for what happened over the weekend. I misunderstood what you wanted at first and so we were talking about different things. I was already upset because of some things my kids were doing, and I let that get into what I wrote to you. I shouldn’t have said what I did and I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, you aren’t normally like that,” Kaya said. “I wondered if something was wrong. It didn’t seem like you.”
“It wasn’t. You aren’t responsible for my feelings, and you were just doing what Ariel asked you to do with the Penske file. So I apologize.”
“Apology accepted.”
Justin looked at Kaya, and she looked back. For a moment neither spoke.
“Uh . . . do you want to say anything to me?” said Justin.
“Like what?”
“Well—I mean, I was rude and I shouldn’t have been. But you said some rude things too.”
“You think so?”
“I mean, yeah, I do think so. Do you not?”
“Well, you’d made me upset. I was just reacting.”
“But you reacted rudely.”
“That isn’t how I see it, Justin.”
“Uh-huh,” he said, folding his arms. “Well, I guess you’ve made your stance pretty clear on that, then.”
“I’m hoping our email exchange will go a lot more smoothly next time,” said Kaya.
“Yeah . . . yeah, I am too.”
“Great work on the Penske stuff, by the way. The firm’s going to love it. You saw the predictions for the account, but I think even those numbers are conservative.”
“What? Yeah, the numbers,” said Justin, still annoyed. “I’m sure they’ll be fine. It is what it is.”
“What it is is a great account! I’m so glad we get to work together. You’re a great colleague.”
“You are too, Kaya,” Justin said without looking up. He was gathering the things he’d brought. “Good meeting. I’m glad we had it.”
“It feels nice to clear the air, doesn’t it?”
“Definitely,” said Justin, almost running out the door. “See you later.”
“Have a great afternoon!” said Kaya.
Justin was grumbling to himself on the way back to his cubicle. “First the kids, then lunch, now this,” he said, shaking his head.
“Hi, Justin!” said a coworker from a nearby cube, waving and smiling.
“Shup up, Jerry!” said Justin, sitting down at his desk. His phone clattered on the floor.