You are a police officer in your local town or city with three years on the job. A senior Sergeant comes over to you with about twenty years on the job and tells you that you need to get out on the street and start doing more enforcement. This is odd to you since you are a hard-working officer who has never had any issues there. You oblige his command by saying, “yes, Sergeant,” and he turns away. The next night, you are called to the Sergeant’s office while he is at his desk, and without looking at you, he does it again. By the third night, it is evident that there is a barrier in your communication, given that the Sergeant won’t even look at you and is merely shouting out commands from his desk.
- What actions/steps would you take to speak to the Sergeant?
- How would you resolve this issue to diffuse it?
Do you find the communication effective or ineffective? Is there anything that they could have done differently? Keep in mind the barriers in communication and generational gaps that would play a part in the Sergeant’s actions and Officer’sinterpretations of them.
