Active Listening: The Six Ws
Review your assessment of your manager’s voicemail and of your email to the customer. Then, consider what, how, and why you need to communicate to the Shipping Department, making notes of six Ws in the boxes below.
| Who are you writing to? | I’m writing to John Smith, the shipping manager at ABC INC. |
| What is the problem? | The problem is to ship a replacement order that would arrive by Wednesday, August 9 |
| What are your responsibilities to solve the problem? What responsibilities do others in your organization have? (What tasks still need to be completed? What tasks need to be done by the Shipping Department? What are the steps involved?) | My responsibilities are to instruct John Smith, the shipping manager, to ship the replacement order to the customer at no cost, to ensure the customer receives the shipment by Wednesday, August 9, to ensure the customer shipping cost is refunded by Tuesday, and to send the tracking number to the customer on Tuesday after the order is shipped. |
| Who is responsible for refunding the shipping fees to the customer? | John Smith, the manager, is responsible for refunding the customer shipping fees. |
| When does the tracking number and replacement order need to arrive? | The tracking number needs to arrive on Tuesday the next day after the order is shipped, and the replacement order needs to arrive by Wednesday, August 9, 2022 |
| How will you confirm that the tasks have been completed? | I will ask John Smith to track the order and email me once the order is delivered or completed. |
| Why is this problem urgent and important? | The problem is urgent and important because the customer needs their order delivered to them but has not been received for the past one week. |
In addition, consider the following:
| How do you think the Shipping Department Manager is feeling? | The shipping department manager is overwhelmed. |
| Why do you think the Shipping Department Manager is feeling that way? | The delay in customers receiving their order which might lead to the company not retaining their primary customer |
| What are you trying to accomplish in the email you are sending? In other words, what is your purpose for writing? | he writing aims to inform the shipping department manager to ship a replacement order that would arrive by Wednesday, August 9, at no cost, to refund the customer shipping cost, and to send the tracking number to the customer on Tuesday. |
