Ben knocked on the door of Nancy Kerr, his supervising director. 

“Come in,” Nancy said, and Ben entered. He was frustrated, and his demeanor reflected it.

“I need to talk to you about Stacey Burton, who works in the office beside mine,” Ben said. “Ever since we rearranged the office suite about a month ago, Stacey has been coming by and standing in the door of my office, just to flirt and to chat. It interrupts my work, and I’m uncomfortable with the overt attention, especially flirtatious attention,” Ben continued. “I’m also getting deluged with non-work-related e-mails from Stacey.”

“Have you asked Stacey to stop?” asked Nancy.

“Well, not really. The interaction could easily be taken as office banter, if you just heard the words. It is the way Stacey gestures and speaks and looks at me that make it flirting,” Ben said. “I’m really not comfortable with initiating a confrontation with Stacey and thought maybe you would be willing to say something instead.”

“I’ll be happy to—probably today,” Nancy replied. “I’ll send an e-mail now. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.”

Nancy sent an e-mail to Stacey to come to her office briefly at 2:00 p.m.

At 1:55, Nancy heard a knock and said “Come in.”

A smartly dressed young man came in and sat down. “Can I help you?” Nancy asked. 

“Well, you said you wanted to talk to me. What can I do for you?” he asked.

“I wanted to talk to you?” asked Nancy.

“Yes,” the young man replied. “I’m Stacey Burton.”

1. What assumption-observation error might be made in this scenario?

2. To what extent did the use of technology for these message exchanges contribute to the miscommunication between Nancy and Stacey?

3. What gender stereotypes discussed in Chapter 1 apply to this case?

4. How would you, in Nancy's shoes, handle the awkward moment and the ensuing discussion?