There are concepts presented in article and required readings that
correlate with my own workplace experiences. We have learned that
there are barriers, such as a difference in the perception of a situation,
that will permit misinformation to spread or hinder clarity on the
situation. Interpersonal communication is the process of sending and
receiving verbal and nonverbal messages between two or more people
(Cardon, 2021). Both sender and receiver are responsible in the
communication process. a The sender is focused on delivering a message
clearly and answering questions. The receiver plays the role of active
listener and only asking questions if needed (Velumyan, 2019). Other
communication barriers include different perceptions of a situation,
filtering, language, jargon, and ambiguity (Wienclaw, 2021).
I can recall a workplace communication barrier in which a manager
created a lunch schedule for her staff of 6 employees. Most of the staff
were established employees and had already calculated a lunch
schedule that worked best for all involved. Unbeknownst to the
manager, employees were not pleased with modification but decided to
not speak on issue. The manager observed nonverbal cues that alerted
her to the staff’s dissatisfaction. She agreed upon an open forum
designed to communicate and resolve issue. Employees spoke up
against the new schedule and explained how their own schedule was
designed to accommodate the needs of each.
For example, Angela goes first because she has the busiest mornings
and is least likely to eat breakfast. Joyce goes second because it is the
perfect time to check in on her elderly mother and so forth. When the
manager heard the justification, she agreed to discard schedule change
and revert to previous lunch arrangements. “A team whose members
cannot communicate their ideas to each other will not be able to
achieve the synergy that is the goal of such work groups” (Cardon,
2021). Other sources of miscommunication include the degree to
which the vocabulary (professional, technical, or general) of the two
persons is shared, differences in their assumptions and expectations,
and their relative skill at forming and decoding messages.
References
Cardon, P. W. (2021). Business communication: Developing leaders for
a networked world (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Velumyan, N. (September 4, 2019). How to develop effective
communication within a company. Forbes. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2019/09/04/ho
w-to-develop-effective-communication-within-a-
company/?sh=6e9d8cbf5edf
Wienclaw, R. A. (2021). Communications in the Workplace. Salem Press
Encyclopedia.
