Communication Barriers in an Ornanization-Free-Samples-Myassignment

Question: Briefly describe a situation in which you have felt misunderstood or people failed to act on your Communication as directed. What, in your opinion, went wrong? Answer: The Situation A few days back I went the grocer and bought some items. I had to deliver some items to my mother`s place which is on the other side of the town. Therefore, I purchased the grocery items and took a single bill. However, I requested the shopkeeper to deliver certain items in the list to my mother`s house and some items to mine. I wrote both the addresses and went to attend my classes. When I reached home I saw the that the items to be delivered at my place were not all I wanted and those delivered at my mother`s place were also not as per my instructions Hence, the shopkeeper failed to take an action as per my communication. Issues in the situation with respect to communication: Using Berlo`s Model (Eunson 2012), I will identify the problems in my communication with the shopkeeper. When I visited the shopkeeper, it was during the evening on a weekday where the crowd of customers is large. I informed him about the delivery and left the bill under the packets in the cart. I personally believe that he must have faced a problem looking for the bill and this might be a reason why he delivered the wrong items. Using the model as developed by Berlo, the sender has some parameters to cross while communicating; he edits the message, encodes it and then transmits it to the opposite party. In the same manner due to some confusion, I scratched some of the items and ticked them again. Therefore making the message unclear. When I transferred the message to the shopkeeper, he did not consider asking for clarifications to help him decode it properly. Due to the noise and rush in the store, there was some miscommunication between the shopkeeper and me due to which the wrong items were delivered at the wrong places. Therefore the channel of communication was incorrect too as I did not make it clear for him what items had to be delivered. The shopkeeper belonged to a different culture from mine and thus there was a difference in our accents, which might have also leaded to the miscommunication Major issues Noise- As there was a rush at the store, it is possible that during the noise barrier, my message did not get conveyed clearly to the shopkeeper Channel- The channel of communication which is the list I prepared for the shopkeeper, marking the items which had to be delivered at two different places was not clear and thus the channel via which we communicated was not transparent Encoding- I failed to encode the message and help the transfer of information. Had I encoded my message clearly for the user (Bovee, Thill and Raina 2016); I would have been able to transmit a clear message. Decoding- The shopkeeper is also at fault in this communication as he could not decode the message clearly. If he needed and clarifications, he should have provided with some feedback so that the message that was transmitted was clear. (Refer to Figure.1 in the appendix.) Barriers to Communication The use of jargon terms, which means the use of over-complicated and unfamiliar terms. Emotional barriers- Many people very often face certain difficulties to express their emotions, certain topics may often be off-limits, and therefore they cannot express themselves very clearly (Bovee and Thill 2012). These `off-limits` topics may include sexuality, sex, religion and politics. Lack of interest or distractions may also result as a barrier to the communication. Many a times they viewpoint or the perception of people may differ from one another which then tends to create communication barriers (Brink and Costigan 2015). Physical disabilities also play a role in becoming a barrier to communication. These disabilities may include hearing problems and difficulties in speech. Physical barriers to non-verbal communication include barriers like not being able to view the gestures, posture and general body language, which tends to make a communication difficult and less effective. Relying on technology like phone calls, text messages and other communication methods are often not effective (Guffey and Loewy 2012). Very often language and unfamiliar accent also play the barrier`s role. Cultural differences also tend to play a major role in becoming a barrier to communication. Strategies to overcome communication barriers To deal with communication barriers and issues there are certain strategies that can be adopted to result in an effective communication. These strategies are as follows: Listening properly- It is very important to be a listener in a conversation. One needs to understand what the other says and should be able to listen what is not said at all. Very often people just listen to answer; however, the aim should be to listen to understand (McQuail and Windahl 2015). Hence, the first strategy for improving communication skills includes listening properly. Avoiding the use of complicated terms also known as jargon. Communication must be kept as simple as possible. Not everyone understands the abbreviations and short forms. Everyone is not equally learned and thus one should not use complicated technical terms in his or her conversation. However, in my situation, this was not the case, my handwriting or the use of abbreviations must have lead to the misunderstanding. Keeping an open mind and speaking in clear terms- One should not be judgmental and draw conclusions immediately (Alberts, Nakayama and Martin 2015). A person should get into the other`s show and understand their side of the story thereby make the communication a success. One needs to keep in mind the background of the other person before agreeing or disagreeing. One should also be clear when communicating. They should not pass ambiguous comments or speak in a tone or a voice level that others may find it difficult to understand. Awareness about cultural differences-People belongs from difficult backgrounds and cultures therefore a person must consider one another and be sensitive so that the communication is clear and not misunderstood (Hutchinson 2013). Conclusion Therefore, from the discussion it can be stated that communication is an exchange between two people, which needs to be clear, fast and honest. The parties, which are involved in a communication process, are both equally responsible for the success of the communication. References Alberts, J.K., Nakayama, T.K. and Martin, J.N., 2015,Human communication in society. Pearson. Bovee, C.L. and Thill, J.V., 2012,Excellence in business communication. Pearson Higher Ed. Bovee, C.L., Thill, J.V. and Raina, R.L., 2016,Business communication today. Pearson Education India. Brink, K.E. and Costigan, R.D., 2015. Oral communication skills: Are the priorities of the workplace and AACSB-accredited business programs aligned?Academy of Management Learning Education,Vol. 14 No. 2, pp.205-221. Chaney, L. and Martin, J., 2013,Intercultural business communication. Pearson Higher Ed. Eunson, B., 2012,Communicating in the 21st Century, Google eBook. John Wiley Sons. Guffey, M.E. and Loewy, D., 2012,Essentials of business communication. Cengage Learning. Hutchinson, J., 2013, Communication models of institutional online communities: the role of the ABC cultural intermediary.Platform,Vol. 5 No. 1, pp.75-85. McQuail, D. and Windahl, S., 2015,Communication models for the study of mass communications. Routledge.