Effects of Communication Barriers and Overcoming These Barriers free essay sample

Good morning ladies and gentleman, today I would like to talk about communication barriers and suggestion to overcome these barriers. Communication is neither transmission of message nor message itself. It is the mutual exchange of understanding, originating with the receiver. Communication needs to be effectives in business and is essence of management. Effective communication is crucial at every level of an organization. However, the ability to communicate effectively does not come easily to many people, and it is a skill that requires practice. There should be effective communication between superiors and subordinated in an organization, between organization and society at large. It is essential for success and growth of an organization. Ladies and Gentleman, Communication is one of the effective ways of expressing our thoughts and emotions. Communication can be verbal or non verbal. Both these forms of communication are important in ensuring that we are able to put across our message clearly. We will write a custom essay sample on Effects of Communication Barriers and Overcoming These Barriers or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page However, there are times when there are might be some hindrances to communication, with can mar its effectiveness, resulting in miscommunication or lack of clarity. There are many reasons why effective communication is importance in business. 2. 0 The importance of effective communication a)Forms of Communication Messages can be communicated verbally with words or sounds and graphically through pictures, and also via the written words using letters, email, brochures and faxes. Additionally, communication occurs on a nonverbal level via facial expressions and posture. Interpersonal communication involves communication with others, while intrapersonal communication involves what you say to yourself. Public or mass communication is the dispensing of a message to the public via a form of mass media such as television, radio or printed media like a newspaper . In every form of communication, it is essential to have the ability to communicate in an effective manner. b)Interpersonal Communication When people are listening, they are usually thinking about what they are going to say next, not paying attention to what the speaker is saying. Clear and assertive speaking skills and the ability to convey a message in a direct yet non-confrontational manner are important communication skills. However, many people forget that it is also vital to have the ability to listen to what another person is saying. Truly listening to and focusing on what another person says can eliminate ambiguities and avoid miscommunication or potential disagreements c)Nonverbal Communication Speaking clearly and developing good listening skills are all important components of effective communication. Communicating effectively at the nonverbal level means being aware of your posture, such as keeping your legs uncrossed and sitting or standing in a relaxed position and maintaining eye contact. Subconscious actions such as leaning away from someone when they approach or showing signs of distraction by fidgeting or looking around the room are all signs of poor communication skills. d)Techniques for Effective Communication In every situation where you are trying to get a message across, being assertive without being pushy is important. Furthermore, during difficult conversations or confrontations, self control is vital so that the situation doesnt get out of control. Active listening techniques can help in this area and are useful communication skills that anyone can develop. Techniques such as mirroring and reflective listening, in which you reflect back to another person what she has just said using clarifying statements such as, If I am hearing you correctly, what you are saying is , are useful in avoiding miscommunication and show that you have genuine interest in the other person. e)Gain Satisfaction in Career Job satisfaction is important to every worker in any business. Effective communication improves self-esteem and self confidence. Articulating your ideas in meetings for example, will enhance your sense of self-worth in performing your duties. Through a successful presentation of reports or any problem solving exercise you will convey how valuable your department is to your business. Effective communication is often the only way to make this positive impression known to others. At the same time you will be promoting your own achievements without even realising it. f)Communication and Intimate Relationships Communicating effectively with our loved ones, family members and spouses can be difficult for a number of reasons. With our spouses, we may often feel that they are somehow psychically aware of our needs without our having to communicate them. Using the techniques of effective communication are especially important in intimate relationships, because we are often so comfortable with our loved ones that we sometimes forget that they cannot actually read our minds. g) Business and the importance of Effective Communication In business, being able to communicate effectively can mean the difference between success and failure, profit and loss, and gaining new clients or losing existing ones. People who have poor communication skills often get stuck at a certain level in their career. Having good communication skills is generally a requirement in any career. Assertiveness and clear speaking skills, such as knowing what you want to say in a simple, straightforward manner, are vitally important in business. Being able to listen and to tune into nonverbal communications are also beneficial if you are in a leadership position, as is the ability to manage and effectively resolve conflict in relationships with employees, co-workers and clients. Ladies and Gentleman, As we known before these, effective communication skills will not only help individuals enhance their self-esteem, but become effective employees and advance in their careers. As a manager in your organisation, your performance will be judged mostly by the ability to communicate. For example, if you perform well in your job and communicate competently, you are likely to be rewarded with advancement. The higher you advance; your communication ability will be tested. Communication skills enliven our personal and professional lives. As much as organisation changes, business communication practices must also change to accommodate business needs. Effective communication does not occur in a vacuum in any business setting communication is ongoing, always in motion and changing continuously. The communication process is dynamic which involves a sender, receiver, message, interference and feedback. Ladies and Gentleman, A lot of people think that effective communication is very easy to accomplish within the workplace without realizing the many barriers to communication. Barriers to communication can be anything that distorts or prevents a message from being properly sent or received. These barriers can cause conflict in interpersonal relationships, prevent a business from being successful in a different culture and lead to low employee satisfaction in an organization. If you want to be an effectives employee or manager, it is important that you learn what these barriers are know how to handle them so that you have efficient corporate communications. There are several barriers that affects the flow of communication in an organization. These barriers interrupt the flow of communication from the sender to the receiver, thus making communication ineffective. It is essential for managers to overcome these barriers. The barriers of communication bare summarized below. a)Physical Barriers There are two types of physical barriers, firstly is Distortion and this refers to the way in which meaning of the message is lost in handling it. It occurs a Encoding and Decoding stages of communication process as these involve human perception. Secondly, types of barriers are noise. Noise refers to the distractions and interferences in the environment. This means you are physically separated with the people from your organisation, which makes it difficult for you to relate to them or talk to them. b)Perceptual differences Perception involves the sense put to use while attaining awareness of any situation. It can be distracting, tarnishing reality with preconceived ideas or notions. This is one of the most common barriers to communications because our actions, words and mannerisms are open to other people’s interpretation. Perception may differ depending on the cultural, emotional, personal and spiritual background of the person. It is very easy to make assumptions without clarifying what the other person means by what he said or by his movements. When this happen, communication is blocked right away and conflict arises. This is why important to clarify things before reacting negatively. )Language Barriers Little communication occurs unless one or both parties learns a new language, which requires an investment of much time an effort. People travelling abroad often encounter a language barrier. People who come to a new country at an adult age, when language learning is a cumbersome process, can have particular difficulty â€Å"overcoming the language barrier†. Sometimes, we don’t know that we use words that are easily understood by other people. This could be words from dialect that is not common to the people in your office or it could be jargon that others don’t know the meaning. Remember that it is always better to use words that majority of people will easily understand rather than showing off the words you know that others don’t. d)Interpersonal Barriers Communication Interpersonal barriers are barriers to communication that comes as a result of the way different people relate to one another. Some people may lacks the social skills, therefore with their withdraw. Others may find it hard to make time to get to know their co-workers on a more personal level because of their routines like work, and after offices activities. Above all else, if u find that you these barriers to communications are causing you friction in your relationships at work, employing some conflict resolution strategies is prudent to ensure that all employees and co-workers can function together as a group. e)Cultural Barriers Acceptable styles of communication vary between cultures. In some societies physical gestures are extravagant, and touch is more acceptable. In these societies, it is generally acceptable to hug and touch a persons arm when you are speaking to him. In other societies this would be unacceptable. Some religions have a taboo about members of the opposite sex communicating and particularly touching. Casual hugging and kissing would be completely unacceptable. Ladies and Gentleman, There are a lot of communication barriers faced these days by all. The message intended by the sender is not understood by the receiver in the same terms and sense and thus communication breakdown occurs. It is essential to deal and cope up with these communication barriers so as to ensure smooth and effective communication. As, in the previous section we have discussed the major barriers of communication. Let’s talk about how to overcome these barriers of communication. a)Eliminating differences in perception The organization should ensure that it is recruiting right individuals on the job. It’s the responsibility of the interviewer to ensure that the interviewer has command over the written and spoken language. There should be proper trainings conducted for required employees for examples voice and accent training. b)Active Listening Listen attentively and carefully. There is a difference between â€Å"listening† and â€Å"hearing†. Active listening means hearing with proper understanding of the message that is heard. By asking questions the speaker can ensure whether his/her message is understood or not by the receiver in the same terms as intended by the speaker. Though it is more difficult than said, but listening at times is more important than speaking out. Therefore, If you really want to be a listener. Wait for the other person to finish and put his point across and only then say something ahead. c)Simple Organization Structure The organizational structure should not be complex. The number of hierarchical levels should be optimum. There should be a ideal span of control within the organization. Simpler the organizational structure, more effective will be the communication. d)Emotional State During communication one should make effective use of body language. He/she should not show their emotions while communications as the receiver might misinterpret the message being delivered. For example, if the conveyer of the message is in a mood then the receiver might think that the information being delivered is not good. )Keep it Simple and Easy The basic element in the process of communication is language, which must be extremely simple and easy, so that there are no loopholes to misinterpret or not understand what you are trying to put across. Try to avoid using jargon or too much of complicated words and sentences. Remember that the basic motive is to put across the message and making sure that people understand it. No one is judging your knowledge or vocabulary, but definitely judging how effective you are when it comes to communicating. f)Feedback is Extremely Important Last but not least, taking a feedback from the receiving end, just to make sure that they have interpreted the information in the same manner as you intended to is very important. It is only through proper feedback that you can understand how far they have understood, thereby getting a chance to clarify the differences, if any. Ladies and Gentleman, As the time given to me comes to the ends, I like to stress again what I already explain to you. Firstly we know and learned about the importance of an effective communication in business setting as you are one of the managers in your organisation presenting. There are seven importance of effective communication includes; a)Forms of communication b)Interpersonal Communication c)Nonverbal Communication d)Techniques for Effective Communication e)gain satisfaction in career f)Communication and Intimate Relationships g)Business and the Importance of effective Communication The second part of our discussion of the topic is about types of common barriers to effective communication. There have five communication barriers includes; Physical Barriers b)perceptual differences c)Language Barriers d)Interpersonal Barriers communication and; )Cultural Barriers We also discussed the ways to overcomes communication barrier such as; a)Eliminating differences in perception b)Active Listening c) Simple organizational Structure d)Emotional State e)Keep it simple and easy f)Feedback is Extremely Important When communication succeeds, a business is likely to be efficient and effective. Learning simple rules in communication and others techniques that suggested by an expert will make you more effective and valuable as a business communicator in the organisation you are presenting. Effective communication improves the ability to present ideas and convey messages to other people dealt with in the workplace. Therefore, it is through communication that people in a business environment coordinate their efforts to achieve their goals. As a conclusion, I would like to say thank you for the best commitment, cooperation and participation from the floor in this session. I really appreciate this situation and support given by you and think it will be worth for you in future. I hope you already gain some importance knowledge on the topics discussed. Thank You.