Question

14. What is most likely to get in the way of effective communication? What can be done about that?

15. How and to what extent does your organization value teams? What is the key to leading teams?

16. What is the primary takeaway from your assessment of the fundamentals of leading? What is your synthesis of this component?

Answer 1

14.

Communication process is nothing but the sequence of steps that involve transferring message from sender to receiver via different channel. Communication is considered to be effective the parties exhibit listening skills so that they can decode the message sent.

The barriers to effective communication are: -

• Talking more than what is required is a common barrier to effective communication. a communication can be effective if it is a two way communication process. Talking too much can make the other party bored and disinterested. In order to overcome this, it is important to think before speaking. It is also important to give others the chance to speak in order to make communication process effective.
• Distraction is another barrier to effective listening. This include physical, mental, auditory and visual. this can be avoided by maintaining eye contact, focusing on the person who is speaking, avoiding using cell phone, etc.
• Interruption in between the conversation either verbally or with inappropriate body language impacts the communication process negatively. It is very important to use proper body language which makes the other person comfortable and makes the communication process effective.
• One of the common barrier to listening is fear. A person who has fear to communicate may not listen the communication effectively. These people communicate in a defensive manner. It is important to understand how fear can makes the communication ineffective. Listening to the other person without fear, having patience and keeping calm may give the individual mental strength so that he or she may be able to face the situation without fear.

The different workplace communication barriers include: -

• Physical barriers - The workplace layout plays important role in communication process. If the working area is large and the offices and cabins of higher levels have closed door, then team members will not be able to communicate effectively with each other and the higher management.
• Cultural barrier - Workforce diversity refers to the organization which includes people of heterogeneous mix in terms of gender, age, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Workforce diversity may result in both positive and negative effect on the organization. So, people with different religions, states or countries make the communication process ineffective.
• Language barrier - Language is another barrier for effective communication at workplace. When business are outsourced to another country whose language is different, then the customers may not understand and impact the customer experience. Thus a business should consider this factor before expanding its business in another country. Also, local employees' language may be different from that of parent company's employees.
• Emotional barrier - If people within the organization does not have trust on each other than this give rise to emotional barrier as a result of which employees may stop talking to each other.
• Perceptual barriers - Difference in opinion, viewpoints and thoughts may result in perceptual barriers because every individual has different perceptions.

The following can be done to overcome effective communication:-

• Showing respect to individuals are very important.
• Communication should be done constructively to develop effective relationship and mutual understanding.
• It is very effective to make request rather than ordering.
• One needs to have proper understanding of colloquial language of different cultures to get connected with them effectively.
• Using compliments,
• Using appropriate body language.
• Speaking clearly and concisely.
• Communicating with respect and courtesy.
• Avoiding the use of slang.
• Avoiding the use of negative questions.