Question

First, identify and explain the five types of communication barriers. Next, imagine that you manage the gate agents at a busy international airport. (The gate agents are the people who staff the gates, taking people's tickets, managing the boarding process, and helping to resolve issues with seating or meals.) Describe how the gate agents might encounter each type of barrier, and what you might do to reduce these barriers. Discuss four general strategies that managers can use to streamline meetings.

Answer 1

The main barriers to communication are:

1) Physical barriers which can be caused due to various factors like time of communication, place of communication,space between communication, noise in the system, climatic conditions and choice of medium for communication  

2) Language or semantic barriers - barriers due to multiple interpretation of the meanings or language difference

3) Barriers due to cultural difference - barriers posed by diversity in cultures

4) Psychological or attitudinal barriers - barriers posed by difference in the attitudes, outlook, state of mind or relationships

5) Perceptual barriers - barriers caused by the difference in level of perception or understanding

6) Difference in gender

The gate agents at a busy international airport can face all these barriers in effectively communicating with the passengers and other stakeholders:

1) Physical barriers - In scenarios where the gates are changed at short notice or flights get cancelled while being in queue, the gate agents will not be able to reach out to the target audience i.e. impacted passengers promptly leading to ineffective communication. In case of silent airports the announcements are not made by the public announcement systems which leaves the passengers totally dependent on the signage,directions by electronic display and communication by the gate agents hence the physical barriers pose a big challenge.

To reduce these barriers it is extremely important that all the gate agents are provided with the updated information at all times, so that the nearest agents should be able to guide the passengers to right gates at short notices.

The agents should be provided with training to manage critical situations and they should have access to right information at all times through electronic or mobile devices.

2) Language and semantic barriers pose everyday challenges to gate agents, since at an international airport the passengers arrive from across the world. Even if the language is same the dialect differences pose challenges in communication. To overcome these challenges the gate agents must be adept in understanding more than one language and dialects. Which language apart from the native language they should be adept at depends on the types of passengers coming at the airport. Some sort of analysis should be done to understand the bifurcation of different passenger types, their nationalities and languages to be better prepared in training the gate agents. It is also important to be an active listener in order to understand the query better so that they can provide the right guidance

3) Similar to language barriers, gate agents face barriers in effective communication due to large diversity in cultures of passengers. Training and appreciation for the different cultures will go a long way in mitigating the challenges posed by cultural barriers.

4)Psychological or attitudinal barriers - This is one of the most frequently faced challenge by the gate agents. In the scenario of passengers reaching late to the counter for boarding pass, it is very important for the agents to empathize and understand the problems of the passengers and provide guidance to help them. Active listening and empathizing with the customers will play a big role in eliminating these barriers to communication.

5)Perceptual barrier - Due to difference in the level of understanding of passengers, the gate agents often face these barriers to effective communication. Especially in case of new passengers who are not very familiar with the processes, it becomes important to understand their queries and problems and accordingly provide them guidance. Ask for feedback to ensure they have understood the direction.

6) Barriers posed by difference in gender - This barrier is not much of an issue as the gate agents are expected to be adept in handling the barriers posed by difference in gender like speech patterns of males versus females.

General strategies for streamlining meetings could be:

1) Plan ahead and circulate the agenda of the meeting in advance

2) Start the meeting on time

3) Devote not more than 5 minutes to discuss earlier meeting's objectives

4) Start with the agenda of this meeting and encourage participation of all attendees

5) Conclude the meeting on time and agree on the next step. Document the minutes and circulate them immediately after the meeting