Free Essay Discussing Communication Barriers in Business Management

As a manager in an organization, there is an obvious responsibility to ensure the smooth flow of information and data, and ensure minimal obstruction of communication. As the growth of an organization is highly dependent on communication. Due to the complexity of communication, any breakdown in the communication process affects it and may jeopardize the business (Rezaee, 2016). It is therefore important for managers to eliminate any communication barriers in his or her organization. In this paper, the ways in which a manager can overcome process barriers, personal barriers, physical barriers, and semantic barriers to communication are discussed.

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There are various steps involved in the process of communication. A blocked step can inhibit the process and hence become a communication barrier. For example, there is a sender barrier when an unpopular administrator fails to put forth his or her innovative ideas in an organization for fear of being criticized. To overcome process barriers, a manager needs to make sure that the communication cycle is complete, by involving both the sender and the receiver of the message and assigning them responsibilities (Epstein, 2018). A sender needs to make the message as clear as possible before communication and is also supposed to follow up on the communication to make sure of its delivery. They also need to take the opportunity to communicate or express any idea that they deem would be of value or help to the organization or the receiver. The receiver should also be assigned responsibilities to ensure no intended message does not pass them. To get the message, anyone who is being spoken to should keep quiet and listen. They should remove distractions and be attentive. The manager should encourage these values.

Personal barriers are the factors that are individual to the receiver and the sender which in one way or another act as a communication barrier (Bolden, 2016). They include personal experience in life, attitudes, and emotions. Behavior that may prevent a person from receiving or sending a message effectively is also considered as a personal barrier to communication. The common barriers classified as personal area: insufficient knowledge in an area or field the message being communicated is based on; lack of terminology for use in the conveying of the message where the sender used terms difficult for the receiver to interpret; discriminatory attention where the receiver listens only to the points that favor or suits him or her; and lack of listening skills by the receiver of the message to be conveyed. A manager could overcome these barriers in the organization by ensuring the members have good listening. The manager should also encourage good personal habits and values such as patience and attentiveness by individually motivating them, ensuring that the personnel for particular tasks have sufficient knowledge of terminologies used in their field of involvement.

There are also personal barriers to communication in the organizational structure, for instance between superiors and their subordinates (Cacciattolo, 2015). The superiors could have less confidence in their subordinates, doubting their capacity to give relevant information. The superiors would thus intentionally ignore the subordinates' recommendations and proposals, discouraging them from communicating. Superiors may hide information that may undermine their authority to their subordinates such as their weaknesses. The subordinates, in their part, may lack enough incentive and motivation to provide suggestions and recommendations to the organization. They may also be unwilling to communicate information to their superiors, for fear of rejection or consideration as negative. To overcome these barriers, a manager should encourage cooperation and interaction between superiors and subordinates, and team building sessions to achieve free communication without compromise of hierarchy in the organization (Cacciattolo, 2015). They should also emphasize the role of every individual in the company concerning its growth which will encourage dedication, hence give any information potentially valuable to the organization.

Physical barriers to communication are conditions, environmental or natural that hinder the transmission of information from a sender to the required recipient of the information. Common physical communication barriers can be classified as environment, being the objects and noise in the immediate space blocking the sender and the receiver; distances between the communicators and the medium or mode of communication which includes the meanings of certain symbol and actions involved in communication across different communication channels such as media and phones (Kanki, 2019). To overcome this barrier, certain techniques may be adopted such as using open offices and shared conference places and rooms so that individuals have chances to meet their superiors when they intend to. The use of mediums such as emailing and direct messaging which is easily available to individuals who may have to spread across the world in modern times. Video conferencing can also be used to overcome distance barriers to members of an organization widely separated.

Semantic barriers to communications are the misunderstanding or misinterpretation of information between the sender and the recipient of information due to using of signs and symbols unknown to both of them or give a different meaning to each of the two. This may arise from the following: improper expression or phrasing of messages which end up being misinterpreted, the use of words and symbols with varying meaning, faulty paraphrasing and translation of data, denotive and connotative barriers which arise due to different interpretation of words which are both applicable to context and vague assumptions (Shipunova & Kuznetsov, 2015). A manager may overcome this barrier in an organization by encouraging the members to be considerate of the cultural and professional backgrounds of the others and use suitable vocabulary and language. The language or terminology used should be comprehensible to both parties. The use of a common language between individuals is vital in communication and the manager should ensure it in the organization.

Overcoming all the barriers of communication in an organization is important in the day to day running of an organization. Communication skills are important to any member of an organization, more so the managers. Overcoming barriers of communications should, therefore, be a priority for managers in any business.

References

Rezaee, Z. (2016). Business sustainability research: A theoretical and integrated perspective. Journal of Accounting Literature, 36, 48-64. https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joacli/v36y2016icp48-64.html

Epstein, M. J. (2018). Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental and economic impacts. Routledge. https://www.bkconnection.com/static/Making_Sustainability_Work_2nd_EXCERPT.pdf

Bolden, R. (2016). Leadership, management, and organizational development. In Gower handbook of leadership and management development (pp. 143-158). Routledge. http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/29363

Cacciattolo, K. (2015). Defining organizational communication. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 11(20). https://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/download/5954/5740

Kanki, B. G. (2019). Communication and crew resource management. In Crew resource management (pp. 103-137). Academic Press. https://www.elsevier.com/books/crew-resource-management/kanki/978-0-12-812995-1

Shipunova, O. D., & Kuznetsov, D. I. (2015). Communication and the natural social order. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(3 S3), 265. http://www.mcser.org/journal/index.php/mjss/article/view/6677/0