Communication Barriers and Workplace Productivity

Communication is important in business. Exceptional communication skills among employees lie at the core of a productive workplace. These communication skills help to persuade, motivate, and influence customers and coworkers alike. In this paper, we will discuss why communication is important and the skills an effective worker uses to communicate effectively.
What makes a person a good coworker within business? His or her ability to communicate; which is one of the most basic job requirements in most industries. If a person cannot communicate with his employer, coworkers, or customers, he is at a major disadvantage.
Cultural Barrier
There are many barriers that can hinder communication. A cultural barrier is damaging in modern business due to the fact that we are rapidly becoming a global society. As of 2014, businesses statistics report 11.4% of our total work force are African American, and 16.1% are Hispanic compared to data from 2012 (americanprogress.org). As of 2011, white males made up a whopping 74% of leadership in business (ucsc.edu). Due to the large cultural gap between leader, employee, and coworker, it’s important to be able to communicate on a cultural level in the workplace.
Cultural barriers can come in the form of stereotypes, spoken language, or even body language. Language barriers are often seen in “bypassing”, or, using words that are too complicated or different to understand. People within the workplace come from all walks of life, and that includes varying education levels. Using words that are too formal for your message is counterproductive to communication. Likewise, using too many slang words, or workplace jargon may cause more confusion than communication. All cultures have their own version of slang words with different meanings which can turn an innocent phrase into something quite offensive to another culture. Stereotypes are generally positive or hostile assumptions about a different culture or gender. Stereotypes limit the

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