Ilm M3.30

M3.30 UNDERSTANDING THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS IN THE WORKPLACE

Communication is the exchange of ideas from one person to another. It consists of the sender transmitting an idea, information or a feeling to a receiver (as defined by the U.S. Army, 1983. To be effective the communication can only be said to have worked if the receiver has complete understanding of the exact information that the sender intended to transmit.

Communication needs

In my workplace I often have the need to communicate to my team and will sometimes use written communication via email to do this. To achieve this effectively I will formulate my ideas (as per the image below, I become the source), trying to ensure that I have used appropriate language to convey the message, ensure the message is succinct and does not contain ambiguity or superfluous information (these are some of the encoding implications). The message also needs to contain the correct information to enable the receiver to deliver the desired outcome (this is also a good way to ensure the message has been understood). Once I have ensured that I have the correct content to deliver the message, I will check that I have selected the correct recipients for the message (in this case my immediate reports).

Once the email has been written and the recipients chosen, I will edit the message and ensure I have achieved all my aims in the content of the message. On occasion it may be appropriate to alter the tome of the writing (formal – informal) to aid the delivery, especially as this will be a non-verbal way of communicating. The message will them be sent via email to the recipients. (This is the action part of the above image). The recipients will receive this message when they are next at their computer and decode the message. The process of decoding the message will be open to may inferences and some of these are discussed below. We can add another step to this process in that for most communication in the business world we are expecting a response to be received in some way, either a confirmation that the message has been received or a direct action in response to the message. In the example I have chosen, I will be expecting a weekly response from each member of the team.

The process in detail:

Source:

The sender was myself and the message that I wanted to deliver is that I am concerned that I am not being made aware of tall the team’s workload as many of the consultants pass work directly to the team and also I have 3 team members who carry out a split role and I am unaware of how their time is being split between their responsibilities. The information is required to enable me to formulate a growth plan for the team in order that I can prepare a report for my line manger that can input into the company’s business plan for the short and long term.

Encoding:

I chose to use email for this communication as it will be a good way of sending the same message to multiple recipients and is the preferred method of communication in our workplace for messages to multiple recipients in multiple locations. Email has an advantage over paper based communication as it can be readily retained and referred to and can be delivered to many persons not being dependent on if they are available to read it as it will be available to them to read at their convenience. This can also be a good medium to use as you have the extra functionality of email to track whether the messages have been received and read by the recipient.

Message:

This is the content of the email:

All,

I am aware that there is a lot of work that comes to us all direct from Consultants and this is fine, except that I am unaware of the true workload of the team when this happens. Please can you all send to me weekly (on a Monday for the previous week) a tally of what has been done for Admin and what time has been spent on other duties with a brief description? This will enable me to assess how much we are being utilised and help in forward planning for growth of the team, especially in light of new appointments.

I don’t intend for this to be onerous and so am suggesting something as simple as follows:

Monday | EDP1181EDP828 | 2 hours formattingNewsletter Proofing1 hr proofing | Tuesday | EDP1450 | 2 hours fee letters (various)Printing and Binding | Wednesday | EDP1870EDP976 | 1 hr formatting1 hour proofing½ hr hotel booking | Thursday | | 4 hrs Ecology team meeting notes taking | Friday | | 1 hr Data Trawl1 hr printing and Binding2 hrs research for Landscape |

It only needs to have project work detailed or anything that take a significant amount of your time – I am intending to get some data to carry out some analysis on where we spend our time but I do not want a minute by minute record. I am sure you are all busy in the appropriate way.

For Rebecca, Audrey and Martina please include time spent on your other roles as this will help to ascertain how your time is being split and when/how we need to reassess the balance of these split roles.

Thanks for your help in this

Helen Brittain
Administration Team Leader

Decoding/Receiver

This is when the recipients take the message and absorb and understand the content, with the desired outcome being that they receive the message that was intended. This is open to many inferences and the message received can be subject to a variety of external and internal pressures. If a receiver is not in a good mood or has been subject to other pressures that the sender is not aware of this can lead to bad feeling and can often lead to the message becoming warped or distorted. If the receiver is struggling to process information die to other work based pressures then there is a risk of not all the message being understood or acted upon.

Verbal message

A simple verbal message in the workplace could be to pass on details of a phone call where the intended recipient was not available to take the call.
The sender needs to ensure that the message contains all of the correct content for the recipient to act on the information and in my workplace this would include the caller’s name, company, the project they are calling about, any details of the message and a contact number for the recipient to return the call, or the details of what action was required to fulfil the callers request.
Verbal messages are suitable in this instance when you can pass on the information in a quick way with an immediate response. Verbal messages can often be more valuable as they come with more information if they are passed on face-to-face as both the sender and receiver can use and analyse non verbal signals, however i the message is passed via phone these extra signals are lost.

Barriers to communication

Anything that prevents understanding of the message is a barrier to communication. Many physical and psychological barriers exist:

Physical barriers

These are easy to see, doors that are closed, walls that are between people and the distance between people are obvious examples of barriers. In the workplace having an open office space can be a good way to remove barriers and encourage collaborative working. Perceptual barriers

If you go into a situation thinking that the person you are talking to isn’t going to understand or be interested in what you have to say, you may end up subconsciously sabotaging your effort to make your point. You will employ language that is sarcastic, dismissive, or even obtuse, thereby alienating your conversational partner.

Cultural barriers

Effective communication with people of different cultures is especially challenging. Cultures provide people with ways of thinking--ways of seeing, hearing, and interpreting the world. Thus the same words can mean different things to people from different cultures, even when they talk the "same" language. When the languages are different, and translation has to be used to communicate, the potential for misunderstandings increases.
Stella Ting-Toomey describes three ways in which culture interferes with effective cross-cultural understanding. First is what she calls "cognitive constraints." These are the frames of reference or world views that provide a backdrop that all new information is compared to or inserted into.

Second are "behavior constraints." Each culture has its own rules about proper behavior which affect verbal and nonverbal communication. Whether one looks the other person in the eye-or not; whether one says what one means overtly or talks around the issue; how close the people stand to each other when they are talking--all of these and many more are rules of politeness which differ from culture to culture.
Ting-Toomey's third factor is "emotional constraints." Different cultures regulate the display of emotion differently. Some cultures get very emotional when they are debating an issue. They yell, they cry, they exhibit their anger, fear, frustration, and other feelings openly. Other cultures try to keep their emotions hidden, exhibiting or sharing only the "rational" or factual aspects of the situation.

All of these differences tend to lead to communication problems. If the people involved are not aware of the potential for such problems, they are even more likely to fall victim to them, although it takes more than awareness to overcome these problems and communicate effectively across cultures.

Language barriers

Failure to strive for clarity in memos and reports reduces efficiency. This becomes difficult when a person uses jargon without understanding its meaning, or attempting to impress their audience with overly technical expressions. Vague language and awkward sentence construction can bog down internal communication, inducing recipients to take the opposite action of what is required. Employing simple terms that the intended audience understands is the best policy.

Foreign-born employees for whom English is not a second language struggle with pronunciations and idioms that make little sense to them. This tendency affects the quality of work and ability to follow deadlines. Native English speakers, in turn, have trouble interpreting their coworkers' communication styles.

Gender barriers

Even in a workplace where women and men share equal stature, knowledge and experience, differing communication styles may prevent them from working together effectively. These gender barriers can be inherent or may be related to gender stereotypes and the ways in which men and women are taught to behave as children. Although not all men or all women communicate the same way as the rest of their gender, researchers have identified several traits that tend to be more common in one gender or the other. Understanding these tendencies is key in creating a work environment that fosters open communication among all employees.
Emotional Vs. Factual

In the “Forbes” article “How to Be a Part of the Male Conversations at Work,” author Heather R. Huhman reports that women focus more on feelings and tend to talk about people while men focus more on facts and logic and tend to talk about tangible things such as business or sports. In addition, women use communication to gain insight and understanding, often by asking a lot of questions. Men, on the other hand, communicate primarily to give and get information and are less likely to ask questions.

Motivations

When women meet new people, they focus on learning about the other person and on attempting to earn the other person’s trust by showing an interest in him, explains relationship author John Gray. Men, however, focus on establishing their credibility by talking about their achievements, their responsibilities at work and what they have to offer. They expect women to do the same and may not take a woman seriously if she doesn’t quickly establish what she can do as a professional.

Misunderstandings

Gender specialist Barbara Annis says many men report that a woman may interpret what they say in a way they didn’t expect, causing men to feel unsure about how to approach a topic when discussing it with a woman. When women and men attempt to communicate with no understanding of the other’s communication style, they may come across in a way they didn’t intend. For example, because women tend to focus more on relationship-building when meeting new people, men may doubt their professionalism. On the other hand, because men tend to be more direct and focused on their achievements, women may perceive them as too aggressive.

Effects of Differences

The differences in the way men and women communicate can lead inadvertently to conflict, inhibiting communication between colleagues and hindering productivity. In her “Forbes” article, Huhman quotes gender diversity expert Connie Glaser, who says “The problem between men and woman in the workplace is not the fact that they play by a different set of rules. The problem is that they don’t know these rules.” Huhman adds that when this lack of understanding causes disagreement, men may be able to move on more quickly than women, for whom the conflict has more widespread and long-lasting effects.

Interpersonal barriers

Interpersonal barriers are what ultimately keep us from reaching out to each other and opening ourselves up, not just to be heard, but to hear others. Oddly enough, this can be the most difficult area to change. Some people spend their entire lives attempting to overcome a poor self-image or a series of deeply rooted prejudices about their place in the world. They are unable to form genuine connections with people because they have too many false perceptions blocking the way. Luckily, the cure for this is more communication. By engaging with others, we learn what our actual strengths and weaknesses are. This allows us to put forth our ideas in a clear, straightforward manner.

These barriers can be thought of as filters, that is, the message leaves the sender, goes through the above filters, and is then heard by the receiver. These filters may muffle the message. And the way to overcome filters is through active listening and feedback.

In my workplace a barrier to oral communication can be a physical one as we have office in different geographical locations. This means that verbal communication is via telephone and can be subject to a lack of NVC to assist in the message being received as it is intended. One possible solution to this would be to use a more visual based communication system such as Skype video calling. The way this is managed at present (or a way in which it can be) is to use feedback to ensure that the message has been received and understood; often you will hear staff members clarifying what has been asked or repeating the message back to the sender in order to ensure that this is the case.

Another barrier to communication is that email communications are often not received in sufficient time to react as many of our team are field based during survey seasons. This has been helped by the purchase of Blackberry mobile devices which can aid the delivery of email communications (if the area is covered by sufficient mobile signal), also if a response is not received then a follow up phone call can be made to ensure that the message has been received or to alert the staff member that there is a message that requires their attention.

Information Awareness

This is the understanding of the information that is available to all. It is a good practise to have the information available in a variety of ways for all to understand, some people may be better receptors of verbal communication and understand a message that is delivered in a verbal way, whilst others will better understand a written communication, therefore messages that need to be conveyed to a large group of recipients could be given verbally, with written notes either handed out or minutes of the meeting taken and passed to all. This way you ensure that the message is delivered verbally and in a written form, thus aiding understanding is achieved from one event in two formats.

To achieve an improvement in attention and concentration some simple exercise can be undertaken:

The first step to improve concentration is to designate a space for work. You need not do the tough job in the cubicle if you cannot concentrate there. You can use an empty meeting room, so that you have a bigger working place, and no ringing phone to disturb you.
However, let your line manager and colleagues know where you are. Let them know that you need a quiet space for an hour or so to think.
The second step to improve concentration is to ask your colleagues and boss to give you thinking time. You can ask them to give you an hour to think. You can use the hour to generate the graphs and all the reports. The mentally draining tasks sap up your energy. You do not need your colleagues to break your concentration.
The third step to improve concentration is to make sure the lighting is sufficient. It is very hard to concentrate in a darkening room. It makes you drowsy and dreams of bed.
The fourth step to improve concentration is to set a time to finish the hardest part of your task. Nobody can focus for hours without resting. Once you have done the toughest part of the task, the rest is comparatively easy to do.
Take a break, go for a five minutes walk, stretch your body and drink some water or juice. You can return to the task after a short break. A short break of five to fifteen minutes to clear your mind can help you concentrate better.
You know when you are most alert. You should plan your work in such a way that you tackle the hardest during the time you are most alert. If you are a morning person, do the hardest and mentally draining task first thing in the morning.
If you are an evening person, you can do the hardest job in the afternoon. You have the satisfaction of knowing that you can go home after completing the task.
The fifth step to improve concentration is to deal with random thoughts. Your brain is a very noisy machine. When you need to concentrate on the report, your brain suddenly sends you a reminder to buy the cereal for breakfast. Write down the message that your brain is telling you.
You should push it out of your mind once you have written it down. You can continue to concentrate on the job. When the next reminder comes, do the same thing. You will find that your brain will leave you to work peacefully once you write down the message. Otherwise, the brain will keep on sending reminders.
There are numerous games and challenges that over time can be used to improve concentration and these can be included in team meetings to help focus your thoughts. It is also a good idea to have a few minutes to clear your mind before starting a complex task as well as having a nice treat for finishing the task – something simple like making a cup of tea can be enough reward for the simpler tasks (or the ones we don’t like).

Feedback
Feedback is your audience’s response; it enables you to evaluate the effectiveness of your message. If your audience doesn’t understand what you mean, you can tell by the response and then refine the message accordingly. Feedback is essential in communication so as to know whether the recipient has understood the message in the same terms as intended by the sender and whether he agrees to that message or not.
Feedback makes communication meaningful. It is the end-result of an idea and makes communication continuous. While feedback could be instantaneous as in the case of verbal conversation between two people standing or on telephone conversation or internet instant message, it could be delayed for sometime before the response is given to allow the receiver to think and take his time to consider what he is given. While the former is common to an informal communication, the latter goes with formal communication via letters, memo, etc. Feedback could also be in written form or in oral form or even both. It could be also in form of demonstration e.g. body movement, paralanguage, gesture, posture, etc.
The following are some of the importance of feedback in communication either in a formal or informal setting:
1. It completes the whole process of communication and makes it continuous.
2. It sustains communication process
3. It makes one know if one is really communication or making sense
4. It is a basis for measuring the effectiveness of communication
5. It is a good basis for planning on what next to be done especially statistical report
6. Communication will be useless without feedback
7. Feedback paves the way for new idea generation.