Communication at work - Essay Example

Communication at Work” Literature Review Kramon (2001) provides a comprehensive piece of information to illuminate the importance of communication atwork. The author asserts that communication is an important aspect of running the business smoothly. Every business varying from the smaller ones to the large ones involve the aspect of communication in their day to day routine. This communication is either between the employees or employers or between the employee and the customers. The communication which takes place at work is of different types. Block & Cameron (2002) describe the verbal or non verbal communications as two forms which are widely used in the workplaces. In verbal communication the person uses the help of his voice to send over messages to the other person whereas non verbal communication is a form in which voice is not used. Non verbal communication includes memos, emails, and other social software. To develop a perfect sort of communication at work it is necessary that some elements are kept into view. This brief would further take all these elements into view and provide with the related needs of communication at work and other places (Taylor 2001). Kelly (1979) concludes that in order to develop an effective interpersonal communication network at work it is necessary for the individuals to keep several factors in mind while communicating. Businesses nowadays usually are dependent upon the communication networks. For e.g. if an employee needs to get a particular good manufactured, it is necessary for him to contact the manufacturer to tell him what good does he need. Thus it is necessary that an effective network is made (Kelly, 1979). To achieve this it is necessary for the person who is communicating to achieve clarity. By clarity here it is meant that the person who is communicating should be very clear in stating his thesis of the message. The words chosen by the communicator should be very precise which are clear enough for the other individuals’ intellect. Thus it is necessary that the communicator does not drag his message up to critical levels where the other listener gets confused by the message. This confusion can therefore lead to several other problems in the workplace (Kelly 1979 & Taylor 2001). Michael (1988), states in his study that the communicator must make sure to be direct when communicating at work. He further asserts that the communicator should not involve irrelevant messages while he communicates as these irrelevant messages can lead to errors at the workplace. The misconception about reaching the point in communication at workplaces is that the communicator usually thinks that adding up other points may give him an advantage but this rather creates an absurd image in which one can miss out the main points of the original message. So it can be concluded that in communication it is necessary that the main point is laid out firstly so that these points are missed out later on by the relevant authorities (Michael 1988 & Kelly 1979). Another thing which is important in the mean of communication is that the person who is communicating does note carefully if the listener or the person who is being referred to understands the theme of the message. According to Broadwell and Dietrich (1998) this can be achieved by a two way process. By two way process here it is meant that the communicator should ask for replies from the person who is being referred to with the message. This would help to assure the communicator that his message is being interpreted properly by the listener. Similarly if this is not done the message would be misinterpreted and other problems may arise at the workplace because of this miscommunication (Michael 1988 & Kelly 1979). Positivism is one important aspect in communicating at work. By positivism here it is meant that both the negative and positive aspects of the message should be kept in balance so that the person to whom the message is being referred to does not get a wrong concept. If this happens and the negative aspect is given more weight age the person who is being referred to may take it wrong and get discouraged while doing the work (Michael 1988 & Kelly 1979). Communicating at work has several barriers when in play at the workplace. The barriers which may come during this communication should be overcome for effective interpersonal interactions. As mentioned by Zeithamal et al., (1988), clarity is a necessary factor for communication and thus muddled messages can be a great barrier for the interpersonal interactions. These muddled messages would lead the person to get the message wrong and would lead him to carry out flawed or wrong actions. To avoid such a barrier it is necessary for the communicator to carry out a two way communication. In such a communication, Taylor defines feedback as an efficient source of confirming that the person has understood the message properly (Taylor, 2001). Tate (2003) defines stereotyping as another factor which acts as a barrier in the communication networks. Stereotyping can lead to misunderstandings at the workplaces. Usually people tend to stereotype certain factors which are known to all. For e.g. if an action is expected by the company due to recession and everyone knows about it, the person who is about to receive the message would stereotype the message and would carry out the action without properly reading the message. This can lead to problems in the workplaces as at times expected actions may not take place due to factors known to the employers only. Casella (1977) reveals that wrong channel in communication networks can lead to several problems too. This is an important barrier for communication at work. At times the business is so large, that to give the message to a person a huge hierarchy is used. This hierarchy may include managers and other middlemen. This way can be an important barrier in which the proper message may not be passed to the person who is being referred to by the message. Similarly the means used for communication would be a barrier too. The means of communication used these days are memos and emails. Emails and memos are non verbal ways of communication. The language of these emails and memos may not be perfectly written by the communicator. And it is not necessary that the other individual can interpret the messages written in these emails and memos properly (Spencer-Rodgers & Mcgovern, 2002). Thus the emails and memos should be properly written and should be asked for a feedback from the receiver of the message. The usage of language can be a barrier too in communicating at work. The words being used at work should be properly sought and thought out so that they do not create a different image in the mind of the receiver of the message. It is necessary for the person to see that the receiver does correctly interpret the words he is using. Words here can be referred to the business terminology too. So it should be noted by the communicator that the receiver of the message does correctly understand the business terminology too (Michael 1988, Taylor 2001 & Kelly 1979). A further study in the subject of communication processes in the workplaces reveal that gender and culture also have an important role to play in the workplace communication processes. According to Schnurr (2009) both these factors are importantly involved in developing the interpersonal communications between people. Although nowadays several laws have been imposed so as to stop discrimination and gender bias in workplaces, but even now such problems can be seen to be affecting the environment in the workplaces. Males are seen to be more dominant in the workplaces even now and thus they tend to develop better interpersonal communications amongst themselves. Women on the other hand are still left behind when it comes to interpersonal communications. This is because of the minority of women in the working class. Women and men don’t seem to have the type of interpersonal communications with each other than the same type of gender has with each other. Similarly culture plays an important role in developing communication at the workplaces too. People from an eastern culture may not have the same interpersonal communications in the west as people of the west may have in the workplaces. This is because of the difference in the cultures between these two sides. Moreover at times because of the culture difference a language difference is also seen amongst the individuals. And this again creates a huge gap when developing interpersonal relationships (Schnurr 2009 & Barrett & Davidson 2006). Communication at workplaces involves many issues that are addressed by authors. One of these important concepts involves emotional intelligence, which is the ability of someone to understand his own emotional state or the state of the other individuals. It helps to realize one what he himself wants in his surroundings and what others want. Emotional intelligence is an important aspect in determining interpersonal relationships in the workplace. It can be counted as a communicating factor too in the workplaces. In communication it is necessary for one to assess what the other individual is going through (Lenaghan, Buda & Eisner 2007). And in work places this is quite necessary so as to develop an important interpersonal relationship. Emotional intelligence provides the individuals with the capability to realize what the emotional state of the other person is. This would help the employees in corresponding with each other during work. The employees and employers would not laden work on their peers and subordinates if they see distortion in their emotional state. Moreover at workplaces this emotional intelligence helps the peers to know if the other employee is listening to their conversation and paying to heed to the important chores that need to be done. It would also help the employees to assess the personality of their peers and act in the way in which their peers would react the best. The work that would be given to these employees would be according to their emotional state. And to have an effective interpersonal relationship in workplaces, it is necessary that emotional intelligence skills are well developed in the individual (Goleman 1995 & Lenaghan, Buda & Eisner 2007). Bibliography: Taylor, J. (2001). Communication at work. Creating success. London: Kogan Page. Michael, N. (1988). How to say what you mean: A guide to effective communication for people at work. Auckland [N.Z.]: Reed Methuen. Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Kelly, E. W. (1979). Effective interpersonal communication: A manual for skill development. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America. Spencer-Rodgers, J., & Mcgovern, T. (2002). Attitudes toward the culturally different: the role of intercultural communication barriers, affective responses, consensual stereotypes, and perceived threat. International Journal of Intercultural Relations : IJIR. 26 (6), 609. Kramon, J. M. (2001). Smart business for contractors: A guide to money and the law. For pros, by pros. Newtown, CT: Taunton Press. Block, D., & Cameron, D. (2002). Globalization and language teaching. London: Routledge. http://www.netlibrary.com/urlapi.asp?action=summary&v=1&bookid=70511. Broadwell, M. M., & Dietrich, C. B. (1998). The new supervisor: How to thrive in your first year as a manager. Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley. Zeithaml, V. A., Berry, L. L., & Parasuraman, A. (1988). Communication and Control Processes in the Delivery of Service Quality. The Journal of Marketing. 52 (2), 35-48. Tate DM. (2003). Cultural awareness: bridging the gap between caregivers and Hispanic patients. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing. 34 (5). Casella, C. (1977). Training exercises to improve interpersonal relations in health care organizations. Greenvale, N.Y.: Panel. Schnurr, S. (2009). Leadership discourse at work: Interactions of humour, gender and workplace culture. Basingstoke [England]: Palgrave Macmillan. Bottom of Form Top of Form Barrett, M., & Davidson, M. (2006). Gender and communication at work. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate Pub. Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books. Bottom of Form Top of Form Lenaghan, J. A., Buda, R., & Eisner, A. B. (2007). An Examination of the Role of Emotional Intelligence in Work and Family Conflict. Journal of Managerial Issues : JMI. 19 (1), 76-94. Read More