Interpersonal Communication in Companies - Essay Example

WHY MANAGERS COMMUNICATE Interpersonal communication is the communication between two or more people in an organization. During interpersonal communication, there is a message being sent and a message being received. So to start with, there must be a sender and a receiver. This is often done using both direct methods and indirect methods. The success of interpersonal communication is when the sender sends their intended message and the receiver understands the message as intended. In the interpersonal communication, there are various elements involved. One of these elements is the communicators. As earlier defined, communication always involves two people, the sender and the receiver. However, this may present communication as a one way. This involves the situation where one person – the sender- sends the message and the receiver receives it. However, good communication should be two way. That is two people involved one is sending and the other one is receiving and immediately presenting the required feedback to the sender. Thus, the communication is continuous. This is to say that communication should be an interactive process. Message This is the intended information that is passed to the receiver. This may be inform of verbal an nonverbal format. Noise This is particularly anything that distorts the communication process. This means that the message that is received by the receiver is not what the sender intended. The physical environment can be termed as noise in addition to usage of language that the sender cannot understand, not paying the required interest or use of inappropriate body language. The differences in culture between the two communicators are seen as a problem. Feedback This is the response the receiver relays to the sender. This helps the receiver to know the impact the message had on the receiver. The feedback could be nonverbal or verbal. It is important to have a face to face communication for immediate feedback. Context There are situations that may often surround or even precede this communication. These are the contexts. They include the physical environment surrounding the sending of the message. The season may be or the current condition of the physical environment. The situation surrounding the sending and receiving of the message is also crucial. These may be a classroom situation, supermarket or even school situation. The situation determines what kind of message is to be received. The sender should also put into consideration the cultural background of the receiver. Some things may be a taboo to be said in public in some communities while others are not. This mostly depends on the community the receiver comes from. The emotional state of both the sender is also crucial. This determines what is to be said and heard. Some people have the capability of shunning some messages depending on their emotional states. Some of the most contrasting roles are the teacher boss situation, parent student or the partner and the competition. Listening has a great impact on the interpersonal communication. The receiver has to be very attentive in order to grasp everything intended for him by the sender. Attentive listening ensures that nothing passes him. He is able to grasp even the nonverbal cues used by the sender. In communication, there should be some key areas in response to supervisory communication to communicate effectively the speaker should ensure that they exhibit the following qualities: Expressive speaking This is ensuring that they express themselves clearly to the receiver. This is by avoiding any kind of complicated jargon. They should make sure that they emphasize their points as clearly as possible even if it means use of nonverbal cues. They should paraphrase and use other shortening devices to pass the same message though in a simple manner. Expressive speaking enhances effective supervisory communication especially for managers. Empathetic listening This is to ensure that they listen to the feedback given very attentively. They should try as much as possible to imagine themselves in the situation of the receiver and find out how they would have reacted to the same message. By so doing, they will be in a position to tell whether they message will have any impact. It is not unusual for the sender and receivers to mis- understand one another. In a work situation, the manager should put themselves in the shoes of their employees. They should try as much as possible to picture themselves in the same situation to understand them better. Persuasive leadership Their communication should be persuasive. Use of command tones is not allowed in this communication. As a matter of fact, the audience is doing you a favor of sitting down and listening to you. They could use that time in other more important issues that earn them a salary at the end of the day. So it does not hurt to be polite. Sensitivity to feelings The sender should consider the sensitivity of the recipient’s feelings. This is how the recipient will react in relation to the message. They should not relay messages that are intentionally meant to hurt the recipient’s feelings. They should also consider the culture of the targeted audience. This is because sending a message that might conflict with the beliefs of the audience may hurt their feelings. Informative management The message sent should be informative. However, the level of information passed should be in consideration of the age of the particular audience. Some information requires parental control especially to children under the age o 16. A message meant to inform adults cannot be used in informing the children. Therefore, message sender should be very careful with the audience that is intended. In communication, there are barriers in communication. These are hindrances to effective communication. They may block or distort a given message significantly. They include: Physical separation This is the distance between the sender and the receiver. The greater the distance, the harder it is to communicate effectively. More often than not, a wide distance paves way for a one way communication which is not as effective as a two way communication. The best gateway through physical distance is the sender planning some frequent face to face meetings with the receiver. This is to get the required feedback on a one on one situation. Status difference The sender of the sender and the receiver may be different. This can significantly distort the message as the sender will just send the right message to the wrong audience. The sender should consider the status of the intended audience before sending the intended message. The best gateway through this is good supervisory skills. All the employees should be thoroughly supervised and trained to ensure that their status and that of the receiver do not conflict. Cultural diversity There are different cultures in each country. It is therefore crucial for the sender to understand the culture of the intended audience and accept it. This is because messages conflicting with the cultural belief of the receiver might distort the message. No one will listen to a message that is conflicting with their cultural beliefs. There should be effective training and awareness of the various cultures available. Language The most important factor in communication is the language. Language can make the message being sent not to be understood. It is important for the sender to use language understandable to all the receivers. The sender should ensure that the language used is understandable to the receiver. The sender should use simple language and avoid jargon and technical terms. Defensive communication is communication that can be aggressive, passive or withdrawing. It is not polite and in the process violence may emerge. It is mostly used in self defense. Non defensive communication is assertive, tactful and polite. This is the kind of communication that should be used in interpersonal communication. It can be used to really information to the employees and vice versa. Nonverbal communication is all kinds of communication that do not involve words. This may include head nods, eye movements and tone variations. There are various kinds of nonverbal communication: Kinetics which is the study of body movements including posture Facial and eye movements- they enables the sender to know the level of boredom the receiver experiences Paralanguage- this is the variation in speech such as tone, loudness, pitch and tempo. Proxemics – are all the individuals’ perception and use of space. Personal space is very crucial in a person. Invading an individual’s personal space is invading their privacy. An individual also has public space which anyone can invade especially in public places, intimate space reserved only for that special person in an individual’s life and social space applying to those people in the social circle of an individual. (Cover 120) They are important as they are used to emphasize an important point. They can be used to show the emotional state of the message conveyer. Positive healthy behavior is the heartfelt communication in human relationships thus leading to good and healthy relationships between people. It should involve head to heart dialogue, personal integrity and emotional competence. These are all crucial for effective communication. They enhance positive healthy communications between individuals. It is important for all communicators to adopt these healthy behavioral communication techniques. Lastly, in communication there are various communication technologies. The main and widely known is the information communication technology (ICT). It involves information databases, electronic mail systems, voice mail systems, fax machine systems and cellular phone systems. It affects behavior in a number of ways. (Wood 23) It improves interpersonal interaction with a machine. Thus, an individual cannot function without a machine. They become addicted to machines. They decrease the use of interpersonal skills. Machines cannot relay he required nonverbal cues. Thus, an individual relies only on the verbal message to understand the intended message. ICT also increases impatience with face to face communication. A person is already used to fast ways of relaying information. They therefore find face to face communication as tedious and time consuming. This is a great disadvantage as face to face communication is very crucial. The individual in question also can’t get away from work. He is overwhelmed with work because he has to wait for the feedback from the receiver. Because this can only be relayed online, the individual has no option but to wait. (DeVito 476) Works cited Cover, Front. Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory, and Practice. Chicago: Psychology Press, 2004. DeVito, Joseph A. The Interpersonal Communication Book. Boston: Pearson Education, 2012. Wood, Julia T. Interpersonal communication : everyday encounters. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2013. Read More