The Role of Communication at Work - Essay Example

Running Head: COMMUNICATIONS AT WORK Communications at Work (Your School) COMMUNICATIONS AT WORK Communication can be defined as the exchange of information from one person to the other through a medium. Therefore it is a process in which message is sent from the sender to the receiver which is mediated by a medium. The communication process involves three steps. There is the coding of information which is performed by the sender. Then there is transmission of information from the sender to the receiver and then there is encoding of the information by the receiver. At the work place and in all our life, we communicate with one another in order to understand one another. Communication at work is one of the most important factors that determine how we perform our duties. Communication at work is takes the form of a dyad communication as we communicate with our managers vertically and we also communicate with our fellow workers horizontally. Effective communication is very important for efficient functioning of the dyad. However it has been shown that there are many factors that can affect the way we communicate with one another in the work place. Failure of communication at work can be a barrier to creating of an effective working environment as since it becomes difficult to understand each others. There are many barriers to effective communication in the workplace. This can result from environmental factors in the work place and at the same time it can be due to personal factors. However it has been shown that personal factors are the leading cause of barrier to communication in the work place as compared to environmental factors. Personal factors including the way we express ourselves during communication, attitudes and other factors have been shown to act as barriers to effective communication at the work place. This has adverse effects on the relationship in the dyad as we have described. Let us look at some of the personal factors that affect the communication process. How words have powers to create and affect attitudes, behavior, and perception Direct communication is one of the most commonly used means of communication at work. This mostly takes the form of personal communication but also it may be in written form through circulars and memos. In this regard words are carefully chosen to communicate the message that we want to pass. However the way we choose words to pass our message has a lot of effect on other people. Certain words if used are likely to create a certain kind of expression to the person in the sense that they may emphasize or deemphasize the importance of the message that we are communicating at work. Attitudes Words are used careful when communicating to create and affect attitude. Word can be used to give a new attitude or alter the existing attitude about something or someone. However there has been a creative way in the use of the world in order to have such an effect. An attitude can be defined as a feeling towards someone or towards something. One may develop a positive or a negative attitude towards someone and this will affect the way they two people relate. It is usual that at first encounter, people usually have a neutral attitude towards something or towards someone. But as they interact with time, they tend to develop a positive or a negative attitude toward. This is usually affected by the judgment that people make from such an interaction. (Baby Center UK, 2008) As we communicate in the work place, we tend to form different kinds of attitudes. We may have a neutral attitude towards each other when we meet but as we interact we tend to change attitudes. In our communication process words play an important role as they alter the perception we had about someone or about something that we have related with in the work place. The way we choose our words to communicate with others also affects their attitude about us. In the dyad there are expectations that the supervisors or the managers may be expected to use authoritative words. But we will have a different attitude to supervisors who uses authoritative words and to one who doesn't use authoritative words. The world which you choose to say at any one time affects the realist of your attitudes at that same time. It has been show that it is all connects and even if one decides to say a positive attitude, one could be boycotting the self due to poor use and choice of words. For example, think if a person who says, "This supervisor is harsh on workers" or "this supervisor is a difficult to deal with". Though we may not have interacted with that particular supervisor, we are likely to form a negative attitude towards that supervisor and even when we interact with him or her, we are likely to have a preconceived negative attitude which may affect the way we communicate. Those words as mention express the point of view of that person and in a way shape reality in a negative way and hence contribute in creating negativity and anxiety in the person who utters them and in a way they will affect our attitude. Behavior Words have a strong effect on the behaviors of the people. In the work place the way we communicate tends to affect our behavior. We change our behaviors according to the message that we get from people. Words as used in communication help us to understand situation which shapes the way we behave. In the workplace the way communication takes place in the dyad will affect the kind of behavior that we will have. It has been shown the there are people who completely change the behavior in the work place as defined by the relationship they have with others and especially there superiors. (Heider, 2004) Perception The choice of words in communication affect the way we perceive things and the way we perceive other and therefore the kind of relationship that we form with them. The effect of words on perception is closely linked to the effect that it has on attitudes. The way we talk to others or other talks to use and the choice of world they use affect our perception. We tend to relate more with those who we have formed a positive perception and we try to avoid those we have a negative perception of. Therefore positive worlds will create a positive perception while negative words will create a negative perception. How perception, emotion and nonverbal expression affect interpersonal relationship Communication is essential in building interpersonal relationship in the work place. This is perhaps the most important role that is played by communication in the dyad. However there are several factors that affect this interpersonal relationship in the communication process. As we have mentioned the choice of word when we are communicating tend to give us different perceptions about people and things in the workplace. We tend to perceive other people depending on the way they communicate to us and the way they use words. Perception of the other person depending on how we understand them is likely to affect the kind of interpersonal relationship that we are going to form. It has been shown that people will tend to create a positive interpersonal relationship with those who they perceive as their equals. In the region the perception of the other party determines how they feel at ease in company of the other. This affects the relationship with the dyad. Therefore we tend to relate mostly with those who we feel at ease in the workplace which means we interact and communicate more with fellow worker unlike the superiors. (Martin, 2001) The way we communicate with one another in the work place affects our emotions. In this regard, our experience from the interaction with something or with someone will determine the kind of emotions that we will have at the end of the interaction. Our emotion may also be dictated by the pre-conceived perception we have on something or on someone. We tend to form heavy and negative emotions on people who we have formed a negative perception or attitude at work. (Clore, 2000) Our relationship with people will be determined by the kind of emotions that we have formed. We will relate more with those who we have formed a positive emotions while we will relate less with those who we have formed a negative emotions. Non verbal expression is another important element of communication as it express what cannot be expressed by words. The way we move our bodies during communication, the way we shape our face and the way we move our heads during communication are all forms of nonverbal communication which have an effect on the communication process. (Petty, 2003) We can understand each other more from the nonverbal expression. From this we will form an attitude towards those we communicate with which will affect the interpersonal relationships. In the workplace we tend to make a prejudged perception of someone depending on the way they have been expressing themselves when communicating. Non-verbal expressions can be used to form a preconceived idea about a person which will affect the way we relate with them. Non verbal expression tends to communicate the other side of a person even before we listen to them and judge them. However they are important elements of the communication process since they make it more complete as we can understand people better than when we listen to them. How self-concept and defensive and supportive messages and behaviors create positive and negative communication climates Self-concept is the way in which we see ourselves which is an important part in building confidence and in building self esteem. Self conception is determined by the way we value ourselves and in the communication process it is determined by the way we perceive ourselves in relations to other party we are communicating with. Self conception is important in communication since it determines how we approach the other party and the kind of words we are going to use in the communication process as determined by the one we are communication with. Self concept can create a negative or a positive communication climate depending on the way we will be seeing ourselves in relation to the other party. Depending on whether we take ourselves to be superior or inferior to the other party, we will form a perception of the whole communication process which will determine the communication environment. For example we tend to use different words to pass the same message to our superiors as compared to our fellow worker whom we perceive to be our equals. It has been shown that once we feel inferior to the other party, we will tend to change our communication environment and we are likely not to be so authoritative than when we perceive ourselves superior to the other party. When we perceive ourselves to be superior to the other party, we tend to be very authoritative in the communication process which is likely to change the communication environment. (Clore and Center bar, 2006) Defensive and supportive messages can be defined by the way in which we try to persuade others to support an idea while we are communicating. In the workplace we may decide to take a defensive stand for something even if we are not sure whether it is right or wrong. Most of the time we tend to side with our fellow workers especially when it involves the worker and the managers. This may change the way we are going to communicate with the suppressions. In most instances, we may be involved in an argument in the communication process. In this regard we will be supporting one side of argument while the other party will be supporting the other side of the argument. Acting in support of our side of argument, we are likely to convince the other party to cross the floor and join us which means they will have to agree with use. This has can change the communication climate especially if none of the communicating party is willing to conceded and join the other. Supportive and defensive message have in most cases precipitated into a heated argument and in some cases to a conflict. Ethics in communion dictates that we take our time to conceive the other party of our side of argument by taking them through a step by step process in letting them understands our side of argument instead of standing our grounds with no enough supportive evidence. Lack of concession in the communication process will end up changing the communication environment which may affect the whole process. Conclusion As we have seen there are various factors that can affect the way we communication with one another at work. The choice of words is very important in order to the communication process to be complete. We should choose our words wisely in order to create a positive attitude and create positive behaviors about us and about others at work which will enhance our interpersonal relationship with them. We should understand that the words we use have an effect on the perception people will have on us and hence the way they will relate with us. We should also control our emotions in the communion process in order to approach the subject of communication not based on our emotions but based on the facts. If we are involved in defensive communication our choice of words and the facts that we present in the discussion are very crucial to make the other party understand. References Baby Center UK, (2008). Development milestones: understating words, behavior and concepts. Retrieved from http://www.babycenter.in/baby/development/socialandemotional/understandingwords/ on 19th April 2008 Clore, G. & Center bar, B. (2006). Do approach-avoidance actions create attitudes Research Article, University of Virginia Clore, G. (2000). Feeling believes: Effective Influences. England: Cambridge University Press Heider, F. (2004). Study of apparent behavior. Journal of Psychology, Vol. 57(3): 24-98 Martin, L. (2001). Effects of mood; Theories and cognition. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Petty, R. (2003). Overt head movements and persuasions. Journal of Personality and social psychology, Vo. 84(1): 6-34 Read More