Mechanical Barriers to Communication

robotic Barriers to colloquyAny tour by which whizz person gives to or receives from some other person reading ab divulge that persons needs, desires, perceptions, cognizeledge, or stirive states. Communication may be intentional or unintentional it may learn conventional or unconventional signals, may t severally linguistic or non-linguistic forms, and may occur through spoken or other modes.Organisations crowd out non operate without parley. Communication can take various forms but all forms involve the transfer of schooling from iodin party to the other. In battle array for the transfer of culture to qualify as communicating, the receiving system must take cargon the mean valueing of the discipline transferred to them. If the recipient does non realize the meaning of the information transported to them, intercourse has not taken swan.Communication is the life ascendent of arrangings beca use organisations involve mint. People cannot interact with each ot her without talk. In the absence of communicating, everything would grind to a halt. For character the workers in an organisation would not know the organisations objectives so they would not strive to achieve the organisations objectives.The workers in an organisation would not know what their roles and responsibilities were, so they would not be able to need out their daily tasks and duties.The realityagers would not be able to train their workers reports so the workers would not possess the skills they needed to carry out their professions.The partagers would not be able to inform workers of changesThe organisation would not be aw be of their competitors activitiesOn the whole commonwealth ar able to pass around with each other as this is a basic human function. stock- stable successful organisations strive not just now for communication but hard-hitting communication.Interpersonal CommunicationThis is outlined as communication between two or much people and involv es the transfer of information (or core) from one person to the other(s). The person transferring the information is called the vector or transmitter. The people receiving the substance are kn possess as receivers. The transmitter go away need to send the information in a format that the receiver(s) will understand. Converting the information into a format that the receivers will understand is known as Encoding.Messages can be encoded into a change of formats oral exam, written or visual. After encoding the subject is transferred via a medium called a channel, for sheath a letter, fax, phone call, or e- escape. After transference the information will need to be interpreted by the receiver. This process of interpretation is known as decryption. Finally the receiver will send a message back to the transmitter confirming whether the information send has been understood. This back check is known as feedback. The communication process involves seven key elements as illustrated i n the draw under.Why you need to pee your message acrossEffective communication is all about conveying your messages to other people clearly and unambiguously. Its too about receiving information that others are sending to you, with as little distortion as possible.Doing this involves effort from both(prenominal)(prenominal) the sender of the message and the receiver. And its a process that can be fraught with error, with messages muddled by the sender, or interpreted by the recipient. When this isnt detected, it can cause tremendous confusion, wasted effort and missed opportunity.In fact, communication is only successful when both the sender and the receiver understand the same information as a yield of the communication.By success experty getting your message across, you convey your thoughts and ideas in effect. When not successful, the thoughts and ideas that you actually send do not necessarily reflect what you think, causing a communications break knock down and creatin g roadblocks that stand in the way of your aims both personally and professionally.In a recent survey of recruiters from companies with more(prenominal) than 50,000 employees, communication skills were cited as the single more all-important(a) decisive factor in choosing managing directors. The survey, conducted by the University of Pittsburghs Katz Business School, points out that communication skills, including written and oral presentations, as well as an ability to work with others, are the main factor contributing to job success.In spite of the increasing importance placed on communication skills, many individuals continue to struggle, inefficient to communicate their thoughts and ideas effectively whether in verbal or written format. This inability makes it nearly impossible for them to compete effectively in the workplace, and stands in the way of career progression.Being able to communicate effectively is indeed essential if you necessity to build a successful care er. To do this, you must understand what your message is, what earshot you are sending it to, and how it will be perceived. You must alike weigh-in the circumstances surrounding your communications, such as situational and ethnical place setting.The communication theory ProcessTo be an effective communicator and to get your point across without misunderstanding and confusion, your goal should be to less(prenominal)en the frequency of problems at each stage of this process, with clear, concise, accurate, well-planned communications. We follow the process through belowSourceAs the source of the message, you need to be clear about why youre communication, and what you want to communicate. You excessively need to be confident that the information youre communicating is useful and accurate.MessageThe message is the information that you want to communicate.EncodingThis is the process of transferring the information you want to communicate into a form that can be sent and correctly d ecoded at the other end. Your success in encoding depends partly on your ability to convey information clearly and simply, but besides on your ability to anticipate and eliminate sources of confusion (for example, cultural issues, mistaken assumptions, and missing information.)A key part of this knows your audience Failure to understand who you are communicating with will result in delivering messages that are see.ChannelMessages are conveyed through take, with verbal channels including face to face meetings, telephone and videoconferencing and written channels including letters, emails, memos and reports.Different channels hire polar strengths and weaknesses. For example, its not particularly effective to give a long list of directions verbally, while youll quickly cause problems if you give someone prejudicial feedback using email.DecodingJust as successful encoding is a skill, so is successful decoding (involving, for example, taking the time to read a message carefully, o r harken actively to it.) Just as confusion can arise from errors in encoding, it can also arise from decoding errors. This is particularly the campaign if the decoder doesnt moderate enough knowledge to understand the message.ReceiverYour message is delivered to individual members of your audience. No doubt, you have in mind the actions or reactions you hope your message will get from this audience. Keep in mind, though, that each of these individuals enters into the communication process with ideas and feelings that will undoubtedly learn their understanding of your message, and their response. To be a successful communicator, you should select these before delivering your message, and act appropriately.FeedbackYour audience will provide you with feedback, as verbal and nonverbal reactions to your communicated message. Pay snug attention to this feedback, as it is the only thing that can give you confidence that your audience has understood your message. If you expose that there has been a misunderstanding, at least you have the opportunity to send the message a warrant time.ContextThe situation in which your message is delivered is the context. This may include the surrounding environment or broader polish (corporate culture, international cultures, and so on).Barriers of Communication1. Physical barriersPhysical barriers in the workplace includeMarked out territories, empires and fiefdoms into which strangers are not allowedClosed office doors, barrier screens, separate areas for people of diametric status freehanded working areas or working in one unit that is sensiblely separate from others.Research shows that one of the most important factors in building cohesive teams is proximity. As long as people still have a personal space that they can call their own, nearness to others aids communication because it seconds us get to know one another.2. Perceptual barriersThe problem with communicating with others is that we all see the world different ly. If we didnt, we would have no need to communicate something like extrasensory perception would take its place. The following anecdote is a reminder of how our thoughts, assumptions and perceptions shape our own realitiesA traveller was walking down a road when he met a man from the coterminous town.Excuse me, he said. I am hoping to stay in the next town tonight. Can you tell me what the townspeople are like?Well, said the townsman, how did you break the people in the last town you visited?Oh, they were an irascible bunch. Kept to themselves. Took me for a fool. Over-charged me for what I got. Gave me very poor service.Well, then, said the townsman, youll find them pretty much the samehere.3. Emotional barriersOne of the chief barriers to open and free communications is the frantic barrier. It is comprised mainly of fear, mistrust and suspicion. The roots of our emotional mistrust of others lie in our childhood and infancy when we were taught to be careful what we said to oth ers.Mind your Ps and Qs Dont speak until youre spoken to Children should be seen and not heard. As a result many people hold back from communicating their thoughts and feelings to others.They feel vulnerable. While some warn may be wise in certain relationships, excessive fear of what others might think of us can stunt our development as effective communicators and our ability to form meaningful relationships.4. Cultural barriersWhen we gather a group and wish to remain in it, sooner or later we need to blow up the behaviour patterns of the group. These are the behaviours that the group accept as signs of belonging.The group rewards such behaviour through acts of recognition, blessing and inclusion. In groups which are happy to accept you, and where you are happy to conform, there is a mutuality of vex and a high level of win-win contact.Where, however, there are barriers to your membership of a group, a high level of game-playing replaces effectual communication.5. Language b arriersLanguage that describes what we want to say in our harm may present barriers to others who are not familiar with our expressions, buzz-words and jargon. When we couch our communication in such language, it is a way of excluding others. In a global market place the greatest compliment we can pay another person is to address in their language.One of the more chilling memories of the Cold War was the threat by the Soviet drawing card Nikita Khruschev saying to the Americans at the United Nations We will bury you This was taken to mean a threat of nuclear annihilation.However, a more accurate reading of Khruschevs words would have been We will overtake you meaning economic superiority. It was not just the language, but the fear and suspicion that the West had of the Soviet Union that led to the more alarmist and sinister interpretation.6. Gender barriersThere are distinct differences between the speech patterns in a man and those in a woman. A woman speaks between 22,000 and 2 5,000 words a day whereas a man speaks between 7,000 and 10,000. In childhood, girls speak earlier than boys and at the age of three, have a vocabulary twice that of boys.The reason for this lies in the wiring of a mans and womans brains. When a man talks, his speech is placed in the left wing side of the brain but in no specific area. When a woman talks, the speech is located in both hemispheres and in two specific locations.This means that a man talks in a linear, logical and compartmentalised way, features of left-brain thinking whereas a woman talks more freely premix logic and emotion, features of both sides of the brain. It also explains why women talk for much longer than men each day.Removing Barriers at All These StagesTo deliver your messages effectively, you must commit to breaking down the barriers that exist within each of these stages of the communication process.Lets begin with the message itself. If your message is too lengthy, dis pointd, or contains errors, you can expect the message to be misunderstood and misinterpreted. Use of poor verbal and body language can also confuse the message.Barriers in context tend to stem from senders offering too much information too fast. When in doubt here, less is often generation more. It is best to be mindful of the demands on other peoples time, e supererogatoryly in todays ultra-busy society.Once you understand this, you need to work to understand your audiences culture, making sure you can converse and deliver your message to people of different backgrounds and cultures within your own organization, in your country and even abroad.Barrier refers to something non physical that keeps apart or prevents activity, movement so on. Types of BarriersPhysical mechanical barriersLanguage or Semantic barriersSocio-psychological barriersOrganisational barriersPersonal barriers1- Physical Mechanical Barriers entropyIt is the disruption or interference in communication process anywhere along the way. Noise though of varying degree, disturbs or interferes with communication. Whatever that distracts the receivers attention causes communication breakdown. Noise can be physical psychological. Physical distractions or disturbances such as loud speakers, gossip etc., draw the attention of the receiver. Psychological hitch is related to mental disturbances like ego clash, pre occupied thoughts, hang over, anxiety.DISTANCELong distances between the sender the receivers can also obstruct effective communicationTIMETime refers to the reaching of message. If an important message reaches late it is sure to discover communication.INFORMATION constipateIt refers to excessive transmission of information. Much more information than what the receiver can process is transmitted to him/her. The receiver cant understand , digest, analyze act upon information overload that is beyond mental capacity.MECHANICAL BARRIERSOutdated machines equipment may produce excessive stochasticity leading to physic al barriers in communication. Distraction like background noise, poor lighting., affect the morale of the employees also obstruct effective communication.2- SEMANTIC OR LANGUAGE BARRIERUNCLEAR MESSAGELack of lucidity in message makes it badly expressed. poorly chosen empty word , phrases, inadequate vocabulary, failure to straighten out implications etc., are some common faults found.FAULTY TRANSLATIONThe message that every autobus receives from his superiors, peers, subordinates must be translated into language suitable for the respective person( for whom the information is destined).SPECIALISTS LANGUAGEIt is often found that technical personnel special groups tend to develop a special, peculiar technical language of their own. It hinders their communication with persons not in their specialty, because of the receivers ignorance of that sheath of language.3- SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERSDIFFERENCES IN PERCEPTIONPerceptual barriers may arise due to differences between individ uals in the way they perceive, organize understand their environment.DIFFERENCES IN ATTITUDEPeople differ with regard to attitudes opinions which often interfere with communication. If the message is self-consistent with our attitudes opinions we receive it favorably.INATTENTIONCommunication has no impact on those who are unable or opposed to listen. If people do not pay the required degree of attention to audience understanding the messages they are supposed to receive.PREMATURE EVALUATIONSome people form a judgment before receiving the remove message. Such premature evaluation prevents effective communication. RESISTANCE TO CHANGEwhen new ideas are being communicated, the listening apparatus may act as a filter in rejecting new ideas. Thus enemy to change is an important obstacle to effective communication.CULTURAL DIFFERENCECultural refers to values, beliefs, norms, attitudes perceptions of people of different nations or regions. Symbols, words, colors, gestures, langua ge must be carefully selected when senders of information are dealing with people of different nations regions.4- ORGANISATIONAL BARRIERS condition RELATIONSHIPONE WAY FLOWORGANISATION STRUCTURERULES REGULATIONS5- PERSONAL BARRIERSATTITUDE OF SUPERIOR- the attitude of superiors towards communication affects the flow of messages in different directions.LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN SUBORDINATESLACK OF TIMEMESSAGE OVERLOADBarriers to effective Communication (leaky bucket)At each stage in the process encoding, transference, and decoding there is the possibility of interference which may hinder the communication process. This interference is known as noise. Often a par is made between communication and a leaky bucket. If you use a leaky bucket to carry water, water will be lost at various points in your voyage from the water criticise to your name and address. It is not possible to stop losing water because the bucket contains holes. The descend of water you will lose will be determined by the number of holes in the bucket, the size of the holes, the route you take to your final destination and length of time it takes you to get to your destination. There may also be other events that occur during your journey which increase the amount of water lost. Similarly when information is transferred from the transmitter to the receiver not all of the information may be received by the receiver because of holes called noise. Each of the noise may be affect the amount of information transferred. Just as in a leaky bucket, more holes decrease the amount of water, more noise decreases the amount of correct information received.Language issues and Cultural DifferencesThe receiver(s) may not (fully) understand the language used by the transmitter. This may occur if the transmitters language is foreign to the receiver. There may also be language problems (that the communication process) if the message contains technical information and the receivers is not familiar with the tech nical terms used. Cultural differences created by an individuals background and experience affect their perception of the world. Such cultural differences may affect the interpretation (decoding) of the message sent.Environmental issuesIf the environment that the transmitter or receiver are in, is noisy and full of sound, the sounds may prevent the message being fully understood. Background noise is often created by colleagues or machinery.Channel issuesIf the channel used to transfer the information is poor it may prevent all or some of the information being transferred. Examples include a faulty fax machine, a crackling phone, hired hand that cannot be read or in the case of oral messages incorrect facial gestures.Receivers Attitude and behaviorIf the receiver(s) is not interested in the message (or unable to give their full attention to decoding) this may deoxidise the amount of information received or the trueness of the information transmitted to them. Similarly the receiver (s) may misinterpret the message by jumping to conclusions or reading the message in a manner that suits their own interests/objectives and distort the true meaning of the message.Transmission journeyi.e. steps in the message, If the message is complicated or there are lots of steps taken to transfer the message it may affect the accuracy or interpretation. Comparing with the leaky bucket if the leaky bucket has to carry water over a longer distance more water will probably lost than if the journey was shorter. congenital / Organisational CommunicationThis is communication that takes place within (or across) an organisation. In addition to the usual face to face, telephone, fax or mail modern organisations may use technology to communicate internally. Technology may be used for e-mails or a united internal communication system such as the intranet which is an internet system intentional solely for use by those working for the organisation.External CommunicationsConversely external communication is communication between the organisation and those outside the organisation. Modern organisations may design technological systems so that they can communicate with customers and undertake e-Commerce. Alternatively they communicate with other businesses through the internet or similar systems and undertake e-Business.Functions of Internal and External CommunicationsTechnology has rapidly expanded the types of internal and external communication available to organisations. The diagram illustrates the vast array of internal and external communication available.Combined unneurotic internal and external types of communications allow various sectors of the local, national and international community to interact, liaise and conduct business.Formal and Informal CommunicationsFormal communication is defined as communication which occurs through the official organisational channels or is undertaken by an employee to do their job. For example official meetings, letters and a conductor asking an employee to carry out a particular task. Conversely light communication is that which occurs outside the recognised communication networks such as lecture in the lunchroom or hallways between employees. Informal communication can be productive or negative. It has the potential drop to build teams, improve working relationships and generate ideas as employees are in a relaxed environment.Upward and downwardlyly CommunicationsDownward communication is communication created by directors and managers and passed down the pecking order of workers in the organisation. In traditionalistic organisations this is the preferred method of communication ie Managers decide what the systems, rules and procedures will be and then they pass these down to employees they manage and supervise. Downward Communication can increase efficiency by synchronising organisational procedures and can match that everybody is working towards the same overall aims and objectives. Types of downward communication include job descriptions, appraisals/evaluations, organisational policy, and organisational systems.Although there are advantages to downward communication organisations have began to encourage upward communication. This is communication which originates at the lower level of the employment hierarchy and is then communicated up through the line. Organisations encouraging upward communication believe that everybody is capable of generating thoughts and ideas which may help the organisation to progress, particularly when they are working closely in the area that the idea applies to. Upward communication may increase motivation and make employees feel valued and respected whilst enabling managers to understand how employees are feeling. Furthermore if problems occur at they are more likely to be identified earlier by those working closely in the area that they occur. Types of upward communications include suggestion schemes, feedback forums/surveys, grievance pro cedures and employee-manager discussions. asquint CommunicationThis is communication that occurs between employees on the same level in the organisation. As this can involve decision making it can create efficiency as employees do not have to await for managerial approval. On the other hand if the manager is not kept informed or if the manager fails to set boundaries there is potential for conflict.Diagonal CommunicationThis occurs when communication occurs between workers in a different section of the organisation and where one of the workers involved is on a higher level in the organisation. For example in a bank diagonal communication will occur when a department manager in head office converses with a cashier in a branch of the bank found on the high street.TELECOMMUNICATIONS GLOSSARYTermDefinitionTelecommunicationCommunication between parties based in different locations by using a cable, telephone, broadcast or a telegraph.NetworkingLinking to or more computers together so t hat information and facilities can be shared. Computers in the same room may be linked together or the organisation may decide to link, computers in different parts of the world together. local anaesthetic Area Network (LAN)Computers linked by a network without the use of telecommunications. Often the computers linked are based in the same location, group of buildings or site.Wide Area Network (WAN)Computers linked by a network using telecommunications. Often the computers linked are based in different locations.teleconferencingThrough the use of telecommunication devices such as video link participants based in different locations communicating is known as teleconferencing.Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)Computer networks used to exchange precedent business transaction documents between organisations.QUESTION 3How might a manager use the line to his or her advantage?First of all the definition of pipeline is that it is the unofficial way that communication takes place within the organization. It is neither supported nor authorized by the organization. It can also be called gossip. As we know many gossips have no factual bases at all most of them however do. A manager can use grapevine to his or her advantage if it is an organization where people are used to get their information from these sources.And of course it would be a lie to say that most of us dont gossip, or listen to them at least occasionally, especially if it involves us. Bad information spreads a lot faster than good news, so the information gets to employees real fast. It can happen by a word of mouth, or recently more frequently by electronic means. If an organization is based on honesty, these grapevine information can be a lot more accurate than in an organization that is based on an authoritative culture. unremarkably there is always some truth to it however. Rumours about major lay-offs, plant closings, and the like may be filled with accurate information regarding who will be affec ted and when it may occur. This truth component is what a manager can use to his or her benefit. Most employees know that if there is any kind of grapevine information circling in the company, whatever its about can be true. If a manager for example wants to influence employees to work harder, or put more effort into it, he or she can simply bestir oneself a new gossip, or encourage an existing one about lay-offs that might involve their department. Im not saying this is a nice way to do this, but if zilch else works, why not. This is however not the sign of the good manager, because he or she should be able to use other methods of motivation. A good leader needs to be able to exert high level of effort from his or her employees by motivating them in different ways.Another way of looking grapevine information is its usefulness in supplementing formal information channels. It provides a way for employees to communicate their imaginations and inputs to a certain issue. If management is not very doing a good job with communicating with employees about what is going on in an organization, then grapevine can satisfy these natural needs for information. Grapevine is a healthy human desire to communicate. It is the informal communication channel within the organization. Managers have to acknowledge this fact, and try to use it to their own advantage. Managers interested in creating good communication within the organization will use grapevine as a mean to improve it. The real value of grapevine should be to management is that it reveals issues that generate from those whom interested in or effected by it. Managers can also participate in grapevine. They can be filters, who monitor the information and forward to upper management only the valuable and important components.Grapevine usually pops up during times of uncertain times therefore management has to make sure that it is providing enough information about important issues. The longer the rumour goes around, th e hardest it is to control, so management had to intervene quickly if it wants to avoid its damaging effects. The fact is that grapevine is exists within organizations, and they always have a truth component to them. Management therefore can use them to their own benefits, as a compliment to the official and formal channels of information.How to use the Grapevine effectively in business organizations?Grapevine is an informal channel of business communication. It is called so because it stretches throughout the organization in all directions irrespective of the authority levels. The management can use grapevine to supplement the formal channels of communication. Though it carries some degree of error and distortion, efforts can be made to correct it. Ignoring the grapevine is nothing but to ignore a valuable source of communication. The management can eliminate its negative consequences and, at the same time, it can nourish its positive benefits. The managers have to learn to manage and control it.1. The management can open up all the channels of organizational communication to present the facts positively before the employees and ther