Lack of Effective Communication at Work
Effective businesses have a responsibility to succeed in all their business aspects.
This is critical to meeting the newest market trends and satisfying the demands of their clients. The most important aspect of any business is effective communication. Success in the workplace is dependent on the ability of the staff to interact with each other. Employees, coworkers, managers, senior managers, and clients need to communicate effectively through the company’s communication (Edmondson, Bohmer, & Pisano, 2001). The lack of effective communication results in misunderstandings, lack of information, a reduction in employees’ performance, and a rise in the company’s employee turnover. Furthermore, ineffective communication or poor communication results in employee frustration, and is a major source of conflict in a company.
The managers’ inability to express effectively their thoughts and demands to the company’s employees often results in the employees’ inability to perform effectively and to meet the company’s demands. Thus, the value effective communication cannot be overemphasized. There are various instances of poor communication, which can arise at the workplace. The knowledge of these prospects is the earliest step to resolving the problem of ineffective communication at the workplace. In most instances, the employees of a company are the first to be affected by the existence of ineffective communication. On the contrast, it appears that a company’s employees are the last to notice that their organization is rampant with ineffective communication.
Ironically, this results from poor communication; employees do not communicate effectively within the organization to realize they are facing a problem. To understand the issue, it makes sense to understand that when information is not properly flowing down, the information will not flow up well too. The management and the company’s staff will be out of touch; thus, the breakdown in communication within an organization. In the modern workplace, the most challenging aspect of ineffective communication in any workplace is the lack of critical information, which is necessary for the accomplishment of a company’s goals. Even in the modern workplace, a workplace, which is rampant with information, employees often suffer from the lack of information, which is necessary for them to execute their jobs effectively. For instance, employees may possess the data they may require from the external suppliers of a company; however, they may not be able to execute their responsibilities effectively if the information that is held by the supervisors and coworkers is not shared properly.
In most nstances, the problem arises since the people possessing the information are still in the process of processing the information. Therefore, they may not have distanced themselves sufficiently from the problem to realize that other people around the workplace may be in need of the information.Furthermore, the method of communication around the workplace can be another source of ineffective communication. The person in charge of relaying information at the workplace may believe that he or she has performed his duties diligently. However, this may not be the case. This problem arises since there are people who are more effective at communicating, while there are others who struggle to communicate and express themselves (Ellinor & Glenna, 1998).
This may be a source of ineffective communication. Ideally, people are required to communicate clearly, comfortably, in a practical language, and in an engaging tone. The person relaying the message need to get straight to the point before the listener can lose interest since this increases the chances of losing the point altogether, leading to ineffective communication. However, in many instances, people communicate speedily or slowly for all to absorb the message. They may be too loud or too low, or may use words that are full of professional jargon, which may not communicate effectively the details required for the information to be relayed effectively. Often, these are causes of ineffective communication.
Ineffective communication can cause severe malpractice suits especially in large organizations. Places where people do not communicate in the same language tend to have plenty of ineffective communication. For example, in the healthcare industry, language barrier can be too costly for a hospital. A doctor who cannot communicate properly with his or her patient due to language problems may deliver inappropriate, delayed, improper health care services. These can be very costly especially if they are proven to be medical malpractice and lead to a lawsuit (Leonard, Graham & Bonacum, 2004). This is the same to all every organization in the business world.
For instance, if a top executive does not understand the language and the way of greeting of a native country, he may lose his best workers if he uses bad language or language that they do not understand. People will always tend to feel uneasy when a person is communicating in a language that they do not comprehend.Ineffective communication causes poor retention of information. The human memory has a limit beyond which it cannot function properly. If one is not given clear information, then the information is nott synthesized and very little or less of it will be remembered.
This leads to low outputs at work or results to substandard work. Poor communication often results into misunderstandings. At times, the information given is not elaborate. The receiver may do things that were not in the plan. For example, a worker may be told to burn everything. This is general information and somebody can burn everything on sight thereby causing so much harm.
Emotions of a person especially the receiver get hurt when communication is ineffective. If a manager communicates in a very angry tone, the junior worker may get stressed leading to either inaction or over action. This can be very detrimental to an organizations daily operation. It is important to note that persons will take action in regards to the tone of the message. If the message is accompanied by an ugly, angry commanding tone, they react by being rude.
However, if a message is sent with a happy and respectful tone, the receiver will also tend to react in a jovial manner.Misunderstandings at work are caused by ineffective communication. If there is poor communication between consumers and marketers, nothing can be bought or sold. For example, there is a big difference between “buy two and get one free,” and “buy one and get two free.” The earlier one can mean organizational marketing success while the latter can mean organization doom or downfall.
In conclusion, poor communication can cause anger, frustration, and ill feelings about self. In conclusion, the issue of ineffective communication cannot be overemphasized. The modern workplace is rampant with information; however, this has not eliminated the problem of ineffective communication. Thus, the problem of ineffective communication is a special problem facing all companies, and which solutions need to be sought urgently. However, this is not easy. Effective communication is a skill to be acquired so as the skills to resolve issues concerning ineffective communication.
Thus, to resolve the problem requires an effective leadership. The problem has been complicated further by the requirements for resolving issues regarding ineffective communication at the workplace. At any time, these issues time, and proper employee motivation. Among the recommended methods for resolving ineffective communication at the workplace is team building. Team building offers an opportunity for each employee to understand and appreciate their communication styles and those of their coworkers (Edmondson, Bohmer, & Pisano, 2001).
This is critical in promoting effective communication and resolving instances of ineffective communication.
