Analyzing Business Communication: Barriers, Strategies, and Models

This report provides a comprehensive overview of business communication, focusing on a real-world scenario of miscommunication encountered by a store manager. It begins by defining business communication and its importance, then explores the circular model of communication and its significance in organizations. The report identifies various issues in communication, such as failure to listen, language barriers, and lack of feedback, and delves into potential barriers, including physical and psychosocial factors. It also offers strategies to overcome these barriers, emphasizing the effectiveness of email communication, the use of simple language, and the reduction of noise levels. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and highlighting the importance of effective communication in the workplace, referencing relevant literature to support its arguments.

BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
A situation of miscommunication................................................................................................1
Communication Model....................................................................................................................1
Circular model of communication...............................................................................................1
Issues in communication..............................................................................................................2
Main potential barriers to communication...................................................................................2
Strategy used to overcome barriers..............................................................................................2
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTION
Business communication can be defined as the process in which useful information is
being shared by companies with their external and internal stakeholders (Baker & Warren 2015).
Effective business communication helps in the organization to achieve their financial objective
and goals. In addition to this, it also plays a vital role in carrying out the smooth flow of all
operations and activities.
The present research highlights a scenario in which people have misunderstood and failed
to act on my communication as it was directed. Furthermore, communication model and issues
communication are also reflected in the present study.
A situation of miscommunication
Miscommunication can be termed as the failure to communicate information or message
in the desired manner. Nowadays, miscommunication is a common issue at the workplace, and it
directly affects the other areas of business (Chedid, Dew & Veitch 2013). I was working as a
store manager in one of the retail stores in Australia and have encountered with a case of
miscommunication which affected the overall image of my department. One day, I instructed
two of my junior assistants to remove the extra inventory from store shelves and place the same
in the warehouse. That day, many customers were there in the store, and due to their noise, the
message was not properly delivered to both the assistant. The result of such miscommunication
was that one assistant removed all the items from shelves and he placed all of them into the
warehouse. On the other hand, the second assistant who was talking care of another shelve
placed all the extra items in the shelves and made the shelve overcrowded. When customer
observed this, they were completely dissatisfied and frustrated as one shelve was overcrowded
whereas the other one was empty.
COMMUNICATION MODEL
Circular model of communication
The model can be considered as the most common communication model which is used
in organizations. The model emphasizes the fact that communication is a two-way process which
includes a sender and receiver (Conrad 2014). Furthermore, the sender forwards the message to
the receiver who decodes the information and revert the sender by providing feedback. This
model is different from other communication models as it focuses on giving back a feedback
1

which is not common in other models. The model is also common because it results in
encouraging effective two-way communication practices within organizations.
Issues in communication
In the modern era, there is wide range of issues and challenges which are being faced by
companies in the context of communication (Mak, Brown & Wadey 2014). Failure to listen can
be termed as the most common issue linked with communication. At the time of receiving the
message, some people do not pay close attention while some are distracted and this resulted in
the failure of the entire communication process. Language barriers can be termed as another
issue which acts as obstacles regarding carrying out effective communication. Lack of feedback
system and inappropriate communication channels are some other common issues.
Main potential barriers to communication
Physical barriers can be treated as one of the most potential barriers which affect the
entire process of communication in the negative sense (Zhang & Venkatesh 2013). Some
common physical barrier to communication includes workplace environment, technology, and
noise. Climate or environment, distance and time, technical issues are considered as the common
causes of physical barriers to communication (Dawson et al. 2014). For example sending
messages on inappropriate time may result in affecting the overall impact of the message and it is
also possible that the receiver does not respond back immediately to the same. On the other hand,
climatic factors such as heavy rainfall or the wind can also create physical barriers to the entire
process of communication.
Psycho-social, barriers to communication include barriers because of attitude, emotions,
and differences in status. Sometimes, messages are wrongly interpreted by people in situations of
anger, fear or worry (Mak, Brown & Wadey 2014). This resulted in making the entire process of
communication ineffective. The other barriers to communication include the use of complicated
jargons, lack of attention, physical disabilities and cultural differences. All the above-mentioned
elements act as a hurdle in carrying out effective communication between parties or individuals.
Strategy used to overcome barriers
The most effective strategy to overcome communication barrier is email as through this
type of strategy it is possible to undertake the entire process of communication properly. In this
method written proof is present, and due to this reason, it is considered to be more reliable as
compared with other methods. The time required for sharing information is very less in this type
2

of process, and it encourages the smooth flow of communication which is beneficial for the
business (Owuamalam & Zagefka 2014). Another effective way to deal with the communication
barrier is to use the simple language where avoiding words that create obstacles are considered to
be a hurdle. It is the moral responsibility of every individual to ensure that simple language is
being used. Information overload must be avoided up to the extent where data must only be
shared which is most crucial for the company. Moreover, one of the best ways is to reduce the
noise level as sometimes it is possible that due to the presence of high noise the message shared
with the other parties are not understood by them properly (Nichols, Horner & Fyfe 2015). Due
to this reason they interpret is in the wrong manner. So, these are some of the effective strategies
to deal with the communication barrier.
CONCLUSION
From the above-conducted study, it can be concluded that effective communication
process is essential in the workplace. Furthermore, the Circular model is the most common
communication model which is being used in the workplace. The rationale behind this is that
circular model lays emphasis on encouraging feedback and thus, contributes to making the entire
process successful. It can also be inferred that Psycho-social, barriers and physical barriers are
the common barriers which affect the entire process of communication. The use of emails can be
considered as the result oriented strategy to overcome communication barriers.
3

REFERENCES
Baker, T & Warren, A 2015, 'The Nine Common Barriers to Communication', In Conversations
at Work, pp. 54-74.
Chedid, RJ, Dew, A & Veitch, C 2013, ' Barriers to the use of Information and Communication
Technology by occupational therapists working in a rural area of New South Wales, Australia',
Australian occupational therapy journal, , vol 60, no. 3, pp. 197-205.
Conrad, D 2014, 'Workplace communication problems: Inquiries by employees and applicable
solutions', Journal of business studies quarterly, vol 5, no. 4, p. 105.
Dawson, M, Madera, JM, Neal, JA & Chen, J 2014, 'The influence of hotel communication
practices on managers’ communication satisfaction with limited English–Speaking employees',
Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, vol 38, no. 4, pp. 546-561.
Mak, A, Brown, PM & Wadey, D 2014, 'Contact and attitudes toward international students in
Australia: Intergroup anxiety and intercultural communication emotions as mediators.', Journal
of cross-cultural psychology, , vol 45, no. 3, pp. 491-504.
Nichols, P, Horner, B & Fyfe, K 2015, 'Understanding and improving communication processes
in an increasingly multicultural aged care workforce', Journal of aging studies, vol 32, pp. 23-31.
Owuamalam, CK & Zagefka, H 2014, 'On the psychological barriers to the workplace: When
and why metastereotyping undermines employability beliefs of women and ethnic minorities.',
Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology, vol 20, no. 4, p. 521.
Zhang, X & Venkatesh, V 2013, 'Explaining employee job performance: The role of online and
offline workplace communication networks', Mis Quarterly, vol 37, no. 3.
4