Analyzing Communication Processes and Barriers in Workplace Settings

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Introduction to Work and Organisations
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Discuss the communication process and evaluate the barriers to communication
and how it can be enhanced in organisations.
All the effective steps or stages which are been implemented in order to enhance
communication in a successful manner is called as the “communication process”. The
main elements or the components which are to be considered in the process of
communication includes the sender, message encoding, appropriate communication
channel, message receiving & message decoding. The main purpose of the
communication process is to transfer or share the necessary information from one
person to the other. Different barriers of communication are also being discussed in the
assignment because of which the relevant information is being prevented from receiving
or conveying the information. Different methods & effective ways are also been
evaluated in order to remove the communication barriers. All the business organizations
are required to enhance the communication process which is very essential in order to
increase their overall growth & development.
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The complete act or the process of sharing/ conveying the necessary information from
one group to the other with the help of different signs, semiotic rules or the effective
symbols is called as the “communication”. In other words, it has been defined as the
“two-way process” in order to reach up to the mutual understanding to exchange the
information, innovative ideas, emotional feelings & the news. “Communication process”
connects the people & places. There are five types of communication process which are
been discussed below:
Verbal Communication: This type of communication is being enhanced orally among
people. It is also called “oral communication”. Its nature is quick & precise which
ensures that the people effectively understand the conveyed message.
Non-verbal Communication: This type of communication includes the activities of
body language & not oral communication. It is also called as the “interpersonal
communication”. Enhancing the good personalities is very essential in this
communication as in this communication the employees become managers & the
managers turn into effective leaders (Best, et.al. 2014).
Writing Communication: The most common form of this type of communication is
“Email”. But, with the changing times, this form of communication is becoming more
informal through the online messages on WhatsApp. It may result in various political
problems because of too much formalness included under it.
Formal & Informal Communication: The formal communication is the official type
which includes different letters, emails, reports or other written materials. On the other
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hand, there is nothing formal in the informal type of communication (Best, et.al. 2014).
All the messages or the information is being shared online on different applications such
as messaging, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc.
Visual Communication: This type of communication is being used by various business
organizations in order to enhance the effective interaction with all the customers &
share all the innovative ideas or business strategies with them. It has been considered
as the best type of communication (Hogan and Coote, 2014).
Figure: Communication Process
Source: Business Communication, 2015
The complete process of communication includes the necessary steps or stages which
are: Message (it includes the idea to be shared by the sender may be in the form of
verbal, non-verbal, symbolic or written), Encoding (it is the second step in which the
sent message or the idea is being encoded to understand the complete message),
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Selecting the channel of communication (most appropriate medium or the channel of
communication is to be selected by the sender to share the message in an appropriate
manner (Christensen, 2014), it includes two types which are personal and non-personal,
personal communication include the face to face interaction & non-personal
communication include the sharing of messages without the interpersonal contact or
interaction), Transmission (other effective channels of communication are being
included under it to transmit or access the message), Reception (it includes the
receiving of the message, sometimes the message may be getting ignored, missed or
misunderstood), Decoding & Understanding (the receiver try to decode the received
message & understand the content specified under it), Respond (it includes the
reaction given by the receiver to the sender after understanding the message) and
Feedback (it includes the comment or anything about the message, it may be good or
bad).
It must be ensured that whether the receiver is effectively receiving & understanding the
shared information or the message in an effective & efficient manner or not. For this, the
sender should ask from the receiver in the context of the message (Christensen, 2014).
Enhancing effective communication is very essential so that all the employees in the
business organization can be very clear regarding their assigned roles & responsibilities
& to eliminate all the issues in the workplace. There are different barriers of
communication which break down the complete effective chain of communication
within the business organization & the effective methods or the strategies must be
developed or implemented to overcome those communication barriers. Following are
the different barriers to communication:
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Physical Barriers: The open attractions & discussions are very effective for all
employees to communicate effectively. But in case of shutting that open interaction; the
distance gets increased among people. For example, if the business had set up the
new brand in some other location, then the video conferencing is the better way to
maintain the interaction among employees & their respective managers (van den
Eertwegh, et.al. 2014).
Perceptual Barriers: These barriers arise because of the improper body language,
typical behavior or ineffective ideas. The messages are to be shared correctly & freely
without involving any kind of negative assumptions (Bang, 2013).
Emotional Barriers: These are the psychological barriers. The emotional feelings arise
in between the process of communication like the feeling of pride, anger or anxiety. For
these barriers, the concept of “emotional intelligence” must be enhanced to control the
emotions & to enhance leadership skills (van den Eertwegh, et.al. 2014).
Cultural Barriers: There are various different kinds of employees working in a business
organization consisting of different culture, religion, ideas, thoughts & attitude. Creative
values must be developed & enhanced to eliminate cultural barriers.
Language Barriers: “English” it the most common language which is being used in
each & every business organization and those people who are not known to the
“English language” can face the barriers of language. Each & every person has a
different & unique style of presenting his/ her views (Lillqvist and Louhiala-Salminen,
2014). Therefore, applying effective strategies such as the services of translation,
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providing the basic learning of the language & implementing different methods of
communication can help in overcoming these language barriers.
Gender Barriers: Although the problems of gender biasness has been improved during
recent years, but different styles of communication are being enhanced among the
genders. The process of communication can only be enhanced effectively when each
& everyone in the business organization will feel safe & feel ease in presenting their
innovative ideas & concepts.
Interpersonal Barriers: These barriers arise when the people in business
organizations are not able to make effective connections among themselves. Enhancing
the effective communication with the other people is the best & the most appropriate
way to eliminate this kind of barrier (Aragón and Domingo, 2014).
All these barriers of communication are necessary to be removed to enhance the day-
to-day business operations in an effective & efficient manner. To keep all the employees
boosted up, confident & motivated, all the barriers to communication are to be removed
with the help of effective ways such as communicating only what is needed (only
the relevant & necessary information is to be shared & the employees must not be
overloaded with the unnecessary or irrelevant information), avoiding slang (the casual
or fun language can be fun but it can become the barrier between communication, the
confusion can be increased). Other effective ways include being aware of cultural
differences (the common language must be utilized in the business organization which
must be understandable by each & everyone because there are different culture &
religion among different people in the business (Aragón and Domingo, 2014), therefore
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all the issues related to the cross-cultural communication must be identified &
eliminated). Staying open minded is another suitable strategy which states that all the
employees must be free to ask the relevant questions & get the answers in case of any
confusion or nay kind of problem, standard level of comfortableness must be enhanced
and the last method is choosing the application for communication (the most
effective & appropriate application must be selected so that the communication can be
enhanced in the business organization on the continuing basis & the potential barriers
can also be eliminated).
Apart from all these above ways & methods, there are certain other tips which can be
used to overcome the barriers of communication like using the simple language,
eliminating the various differences in perception, actively listening to each & everyone in
the business organization, avoiding the unnecessary sharing of the information,
reducing or eliminating the level of noises, selecting the communication channel/ media
in the proper manner, implementing the simple organizational structure and providing
the effective or constructive feedback (Weiler, et.al. 2014).
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It has been concluded that it is very essential for each & every business organization to
enhance the process of communication in an effective & efficient manner so that the
organizational conflicts can be reduced among all the employees & the business
operations can be run in the smooth & appropriate manner. Different steps or the stages
are been determined which are to be followed up properly to effectively enhance the
communication process. Various types of communication are been discussed out of
which the most appropriate or the suitable form must be applied in accordance with the
needs & objectives of the business organization. The most effective media or the
channel of communication must be selected through which the relevant & the necessary
information can be shared effectively & efficiently. Different barriers to the
communication are also been identified & evaluated which can stop the chain of
effective communication & can also increase the communication gap among all the
organizational employees which is very harmful for the overall business organization.
The effective ways & methods are also been determined & examined to reduce the
barriers of the communication process.
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References
 Aragón, E.P. and Domingo, D., 2014. Developing Public Relations 2.0:
Practitioners’ perceptions on the implementation of interactive communication
strategies. Public relations review, 40(3), pp.559-561.
 Bang, H. 2013. What prevents senior executives from commenting upon
miscommunication in top management team meetings? Qualitative Research in
Organizations and Management: An International Journal, 7, (2), pp. 189-208.
 Best, P., Manktelow, R. and Taylor, B., 2014. Online communication, social
media and adolescent wellbeing: A systematic narrative review. Children and
Youth Services Review, 41, pp.27-36.
 Christensen, M., 2014. Communication as a strategic tool in change
processes. International journal of business communication, 51(4), pp.359-385.
 Hogan, S.J. and Coote, L.V., 2014. Organizational culture, innovation, and
performance: A test of Schein's model. Journal of Business Research, 67(8),
pp.1609-1621.
 Lillqvist, E. and Louhiala-Salminen, L., 2014. Facing Facebook: Impression
management strategies in company–consumer interactions. Journal of Business
and Technical Communication, 28(1), pp.3-30.
 van den Eertwegh, V., van Dalen, J., van Dulmen, S., van der Vleuten, C. and
Scherpbier, A., 2014. Residents’ perceived barriers to communication skills
learning: comparing two medical working contexts in postgraduate
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 Weiler, L.M., Zarich, K.J., Haddock, S.A., Krafchick, J.L. and Zimmerman, T.S.,
2014. A comprehensive model of mentor experiences: Perceptions, strategies,
and outcomes. Journal of Community Psychology, 42(5), pp.593-608.
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