Similarly communications regarding changes in the rules about bonus, over time should allow an adjustment period. Sufficient time should be allowed to the employees to adjust their schedule or get themselves mentally prepared.
Distrust
It arises if the superior is known for making frequent changes in the communication, quite often even reversing the original message. It is due to ill conceived adjustment, improper technology, etc. Repeated experience of this type will damage employee’s interest in the communication.
Fear
This indicates anxiety, awe, alarm or apprehension. This arises in upward communication and creates a barrier in communication. It may be illustrated as below. A subordinate is not sure if the information conveyed by him to the superior will be useful or not. He thinks if it is not liked, boss will be annoyed and might take action against him. He requests another subordinate to transmit the information on his behalf.
Noise, Distance and Time
The world will not be worth living in, if it is quiet everywhere. But at the same time noise is a big menace. In modern factories the constant rattling of the machines and tools, the squeaking of the wheels constantly create a lot of noise. And noise proves a great barrier to communication. It is a very common experience that noise proves a big hindering factor if two persons are talking. If somehow the noise is not controlled, it may not be possible for communicatee to listen anything or make out the sense. He will properly feel strained.
Let us consider the following example:
a.An executive is giving a message on the telephone. But the subordinate is not able to get it properly because of the noise of the traffic.
b.There is a strike in a factory. Workers are not coming to their jobs. The factory manager calls a meeting of their representatives and wants to tell them certain things. But he is not in a position to do so because the workers are shouting very loudly. Distances act as barriers in the process of communication. If the two parties are very far from each other there will be difficulty in communication. Telephone solves this difficulty in many cases. But bad weather, technical defects, break down and rain may render the telephone useless. Thus because of these two barriers the message is not communicated properly at the right time. Failure to do so, results in dislocation of managerial plans rendering the attainment of the objectives in doubt.
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Impression
Sometimes in an effort to impress others, the communicator starts talking in a confused manner or speaks with a changed pronunciation. These actions hinder communication. It leads to wastage of time, resources and energy and causes misunderstanding.
How can Communication be more Effective
The following aspects, if taken care of, will make communication effective.
Clarity of Thoughts
The idea to be transmitted must be absolutely clear in the mind of the communicator. Just as it is not possible to have a clear print from a blurred negative, similarly one can never make his views intelligible to others, if he himself is confusing at certain points. Hence the process of communication to be complete must spring out from a clear head. Further, the academic level of the workers, their power of grasping things etc., should also be taken into account. Even when the language spoken by the workers, superiors and the management is the same, words often mean different things to people with a different experimental background.
Attach Importance to Actions Rather Than Words
In all communications, actions are more significant than words. A manger who invariably says that he trusts subordinates and then proceeds to make too many checks on the sub ordinate’s work, usually fails to make himself understood. A boss who is not punctual cannot succeed in enforcing the timing-rules on the subordinates.
Participation
The next most important essential point is that both the parties (communicator and the recipient) should participate in the communication process. It is a common complaint of the workers that proper and patient hearing is not given to their voice. Listening plays a very fundamental part in oral communication because it is listening only which leads to sharing, participation and understanding in oral communication. But this listening is not merely passive hearing. It is an art which is to be perfected with practice based on sound knowledge of the principles of human nature.
a.Some of such important principles are;
b.Respect the personality of employees.
c.Recognise both subjective and objective facts.
d.Avoid moralizing. For example telling an emotionally upset worker that he should be clam and talk reasonably and logically may only succeed in erecting a barrier against further expression of his
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difficulties.
e.Hasty generalizations are dangerous; e.g., union stewards cannot be trusted, all workers are dishonest.
f.Knowledge of one’s own prejudices will help proper listening.
Transmission
The communicator must plan carefully what to communicate, whom to communicate and how to communicate. Further, delegation of authority without responsibility breaks down the spirit of communication.
Keep the channel Always Alive
The channel of communication should be kept open and alive. It is only by honest attempts that good communication relations can be developed.
Cordial Superior-Subordinate Relationship
Effective communication requires good quality of relationship between people immediately connected with each other. It requires sound industrial relations, policies and practices, an all round atmosphere of friendly cooperation and a feeling of trust and confidence throughout the organization right from the top management down to the humblest worker. Under such conditions only, the meaning of communication is grasped quickly and correctly. On the other hand, if the relations are not satisfactory, much of the information may be suppressed or misunderstood.
Review Questions
1.Examine the process of communication and explain the various elements of it.
2.What are the different types of communication? Explain the merits and demerits of each?
3.Distinguish between formal and informal communication.
4.What are the different barriers of communication?
5.Whatisyourprescriptiontoovercomethebarriersofcommunication?
Case Study
The ABC Manufacturing Company is a metal working plant under the direction of a plant manager who is known as a strict disciplinarian. One day a foreman noticed Bhola, one of the workers, at the time-clock punching out two cards – his own and the card of Nathu, a fellow worker. Since it was the rule of the company that each man must punch out his own card, the foreman asked Bhola to accompany him to the Personnel /Director, who interpreted the incident as a direct violation of a rule and gave immediate notice of discharge to both workers.
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The two workers came to see the Personnel Director on the following day. Nathu claimed innocence on the ground that he had not asked his card be punched and did not know at the time that it was being punched. He had been offered a ride by a friend who had already punched out and who could not wait for him to go through the punch-out procedure. Nathu was worried about his wife who was ill at home and was anxious to reach home as quickly as possible. He planned to take his card to the foreman the next morning for reinstatement, a provision sometimes exercised in such cases.
These circumstances were verified by Bhola. He claimed that he had punched Nathu’s card the same time he punched his own, not being conscious of any wrongdoing.
The Personnel Director was inclined to believe the story of the two men but did not feel he could reverse the action taken. He recognised that these men were good workers and had good records prior to this incident. Nevertheless, they had violated a rule for which the penalty was immediate discharge. He also reminded them that it was the policy of the company to enforce the rules without exception.
A few days later the Personnel Director, the Plant Manager and the Sales Manager sat together at lunch. The Sales Manager reported that he was faced with the necessity of notifying one of their best customers that his order must be delayed because of the inability of one department to conform to schedule. The department in question was the one from which the two workers had been discharged. Not only had it been impossible to replace these men to date, but disgruntlement over the incident had led to significant decline in the cooperation of other workers.
The Personnel Director and the Sales Manager took the position that the discharge of these two valuable men could have been avoided if there had been provision for considering the circumstances of the case. They pointed out that the incident was costly to the company in the possible loss of a customer, in the dissatisfaction within the employee group and in the time and money that would be involved in recruiting and training replacements.
The Plant Manager could not agree with this point of view. “We must have rules if we are to have efficiency and the rules are no good unless we enforce them. Furthermore, if we start considering all these variations in circumstances, we will find ourselves loaded down with everybody thinking he is an exception”. He admitted that the grievances wee frequent but countered with the point that they could be of little consequences if the contract agreed to by the union was followed to the letter.
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Questions
1.Place yourself in the position of the Personnel Director in this situation. Which of the following courses of action would you have chosen in consideration of the information which was at the time of the decision?
a.Would you have discharged both men?
b.Would you have discharged Bhola only?
c.Would you have discharged Nathu only?
d.Would you have discharged neither of them
e.Justify your choice of decision.
2.What policy and procedural changes would you recommend for the handling of future cases of this type? How do you see the loss to the company? Examine.
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