Reasons for communication gap

Loads of books have been written on effective communication and related topics. A quick googling on reasons for communication gap, did not turn out anything interesting, simple and straight to the point. Therefore i decided to blog my thoughts on this. Some reasons according to me are  -
  1. Fear - Sometimes when the position of 2 parties are not same, then because of fear, you may not have clear communication. People should not have the fear, that what they speak in front of you shall be used against them.
  2. Mistrust - If the persons engaged in communication do not trust one another, then they are not actually listening. both try to do one way communication, or worst still, they just don't bother to communicate.
  3. Contempt- if there is contempt, then that reflects in words, and leads to dirty or half hearted conversations.
  4. Fixed ideas - People are just too fixated on what they want other person to understand and know, that they just do not listen. Not listening, breaks down the communication.
  5. lack of homework - Sometimes it is good that before talking you do research on the topic and then speak. Else the communication leads nowhere, and leads to a gap.
  6. Body language and tone - if body language and tone is not right, then right communication does not happen. Insurance companies, just by listening to the tone of doctors voice, can predict rightly the probability of that doctor getting sued.
  7. Communication medium - some discussions are best over emails, personal, phone etc. You need to chose correct medium and  environment to ensure proper communication..
What do you think? i am sure to have missed out many....

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Difference between a Brahmin and a Pandit?

To many people the word brahmin and pandit means the same. I wanted my 2 brahmin friends accompanying me to a recent Jaipur trip, to visit the Amer fort temple. They wanted to leave fast and rest. I insisted..In the heat of Amer and the afternoon, my friend retorted "There is a difference between brahmins and Pandits", i stuck to my guns, "Whatever but i want you visiting the temple". A bystander (sharmaji) could not stop himself from asking the difference between brahmins and pandit (in his lovely heavily accented khadi boli) with my friend OM, and OM gave a very straight and accurate reply...Sharmaji was dumb struck,,,I don't remember the reply as i was enjoying the expression on sharmajis face after the reply from OM.. Answer -  Pandits usually charge a fees for things that they do... like karm kand etc... Brahmins are the ones who are also priests, gurus etc but live on dakshina and not fees...
Read more

Difference between role and designation

This is a follow up post based on a comment on my old post . Here are dictionary definitions of Role and designation Role - Prescribed or expected behavior associated with a particular position or status in a group or organization . Designation - nomination, appointment, or election to an office, position, etc. In many IT companies I have seen designations and roles as totally mismatch. So someone being called as an Architect does no different work from a developer. And sometimes Leads act as managers, and managers just act as project coordinators. This often leads to confusions among what is expected from people, and what are their goals. It's also important to understand that ROLE PRECEDES DESIGNATION. So if you are a lead aspiring to become a manager, in addition to your responsibilities, you need to get into the role of your manager. Start doing and understanding the nuances of being a manager. Any questions?
Read more

Role and Designation

There is lot of difference between role and designation, but v few people in IT industry actually understand it. Many a times role and designation are aligned, but many times it is not. Whenever it is not aligned it leads to lot of frustrations, and confusion for the person on what he should be doing. To make the matters worse, in your annual appraisal cycle you are judged on basis of the designation, and as you were in an unaligned role, you fare badly. The only way i see around is to press management and HR functions to constantly review this and correct this. However as this is a long run exercise it gets overshadowed by many other things. Many people blame attrition on salary, however one can have happy employees even at slightly lower salaries if you can provide them a challenging work environment and role. Also there is big lack of planning future for your employees. Most organizations do not have a growth plan for their people. few who have do not stick to the plan, or make a pl
Read more