The purpose of communication is to convey information from one person to another. Through the choice of written and spoken words, ideas, concepts, emotions, thoughts, and opinions are exchanged. Unfortunately, miscommunication is common – the listener or reader fails to understand what is said or written. Dale Carnegie, author of “How to Make Friends and Influence People,” said, “90 percent of all management problems are caused by miscommunication.”
EXAMPLE:
“If you have time, try to mow the lawn this afternoon,” said the father as he walked out the door to go to his office. His teenage son, head down, concentrating on breakfast, grunts in reply, “Uh-huh.” To the father’s dismay, the yard remained untouched when he returned home. The son, when confronted by his angry father, excused his lack of action with the explanation, “You said ‘if I had time,’ and I was at the mall all day.”
COMMON COMMUNICATIONS PROBLEMS
- Misaligned Vocabularies
- Messy Thinking
- Faulty Definitions
- False Civility
- Sloppy Language Habits
- Government Speak and Legalese
Many of the problems is due to proper grammar not being taught or learned (acquired) in high school yet the student(s) in question still graduates and takes that lack of understanding into the workplace. The only words and phrases that everyone really understand without any problems or difficulties are CUSS WORDS AND/OR PROFANITY...
One of the BIG REASONS why some (or all) of the 6 points above happen in the workplace is because EMPLOYEES are afraid to ask their BOSSES to explain their words and therefore they then make the false assumption that they know what the boss is trying to communicate.
This problem does not just exist between management and labor but it exists between management and management and labor and labor... and, the TOP MANAGEMENT person(s) don't really care as long as results are achieved.
