Barriers to Communication in the Workplace, Essay Example

In the current age of globalization, demographic diversity, and the explosive growth of communication technology offered by the Internet, cell phones, and other resources, the issue of workplace communication is both more significant than ever and is also evolving and changing rapidly (Borkowski, 2005). The very definition of the “workplace” can mean many different things to different people. Today’s technology, for example, has made it possible for millions of people to work by “telecommuting;” with a computer and an Internet connection, telecommuters can work from anywhere in the world and work with managers, co-workers, customers, and clients who are either in the same office or city, or who are located virtually anywhere else in the world (Guffey & Loewy, 2014). Such technologies can facilitate communication, but they can also serve as barriers to communication as people from different backgrounds come into contact with each other. As the demographics of the U.S. population change, workplaces in all economic sectors are becoming more diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, culture, and a variety of other ways (Guffey & Loewy). The increase in diversity has the potential to create barriers to communication in the workplace, as people from different backgrounds and with different sets of attributes may clash over ideologies, misunderstand each other, or show a lack of tolerance over their differences. The role and responsibility of an effective manager is to indentify, understand, and overcome these barriers to foster positive communication in the workplace.

One of the most significant potential barriers to communication in any workplace setting is related to the issue of frame of reference. Simply put, the concept of frame of reference refers to how individuals see the world. It encompasses a myriad of different factors, attributes and circumstances, ranging from ethnic or cultural background to regional background to level of education, age, or experience and other factors (McIntosh et al, 2008). Overcoming differences in frame of reference can be enormously challenging, especially when such issues are likely to appear in virtually any workplace setting.

One example of issues related to frame of reference can be found in the regional background of employees, as even people from different parts of the same country may possess widely-varying cultural differences. In any city or town, a manager of a business or other organization may be responsible for managing employees from different parts of the country of the world. A manager in a southern state, for example, might take on a new employee who recently moved to the state from New York City. That new employee may be used to working in an environment where the pace is very fast, and where employees and coworkers often dispense with social courtesies simply because that is the nature of the environment in which they live. For established workers from the south, who may be used to saying “please’ and “thank you” during every interaction, working with a new coworker who does not engage in the same behavior may be off-putting or upsetting. An effective manager must identify the fact that this new employee is simply behaving as he or she is accustomed to behaving, and may have to discuss the matter both with the new employee and with then established employees to ensure that everyone understand the others’ frame of reference. It is important that effective leaders recognize cultural differences among employees and work to mitigate the risks posed by ineffective communication among the members of the diverse workforce.

A similar set of circumstances might be found among coworkers with different sexual orientations. The issue of same-sex marriage is now a commonly-discussed matter, and many people have strong opinions in the subject. In a scenario where a gay or lesbian employee overhears a heterosexual employee discussing the issue in a manner that is upsetting, the gay employee might have legitimate cause for complaint. An effective manager will understand that the heterosexual employee and the gay employee have very different frames of reference for thinking about or discussing such issues, and may have to intervene to ensure that both employees are comfortable in the workplace.

References

Borkowski, N. (2005). Organizational behavior in health care (1st ed.). Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Guffey, M., & Loewy, D. (2015). Business communication (1st ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

McIntosh, P., Luecke, R., & Davis, J. (2008). Interpersonal communication skills in the workplace, second edition (1st ed.). [New York]: American Management Association.