The Main Objective of Effective Communication, Assessment Example

Communication is the process of sharing thoughts, ideas, information, and feelings between people through speaking, writing, or body language. We say that communication is a process because it occurs circularly and not linearly. To understand this, it is important to note the various elements of communication. They include sender, receiver, decoding, feedback, message, a communication channel, and communication environment. Effective communication extends the communication concept to require that the transmitted message is received and interpreted clearly. The main objective of effective communication is creating a common perception, changing behaviors, and acquiring information. It begins with the sender relaying the message in a clear and direct manner to allow the receiver to decode the message correctly. On the part of the receiver, effective listening is required. One wrong assumption that we make is that the messages are created and interpreted easily. In real situation, many factors influence the ability and intent to encode and decode a message. This means that depending on the environment or the context different style of communication can be effective or devastating. Sometimes the flow of the message is interrupted by factors known as barriers to communication. These communication barriers affect the ability to communicate. Unclear jargon or vocabularies that may cause a misunderstanding and confusion are also barriers. For communication to be effective, those barriers have to be eliminated.

By revisiting the conversation that took place in the cockpit of Korean Flight 801, which crashed in 1997, it is clear that the conversation between the three professional was not effective. In this case, the first official and flight engineer is the sender. The message that they wanted to send, was that the captain had made a mistake in committing the plane to a visual approach in a terrible weather. The Captain of the plane is the receiver, and they used face-to-face discussion channel. In addition, they were in an emergency; however, the message did not create the desired effect due to several barriers. Fist, keeping in mind of the Korean high PDI, there was a clear power difference between the first officer and the engineer as well as the captain. This prevented them from embarrassing the captain after he made a mistake. Both the first official and flight engineer were not straightforward. They spoke in jargon. They assumed that the captain would easily decode the meaning. In this case, the captain’s ability to decode the message could have been affected by the fatigue.

In the modern world, the success of a company requires a diverse body of talent to implement new ideas. Bearing in mind that the client base has become multicultural, effectively communication requires diversity. In response to this, several multinational have employed workers from different cultures. However, the deliberate attempt to communicate effectively with the clients has led to another problem. That is, effective communication among the employee from different ethnicity is now difficult. In this regard, several multinationals are mandating all their employees to speak English in the workplace. This is important in situations such as emergencies where workers are required to speak a common language to promote safety. In addition, promoting a common language at the workplace is essential to communicating effectively which helps group members to trust and respect and foster learning in goal achievement. However, mandating non-native to speak English has its share of problems. One danger is that it may hinder effective communication. Study has shown that a person who learns a second language, tend to speak the acquired language in the same manner as native language. The voice projection, rhythm annotations of their native language is carried to the learned language. When this is spoken, it causes a number distortion in pronunciations that may mean differently. In addition, some non-native may have difficulties in pronouncing some English word correctively. This may alter the meaning of the message due to a different accent. This in turn affects their ability to communicate effectively. The receiver may wrongly interpret the message. In such a situation to improve communication, it is important for managers to emphasize the need for effective listening. Effective listening involves giving the speaker full attention and avoiding distraction and paying attention to other non-oral clues. Some of the main benefits of effective listening are; it helps one assess the situation accurately and get the desired interpretation of the message. Moreover, the speaker can clarify what they are saying and feel that they are heard. This is important because according to two-factor theory of motivation when an employee feel that he/ she is appreciated, they improve productivity.

Power distance is an indication of the degree in which members of group or culture accept an unequal distribution of power. In other word, PDI indicates how much group culture shows respect for authority. In an organization with high power difference, decision-making is restricted to senior managers. Subordinates waits for instruction from them. Such organization emphasize on protocol and formality. Some of the benefits that high PDI may bring to an organization include cost reduction. Since such organization do not emphasize on more specialist thus may reduce operational cost. In additional HPDI encourages personal leadership that facilitates quick action aggressive marketing and achievement of pinpointed goals. This may give them a competitive.

One important thing to note is that the benefit arising from the high PDI may not last for long. High PDI is a quick fix for a problem and thus though it may produce some benefit, they may not last for long. This concept is known as shifting the burden. It can be overcome through proper motivation of employee.