BCS Group 4

8/7/2019 BCS Group 4

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Barriers to Effective Communication

Telephone Conversation

Group 4Anirudh Chauhan(70)

Parul Gupta(97)

Puneet Gupta(101)

Suhani Garg(114)

Suhas Deshmukh(115)


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What is CommunicationCommunication is defined as a process by which we assign and convey meaning in an

attempt to create shared understanding.

Characteristics of CommunicationoIts primary function is to convey information

It has an originator called as sender and a target audience called as receiver

Ideally the communication process should ensure same understanding at both sender andreceiver ends.

Modes of Communication

Verbal: speaking, singing and paralanguageNon verbal: body language, sign language , touch, eye contact, use of writing means,painting etc.

Skills used in communicationListening

Speaking

Writing

Reading

Analyzing


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Telephone ConversationCharacteristics of Telephone conversation:

It is a form of verbal communication

It is instant and two way communication medium.

Mostly used for communication between 2 persons and sometimes within a small

group.

Less application of thought compared to written form of communication.

It is not inherently permanent. It is difficult to record and does not produce any

evidence of it.

It solely depends on verbal mode of communication. Non verbal communication aides

such as facial expression, gestures and written messages can not be used.


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Case 1 Introduction

Anirudh was working as a trainee engineer in State Roadways workshop during his

graduation. He had to report to the workshop manager daily. The workshop

consisted of different machines such as lathe, grinding machine, re-cambering

machine

Problem

Near the end of the training period, since Anirudh had completed his training and

submitted his report, his manager told him that he may not come to office. The next

day, Anirudh called to re-confirm that if he needs to come to the workshop. When he

spoke to his manager, it seemed that the manager was very loud, rushed and quite

angry. He asked Anirudh to come over to the workshop.

Startled and disgruntled, Anirudh rushed to the office and completed his daily work.

At the end of the day when his manager chatted with him, the manager sounded to

be in a pleasant mood. When Anirudh enquired about why he was so angry in themorning, the manager was surprised and told that he was not at all angry with

Anirudh. However, he had to speak loudly in the morning because of the noise of

machines running in the workshop. The manager further asked Anirudh as to what

work he wanted to finish by coming to office today. The Manager was not able to

hear Anirudh properly.

Clearly they had a problem due to miscommunication.


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Case 1 continuedSolution

Telephone conversations should be taken more seriously and should be more

expressive and un-rushed as its difficult to judge the next persons emotions without

talking face to face.

All official conversations should start with the initiator clearly stating the subject of

the conversation.

People should not jump to conclusion without clarifying matters, as was the case

here.


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Case 2 Introduction

Parul has illustrated a case which depicts the problem of filtering and distortion of information as

the message is passed from one person to another person in a chain of communication. Filtering of

information is often done on the basis of ones knowledge, emotions, beliefs, biases, past

experiences etc. The example provides details of a series of telephone conversation within a

manufacturing company

Problem

Message given by SupervisorProduction Head

We wont be able to meet targets assigned to us because of the unavailability of raw material due to

some problem at the suppliers end as a result of which the workers remain idle. Further labour

turnover rate has increased in the factory.

Message given by Production headProduction Manager

Labour turnover is a major issue in the factory and thus we are unable to manufacture as per the

targets given to us. Unable to meet targets due to some problem at the suppliers end of raw

material. The fire which broke out in the factory also caused temporary discontinuation of

production. Something has to be done in this regard.

Message given by Production managerDeputy General Manager

We wont be able to deliver order of xyz. High rate of labour turnover is the prime reason. And now

as per terms of the contract order will be will be penalized 15% of the cost.

Message given by Deputy General Manager GeneralManager

Labour turnover is increasing. Order of xyz will be delayed due to which the company will have to

supply it at a lower price to the customer.


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Case 2 continued GeneralManagers interpretation

There is high rate of labour turnover in the factory and thus we

wont be able to do timely deliveries to our customers. I propose a

third shift should be introduced and new workers should be

recruited.

The Real Problem

There is shortage of raw material in the factory due to some

problem at the suppliers end as a result of which production

Department wont be able to meet its targets but the order of

customer xyz can be supplied. Also labour turnover is increasing

in the factory but it is not very high as of now and therefore not

the prime reason. Fire caused a lot of damage and temporarydiscontinuation of production in the factory.


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Case 2 continued Solution

Poor listening is a major cause of miscommunication in the caseillustrated above. The following steps can be taken:

It is usually helpful to ask oneself questions about the message. If the

listener is mentally asking questions about what is being said, it is a good

sign that he/she is actively involved in effective informational listening.

Identify the main point that the speaker is trying to bring across.

When the main point has been deduced, one can begin to sort out the restof the information and decide where it belongs in the mental outline.

Before getting the big picture of a message, it can be difficult to focus on

what the speaker is saying, because it is impossible to know where any

particular piece of information fits.

In order to really understand what is being said in the present, one must

remember what has been said before; and in order for the message to have

any impact at all, one must remember at least parts of it at some point in

the future. The most obvious memory aid is simply taking notes, but it

is also helpful to create a mental outline of the message as it is being

heard

Be patient and alert.

Do not add your personal views on the basis of your knowledge, emotions,

beliefs, biases, past experiences etc. until and unless it is required


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Case 3 Introduction

This is a case of unfocussed and unstructured discussion leading to the

purpose of conversation not being served.

Problem

When Puneet was was in his 2nd year of graduation, he was working on

getting sponsorship for his colleges annual cultural festival. He

approached a businessman whom he personally knew very well. He called

the person for sponsorship purpose as the person was out of town.

Initially they talked about their family matters and such casual things.

Then Puneet told him about the fest that he was organizing and gave him

a few details about the event. He enthusiastically agreed to sponsor for

event and told him Yes son, anything for you. Dont hesitate to ask

anything, On seeing his reaction Puneet was very sure that the

businessman would sponsor the event. Just when Puneet was about toexplain to him about the other formalities about the sponsorship, he

changed the topic and started some other casual matters.

Since he accepted to sponsor so readily, puneet didnt press more on the

topic and the discussion went hay wired. Also Puneet thought that

stressing more on the same topic would turn him down and discussing the

remaining formalities some other time would be better.


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Case 3 continued

In a few days, when the fest was just a week away, Puneet contacted the

person again and reminded him about the sponsorship. This time he toldthat he had forgotten about the whole matter and that he was very busy

this week and would not be able to meet me for the entire week.

This left Puneet and his team awestricken as they had expected a good

amount of sponsorship from him. Now they had to search for new

sponsorships in a very short time, the effect of which was reflected in

event. Solution

Hesitation in discussing matters openly with any person leads to

miscommunication. Discussion left midway are subjected to

misinterpretation and distortion. Here all the matter including formalities

related to the sponsorship should have been clarified without hesitation

and at the same time. Also notes made prior to and during the discussionhelps to have a comprehensive and focused discussion.


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Case 4 Introduction

The case represents miscommunication problem due to implicit

assumption that your information is known to the other person. Suhani

has illustrated one example of such problem which she faced while

working on a web site design competition in her college.

Problem

One day morning, Suhani received a call from one of her classmates and

they decided to work on competition project together.It was a weekend

and they were supposed to meet after two days in college. In order to

prevent delaying the task they decided to start working on different

modules of the project individually. They chose Microsoft Visual Studio as

the medium of website development. They both started working on the

project and met with their respective modules after two days. When they

tried to integrate the individual modules they realized that both had useddifferent versions of the software which were not compatible with each

other. It created a big problem and one of them had to do the complete

work again.


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Case 4 continued Solution

It was a sheer problem of miscommunication where both of them

presumed that the other person would be using the same version

as they were using. Unfortunately things are not always as

obvious as we presume them to be. If you fail to communicate

complete and clear information it can led to undesirable results.

One should always be sharp and communicate complete

specifications when dealing with technology.


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Case 5 Introduction

This case talks about the communication problem due to cultural

differences. Suhas faced this problem when he was working in an IT

company for a Japanese client.

Problem

Suhas and his team used to have tele-conference with the client almost

every alternate days after each data delivery. The initial reaction of the

client about the quality of the data delivered yesterday used to be the

main point of discussion.

A typical conversation used to be something like this:

Service provider: Good Morning Sir. How are you?

Client: Good Morning. I am good. What about you?

Service provider: I am fine too. Sir, have you done primary check of thedata delivered on yesterday morning?

Client: Yes. I have scanned through it.

Service provider: Sir, is it all fine? Any issues?

Client: Err.. Its OK. We appreciate your work. You could have processed

the door trim data better. How is the work on tomorrows delivery going

on?


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Case 5 continuedService provider: Its on track. We are waiting for answer to one query

from your side. As soon as we get it, we can make delivery as per schedule.

Client: OK...we will discuss about it in the next tele-conference.

Service provider: Yeah sure sir.

Client: OK then bye. Have a nice day.

Service provider: yeah. Bye. Good day.

This conversation looks quite normal and we get a feeling that the clienthas accepted our delivery and there is no major cause of concern for the

service provider. However, in such a case, the month end report used to

mention some serious errors in the delivery of door trim data for which we

were penalized as per the contract. Initially, this came as a shock to us

because we knew that the client reaction was OK. The client did not

clearly tell us in tele-con that there were some unacceptable mistakes in

our delivery. Later we came to know that when it comes to verbalcommunication Japanese people are quite conservative and prefer indirect

way of communication. They dont express themselves explicitly and avoid

harsh criticism of anyone. These subtle messages need to be identified and

interpreted carefully by us.


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Case 5 continued

Solution

We can prepare a scale ranging from A to C where C stands for

unacceptable delivery (penalty being imposed), B for acceptable with

improvements to be made in future similar deliveries (no penalty) and A

for totally acceptable delivery (no penalty). Also the explanations about

the desired elements missing from the delivery can be provided when a

rating of B or C is provided. This would serve the purpose of clearlycommunicating the quality of delivery without forcing the client to violate

his cultural norms of communication.


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Conclusion

Though telephone conversation is a form of verbal communication which is an instant

two way process, instances of miscommunication are very common in it. Such

miscommunication may arise due to intrinsic technological limitations, cultural

differences, implicitly made assumptions, lack of clarity, distortion through mediums,

individual perception difference, use of improper words/phrases etc. The success of

oral communication not only depends upon speaker but also on the listener. We need

to find out the innovative ways to solve such communication problems. Use of positivelanguage, providing complete information, stating assumptions clearly, clarifying doubts

instantly, communicating with target audience, standardization of routine business

communication and feedback are ways to improve telephone conversation communication

skills.


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THANK YOU

Documents

BCS Group 4