Effective interpersonal communication is a multifaceted entity that is affected by a variety of factors. When a person intends to communicate to another party, they must be fully aware of the basic principles that influence the activity because these will determine the success of the process. There are also some barriers that may deter individuals from conveying messages to other parties and as such, these must also be identified so that miscommunication can be avoided. This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of effective interpersonal communication by shedding light on some principles and barriers that may affect influence it.
In every communication process, one of the main basic principles that should be adhered to is taking responsibility for one’s communication behavior. According to Bevan and Sole (2014), individuals must strive to be truthful, accurate and clear whenever they are communicating with other people. This implies that any information that is being relayed must be done with honesty and credibility to ensure that people are not misled into believing false information. Effective interpersonal communication must also be conducted in a manner that the message being passed on is clear, concise and straight to the point. The receiving side must not be left to join the pieces and guess the information that is being passed. The other side should, therefore, understand what is being said so that there is little room for questions regarding the issue being discussed.
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Acknowledging that your view of a situation is only one of many views is also a very important principle in effective communication. A person must understand that people have their own views and opinions regarding a particular issue. This implies that people will always have differing opinions regarding topics and as such, an individual should always strive to ensure that they consider their perspectives so that the communication process is not one-sided (Bevan and Sole, 2014). Sometimes people often believe that their information is always accurate and as such, they leave little room for any suggestions but this should not be the case. All parties should always be open to suggestions because this will foster a positive communication process.
In a business establishment, miscommunication may occur as a result of many variables. For instance, there was a time when our lecturer organized us into teams so that he could give them tasks to accomplish. The teams were assigned specific assignments to accomplish within a given duration, but the information regarding the tasks was not relayed in a proper manner. The team leaders had their own viewpoints on how the assignment could be accomplished but the other team members had something else in mind. Our leader did not give our team members a chance to voice their opinions on the best way to accomplish the task. We had concerns regarding the leader’s proposed strategy because we believed that it may not have been the best approach to achieve the set objectives. This inhibited effective interpersonal communication because the other parties were not involved in the final decision. At the end of the day, everyone decided to use their own method because they believed their approach was the best. They assumed that they knew what was expected of them and as such, the team members decided to proceed with their roles within the group. When a team leader does not provide comprehensive instructions to team members, they will end up disagreeing on the methods of executing the tasks which may, in turn, disrupt any progress within the group ( Seligman, 2016 ).
In this case, miscommunication was caused by physiological noise from the members of the team. The cognitive interpretation of the decision among the members interfered with their perception of the leader’s opinion. This came as a result of existing prejudices and biases, maybe from the fact that the team leader was female and a majority of the members were male. It is therefore apparent that they had formed their own judgments about her approach even before she presented it. Culture also contributed to the miscommunication among the team members. The team leader believed that she had the final authority over the group and as such, her decision was final. She did not, therefore, leave any room for the members to give their own opinions regarding the best strategy to accomplish the task. Since she was an international student, her culture dictated that a leader had the final say over the people and as such, her rule seemed to be dictatorial to the others. The members, on the other hand, believed that everyone had an equal opportunity to present their ideas and as such, they should have been allowed to give their own perspectives on the situation. These factors greatly contributed to miscommunication within the group.
The cultural barrier and psychological noise disrupted communication within the group to a point that people did not agree on anything. It is imperative for leaders to identify the barriers to effective communication so that they can develop appropriate procedures for dealing with them ( In Wilkinson, 2015 ). In this case, the team leader should strive to lean the culture of her team members so that she could understand them better. This would have given her a chance to hear their opinions and get know how they interpreted the task ahead. Understanding the basic tenets of a culture is very crucial because it determines the level of coordination within any setup. The noise barrier, on the other hand, can only be dealt with if the team members embraced a more positive attitude towards their leader. In this case, maybe their attitude came from the fact that she did not give them a chance to voice their opinions. By addressing the first barrier, the psychological noise barrier may have been eliminated to create a progressive environment.
From the discussion provided above, it is evident that there are some principles that should be adhered to for effective communication to be achieved. Individuals should strive to ensure that they communicate with accuracy, truthfulness, and clarity. This will ensure that there is little room for any doubts in the information that is being relayed. These elements will give the message some form of credibility and trustworthiness so that the other party can get to understand the message that is communicated. In addition to this, barriers to effective communication must be identified and addressed so that disagreements within a setup can be minimized.
References
Bevan, L.J. & Sole, K. (2014). Making connections: Understanding interpersonal communication. San Diego : Bridgepoint Education.
In Wilkinson, H. (2015). Effective communication . London: Dorling Kindersley Limited
Seligman, J. (2016). Effective Communications . S.L.: Lulu Com.
