Common organizational communication problems and leadership solutions

Communication and Trust

Do some research to identify four to six common communication problems that occur in organizations. The text discusses several organizational communication problems. Provide examples of where you see the problems in your organization. Also, identify four to six possible solutions or principles that leaders should utilize to stimulate effective communications. Solutions might line up to problems (i.e., one solution matched to one problem, etc.) or be a general list of solutions to address the problems.

Communication mistakes are common in every organization in existence. Not only are they common, but they also consist of many different forms of communication blunders that can slow an organizations path to its objectives. Furthermore, communication problems can also occur at every level of the organization. Despite the importance of effective communication skills, many organizations overlook the opportunity for training and development in this area. This paper will prepare a list of common communication mistakes that a leader can make in an organizational setting as well as offer some tips to avoid these problems in the future.

Cultural Differences

Cultural differences are a common source of communication problems. People from different backgrounds can have difficulty relating to each other in many instances. This can cause some employees to avoid other employees who are culturally diverse and an in-group and out-group situation can easily form. However, some research indicates that teams and organizations whose members are heterogeneous in meaningful ways, for example, in skill set, education, work experiences, perspectives on a problem, cultural orientation, and so forth, have a higher potential for innovation than teams whose members are homogeneous (Nelson, 2014). One way to avoid cultural barriers in group meetings is to designate an effective facilitator that can ensure that each member in the group has an opportunity to participate and share their opinions.

Poor Listening Skills

It is commonly the case that people think about their own speech and body language when communication skills are mentioned. However, one of the most important aspects of communication is listening. Some researchers have indicated that listening can account for around forty-five percent of the time spent on communication. However, listening skills are commonly overlook when studying interpersonal communication.

One study identified as far back as the early 1980s that a majority of Fortune 500 companies lack adequate listening training programs (Hunt & Cusella, 1983). However, even today listening training does not receive enough attention. Individuals with better listening skills are, on average, more capable of performing tasks efficiently than individuals who have more difficulty with listening; especially when individuals are actively listening to content (Gherri & Eimer, 2011). Therefore, listening skills should also be considered in any discussion of effective communication skills.

Consider Non-verbal Communication

Non-verbal communication is generally fairly easily perceived in others. We are designed by our genetic code to have inherent skills in identifying other people's non-verbal cues; in many cases, this occurs subconsciously. For example, we can often sense when a person is angry or frustrated by their non-verbal cues even if we simply sense it rather than analyzing this cues consciously. However, we do not have the same natural ability to monitor our own portrayal of body language and our use of non-verbal cues. Yet body language is another important aspect to communication and for that reason many people actually practice it to increase their ability to communicate within an organization both formally and informally (Goman, 2014). People who learn to actively monitor their own body language can avoid portraying themselves as aggressive, uninterested, or a host of non-verbal cues that can be offensive or counterproductive to effective communications.