Workplace Communication Problems: Causes and Solutions

Introduction

Business communication is an essential component in the success of any firm (Harris 1993). Effective communication in the workplace allows for the free flow of information and the completion of tasks in a timely and efficient manner. On the contrary, poor communication in the workplace can create a plethora of problems and encourages discord among employees and managers (Carmichael 1996). This paper examines communication problems in the workplace, with a specific focus on listening, oral communication, nonverbal communication, and communication issues as they relate to workplace diversity. It also discusses the outcomes of these communication problems and the steps that can be taken to resolve them.

One of the main aspects of communication in the business sector is the ability to listen. Brownell (1994) believes that many students entering the workforce will not have acquired the listening skills needed to operate effectively in the workplace. Employees must have the ability to listen to colleagues and customers alike. The ability to listen and to understand what a colleague is attempting to communicate is essential for the completion of projects and for the overall atmosphere of the work environment. It is also important that employees have good listening skills when dealing with customers — this is especially critical in industries that depend upon long-term customer relationships.

Listening in the Workplace

Cooper (1997) argues that three main assumptions about listening have impeded the ability to accurately train employees in the area of business communications. The first assumption is that listening is multidimensional. Although early work insisted that listening was a unitary skill dependent simply upon the amount of information one could retain, more recent research has found that listening is indeed a multidimensional skill (Cooper 1997).

The second assumption argues that listening is a behavior. This assertion implies that "listening obviously involves hearing and cognition and denotes such skills as selectively perceiving, interpreting, understanding, assigning meaning, reacting, remembering, and analyzing what is heard" (Hirsch, 1986, as cited in Cooper 1997). However, when viewing listening solely as a mental process and an unobservable skill, researchers spend more time differentiating listening from other intellectual behavior — such as thinking — rather than defining what listening actually is. When listening is viewed as a communication behavior, the training agenda expands to include social skills and social outcomes (Cooper 1997).

The third assumption contends that listening is linear — that a message is transmitted and a result is considered. Instead, some researchers have insisted that listening is nonlinear and involves the interplay between the behaviors of interacting persons, including deliberate symbolic behavior intended to create a particular meaning (Cooper 1997).

Cooper (1997) also identifies three signs of effective listening in the workplace: giving eye contact, following directions and suggestions, and showing general attentiveness. Some studies have further shown that the ability to paraphrase and to understand others' viewpoints are signs of listening competency (Cooper 1997). Conversely, problems with listening can be reflected in unresponsiveness to a message — verbally or nonverbally — failing to follow directions, talking to someone else during a conversation, and not recalling previous messages (Cooper 1997).

According to Goby and Lewis (2000), "effective listening is a skill that needs to be developed as a prerequisite for successful practice of the more 'active' skills of speaking and writing." The ability to listen is essential to other communication skills because it allows for the accurate flow of information in the workplace.

Problems in the area of listening occur when the listener fails to accurately perceive what the speaker is attempting to convey. This can happen for a number of reasons, including distractions, an inability to understand the topic being discussed, or simple disinterest in what is being said. Although poor listening is a major problem in the workplace, steps can be taken to improve employees' listening skills. These steps include training programs designed to address the importance of listening in the workplace — programs that would show employees how to sharpen their listening skills so that the workplace becomes more cohesive and information flows freely throughout the organization.

Oral Communication

Maes et al. (1997) assert that oral communication is the most important type of communication skill one can acquire. Communication problems associated with oral communication skills, or the lack thereof, are a major issue in many organizations (Maes et al. 1997). Oral communication skills are particularly important because they affect every other form of communication in the workplace. For example, how can an employee listen and retain information being presented if the speaker lacks competency in oral communication (Maes et al. 1997)? Additionally, poor oral communication has a negative impact on written communication such as interoffice emails and memos (Maes et al. 1997).

Problems with oral communication are also evident in the quality of work produced by employees (Maes et al. 1997). Effective oral communication ensures that employees understand the goals of the organization and what is expected of them. When oral communication is poor, workers may not complete tasks on time, and the completed work may not conform to the expectations of managers or coworkers (Maes et al. 1997).

Conclusion

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