Page 253 - Business Principles and Management

Unit 3

opinions. It is a two-way process between senders and receivers. The senders
facts & must put the information into clear words, and the receivers must try to under-
stand the message as the senders intended. If the receivers do not fully understand
figures the message or need more information, they should ask for clarification. Thus,
feedback is critical to effective communication.
Feedback is a receiver’s response to a sender’s message. The response may be
in the form of asking questions to clarify the meaning of a message. Or, receivers
A recent survey by the American may restate the message in their own words, so that the senders can verify that
Management Association found the receivers understood the meaning as intended. The communication process
that 77 percent of managers do and the role of feedback are illustrated in Figure 10-2.
one or more of the following: Poor communication is one of the biggest problems managers face. Poor
monitor employee voice mail, communication can lead to disagreements, faulty work, delayed performance,
phone calls, e-mail, and com- and industrial accidents. Two major barriers that interfere with communication
puter hard drives, and video- are distractions and distortions.
tape employees at their jobs.
DISTRACTIONS
Interruptions occur all too often while communicating. Anything that interferes
with the sender’s creating and delivering a message and the receiver’s getting
and interpreting a message is a distraction. Distractions are potential causes of
communication problems. Two workers who whisper to each other during a
meeting create a distraction that may cause a nearby worker to miss a point
made by the manager. It may also cause the manager to forget to mention a
point. Ringing phones, grammar errors in messages, and loud noises are other
examples of barriers to communication.
Because distractions affect communication, some managers learn to work with
various interruptions, whereas others try to keep interruptions to a minimum. For
example, some managers place telephone calls or write messages during specific
times of the day when interruptions are less likely to occur.

FIGURE 10-2 The communication process involves a sender, a message,
and a receiver. Feedback helps the sender and receiver make sure that
both understand the meaning in the same way.

Message

SENDER RECEIVER

Feedback

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