Page 134 - Cambridge IGCSE Business Studies

Cambridge IGCSE Business Studies Section 2 People in business

Tasks not
completed

Wrong type of Tasks done
worker recruited incorrectly

Problems of
ineffective
communication Business’s
Poor sales reputation
damaged

Workers’
Risk of
accidents in the morale and
motivation
workplace
falls

Figure 9.4 Problems arising from ineff ective communication

ACTIVITY 9.7
132

In pairs, discuss what problems might prevent effective communication in the following circumstances.
1 Sending an urgent text message.
2 Discussing a problem with a worker in an engineering workshop.
3 Sending a letter to a customer.
4 Asking a worker to pass on a message to other workers in his team.
5 A telephone call to a customer in another country.

How communication barriers can be reduced or removed

If communication is to be effective then it is important to reduce or remove
TOP TIP any barriers. The method used to reduce or remove communication barriers

Just as businesses need to will depend on what is causing the problem. Ways of reducing and removing
communicate with other people,
communication barriers include:
so do you. When you are thinking
about communication and the
■ Make sure that the language used is appropriate to the receiver. This might mean
problems of doing so, think about
using simple rather than complex words, or avoiding the use of complex technical
the methods you use and the
terms that are not understood by people without technical knowhow.
problems you sometimes have
with your chosen method – they ■ Keep the channel of communication as short as possible. The more people a
will be very similar to business; message is passed through, the greater the risk of the message being changed
they just do it to many more
before it gets to the final receiver.
people and probably more oft en.
■ The sender must always insist on receiving feedback as this shows that the message
has been received and understood.