When it comes to communication, the obstacles are many. Two pearls of wisdom to think about when we converse; First, do you realize that every conversation we have is actually an argument? Regardless of the topic, when we speak we're trying to get the other person to agree with our point of view on the topic. Pay attention during the course of a day's conversation and see if you agree. Secondly, every time we use the word "but" in a sentence, everything before it was a lie. Again, pay attention to your conversations, and what people are saying to you! Bet you converse a bit differently moving forward. And to this end, below are a number of scenarios that hamper communication. What would you do to solve each?
1. Failure to Listen The inability to listen is a huge problem. Often you will see co-workers interrupting speakers or planning what they will say next instead of effectively listening. Other distractions are when team members roll their eyes at comments or just discount their worker's premise; and still others just forget to pay attention, they are too distracted or have a short attention span. Obviously these all reflect on their failure to listen.
2. Culture Differences The office has become a melting pot stocked with people of diverse backgrounds and cultural customs. People tend to "hang" with others familiar to their culture or habits. When these individual groups assemble, managers face the challenges of small group dynamics and team communication issues.
3. Attitude & Ego Too often teamwork stops because of someone's ego. They refuse to admit they might be part of the problem. Conflicts also arise because of inequity, and rather than make the situation more equal, someone becomes defensive instead of taking responsibility.
4. Focus or Listening Problems Inability of employees to interpret the information or provide adequate focus leads to team communication issues. The gap in age, the hole left by a boomer generation retiring, and other societal weaknesses make this communication barrier very real.
5. Cliques, Groups and Friendships A tight and exclusive grouping of individuals who bond together for one reason or another can be problematic if they are not objective.