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Introduction

Definition:

Communication is the nervous system of an organization and is the key factor in the
success of any organization. It keeps the members of the organisation informed about the
internal and external happenings relevant to a task and of interest to the organisation. It co-
ordinates the efforts of the members towards achieving organisational objectives. It is the
process of influencing the action of a person or a group. It is a process of meaningful
interaction among human beings to initiate, execute, accomplish, or prevent certain actions.
Communication is, thus, the life blood of an organisation. Without communication, an
organisation, an organisation is lifeless and its very existence is in danger.

The term communication has been derived from the Latin word ‘communis’ that
means ‘common’ and thus, if a person effects communication, he establishes a common
ground of understanding. Literally, communication means to inform, to tell, to show, or to
spread information. Thus, it may be interpreted as an interchange of thought or
information to bring about understanding and confidence for good industrial relations.
It brings about unity of purpose, interest, and efforts in an organisation.

The analysis of the above definitions implies that the communication process should have the
following characteristics:

i. A two – way traffic: Since communication is an exchange of views, opinions,

directions etc., it is a two-way traffic, upward and downward. Messages, directives,
opinions, etc., are communicated downward, from a higher level to a lower level in
the hierarchy of management. Likewise, grievances, complaints, opinions feelings,
points of view etc., are communicated upward along the line, from workers (lower
level) to management (higher level). “Simply talking or writing without regard to the
recipients’ response, is conducive to misunderstanding.” Thus, communication should
be both ways.

ii. Continuous process: Communication is a continuous process. More often than not, it
is repeated to achieve the desired results. It is not a one time shot.

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iii. A short lived process: The process of communication is complete as soon as the
message is received and understood by the receiver in the right perspective; hence, it
is a short lived process.

iv. Needs proper understanding: There may be numerous media of communication but
the main purpose of conveying the message is a proper understanding of the message
by the other party. For this purpose, it should be clearly and concisely worded.

v. Leads achievement of the organizational objective: Effective communication does

this by creating the sense of object orientation in the organization.

vi. Dispels misunderstanding: In this sense, it provides clear understanding between

persons and thus builds a bridge of camaraderie among people.

Communication in organizations:

Communication plays an important role in every organization, hence it is considered

as being Communication effectiveness influences individual careers prospects and
organizational performance. Every job involves communication and the job requires them to
spend most of their time to interact with people. However, most of the people failed to realize
that breakdown in communication will bring many problems to the organization. Therefore, it
is important to study various communication barriers that exist in most organizations and in
our case, in the company INFRA.

Effective communication in an organization is important for a manager to perform the

following functions:

• Planning

• Organizing

• Staffing

• Implementing

• Controlling

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Question a)

Explain three communication barriers that may prevent the effective flow of
communication between teams and head office at INFRA.

A barrier to communication is something that keeps meanings from meeting. Meaning

barriers exist between all people, making communication much more difficult than most
people seem to realize. It is false to assume that if one can talk he can communicate. Because
so much of our education misleads people into thinking that communication is easier than it
is, they become discouraged and give up when they run into difficulty. Because they do not
understand the nature of the problem, they do not know what to do. The wonder is not that
communicating is as difficult as it is, but that it occurs as much as it does.

People often feel that communication is as easy and simple as it sounds. No doubt, but
what makes it complex, difficult and frustrating are the barriers that come in its way.
Similarly at INFRA, the employees working independently of each other on-site and who
also spend little time at head office are prone to be more exposed to barriers related to
communication. Barriers of communication that exist will affect the effectiveness of
communication at INFRA. Level of effective communication will actually affect the level of
satisfaction of members in organization. As a result, satisfaction of the member will affect the
whole operation of the company INFRA.

Communication barrier is the collective name given to the causes of this loss and
distortion of information during the process of communication and the three barriers of
communication which we have identified and which may prevent the effective flow of
communication between teams and head office at INFRA are as follows:

1) Physical barriers

Physical barriers are often down to the nature of the environment in which
communication may take place but are not always interpreted by the recipient in the correct
manner. Physical barriers in the workplace include:

• Time and distance

Time acts as a barrier when two communicators cannot adjust to their timing of
communication. As for INFRA, distance is more likely to act as a barrier, especially when

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two people are too far apart to communicate and do not have other modes of communication,
that is when staffs are located in different buildings or on different sites, for instance, one
party at the head office and the other party is on the reconstruction and maintenance site.

Moreover, research shows that one of the most important factors in building cohesive
teams is proximity. As long as people still have a personal space that they can call their own,
nearness to others aids communication because it helps us get to know one another.

• Poor Listening Skills

Poor listening skills top the list when it comes to barriers to communication. In the
case of INFRA, it is clear that poor listening skills has contributed in worsening the situation
and resulted in bringing a hostile working atmosphere in the company. Despite the fact that
the teams have raised their voice on many issues, but it is unfortunate that their grievances
are not taken into consideration during the ‘planning committee’ meeting or if the issue has
been raised and decisions have emerged, but the words have not been transformed into
actions, thus giving the impression that the head office, or to be more explicit, the
Management lacks respect towards the teams. This means that the members of the ‘planning
committee’ meeting engage themselves in passive listening. Moreover, this lack of
involvement on behalf of the head office clearly shows the disparity between both parties.

2) Organisation Barriers

As all organizations, INFRA is a deliberate creation of management for the attainment

of certain specific objectives. The day to day functioning of the organisation is regulated in
such a way as to contribute to the attainment of these objectives in the most effective manner.
For this purpose a variety of official measures are adopted such as designing of the structure
arrangement of activities, formulation of various policies, rules and regulation and
procedures, laying down of norms of behaviour.

• Status Relationship

The placing of people in superior-subordinate relationship in a formal organisation

structure also blocks the flow of communication and more particularly in the upward

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direction. In the case of INFRA, the greater the difference in hierarchical positions in terms
of their status the greater would be the worry of the field supervisors about what their senior
bosses might think; this leads to their paying little attention to the needs and demands of their
subordinates.

• Organisational Facilities

Almost all organisations provide certain facilities for smooth, adequate, clear and
timely flow of communication such as meetings conferences complaint or suggestion boxes,
open door system etc. INFRA is not an exception as the management usually conducts
management meetings twice a month. If these facilities are not properly emphasized, people
generally fail to communicate effectively.

3) Personal Barriers

As communication is basically an interpersonal process many personal factors

inherent in the two parties to communication the sender and the receiver, influence the flow
of communication and present many hurdles in the way of effective communication.

• Barriers in Superiors

Superiors play an important role in communication. Because of their hierarchical

position they act as barriers in a number of ways a follows:

• Attitude of superiors

General attitude of the superiors about communication or attitude towards a particular

communication affects the flow of messages in different direction. If the attitude is
unfavourable there is greater possibility of filtering or colouring of the information. Any
information received from the top may not reach the bottom in the same form, or even the
reverse may happen.

• Barriers Regarding Subordinates

There are certain factors in the subordinates which adversely affect their participation
in the communication process. Some factors like attitude lack of time applicable to the

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superiors are also applicable here. Two more factors in the subordinates need special
attentions which are responsible for blocking communication in the upward direction.

The message is vitiate in several ways including distortion filtering and omission.
Distortion means changing the context or the meaning of the text of information. Filtering
means reducing the message only to a few basic details and omission refers to deletion of all
or a part of the message from the text. We must be careful about these barriers in
communication.

If every individual at INFRA takes personal responsibility to make sure he works in

complete effectiveness with his colleagues, no matter how many barriers come in the way, a
responsible employee will always know how to overcome them.

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Question b)

Elaborate on how to overcome these communication barriers at INFRA.

While open communication enhances corporate-level effectiveness of a company, it

appears that its greatest impact can be at the operational level. Therefore, it is clear that the
lack of communication, pertaining due to barriers of communication and lack of proper
coordination among different components of INFRA has lead to a drastic reduction of
productivity. As a matter of fact, there is a need to overcome, if not eliminate the barriers
mentioned in the previous part.

• Trust barriers

To overcome trust barriers, be visible and accessible, the team members of INFRA
must not insulate themselves behind their colleagues. Share key information with colleagues
and employees, communicate honestly, and include employees in decision making. For
communication to be successful, organizations must create an atmosphere of fairness and
trust.

• Structural barriers

To overcome structural barriers, offer opportunities for communicating upward,

downward, and horizontally (using such techniques as employee surveys, open-door policies,
newsletters, memo, and task groups). The INFRA management must reduce hierarchical
levels, increase coordination between departments, and encourage two-way communication,
that is, effective communication.

• Ethics barriers

To overcome ethics barriers, the management of INFRA make sure the messages
include all the information that ought to be there. Make sure that information is adequate and
relevant to the situation. And make sure the message to be conveyed is completely truthful,
not deceptive in any way.

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• Physical distractions

To overcome physical distractions, the members of the ‘planning committee’ meeting

must try to prepare well written documents which are clear, concise, and comprehensive.
Despite the fact that the distance is a disadvantage, but the Management must communicate
all the deliberations of the board meeting to the employees, irrespective of their position at
INFRA. Minutes of meetings are recommended to be circulated in all the departments of the
company and there must be the institution of an audit to ensure that follow-up is being done
as per the decisions or proposals noted in the minutes of meetings. There must also be a
progress monitoring which will be under the supervision of the audit.

• Listening Skills

Effective listening is an important part of building trust and strengthening business

relationship, which in turn are inevitable ingredients of building empires. It helps to
understand and read the other person’s message. Effective listening skills create positive
workplace relationships which influence our opinions and responsiveness to one another.
Listening and understanding what others communicate to us is the communication process
needed for interpersonal effectiveness. If you listen well, you will understand the meaning of
the message. In the case of INFRA, even thought the management gives the teams the
opportunity to express themselves, but at the end of the day, no feedback can be seen or heard
of. Therefore, encouraging listening points to the listener that is willing to do more than listen
and in return, feedback should be provided to support other party and to give a clear
indication on the way to go for solving a particular issue.

• Organisational Policy

The general organisational policy regarding communication provides overall

guidelines in this matter. This policy might be in the form of a written document or it has to
be inferred from organisational practice particularly at the top level. If the policy creates
hindrance in the free flow of communication in different directions, communication would
not be sooth and effective.

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Question c)

Explain the factors that should be considered to make the ‘planning committee’
meetings more productive for INFRA.

A face-to-face discussion of organizational topics and issues can be conducted in

various methods. In this modern day and age, individuals conveniently communicate through
emailing and conference calls which limit the ability of people to express ideas only through
the power of words. However, traditional meetings allow individuals to facilitate discussion
and interaction in a face-to-face manner, allowing the participants to express their opinions
freely with the help of nonverbal communication.

Body language and physical gestures, which are not possible through emailing and
phone calls, play vital roles in meetings. Most of us find it easy expressing our ideas along
with these gestures. This is one of the many advantages of having a meeting. Moreover, the
‘planning committee’ meeting at INFRA holds an important role in the company, whereby all
the parties concerned are able to work together, decide and come to a consensus for the
benefit of INFRA, hence to ensure that everything is running smoothly in the organization.

Most meetings in an organization are rarely as formal (although Board Meeting might
require a minimum number of people to attend). The Meetings can be used for the following
purposes:

1. Executive decision-making (e.g. by a group of directors, managers, employees).

2. The relaying of decision and instruction (e.g. briefings).

3. The dissemination of information and the collection of feedback.

4. Participative problems solving, by consultation with people in different departments or

fields (e.g. a task force or working party).

5. Brainstorming: free exchanges with a view to generating new approaches and ideas.

6. Co-ordination of the efforts of a large number of people representing departments or

interest groups.

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7. Formal recommendations: a meeting may be responsible for taking a final decision on

a matter of great importance. It may be a requirement that certain formalities should be gone
through in recommending a course of action.

8. Representation of a number of a people from divergent disciplines – such as foremen

and union.

9. Acting as delaying mechanism, which has its advantage.

10. Meetings can also be used to put individuals on the spot in public (and in the written
minutes of the meeting). They can enforce commitment, or at least indicate where battle lines
are drawn.

• Build Good Working Relationship

A meeting is a gathering of individuals with diverse opinions which are ready to be

shared and discussed. Meeting participants may or may not have similar interests and
personalities. But individuals are bonded together in a meeting.

Normally it creates a cordial affiliation with the different parties when meetings are
being held in a company, especially in INFRA and even strengthen the bond in the long run.
This is because each participant often see each other during meetings despite the busy and
hectic schedules at work that hinder employees to bond with each other during office hours.

Comparing face-to-face meetings with phone calls and emailing, the latter forms of
communicating do not really contribute much in strengthening the bond among the teams and
the management at INFRA. During meetings, individuals can demonstrate manifestations of
connection such as a handshake and facial expressions. In meeting discussions, other people
smile at their colleagues or participants laugh with each other, despite the fact a meeting is
said to be formal. These can be good initial steps to establish rapport with each other.

Since meetings allow a sharing of ideas and experiences, the employees of different
level at INFRA eventually realise that they will find some things common to all of them. This
paves way for a more comfortable atmosphere within the group which, in turn, makes it
easier for the attendees to freely express themselves without worries of getting criticized and

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unheard. And when people are comfortable with each, it also becomes easy to crack humor.
A good humor during meetings can work as an “ice breaker” from a serious atmosphere and
it also keeps the cordial relationship among participants.

• Boost Individual Morale

Attending meetings is a good chance for a person to practice good and open
communication with others. Like at INFRA, some individuals have brilliant ideas but find it
hard to easily express themselves verbally for fear of not getting appreciated and recognized.
If the meeting facilitator is effective in making everyone participate, even the most timid
attendee will learn to open up and share. The team members of INFRA must make it a point
to be heard and notice that their confidence level will start to build up.

However, even though that not everyone’s ideas are generally accepted by the group.
The participants may experience being criticized and argued upon. At this stage, they must
prepare themselves for this circumstance and learn to defend themselves professionally.
Being able to interact with different personalities makes one a better speaker and more
confident person. In fact, if the team members communicate their brilliant ideas, they become
exposed to the group and soon their abilities will be discovered and complimented.

• Enhance Team Building

When you work in an office where people are so busy they barely find time to get
together to catch up with each other, holding meetings can be considered a team building or
socialization activity. Despite its serious atmosphere in nature, meetings can be turned into a
fun gathering among individuals.

A large amount of problem solving takes place in group settings. Meetings and
informal discussions are often used to air different ideas and points of view to help solve
problems for which the participants have either shared responsibility or a contribution to
make.

• Cross fertilisation

The exchange of ideas can act as a stimulus to the imagination, encouraging

individuals to explore ideas they would not otherwise consider.

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• Reduced bias

The shared responsibility of a meeting in arriving at decisions can encourage

individuals to explore seemingly unrealistic ideas and to challenge accepted ways of doing
things. Individual biases and prejudices can be challenged by the, group, forcing the
individual to recognise them. Group pressure can also encourage individuals to accept that
change is needed.

• Increased risk taking

Furthermore, shared responsibility makes individuals more willing to take risks. The
discussion of different points of view also helps the group to be more realistic in assessing the
risks associated with particular courses of action.

• Higher commitment

When goals are agreed it gives a common purpose to the group, within which
individuals can gain a feeling of self-determination and recognition through their contri-
bution. Individuals who have contributed to finding a solution feel a greater commitment to
its successful implementation.

• Improved communication

When people who are affected by a problem or who will be involved in

implementation are involved in finding a solution, they will know how and why that
particular solution was chosen. Also, people with knowledge relevant to the problem can
communicate that knowledge directly if they participate in solving the problem.

• Better solutions

Groups of individuals can bring a broad range of ideas, knowledge and skills to bear
on a problem. This creates a stimulating interaction of diverse ideas which results in a wider
range and better quality of solutions.

Moreover, commitment, consensus, constructive criticism and transparency are also

the recipe to make the ‘planning committee’ meetings more productive. Members who are on

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the board must be committed to the mission set by INFRA and they must be consensual when
it concerns decision making. Constructive criticism should be brought forward to make sure
that all the weaknesses are being taken into consideration to be able to find a solution.
Openness should be promoted, whereby the members feel free to talk on any issues
concerning directly or indirectly the flow of communication from the top management to the
lowest hierarchy. In short, transparency should be advocated.

Finally, the members must ensure that proper actions are being taken for issues which
have been discussed in the ‘planning committee’ meetings and that follow-up is being carried
out and that no stone is being left unturned. By converting words into actions, the members of
INFRA contribute to the survival and the success of the company.

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Question d)

Assuming that INFRA does not resolve the communication problems, elaborate on
its impact for the organization in the long-term.

When an organization fails to overcome the barriers of communication, the

consequences can counter any strategic good work that has been put in place. Thus, poor
communication will lead to the inability to carry out individuals jobs to the highest possible
standard, a lack of perception of consumer demands and criticism and misunderstanding will
emerge between the different management levels, hence it will give rise to frustrations and
which will bring forward a gloomy working atmosphere.

The failure to find a solution to the communication problems will no doubt shake the
labour force itself, especially those engaging themselves in the realization of the project.
Stress, frustration and pressure will find their ways out and as a result this will have a
negative effect on the health and performance of the team members. Eventually, this will
have a ‘time-bomb’ effect on the survival of INFRA. The employees will tend to desert the
company for greener pastures and as a result, it will bring a standstill to the productivity,
taking into account of the accumulation of complaints relating to delays in implementing the
project.

• Misaligned Expectations:

When the team members of INFRA each have a different expectation on how things
are supposed to work you have misaligned expectations. Most often it is over roles,
responsibilities and authority. With misaligned expectations, no matter how hard each side
tries, they just can’t seem to get together. The team may be “communicating” but
understanding is not happening.

• Confusion:

Where there is confusion, chaos will break out. Again, this can be over roles and
responsibilities, or over processes. Similarly, at INFRA the teams are not sure what they are
supposed to do, not only does the team lose productivity, there is chaos as people move
around trying to figure out how things are supposed to work. This is true at all levels of the
project. If a decision is made but no one understands how it is supposed to be implemented,

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then you will end up with different people implementing different solutions - leading to chaos
and what appears to be poor communication.

• Dissatisfaction:

Research shows that when project teams look forward to going to their jobs (the level
of job satisfaction is high) the project is highly likely to be on time and on budget. When the
project teams “dread” going to work, the project is in deep trouble. In the case of INFRA, the
project is no more fun to be on and a sense of dread appears, communication between project
team members is strained at best.

• Lack of Commitment:

When the team members working on the site are not really committed to the success
of the project, the teams have “slack”. This is like slack in a rope. INFRA does not have a
strong team focused on what it will take to succeed. Inadequate resources can also cause
“slack”. The project teams lose faith that they can achieve the project goals and this gives
birth to incompetency. Lack of communication is usually the result.

• Lack of Transparency

Besides, ‘planning committee’ meetings will be multiplied, decisions will be taken, but
unfortunately, time may be lost as instructions may not reach the teams. Similarly, since
communication is not open and effective, the employees’ requests are not taken into
consideration or ignored, there will not be a follow-up and so being said, misunderstanding
will grow and jobs may have to be repeated, hence leading to a loss of money. Transparency
is the key to prevent any barrier of communication to create havoc in the functioning of
INFRA.

If ever INFRA does not resolve the communication problems, then the company will
take the way to chaos, which will lead to lower morale, reduce productivity, and generally
work against the management. Not surprisingly, poor communication is a major enemy to
effective team development. Poor communication exists on four major levels; problems of
communication among team members, between the project manager and the team leaders,
between the project team and top management, as it is the case at INFRA and finally,
between the project leaders and the client, which is also related to the organization.

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• Lack of coordination

Often, the problem is caused by team members simply not keeping others informed on
key project developments, but in the case of INFRA, the conflict or if it is yet to call, is
between the flow of communication between the top management and the teams working on-
site. This particular problem can result from low motivation levels, poor morale, or even
carelessness, which will consequently have a severe blow on the productivity, that is on the
progress of the work.

It was also discovered that poor communication patterns between the team and
support groups result in team-building problems, as does poor communication with the client.
Poor communication practices often lead to unclear objectives and poor project monitoring,
coordinating and work flow.

Poor communication is an important issue to overcome in the workplace, though it

may not always be easy. When resolving the situation in your workplace, remember to give
it time, and motivate the employees properly.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................1

Definition: .................................................................................................................................1

Communication in organizations:..............................................................................................2

Explain three communication barriers that may prevent the effective flow of communication
between teams and head office at INFRA..................................................................................3

1)Physical barriers......................................................................................................................3

Time and distance ......................................................................................................................3

Poor Listening Skills..................................................................................................................4

2)Organisation Barriers..............................................................................................................4

Status Relationship.....................................................................................................................4

Organisational Facilities.............................................................................................................5

3)Personal Barriers.....................................................................................................................5

Barriers in Superiors...................................................................................................................5

Attitude of superiors...................................................................................................................5

Barriers Regarding Subordinates...............................................................................................5

Elaborate on how to overcome these communication barriers at INFRA..................................7

Trust barriers..............................................................................................................................7

Structural barriers.......................................................................................................................7

Ethics barriers.............................................................................................................................7

Physical distractions...................................................................................................................8

Listening Skills...........................................................................................................................8

Organisational Policy.................................................................................................................8

Explain the factors that should be considered to make the ‘planning committee’ meetings
more productive for INFRA.......................................................................................................9

Build Good Working Relationship ..........................................................................................10

Boost Individual Morale ..........................................................................................................11

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Enhance Team Building ..........................................................................................................11

Cross fertilisation.....................................................................................................................11

Reduced bias............................................................................................................................12

Increased risk taking.................................................................................................................12

Higher commitment..................................................................................................................12

Improved communication........................................................................................................12

Better solutions.........................................................................................................................12

Assuming that INFRA does not resolve the communication problems, elaborate on its impact
for the organization in the long-term........................................................................................14

Misaligned Expectations: ........................................................................................................14

Confusion: ...............................................................................................................................14

Dissatisfaction: ........................................................................................................................15

Lack of Commitment: .............................................................................................................15

Lack of Transparency...............................................................................................................15

Lack of coordination................................................................................................................16

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