Effective communication is essential to an organization. It occurs only if the conveyed message is encoded in a manner that the intended purpose is attained. The channels of communication are also imperative in the conveyance of information from one party to another. Faulty channels are likely to act as barriers to effective communication and thus, interfere with the message. On the other hand, non-verbal communication can also hamper the interpretation of the message by the receiver. The meanings attached to non-verbal communication, signs usually vary from an area to another. It implies that the usage of a particular sign should solely be used in a place where the encoding of the message can yield the expected meaning (Phutela, 2015). The attitude and perception of the person passing the message and the receiver can also serve as barriers to effective communication. For instance, if the addressee has a negative attitude about the sender, there are high chances of misinterpreting the information. In a firm, communication serves as a means of giving orders, suggestions, directions, and appreciation to employees amongst other reasons. It implies that communication is the key to success in an enterprise. Individuals in organizations come from multicultural backgrounds that have different communications styles that serve as a hindrance to communication (Fatima Oliveira, 2013). Despite diversity being an essential tool nurturing talents for the betterment an organization’s operations, it can also serve as a source for misconceptions that can impede communication. Eventually, such misconceptions can see a downfall of a firm. For instance, gender differences often affect the manner in which members of a particular team interact with each other. Through analyzing different aspects of diversity, factors affecting communication in firms will be explicated.
Diversity
Most of the organizations encourage diversity as a means of pooling differing talents that can enhance production. However, it can have a deteriorating impact, especially if the diverse groups in an organization do not integrate the messages conveyed into meaningful concepts as intended. Besides, it can result in failure of the entire communication process in instances of the language barrier. In an event where people have contradicting views on a particular subject disturbs work processes. It eventually impedes firms from achieving the laid objectives. Communication in big teams is more likely to fail following the exhibited by the group. The possibilities of conflict occurrences are typically high, and they occur as a result of communication failures between the members (Pesch, Bouncken, & Kraus, 2015). Diversity issue that affects effective communication includes cultural differences, religion, political views, age differences, sexual orientation, and gender amongst others.
Cultural differences
Diversity concentrates people from different cultural backgrounds in an organization. Diverse cultures have varying ways of handling matters as well as communication. Some words that can typically be used for passing a particular definite information can have different meanings in different cultures. Besides, the non-verbal communication is one of the most varying type of communication that deviates with regions. For instance, the thumb up sign can mean okay to one culture but in another one, it can serve as a means of congratulating an individual. Furthermore, varying cultures have different languages. In an event where an individual from a culture A trains a particular language that is used in the place of work and happens to meet a native, there are possibilities of having communication difficulties (Fatima Oliveira, 2013). Cultural differences interfere with the message being communicated that leads to ineffective communication.
Religion
Currently, most of the organizations welcome applicants from varying religions as a means of inspiring diversity. Most of the people hold their beliefs with utmost importance in their daily lives both in their personal lives as well as in jobs. In an event where the manager is from a Christian background and keeps quoting Jesus while assigning tasks to workers, Muslims subordinates are likely to get bored that distracts their attention concerning the message being passed. It implies that the overall productivity will reduce. Besides, the Muslim workers are will execute their tasks in a manner that was not instructed by the Christian manager. Differences in religious beliefs and practices typically determine the way in which individuals will behave while carrying out their duties and communicating during production. Religion also affects communication due to the beliefs and practices held by the respective members (Albertson, 2015).
Political Views
Different people usually have differing political views. In an organization, there are no possibilities of having all the people being affiliated to one political ideology. Political views often act as a barrier to effective communication in an organization. An organization that integrates political notions has high chances of experiencing conflict between the members if some of the members are affiliated with a particular candidate or a political party and the others to other candidates (Fatima Oliveira, 2013). The negative perception among the members of the firm is more likely to crop up that can hamper communication efficiency. The productivity of the members declines following persistent politically-motivated arguments between the members. Giving directives in the organization is also affected as a result of the perceptions that members hold toward each other and their immediate bosses. Political views have a detrimental effect on a group since they hinder communication process between different employees in same or varying ranks.
Age difference
Most of the enterprises in the world usually employ people who have the legally minimum working age. The current education system is training people to become a manager rather than being service persons in firms. For instance, numerous organizations have the management trainee positions for recent graduates who in most cases assume the responsibility of managers immediately after a two-year training period. Even though the development has enhanced efficiency in organizations, it also has its limitations. For example, if a 25-year-old manager is required to give orders to employees who are over 40 years old. The 40 years old workers are more likely to undermine the manager due to their claim of having more working experience years and also their age. In such a case, communicated message is not encoded in the required manner (De Rubio & Kiser 2015). Age difference serves as a barrier to effective communication especially in instances where the young person is mandated to give orders to seniors.
Sexual Orientation
Unlike the past sexual orientation is one of the issues incorporated in diversity statements of most organizations around the world. It implies that employees from varying sexual orientation are typically encouraged for employment positions in organizations. Despite that homosexuals are still highly prejudiced both in the society and organizations (Day & Schoenrade, 1997). The majority of heterosexuals usually perceive them negatively. A firm having both homosexuals and heterosexuals is more likely to experience conflicts since homosexuals often view themselves as being underrated. The ineffective communication in such an organization leads to the skirmishes between the groups. In instances, where the person in top management is a homosexual giving directives becomes a problem due to the view held by the other workers. Sexual orientation is a source of communication inefficiencies experienced in organizations (Day & Schoenrade, 1997).
Gender
Inequalities in the allocation of jobs in both the private sector and the public sector are being catered for by introducing gender policies that advocate for equal distribution of positions to both men and women. The discrimination by gender is currently discouraged in most of the organizations. However, equal employment opportunities have not seen a homogenous achievement of success in all the areas. For example, women are typically considered as the second in the rank after men that are transmitted even job market. In an incidence where the person giving orders and directions is a woman, men are likely to feel undermined and end up not listening to whatever is being communicated. The patriarchal orientation of the society also plays a role in hindering communication, particularly when a woman is ordering men. Perceptions on gender hinder communication between individuals in the society depending on the societal orientation, either patriarchal or matriarchal (de Rubio & Kiser 2015).
Conclusion
Diversity enhances the productivity of organizations. It leads to aggregation of talents that facilitates the manner in which the different tasks are executed. However, it can have detrimental effects due to misconception and perception individuals may have towards each other. Diversity encompasses various factors such as gender, sexual orientation, age difference, political views, cultural differences, and religion amongst others. Differences in these factors affect communication between individuals or groups.
References
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Fatima Oliveira, M. d. (2013). Multicultural Environments and Their Challenges to Crisis
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Pesch, R., Bouncken, R. B., & Kraus, S. (2015). Effects of Communication Style and Age
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