Poor Communication - Symptom or Disease?

Poor communication seems to come up an awful lot these days when people are discussing workplace issues or analysing the reasons behind various disasters. But is it really the culprit, or has some underlying problem caused the communication breakdown? Is 'poor communication' becoming an easy catch-all that allows us to ignore the real problems plaguing the workplace? How often do organisations mistake 'poor communication' for a disease when in actual fact it is merely a symptom?

Let's say someone on your team has something to contribute to a discussion, but sits silently because you are known to talk over the top of people and shout down their ideas when someone appears to offer an alternative point of view. Poor communication is the result—but the cause is lack of trust based on previous experience.

What if professionals don't take the trouble to pass necessary information along to support staff? Poor communication is the inevitable result but the cause might well be lack of respect or consideration.

Today, as we have discussed in the Cultural Differences blogs, many workplaces contain employees of varying ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds.

In such situations miscommunication is almost inevitable, but if it happens a lot you might want to examine whether the underlying cause is a lack of understanding or even intolerance. Poor communication may be the effect rather than the cause, and deep-set prejudice may be the real issue.

The point is when you hear poor communication cited as the cause of a problem, you would do well to probe a little deeper before deciding how to respond - communication issues are seldom ever just skin-deep.

Comments

[freelance writing]

think they need the proper communications for a better result.