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A wrong medium or an inappropriate medium chosen to communicate a message will act as a barrier to communication. In a store, you cannot use a long written instruction memorandum, while your information about a new product on the market could only be through an effective and attractive advertisement.
Properly complementing one communication medium with another can help overcome the communication barrier caused by the chosen medium. An oral reminder in person or on the phone followed by a written letter can easily produce the desired response or expected reaction.
Also, through the wrong choice of means of communication, for example, two people are interacting and suddenly one starts using slang, this will create a barrier for the recipient of the message because they may not know the meaning of those words. . The same goes for texting on the phone or sending an email, people always use abbreviations and this always leads to miscommunication.
Most of us want to communicate effectively, but we don’t have a great appreciation for the communication barriers we face. Because of these barriers, there is ample opportunity for something to go wrong in any communication. Competent managers develop an awareness of barriers and learn to deal with them.
How effectively do you as a manager communicate with your superiors, subordinates, and peers? Do you recognize the barriers to effective communication? Have you learned to deal with them? In the discussion that follows, the main barriers to communicating effectively in today’s work environment are identified and proven techniques for addressing them are considered.
The main barriers to effective communication are: noise, poor feedback, inappropriate media selection, poor mental attitude, insufficient or inattention to job selection, delayed message transmission, physical separation between sender and receiver, and lack of communication. empathy or a good relationship between the sender and the receiver.
FACTORS THAT DETERMINE THE OVERCOMING OF THE INCORRECT CHOICE OF THE MEDIUM.
1. AGE – Many companies decide to split the channel by looking at customer demographics, particularly age. Lots of research in terms of social media usage and real-time messaging such as web chat and text. And there is a belief in many circles that the older generation of Baby Boomers have a stereotypical preference for talking on the phone compared to the newer digital channels. While those in the middle, Generation X, are happy using the phone and email, they may not yet be totally comfortable with real-time messaging. This is a definitive factor in the choice, but not the only one.
2. CONTEXT: In an emergency where we need a quick response, we pick up the phone, regardless of our demographic. However, if you are then told that you will be on hold for 15 minutes and chat is available, you can hang up and switch to this channel. In contrast, for less time-critical interactions, sending an email provides security, so companies need to analyze why consumers contact them, in particular, how urgent their query is, by balance resources across channels.
3. PERSONALITY: Another perspective is to examine how customers’ personality types can drive their preferences for customer service channels. Extroverts, with confident and outgoing personalities, will be happier on the phone and might even enjoy having a chat and expressing their point of view to a contact center agent. Conversely, those with a reserved and introverted personality may prefer non-verbal/real-time channels, such as email contact for customer service. This means they don’t need to talk to someone and can avoid the need to think on their feet when contacting an agent over the phone. Email gives them plenty of time to consider and convey what they want to say. And they can avoid being embarrassed with tough questions while on the phone or in real-time dialogue via text or web chat.
4. TYPE OF BUSINESS: Obviously, it can be difficult to analyze your customer base by personality without asking prying questions. However, if you analyze the type of company it is, it is possible to get an idea of the type of clients it will attract. A junior fashion retailer will obviously appeal to a different demographic than a 50+ vacation provider. Understand your customers and use this information to help you plan your multi-channel strategy. Organize focus groups and research to help form this picture.
