Page 194 - DMGT106_MANAGING_HUMAN_ELEMENTS_AT_WORK

Managing Human Element at Work

Notes Listen to Understand the Underlying Feelings: Use your heart as well as your mind to
understand the speaker. Notice how something is said as well as the actual words used.
Do not Interrupt: Be sure you think carefully before you speak. As a listener, your job is
to help the speaker express himself.

Do not Judge the Person: A speaker who feels you are making judgments will feel defensive.
Avoid making judgments and instead try to empathize and understand the speaker’s
perspective.
Do not Give Advice: Keep in mind that the best resolutions are those that people arrive at
themselves, not what someone else tells them to do. If you feel it is appropriate, and only
after you have encouraged the person to talk, offer some ideas and discuss them.
8.5.5 Responding

After you have listened and really heard, respond by conveying your interest and respect:
Empathize: Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and try to understand.
Validate: Acknowledge that the person’s feelings are valid. This is a very powerful tool
because you are recognizing the person’s right to feel that way, regardless of whether you
would feel the same way.
Restate What the Other Person has Said: This allows you to make sure you understand the
feelings and shows you are listening. Point out the good things the person has done or tried
to do.
Clarify: Ask questions to get more information about the problem.
Summarize: Paraphrase the main points you have heard so that you can make sure you
understand all the issues.

8.6 Communication Barriers

8.6.1 Barriers to Effective Communication

Barriers to communication and the ways and means of overcoming them to achieve effective
communication.
1. Barriers to communication result in undesirable reaction and unfavourable response.

2. The communication exercise fails because the feedback is absent or falls short of
expectation.
3. Barriers to communication are caused by environmental, physical, semantic, attitudinal
and varying perceptions of reality.
Environmental and Physical Barriers

• Time—adopt appropriate fast channels of communication.
• Space—maintain the distance in the communication exercise as determined by the
situation.
• Place—Avoid overcrowded incommodious and ill-lit, ill-ventilated places to achieve
effective communication.

• Medium–Choose the appropriate medium oral/written [sign (audio/visual)] medium.
Semantic Barriers
Connotational meanings of words – Choose the correct and precise word depending on
context and the receiver’s felicity in the use of language.

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