Group Communication Gap, and Perception
"I said something, he understood a message in a different sense & mean, and convey the same message with a 2nd sense to end receiver, and end receiver perceives the same message with 3rd sense, Oh, My God!!! (Three rotation in single message)"
Communication Gap is when the meaning intended by the speaker or sender is not what is understood by the recipient. As stated above, there might be several reasons for communication gap between employees. Some communication gaps might be technological in nature and some might arise due to personal problems or personality types.
Fear – The communication gap is when there is fear among employees, especially, when an employee is engaged in communicating with another employee who has higher position. Subordinates may also feel fear in speaking with their bosses or superiors. Since they develop the sense of fear, they can’t pay attention properly to what is being communicated.
Mistrust – If there is mistrust between two employees or groups, communication gap emerges, because either of them does not either want to convey proper message or does not convey the message at all.
Body language and tone – Maintaining body language as well as tone in an acceptable manner while communicating is one of the most important things to do in the workplace. Improper body language or tone not only creates communication gaps, but it also leads to aggrieved feelings. As a result of this, there develops an unhealthy competition between employees.
Maintaining an attitude of utter disgust or hatred – This attitude is bad for employees and damaging to the organization. What could happen in such situations is that this sort of attitude reflects in words leading to dirty conversations among employees. It might go to an extent of physical combat sometimes. Thus, emerging communication gaps in such instances is very much possible.
A channel or system of communication – The means of transmitting information between a sender and a receiver is one of the most important factors to affect the communication process. Sometimes there is an urgent need to communicate the information on a phone, while it’s needed sometimes to convey it via emails. Whatever be the way, the correct choice of the channel in accordance with the need and importance is important to convey the information at the right time, else, it could lead to creating communication gap in the workplace.
Mubeen Rafiq.