Importance of Identifying Communication Problems

Communication at the workplace can be mind boggling. It can in fact take up your day when trying to reconstruct misconstrued information. How does this happen? Well when people speak, sometimes what they mean may be different from how they say it. Another issue could be that the other person may perceive what you are saying opposite of how you mean it. All of this results in communication problems and eventually conflict. So how can you avoid it?

The first step is to identify the problem. A manager or supervisor needs to assess the situation to further breakdown the conversation and determine the manner in which it was stated. Perhaps a neutral third party can further assist. The individual assessing the situation should structure their questions. For example, only 1 question should be asked at a time. The individual assessing the situation should also rephrase or paraphrase the answer for further clarification. The latter will allow the individual to refrain from sounding biased. In addition, the individual assessing the situation should further avoid negative wording. Remember, the initial conflict occurred due to the way someone executed their thoughts. So you as the middle person should be careful not to sound negative or biased.



The second step is to rephrase both sides of the situation and determine whether or not anyone is at fault. Remember you can never make everyone happy, so your role as a third party is to allow that open flow of communication. Think of it as allowing water to flow easily through a pipe that was once clogged with dirt. The dirt represents the conflict. The water that flows easily is you, the third party.

If you are not the third party, and involved in the conflict, then calmly present your case and listen to what the neutral party is saying. Perhaps the neutral individual will shed some light so each conflict party understands the communication from all ends.