The document discusses communication problems in the workplace and their negative impacts. It identifies several key factors that affect communication: poor listening skills, misinterpretation of messages, ambiguous or confusing messages, misreading of nonverbal cues, cultural differences, stress, inappropriate attire, and not following rules. These factors can damage relationships, productivity and business goals if not addressed. Effective communication is described as competent, empathetic, attentive, involved and innovative to overcome these challenges.

1. THE WORKPLACE: AN AREA OF
COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS
Presented By: Claudia Acevedo & Yvonne Whelan

2. Introduction
The workplace in today’s society has communication
problems that can have a negative impact for all
involved. Listening, interpreting, understanding verbal
and nonverbal expressions is of great importance to the
health and success of individuals and businesses.
Cultural differences should not be ignored because it
exists in every crevice of the United States of America.
The health of our nation depends on communication
skills. Solutions to poor communication skills can
improve the workplace and the people in the
environment.

3. Agenda
 Communication
 Communication in the workplace
 Factors Affecting Communication in the
Workplace
 Solutions to Problems in the Workplace
 Conclusion
 Helpful Resources and Activities
 References

4. Communication
• What is Communication?
• Effective Communication

5. What is it?
 To put things simply, “interpersonal
communication is the process by which people
exchange information, feelings and meaning
through verbal and non-verbal messages…"
(SkillsYouNeed, n.d.)
 This process involves two communicators, both
whom send and receive messages (feedback),
encoding and decoding of the message and
noise. (text book)
 "Noise is anything that interferes with the transmission
and reception of a message" and it is categorized into
three areas: External noise, physiological noise and
psychological noise (Adler, Proctor II & Rosenfeld,
2010)

6. https://www.natcom.org/transactionalmodel/

7. Effective Communication is…
 Competent
 Takes into consideration the context of the conversation
and is adaptable to different situations.
 Empathetic
 Considers the perspectives of others
 Attentive
 Communicator pays close attention to their own behavior
to improve/correct self-destructive behavior.
 Involved
 Communicators care about each other and the topic of
conversation
 Innovative
 Communicator has the "ability to construct a variety of
different frameworks for viewing an issue”
(Adler, Proctor II & Rosenfeld, 2010)

8. Factors Affecting Communication in the
Workplace
• Poor Listening Skills
• Misinterpretation
• Confusing Messages
• Nonverbal cues
• Cultural Differences
• Stress
• Other Problems

9. Poor Listening Skills
 Many problems arise in the workplace
between co-workers and management
when people hear what they think they
heard rather than listening to what is
actually being said.
 Poor listening skills in any work
environment affect productivity and
harmony.
 Regardless of one’s position within the
workplace many “Pseudolisteners give
the appearance of being attentive: They
look you in the eye, and they may even
nod and smile, but their minds are in
another world,” (Adler, Proctor II &
Rosenfeld 2012, p. 218).
 Managers are mostly held accountable,
but many regular workers are at the
mercy of the business to recognize the
issues behind incoherency.
 Poor listening skills harm individuals,
teams, business, achievement, and
health.

10. Misinterpretation
 When people do not listen, confusion arises and
misinterpretation occurs about the message being
transmitted.
 Misunderstandings can emerge from notes, memos, and
letters.
 Technology creates complications for the sender and
receiver.
 Message may seem clear to one person, but are
misinterpreted by another.

11. Technological Issues
 Misunderstandings
can emerge from
notes, memos, and
letters being
transmitted through
emails.
 Technology creates
complications for the
sender and receiver.

12. Confusing Messages
 Ambiguity in the workplace can lead to many problems between co-
workers and management.
 Ambiguity is most often seen when management gives unclear
instructions to employees.
 When employees are faced with unclear instructions, they often do
not seek clarification.
 Failure to seek clarification enables the employee to relay the wrong
information to other employees.
 “The more confusing the message, the higher the probability that it will
be passed on, with additional embellishments…” (Davis, 2011)
 In the end, the goal may not be reached and management will not
be satisfied.
 It is worth noting that “some organizations believe [ambiguity]
stimulates creativity and are even proud to have it as an aspect of
their corporate culture” (Davis, 2011)

13. Nonverbal Cues
 Nonverbal communication and body
language can cause alienation and
create negativity in the workplace.
 It can harm relationships and one’s
position in the company.
 Researchers have found “that
quantitative analysis of such nonverbal
cues can indicate a person's ability to
learn and the strength of their creative
skills,” (Carey, 2014, p. 1).
 A direct impact on the individual may
result in being reprimanded and
termination.

14. Nonverbal Cues
 Examples of negative body language
 Poor Stance or Posture
 Avoiding eye contact
 Crossing arms or hands in front of body
 Using weak or repetitive gestures
 Negative facial expressions
 Nodding impatiently
(Genard, 2014)

15. Cultural Differences

16. Cultural Differences
 It is important for any business to understand the cultural
differences between their peers.
 Cultural diversity across America continues to grow and
workplaces should realize that it should take crucial steps to
develop competence with a constant process of learning that
requires continuous learning and it should have the support
from the institution involved, (Johnson, Lenartowicz, & Apud,
2006, p. 529).
 Communicating with people of different backgrounds needs
attention.

17. Stress
 Stress
 A little bit of stress can be beneficial
 It can help in distinguishing between different emotions and
possibly get you out of dangerous situations
 Too much stress can cause a multitude of problems which
in turn will affect many aspects of your social and
professional life
 When stressed, symptoms that affect communication can
manifest:
 Easily Irritated and frustrated
 Anxiety
 Apathy
 Feeling overwhelmed
 Overly emotional
 Mental fogginess and confusion(Suval, 2015)

18. Other Problems
 Attire
 Not Following Rules & Regulations
 Abusing Time

19. Reality Check
Misunderstanding Text Messages