Models of communication as a process fascinated me in terms of how communication is so important in affecting ideas and the presentation of ideas, as well as the significance of when a message or the importance of a message can determine the success of business. I took a particular interest in the Communication process diagram and the sender encoding, message decoding to receiver flow. I imagined ways where in the development of software where the communication model mirrors the same in models for systems such as email or chat applications, and the importance of transforming dropped messages or handling possible errors as well as the system challenges of encoding, filtering noise and processing in an application much the same was as the model displayed a real-life system of communication.
In a system, the data within a system in traditional sense cannot atone for biases such as from ethnocentrism since human factors are a hard problem to simulate. “At its basic level ethnocentrism is an inability to take on other people’s perspectives. If one isn’t able to take on another perspective, it is difficult to see what they want or need, but also to shape a message that they understand. Now, egocentrism sounds like someone else’s problem now doesn’t it? There’s no way I could be like that, right? Well, it’s actually almost everyone’s problem. Humans are programmed to be somewhat self-serving” (PSU, 2019). Possibly Machine learning and AI can one day create applications that can identify egocentrism in workplace actions or outcomes.
Another area is in the miscommunication of systems versus the actual intent of our message can be lost due to missing nonverbal cues. Hence, egocentrism plays another role as our perceptions plus the missing cues create misinformation. Such is case in our modern virtual workplace. The understanding of errors in communication due to egocentrism is a start in providing a solution to these problems. “Finally, encourage everyone to expect problems. At the start of any virtual project, experts recommend a “meta communication” of basic guidelines, such as how quickly people should respond to e-mails and what media should be used for which purposes (for instance, all team meetings will take place through videoconferencing). A major component of that document, according to Pam Brewer, a professor at Appalachian State University, should be a mechanism for resolving such communication problems as the volume of e-mail becoming unmanageable. Setting the expectation that there will inevitably be problems makes everyone much less hesitant to raise an issue. In fact, the team leader could emphasize that point by adopting the attitude of, “If no one has any communication issues, it’s a sure sign that we really do have problems. (Ferrazzi 2013)”
HR systems in the workplace are a means to help with communication as well as a place for application designers to focus on HR process models to help with the human factors of communication. But HR systems are limited, and many areas of employee concerns slip through cracks. “When something has gone wrong at work, people may feel that they did not have the information they needed to make a decision. It might be information about the health of the company, the status of projects in other business units, or the quality of their work. Because people sense that they were missing needed information, they blame lack of communication for the problem.” (Markmann 2017) In this way, new systems and models are needed to fill in the gaps. Going back to the diagram relating to encoding and decoding, the need to encode and decode the company communication to employees is of importance but also implies many more areas to add flows in a new model which needs to try and avoid complexity.
References
Ferrazzi, Keith How to avoid Virtual Miscommunication. (2013, April). Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2013/04/how-to-avoid-virtual-miscommun
Markman Art Poor Communication is often a symptom of a different problem (2017, February. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2017/02/poor-communication-is-often-a-symptom-of-a-different-problem
Pennsylvania State University. (2019). Errors in Communication. OLEAD 410. Retrieved February 2, 2019 from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1964331/modules/items/25821686
Moran, R.T., Moran, S. V., & Abramson, N. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences: Ninth Edition. New York, NY: Routledge.
Timothy Yamanaka says
EFG,
I think that your blog post is very interesting simply because I do not think that today people even sit down and think about how much communication is used today. I can remember twenty-five years ago when almost everyone used a Motorola cell phone and we thought that was crazy to be able to do. Do you think that all human factors are a hard thing to simulate? I think I would have to agree with you on a miscommunication of systems and actual intent of our message. When people assume things sometimes it may turn out to be quite wrong and not what you expect. Do you really consider that everyone would anticipate mistakes to happen since most people think that we live in a perfect world? I think that when pieces of concern slip through and are not covered it is something that HR web designers have to go back and fix, but I think it is something that is ongoing and never-ending. The one thing that I find interesting is what technology is going to be like in twenty-years, I can only imagine what life will be like for people I think it is going to similar to the cartoons that we used to watch. Great post this I wish I could have written more but I had the flu this week so I’ve been hurting.
Tim
nmh5506 says
“HR Systems are limited” hits it right on the head. I don’t think I’ve worked for a company where an employee hasn’t expressed some type of conflict they were having, and showing no faith in the company’s HR department to bring about change. Perhaps the answer is two-fold: Firstly, communication within the company never takes precedence over communication outside. The thought that customers/sales are the “end-all, be-all” is prevalent among many industries, and they tend to neglect their own personnel to ensure they are meeting the needs of their clients. But the second, and I believe the largest problem with these systems is that they are reactive, rather than proactive. Maybe it’s just anecdotal, but communication systems and processes seem to change only when an issue arises. When an issue comes up, the system is reviewed to correct that issue, but due to timing, funding, or lack of awareness, they almost never get the full transformation required to consider many “what-ifs”. But by that time, employees may have lost what little faith they had in the process and it will be too late. I think this lack of communication issue is a huge reason why come companies have retention issues. If you lose faith in what you have currently, the grass will always look greener elsewhere.
csl5104 says
You are absolutely correct that effective communication is the most important factor of success in a business or organization. It is only through the transmittal of ideas in a clear, concise manner that is heard and understood by everyone that you can begin to align your businesses tasks and actions with outcomes that you want to achieve. One of the more important aspects of this communication is through the expectations you set for your employees and even the business as a whole. The expectations are what drive performance. You can hire the best people around, but if employees do not have a complete understanding of what you expect from them, their efforts may be guided in directions that do not provide the business with the outcomes you were expecting. With that in mind, this lies on the leadership to set the organization up for success. Without the proper transmittal of these ideas, there is no one to blame for the potential failure of the business than the leadership. By having a good comprehension of communication models, you as a leader can identify where issues in relaying messages will arise and can work to correct them in a manner that is beneficial to the process as a whole!