Business Communication 1 - Answers to Activity 3-1

Activity 3-1

1. Consider the following verbal and non-verbal barriers to communication. Which barriers are associated with which components of the communication discussed above? Write your answers in the table below: 

Answers


Components of Communication


Barriers to Communication That May Be Associated With Each Component

Stimulus


* Inappropriate or conflicting signals

* Differences in perception
* Inappropriate emotions


Filter


*Differences in interpretation

* Language difference
* Inappropriate use of expressions
* Differences in perception



Message


* Inadequate knowledge or vocabulary

* Inappropriate emotions
* Distractions


Medium


* Language difference

* Polarization
* Inappropriate or conflicting signals


Destination


* Over abstraction and ambiguity

* Polarization

2. Recall situations when you experiences any or some of these verbal and non-verbal barriers to communication. As a communicator, what can you do to minimize these barriers to communication?

Answers: 

I consider the language difference, Inadequate knowledge or vocabulary, and distractions as the common barriers to communication which I already experienced. 

a.  Language difference. - There was a time when I was interviewed by a Japanese student from the other school for his thesis and I was having a difficulty in understanding his questions because of his accent, so I politely asked him to speak slowly and requested him to repeat his question.  As I listen to him, I became quite familiar with his accent which enabled me to understand him. 

b.  Inadequate knowledge or vocabulary.  During my first few weeks at work,  I was having a hard time reporting due to limited vocabularies whenever we had a meeting and it made me anxious each time I speak.  So I tried to enrich my vocabularies by reading English articles and searching the meaning of unfamiliar words in the dictionary.  

c.  Distractions.  As a person with visual impairment, I rely on my sense of hearing most of the time to compensate for the lack of vision.  As a result, I am often easily distracted by outside noise, so I trained myself to focus to the source of information as much as possible. 

Business Communication 1 - Answers to SAQ 3-1

Self-Assessment Questions (SAQ) 3-1

1. Recall a communication situation in which you were involved. Identify the five components of communication (stimulus, filter, message, medium, destination) in that communication situation.

Answer:

The Quality Assurance Department in the e-learning company I used to work in conducts a weekly meeting through Skype.  Each member of the team has the opportunity to report to the QA Manager the outcomes of their weekly tasks. 

a.  Stimulus. - Being one of the QA assistants, I was tasked to report my findings regarding the English coaches’ violations (if there’s any) and the reasons of low ratings given by the students to their coaches. 

b.  Filter. - Having the background in education had given me the capacity to detect the reasons of low ratings from students upon listening to the audio recordings of the session being reported. 

c.  Message. - The message to be delivered is the synthesis of gathered information from the audio recordings and other sources on the reason why the student gave a low rating to the assigned coach. 

d.  Medium. - The written summary report was sent to the QA Manager via email a few hours before the meeting and must be discussed orally during the conference call. 

e.  Destination. - The report was to be given to the QA Manager and be presented in the presence of the whole QA team.

2. Of the five components of communication, which do you think would be the most challenging for you as a communicator (i.e. as the one sending the message) to control or regulate? Why? Is it possible to compensate for your lack of control over this component by attending to the other components within your control? Explain.

Answer: 

In my case, the most challenging to control was the medium due to limited vocabularies to thoroughly describe yet in a concise manner what really transpired in the session as well as offer appropriate actions to a certain situation. 

In written reports, it was quite easier for me because I could find the appropriate words in the dictionary online.  However, I feel nervous when delivering my report orally due to low self-esteem and difficulty in expressing myself in English.  In this situation, I think it is better to improve the filters such as developing my communication skills and strengthening my self-esteem.  

3. Do you agree that feedback is not necessary for communication to take place? When is it not necessary to get feedback in a communication situation? 

Answer: 

I do not agree.  I believe that feedback is needed for an effective communication so that the sender of the message will know whether the message is properly delivered and make necessary adjustments if it fails.  For example, when sending an email, it is important to at least let the sender know if the message reached its destination.  In cases of mass media, although it may not be immediate, feedbacks are presented through the audience’s comments with regards to the news or program.  Moreover, distribution of fliers and other publications which doesn’t seem to require response from the readers still needs the confirmation that the message was promptly delivered to the intended audience.