Part A - added in the MARS Model. (except the picture. but i got it scanned alr)
- added sub-headings
- edited
- pls read thru and see what needs to be changed etc.. =))


Q1. COMMUNICATION BARRIERS THAT EXISTED IN AEC

STRUCTURAL BARRIERS AND PERCEPTION DIFFERENCES

In AEC, the management is regarded with authority by employees. Employees are not given opportunities to express their opinions as management does not involve them in meetings. Separate facilities for the management exist as structural barriers resulting in social interaction being affected. Hence, employees view themselves unimportant as compared to the management staff as they do not feel as valued.

INFORMATION OVERLOAD

AEC’s vice-president, George, faces friction with his employee John and usually sends written memos instead of having direct confrontations. These memos result in information overload as they convey important and complex instructions for production. Employees are likely to misinterpret these memos.

FILTERING AND LANGUAGE BARRIERS

John refused to voice out his frustrations and practised filtering to delete negative information so that events sound more favorable. Many employees behave similarly to earn the management’s approval. Additionally George’s compliments to John were misinterpreted, showing that language is yet another barrier.

HOW DID THE AUTHOR DEAL WITH IT?

AUTHOR’S APPROACH TO COMMUNICATION BARRIERS

Thus the author has employed the management by walking around (MBWA) method to find out more about the barriers in AEC (McShane and Travaglione, 2007). Through this, he made use of verbal communication, “written or oral use of words” and non-verbal communication which involves “elements and behaviours not coded into words” to win the trust of the floor employees (Bartol et. al., 2005 p.433). He made an effort to be around the shop floor staff frequently. By playing the role of an active listener to many of the shop floor members, he empathised with them and made sure not to demand anything from them. The author was also able to communicate with them verbally as he became the messenger for the management and floor staff.

LIMITATIONS TO THE AUTHOR'S APPROACH

The advantage of MBWA is that there is direct communication between the employees and the management (Wood et al, 2004). The management can also understand the internal organizational problems better (McShane and Travaglione, 2005). The active listening and MBWA that John practiced improved communication and relationship with the employees. However, overcoming the communication barrier in the communication barrier in the organisation alone will not improve the situation much.

WHAT WOULD WE DO DIFFERENTLY

PERCEPTIONS

The fact remains that the management view themselves as more superior than the floor employees. Culture change or changes in perception of employees play a big role. The only way to have culture change is to have good communication since they cannot be separated. Usually, the norm culture for employees would be that they identify themselves with their organization and accept its values and would be motivated by them (Mullins, 2005).

TYPE OF COMMUNICATION TOOLS/STYLE

However, in organizations, communication breakdown is the main problem. The type of communication existing in AEC is a chain network that does not have much interaction with the employees. A more suitable form of communication would be an all-channel network whereby all the employees are fully involved in participation and discussion. To implement all these however, surveys can be done. Doing so can help to determine the attitudes of the employees to the functioning of the organization. George should also be open to the criticisms made by the floor employees. It would be difficult to implement changes in the organisation if the management do not cooperate and see the floor employees as equals (Mullins, 2005). Thus mindset and the culture of the company should be changed. The management should be the ones to implement the changes.

TEAMWORK

Another way would be to promote effective teamwork. George as the vice-president should be more aware of and pay attention to the floor employees. Only by understanding that each and every employee plays an important part in the success of the organization can they move forward (Mullins, 2005). Therefore, awareness of roles in the organization is fundamental in effective teamwork.

MOTIVATION

Additionally, motivation also plays a vital role. One way to tackle the issue of employees misunderstanding that they were being sent for training courses due to their ineffectiveness is to simply promote it in a different manner. Companies could suggest training courses as a form of performance-based reward, as it not only acknowledges the employee’s ability at work, but also act as an incentive for employees who want opportunities for promotions, as the training courses can pave the way to such.

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Q2.
IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM

PERCEPTIONS

The problem lies in the misperceptions of the employees and management in the organisation. The management is held with high regard by the employees and most of time, they find themselves too intimidated to speak up or offer anything in return to the organisation. Usually, the management will make demands and the employees will just follow accordingly.

SELECTIVE ATTENTION

The perceptual process, which is illustrated in Figure 1, begins when environmental stimuli are received through our senses (McShane and Travaglione, 2005). Because the employees were used to the indifferent treatment from the management, John, was probably apprehensive when George approached him personally to explore the idea of a possible promotion. ‘Difference in perceptions result in different people attaching different meanings to the same stimuli’ (Mullins, 2005).
‘Although largely unconscious, selective attention is also consciously influenced by our anticipation of future events’ (McShane and Travaglione, 2005). Due to their unpleasant encounters in the past, John has perceived George to be indulging a personal grudge while evaluating his performance.

MISINTERPRETATION

A reason as to why John was upset could be due to misinterpretation of George’s intention. This features the communication barrier, perception, which was highlighted earlier. ‘Corporate leaders are matched closely by employees, and the most inane words or gestures are interpreted with great meaning even though they often occur without intention’ (Mc Shane & Travaglione 2005, p.334). Thus, John misinterpreted George’s gesture of sending him to a management skills seminar as a means of conveying to him that his performance was not up to mark. In fact, George was acknowledging his good performance and was considering him for a promotion instead.

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

The impact of non-verbal communication could be another reason why John was upset. George’s facial expressions, body position and other physical gestures probably did not convince John that the message which was being conveyed was a positive one. An individual’s body language and tone of voice plays a large part in conveying meaning (Wood et al. 2004). George’s failure to exhibit positive body language and tone of voice could be the result of John’s negative reaction.





RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE AUTHOR

STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING CONFLICT

There are many reasons why conflict occurs. A common definition of conflict is that it is usually associated with negative features and situations which give rise to inefficiency, ineffectiveness or dysfunctional consequence. In the case of AEC, there are a few sources of conflict. However, there are a number of ways which George can take to avoid the harmful effects of conflict. One would be to review the leadership and management. A more participative and supportive style of leadership and managerial behaviour is likely to assist in conflict management (Mullins, 2005). George should create a work environment whereby everybody can work cooperatively together. By bringing down the barriers between the floor employees and the management, AEC can achieve the organizational goals more effectively. Another way would be to have group activities. This will further help to improve ties between the employees because it allows them to communicate with each other.

DIRECT COMMUNICATION

One of the things the author could do is to persuade John and George to have face-to-face talks to build up trust and eradicate the misunderstandings. The author has set himself as a role model for many management staff by trying to reach out to the floor staff. Such behaviour should be encouraged by George to improve the communication within AEC.

LIMITATIONS

However, it is important to note that such direct communication may aggravate situations when the employees are not good listeners or are not sensitive to choice of words used.


ACTIVE LISTENING

To prevent the above from happening or aggravating, the author could suggest developing a listening improvement programme in AEC. From a Havard Business Review on Effective Communication, the basis to improve listening should “build awareness to factors that affect listening ability” and “the kind of aural experience that can produce good listening habits”. The author could encourage or propose such listening programmes for both the floor and management level. With appropriate skills of listening and efforts of direct communication, they would become more sensitive with words used and aware of the different styles of communication. Furthermore, George and John’s rift can be significantly improved if both of them listen to each others’ difficulties in various situations.


MOTIVATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

Both George and the author, being higher management staff, could adopt a more personal level of approach to motivate the staff, eradicating the use of memos. Personal praise and acknowledgement could also be applied to help the staff feel more important and appreciated in their jobs.


By applying the MARS model as seen in the figure, these recommendations would appeal to the employees’ individual characteristics such as values, perceptions and personality (McShane and Travaglione, 2007). With the appropriate role perceptions and situational factors that promote improvement in communication such as active listening as mentioned above, AEC would be able to achieve favorable behaviour and results that will be greatly beneficial to the organisation.

(1571 words) inclusive of citations and headings