Management Communication Part 2

Barriers to Communication

These are factors that inhibit you achieving the intended goal when you set out to communicate. The gaol here is to reduce or remove the impact of the barriers. Potential barriers are:

• Hostility to conclusion, the communicator or both
• The belief that the speaker or writer isn’t trustworthy
• Lack of background knowledge in the writer, speaker or audience
• Bias in the speaker, writer or audience
• Cultural and language factors

To break some of these barriers, you have to build credibility:

• Give realistic numbers
• Don’t pretend to know something
• Know everything that can be known about the business

Cognitive Bias

Humans are naturally biased. it is not conscious or deliberate but it is inherent in our thought process. Biases are present in communicating in two ways, its influence in the message from the communicator (speaker) and its influence in the receivers of the message (audience). People are generally unaware of them and when confronted about it, their first response more often than not is to deny it. It should not be ignored because:

• it can lead to distorted views of a situation
• tension between communicator and audience
• misunderstanding

The four biases are:

• False generalization (the law of small numbers)
• Anchoring bias
• Availability bias
• Representativeness bias

False Generalization

This is the drawing of a conclusion from a small set of data. The resulting conclusion is often wrong. This can be said to originate from our need to believe that the world is orderly and consistent, more so than it actually is.

As a communicator, it is best to come to conclusions from a large(r) set of data.

Anchoring Bias

This is the excessive reliance of a few values or situations when judging, deciding or acting. Hence, one or few values have unjustifiable influence over judgment or decision making or taking action.

First off, to combat this, one has to be aware of their own reference points. When stating your case for an argument, take note of the reference points within it and ask yourself, is this assumption truly accurate? Similarly, the audience also has its own reference points, we should consider them in our delivery. You must first deal with the fallacious nature of the anchor by demonstrating its fallaciousness. Not addressing the anchor would prove to be problematic in the audience taking in any message you’re trying to pass on.

Availability Bias

Availability bias is the tendency to base a judgment or decision on the ease with which a relevant fact or event can be recalled. This is mostly due to recency. The recent an event is, the easier it is to remember.

When this bias comes into play, it is normally due to the subjects taking the value as a base rate, something that is determined through statistical means or rationale. As the communicator, it is important to build arguments that on a factual base rate.

Representative Bias

This occurs when people if something belongs in a specific category according to that they believe represents members of the category. An example of this is stereotyping

To make sure you’re aware of any representative bias, ask yourself if the classification made reflects relevant factors. Furthermore, in persuasive situations, focus on classifications vital to the argument.