Glossary and Frequently asked questions

Glossary

Work ethic: Work ethics include not only how one feels about their job, career or vocation, but also how one does his/her job or responsibilities. This involves attitude, behavior, respect, communication, and interaction; how one gets along with others.

Soft skills: Soft skills are personal attributes that enhance an individual's interactions, job performance and career prospects.

Strategy: A plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim.

Objectives: The desired or needed result to be achieved by a specific time. An objective is broader than a goal, and one objective can be broken down into a number of specific goals.

Prioritizing: It means that you complete the most important tasks first and should help you to make more realistic plans in future. Also as a principle, it means doing 'first things first;' as a process, it means evaluating a group of items and ranking them in their order of importance or urgency.

Independence: Someone who has independence is able to act without depending on others, e.g. for financial support, approval or assistance in completing a task. The state or quality of being independent is freedom from the influence, control, or determination of another or others.

Facts: A fact is something that has really occurred or is actually the case. The usual test for a statement of fact is verifiability, whether it can be shown to correspond to experience.

Opinions: An opinion is a belief, impression, judgment or prevailing view held by a person. A view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. An example of an opinion is capitalism is better than socialism.

Summarize: To present in a condensed form; to list the main points in a brief and comprehensive manner. To summarize is to sum up the most important points of a communication.

Open Questions: An open question is likely to receive a long answer. Although any question can receive a long answer, open questions deliberately seek longer answers, and are the opposite of closed questions.

Closed Questions: A closed question can be answered with either 'yes' or 'no'. Thus 'Are you happy?' and 'Is that a knife I see before me?' are closed questions, whilst 'How are you?' and even 'How old are you?' are not, by this definition, closed. This limited definition is also sometimes called a 'yes or no' question, for obvious reasons.

Frequently Asked Questions

1.What is are general attributes?

Regardless of the job and its particular requirements, there are some skills called soft skills that everyone is expected to have, to some extent; these skills make you better able to carry out the tasks for any job.

2.  What are the main barriers to communication?

The main barriers to communication are: Distractions, Background noise and Lack of Concentration.

3.  What do the principles of effective communication depend on?

The principles of effective communication depend on the type of communication that you are using. There are some that apply in general, some that relate only to interpersonal communication and others that apply specifically to written communications.

4.  What are the main attitudes an employer would look for in an employee?

The main attitudes an employer would look for in an employee are: Independence, Problem Solving, Creativity, Tolerance and Confidence.

5.  Why is negative body language a barrier to communication?

Cutting in while another person is speaking, depending on how you do it, can convey enthusiasm or may be seen as antagonistic. Finishing other people’s sentences can be irritating and may indicate insensitivity on your part.

6.  What is a blog?

A blog is a personal online journal that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs are defined by their format: a series of entries posted to a single page in reverse-chronological order.

Mechanisms to reduce the barriers of communication

Solutions to the Barriers of Communication

Communication is a vital part of any relationship, whether it is a working, romantic or friendly relationship. When effective communication is interrupted or not executed properly, it can lead to misunderstandings that might hurt the relationship. There are barriers to communication that must be overcome by the speaker. It is possible to reduce those barriers so proper communication can take place.

Background Noise

Background noise should not be underestimated, even a slight continuous noise, such as the humming of an air conditioning unit or the ticking of a clock, can distract an audience. Background noise in the homes or businesses of your customers can be a barrier to communication. For example, you may call a customer who: bullet point.

• Has a radio or CD player turned up high...
• Has electrical equipment in the background..., bullet point.

To reduce this communication barrier the best thing to do is to move to a place with less noise especially if you are in an office, the sound of a printer running or coffee machines going can block out what the speaker is saying or if the customer is calling you and there is noise coming from their end you could ask them to turn the radio or CD player off or if there is other noises going on in the background you could ask then to go to a place with less noise so that you can understand and hear what they are saying. However if you are in an office and you can’t even hear yourself think never mind trying to do your work, you could use headphones that plays your favorite music or even just by listening to the radio while using your headphones can help you concentrate more so that the background noise does not affect your communication with other people.

Distractions

Distractions such as: someone walking into a meeting late or leaving unexpectedly, the arrival of the tea trolley or a mobile phone beeping these can interrupt the flow of thought of an audience and momentarily, they could stop listening to you. As soon as that happens, communication will falter and you, as the speaker, might feel the need to repeat part of the message. Some of the common distractions are:
• Noise: Many times it is difficult to have a meaningful conversation due to a noisy location. Noise comes in many forms: from people, equipment, street noise and more. When it becomes difficult to hear and concentrate (assuming it is an important conversation) move to a place that has less noise.
• Visual: It can be tough to concentrate when there is a lot of activity or other visual distractions in the area. As with noise, move to a place where there are less visual distractions.
• Stress: The stress in someone’s life can make it difficult to concentrate. Stress can be for many reasons such as family issues, work problems, financial concerns, illness of self or a family member, and more. Refocusing frequently works, if it doesn’t, then choose another time to talk.
• Time: If a pressing appointment (for either you or the other person) won’t allow adequate time to address an issue effectively then choose a more convenient time.

• Other distractions: There are many other distractions that can draw needed attention away from conversations. Using common sense to minimize these distractions helps improve the environment for effective listening.

Lack of Concentration

Lack of concentration from your audience will also hinder communication. It is important to maintain concentration levels despite any distractions. The length of a conversation or communication is important the recipient can only take in so much information at a time and anything beyond that is counterproductive. For example, a short verbal rebuke might prove useful but the recipient is likely to lose concentration if this turns into a lecture on behaviour.  Sleep deprivation is probably the most common cause for an inability to concentrate on one topic for very long. The first step in attempting to solve your concentration problem is finding a way to get at least eight hours of sleep every night.  Boredom is a big problem when it comes to staying focused on something. Boredom stops you from doing something that lacks meaning and motivation. To overcome this is every time you prepare to do something especially work related, take a moment for a reality check. What do you need to accomplish? Why? Concentrate on a goal for the next hour and think of a way you can be rewarded for reaching that goal. However, if you have a serious concentration problem, you may need to make some sacrifices to find a solution. Try getting plenty of sleep and see if you get results. There really is no short and simple way to overcome lack of concentration. You may listen to relaxing music. You may repeat affirmations. You may use hypnosis. This could help you, to some extent, but to overcome lack of concentration you will need to do more. You will need to train your mind. The problem is that people often lack the willpower and motivation to begin and continue with the training and exercises. If you decide to start with a training program, don’t give up, no matter how difficult this might be, even if your mind keeps wandering and you feel that you are not making progress, it is okay, you are making progress, though you might not be aware of it yet. The progress might be minor in the beginning, but it is still progress. You are changing deep subconscious habits, and this sometimes takes time.

Barriers In Communication

Barriers Of Communication

To communicate effectively, you need to prevent or reduce the effect of communication barriers as much as possible. For example, for an audience to hear you, your voice should be clear and loud enough, without any distortion or interference. Therefore, it is important not to position the mouthpiece of a telephone under your chin and, in direct communication; you should face your audience. Communication is the key factor in the success of any organization. When it comes to effective communication, there are certain barriers that every organization faces. People often feel that communication is as easy and simple as it sounds. No doubt, but what makes it complex, difficult and frustrating are the barriers that come in its way. Various barriers can impact on interpersonal communication, including background noises, distractions and lack of concentration.

Background Noise

Background noise should not be underestimated, even a slight continuous noise, such as the humming of an air conditioning unit or the ticking of a clock, can distract an audience. Background noise in the homes or businesses of your customers can be a barrier to communication. For example, you may call a customer who: bullet point.

• Has a radio turned up high...
• Has a lawn mower or other electrical equipment in the background...
• Has a crying baby...
• Works on a noisy construction site.

Noise can be a barrier to communication from your end as well. Many customer contact centres are partitioned to help cut down on the noise created by ringing phones and agents talking. The more modern contact centres are architecturally designed to reduce noise levels. If there is a lot of background noise than the receiver may not hear what the sender is saying. Different types of background noise, such as the running of a printer or coffee machines can block out what a speaker is saying, by diverting the group’s attention and affecting the in-take of information from the group. Many times it is difficult to have a meaningful conversation due to a noisy location. Noise comes in many forms: from people, equipment, street noise and more.

Distractions

Distractions (such as someone walking into a meeting late or leaving unexpectedly, the arrival of the tea trolley or a mobile phone beeping) can interrupt the flow of thought of an audience and, momentarily, they could stop listening to you. As soon as that happens, communication will falter and you, as the speaker, might feel the need to repeat part of the message. Distractions can often create a barrier over communication, limiting the in-take of information of that person. Distractions include doing something unintentionally, such as spilling coffee on the table, will often cause a distraction and break the flow of the work. Also, signs of boredom such as tapping on the table or fidgeting can pose as a distraction for other people, it also blocks out your level of in-take. Finally, signs of nervousness when you are speaking or preparing to speak, including shuffling your papers can distract other people’s concentration. We get distracted by what is going on outside (our surroundings) and inside ourselves. What’s outside that distracts us while trying to listen to someone? Noises, temperature, or what other people are saying or doing. What’s inside that distracts us from listening to someone? Thoughts, thoughts and more thoughts. Thoughts such as memories, judgments, opinions, expectations, worries, fears, even thoughts about thoughts. Holding ones attention today is difficult enough without distractions. Some of the common distractions are:
• Noise: Many times it is difficult to have a meaningful conversation due to a noisy location. Noise comes in many forms: from people, equipment, street noise and more.

• Visual: It can be tough to concentrate when there is a lot of activity or other visual distractions in the area. As with noise, move to a place where there are less visual distractions.

• Stress: The stress in someone’s life can make it difficult to concentrate. Stress can be for many reasons such as family issues, work problems, financial concerns, illness of self or a family member, and more.

• Other distractions: There are many other distractions that can draw needed attention away from conversations.

Lack of Concentration

Lack of concentration from your audience will also hinder communication. It is important to maintain concentration levels despite any distractions. The length of a conversation or communication is important the recipient can only take in so much information at a time and anything beyond that is counterproductive. For example, a short verbal rebuke might prove useful but the recipient is likely to lose concentration if this turns into a lecture on behaviour. This also holds true for written communications. If you can convey your message on one page of A4, then do so. The recipient of a two-page letter will have lower concentration levels when they turn the page.  A lack of concentration results in poor listening skills and additional arguing. Even though conflicts are major barriers to communication, it is only one type of many you will find in conversations.