...We have all gotten into some sort of misunderstanding in the past. And I bet we've all gone through that conversation that goes something along the lines of, "What?… No but you said… No I had said… No but I didn't mean it like that…" So what what are the causes of miscommunication and how can we prevent them? Well the causes are fairly easy to define. And it all comes down to three things, words, filters, and context. When we read words, we only read part of the message. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve received an email and had no idea what to respond because i just couldn’t tell the message’s tone of voice. With nothing but flat words, the reader is left to their imagination to interpret the tone of a message. This can be a dangerous thing, as what a reader interprets could be the exact opposite of it's intention. Same thing goes for filters. Everything we say or hear is filtered through our own biases, prejudices, and experiences. And this doesn't just apply to one person, it applies to everyone. This presents a conflict when filters are activated in a different matter, hearing what we choose to hear instead of what we are intended to hear. Now when it comes to context, people sometimes forget the situation in which a statement was said. The sentence "I hate you" can be taken many different ways when put into different situations, it could either be a meaningless threat or the end of a realtionship, depending on it's interpretation. Misconstrued context can further complicate...
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...information. This not something that can be seen everyday. Memo from Dept. Head to Floor Manager: The CEO will today deliver a short speech to make the sun disappear for two minutes in the form of an eclipse. This is something that cannot be seen every day, so staff will meet in the car park at ten or eleven. This will be safe, if you pay a moderate cost. Memo from Floor Manager to Supervisor: Ten or eleven staff are to go to the car park, where the CEO will eclipse the sun for two minutes. This doesn’t happen every day. It will be safe, and as usual it will cost you. Memo from Supervisor to Staff: Some staff will go to the car park today to see the CEO disappear. It is a pity, this doesn’t happen everyday. A classic example of "miscommunication"..... About a century or two ago, the Pope decided that all the Sikhs had to leave Italy. Naturally there was a big uproar from the Sikh community. So the Pope made a deal. He would have a religious debate with a member of the Sikh community. If the Sikh won, the Sikhs could stay. If the Pope won, the Sikhs would...
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...Miscommunication in the Workplace Miscommunication in the Workplace The miscommunication I have experienced with work is a recent one. The first week of February I received my orders to attend the traffic management and collision investigation school aboard Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio Texas. The orders specifically stated that I was supposed to apply for funding that covers on-base lodging and that I request a single room due to the amount of work required during the course. So I applied and received funding for lodging and daily per diem for food. Early last week I was sent an email from the Marine Corps liaison here aboard Lackland Air Force Base, a Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant, regarding the rules and regulation for the Traffic Management and Collision Investigation School. The letter stated that Sergeants and below MUST stay in the barracks, where lodging is free, due to lack of government funding. It also stated in the letter that there would be no exceptions to this rule and if marines attending this school had already received funding that it must be paid back to TECOM (Testing and Evaluation Command) upon our return to our home duty stations. Upon arrival to San Antonio I checked into the barracks aboard Lackland AFB. Knowing that I had obligations and responsibilities to the University of Phoenix and to my team mates in class I quickly checked for a Wi-Fi signal available in the barracks. Unfortunately, to my surprise, there was no signal at all. Since...
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...Miscommunication in the Workplace BCOM/275 Laci Morrison April 30, 2013 Charles Benjamin Many say that communication is key. Communication is a form or getting information from one source to another one and it all starts with a sender/receiver. Then there is a process of changing thoughts and feelings into symbols. This is called encoding. There then follows decoding which is the process of putting meaning to those symbols. With all communication there must be a message and that is the thought, idea, opinion, or feeling being communicated. “The channel is the medium through which the message travels from sender to receiver.” (Cheesebro, O’Connor, & Rios, 2010). Lastly there is feedback. This is the receiver’s response to the message. We all love to receive positive feedback but in essence, feedback is the primary means of growing individual understanding. There are four types of communication. There is non-verbal, verbal, written communication, and visualization communication. Non-verbal communication is communicating by body language, facial expressions, and other signs, not words. Verbal communication is communicating face to face with words or by other means such as cell phones, television, video chatting on the computer, and radio. Written communication is just how it sounds. Writing a letter, chatting on Facebook, Tweeting are all written communication. Lastly visual communication is anything you can see such as chatting on a webcam, Skype, or face to face. ...
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...Running head: Miscommunication in the workplace Miscommunication in the Workplace Pamalla Curry Phoenix of University Miscommunication in the Workplace |Who was the sender? |Myself | |Who was the receiver? |My manager at work | |What was the message? |I was sick and could not make it into work | |What channel was used to send the message? |Telephone | |What was the misunderstanding that occurred? |My manager misunderstood that I was sick for I was quitting. | |How could the misunderstanding have been |I could have made sure that he understood that I was sick and unable to come in that day, or | |avoided? |had my sister communicate for me. | Misunderstandings in communication happen every day in our person lives and our professional lives. This miscommunication happened to me professionally while I was working for Subway in Albuquerque, NM. I had been with the company for several months full-time opening the store, when I suddenly became horribly...
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...Miscommunication in Aviation December 17, 1903 was the day the very first powered airplane took the skies. The flight only lasted twelve seconds and only covered approximately one hundred twenty feet in distance. Even though the flight was not long, Wright Brothers showed everyone that flying is possible. After that historical flight, the world of aviation grew rapidly ever since. With more and more airplanes in the skies everyday, safety is unquestionably a main concern, thus adding extra pressure to the air traffic control system. Communicating with the air traffic control is the number one key to safety in aviation. They organize the air traffic so ensure that one aircraft is keeping a safe distance away from another. Without communications with ATC in the airspace, aircrafts would be all over the place and at any altitude they want. Before Archie League became the first air traffic controller in 1929, aircrafts would be coming in to land at the same time and on the same runway. Luckily, there were no major aviation accidents then even though aircrafts would be as close as a couple hundreds feet apart. Communications, prior to 1930, might not be needed since most, if not all, of the pilots can only fly in Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) due to lack of technology. But since technology improves expeditiously over time, airplanes are now able to fly in Instrument Meteorological Condition (IMC). Flying in IMC basically means that the pilots could fly without having...
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...Miscommunication at Work Yuriy Baron BCOM/275 10/27/13 Randi Plante Assignment 1.1 Communication Process Model Directions: Think of a misunderstanding you experienced when communicating with someone else at work. Then fill in the blanks of the chart below. |MISUNDERSTANDING #1 | |Who was the sender? |Quality control manager | | | | | | | |Who was the receiver? |Quality control inspector | | | | | | | |What was the message? |Manager asked to gather the information from pallets that were ready to...
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...In William Shakespeare's The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet the lives of two young lovers were lost after they both committed suicide. The story, which takes place in Verona, tells the story of lovers from families who are enemies who fall in love and overcome obstacles to be together. Romeo and Juliet committing suicide brought their families together. The deaths were caused by miscommunication. Miscommunication was most to blame for the tragedy. To begin, Romeo and Mercutio were walking in Verona when Peter came up to them and said “God ‘i’ good e’en. I pray, sir, can you read?” (1.2.58). Romeo proceeds to read the letter to Peter wich states that the Capulets are having a party at their house that night. Peter tells Romeo “Now I’ll tell you without asking. My master is the great rich Capulet, and if you be not of the house of Montagues, I pray come and crush a cup of wine. Rest you merry!”(1.2.81-83). Mercutio decides that they will go to the party to help Romeo get over Rosaline. Romeo was invited but he is a Montague. He is not aloud to go to the Capulets. Romeo decides he will go to the party. As a result he meets his soulmate, the daughter of Lord Capulet; Juliet....
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...Miscommunication Barriers in Health Care Effective communication skills are essential in all health care settings; it helps to build a good provider-patient relationship. The 2010 US Census data shows that the United States population is growing and becoming more diverse than ever. With the increase in the diverse population, healthcare workers are being exposed to a vast number of different cultures causing barriers when treating a patient from a different country. Cross-cultural communication barriers such as language, nonverbal, and responses to pain can affect a person’s health care delivery. Culture is a framework that directs human behavior. It is a person’s values, beliefs, and attitudes. “In health care, language and literacy barriers adversely affect clinical effectiveness, medical decision-making, medication adherence, and patient’s understanding of and access to service” (Taylor, Nicolle, and Maguire, 2013). Language barriers limit a person’s ability to communicate their health needs. In some cultures, women are not allowed to talk with a male stranger, making it hard for her to communicate her medical needs here in America. In order to help with the language barrier, some providers may use other strategies, such as, drawings and hand signals to compensate for the gaps in communication. Providers should be aware that patients cannot follow advice if they do not understand the provider’s instructions. Having an interpreter present during treatment and consultation...
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...Charles F. Glassman once said, “Miscommunication leads to misunderstanding, which rarely leads to anything good”(“Miscommunication"). This was definitely the case in David Mamet’s play Oleanna. The applications go beyond miscommunication but relate to today's issues. Trying to decipher questionable language or actions is a hard task, and most will assume the worst. It is hard to discern between true acts of kindness because in today's world ulterior motives have the majority. In the first act of the play Oleanna the student, Carol is having troubles being successful in her professor John’s class. She goes to meet with him and begins to lay her troubles on him. He then goes on to say, "I'll make you a deal. You stay here. We'll start the whole course over. I'm going to say it was not you, it was I who was not paying attention. We'll start the whole course over. Your grade is an 'A'. Your final grade is an ‘A'" (Act I p. 25). He even goes on to say that he likes her and tries to comfort her by laying his hand on her shoulder, but she immediately dismisses his affection. In the second...
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...Love is only a four letter word. That can be one of the most beautiful things. However, it is also a four letter word that can make your life amazing or a living nightmare. In William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, miscommunication is the reason for the awful deaths of the two that wanted nothing but to be happily in love. Hiding who you love as Juliet did in act three, who you are married to as Romeo and Juliet did in act two, and failure when a plan goes abruptly wrong as what happens in act five can have outrageous consequences. Especially in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, where in their case due to miscommunication love is a living nightmare. Throughout the play, Romeo and Juliet hide their marriage from their family. When Romeo and Juliet decide they want to marry one another they go to Friar Laurence, they get married secretly. Romeo and Juliet want to express their love but they know that if they did, the feud...
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...I was a flight attendant for an international carrier for many years. As a flight attendant I had the opportunity to travel throughout the world and experience many different cultures. In my travels I found the Japanese culture to be the most difficult to understand and communication the most complicated. I never had an encounter per se, or a situation with a Japanese individual that was particularly unpleasant or pleasant, I found my experience more baffling than anything else. My experience and my limited understanding of the Japanese culture and intercultural communication are due to my many travels to the country with short layovers but many, many times. I found them to be often too nice, too accommodating, always ready to help and always smiling but underneath this supposed pleasant façade, there was something that I found uneasy. They seemed like robots; everyone was perfectly groomed, well dressed, and following all the rules. One example I can never forget my first in Japan is however everyone obey the rules crossing streets, it was amazing to see that everyone waited patiently for the red light to turn green before even stepping off the pavement even if there was no cars in view; on the other hand, in Western society you rarely see such a situation. My last trip to Japan was greater than ten years ago, perhaps it is different now. Japanese communication patterns, was sort of mysterious to me since I was use to the straight talk of Westerners. The Japanese tend...
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...The sky is like an hourglass, time is the sand in it, while night is when most of the sand is in the bottom half, and day is when most the sand is in the upper half. Time flies by as the sand slowly slips from the upper half into the bottom half, changing day into night. In William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, the two houses, the Montagues and the Capulets hate each other. Romeo, a Montague, falls in love with Juliet, a Capulet, often at night, Romeo sneaks into the Capulet garden to talk to Juliet. Fate divides them apart many ways, the Prince of Verona banishes Romeo, and Juliet drinks a potion as part of a plan. But miscommunication happens and Romeo believes that Juliet is dead, thus commits suicide by drinking poison. Juliet wakes...
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...any time. If we live in a community, communication is something that we cannot avoid in our whole life. However, even though we practice communication all the time, miscommunication still happens all the time especially when people have different culture. According to Yu Xu, and Ruth Davidhizar, the authors of Journal of Nursing Education, "Culture is communication and communication is culture". Our communication is always affected by the problem of culture intelligence including backgrounds, habits of communication and languages, and all these factors cause miscommunication. First, different backgrounds are definitely a main issue that affects communication. Background means your family and your experience of education, living conditions. Since all countries have their own living style, religion and beliefs, people who are from different countries might have extremely different backgrounds. We might learn and understand things in different ways; therefore, battle might be easily formed when we do not know each other very well. According to Kaplan, S., and Cunningham, C., the author of Eight Quick Tips for Improving Global Cross-Cultural Communications, Different backgrounds might affect our life style. If we live in a same house with people from different country, different living styles may cause miscommunication. Referring to FitzGerald, Helen Gay, authors of Languages for Intercultural Communication and Education, “If people have no knowledge of the cultural values of others...
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