Overcoming Obstacles to Communications in Organizations

Working in any organization will have their own obstacles in many different ways. Communication is one of them. Communicating in an organization is really tough especially when speaking in a presentation. Most people get nervous during a presentation which causes them to communicate poorly due to anxiety and fear. When a presenter get nervous, it becomes difficult for them to fully express their ideas and the listeners might not take them seriously. The best way overcome this problem is be prepared. Basics of presentation are that the presenter must come prepared and ready for the presentation in order to for the ideas to reach the listeners.

As to overcome anxiety, the best way is to think positive. There are two types of anxiety.

1. Situational anxiety- anxiety caused by factors present in a specific speaking situation. The problems are like that the presenter is nervous because he or she is not prepared for his/her speech and has not yet practiced. Another possibility is that the audience is filled with people superior to the speaker. To conquer this fear, the presenter must be prepared and practice their speech before hand. Focus on the key points of the presentation so that audience will get the main points and purpose of the speech.
2. Trait anxiety -internal anxiety an individual brings to the speaking situation. This can be caused by genetics meaning that the individual gets nervous easily due to the gens. Also, previous experiences that were horrific could travel back into the mind of the speaker during a presentation that would cause the individual to be nervous. To defeat this problem, the best into imagine positive images of one's self and keeping that way all the way through the presentation.

Another main problem in communication are instructions. Bosses sometimes give very confusing orders on how things should be dealt with. Without clear cut instructions, employees have hard times completing their task due to confusion and uncertainty. To surmount this problem, supervisors, managers, and bosses need to:-

1. use few words - using lesser words can make orders clear and direct which therefore allows the employee to receive orders effectively.
2. make words specific & easy to understand - using general words and big words can confuse many employees which may cause them misinterpret the orders
3. use visual aids - using numbers, pictures or graphs allows the employees to understand the full picture
4. simple comparisons - when comparing, give direct orders to employees on which area to focus on
5. repeat, repeat & repeat - repeating the main points of the orders will eventually leave the idea stuck in the employee's head
6. use good delivery techniques -when giving out the orders, speak gently and use words that will motivate the employees on their tasks

These are only some of the problems that most organizations face. It is never easy to communicate with others but the effort must come from us in order to achieve good communications within the organization.