By P Chong                                          Tues. 7 September 2010

Miscommunication occurs due to failing to communicate clearly. There could be a lack of clear or adequate communication or people merely hear what’s said without really paying close attention through listening. Communication too can be misconstrued, misinterpreted & understood giving rise to a lot of complications and unwanted problems.

In most cases, we get different meaning of the words than they intended. Even body language can create a different impression, though in place of verbal communication it can be most effective.

Miscommunication can lead to misunderstanding, argument, hurt & anger and to the extent of creating personal conflict.

Who’s being heard?

Here’s an interesting picture on how miscommunication occurs based upon a written memo from the CEO to the staff of a particular organisation, as it filters through the hierarchy rung of management.

By the time the message reaches the bottom rung from the Supervisor to the staff, it is all distorted & reduced to just one sentence. The whole essence is filtered & lost in its downward transmission.

People only hear but not listen!

As a general rule,since God endowed us with two ears & one mouth, we should listen twice as much as we talk.

No Hearing, No Seeing & No Talking

Picture of misery

Picture & Illustration Source: Google

Related Articles

• How to Avoid Miscommunication (office-politics.suite101.com)
• Basic Principles of Communication (brighthub.com)
• Effective Workplace Verbal Communication Skills (personal-work-habits.suite101.com)
• What did you say? But what did you MEAN? (psychologytoday.com)
• The Perils of Subtle Miscommunication (psychologytoday.com)