Friday, March 16, 2012

Misinterpretations

Misinterpretations
Ever play the game of telephone around a campfire when you were young and by the time the message was received at the other end of the line it was nothing like the original message?  I believe the modern version of this game is email.  Emails may have the same wording as voicemails and even in person meetings; however emails cannot show emotion and can easily be misconstrued.  When communicating via email it is important to review how the email is worded before sending – if possible have a colleague or friend read the email prior to sending. 
In this week’s assignment we are to review and interpret “The Art of Effective Communication” (Laurette Education, n.d.).  There are 4 tabs on this site: 1.) Start 2.) Email 3.) Voicemail 4.) Face-to-Face and the email tab seems to be sarcastic.  When I read the email message I interpreted it as the person sending the email was annoyed with the person receiving the email because what was requested was still not completed. When reviewing the voicemail tab it was clear that the sentiment was not at all what the email had implied.  This tells me that voicemail is a better form of communication (at least for this example) than email.  Perhaps a combination of the two could be done; however you then run the risk that the receiver will read the email before listening to the voicemail.  If this is the case then the receiver may not listen to the voicemail with the same open mind they might have if they did not read the email first.  With the advances in technology it is entirely possible to read an email prior to listening to a voicemail. Lastly is the Face-to-Face communication which of course is probably the most effective form of communication.  In this exercise it was clear that the person was not trying to be sarcastic about the situation but they did need and want movement on the issue at hand.  The sender of the message was trying to communicate the message in a positive light also making sure the receiver knew that what was being requested was a priority to the sender.
My suggestions to anyone working with a team would be to try and communicate in person as much as possible – this could include video conferencing.  When we communicate in person (visually) everyone in the group can see the facial expressions, hear the tone in the voice, and see the body language.  Since a large part of our communication is non-verbal it is important to see the other person when communicating to obtain the total picture.  I am aware that in-person communication is not always possible.  The second best form of communication is the phone call which may end up in a voicemail.  I personally do not believe in leaving long detailed messages on voicemail because many people get “tongue tied” on the phone especially when the machine comes on.  My thought is to leave a quick message requesting a call back.  This could lead to “phone tag” and if this goes on too long then a message may need to be left but by that time the person on the phone has relaxed enough to leave a decent message.  The last type of communication should be email and hopefully you can use email as just a follow up to a conversation which had taken place earlier.  Again if you must use email, type the message, leave it for some time, come back and re-read the message and only send after feeling confident with the message.  Review the message for unintended emotions or the lack of emotion when an emotion is needed.  The important thing to look for is that the message cannot be misconstrued.  This is a difficult feat to master because each person is an individual which means each person reading the message could have a different understanding of the message than the other people.  That is what makes the world interesting.
Reference
Laurette Education (n.d.) “The Art of Effective Communication”. Extracted from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html

2 comments:

  1. Helene

    I appreciate your comment about tongue tied. This is where I think the invention of text messaging is great. When I need to give someone a simple response, that doesn't take an entire phone call, the ease of a simple, be there in 5 minutes message is great. I also think text messaging has ups and downs as well.
    I am wondering if we are raising an over emotional society.
    Elizabeth

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  2. Hi Helene,
    I think a lot has to do with the urgency of the activity and the relationship of the participants. Sometimes being super nice is not effective. This scenario does not give much information about the circumstance of this situation. Who is superior in the company, how many times this request has been made and how urgent is the activity.

    In companies that I have worked at the face-to-face version would have been laughed at and the email might have been ignored or conveniently lost.

    This week I called the CDW company connected to Walden for a list of the software I purchased last year for my taxes. I told her that my deadline was the next day and she promised to have in a couple hours. She forgot and I missed my deadline so I will have to pay more to get my taxes done. Apparently I didn't state my case strong enough and I will have to pay for it. Next time I won't be so nice.

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