Text 1.

1. Read the text about “a breakdown” in communication and choose the best title. Write it at the top of the text.

1. The impact of culture on business.

2. The process of communication between companies.

3. Communication problems in our life and how to solve them.

4. Communication as a two-way process.

5. Breakdowns in communication in business.

TITLE: __________________________________________________________

A breakdown in communication is quite likely to happen if there is some kind of “social distance” between people. In organizations, people may have difficulty communicating if they are different in status, or if one person has a much higher position than the other. For example, two production workers will probably speak frankly to each other about things that are going wrong in their department. But if the Chief Executive of the company passes by and asks how thing are going, they’ll probably say, “Just fine, thank you.” It is risky to tell the truth to someone higher up in the hierarchy – they may not like what they hear and hold it against you.

For this reason, staff often “filter” information. They deliberately alter the facts, telling the boss what he/she wants to hear. They do not want to give bad news, so they give their superior too good an impression of the situation.

There is nothing new about all this. One thinks of Cleopatra and the problem she had in her military campaigns. She used to give gold to messengers bringing good news, but executed those bringing bad news. It is not surprising; therefore, that the information she received was unreliable.

One way of reducing social distance – and improving communications – is to cut down on status symbols. It is possible, for example, to have a common dining room for all staff. It is worth noting, that in Japanese companies, it is common for all the staff to wear uniforms.

Physical surroundings and physical distance limit or encourage communication. Studies show that the further away a person is, the less he/she communicates. The physical layout of an office must be carefully planned. Open-plan offices are designed to make communication easier and quicker. However, it is interesting to note that employees in such offices will often move furniture and other objects to create mini-offices.

Excellent companies use space to create good communications. The Corning Glass Company in the United States installed escalators rather than lifts in their engineering buildings because they wanted to increase the chances of employees meeting face-face.

Unit 2

Another important barrier to communication is selective perception. Put simply, this means that people perceive things in different ways. The world of the sender is not the same as the world of the receiver. (see text 1). Because their knowledge and experience is different, sender and receiver are always on slightly different wavelengths. Therefore, a manager will say something, but the employee will interpret his meaning incorrectly. The message become distorted.

Communication problems will arise from time to time. To minimize these problems managers must remember one thing. Communication should be a two-way process. Managers should encourage staff to ask questions and to react to what the managers are saying. Feedback is essential.

2. Read the text again and answer the questions.

1. What does “a breakdown” mean?

2. What are the reasons for a breakdown in business communication?

Name all of them in the order of appearance.

3. Do the staff speak frankly with their Chief Executive? Why? Why not?

4. How do the employees of a company behave with their top managers?

How can this problem be solved?

5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having open-plan offices?

6. What must managers remember if they wish to improve communication?