Standards

Doc. No.aims-F-17
Doc. Level: I Issue No.III
Date of Issue: Dec. 25, 08

COMMON BARRIERS IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

1. Physical barriers
Physical barriers in the workplace include:
 marked out territories, empires and fiefdoms into which strangers are not allowed
 closed office doors, barrier screens, separate areas for people of different status
 large working areas or working in one unit that is physically separate from others.
Research shows that one of the most important factors in building cohesive teams is proximity. As long as people still have a personal
space that they can call their own, nearness to others aids communication because it helps us get to know one another.

2. Perceptual barriers
The problem with communicating with others is that we all see the world differently. If we didn't, we would have no need to
communicate: something like extrasensory perception would take its place.
The following anecdote is a reminder of how our thoughts, assumptions and perceptions shape our own realities:
A traveler was walking down a road when he met a man from the next town. "Excuse me," he said. "I am hoping to stay in the next
town tonight. Can you tell me what the townspeople are like?"
"Well," said the townsman, "how did you find the people in the last town you visited?"
"Oh, they were an irascible bunch. Kept to themselves. Took me for a fool. Over-charged me for what I got. Gave me very poor
service."
"Well, then," said the townsman, "you'll find them pretty much the same here."

3. Emotional barriers
One of the chief barriers to open and free communications is the emotional barrier. It is comprised mainly of fear, mistrust and
suspicion. The roots of our emotional mistrust of others lie in our childhood and infancy when we were taught to be careful what we
said to others.
"Mind your P's and Q's"; "Don't speak until you're spoken to"; "Children should be seen and not heard". As a result many people
hold back from communicating their thoughts and feelings to others.
They feel vulnerable. While some caution may be wise in certain relationships, excessive fear of what others might think of us can
stunt our development as effective communicators and our ability to form meaningful relationships.

4. Cultural barriers
When we join a group and wish to remain in it, sooner or later we need to adopt the behavior patterns of the group. These are the
behaviors that the group accept as signs of belonging.
The group rewards such behavior through acts of recognition, approval and inclusion. In groups which are happy to accept you, and
where you are happy to conform, there is a mutuality of interest and a high level of win-win contact.
Where, however, there are barriers to your membership of a group, a high level of game-playing replaces good communication.

5. Language barriers
Language that describes what we want to say in our terms may present barriers to others who are not familiar with our expressions,
buzz-words and jargon. When we couch our communication in such language, it is a way of excluding others. In a global market place
the greatest compliment we can pay another person is to talk in their language.
One of the more chilling memories of the Cold War was the threat by the Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev saying to the Americans at
the United Nations: "We will bury you!" This was taken to mean a threat of nuclear annihilation.
However, a more accurate reading of Khruschev's words would have been: "We will overtake you!" meaning economic superiority. It
was not just the language, but the fear and suspicion that the West had of the Soviet Union that led to the more alarmist and sinister
interpretation.

6. Gender barriers
There are distinct differences between the speech patterns in a man and those in a woman. A woman speaks between 22,000 and
25,000 words a day whereas a man speaks between 7,000 and 10,000. In childhood, girls speak earlier than boys and at the age of
three, have a vocabulary twice that of boys.
The reason for this lies in the wiring of a man's and woman's brains. When a man talks, his speech is located in the left side of the
brain but in no specific area. When a woman talks, the speech is located in both hemispheres and in two specific locations.
This means that a man talks in a linear, logical and compartmentalized way, features of left-brain thinking; whereas a woman talks
more freely mixing logic and emotion, features of both sides of the brain. It also explains why women talk for much longer than men
each day.

7 Interpersonal barriers
There are six levels at which people can distance themselves from one another:
1. Withdrawal is an absence of interpersonal contact. It is both refusal to be in touch and time alone.
2. Rituals are meaningless, repetitive routines devoid of real contact.
3. Pastimes fill up time with others in social but superficial activities.
4. Working activities are those tasks which follow the rules and procedures of contact but no more.
5. Games are subtle, manipulative interactions which are about winning and losing. They include "rackets" and "stamps".
6. Closeness is the aim of interpersonal contact where there is a high level of honesty and acceptance of yourself and others.
Working on improving your communications is a broad-brush activity. You have to change your thoughts, your feelings, and your
physical connections.
That way, you can break down the barriers that get in your way and start building relationships that really work.

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 Standards
Doc. No.aims-F-17
Doc. Level: I Issue No.III
Date of Issue: Dec. 25, 08

COMMON ERRORS IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

1. Too Long
Most people have a tendency to draft their letters too long. Letters involving business (personal or corporate) should be concise,
factual and focused and should not normally exceed one typical single-spaced page of 350 to 450 words. If you can't get your point
across in 4 to 5 short paragraphs you probably haven't done enough preparatory work prior to drafting the letter. If necessary, phone or
e-mail the recipient to clarify any fuzzy points and use the letter to summarize the overall situation.

2. Weak Opening
Many letters I receive launch straight into the details of the subject without setting things up to provide a clear context. The
introductory paragraph of your letter should be one or two short sentences that state the specific reason for the letter and specify what
the primary focus will be.

3. Lack of Focus
Many letters I receive for editing are all over the place, in terms of subject. In other words, it is often not at all obvious to me what the
main point or the desired outcome of the letter is. Prior to drafting the letter you should decide on a number of specific points that you
want to focus on and what the bottom line of your letter needs to be. Ask yourself what exactly you want the letter to achieve in terms
of an action or a response from the addressee.

4. Too Confusing
People often jump straight into their letter without first organizing their thoughts in some sort of logical order. Even if you have a clear
idea of the points you want to cover, it is important that when you present them, one point should flow naturally and logically into the
next. It is always worth the few minutes it takes to jot down the logical sequence of your letter in sequential point form before starting
to write the letter. This practice will invariably result in an improved final product.

5. Poorly Formatted
If your letter isn't properly formatted, in terms of layout, it will look unprofessional which will diminish its credibility and thus its
impact. Once you have your words finalized, make sure you clean up the format of the letter in terms of margins, paragraph breaks,
address blocks, signature blocks, etc., before sending it. A very common error that I see these days is when people add their own extra
space after a period at the end of a sentence. This is NOT necessary since word processing programs automatically insert some extra
space at the end of each sentence. This practice is a carryover from the days of the typewriter (Anyone remember those?) and is no
longer necessary.

6. Weak Closing
Frequently I see closing paragraphs that don't clearly sum up what went before and what is supposed to happen next. Similar to the
opening paragraph, the closing paragraph should also be short, comprised of one or two sentences. One sentence should briefly
summarize the overall conclusion that can be drawn from the points presented in the letter; a second sentence should clearly state what
you will do next and/or what you expect from the addressee as a result of them receiving the letter. Depending on the situation, the
final sentence can also provide contact info such as phone number and/or e-mail address.

7. Too Many Errors

You would be amazed at the number of spelling and/or obvious grammatical errors I see in the letters submitted to me. That's fine if
you are asking a professional to edit your letter. However I have the impression that many people send their letters out riddled with
these types of errors. Sending your letter in such a condition is a serious credibility destroyer and will definitely hurt your reputation
as a professional in the eyes of any knowledgeable recipient. Make sure you use the spell checker feature of your word processing
program and if you aren't sure of your grammar get a professional to edit your letter before it goes out.

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Suite: 61, Hassan Block, Ashraf Garden, East Canal Bank Lahore.
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 Standards
Doc. No.aims-F-17
Doc. Level: I Issue No.III
Date of Issue: Dec. 25, 08

10 PONDERING POINTS IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

1: Not identifying the purpose of the letter.

Whether your letter is for business or personal communications, you should state in the beginning what the letter is about. For
example, you are requesting a refund for a broken product or you are following up on a proposal. Even if you are just "saying hello" to
Aunt Jane, state the purpose of your letter early on. That way Aunt Jane will know to read with enjoyment as you tell her the latest
events in your life, or whether to read fervently to the end for the delivery of some horrible bad news. When you don't identify the
purpose for your writing, the recipient may not place the proper priority or urgency to your letter or, in the case of business, may direct
it to the wrong department thus delaying your refund or prolonging a decision.

2: Not getting to the point.

Just as when you don't identify the purpose for your letter, not getting to the point risks having the recipient miss the intended message
entirely. If you're really writing to resolve a specific problem, don't spend three paragraphs apologizing in advance or talking about
unrelated issues. Also known as disorganization, not getting to the point turns a bad letter into a missed opportunity.

3: Redundancy.
There are several types of redundancy, and all of them are equally unnecessary. The first, and easiest to identify, is using the same
word more than once in the same sentence or more than three times in the same paragraph. An example is "She added a personal touch
to the personal letter she wrote." The second type of redundancy that many writers miss in their own writing is repeating the same idea
in different words: "Her message was effective because it was personal. The personal nature of her letter made her message effective."
This message is not effective it’s redundant.

4: Using unfamiliar acronyms, abbreviations or technical language.

Don't assume your audience knows all the abbreviations, lingo and acronyms that you know. An acronym is word formed from the
initial letters of a name, such as CHOP for Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The same letters can stand for different organizations
or meanings depending on where the person lives or other frame of reference. Or they simply may not know what it stands for. The
same goes for technical language or jargon specific to a given profession, industry or interest group and for abbreviations beyond the
basic Mr./Ms. and etc. And it's probably okay to use OK.

5: Using ambiguous or confusing words.

Similar to avoiding acronyms try to choose words with clear meaning, especially if your letter is attempting to resolve a conflict.
Ambiguous subjects or misplaced descriptive phrases can totally change the intended meaning of your words. If you are having
trouble identifying your own ambiguity, try writing your major points in very simple subject-verb-object format. Even if it feels
childish, this exercise will actually spell out for you the key players and actions you want to communicate. You can fill in details and
modify the sentence structure after you are clear about what you need to say.

6: Monotonous sentence structure.

Counterbalance to mistake #5, you don't want to bore your audience to sleep either. Writing every sentence in the same exact structure
and length is amateurish and disruptive to the flow of the letter. Vary sentence length and alter noun-verb order to add interest to your
message.

7: Inconsistency.
Variety, however, should not be confused with inconsistency. There are two things that generally should not vary within a sentence or
even within your letter: person and tense. Person refers to first (me, I, we), second (you) and third (he, them, etc.). Tense pertains to
verbs or action happening in the past, present or future. Of course, there are always exceptions to this rule, such as occasions where "I"
am telling "you" how "I" feel. Inconsistency applies to technique as well as meaning. If you are sending mixed messages, the only sure
outcome of your letter is confusion.

8: Fragments, run-on sentences and missing or incorrect punctuation.

A lot of people have heard of a fragment but don't recognize it when they write one. A fragment is simply not a complete sentence.
Commonly used fragments are noun phrases (the man with the short beard and navy jacket), verb phrases (walking through the park
and over the hill), and prepositional phrases (on a tree stump within the national park reserve). Run-on sentences have the opposite
problem: they are defined as two complete sentences not separated with proper punctuation such as a period, comma-and, colon, or
semi-colon. Punctuation deserves an article of its own, but common problem areas are possessive pronouns vs. contractions ("its" is
the correct possessive pronoun, while "it's" is a contraction for "it is"), hyphen vs. dash (a hyphen combines two words into one
whereas a dash is used to separate words to distinguish multiple ideas or phrases), and misplaced commas. Items in a series should
have a comma after each item. A comma before the word "and" at the end of the series is optional, but do not ever use a comma after
the word "and". That is a misplaced comma.

9: Bad spelling and misused words.

It ought to go without saying; misspelled words are a common mistake in letter writing. Not only does bad spelling make you look
unprofessional, it also gives the reader the impression that you don't know what you are talking about. If they don't believe you, your
communication is ineffective. If you are using a computer, be sure to run a spelling and grammar check at least once. Do not,
however, rely on spell check alone. You should know by now, software programs do not identify correctly spelled words that are used
incorrectly in the context of the sentence. A notorious example is the transposition of the words "from" and "form". Also, most
software does not recognize proper names or some technical or industry-specific terminology. If you are not paying attention, your
software editor may change a word you spelled correctly to something completely different -- while you are not looking!

10: Not reading it over before you send it.

The last example is an excellent reason to be sure to re-read your letter before sending it to anyone. Even if you think your letter is
free of human error (which would be rare!), your letter may have been corrupted by computer error or unintentional (and sometimes
misfortunate) auto-formatting. No matter what, read your letter through from beginning to end at least one time.

formerly chamber of quality solutions

Suite: 61, Hassan Block, Ashraf Garden, East Canal Bank Lahore.
Voice: 0092 42 507 1572, Text : 0092 42 517 8074, Cell: 0300 8452 512 Email: aims4tqm@gmail.com
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