Author: Money4Davey
Company: ITT Technical Training Institute

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Communication Analysis

Part I: Background

I have worked for a small long-term care facility for the last 2 ½ years. I am currently the Unit Manager for a 60-bed ward with 25 staff. We provide twenty-four hour staffing. While most of my communication is verbally face-to-face, I occasionally leave notes for the weekend or overnight shifts. Most of my notes are directions regarding a specific task; however, I occasionally leave an educational piece or memo.    
I am sure there are more miscommunications than successful ones, thanks in part to our “grapevine.” This informal method of communication is often full of misunderstandings, incomplete information, and innuendo. Below is a list of what I saw to be our most glaring communication problems.

Part II: Communication Inhibitors

Personal Censors:  Those sending messages have trouble in getting the message across clearly because of the receiver’s own personal bias toward the message or the receiver.

Personal Filters:  Those receiving a message do not hear the intended meaning and may distort its actual meaning. An example may be misinterpretation of words that are new or a dislike for the person sending the message. 

Noise:  This may be real noise, such as loud noises or background voices. It may also be semantic noise, which occurs when the receiver of the message misunderstands the sender based on the meaning they associate with the words the sender chooses.

Communication Structure: This defines how information is disseminated in an organization. The information may be sent from administration downward to subordinates, it may be sent upward from subordinates to administration, or it may be sent laterally as in one department head to anther department head.  

Cultural Barriers: These refer to those groups inside an organization that assist in or prevent information from being properly understood. The subcultures may be based on ethnicity, socioeconomic status, education, department, longevity, beliefs or habits.

Motivational Barriers:  These refer to the desire of the sender or receiver to give or receive information, understand the information, and utilize the information. Examples of motivational barriers are longevity, belief system, habit, or educational level.

Nonverbal Barriers:  Body language is the best-known nonverbal barrier in communication.  It is how one prepares to hear the message, such as body position, eye contact, or tone of voice.  

Part III: Application of Inhibitors

Column Headers: 
Communication (left)
Inhibitor (center)
Explanation (right)

Left Column text:
A new employee received her schedule and was told that the schedule would follow a continuous pattern, meaning she would have the same days off every week. At the end of the first two weeks of work, she returned looking for anther schedule. Again, the scheduling coordinator and I explained the pattern to her. Three days later, she went to the Director of Nursing because she still did not understand the schedule. She was upset that a new schedule had not been posted or provided to her. We ended up writing the schedule for the next month on a calendar.   

Center column text:
Personal Censor and Filters, Experiential Barriers, Motivational Barriers

Right Column text:
Her previous employer had publicly posted a schedule every two weeks due to frequent changes. Our process was new to her and she needed time to learn the process. Over time, it became clear that her true motivation was to change the schedule to suit her personal needs. She wanted to be off every Friday as she had been at her previous job.

Part IV: Assessment of Communication Effectiveness