5.1.2 Interpersonal communication

Interpersonal communication ^* is essential for effective management. On the one hand, from 50 to 90% of his time the manager spends on conversations. On the other hand, - firstly, the solution of many management tasks is based on the direct interaction of people in various situations; and, secondly, interpersonal communication is the best way to discuss and resolve issues characterized by uncertainty and ambiguity. Barriers or noises encountered in interpersonal communication, it is customary to group as follows: barriers caused by perception; semantics; the use of non-verbal information in the exchange; inefficient feedback and poor listening skills.

Barriers due to perception. The leader must have an understanding of the process of perception, since this is what determines the reality for the individual. People react not to what is actually happening in their environment, but to what is perceived as happening. Consideration of factors affecting perception in the process of information exchange allows to timely remove barriers caused by perception. One of these obstacles arises due to the discrepancy between the areas of competence of the sender and the recipient. People may interpret the same information in different ways depending on the experience gained. Hence the difficulties of organizations in the exchange of information, differences in the interpretation of the messages they receive, and ideas encoded by the sender may be distorted and not fully understood by the recipient.

Another reason for the difficulties of perception in the process of communication is the existence of barriers caused by the social attitudes of people.

Semantics studies the way words are used and the meanings conveyed by words. Since words (characters) can have different meanings for different people, accordingly, the interpretation of the message will depend on these differences.

The symbol has no unique inalienable meaning. The meaning of a symbol is revealed through experience and varies depending on the context, the situation in which the symbol is used. Since each person has his or her experience and each act of sharing information to a certain extent is a new situation, no one can be absolutely sure that the other person will assign the same meaning to the symbol used.

Non-verbal barriers. Although verbal characters (words) are the primary means for encoding ideas for transmission, people use non-verbal characters to convey messages. Often non-verbal transmission occurs simultaneously with the verbal and can enhance or change the meaning of words. Non-verbal symbols include such as smiles, gestures, intonations and voice modulations, pace and rhythm of speech, etc. Some studies have shown that often the main part of information is transmitted through non-verbal symbols during oral contacts.

Thus, the poses, intonations and gestures of the head in the process of his communication with the subordinate are able to influence the behavior of the latter much more than the words that he speaks at the same time.

The fact is that the effect of most messages is created by non-verbal information: 55% of messages are perceived through facial expressions, poses and gestures, and 38% through intonation and voice modulation, i.e. only 7% of perceived information remains.

Non-verbal communications in most cases have an unconscious basis, since they indicate the actual emotions of the participant in the communication process ^* and are an indicator of the feelings being manifested. Non-verbal information is difficult to manipulate and difficult to hide in any interpersonal communication.

Ineffective feedback. Another limiting factor in the effectiveness of interpersonal communication is the lack of adequate feedback about the message you sent. Feedback is important because it allows you to determine whether the message you sent is properly interpreted by the recipient. Since there are a lot of noise sources that distort the content of messages, feedback is the only way to guarantee the reliability of communication.

Inability to listen. Effective information exchange is possible only when both the sender and the recipient of information are equally focused on communication. In particular, you must be able to listen. Unfortunately, many have not learned to listen with the degree of efficiency that is in principle possible. People traditionally do not pay enough attention to the development of listening skills. Many people think that listening means only behaving calmly and letting another person speak. However, this is only a small part of the process of attentively focused hearing. Studies have shown that the average manager actually listens with only 25% efficiency. But it is not enough to accept the facts - you need to listen to the feelings.