8 Barriers to Workplace Communication

grapevine, keep employees up-to-date through o몭cial
workplace communication channels.
Additionally, it’s important to train employees to communicate
through con몭ict instead of using the grapevine to rally people to
their “side.” Prevent widespread con몭ict by dealing with
problems as they come up.
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8. Cultural and language differences
Communicating across cultures and languages can create a
clear barrier to workplace communication. While conversations
between parties of different languages have major di몭culties,
communicating within the same language can have similar
troubles.
For example, the United States and England both speak English.
However, communication between these two cultures is still full
of differences. How language is used differs, along with
common communication etiquette. If your workplace
communicates across cultural lines, take time to understand
some basic differences between your cultures to prevent
missteps in communication.
Cultural differences can also be differences between groups in
the same country. Regional differences in language can
contribute to some confusion in the workplace. Differences in
how each generation speaks can also create confusion. This is
colorfully represented in the movie The Princess Diaries, where
the young girl says “shut up!” as an exclamation of disbelief.
Her grandmother is shocked, believing her granddaughter has
just rudely told her to be quiet.
How to overcome this barrier: when there is confusion between
parties of different cultures, take the time to understand.
Learning about cultural differences in communication can be
useful for preventing con몭ict based on misunderstandings.
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