Overcoming Status Barriers in Organizations

By Martin Hahn

WHAT IS A STATUS BARRIER? Status barrier can be defined as the form of communication that are so complex in the workplace that prevent the exchange of ideas or thoughts in form of physical, language & status.

Causes of Status Barriers in Organizations

1. Formal Operational Rules and Company Policies: most organizations will socialize a set of rules related to the careful selection of utilization of types of messages, mediums, and modes of communication. Employees are often avoiding these rules by simply escaping from sending any message. Moreover formal company policies strictly streamline the communication between the employees and describes in a detailed manner how employees shall communicate with each other without changing their levels of position in the organization. Such as, if the company policy is that all the communication should be done in writing, then even for a small message the medium used should be written. This leads to delay in the transmission of the message and hence the decision making gets delayed.

2. Status Positions in the Organization: in every organization, the members are subdivided into different categories based on their function in the organization. The superiors are placed in the upper echelons of the organigram and the subordinates are the ones occupying the lower levels. Consequently, the communication between them will be formal. Formal communication may often become a barrier to effective communication in organizations.

3. Organizational Facilities: to boost effective communication, many organizations provide facilities like the telephone, stationery, translator software, etc. If these facilities are made available in an adequate manner, then the communication can become timely, accurate and according to the needs. Otherwise the communication may face numerous hurdles and become ineffective.

4. Complex Structure: many organizations still have many management levels which will have a big impact of the effectiveness of various exchange of messages. The large number of management will certainly delay the transmission of numerous messages and the content of the messages might even change before reaching the intended receiver.

6 WAYS TO OVERCOME STATUS BARRIERS IN ORGANIZATIONS

The following 7 tips or ways can be used to overcome STATUS barriers in organizations:

1. USE SIMPLE LANGUAGE: Simple and clear words should be used while communicating. Use of ambiguous words and jargon should be avoided. It also helps to overcome status barriers in communication.

2. ELIMINATE DIFFERENCES IN PERCEPTION: The business organizations should ensure that it is recruiting the right individuals on the job. It is the responsibility of the interviewer to ensure that the interviewee has command over the written and spoken language. Proper training should be given to employees.

3. ACTIVE LISTENING: Always listen attentively and carefully. Active listening means hearing with proper understanding of the message that is heard. The speaker must ensure by asking question that whether his/her message is understood or not by the receiver in the same terms as intended by the speaker.

4. AVOID INFORMATION OVERLOAD: The managers must know how to prioritize their work. Never overload yourself with the work. The managers should spend quality time with their subordinates and should also listen to their problems and feed back actively.

5. REDUCE AND ELIMINATE OF NOISE LEVELS: The main communication barrier is noise, which must be overcome on priority basis. Therefore, it is essential to identify the source of noise and then eliminate that source.

6. EMOTIONAL STATE: While communicating, one should make effective use of body language you should not show your emotions while communication as the receiver might misinterpret the message being delivered.

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