In Mia’s blog post, she emphasises the importance of communication and the relationship between emotions and effective communication. When talking about effective communication it is also important to look at how perception influences one’s communication.

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Communication is present in everything from having a conversation to being in the workplace. In COMM 292, it is taught that in order for a company to be successful, there must be strong communication within the company and between workers. A lack of communication or miscommunication can drastically effect relationships within the workplace and the quality of the work. Therefore, it is important for all companies to understand the barriers that hold them back from effective communication.

Selective perception is a really important barrier to communication and it is one of the lesser known barriers. This is an internal type of barrier that differs between people (Smith 2015). It is when someone’s needs, motivations, interests, experiences and past influence what they choose to see or hear (Langton, Robbins & Judge 2009). For example, if an HR manager in charge of hiring has negative beliefs and stereotypes of a certain gender or race, they likely aren’t going to hire them. Even if that candidate is the best fit for the job they still won’t hire them because all they see are the stereotypes.

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Due to the importance of communication in every aspect of life, it is crucial to get rid of any barriers preventing it from being effective. This means it is necessary to reduce selective perception as much as possible. Selective perception can be managed through creating a diverse workplace and encouraging teamwork. If a company has a workforce made up of diverse people they will also have a workplace with a wide range of beliefs and experiences that influence their perception. Additionally, if a company used group decision-making over individual decision-making, the decisions wouldn’t be biased. This is because each member would bring a different perspective and cancel out each other’s selective perceptions.
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References

Langton, S. P., Robbins, N., & Judge, T. A. (2009). Organizational behaviour: concepts,

controversies, applications. Pearson Education Canada.

Smith, C. (2015). The Seven Barriers of Communication. Retrieved April 01, 2017, from

https://guides.co/g/the-seven-barriers-of-communication/37690