Communication Process

Assignment Instructions Reflection #3 – Communications Breakdown 

In the classroom, we explored the communication process and identified some ways that the process can break down. This reflection will allow you to identify problems with the communication process in a real-life setting from your own experience. 

Identify a time from your own experience when a breakdown in the communication process led to an unsatisfactory outcome, when the lack of shared understanding led to disaster. 

Describe the situation. Who was involved? What was the intended outcome? What was the intended communication? What was the unsatisfactory outcome? 

Analyze what went wrong with the communication process.  Psychological Barriers. Were there problems with how the sender encoded the message? Was the problem with the receivers’ decoding? Was this barrier cognitive (overload, bias, or filtering), emotional, or sociocultural? 

 Physical Barriers. Did something prevent the full message from getting through? Audible noise? Digital interruptions? Time or distance? Other physical barrier? 

 Feedback. Did receivers have opportunities to check their understanding against the sender’s understanding? Were receivers in some way prevented from seeking feedback? Did the sender fail to resolve any discrepancies in understanding? 

Describe only the parts of the communication process that led to the breakdown; for instance, if there was no impact from Physical Barriers, only analyze the other two, depending on the situation you have described. 

You should seek to communicate in a professional manner, and aim for a level of detail between 600 and 1,200 words. 

Prepare your document according to the guidelines in the How do I do that? module under Course Resources, and submit through the assignment link on the next page of this Blackboard course site.