Understanding Non Verbal Communication At The Workplace

Nonverbal communication plays an essential role in any conversation. Individuals who are aware of nonverbal actions during conversations can more effectively interpret what is being communicated.

Ignorance of these differences may lead to offending an employee, leading to unintentional discrimination and poor relationships. It would therefore be beneficial for human resource management to understand culture disparities that may affect the way in which a message is perceived (Culturaldiversisty.org, 2008). Cultural diversity not only causes interferences within verbal communication but also in the way non-verbal communication is perceived. In relation to the cultural variations within non-verbal communication, body language is often misconstrued. For example when the British are talking face to face they ‘tend to look away spasmodically’, in contrast to this the Norwegians ‘typically look people steadily in their eyes without altering their gaze,’ thus a British individual communicating with a Norwegian could portray this eye contact as threatening and a wrong perception of that person may be perceived (Mullins, 2005, p231).

When communicating with others, it is important to consider the context in which we are working. For example, more formal language and behaviour would be used in a meeting and the school will have a range of types of planned communication with other adults – when dealing with other professionals, there will be meetings and discussions as well as more informal communication at different times. However, there are also the non-spoken forms of communication such as how quickly we respond to an email or phone message, how attentive we are when speaking to someone, how we dress. Different cultures will have their own norms of behaviour which will extend to gestures, body language and eye contact. In some cultures, for example, it is not polite

Supervisors can use nonverbals to connect interpersonally with subordinates. The manner in which supervisors use nonverbals to communicate with their subordinates may be more important than the verbal content displayed between a supervisor and subordinate. This analysis will examine the issue of subordinate emotional experience and suggest a solution to this problem by encouraging supervisors to display immediate nonverbals. (Richmond & McCroskey, 2000b, p.195) The following paper will focus on the ways that supervisors can use nonverbal immediacy to improve subordinates emotional well-being in and out of the workplace.

I am originally from Puerto Rico, which is a country in which communication is an integral part of society. The cultural norm of the Puerto Rican culture is to speak up when necessary and communicate clearly if we want things to be done. At the same time, I believe that in order to produce results, the manner in which communicating takes place, is an extremely important component. My culture also showed me how the emotions used when communicating, such as the use of the hands and body language, will dictate the tone and flow of the communication. The literature suggests that the majority (as much as 76%) of the message we gibe to another person during conversations is carried by non-verbal or para-verbal communication. Thus, we must be very careful and strategic in our use o non-verbal communication (Van Acker, 1997).

Previous research studies done by Albert Mehrabian suggested a “formula” associated with nonverbal communication and body language, 55/38/7, where 55% of communication is body language, 38% is the tone of voice and 7% are the words spoken. However within the article, “Is Nonverbal Communication a Numbers Game?” by Jeff Thompson, it explained that the formula cannot be used as a deciding factor in every situation because it was created for a specific situation – when the tone does not match the words being said. A clear analysis of one’s body language must take the context, clusters, and congruence of that exact moment into account. Context can be the environment, personal history, or the role of a person (boss or worker), clusters are how

In this article Sherwood Fleming spoke about reading individuals body language and tone of voice in a business setting. He spoke about how tone of voice and body language can be misleading when it comes to other cultures. In the American culture we learn to read body language and tone of voice at a young age, usually when someone is not straight forward or not making eye we see that person as not being truthful. While in other countries those same attributes we see as truthful or respectful can easily mean disrespect. The author spoke about French client was working with a Japanese supplier and how he felt like the women wasn’t trustworthy because of her tone of voice or how she diverted her eyes, but how it was disrespectful in her country

There are eight key forms of nonverbal communications used on a daily basis. These forms can affect the way people view another person; however, without understanding the forms of nonverbal communication there is certain to be a lot of misinterpretations. Cultural and language differences are a common reason for miscommunication. When communicating with people in different cultures, a person should be extremely aware of the hand gestures and nonverbal communication tools they are using. Many of the hand gestures used in the United States that mean good things, mean offensive and profane things to other cultures. Nonverbal communication is described as body language, hand gestures, and facial expressions. It is known that people reveal more information through nonverbal communication, than words alone to get a point across. There will always be some interaction between two or more people that everyone’s

For this discussion I chose an article about communication called Examples of Verbal Communication in the Workplace from Chron. It states,”Verbal communication occurs in meetings when participants share their ideas. Effective meeting organizers clearly define their objective, such as whether the intent of the meeting is to make a decision, brainstorm ideas, approve a plan, communicate a change or get a status report.” In America we have many non-verbal facial expressions that mean different things to different types of people. We have various cultures and we must be considerate of our actions in order to avoid offending someone. We all have seen a child eat something they truly do not enjoy. The child will make a face that might seem funny

Nonverbal communication plays a central role in any conversation. Eye contact, posture, and proximity all determine how verbal communication is interpreted. In his book Managerial Communication: Strategies and Applications, Geraldine E. Hynes breaks down these aspects of nonverbal communication. Every culture has its own form of nonverbal communication that can impact the way a person from that country is understood outside of their homeland. For example, Erin Meyer, and American writer, misinterpreted her audience because they were using a form of nonverbal communication she was not familiar with. Likewise, Egypt’s nonverbal communication is very different from Australia’s, according to USA Today and (your source for Austrailia). These differences have developed in accordance to the historical backgrounds of their country. Given these differences in nonverbal communication, it can be said that communicating across cultures is complicated by the unique norms of nonverbal communication used in different countries and cultures.

It is important for human services professionals to have a good understanding of their clients who are from different country or who has different cultures. It is important for human service professionals to understand how their clients with different cultural backgrounds and how they would interpret such non-verbal messages. (Woodside, McClam, 2012) For example, certain body language, facial expressions or hand gestures maybe inappropriate or rude. Before a processional can build trust or create a good relationship

In every society nonverbal communication is one of the most powerful tools that a person can use to interpret the message that is being delivered. Even though verbal communication is fairly straightforward, nonverbal communication allows others to sense the true emotions of the person that is expressing them. For example even though a person may say that they are not irritated, their usage of voice may display otherwise. Nonverbal communication not only reveals hidden messages, but it also complements, substitutes, and exaggerates verbal communication.

Teri Gamble and Michael Gamble’s essay “Nonverbal Behavior: Culture, Gender, and the Media,” discuss how different cultures communicate in nonverbal ways. Cultures have ways that can communicate non-verbally and other communicate verbally, but not all cultures have the same cues, which implies that we can’t practice our own techniques of communicating amongst others for the motive that it wouldn’t make sense. The Gamble’s relate this to the different communication skills on how men and women communicate. Women display more of their nonverbal communication skills; Men use more of the verbal way of communicating. Therefore, many of the times Men and Women don’t comprehend each other simply for the circumstance that they aren’t expressing themselves

Research shows that interpersonal communication can have a profound effect in the workplace in both positive and negative manners. Successful communication can ease conflicts and create open channels in conflict management situations. Consequently, choosing the right medium of communicating is key to conveying the intended message; at the same time, active listening also plays a factor in how the intended message is received. “Communication is a topic frequently linked to leadership; however, the linkage often is

It can be characterized as the key that joins different variables of an association. It decides the achievement or disappointment of an association. Communication can be intra-individual, interpersonal, additional individual or it can be authoritative gathering. Communication inside an association can be inner or outside through verbal or non-verbal and can make impact on the beneficiary if the message is appropriately transmitted to the recipient through any mode and coveted yield is acquired. On the off chance that a supervisor can get work from the representatives through non-verbal Communication than he is getting the greatest yield from the workforce calm. So it is understood that at the workplace effective non-verbal communication is more important than verbal communication skills to get the work done in a proper manner and to achieve the desired results. (Mortensen, C. David, 2008), Communication theory.