Whensendersdonotprovideorprovideinappropriatefeedbackwillcausebreakingdowntocomm
unications.Itespeciallyhappenswhensendershavetogivenegativefeedback,becausetheyrealiz
ethereceiverswillreactinanegativeway.Suchasabankmanagerwillbereluctanttotellasubordina
tetheloanapplicationhasclosedbecausetheconsumerisgoingtoberefused.However,ifthesubor
dinateknowthissituationfromtheconsumer,thenegativefeelingtosupervisorarelikely.Manager
sandemployeearemorelikelytoreactinproperways,notmattertheinformationispositiveornegat
ivetodevelopbetterfeedbackskills.
RumorsandtheGrapevine
Rumorsaretheinformalinformationandstorieswhichquicklysharedamongtheorganizationalm
embersrelatedwiththespecialorganizationalevents.Theyareeasilyspreadwhenmembershaveli
ttleinformationaboutcomingnewswhichwillimpacttheirfuturesandthehabitsofothermembers.
Rumorsalwaysarespreadthoughthegrapevine,theyareinformalpathways.Inallkindsofgroups,
somepeopleseemknoweveryoneeverythingandspreadtheinformationtoothers.Sometimesthei
nformationspreadingrapevineisfalse,butsometimesitistrue.Suchasamarketingmanagerinanai
rlinecompanytoldaco-workerhewillquitthisjob,hadgivenhissupervisoradvancenotice.Thene
verymemberinhisteamknewhisplan,evenhedidnotmention to the supervisor.
Workforce Diversity
The diversity in the workplaces will cause a barrier to effective communication when mem
bers do not see eye to eye or respect and appreciate others’ opinions. Organizations such as
Dell, Federal Express, and bank ofAmericanusediversetrainingstoemployeestoletlearnhowt
ocommunicatewitheachother.Thetrainingprogramhaveseveralwayssuchhavingagroupofmin
oritymemberssharetheirownexperiencesanddifficulties,andlettingmembersworkforaperiodo
ftimewiththeotherwhoaredifferentfromthemselves.Helpingthediversemembersgetalongwith
eachothersothattheycouldcommunicateverywell,andachievetheorganizationalgoalstogether.
DifferencesinCross-culturalLinguisticStyles
Thedifferences in linguistic style will cause communication difficulties. Linguistic style is
the person’s characteristic way of speaking, such as tone of voice, speed, directness or not,
choice of words. In different culture, linguistic styles could be quite different, whichwillma
kesomemisunderstandings.SuchasJapaneseemployeesalwayscommunicatewiththesuperviso
rsinaformalwayandmoredeferentialthanAmericanemployees.Theydonotmindthelengthypau
sesinthecommunication.Ontheotherhand,U.S.employeeswill feel uncomfortable when the l
engthy pauses occur, they will try to fill the pauses. These cross-culture differences will ca