Upper Intermediate Stories

Miscommunication
At work we typically spend 75 percent of our time in interpersonal situations. It is no surprise to find that poor communication is at the root of a significant number of problems within organisations.

We have all been communicating since we were babies so we often overlook the complexity. There is a lot of room for potential error.

If a parent says to a teenager, ‘Did you do the dishes?’ it may be a simple enquiry. However, the teenager may interpret it as a reprimand. In their mind they are getting in trouble or their parent is calling them lazy or disorganised. Their answer to their parent may be aggressive. The parent is likely to be bewildered at the rude behaviour of their teenager.

We often hear someone say something and we think, what did she really mean? Often the message that is heard is very different from the one that was intended. This happens within cultures and the problem can be exaggerated when we interact across cultures.

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