MD311_finals-tourism immersion_lesson.pptx

Tourism immersion in the 21st century

1. Multicultural diversity in the workplace for tourism professionals Finals

2. Barriers to Effective Communication COMMUNICATION BARRIERS can include anything that prevents or disables communicators to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time, or a receiver to get the right message at the right time.

3. Following are the common barriers to effective communication: Physical barriers - Physical barriers may prevent an individual from being able to interpret non-verbal cues. This is more common in communication methods relying on technology rather than face-to-face. Other physical barriers include:

4. Old or broken equipment used for communication Uncomfortable temperatures o Background noise Poor lighting o Communicating close to the time of your break/ lunch/ end of work hours Large work areas or working in an area that is physically separated from colleagues Closed doors Large geographic distances between the sender and the receiver - communication is usually easier over shorter differences

5. Psychological barriers - The psychological state of the speaker and listener can affect communication, for example: Someone who suffers from social anxiety and/or low self-esteem may be too distracted about how they are perceived when talking with a superior.

6. Organizational structure barriers - Companies with unclear structures can make communication difficult. For example, they may have an inefficient information sharing and communication system, employees may not know what their role is in the communication system etc ,

7. Perceptual barriers - Differing opinions and views can reduce objectivity. You may enter a conversation assuming that the listener will not understand you or be uninterested in what you're speaking about - this may consequently lead you to unintentionally harming your message, such as, using dismissive language or trying to be more humorous.

8. Attentional barriers - The listener may not pay enough attention to what is being said, perhaps they're distracted, or uninterested or they think the speaker's topic is irrelevant. This is very common in written communication, such as not reading the minutes from a team meeting.

9. Too much information - Providing someone with an overwhelming amount of details can confuse them and distract from your message. This is especially the case if the message has a lot of information that is new to the receiver. Make sure you avoid information overload in meetings, where people can easily switch off.

10. Emotional barriers - Emotional reactions from either or both the speaker and listener can prevent effective communication. It's difficult to put aside and not act on our emotions but it's necessary. Try to work out what words, topics etc. can trigger your strong emotional reactions so you can create a plan for managing them.

11. Cultural barriers - Cultural barriers can interfere with communication in a variety of ways: The norms of communication vary between cultures, such as, personal space. It's important to find common ground in these situations. People may form assumptions based on stereotypes of the other person's culture (cultural noise). Work cultures differ between companies which means you have to adapt to your company's culture to communicate effectively.

12. Assumptions, jumping to conclusions and premature evaluations - Forming a judgement before listening to everything the speaker has to say distorts your understanding. People often hear what they're expecting which can lead to false conclusions.

13. Semantic and language barriers - There may be: Language differences between the speaker and the listeners Difficulties in understanding unfamiliar accents Uses of: jargon, unfamiliar/regional expressions, specialist abbreviations, slang, technical terminology

14. Interpersonal barriers - Low self-esteem and prejudices can prevent you from forming relationships and connections with others due to your false perceptions. To overcome this you need to communicate more with others to increase your confidence and learn about your strengths and weaknesses.

15. Physiological barriers - Impaired eyesight, hearing problems, illness and pain can interfere with effective communication in the workplace

16. Lack of similarities - To clarify your points it's common to use examples and stories. However, their impact is reduced if: the other person does not find these relatable, they don't have the same knowledge or the same experiences as you.

17. Ambiguity - Being vague in your explanations and using too many generalisations or proverbs can lead to unclear communication and misinterpretation.

18. Status - Communication may suffer from selective communication. The top of a company's hierarchy may not share certain information to subordinates for fear of being judged as incompetent and they want to reinforce status differences.

19. Shortage of time - There may simply be a lack of time to convey information effectively. Resistance to change People may want to maintain the status quo so when, for example, a speaker tries to provide ideas involving a change, people may ignore or oppose it.

20. Credibility barriers - People are more likely to listen to a message if the sender has a credible and trustworthy reputation. Without this credibility, receivers may be suspicious, resistant or even hostile towards communication

21. Overcoming the Barriers Understand your multigenerational workforce There are 5 working generations right now: Traditionalists – born in 1945 and before Baby Boomers – born between 1946 and 1964 Generation X – born between 1965 and 1976 Millennials – born between 1977 and 1995 Generation Z – born in 1996 and after

22. 2. Make communication more agile - Earlier, we saw that highly hierarchical organization can struggle with communication more than those within which information flows more freely. In today’s everchanging world, it is extremely important to implement more agile means and ways of communication.

23. 3. Create and share engaging and personalized content People want to consume authentic, engaging, and fun content. The days when we would just send mass emails to the entire workplace are dead. 4. Switch to mobile-first communication Since communication is highly digital today, we need to better understand people’s preferred communication devices in both their personal and professional lives.

24. 5. Be aware of language, message and tone The sender should ensure that the message should be structured in clear and simple language. The tone of the message should not harm the feelings of the receiver. As far as possible, the contents of the message should be a concise and unnecessary use of technical words should be avoided 6. Consistency of Message The message sent to the receiver should not be selfopposing . It should be in unity with the objectives, programs, policies and techniques of the organization. When new information has to be sent inlay of the old one, it should always make a declaration of the change; otherwise, it can raise some doubts and queries for the same.

25. 7. Make sure to receive proper feedback The reason for feedback is to find out whether the receiver has appropriately understood the meaning of the information received. In face-to-face communication, the reply of the receiver can be understood. 8. Be a good listener It is the essence of communication that both the sender and the receiver should be good listeners. Both should listen to the each other’s point of view with attention, patience and positive attitude. A sender can receive much relevant information by being a good listener

26. An essential skill for all tourism professionals is the ability to Work in a Team . The reason it is important is because all facilities and services offered by tourism enterprise are the result of the input of many ( Shannessy at al., 2008).

27. A Team according to ( Shannessy at al., 2008) is a collection of people who work together to achieve collectively established common goals. A team has one main objective: Achieving a goal through the combined efforts of the members of that team. On the other hand, Team Spirit is an attitude that enables people to work together, it is about camaraderie, cooperation and collaboration. A team spirit exists in successful teams, team members who have team spirit demonstrate through their actions, commitment to the other members, the job and themselves.

28. Team Work is the collective effort of all team members to achieve the team’s common goals. When teams are effective there is no doubt that is the result of teamwork, organization will benefit and that our work life will be considerably more enjoyable as a result. When the work environment is pleasant, employees are generally happy. When employees are happy, the customers will benefit. ( Shannessy at al., 2008)

29. Types of team 1. SELF MANAGED TEAM Also known as Self-reliant or Self Directed teams. They are natural work groups that are given substantial Autonomy and in return are asked to control their own behavior and produce significant results. Organization using self-managing teams report several advantages: Improved flexibility of the staff More efficient operations through reduced number of job classification Lower Absenteeism and turnover rates Higher level of organizational commitment and job satisfaction

30. 2. CROSS FUNCTIONAL TEAM Teams where people from different functions work together towards a common goal. Members of this team could be subject matter experts from different functions, say for example, one person is from Marketing, one person from Sales and the other one from Product Development. These people are put together to make a cross functional team. Cross Functional Teams are used when a company is working on its improvement projects, which require a team involving a number of functions.

31. 3. VIRTUAL TEAM Information technology has a powerful effect on the individual behavior in organizations, and its effect is equally strong on social networks at the Team level. Technology has allowed the emergence of Virtual teams. Groups of Individuals from around the globe that meet through the use of technological aids without all their members being present in the same location.

32. Three (3) Dimensions characteristics of Virtual teams TIME: When people work – working with different hours, shifts or time zones SPACE: Where they work – different locations/countries/continents CULTURE: How and to whom people work for – Gender, Race, Language, Profession, Education, Nationality etc

33. 4. Problem Solving Team They are usually temporary and focus on solving specific issues. Once guidelines are set in place and plans are formed the task force, committees or such problem solving teams are disbanded.

34. Stages of Team development 1. FORMING Members share and exchange basic personal information, start to get to know and accept one another, ask questions about their assignments and objectives, and begin turning their attention towards the group's task. An aura of courtesy prevails, uncertainty is in the air, and interaction are often cautious.

35. 2. STORMING Members compete for status, jockey for position of relative control, and argue about appropriate direction for the group. External pressure interfere with the group, and tensions rise between individuals as they assert themselves and disagree about initial actions. If these stresses are not confronted, hard feelings may emerge and slows the group's progress.

36. 3. NORMING The group begin moving together in a cooperative fashion, and tentative balance among competing forces is struck. Group Noms emerge to guide individual behavior, role clarity emerges, cooperative feelings are increasingly evident, and a sense of cohesion becomes apparent.

37. 4. PERFORMING The group matures and learns to handle complex challenges. Functional roles are performed fluidly exchanged as needed, and task efficiently accomplished. However, a sense of achievement may also prematurely emerge because of errors made, pessimism about the prospects of success, and complacency among some members. Eventually, however, a fully functioning team will resolve their issues, establish a unique identity, and develop an atmosphere of openness.

38. 5. ADJOURNING Even the most successful groups, committees, and project teams disband (or change their composition) sooner or later. Their break-up is called adjournment. which requires dissolving intense social relations and returning to permanent assignments or moving on to another jobs. The adjournment stage is becoming even more frequent with the advent of flexible organizations, which features temporary groups. Successful teams examine their own history in search of lessons they have learned, and bid farewell to their teammates.

39. ACTIVITY Write the different barriers on communication in your previous workplace. How can you deal with the different barriers of communication in your workplace? Based on your experience, what is the essence of team work?