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Univerzitet Union – Nikola Tesla
Fakultet za poslovne studije i pravo
Seminarski rad iz predmeta Organizacija i
poslovna kultura
„Prepreke u komunikaciji“
Profesor: dr Nevena Krasulja
Student: Dragana Popović
Broj indexa: I0409-18
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Communication Barriers
Filtering
Filtering is the distortion or withholding of information to manage a person’s reactions. Some
examples of filtering include a manager’s keeping a division’s negative sales figures from a
superior, in this case, the vice president. The old saying, “Don’t shoot the messenger!” illustrates
the tendency of receivers to vent their negative response to unwanted messages to the sender. A
gatekeeper (the vice president’s assistant, perhaps) who doesn’t pass along a complete message
is also filtering. Additionally, the vice president may delete the e-mail announcing the quarter’s
sales figures before reading it, blocking the message before it arrives.
As you can see, filtering prevents members of an organization from getting the complete picture
of a situation. To maximize your chances of sending and receiving effective communications,
it’s helpful to deliver a message in multiple ways and to seek information from multiple sources.
In this way, the impact of any one person’s filtering will be diminished.
Since people tend to filter bad news more during upward communication, it is also helpful to
remember that those below you in an organization may be wary of sharing bad news. One way to
defuse this tendency to filter is to reward employees who clearly convey information upward,
regardless of whether the news is good or bad.
Here are some of the criteria that individuals may use when deciding whether to filter a message
or pass it on:
1. Past experience: Were previous senders rewarded for passing along news of this kind in the
past, or were they criticized? 2. Knowledge and perception of the speaker: Has the receiver’s
direct superior made it clear that “no news is good news?” 3. Emotional state, involvement with
the topic, and level of attention: Does the sender’s fear of failure or criticism prevent the
message from being conveyed? Is the topic within the sender’s realm of expertise, increasing
confidence in the ability to decode the message, or is the sender out of a personal comfort zone
when it comes to evaluating the message’s significance? Are personal concerns impacting the
sender’s ability to judge the message’s value?
Once again, filtering can lead to miscommunications in business. Listeners translate messages
into their own words, each creating a unique version of what was said. [1]
Selective Perception
Small things can command our attention when we’re visiting a new place—a new city or a new
company. Over time, however, we begin to make assumptions about the environment based on
our past experiences.
