Transactional Model of Communication

Communication is an act of passing information from one person to another. It is important, therefore, that one ensures that the receiver is in a position to get the message (Balmud 2008, pp. 47-52).  The feedback one gets from the receiver makes it easy to know whether effective communication has occurred. We communicate during all our life, sometimes even without knowing it. Several obstacles may arise in the process of communication. These include anxiety, lack of preparation, and sexual harassment among others. Life is full of such situations. Many people will experience such scenarios at least once in a while (Schramm 1954, pp. 5-15). Most of human beings feel that it is easy to communicate; people feel that they are always able to make good communication to the people around. Unfortunately, it is not that easy. Communication needs a lot of preparation (Schramm 1954, pp. 5-15).  People should be ready to communicate even in very difficult moments. Still, they must never assume that they have been able to communicate what they wanted to. As such, persons should be ready to evaluate the feedback from the recipients. A good feedback should be what they must use to determine how good they are in communication.

Description of the situation

In my experience, I have been in places, where I have wanted to convey a certain message but was unable to. Sometimes, I have been disappointed, when several people want to convey certain messages, very crucial, but are interrupted in the course of doing so. About a month ago, I went to a certain restaurant within the city. I wanted to do deliveries for vegetables, and also get the payment for earlier deliveries. I found out that the management had changed and new people had been put in place. Though, I had done this many months before, I was suddenly uneasy. The manager in charge of supplies was new to me. This meant that I had to give the details of who I was, why I wanted to see him. The meeting took a short time. Anxiety grew within me and I could not convey the necessary information with ease. After the session was over, the supply manager was suspicious of who I really was. He had many questions that he wanted me to answer in another session.

Analysis of the situation

Having been in the business for long, I had never figured out that management would change. I never prepared for changes, assuming that communication would always be easy. That specific day proved that I have never made good preparations as far as communication is concerned. Communication, as I had assumed, could have never been hindered. However, this was a wrong assumption. I needed to make adjustments even before I headed for the restaurant that specific day.  However, I do believe that the manager would have given me the chance to explain all the information that he needed to know. I believe that he jumped into the conclusion of who I was. Having been very regular in the premises, as I explained to him, he would have taken his time to listen to me. However, that was not the case. He felt that I was not to be trusted as much as I explained myself to him. At the end of the day, I went home disappointed that I had not been able to gain trust from the manager.  I also think that use of several words by the supplies management made it hard for me to communicate the message. He asked me why I had not been wise to consult him before I went into the premises. The use of the words ‘not wise’ acted as a barrier for me. I felt that the words were incorrect. I could not use wrong words to counter the words, yet I had to communicate effectively. Faced with this, I withdrew much of the information I wanted to convey. 

Solution to the problem

Following the poor communication that occurred that day, I had to get another session to convey the message that I meant to on that specific day. For one, I had to sit down and assess the situation in details. The recipient had not received the message after all. I, therefore, chose to do enough preparation for the next session. I wrote down the main points I wanted to convey and ensured that I mastered them. First, I had to explain who I was and the past experiences I had had with the restaurant.  I also had to ensure that the message was brief, yet carried all the details of what exactly I wanted from the management.  

My attitude also had to change. I had to ensure that I should be ready to communicate, even in the place where the unexpected scenarios occurred. The other factor I had to consider was the fact that the audience had changed. This meant that the language had to change; I had to use a different approach this time. I had to present the information in a way that the supplies management could understand. It meant that several key words had to be used so that the message would be conveyed effectively. In the next session, communication was easy. The feedback was positive, thanks to the confidence I portrayed on the meeting. I was able to use correct words and was very keen to ensure that I was precise. The supplies manager was satisfied that I was the right person to continue delivering in their premises. More so, I was able to answer all the questions that the manager asked. I had anticipated some of the questions, while some were totally unexpected. However, coupled with confidence, I gave very satisfactory answers.

Communication calls for any given person to be accurate and precise (Balmud 2008, pp. 48-53). Some details need to be avoided, while others retained. This demands enough preparation and assessment of situation at hand. The audience also differs and must be handled differently. One must consider the exact words to use before even communicating to given audiences. In my case scenario, I was never prepared for a different audience. I did not have the exact words to approach the situation.

The experience that one has had in communication may interfere with the ability of the person to make effective communication in future. This, then, calls for psychological preparation so that one is able to face the situation at hand in a whole different way. In my experience, I had to ensure that I would get to deal with the psychological problems that the experience created. I had to ensure that I was looking at the management without fear and anxiety. Other obstacles that can occur during communication include anger, sadness among other psychological barriers (Balmud 2008, pp. 47-52). In my situation, our communication occurs in face-to-face channel, and according to this channel I mayn’t able to hide my sudden reactions maybe anger by the manager’s choice of words. Remember Visual and Vocal codes are almost 70% of our communication. This would have meant loss of focus in the exact information I wanted to convey. I could also have used incorrect language and words in the very moment of anger and disappointment. Another scenario would have been stereotypical attitudes from the management. He could have formed a wrong opinion on my personality, and as such fail to give me another opportunity to communicate effectively. All these barriers to communication must be addressed. The attitudes must change towards ensuring effective communication occurs. The noise levels must be minimal, and, at the same time, have the correct language to ensure effective communication occurs.

Effective communication is far much more important than anything else in the world. To ensure that people get good feedback every time they are passing across any information is of great importance. It is important, therefore, to learn the dynamics of good communication. It is important to ensure that people will have received with gladness what others were communicating. I realized that poor communication is very expensive. I would have well lost the opportunity to make business transactions in future. I had to overcome the barriers that I was faced with so that communication was enhanced in the future. The easier any individual is able to overcome the obstacles, the easier for them to make progress in effective communication.