Have you ever experienced felt awkward talking to someone about something that makes sense or you want to be communicated to that person? You know it’s the right thing to do, but you just feel awkward. How about those helpless situations in which you really feel the need to talk to someone about something but you are just not comfortable with the idea and you let it go, secretly wishing it was possible? Well, it is possible. Your feelings are genuine too but there has got to be a way to be comfortable with the idea of communication, no matter how awkward you feel about it in the beginning. If you have felt such situations, you may or may not be aware of the term that is used to describe this dilemma because of which one has to go through this and that’s called communication gap.
The purpose of life itself is to understand its ways and live in whatever way one likes to. However, we as humans are not perfect and often find ourselves in situations that we are not happy with or that we are not ready to deal with. The capability of dealing with situations varies from person to person, and I feel that learning and challenging yourself to face these situations is what makes life more meaningful and beautiful. Bridging communication Gaps nothing less than a challenge and one requires to be very patient and confident to give it a try. Here, I am talking about those gaps that are there between:
- Parents and children.
- Boss and employee.
- Teacher and student.
Parents and children
This is the kind of relationship where parents have to play their part if they really wish to stay close to their children and share their life with them. While some parents like to keep it frank and wish to form a friendship with their children, some like to keep it strict because of which sometimes, unknowingly a communication gap is born. While both strict and lenient parents have their own way of dealing with their children, communication gap has not much to do with it. It is about sharing and listening, talking and sharing and most of all, understanding and respecting. The generation gap is a real thing and it really takes efforts from both the sides to understand the differences and respect the opinions in order to be comfortable communicating with each other.
Boss and Employee
This is one of the trickiest relationships in term of communication. One has to understand that there are certain boundaries that need to be drawn while being open to the idea of sharing problems and differences with each other. In a professional environment, the most important thing is to keep the personal differences separate from professional differences. People eventually learn to deal with it. But it is important to have such a professional difference between the employees and boos that along with appreciation, criticism is also always welcome.
Teacher and Student
A teacher’s job is to teach and make the student comfortable in asking and raising questions that they have in mind. If a student is feeling uneasy in asking questions then, in my view, the teacher has failed to deliver the job, unless, the student has his/her own issues.
However, while a student is encouraged to ask questions, they should keep in mind that even if a teacher is wrong at some point, there is an area within the boundary that they should not cross and that area is called respect. A teacher rightfully demands respect from students and it is better for both the teacher and the student to follow it in order to keep the communication smooth.
Reducing Communication Gaps:
1- Boss- Employee:
Within an organization, the gap can be reduced by realizing that the employee needs to be given importance for the role he is playing in an organization. This can be done sharing the progress with all the employees and making them own their job and the organization’s aims. Employees should be aware of what difference their actions are making to the company so that even if criticism comes their way, they take as positively and strive to improve their performance.
2- Student-teacher:
Sometimes, students and teachers are a generation apart and that is where communication becomes a hindrance and gives rises to other personal issues. One of the biggest differences that are being faced right now is the use of technology. While school and college students of the present age belong to the era where they haven’t seen what the world was like before technology, the teachers have seen technology take over the world before their eyes. Seniors teachers might have problems adopting it and students may face problems understanding without the use of it. So here, it is important to understand these differences and then raises questions and try to learn from each other instead of being egoistic about it.
3- Children-Parents:
Like Teacher-Student relationship, parents and children also face issues due to the generation gap. However, it's not as big a difference as it may seem. The topmost priority for parents should be to make their children better human beings and in order to make it happen, it's important not just to teach them good lessons but also to become an example for them. This is possible only when children do see their parents as their idol. So parents should make their children feel confident about themselves and discuss their issues with the parents without being scared. Remember that children, especially during teenagers, have the whole world to judge them, it's only the parents in whom they find their confidence. If you break it or make them feel uncomfortable in sharing their problems with you, they may feel lonely and eventually depressed.
The more I observe some of the issues being faced at work, home or educational institutes, the more I realize how communication gap has so much to do with it and it makes me want to bridge these gaps even more. How life would be so much easier if people respected each other and how conversations would’ve been so much more interesting, had there been fewer communication gaps.