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Ben Chiganze A Bass Fisherman’s Aapproach
Last Saturday my friends and I marked the end of our romance with Susigi International Dam. Our 10- year relationship was terminated unceremoniously.
After having a beautiful fishing day, one of the administrators, Jonathan came to us with some very sad news.
He told us that we could no longer fish in the dam. He actually asked us to leave the property immediately. The manner in which he communicated the message was both abrupt and rude.

He behaved as if we were enemies yet I do not recall any incidents between us and him which might have influenced the way he talked to us.

We only managed to ask him why he did not communicate the message earlier so that we stop coming to the dam.
We got no response. We had so many questions but he was in no mood to respond to them, all he was interested in was to ensure that we leave.

The manner in which he communicated with us highlights some of the problems that are associated with poor communication.
Most of the misunderstandings between individuals or groups of people stem from lack of communication.

Most of the arguments I have had with my wife emanate from the fact that I did not communicate important information to her and vice versa.

She always accuses me of not listening to her because I keep forgetting what she would have told me. My response has always been that she is poor at communicating hence my failure to remember what she will have said.

Most marriages have broken down due to poor communication. Some companies have lost credibility and goodwill owing to ineffective communication. Communicating effectively is a mirage for most of the people.

Why is it difficult to communicate?
In its idealist form communication is said to be effective if the message that is relayed by the sender (communicator) is received without any distortions. In other words the sender’s message and receiver’s message is 100 percent consistent.

The underlying assumption here is that the sender in her or his correct emotional and mental stability to use the correct tone, appropriate voice pitching and correct body language to send the message. These qualities are not readily present in every individual. Very few people are gifted to do this.

On the other hand we assume that the receiver does not have any pre-conceived negative bias or perception against the sender so as to affect the receiver’s comprehension.  We tend not to take seriously some of the information we receive from disadvantaged members of our community or from other races and religion.

As singer Alick Macheso sang in one of his songs: “Vamwe vakaudzwa hondo nemurwere wepfungwa vakamuseka kwai anorwara (Some were advised about an impending war by a mentally challenged person. They laughed at him and ignored the warning).
Don’t look down upon some sources of information without seriously considering the probable importance.

We also tend to readily absorb information which is favourable to our circumstances and block any information which does not align with our value systems.

At times the message is actually distorted right from the sender. The sender could have received it from others before passing it on to the receiver.

Each receiver filters and distorts the message such that by the time the message reaches its intended destination it would be totally different from the original message.

Even if the message is between two people, the interpretation of statements is totally different between two people.
When is communication abused?

Sometimes we do not have the correct facts and we go on to communicate half baked faction or information which is based on hearsay.
Every society suffers from the scourge of information relayed by impostors particularly in areas which require expert advice.

In most cases they speak and advise in areas where they do not have adequate knowledge. I recently heard of a butcher who is practising as a ‘gynaecologist’ specialising in carrying out illegal abortions in Harare.

I know of a qualified Shona and Ndebele teacher who is carrying out lectures and seminars in finance and Economics in Harare, Mutare and Bulawayo.

He actually lies that he holds a Doctorate in Development Economics from one of these European countries.
One just needs to attend one of his lectures to get an understanding of the extent to which our population is being fed with incorrect information.

There are so many impostors in specialised fields such as politics and even religion. Some of them are so prominent and influential such that it is impossible to flush them out.

I have also noticed that in some companies when management takes a decision they hold consultation meeting with workers where they allow the workers to air their views but in the end what will have been decided earlier is implemented without any amendment.

This is one of the reasons I find most school parents consultation meetings are pure waste of time and resources. These meeting s are held merely to ratify the decisions made by the Schools Development Associations (SDA).

The writer is a managing consultant at CLC Training International. E-mail [email protected] .