Transactional Analysis and communication

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 Transactional analysis or TA is a branch of

psychotherapy developed by Eric Berne. His definition of it is a theory of personality and a systematic psychotherapy for personal growth and change.

Knowing about TA can be very useful for

improving our communication skills. TA is about how people are structured 4/28/12 psychologically and is both a theory of

There are three ego states :

Parent, Adult, Child.

Ego states are irrespective of age and are capitalised to differentiate from the normal use of the words parent, adult and child.
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The Parent and Child ego states are echoes of

the past. The Adult ego state is a response to the here and now when a person is grown up and using grown up responses.

Ego states are things not names. They are a

set and related; thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

Communication between people can be from 4/28/12

one ego state to a different one or from one

Normally communication will be from one ego

state either to the same ego state or a different one. The person who first communicates will expect a reply to be from a certain ego state. If communication is from a different ego state to the expected one, then the communication may be ineffective and the message may be lost, not received or disregarded by the person receiving it.

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Using TA for effective communication

the transaction complementary i.e. focus on sender to receiver and receiver to sender where the message is sent to the ego state from which you expect a reply.

For effective communication we need to keep

We can also use TA to help us plan

transactions. For example we can identify which ego state would be most valuable for us to send the message from and which ego state it would be better for it to be received by.

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We can listen to peoples communication to

identify if they are habitually in one ego state and then decide if communication to that ego state would be appropriate or not. trying to shift the other persons ego state by inviting people to move into a different ego state Asking a question

We can help communication if we need to by

Stating a few facts Asking for their opinion Asking for their preference
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INEFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONcommunication There are five types of barriers of

1. Semantic barriers

Semantic is the science of meaning, as contrasted with phonetic, the science of sounds. This problem could arise in the interpretation of the words or overall meaning behind the message. There are five types of semantic barriers.

Symbols with different meaning Language

4/28/12 Faulty translations

2. Badly expressed message

Lack of clarity and precision in message .Makes

it badly expressed. Poorly chosen and empty words and phrases, careless omission, lack of coherence, bad organization of ideas, awkward sentence structure, inadequate vocabulary; platitudes; numbering repetition, jargons, failure to clarify implications are some common faults found in this case.

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3. Loss of transmission and poor retention

When communication passes through various

levels in the organization, successive transmission of the same message are decreasingly accurate. It is said that in case of oral communication.

4. Over/Under communication
The quantum of communication should be

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right. Neither should be excess information nor should be scanty. Excess information may confuse the receiver as he has to figure out exact import of the message, and scanty information would make him grope for that actual intent of the message.

5 . I Attitude
Imagine a piece of communication that begins

and ends with the pronoun I. How tedious it is going to be for the listeners to sit through the entire piece of interaction. If a sender starts every sentence with I, it gradually leads to what is referred to as the Isyndrome.

6. Prejudices
Starting any piece of communication with a
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or know-it all attitude can prove to be

Rules for overcoming the fault of sender

Plan and clarify ideas think prior to speak. Create a climate of trust and confidence remove

physical noise.

Time your message carefully - -make the quantum

of communication just right.

Reinforce words with action minimize use of I. Communicate efficiently formulate message with

open mind.

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Communication Gap
CASE OF INDANE BISCUITS Click to edit Master subtitle style

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Facts Of The Case

Indane Biscuits employed the workers on a daily

basis in their factory

Management

does

not

follow

Statutory

Regulations.
Were able to get away with violations by keeping

the concerned inspector in good books.

Factory has a designated room for Hire and Fire. On

the National safety day, the industries Association, of which Indane biscuits is a member, decided to celebrate collectively at a central place.

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So

The personnel manager, Indane Biscuits, desired to consult his supervisors and to inform everybody through them about the safety day celebrations. the room meant for hiring and firing.

He sent a memo requesting them to be present in As soon as the supervisors read the memo, they all

got panicky thinking that now it was their turn to get fired. They started having hush-hush consultations.
The workers also learnt about it, and since they

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had a lot of scores to settle with the management they extended their sympathy and support to the supervisors.

In

a meantime, the personnel manager was unaware of the developments and when he came to know of it he went immediately and tried to convince the supervisors about the purpose of inviting them and the reason why that particular room was available. But the supervisors and the workers were in no mood to listen. on hearing about the strike , also couldnt convince the workers.

The managing director, who rushed to the factory

The matter was referred to the labour department.

The enquiry that followed resulted in all irregularities of the factory getting exposed and imposition of heavy penalties. The personnel Manager was sacked. 4/28/12

Questions
1. In the case of the Indane Biscuits, bring

out the importance of context and credibility in communication.

1. List the direct and indirect causes for the

escalation of tension of Indane Biscuits.

3. If you were the Personnel Manager what
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would you do?

Ans -1. In this case there were three drawbacks in the memo:
Firstly the place was wrong because the room that was selected for hiring and firing. After reading about the place the subordinates thought that they going to be fired. If a meeting is going to be held in play ground without proper context, then it will create a sense that the discussion will be on games not or company strategy on any serious matter.

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Secondly every memorandum must contain clear

cut context because memo is a way of communication which must contain the matter to be communicated.
Lastly there was less reliability among the

members of the concern because they were not fixed on their jobs and Indane Biscuit concern was violating the strategy regulations without fear and can take any action against any worker of the company.
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Ans 2. Direct causes for the escalation of tension of Indane Biscuits :Unclear context. Absence of reliability on management. Doubtful venue. Poor track record(violating statutory regulations,

bribing for illegal works).

Wrong perception of memo (memorandum).

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Indirect causes for the escalation of tension of Indane Biscuits are :-

Unsecurity of job (daily basis employment). Bunch firing(including supervisiors and workers). Suppressed anger. Need for a change in rules of company.

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Ans 3. If I was the personal manager at Indane Biscuits I would be concern about points given below:I would not allow the violations of statutory

regulations and bribing.

I must have provided a job security cancelling

employing labour on daily basis. to hire or to fire.

In my company there was no place for a room used I would write memo with clear context.
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I must have gained the faith of supervisors as well

as workers.

I had worked on increasing reliability of workers

towards management and vice-versa.

After that case like this came to me I had must

used my good rapport and convincing power to resolve problems.

In case it would not get solved then I must arrange

a meeting with the employees of company tried to negotiate with them.

Lastly I hope I must get success to convince them.

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