ambiguity

Examples of ambiguity in the following topics:

• The Nature of Effective Communication

  • Another barrier is "knowledge-appropriate" communication–using ambiguous legal words or medical jargon with another person who doesn't understand them.
  • System design faults like ambiguous definition of roles that can lead to confusion about message targets; lack of oral and written communication skills; and poor information technology infrastructure, including networks and applications.

• Downward Communication

  • Creating clearly worded and non-ambiguous communications and maintaining a respectful tone can overcome these issues and increase effectiveness.

• Time Pressure as a Barrier to Decision Making

  • Clearly defining the decision and its parameters early on can reduce ambiguity and make it easier to hone in on relevant data.

• The Manager's Role in Group Decisions

  • Establish the team goal: By articulating the dimensions of the decision, including its importance, a manager can reduce ambiguity and help group members focus their analysis, discussions, and deliberations.

• Moral Leadership

  • Laws establish clear boundaries of what is acceptable, but ethics often involves more ambiguous questions.

• A Leader's Vision

  • A vision reduces ambiguity and provides focus—two benefits that are especially valuable in turbulent or rapidly changing times.

• Evaluate the Results

  • When decision outcomes are not clearly measurable or have ambiguous results—some parts good, some bad—is not uncommon for people to emphasize the favorable data and discount the negative.

• Reducing Workplace Stress

• Culture-Specific Nuances of Decision-Making

  • Tolerance for Ambiguity - A high tolerance for ambiguity or risk taking is 'counter-culture' culture, which dictates a high level of tolerance for going against the grain.

• Defining Stress

  • Examples include: interole conflict (when there are two or more expectations or separate roles for one person), intrarole conflict (varying expectations of one role), person-role conflict (ethics are challenged), and role ambiguity (confusion about their experiences in relation to the expectations of others).