1. Description of the Situation:
As l was excited to be new freshman from the University excited to work in the mixture of mixture of cultures mainly Indians and Ugandans where l originally come from. Soon or later the reality started to hit me when l observed the blacks” were given low class positions in spite of the qualifications someone had. Therefore, motivation among the black people was low and small cliques were being made. I realised young Indians with no experience at all coming in and given high posts and worst of all they would back at us on a regular basis to show power and authority. No one was allowed to answer back and the so called Indian bosses wouldn’t be in the wrong whatsoever matter was done. Black was seen as color of curse and dirt so we were not treated
Only the higher bosses were allowed to make decisions. Fear was smelt everywhere and asking a question was like you didn’t know what you were doing. Supervisors were given special allowances, computers and desks while the lower ranks were given less privileges.
As a new young girl, l had studied accounting but had never practised it at all, so l was given duties to do to make invoices for all clients who come to buy products like rice. L was mainly dealing with customers which l verily liked but with all the tension l around l wanted to do my best too not to be a disappointment so l asked less questions. I was given training but it wasn’t enough to do the job well. As time passes by l am making all invoices as told my supervisor but we had to send requests to our clients who hadn’t paid their money and soon we realise that in the system the money is double than what we had anticipated. Therefore ofcourse we had to check in the system to see what was happening and we soon realised that my other colleague was also entering the amounts in the system because at the end of the day l would give all invoices to the my other colleague to reconcile with the system but he didn’t know that l was also entering the amounts in the systems he probably thought l was only making the receipts manually which caused a higher amount because money was entered twice. This caused turmoil and fear, l knew that day l was being fired but because l was a new staff l was forgiven but my work continued deteriorating more and more and my supervisor couldn’t understand but he kept insulting me and calling me names. The atmosphere at work kept getting worse and worse and people leaving and new faces coming in every month.
Getting a promotion was every difficult.
2. Analysis of the situation:
A) Physical barriers
Marked out territories and closed office doors were given to the high bosses or people with authority, physically separating from other staff. This reflected a personal space for the bosses and prevented us from having effective communication with our supervisors due to the being in an enclosed place and sometimes receiving instructions through the phone or over email. Nearness to others aids communication because it helps us get to know one another.
b) Perceptual barriers
The company was owned by Indians and had a bias with the colour of our skin and also thought that we were all lazy and thieves. So everything that got lost was turned towards the Africans. They really didn’t take the time to get to know us personally and neither did we get to know them. Therefore, we each of us had a different perception of each other, preventing us from having an effective communication among us. Till today Indians in Uganda are seen as very bad people because of the judgemental treat they give you, the first time you meet them.
c) Emotional barriers
The work place was comprised mainly of fear, mistrust and suspicion. Most of the communication was one way, you don’t speak until you're spoken to, As a result most of us held back from communicating our thoughts and feelings to our supervisors worried about what we might be thought about especially since l was a new employee at the work place. Hence, this stunted our development as effective communicators and our ability to form meaningful relationships.
d) Cultural Barriers
Everyone in life wants to have a sense of belonging, recognition, approval and inclusion in a group or work place and later probably adopt to the behaviour patterns. Getting a promotion at work was extremely very difficult because first priority was given to the Indians no matter what qualifications some one held. This tremendously demoralised me because l didn’t feel appreciated and accepted at the work place hence making my communication with staff less effective due to the mistrust and suspicion that surrounded the work place.
Solution to the Situation.
As