7 sources review

COMMUNICATION ANALYSIS

Part 1 – Background

For this paper, I have analyzed my work organization’s communication avenues. I currently work for State Farm in the auto claims department. The claims department consists of multiple calls centers across the United States. Our call centers use email, phone calls, letters, and sometimes live chats for managerial conferences.

Insurance is a coverage we purchase to protect ourselves and others when unforeseen circumstances arise. Most people have auto insurance but may not know exactly what they are paying for or how to use it. Auto claims department assists customers in explaining their coverages and getting them back to pre-accident condition. It is a humble feeling helping a customer in need but can also cause lack of confidence when the company frequently changes procedures and implements new systems without training. Multiple communication barriers enable State Farm employees to assist customers with confidence.

Part 2 – Communication Inhibitors

AUDIENCE EXPECTATIONS BARRIERS – are caused by people having different personalities and different expectations which may have the listener or speaker thinking that one is not understanding

NOISE BARRIERS – have the ability to interfere with communication and clarity of the message being delivered

ORGANIZATIONAL BARRIERS – are caused by mixed messages, lack of clarity, and poor communication structure

EMOTIONAL BARRIERS – are any emotions that can change the deliverance of understanding, reaction, and actions between the speaker and listener

Part III – Application of Inhibitors

Communication	Inhibitor	Analysis
A customer expressed her frustration and her view on State Farm having lack of urgency to fix her car. I apologized to the customer explaining I understood her frustration but we have to follow company guidelines and contact our insured first. The customer thought just because she had our insured’s policy number she could get her car fixed under their policy without us confirming the facts of loss.	Audience expectations barrier	We are unable to satisfy the customer’s expectation due to company policy. Although, the customer feels her needs should be met at this moment.
Daily 5-minute team huddles are incorporated to review previous day results and to give out updates/helpful tips. Huddles are held at one end of the floor where other claim handlers are on phones calls.	Noise barrier	We are unable to focus at the team huddle due to noise and other distractions around us.
State farm claims hubs have approximately 6000+ associates. The main communication preference to push out updates and new procedures is through email. Sometimes the new procedure will have a job aid attached to the email for claims associates to use when that problem occurs.	Organizational and emotional barrier	It is difficult while being on a call with a customer trying to maneuver a job aid, follow instructions, and explain to them what is happening. When the claim associate doesn’t sound confident the customer will lose confidence as well.

Part IV – Evaluation

I rank State Farm’s communication effectiveness at 77 out of 100.

Communication is valuable between State Farm leadership and employees as well as claims associates and customers. Leadership delivers updates, effective dates, and important information to their associates by email and daily huddles. Claims associates deliver communication to customers by mail, phone calls, and emails.

Although leadership has provided the necessary updates and/or information to us by email or huddle, we are unable to familiarize ourselves with the new procedure until we are presented with the situation on a call with a customer. Keeping associates alert of the new policy updates is beneficial but not beneficial to the customer if we are unable to clearly explain and/or set up the process. Leadership should allow an allotted time to train associates how to use the new procedure instead of giving a job aid to follow during a call with a customer. Granted, providing additional training won’t eliminate the communication barriers mentioned but it will help State Farm’s communication effectiveness.