Greetings!
In the first decade of 2000, I started working in an internet service provider as an I.T. professional in a small city where I finished college. then I left and began working as a graphic artist for a printing company just one block away. Then after a year, I realized that I need to move to the big city in order for me to have a higher salary.
I eventually ended up working on a multi-branch company as an I.T. professional (which is my current employer today). In my first two jobs, I just accept instructions and do my job as instructed directly by the owners of the company who employed me. In those two previous employers, I never get to experience communicating with others because all I do is accept instructions then do my job according to that instructions.
Fast forward to my current employer. In my first weeks on my job, my co-employees would just call me on my local telephone if they needed some help and then I go to their place if needed. And then after a couple of weeks has passed I notice that some of my co-employees are reluctant to directly communicate to the person that they need help. I was like, what in the world, why wouldn't anyone want to talk directly to the person that they needed some help with.
And then another week passed one of my co-employee needs some help from another department head. I was surprised she told me that I have to pass her message to the department head (I was like, why wouldn't she just call the person?). I did pass the message. But I am more surprised because the department head said, you tell her this...blah, blah, blah. Inside my head I am going nuts, why would these individuals don't like to talk to each other, what in the world! Both of them are just a phone call away!
At first, I don't get it. Then I thought the two individuals hate each other or have issues in the past. But I was wrong, they don't hate each other, they don't have issues in the past. Then I realized that sometimes it is how they communicate, are they lazy or what? I don't know. But one thing I learned about their actions and reluctance to communicate directly, the communication failed, and no decision or solution is made on the concern of the person needing some help from the other.
When I started working nobody taught me about communication. But I know for myself that if I needed to talk to someone I would do it directly (talk directly to the person).
Not talking directly to the person that you need to talk to has some caveats. What if the middle man passed the wrong message? Problems would surely arise and the communication will fail. To me talking directly or communicating directly to the person is the best form of communication because you will deliver the message exactly as you want and the message receiver would receive exactly what message you said you may have some misunderstandings but that would be solved immediately if there is no middle man. Also, without a middle man, the communication will be faster and more credible, thus eliminating the chance of problems to arise.
