What is Perception?
The process of interpreting and organizing the sensory information that is perceived to create a conscious experience of the objects and the relationship between the objects. It is a process in which a person perceive about an object and interpret it into something that makes sense to the world around. It helps in deciding which type of the information can be made to notice and how to convert it to something with best of the knowledge and develop it to something meaningful to the world.
There are many factors that could create or sometimes acts as a hinderance in the process of perception. These factors can be present in the perceiver, the object being perceived or the situation in which the perception process is being carried out. 
Factors in the perceiver
- Attitude of the individual
- Motive behind perceiving something
- Personal interest of the individual
- Personal experience in similar situation
- Expectations from the object being percieved
Factors in the situation
- Time of the process
- Setting of the work
- Social setting
Factors in the Target
- Newness in the object being percieved
- Movement of the object
- Sounds of the surroundings
- Size of the target
- History of the target being percieved
- Similiarity with the experiences
Process of the perception
There are few steps involved in the process of perception which are :
- Receiving the stimuli
- Selecting the stimuli
- Organizing the data
- Interpreting it into some meaningful information
- Responding according to the perception made
There are few shortcuts that can be used in judging individuals and making perception about them :
Selective Perception – In this method people judge others on the basis of their background, experiences and the attitude they represent.
Halo effect- making judgement about a person on the basis of single characterstic
Contrast effect – making the judgement about a person that is influenced by comparing it with the other people who have been recently encountered on the basis of same type of characteristics.
Projection method- making judgement about a person by projecting one’s own characteristics to the other person.
Stereotyping- Judging a person on the basis of one’s perception of the group to which that person belongs to.
Applications of the shortcuts in the organization
There are three main applications of the shortcuts of judging others in the organization :
- Interview for the purpose of employment
- Expectations for the performance of the employees
- Evaluating the performance of the individual or of the group
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