The Barriers to Effective Communication

.E. McFarland has defined Communication as the process of meaningful interaction among human beings. More specifically, it is the process by which meanings are perceived and understandings are reached among human being. But there may be some faults /barriers in the communication system that prevents the message from reaching the receiver, these barriers are as follows:-

1. Language Barrier; - Different languages, vocabulary, accent, dialect represents a national/ regional barriers. Semantic gaps are words having similar pronunciation but multiple meanings like- round; badly expressed message, wrong interpretation and unqualified assumptions. The use of difficult or inappropriate words/ poorly explained or misunderstood messages can result in confusion.

2. Cultural Barriers: - Age, education, gender, social status, economic position, cultural background, temperament, health, beauty, popularity, religion, political belief, ethics, values, motives, assumptions, aspirations, rules/regulations, standards, priorities can separate one person from another and create a barrier.

3. Individual Barrier: - It may be a result of an individual's perceptual and personal discomfort. Even when two persons have experienced the same event their mental perception may/may not be identical which acts as a barrier. Style, selective perception, halo effect, poor attention and retention, defensiveness, close mindedness, insufficient filtration are the Individual or Psychological barrier.

4. Organizational Barrier: - It includes Poor Organization's culture, climate, stringent rules, regulations, status, relationship, complexity, inadequate facilities/ opportunities of growth and improvement; whereas; the nature of the internal and external environment like large working areas physically separated from others, poor lightening, staff shortage, outdated equipments and background noise are Physical Organizational Barrier.

5. Interpersonal Barrier: - Barriers from Employers are :- Lack of Trust in employees; Lack of Knowledge of non-verbal clues like facial expression, body language, gestures, postures, eye contact; different experiences; shortage of time for employees; no consideration for employee needs; wish to capture authority; fear of losing power of control; bypassing and informational overloading, while Barriers from Employees includes Lack of Motivation, lack of co-operation, trust, fear of penalty and poor relationship with the employer.

6. Attitudinal Barrier: - It comes about as a result of problems with staff in the organisation. Limitation in physical and mental ability, intelligence, understanding, pre-conceived notions, and distrusted source divides the attention and create a mechanical barrier which affects the attitude and opinion.

7. Channel Barrier: - If the length of the communication is long, or the medium selected is inappropriate, the communication might break up; it can also be a result of the inter-personal conflicts between the sender and receiver; lack of interest to communicate; information sharing or access problems which can hamper the channel and affect the clarity, accuracy and effectiveness.

To communicate effectively one need to overcome these barriers. Working on breaking the barrier is a broad-brush activity and here are certain measures.

DO'S FOR BREAKING THE BARRIER:

- Allow employees access to resources, self expression and idea generation. - Express your expectations to others. - Use less of absolute words such as "never", "always", "forever", etc. - Be a good, attentive and active listener. - Filter the information correctly before passing on to someone else. - Try to establish one communication channel and eliminate the intermediaries. - Use specific and accurate words which audiences can easily understand. - Try and view the situations through the eyes of the speaker. - The "you" attitude must be used on all occasions. - Maintain eye contact with the speaker and make him comfortable. - Write the instructions if the information is very detailed or complicated. - Oral communication must be clear and not heavily accented. - Avoid miscommunication of words and semantic noise. - Ask for clarifications, repetition where necessary. - Make the organisational structure more flexible, dynamic and transparent.

- Foster congenial relationship which strengths coordination between superior and subordinate. - Focus on purposeful and well focused communication. - The message of communication should be clear and practical. - Get Proper Feedback.

DONT'S FOR BREAKING THE BARRIER:

- Be a Selective Listener, this is when a person hears another but selects not to hear what is being said by choice or desire to hear some other message. - Be a "Fixer", a fixer is a person that tries to find other person's fault. - Be a daydreamer. - Use long chain of command for communication. - Use too many technical jargons. - Jump to conclusions immediately. - Interrupt the speakers and distract him by asking too many irrelevant questions. RUPAL JAIN, LECTURER, ATHARVA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES (MUMBAI) and I can be reached at jainrupal@sify.com

Barriers to effective communication

BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

No matter how good the communication system in an organisation is, unfortunately barriers can and do often occur. This may be caused by a number of factors which can usually be summarised as being due to physical barriers, system design faults or additional barriers.Physical barriers are often due to the nature of the environment. Thus, for example, the natural barrier which exists, if staff are located in different buildings or on different sites. Likewise, poor or outdated equipment, particularly the failure of management to introduce new technology, may also cause problems. Staff shortages are another factor which frequently causes communication difficulties for an organisation. Whilst distractions like background noise, poor lighting or an environment which is too hot or cold can all affect people's morale and concentration, which in turn interfere with effective communication. System design faults refer to problems with the structures or systems in place in an organisation. Examples might include an organisational structure which is unclear and therefore makes it confusing to know who to communicate with. Other examples could be inefficient or inappropriate information systems, a lack of supervision or training, and a lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities which can lead to staff being uncertain about what is expected of them. Attitudinal barriers come about as a result of problems with staff in an organisation. These may be brought about, for example, by such factors as poor management, lack of consultation with employees, personality conflicts which can result in people delaying or refusing to communicate, the personal attitudes of individual employees which may be due to lack of motivation or dissatisfaction at work, brought about by insufficient training to enable them to carry out particular tasks, or just resistance to change due to entrenched attitudes and ideas.

OTHER COMMON BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION INCLUDE: Psychological factors such as people's state of mind. We all tend to feel happier and more receptive to information when the sun shines. Equally, if someone has personal problems like worries about their health or marriage, then this will probably affect them. Different languages and cultures represent a national barrier which is particularly important for organisations involved in overseas business. Individual linguistic ability is also important. The use of difficult or inappropriate words in communication can prevent people from understanding the message. Poorly explained or misunderstood messages can also result in confusion. We can all think of situations where we have listened to something explained which we just could not grasp. Physiological barriers may result from individuals' personal discomfort, caused, for example, by ill health, poor eye sight or hearing difficulties. Presentation of information is also important to aid understanding.

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Barriers to Effective Communication Workplace communication is not easy. This is a place where you meet people from different walks of life and also from different cultural background. Language is one of the major barriers to effective communication.

Communication is a process by which you convey your message to someone or a group of people. And if the message is conveyed clearly and unambiguously, then it is known as effective communication. In effective communication, the message you had send would reach the receiver with very little distortion. However, a communication becomes successful only if the receiver understands what the sender is trying to convey. When your message is not clearly understood you should understand that you are facing a barrier to communication. Barriers to effective communication could cause roadblocks in your professional and personal life and it could be one of the major hurdles in achieving your professional goals.

Barriers to Effective Communication

An effective communication barrier is one of the problems faced by many organizations. Many social psychologists opine that there is 50% to 70% loss of meaning while conveying the messages from a sender to a receiver. They estimate there are four basic places where communication could be interpreted wrongly. A few barriers of effective communication in an organization are given below.

Physical Barriers - One of the major barriers of communication in a workplace is the physical barrier. Physical barriers in an organization includes large working areas that are physically separated from others. Other distractions that could cause a physical barrier in an organization are the environment, background noise

Language - Inability to converse in a language that is known by both the sender and receiver is the greatest barrier to effective communication. When a person uses inappropriate words while conversing or writing, it could lead to misunderstanding between the sender and a receiver.

Emotions - Your emotions could be a barrier to communication if you are engrossed in your emotions for some reason. In such cases, you tend to have trouble listening to others or understanding the message conveyed to you. A few of the emotional interferences include hostility, anger, resentfulness and fear.

Lack of Subject Knowledge - If a person who sends a message lacks subject knowledge then he may not be able to convey his message clearly. The receiver could misunderstand his message, and this could lead to a barrier to effective communication.

Stress - One of the major communication barriers faced by employees in most of the organization is stress. When a person is under immense stress, he may find it difficult to understand the message, leading to communication distortion. At the time of stress, our psychological frame of mind depends on our beliefs, experiences, goals and values. Thus, we fail to realize the essence of communication.

The above-mentioned barriers to effective communication are considered as filters of communications. You can overcome the barriers to communication through effective and active listening.