In order to ensure clarity in communication it is essential to reduce ‘noise’ and identify the barriers which prevent the intended message of the sender from reaching the receiver. The different Types of barriers are :
1. Lack of Planning : Communication is not a casual affair. Unfortunately many people do not plan the communication process effectively. This leads to breakdown in communication with the message being misinterpreted. You may have heard a long winded, ill planned lecture and not understood the message it was trying to convey. A short presentation with graphs and tables may have proved more effective. So communication needs careful planning and a suitable time and place.
2. Semantic Problems : Semantics is the systematic study of meaning. That is why the problems arising from expression or transmission of meaning in communication are called semantic problems. Oral or written communication is based on words. And words, limited in number may be used in unlimited ways. The meaning is in the mind of the sender and the mind of the receiver. But it is not necessarily the same meaning. For e.g. the word trunk may mean the stem of a big tree, or the trunk of an elephant or it may mean a big steel box. The meaning has to be carefully referenced and contextualised to receive the intended message. Much therefore depends on how the sender encodes his message. The sender has to take care that the receiver does not misconstrue his message and gets the intended meaning. Quite often it does not happen this way. This leads to semantic problems. It can be ensured only if we aim to clarity, simplicity and brevity so that the receiver gets the intended meaning.
3. Cultural barriers : We live in a culturally diverse world. People will encounter individuals from different races, religions and nationalities in their everyday encounters. There is often a lot of anxiety surrounding unfamiliar cultures. We may be confused about accepted norms in different cultures and if we do not know what to expect, communication will be hampered.
Cultural differences often come across as major communication hurdles. We need to handle this situation very carefully because we now have to operate in an international environment. The same category of words phrases, symbols, actions, colours mean different things to people of different countries or different cultural backgrounds. For e.g. in the United States people prefer to be called by their first names whereas in Britain and to a large extent in India people prefer a more formal mode of address. In North America a sign of ‘O’ made with the forefinger and thumb stands for OK while in the Southern states it is construed as obscenity.
The desire to communicate is the first step in being effective. The desire to connect with another human being is the bond that will express itself clearly. A genuine effort to understand another person goes a long way in the path to communication. Knowing about other cultures will help you develop your skills. Be proactive when approaching a new culture. This is a learned skill which means it will require research, practice and growth. People from different backgrounds may have varied approaches to conflict management, learning styles, family structures, religion and most other aspects of life. It is impossible to know the varied systems of all cultures, so approach this process one culture at a time as you meet and deal with new people.
4. Unclarified Assumptions : Quite often we act on assumptions, without caring to seek clarification for them. We should make all possible efforts to maintain our goodwill and not act impulsively on assumptions. If, for example, a customer rings up and informs that he would like to visit our factory without telling us that he would like to be picked up and we assume that he will come on his own, it may lead to misunderstanding and loss of goodwill. So it is essential to clarify all the details and be circumspect in such matters.
5. Socio-Psychological Barriers : The attitudes and opinions, place in society and status consciousness arising from one's position in the hierarchical structure of the organization, one's relations with peers, seniors, juniors and family background–all these deeply affect one's ability to communicate both as a sender and a receiver. Status consciousness is widely known to be a serious communication barrier in organizations. It leads to psychological distancing which leads to miscommunication or breakdown in communication. Sometimes people higer up in the organisational hierarchy builds walls around themselves. This restricts participation of the less powerful in decision making.
Frame of Reference is another barrier to clear communication. Every individual has a unique frame of reference formed by a combination of his experience, education, culture, attitude, family background and many other elements, resulting in biases and different experiences in a communication situation.
6. Emotions : Emotions play a very important role in communication. Our feelings and prejudices influence the coding and decoding of any message. If you feel strongly about a particular issue it is likely to influence our perception of the message. Again if I have strong prejudices against the sender it will dilute the message for me. For e.g. if I don't like the sender personally and thinks that he is a person who wants to harm me or he is a liar, I will not take his message seriously. This my distrust and attitude towards people can be a barrier. Similarly if I think that the sender is not capable of preparing a report. I will not take any report presented by him seriously. I have already decided he is not capable of writing good reports, therefore my selective perception acts as a barrier in this situation. Perception provides each of us with a unique view of the world–a view sometimes related to but not necessarily identical with that held by others. Selective perception means that the receivers selectively see and hear meaning depending on their needs, background, motivations, experionces and other personal characteristics. While decording the message, most of the receivers protect their own interest and expectations into process of communication leading to a particcular kind of feedback that may become a communication problem.
7. Filtering : Filtering means that the sender of a message manipulates information in such a way that it will be seen more favourably by the receiver. A manager, for example, likes to tell his boss what he feels his boss wants to hear. In this pracess he is filtering information. The net result is that the man at the top never gets objective information. In the same way people at different levels condense and synthesise information so as to get maximum benefits for themselves. They hold back or ignore some important part of the information. The more vertical levels in an organisation, the more chances are there of filtering. This is a frequent communication problem.
8. Information Overload : Unchecked inflow of information very often becomes a barrier to communication. It may stifle the receiver who becomes bored and frustrated. When people are bogged down by too much information they are likely to make errors. They may also delay processing or responding to information / message at least for sometime, and delay becomes a habit causing serious communication problems. People may also become selective in their response, which is not conducive to communication.
9. Poor Retention : As a corollary to information overload it is worth noting that people are also likely to forget the message reaching them. So there is the necessity to ropeat the message and use more than one medium to communicate the same message.
10. Poor Listening : For communication to be effective the art of listening is very important. Most people want to talk and seldom listen. When the other person is talking they tend to think about what they are going to answer rather that paying attention to the message. The result is that the speakers words are wasted. Everybody knows about the importance of listening, but very few actually practise, patient, active and emphatic listening. That is why so many communication problems crop up. Poor listening accounts for incomplete information and also poor retention. If this is happening quite frequently then the desired result may not be achieved.
11. Goal Conflicts : Very often there is a clash of goals within the various units and sub units of an organisation leading to communication breakdown. Communication should serve as a conflict reduction exercise. But the goal conflicts serve as communication reduction exercises. Different units internalise their own goals which leads to splitting or bifurcation of interest in the organisation. When people start competing for the fulfillments of their narrow interests communication suffers.
12. Offensive Style of Communication : Offensive words and gestures lead to a breakdown in communication. The receiver refuses to decode the message if he finds it insulting. It is a very sunsitive issue and has to be dealt with tactfully. It is absolutely necessary for the sender to adopt a persuasive style of communication.
13. Insufficient Period for Adjustment : It is a well known fact that people respond to change in different ways. They take their own time to adjust to any news or peoposal for change. While the purpose of communication is to effect change it should be kept in mind that the receiver be given ample tims to accept the change. Only then the communication will be effective.
14. Loss By Transmission : Communication often suffers or gets diluted when messages pass on from person to person in a series of transmission. The more intermediary there are, the more the message is likely to be diluted. Special care has to be taken that the intended message reaches the person concerned.
15. Impersonal Communication : Since communication links people and the purpose of communication is to get people to perform actions for common good, it must be personal. For example we start all letters with the word “Dear’. Why do we do that? We want to establish a personal relationship with the receiver. Impersonal communication can be a serious barrier.
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