Communication is a smooth transmission of information, ideas, emotions and feelings (and more importantly transmission of meaning) from one to another where the intended message encoded by the sender is grasped by the receiver and s/he responds accordingly. But in many cases we fail to communicate the desired information, knowledge or emotion as some barrier crops up between the sender and the receiver which prevents successful communication, distorts the message or hampers the process and makes communication meaningless. For example, when we are communicating orally it may happen that the communication environment is noisy and consequently the receiver of the message is not able to hear us clearly. The noisy environment is a barrier to communication. It may also happen that two unknown persons accidentally meet and want to communicate but do not have a common language that can be the medium in which they can communicate. Or maybe when we are writing if our handwriting is illegible or we use very subject-specific jargon which the receiver has no knowledge of, then the communication would not achieve its desired goal. In these cases, illegible handwriting or the highly-specialized-jargonized language are barriers to communication. In short, it can be said that barriers to communication can simply be defined as anything that prevents the smooth exchange of meaning between a sender and receiver.
In the field of business communication, the communication barrier or any unwanted interference between the speaker/encoder and the receiver/decoder which hampers the communication flow is termed as Noise. Noise here does not merely refer to the physical noise but to any barrier that prevents the flow of communication. If the barrier or the noise is of a technological nature then it can easily be avoided as technical snags can be corrected easily. Suppose, you are in a basement of a building where the reception of a mobile network is not very good and you receive a call, it is always advised that you move out of the basement to let the communication be smooth. But if the noise or the barrier is due to some human error, then it takes a long time and sustained effort to correct as the human errors are linked to one’s habits and psychology. For example, if one has a problem of always assuming a sense of superiority whenever communicating, then it can easily become a deterrent for others to be attentive to her or his thoughts and emotions. The person’s sense of superiority can lead others to feel that they are deliberately and consciously being underrated, leading them to be detached or indifferent to the message being communicated.
Strategies to overcome Barriers to Communication
If one desires to be an effective communicator then one needs to learn ways to avoid barriers or noise so that communication failures do not happen. When a particular communication fails to evoke any response or the desired response because of some noise or barrier to communication, then the following steps can help solve the problem:
– Identify the problem
– Find the cause or barrier
– Work on alternative solutions
– Opt for the best solution
– Follow up rigorously
The first step is to identify the problem.When we can identify the problem, then we can find a solution for it. To identify the problem, it is necessary that one analyzes the feedback or the lack of it carefully. Once the barrier is located, then one can figure out easily the cause of the barrier and can look for all possible solutions. The best solution should then be opted for and then followed consciously so that the barrier does not crop up again.
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