Barriers to Communication

What is Communication?

Communication It is a process which you can convey your message to someone or a group of people. If the message is conveyed clearly and unambiguously, then it is known as effective communication.

Barriers to Communication Lack of Subject Knowledge Physical Barriers Individual Barrier Language Barriers Gender Barriers Cultural Barriers Lack of Subject Knowledge Emotional Barriers Stress Attitudinal Barrier Channel Barrier

Physical Barriers These are often due to nature of the environment. Thus, for example, poor outdated equipment, particularly the failure of management to introduce new technology, may also cause problems. With 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.

Language Barriers The 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 understanding between the sender and receiver. The use of difficult or inappropriate words/ poorly explained or misunderstood messages can result in confusion.

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

Emotional Barrier This could be a barrier to communication if you are engrossed in your emotions for some reasons. You tend to have trouble listening to others or understanding the message conveyed to you. Few of the emotional interferences include hostility, anger, resentfulness and fear. The roots of our emotional mistrust of others lie in our childhood and infancy when we were taught to be careful with what we said to others.

Individual Barrier This refers to viewing what is said from one’s mindset. 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 a barrier. Style, selective perception, halo effect, poor attention and retention, defensiveness, close mindedness, insufficient filtration are the individual or psychological barrier.

Gender Barriers This refers to the differences of man and woman, this would mean that a man talks in a linear, logical and compartmentalized way, features of left-brain thinking; whereas a woman talks more freely mixing logic and emotion, features of both sides of the brain. It also explains why women talk for much longer than men each day.

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 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 physiological frame of mind depends on our beliefs, experiences, goals and values. Thus we fail to realize the essence of communication.

Attitudinal Barrier Limitation in physical and mental ability, intelligence, understanding, pre-concieved notions, and distrusted source divides the attention and create a mechanical barrier which affects the attitude and opinion.

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.

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