BARRIERS TO

COMMUNICATION

CONTENTS-

SR. NO TOPIC PAGE NO.

1 INTRODUCTION 6

2 COMMUNICATION 7

3 BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION 11

4 TYPES OF BARRIERS 12

5 CONCLUSION 21

6 BIBLIOGRAPHY 22

INTRODUCTION-

Most people would agree that communication between two individuals should be simple. It’s

important to remember that there are differences between talking and communicating. When you

communicate, you are successful in getting your point across to the person you’re talking to.

When we talk, we tend to erect barriers that hinder our ability to communicate.1

Communication is not a one-way street. To have others open up to you, you must be open

yourself. By overcoming these barriers to communication, you can ensure that the statement you

are making is not just heard, but also understood, by the person you are speaking with. In this

way, you can be confident that your point has been expressed.

Barriers to effective communication can retard or distort the message and intention of the

message being conveyed which may result in failure of the communication process or an effect

that is undesirable. These include filtering, selective perception, information overload, emotions,

language, silence, communication apprehension, gender differences and political correctness.

This also includes a lack of expressing "knowledge-appropriate" communication, which occurs

when a person uses ambiguous or complex legal words, medical jargon, or descriptions of a

situation or environment that is not understood by the recipient.

COMMUNICATION-2

1 http://opin.ca/article/seven-barriers-communication (11/05/2014, 3:43 pm)2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication (11/05/2014, 5:02 pm)

Communication (from Latin commūnicāre, meaning "to share") is the activity of

conveying information through the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by

speech, visuals, signals, written, or behavior. It is the meaningful exchange of information

between two or more living creatures.

One definition of communication is “any act by which one person gives to or receives from

another person information about that person's needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or

affective states. Communication may be intentional or unintentional, may involve conventional

or unconventional signals, may take linguistic or non-linguistic forms, and may occur through

spoken or other modes.”

Communication requires a sender, a message, and a recipient, although the receiver does not

have to be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication;

thus communication can occur across vast distances in time and space. Communication requires

that the communicating parties share an area of communicative commonality. The

communication process is complete once the receiver understands the sender's message.

Communicating with others involves three primary steps-

Thought: First, information exists in the mind of the sender. This can be a concept, idea,

information, or feeling.

Encoding: Next, a message is sent to a receiver in words or other symbols.

Decoding: Lastly, the receiver translates the words or symbols into a concept or

information that a person can understand.

There are a variety of verbal and non-verbal forms of communication. These include body

language, eye contact, sign language and haptic communication. Other examples are media

content such as pictures, graphics, sound, and writing.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities also defines the communication to

include the display of text, Braille, tactile communication, large print, accessible multimedia, as

well as written and plain language, human-reader, augmentative and alternative modes, means

and formats of communication, including accessible information and communication technology.

Feedback is a critical component of effective communication.

VERBAL COMMUNICATION- Human spoken and pictorial languages can be described as

a system of symbols (sometimes known as lexemes) and the grammars (rules) by which the

symbols are manipulated. The word "language" also refers to common properties of

languages. Language learning normally occurs most intensively during human childhood.

Most of the thousands of human languages use patterns of sound or gesture for symbols which

enable communication with others around them. Languages seem to share certain properties

although many of these include exceptions. There is no defined line between a language and

a dialect. 

Constructed languages such as Esperanto, programming, and various mathematical formalisms

are not necessarily restricted to the properties shared by human languages. Communication is the

flow or exchange of information within people or a group of people.

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION- Nonverbal communication describes the process of

conveying meaning in the form of non-word messages. Some forms of non-verbal

communication include haptic, gesture, body language or posture, facial expression and eye

contact, object communication such as clothing, hairstyles, architecture, symbols, infographics,

and tone of voice, as well as through an aggregate of the above.

Speech also contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage. This form of communication is

the most known for interacting with people. These include voice lesson quality, emotion and

speaking style as well as prosodic features such as rhythm, intonation and stress.

ORAL COMMUNICATION- Oral communication, while primarily referring to spoken verbal

communication, can also employ visual aids and non-verbal elements to support the conveyance

of meaning. Oral communication includes speeches, presentations, discussions, and aspects of

interpersonal communication.

As a type of face-to-face communication, body language and choice tonality play a significant

role, and may have a greater impact upon the listener than informational content. This type of

communication also garners immediate feedback.

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION- A business can flourish only when all objectives of the

organization are achieved effectively. For efficiency in an organization, all the people of the

organization must be able to convey their message properly.

NON-HUMAN COMMUNICATION- Every information exchange between living organisms

— i.e. transmission of signals that involve a living sender and receiver can be considered a form

of communication; and even primitive creatures such as corals are competent to communicate.

Nonhuman communication also include cell signaling, cellular communication, and chemical

transmissions between primitive organisms like bacteria and within

the plant and fungal kingdoms.

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION- Effective communication occurs when a desired effect is

the result of intentional or unintentional information sharing, which is interpreted between

multiple entities and acted on in a desired way. This effect also ensures that messages are not

distorted during the communication process. Effective communication should generate the

desired effect and maintain the effect, with the potential to increase the effect of the message.

Therefore, effective communication serves the purpose for which it was planned or designed.

Possible purposes might be to elicit change, generate action, create understanding, inform or

communicate a certain idea or point of view. When the desired effect is not achieved, factors

such as barriers to communication are explored, with the intention being to discover how the

communication has been ineffective.

BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION-

There are many ways to explain what a communication barrier is. Some explanations are

given below-3

The barriers to communication are things or people that hinder effective interactions or

relationships. Some of the barriers include physical barriers like the environment, cultural

barriers like the ethnicity and linguistic barriers like language.

A communication barrier refers to something that hinders transmission of information

from one place or person to another. An example is language barrier where the two

people cannot understand each other since they do not share a common language.

A barrier to communication is an obstacle in a workplace that prevents effective

exchange of ideas or thoughts. Such barriers include status differences, gender

differences, cultural differences, as well as the organizational environment.

Communication barriers can be described as factors that hinder the passage of a message

from the sender to the receiver. They include physical barriers such as distance, language

barriers, cultural barriers and emotional barriers among others. However, these barriers

can be overcome by use of various strategies.

Communication barriers are things that affect the flow of communication. These barriers

interrupt the flow of communication from the sender to the receiver. They include

physical barriers, cultural barriers, and language barriers among others.

TYPES OF BARRIERS-

Process3 http://www.ask.com/question/what-are-barriers-to-communication (11/ 05/2014, 8:29 pm)

Semantic

Organizational

Inter-personal

Individual/ psychological

Cross- cultural (Geographic)

Physical / channel / and media

Technological

Gender

PROCESS BARRIERS-4

Every step in the communication process is necessary for effective and good communication..

Blocked steps become barriers. Consider the following situations:

Sender barrier- A new administrator with an innovative idea fails to speak up at a

meeting, chaired by the superintendent, for fear of criticism.

Encoding barrier- A Spanish-speaking staff member cannot get an English-speaking

administrator to understand a grievance about working conditions.

Medium barrier- A very upset staff member sends an emotionally charged letter to the

leader instead of transmitting her feelings face-to-face.

Decoding barrier- An older principal is not sure what a young department head means

when he refers to a teacher as "spaced out."

4http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic%20Journal%20Volumes/Lunenburg,%20Fred%20C, %20Communication%20Schooling%20V1%20N1%202010.pdf (11/05/2014, 9:37 pm)

Receiver barrier- A school administrator who is preoccupied with the preparation of the

annual budget asks a staff member to repeat a statement, because she was not listening

attentively to the conversation.

Feedback barrier- During a meeting, the failure of school administrators to ask any

questions causes the superintendent to wonder if any real understanding has taken place.

SEMANTIC BARRIERS-5

Clearly, language and linguistic ability may act as a barrier to communication.  However, even

when communicating in the same language, the terminology used in a message may act as a

barrier if it is not fully understood by the receiver(s).6 Semantics means coding /decoding. It

relates to the Phonetics science of sound.

The words we choose, how we use them, and the meaning we attach to them cause many

communication barriers. The same word may mean different things to different people.

• Similar Pronunciation but multiple meaning.

• Badly expressed message – incoherence, poor sentence structuring and jargons

• Wrong interpretation - Pandit, raja / Rajah

• Unqualified assumption by sender / receiver

• Technical language / jargon

5 http://cas.upes.ac.in/pdf/Barriers%20to%20Commn%203.pdf (11/05/2014, 9:56 pm)6 http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/barriers-communication.html (11/05/2014, 10:03 pm)

ORGANISATIONAL BARRIERS-7

Interference from relative status and power of participants, incompatible needs and expectations

Organizational culture – impacts freedom and trust

Organizational rules and regulations

Status relationship

Complexity in organizational structure

Inadequate facilities and opportunities

Lack of cooperation between senior and subordinate.

INTER-PERSONAL BARRIERS-

Interpersonal barriers are what ultimately keep us from reaching out to each other and opening

ourselves up, not just to be heard, but to hear others. Oddly enough, this can be the most difficult

area to change. Some people spend their entire lives attempting to overcome a poor self-image or

a series of deeply rooted prejudices about their place in the world.8

They are unable to form genuine connections with people because they have too many false

perceptions blocking the way. Luckily, the cure for this is more communication. By engaging

with others, we learn what our actual strengths and weaknesses are. This allows us to put forth

our ideas in a clear, straightforward manner. Sender and receiver – different economic,

educational and status level.9

7 Supra note 58 Supra note 19 Supra note 1

Barrier from Superior-10

Shortage of time for employee

Lack of trust

Lack of trust for employee’s needs and expectations

Desire to capture authority by retaining information

Fear of losing power of control

Bypassing

Information overload to employees – missing grain from chaff

Barrier from Subordinate-11

Lack of proper channel

No interest to communicate

Lack of cooperation and mutual understanding

Lack of trust and co-ordination

Poor social relationship

Fear of penalty

INDIVIDUAL/ PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS-

The psychological state of the receiver will influence how the message is received.  For example,

if someone has personal worries and is stressed, they may be preoccupied by personal concerns

and not as receptive to the message as if they were not stressed.12

10 Supra note 511 Supra note 512 Supra note 6

Filtering means that more often than not we see and hear what we are emotionally tuned in to see

and hear. Filtering is caused by our own needs and interests, which guide our listening.

Psychosocial barriers often involve a psychological distance between people that is similar to

actual physical distance.13

Linguistic accent

The form of expression

Level of drama / gestures

Humour

Brevity

Choice of discriminatory or non- discriminatory communication

Quality of credibility and charisma

Selective Perception – ‘I know it syndrome’, ‘waste of time’

Status relationship - – monologues by seniors

Inattention

Poor retention

Undue importance of written words

Defensiveness to a unpleasant message

Closed minds – lack of background knowledge

State of health – lack of alertness

Filtering

CROSS CULTURAL/GEOGRAPHIC BARRIERS-14

13http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic%20Journal%20Volumes/Lunenburg,%20Fred%20C, %20Communication%20Schooling%20V1%20N1%202010.pdf (12/05/2014, 5:27 pm)14 Supra note 5

Cultural barriers are a result of living in an ever shrinking world. Different cultures, whether they

be a societal culture of a race or simply the work culture of a company, can hinder developed

communication if two different cultures clash. In these cases, it is important to find a common

ground to work from. In work situations, identifying a problem and coming up with a highly

efficient way to solve it can quickly topple any cultural or institutional barriers. Quite simply,

people like results.15

Language

Values and norms of behaviour

Social relationship

Concept of time

Concept of space

Non-verbal communication

Perceptions

National character / basic personality

PHYSICAL BARRIERS-

Physical barriers are easy to spot – doors that are closed, walls that are erected, and distance

between people all work against the goal of effective communication. While most agree that

people need their own personal areas in the workplace, setting up an office to remove physical

barriers is the first step towards opening communication. 16

15 Supra note 116 Supra note 1

Many professionals who work in industries that thrive on collaborative communication, such as

architecture, purposefully design their workspaces around an “open office” plan. This layout

eschews cubicles in favor of desks grouped around a central meeting space. While each

individual has their own dedicated work space, there are no visible barriers to prevent

collaboration with their co-workers. This encourages greater openness and frequently creates

closer working bonds.17

TECHNOLOGICAL BARRIERS-18

Lack of knowledge of technology

Advancement in technology

Noise

Fear of lack of security

GENDER BARRIERS-

Gender barriers have become less of an issue in recent years, but there is still the possibility for a

man to misconstrue the words of a woman, or vice versa. Men and women tend to form their

thoughts differently, and this must be taken into account when communicating. This difference

has to do with how the brain of each sex is formed during gestation.19

17 Supra note 118 Supra note 519 Supra note 1

In general, men are better at spatial visualization and abstract concepts such as math, while

women excel at language-based thinking and emotional identification. However, successful

professionals in highly competitive fields tend to have similar thought processes regardless of

their gender. 20

OVERCOMING BARRIERS-21

Fostering good relationships

Purposeful and well directed /focused

Co-ordination between superior and subordinate

Avoid technical language

Feed back to avoid selective perception

Accuracy

Clarity in message

Communication of organizational

philosophy

Flat organizational structure

Division of labour

Organizational policies

Reduction of semantic problems

Proper communication channels

Right feed back

20 Supra note 121 Supra note 1

CONCLUSION-

Communication is the process of transmitting information and common understanding from one

person to another. The elements of the communication process are the sender, encoding the

message, transmitting the message through a medium, receiving the message, decoding the

message, feedback, and noise. A number of barriers retard effective communication.

There are many barriers that hinder communication. In order to ensure effective communication,

these barriers have to be overcome.

If the meaning of the message is not understood, the purpose of communication is lost. These

barriers hinder the transfer of the message. So they need to be removed. The means to overcome

the barriers to communication has been mentioned in the project.

Communication is very essential in daily life. Anything that comes in the way of it, that is, the

barriers to communication, has to be got rid of. Ensuring that there are no barriers to

communication is the key to effective communication.

BIBLIOGRAPHY-

http://opin.ca/article/seven-barriers-communication

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication

http://www.ask.com/question/what-are-barriers-to-communication

http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic%20Journal%20Volumes/Lunenburg,%20Fred

%20C,%20Communication%20Schooling%20V1%20N1%202010.pdf

http://cas.upes.ac.in/pdf/Barriers%20to%20Commn%203.pdf

http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/barriers-communication.html