“Communication is not only the essence of being human, but also a vital property of life”

Barriers to Communicati

on

Communication>a process by which you convey a message to someone or a group of people.

Effective CommunicationIf the message is conveyed clearly and unambiguouslyThe message that was sent would reach receiver with very little distortion

Successful CommunicationThe receiver understands what the sender is trying to convey

Barriers to effective communication exists if the message is not clearly understood and this could cause to:

Roadblocks to professional and personal lifeCould be one of the major hurdles in achieving professional goals

But there may be some faults/barriers in thecommunication system that prevent the messagefrom reaching the receiver. These barriers are as

follows:

1. Physical Barriers

Often due to the nature of environment ex; poor or outdated equipment, failure of management to introduce new technology, etc.Distractions like background noise, poor lighting or an environment which is too hot or cold can all effect people’s morale and concentration, which in turn interfere with effective communication.

2. Language Barriers

The inability to converse in a language that is known by both the sender and receiver, the greatest barrier to effective communication.

The use of inappropriate words while conversing or writing could lead to misunderstanding between the sender and the receiver.The use of different languages, vocabulary, accent, and or dialect represents a national/regional barriers.Semantic Gaps(words having similar pronunciation but multiple meanings like- round; badly expressed message, wrong interpretation and unqualified assumptions)

Buzz-words and jargons (language that describes what we want to say in our terms may present barriers to others who are not familiar with our expressions)

When we couch our communication in such language, it is away of excluding others.

The use of difficult or inappropriate words/ poorly explained or misunderstood messages can result in confusion.

3.Cultural Barriers

These include 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.

4. Emotional Barrier

Being engrossed into emotions for some reasons creates a barrier to communication. Such cases tend to have trouble listening to others or understanding the message conveyed. Here are few emotional interferences: hostility, anger, resentfulness and fear.

The roots of our emotional mistrust to others lie in ourchildhood and infancy when we were taught to be careful

with what to say to others.

5. Individual Barrier

Refers to viewing what is said from one’s mindsetResult of an individual’s perceptual and personal discomfort(even having the same experience, mental perception may/may not be 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.

6. Gender BarriersThe differences between men and women’s speechpatterns:

Women; speaks between 22,000 & 25,000 words a day while men speaks between 7000 & 10,000In childhood, girls speak earlier than boys and at the age of three, have a vocabulary twice that of boys

The reason for this lies in the wiring of men’s and women’sbrains. When a man talks, his speech is located in the leftside of the brain but in no specific area. When a woman

talks the speech is located in both hemispheres and in two

specific locations. This means that a man talks in a linear, logical and compartmentalized way, features of the left-brain thinking; whereas a woman talks more freely mixinglogic and emotion, features of both sides of the brain. Italso explains why women talk for much longer than meneach day.

7. Lack of the Subject Knowledge

If a person who sends a message lack of the 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.

8. 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.

9. Attitudinal Barrier

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

10. Channel Barrier

If the communication length is long, or the medium selected is inappropriate, the communication might break-up.

Can also be a result of 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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