BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION

By: Meenakshi Aggarwal August 18, 2011

What is a barrier to communication? Anything that prevents a message from being

conveyed. Synonymous in many ways with noise A barrier is usually of human rather than

technological origin Human barriers are less visible but more

consequential

Common barriers to communication:Apparent ‘cause’ Practical Example

Socio- cultural Message from organisation misinterpreted by members of a particular group

Psychological Message from external stakeholder ignored due to ‘groupthink’

Organizational Message coming down from the organization are at times given too much interpretation

Physiological Message in an internal report not received due to blindness

Economic Message not available to a public sector organisation due to lack of resources

Technological Message not delivered due to technical failure

SOCIO- CULTURAL BARRIERS An individual can be a carrier of culture but one

person cannot create culture By participating in a culture we are confirming

to social norms, whether implicitly or implicitly Similarly, there are norms in communication

too, e.g.- gestures, the meaning of a color, tone of speech and meaning of symbols

These norms can also be barriers to communication

Iceberg metaphor for culture

Key socio- cultural elements Group think- Social phenomenon which occurs

when group behavior dominates and stifles the decision making process.

Characterized by- Similarity and hidden differences Reliance on shared rationalizations Collective patterns of defensive avoidance Lack of vigilance Suppression of worrisome defects Unwarranted optimism

Conflicting values and beliefs Stereotyping and ethnocentrism Language and jargon

PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS Those barriers relating to the individual and the

individual’s mental and emotional state Key psychological barriers-

Filtering Perceptions Faulty memory Poor listening skills Emotional interference

Perception

Human memory process

ORGANIZATIONAL BARRIERS

Such kind of barriers relate to the organization’s structure, culture, patterns of work and communication flows

Most common organizational barriers- Information overload Message competition Information distortion Message filtering Conflicting messages Communications climate Status differences Structural problems

Overcoming Bias in LanguageExample Unacceptable Preferable

Gender bias Salesman Salesperson; Sales representative

Manpower Workforce; Workers

Man-made Artificial; Manufactured

Ethnic bias Jim Wong is an unusually tall Asian

Jim Wong is very tall

Disability bias

Crippled workers face many barriers on the job

Workers with physical disabilities face many barriers on the job

Overcoming the barriers

Taking the receiver more seriously Thinking more clearly about the

message Delivering messages skilfully

Focusing on the receiver Using multiple channels and

encoding Securing appropriate feedback

QUESTIONS