Barriers to Communication

Barriers to effective communication can retard or distort the message or intention of the
message being conveyed. This may result in failure of the communication process or cause an
effect that is undesirable. These include filtering, selective perception, information overload,
emotions, language, silence, communication apprehension, gender differences and political
correctness.[47]
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.

The communication barriers may prevent communication or carry incorrect meaning due to
which misunderstandings may be created. Therefore, it is essential for a manager to identify
such barriers and take appropriate measures to overcome them. The barriers to communication
in organizations can be broadly grouped as follows:

1. Semantic Barriers

These are concerned with the problems and obstructions in the process of encoding and
decoding of a message into words or impressions. Normally, such barriers result due to use of
wrong words, faulty translations, different interpretations, etc.

For example, a manager has to communicate with workers who have no knowledge of the
English language and on the other side, he is not well conversant with the Hindi language. Here,
language is a barrier to communication as the manager may not be able to communicate
properly with the workers.

2. Psychological Barriers

Emotional or psychological factors also act as barriers to communication. The state of mind of
both sender and receiver of communication reflects in effective communication. A worried
person cannot communicate properly and an angry recipient cannot understand the message
properly.

Thus, at the time of communication, both the sender and the receiver need to be psychologically
sound. Also, they should trust each other. If they do not believe each other, they cannot
understand each other’s message in its original sense.

3. Organizational Barriers

The factors related to organizational structure, rules and regulations authority relationships, etc.
may sometimes act as barriers to effective communication. In an organization with a highly
centralized pattern, people may not be encouraged to have free communication. Also, rigid rules
and regulations and cumbersome procedures may also become a hurdle to communication.
4. Personal Barriers

The personal factors of both sender and receiver may act as a barrier to effective
communication. If a superior thinks that a particular communication may adversely affect his
authority, he may suppress such communication.

Also, if the superiors do not have confidence in the competency of their subordinates, they may
not ask for their advice. The subordinates may not be willing to offer useful suggestions in the
absence of any reward or appreciation for a good suggestion.

Other Barriers

 Physical barriers – Physical barriers are often due to the nature of the
environment. An example of this is the natural barrier which exists when workers
are located in different buildings or on different sites. Likewise, poor or outdated
equipment, particularly the failure of management to introduce new technology,
may also cause problems. Staff shortages are another factor which frequently
causes communication difficulties for an organization.
 System design – System design faults refer to problems with the structures or
systems in place in an organization. Examples might include an organizational
structure which is unclear and therefore makes it confusing to know whom to
communicate with. Other examples could be inefficient or inappropriate
information systems, a lack of supervision or training, and a lack of clarity in
roles and responsibilities which can lead to staff being uncertain about what is
expected of them.
 Attitudinal barriers– Attitudinal barriers come about as a result of problems
with staff in an organization. These may be brought about, for example, by such
factors as poor management, lack of consultation with employees, personality
conflicts which can result in people delaying or refusing to communicate, the
personal attitudes of individual employees which may be due to lack of
motivation or dissatisfaction at work, brought about by insufficient training to
enable them to carry out particular tasks, or simply resistance to change due to
entrenched attitudes and ideas
 Ambiguity of words/phrases – Words sounding the same but having different
meaning can convey a different meaning altogether. Hence the communicator
must ensure that the receiver receives the same meaning. It is better if such words
are avoided by using alternatives whenever possible.
 Individual linguistic ability – The use of jargon, difficult or inappropriate words
in communication can prevent the recipients from understanding the message.
Poorly explained or misunderstood messages can also result in confusion.
However, research in communication has shown that confusion can
lend legitimacy to research when persuasion fails.[48][49]
 Physiological barriers – These may result from individuals' personal discomfort,
caused—for example—by ill health, poor eyesight or hearing difficulties.
 Bypassing – This happens when the communicators (the sender and the receiver)
do not attach the same symbolic meanings to their words. It is when the sender is
expressing a thought or a word but the receiver gives it a different meaning. For
example- ASAP, Rest room.
  Technological multi-tasking and absorbency – With a rapid increase in
technologically-driven communication in the past several decades, individuals are
increasingly faced with condensed communication in the form of e-mail, text, and
social updates. This has, in turn, led to a notable change in the way younger
generations communicate and perceive their own self-efficacy to communicate
and connect with others. With the ever-constant presence of another "world" in
one's pocket, individuals are multi-tasking both physically and cognitively as
constant reminders of something else happening somewhere else bombard them.
Though perhaps too new an advancement to yet see long-term effects, this is a
notion currently explored by such figures as Sherry Turkle.[50]
 Fear of being criticized – This is a major factor that prevents good
communication. If we exercise simple practices to improve our communication
skill, we can become effective communicators. For example, read an article from
the newspaper or collect some news from the television and present it in front of
the mirror. This will not only boost your confidence but also improve your
language and vocabulary.
 Gender barriers – Most communicators whether aware or not, often have a set
agenda. This is very notable among the different genders. For example, many
women are found to be more critical when addressing conflict. It's also been noted
that men are more likely than women to withdraw from conflict.[51]
Noise
In any communication model, noise is interference with the decoding of messages sent over
the channel by an encoder. There are many examples of noise:

 Environmental noise. Noise that physically disrupts communication, such as

standing next to loud speakers at a party, or the noise from a construction site next
to a classroom making it difficult to hear the professor.
 Physiological-impairment noise. Physical maladies that prevent effective
communication, such as actual deafness or blindness preventing messages from
being received as they were intended.
Cultural aspects
Cultural differences exist within countries (tribal/regional differences, dialects and so on),
between religious groups and in organisations or at an organisational level – where
companies, teams and units may have different expectations, norms and idiolects. Families
and family groups may also experience the effect of cultural barriers to communication
within and between different family members or groups. For example: words, colours and
symbols have different meanings in different cultures. In most parts of the world, nodding
your head means agreement, shaking your head means "no", but this is not true everywhere.
[55]

Communication to a great extent is influenced by culture and cultural

variables. Understanding cultural aspects of communication refers to having knowledge of
different cultures in order to communicate effectively with cross culture people. Cultural
aspects of communication are of great relevance in today's world which is now a global
village, thanks to globalisation. Cultural aspects of communication are the cultural
differences which influence communication across borders.