BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION.
- Communication barriers are those factors due to which
- The message that is decoded by a receiver is often different than that which the sender intends, i.e. distortion
- The message is not received at all or received late.
- Communication barriers might lead to misunderstanding, conflict, and poor performance.
- Followings are the barriers to effective communication.
Physical barriers consist of physical distance, noise, and physical arrangement.
- Physical distance
Physical distance between sender and receiver may cause barrier to communication, e.g., when organization’s departments/units are physically separated in various geographical places.
- Noise
Noise distracts and interferes with accuracy of message reception.
- Physical arrangement or office design
It can obstruct communication, e.g. a wall between people, chambers of the executive officers.
- Selective perception/ lack of interest/poor listening
The receivers in the communication process selectively see & hear based on their needs, motivations, experience, background, and other personal characteristics. This might distort the decoding process. In other words, people do not pay attention to those communications which are not interesting to them or which do not fulfill their needs or simply they are day-dreaming when they are being communicated.
- Filtering
“Filtering is sender’s manipulation of information so that it will be seen more favorably by the receiver.”
Example 1: The subordinate may communicate his performance in a positive way hiding his lacuna.
Example 2: The superior may screen out some information and give only selective information to subordinates.
Example 3: The subordinate may filter and give only that information that superiors appreciate.
Filtering is more frequent in large corporations than in small business firms.
- Preconceived notion/jaundiced viewpoints /value judgment
When the receiver is pre-occupied/biased with the sender or the situation, he is not ready to understand the message he receives but rather he interprets the message according to his preconceived notion. In other words, the receiver interprets the message in line with his value system.
- Distrust/credibility about somebody’s integrity
Distrust in the credibility of the sender can be a barrier to communication, e.g. when we do not believe what he says.
- Emotions
Emotions (e.g. anger, hate, love) on the part of the listener while being communicated influence understanding of the message.
- Communication apprehension
“Communication apprehension is the undue tension and anxiety about oral communication, written communication, or both.”
5-20% of the population feels extremely anxious to communicate to others especially oral and face to face communication. So, they rely on memo to convey messages when a phone call would not only be faster but more appropriate.
Reference group
Employees consult their reference groups for advice and understanding of the meaning of the message. Hence, understanding depends upon referee’s interpretation of the message.
Poor planning for communication system
When the organization has poor communication system/design, it is ineffective, e.g. poor message design, poor encoding, poor channel selection, etc.
Hierarchical structure complexity & organizational distance
Complex structure in tall organizations having a no. of hierarchy serves as barriers to communication. Distortion occurs when the message travels through multiple layers of organization structure.
Status differences
When superiors pass on information to subordinates, the latter may interpret this differently simply due to the differences in status. Similarly, employees may feel discouraged in communicating with those higher in status & authority.
Information Overload
“Information overload is a condition when information inflow exceeds an individual’s information processing capacity.”
Information overload occurs when sender gives too much information in too short a period. Here, the receiver may ignore some information or message. Modern technology has made information overload possible e.g. internet websites. When information overload occurs, the receiver tends to select out, ignore, pass over, or tends to forget information or may put off further processing until the overload situation is over.
Timing
If the critical information is not communicated on time (due to slow communication, or other reasons), then the information may not by effective. Information delayed is information denied.
Omission
If only a part of the whole message is received due to whatsoever reasons, e.g. like technological system flow, then the communication may be ineffective.
Technology
Lack of information technology in the organization may be the cause of ineffective communication.
- Language
“The meanings of words are not in the words. They are in us.”
- Words mean different things to different people. Age, education, and cultural background are 3 of the more obvious variables that influence the language a person uses and definitions he or she gives to the words.
- In organizations, various types of employees work together. Employees are from different cultures, nationalities, diverse backgrounds, heaving different patterns of speech, and from different specialists departments having their own jargon (i.e. technical language), of different management levels. Here, the same word might mean different to different people. This creates communication problem.
- Long and complex sentence structure might be a hindrance.