BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATIONBy: Meenakshi Aggarwal August 18, 2011

What is a barrier to communication?Anything that prevents a message from being conveyed.Synonymous in many ways with noiseA barrier is usually of human rather than technological originHuman barriers are less visible but more consequential

Common barriers to communication:

Apparent causePractical ExampleSocio- culturalMessage from organisation misinterpreted by members of a particular groupPsychologicalMessage from external stakeholder ignored due to groupthinkOrganizational Message coming down from the organization are at times given too much interpretationPhysiologicalMessage in an internal report not received due to blindness

EconomicMessage not available to a public sector organisation due to lack of resourcesTechnologicalMessage not delivered due to technical failure

SOCIO- CULTURAL BARRIERSAn individual can be a carrier of culture but one person cannot create cultureBy participating in a culture we are confirming to social norms, whether implicitly or implicitlySimilarly, there are norms in communication too, e.g.- gestures, the meaning of a color, tone of speech and meaning of symbolsThese norms can also be barriers to communication

Iceberg metaphor for culture

Key socio- cultural elementsGroup think- Social phenomenon which occurs when group behavior dominates and stifles the decision making process. Characterized by-Similarity and hidden differencesReliance on shared rationalizationsCollective patterns of defensive avoidanceLack of vigilanceSuppression of worrisome defectsUnwarranted optimism

Conflicting values and beliefsStereotyping and ethnocentrismLanguage and jargon

PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERSThose barriers relating to the individual and the individuals mental and emotional stateKey psychological barriers-FilteringPerceptionsFaulty memoryPoor listening skillsEmotional interference

Perception

Human memory process

ORGANIZATIONAL BARRIERSSuch kind of barriers relate to the organizations structure, culture, patterns of work and communication flows

Most common organizational barriers-Information overloadMessage competitionInformation distortionMessage filteringConflicting messagesCommunications climateStatus differencesStructural problems

Overcoming Bias in Language

ExampleUnacceptablePreferableGender biasSalesmanSalesperson; Sales representativeManpowerWorkforce; WorkersMan-madeArtificial; ManufacturedEthnic biasJim Wong is an unusually tall AsianJim Wong is very tallDisability biasCrippled workers face many barriers on the jobWorkers with physical disabilities face many barriers on the job

Overcoming the barriersTaking the receiver more seriouslyThinking more clearly about the messageDelivering messages skilfullyFocusing on the receiverUsing multiple channels and encoding Securing appropriate feedback

QUESTIONS