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BARRIER OF COMMUNICATION-:

Communication is a process involving transmitting and


receiving information. If the message sent by the sender is
received in the same way as it was intended, the process
of communication is called successful. But sometimes this
does not happen due to some barriers in the process of
communication. Barriers affect adversely the effectiveness
of communication. In this chapter we will discuss some
such barriers, for the awareness of the problems in itself is
half the solution.
1. Wrong Choice of Medium-: There are various media
of communication available- oral, written, visual,
audio-visual etc. The medium of communication
should be selected according to the kind of situation.
A wrong choice may leads to many disturbances. For
examples, if an employee wants to discuss something
important with his superiors, a telephonic
conversation or written letter may not of as much help
as the face-to-face dialogue.
2. Physical Barriers-:
a) Noise- Noise is a big barrier in communication. In

factories oral communication is difficult due to


excessive noise of the machines. There should be
sound proof and separate places in factories or
mills for discussing important affairs.
b) Defects in the medium- A defective telephone

connection or a poor mobile network, a slow


internet connection can create a lot of disturbance
in the process of communication. Accept that
technology can hinder as well as help your
message. Use technology selectively and with clear
thought before you send your message out across
the organization.
c) Time and Distance- Distance can be a barrier in
communication at times. However modern system
of communication has overcome the problem of
distance to a great extent. But we may not have
them everywhere. Proper measures should be
taken to minimize this barrier. Time can also be a
barrier sometimes. Due to different schedules of
employees in a particular organization a barrier
might be created. Sometimes a wrong seating
arrangement also affects communication. An
organization’s view on ‘time allowed’ and ‘time
available’ is often part of its unique culture. If
everything is fast and furious in an organization, it
will take longer for the message to get through.
Why? Because a fast pace and tight timeliness
diminish the opportunity for people to concentrate
on one things at a time. They will need to revisit the
message on a few occasions and in different ways
before it takes hold in their mind.
In addition, tight timeliness diminish the change for
interaction and collaboration. If employees want
people to embrace their message, they must allow
time in which they can connect and share their
thoughts and feelings with others… and with you.
Perhaps you need to delay the sharing of your
message if you want people to spend the best
amount of time on it.
1. Semantic and Language Barriers-:
Semantic means pertaining to the meaning of
words. Such barriers may arise because of many
reasons. Too much use of ‘jargons’ or technical terms
may lead to a failure in exact communication. The
process of encoding a message should be strictly
according to the receiver’s language and point of
view.
Sometimes the barrier can be because of use of
the words which have many meanings. There are
many such words which like charge, check, suit,
screw, burn, write, paste, infected etc. such words
should be carefully used. Murphy and Peck have
described a barrier of ‘by-passed instructions’ arising
because of same words meaning different meanings*.
It is not always necessary that the receiver is at the
same wavelength as you.
In oral communication the barriers can arise
because of words which have the same
pronunciations but have different meanings. It can
also arise because of mispronunciations of the words.
An incorrect language is a very big barrier in the
process of communication. Wrong use of language
can lead to much confusion. The drafting of a letter
should be from proper hands. Sometimes, the use of
many idiomatic and bombastic expressions may also
lead to the failure of communication.
Because of culture or environment many words may
generate different responses in people. There may be
a biased attitude of some people towards particular
words or ideas. Such things must be kept in minds
while conveying a message.
Barrier of language can also be because of
different language spoken in different places.
Acceptance of English as international language has
solved this problem to a great extent.
Note- * indicate that-
The example Murphy and Peck give is:
An office manager gave a letter to a newly appointed
assistant and said ‘take it to our stock room and burn it’. In
the office language the word burn was used to make a
copy on a machine company operated by heat process.
The letter was extremely important. However, the puzzled
new employee, afraid to ask questions, burned the letter
the only existing copy.
2. Organizational Barriers-:
a) Complexity in organizational structure:

Organizations having many levels of hierarchy may


have a slow flow of communication among various
members having different authority levels in an
organization. The system of flow of communication
should not be very complicated.
b) Organizational culture, climate and

interpersonal Relationships: Trust, Freedom,


healthy relationship, friendly atmosphere, generate
a healthy work atmosphere and more productive
results. Confusions, quarrels, misunderstandings,
ego-problems may create a communication gap in
an organization, which may lead to dangerous
results. Measures should be taken to keep the
relations healthy. A regular get-together of all the
members is very essential.
c) Over Rigidity of Rules and Regulation: Too rigid

rules of an organization may lead to a slow flow of


information among various members of an
organization.
d) Superior subordinate relationships: The flow of

information can arise because of poor superior-


subordinate relationships in organizations.
e) Inadequate Facilities and opportunities: An

organization may not have adequate means and


media of communication or equipments. Open door
employment system, conferences, seminars and
meetings being held in the organization also
influence the flow of communication.
1. Barrier Relating to Superior-Subordinate
Relationship: The subordinate must follow the orders
from higher authorities, carry out his duties efficiently
and provide full information regularly to the superiors.
Similarly the superior should spend enough time with
subordinates listening to their feedbacks and
problems. But there can be some barriers in the
process of superior-subordinate communication.
These are barriers emanating from superiors as well
as subordinates.

1. Barriers emanating from superiors:


a) Shortage of time for employees.

b) Lack of trust distorts the relations and therefore


the flow of communication between superiors and
subordinates.
c) Lack of consideration for employee’s needs may
adversely affect the relations between and
employee.
d) Fear of losing power and control over

employees, arising from lack of trust in people,


may make the superior hesitate to speak freely
even regarding an important matter. He may use
a bossy tone to ensure his control even where it
is not desired. This may lead to prejudices in the
minds of subordinates, and thereby distort the
process of communication.
e) Bypassing also acts as a barrier. If the

information is bypassed leaving intermediary


channels, an information may not reach
effectively to all the members. This may lead to
confusions.
f) Overload of information is also a problem. Extra
detailed information may lead to lack of focus on
important issues, which leads to a big
communication problem.
1. Barriers emanating from subordinates:

a) There may be complexity in the structure of an

organization, which may make it difficult for


subordinates to communicate freely with
superiors.
b) If a subordinate is indifferent to communicate
with superiors, that may create a gap in the
process of communication.
c) Lack of cooperation and mutual understanding
may lead to hiding of some important information,
essential for organization.
d) Poor relationship between superior and

subordinates- subordinates must develop a


healthy relationship with superiors. Inn their
relationship the superior has a bigger role to play,
but the subordinate should make efforts to keep
the relationship between them healthy.
e) Hesitation on the part of subordinates is a major
barrier in the process of effective flow of
information.
1. Psychological Barrier:
Psychological barriers are the prime barriers in
interpersonal communication. There can be many
psychological barriers in communication.
a) Selective Perception: The receiver may have a

world of his own around himself. He projects his


expectations and apprehensions in decoding the
messages. He may not take that part of information
which does not match with his expectations. Having
poor concepts of himself and the people may act as
a big barrier in the process of communication.
People with negative attitude of life and world
around them generally make many mistakes in
understanding other’s thoughts. People with such
mindsets always misunderstand a message and
colour the objective reality of it in their own
subjective way.
b) Halo Effect: The awe in which a speaker is held by

the listener conditions the process of


communication (Especially the oral
communication). If the speaker is highly trusted as
an honest person, his statements are readily taken
as true. Oral communication is greatly conditioned
by the impressions about the speaker on the
listener. This sometimes acts as a barrier in
communication, since the impression of the
speaker and not the worth of the message is the
determining factor.
c) Complexes: A sense of superiority or inferiority
may prevent proper oral interaction between the
persons. These complexes can be because of
various reasons.
Complex of superiority basically arises from frog-
in-the well attitude. Those who know very little tend
to think they know more than others, and that
everyone around them is a fool or knows less than
them. They generally have a high opinion about
their smartness. This affects communication to a
great extent. Such people always disregard
everyone around them, which irritate people and
hinder the process of communication.
Complex of inferiority is just the opposite of
superiority complex. Lack of confidence in oneself
causes this problem. Norman Vincent Peale says
that the chief cause of inferiority complex is ‘lack of
faith’- faith in life, man’s goodness, oneself, etc. It
can have many other causes as well, most of which
are to be found in childhood experiences of a
person. People with inferiority complex fail to take
initiative or involve themselves in conversation or
any kind of communication.
d) Closed and all knowing mind: Listening is an
important part of communication, which requires a
curious mind- always eager to know new things
irrespective of the source. People with know all or
closed mind refuse to receive new ideas. Generally
in business or other work areas there are people
who feel too content with their ways that they don’t
even like to discuss new ideas. What’s more, they
discourage people who are innovative. The closed
mind is a big barrier in communication, which
demands willingness to enter into a new dialogue.
e) Self-centered attitudes: We, sometimes, tend to
see or hear things of our own interests. We pay
attention to that which is useful to us and leave the
rest. People with such attitude fail to see how
people think and feel. This attitude may prevent us
from seeing things from other’s point of views,
which hinders communication to a great extent.
People having self centred attitudes normally fail to
develop good relationship with people around them.
f) Abstracting: Abstracting is a mental process of
evaluation of thought content in terms of relative
important of ideas in the context of the total
message. Abstracting acts as a barrier when a
listener approaches a message from a particular
viewpoint focusing on some aspects at the cost of
other things in the message. The rest of the
communication is missed. Abstracting is partial and
selective listening.
g) Cognitive Dissonance: At times the listener fails to
accept or respond to new information or ideas, as
he is not ready to change from the old set of beliefs.
As a result a dissonance between what is said and
what is heard is created. Cognitive Dissonance
interferes with the acceptance of a new idea the
way it happens to be.
1. Other Barriers:
There are other barriers besides the ones we
discussed above. They are:
a) Cultural Differences: It affects communication

between people from different social environment.


Words colour and symbols have different meaning
in different societies. This can act as a barrier
sometimes.
b) Circumstantial Physical Factors: Sometimes

physical factors like small room size, poor lighting,


disorderly seating arrangement, poor voice
qualities, and faulty equipments used etc. cause
hindrance in communication.
c) Filtering: This refers to filtering of message in the

receiver’s minds because of his attitude, beliefs,


experiences and thinking ability. Misunderstanding
and different problems may arise, as the sender’s
message passes through the mental filters in the
mind of receiver plus others such as low interest in
the message or distraction and fatigue causing loss
of concentration.

OVERCOMING THE BARRIERS IN


COMMUNICATION:
The aforementioned barriers can be overcome in
following ways:
1. The medium of communication should be cleverly
chosen. The medium should be according to the
content and kind of the message to be conveyed.
E.g. telephone should be preferred to a face-to-
face talk when talking about an important issue.
2. Use of over difficult language and unnecessary
use of jargons should be avoided.
3. Language should be correct and clear. The
message should be clearly encoded in the
language.
4. The accent should be correct. The words must be
pronounced clearly.
5. Accuracy in the message should be maintained.
The message should not be unduly long.
6. Coordination between superior and subordinates

is an important factors in an organization.


Superior should forget about his ego and should
be friendly to the subordinates. Similarly the
subordinate should not give the boss any chance
to show his bossism. A mutual interpersonal trust
among members and between superior and
subordinates reduces communication gap and
creates a more productive environment.
7. Complexes should be worked on and removed

from the mind, a little information about the


psychological truths can help in improving the
personality.
8. For removing barriers arising because of
organizational structures, a simple and flexible
organizational structure should be followed.
Flexibility improves the flow of communication
between different levels, and the communication
becomes better. The rules and regulation should
not be unduly rigid.
Extra tall hierarchical structures should be
avoided, as they may give rise to status problem-
because of big differences in status level. Proper
channels of communication should be there in an
organization.

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PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION:
There are 7c’s in communication, they are as
follows-
• Clarity
• Completeness
• Conciseness
• Consideration
• Courtesy
• Correctness
• Coherence
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