Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Barriers To Communication: Presented by Prof (DR) Shefali Bakshi Deputy Director (Asl)
Barriers To Communication: Presented by Prof (DR) Shefali Bakshi Deputy Director (Asl)
No matter how good the communication system in an organisation is, unfortunately barriers can and do often occur. This may be caused by a number of factors which can usually be summarised as being due to physical barriers, system design faults or additional barriers.
PHYSICAL BARRIERS
Physical barriers are often due to the nature of the environment. Thus, for example, the natural barrier which exists, if staff 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 Likewise, poor or outdated equipment, particularly the failure of management to introduce new technology, may also cause problems.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 organisation. Whilst distractions like background noise, poor lighting or an environment which is too hot or cold can all affect people's morale and concentration, which in turn interfere with effective communication.
SYSTEM DESIGN
System design faults refer to problems with the structures or systems in place in an organisation. Examples might include an organisational structure which is unclear and therefore makes it confusing to know who 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 organisation. 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 just resistance to change due to entrenched attitudes and ideas.
Different languages and cultures represent a national barrier which is particularly important for organisations involved in overseas business. Individual linguistic ability is also important. The use of difficult or inappropriate words in communication can prevent people from understanding the message. Poorly explained or misunderstood messages can also result in confusion. We can all think of situations where we have listened to something explained which we just could not grasp
Physiological barriers may result from individuals' personal discomfort, caused, for example, by ill health, poor eye sight or hearing difficulties. Presentation of information is also important to aid understanding
To illustrate the three types of behaviour look at the examples of a manager spotting some minor errors in the written work of a subordinate. The manager goes to the individual and says: Aggressive "I don't know how you've got the nerve to give me this sort of stuff for signing. It's full of mistakes."Assertive "Jane, I'd like you to re-do this document as there are several mistakes in it."Non-Assertive "I know it's, er .... probably my fault in .... not writing very clearly, but is there, um .... any chance at all you could find a spare minute to um .... just change one of two small things on this letter for me?"Or you find an excuse not to take the document back at all
Clearly the desired behaviour is to be assertive, and in this section you are going to look at how you can develop assertiveness in a range of situations - those conversations we have with ourselves before we interact with someone else.
Sometimes these inner dialogues are subconscious, but if you become more aware of them, you can manage them and become more effective in your dealings with others. Aggressive "If people produce rubbish, I have every right to tell them so""She obviously doesn't care. That's typical of young people today." "This reflects badly on me, and I won't stand for it."Assertive "This may be uncomfortable for us both, but we can handle it.""She has the right to make mistakes, but the responsibility to correct them." "I want her to know the effect her errors have on other people."NonAssertive "I don't want to make a scene or upset our working relationship.""I'm sure these are unintentional errors - I'll let it go this time." "I know she's very busy, so I expect that's why these mistakes happened."
By having your Inner Dialogue before you deal with the other person, you can adjust your behaviour to be Assertive. You achieve this by turning your aggressive or non-assertive behaviour into assertive behaviour. There's something for all of us in this model - it isn't just for tyrannical bosses or shrinking wall-flowers! Effective assertive behaviour is an important building block for creating a empowered, involving, learning organisation culture. You would do well to develop your assertiveness before embarking on grander culture changes.
Listen openly and with empathy to the other person Judge the content, not the messenger or delivery; comprehend before you judge Use multiple techniques to fully comprehend (ask, repeat, rephrase, etc.) Active body state; fight distractions Ask the other person for as much detail as he/she can provide; paraphrase what the other is saying to make sure you understand it and check for understanding Respond in an interested way that shows you understand the problem and the employee's concern Attend to non-verbal cues, body language, not just words; listen between the lines Ask the other for his views or suggestions State your position openly; be specific, not global
Communicate your feelings but don't act them out (eg. tell a person that his behavior really upsets you; don't get angry) Be descriptive, not evaluative-describe objectively, your reactions, consequences Be validating, not invalidating ("You wouldn't understand"); acknowledge other;'s uniqueness, importance Be conjunctive, not disjunctive (not "I want to discuss this regardless of what you want to discuss"); Don't totally control conversation; acknowledge what was said Own up: use "I", not "They"... not "I've heard you are noncooperative" Don't react to emotional words, but interpret their purpose Practice supportive listening, not one way listening Decide on specific follow-up actions and specific follow up dates
A major source of problem in communication is defensiveness. Effective communicators are aware that defensiveness is a typical response in a work situation especially when negative information or criticism is involved. Be aware that defensiveness is common, particularly with subordinates when you are dealing with a problem. Try to make adjustments to compensate for the likely defensiveness. Realize that when people feel threatened they will try to protect themselves; this is natural. This defensiveness can take the form of aggression, anger, competitiveness, avoidance among other responses. A skillful listener is aware of the potential for defensiveness and makes needed adjustment. He or she is aware that self-protection is necessary and avoids making the other person spend energy defending the self
Attend to emotional as well as cognitive messages (e.g., anger); aware of non-verbal cues, body language, etc.; listen between the lines React to the message, not the person, delivery or emotion Make sure you comprehend before you judge; ask questions Use many techniques to fully comprehend Stay in an active body state to aid listening Fight distractions ( if in a work situation) Take Notes; Decide on specific followup actions and specific follow up dates
#2 - Trying to be helpful
Trying to be helpful while listening also implies that you've made certain judgments about the speaker. That can raise emotional barriers to communication, as judgments can sometimes mean that the listener doesn't have complete respect for the speaker. In a sense, giving a person your undivided attention while listening is the purest act of love you can offer. Because human beings are such social animals, simply knowing that another person has listened and understood is empowering. Often that's all a person needs in order to solve the problems on his or her own. If you as a listener step in and heroically offer your solution, you're implying that you're more capable of seeing the solution than the speaker is. If the speaker is describing a difficult or long-term problem, and you offer a facile, off-the-cuff solution, you're probably forgetting that he or she may have already considered your instant solution long before.
Good listeners have learned how to minimize the distraction caused by red flag words, but a red flag word will make almost any listener momentarily unable to hear with full attention. An important point is that the speaker may not have actually meant the word in the way that the listener understood. However, the listener will be so distracted by the red flag that she will not notice what the speaker actually did mean to say. Red flag words don't always provoke emotional reactions. Sometimes they just cause slight disagreements or misunderstandings. Whenever a listener finds himself disagreeing or reacting, he should be on the lookout for red flag words or expressions.
Technology is often seen as the driver of improved communications, but technology, in itself, creates noise and discord as much as it melds minds.
#6 - Believing in language
One of the trickiest barriers is "believing in language" -- a misplaced trust in the precision of words. Language is a guessing game. Speaker and listener use language to predict what each other is thinking. Meaning must always be actively negotiated. It's a fallacy to think that a word's dictionary definition can be transmitted directly through using the word. An example of that fallacy is revealed in the statement, "I said it perfectly clearly, so why didn't you understand?". Of course, the naive assumption here is that words that are clear to one person are clear to another, as if the words themselves contained absolute meaning. Words have a unique effect in the mind of each person, because each person's experience is unique. Those differences can be small, but the overall effect of the differences can become large enough to cause misunderstanding. A worse problem is that words work by pointing at experiences shared by speaker and listener. If the listener hasn't had the experience that the speaker is using the word to point at, then the word points at nothing. Worse still, the listener may quietly substitute a different experience to match the word.
#8 - Over-splitting or over-lumping
People have different styles of organizing thoughts when explaining complex situations. Some people, "splitters", tend to pay more attention to how things are different. Other people, "lumpers", tend to look for how things are alike. Perhaps this is a matter of temperament. If the speaker and listener are on opposite sides of the splitter-lumper spectrum, the different mental styles can cause confusion or lack of understanding. A listener who is an over-splitter can inadvertently signal that he disagrees with the speaker over everything, even if he actually agrees with most of what the speaker says and only disagrees with a nuance or point of emphasis. That can cause "noise" and interfere with the flow of conversation. Likewise, a listener who is an over-lumper can let crucial differences of opinion go unchallenged, which can lead to a serious misunderstanding later. The speaker will mistakenly assume that the listener has understood and agreed. It's important to achieve a good balance between splitting (critical thinking) and lumping (metaphorical thinking). Even more important is for the listener to recognize when the speaker is splitting and when she is lumping.
THANK YOU