UNIVERSITATEA TOMIS CONSTANȚA

FACULTATEA DE STUDII ECONOMICE ȘI ADMINISTRATIVE

SPECIALIZAREA ADMINISTRAREA AFACERILOR

BARRIERS TO BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

PROFESOR COORDONATOR
LECT. UNIV. DR. LILIANA MARTEȘ

STUDENT
TACHE ROBERT DANIEL ANUL I
2021-2022

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 BARRIERS TO BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Communication is one of our basic needs. We require to communicate with many people
for personal and professional purpose. But while communicating we may face many hurdles or
problems. Sometimes the message is not passed properly or gets lost. There are chances of
misunderstanding between the sender or the receiver. Sometimes language used in the
communication is not understood properly. This results into Communication breakdown or
communication failure. There are many reasons behind the problems in the communication
process.

Effective business communication is an absolute must.

Business communication is the process of sharing information between people within and
outside a company. Effective business communication is how employees and management
interact to reach organizational goals. Its purpose is to improve organizational practices and
reduce errors.

Business communication involves a common language, where we must know how to

distinguish between professional and technical communication. One of the main goals of
business communication is to improve corporate practice and organization, thereby reducing the
possibility of making mistakes.

In the 21st century, business communication has improved considerably, so that several
types of communication can be identified, appropriate to the circumstances.

Definition of the Barrier to Communication: ‘Any obstacle or problem in the process of

Communication which hinders/obstructs the process of Communication is called Barrier.’

Barriers are part of process of Communication. Whenever we are communicating we

encode and decode. We use various channels for passing messages. At any level or at any
moment or stage there can be problems in communication process. Sometimes the sender may
not use proper language that the receiver will understand. Receiver may not be able to Decode
properly. There can be lot of noise in the surrounding which can disturb us. It rarely happens that
barriers do not arise in the communication process. Many times barriers arise in the minds of the
sender and receiver. The intended messages are not sent to the receivers.

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 Types of Barriers

1. Environmental and Physical Barriers – are referred to the natural conditions that act as a
barrier of communication. These are the barriers that prevent the individuals from
communicating in an effective manner. For example, if the staff members within an organization
are made to sit in different buildings or different floors, they experience physicaland
environmental barriers. When these barriers cause problems in facilitating effective
communication, the individuals make use of phone calls, emails and messages.
The physical barriers are related to three major factors, environment, distance and
unawareness in terms of medium. The environmental barriers take place within the existing
environment. For example, when the individuals are standing and communicating with each
other on the roadside and there is heavy rainfall, they will not be able to pay attention to each
other. The weather conditions will distract their attention.
Example - Noise is one of the most common physical barriers. It can Disrupt communication
by acting as a disruption to the environment or means of communication. Noise restricts the flow
of messages, makes them inaccurate or unclear, and misinterprets. For example, a faulty phone
will not establish effective communication between two people.

2. Language/Semantic Barriers – When communicating with others persons, no matter what

kind of communication means is utilized, whether it is formal or informal, we must use of
appropriate words, vocabulary and language; all kinds of communication should reflect
decency. Language and vocabulary that is used in communication should be understandable to
the persons; if a person speaks only English and a word is used in Spanish then he may or may
not understand the word. Two or more persons when they are communicating with each other
should use a common language, so that everyone can understand it well.

We need to choose our words very well when communicating because some words have
different meanings or uses in different contexts. For example, homonyms are words that sound
the same, but have different meanings and are spelled differently. However, when used in spoken
language, this can easily lead to confusion. For example, the words "write" and "right". It sounds
the same, but it means different things.

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 Another example, an advertisement states, “we sell for less.” It is ambiguous and raises the
question: less than what?

3. Psychological Barriers –are due to the emotional character and mental limitations of human
beings. These barriers result in absent-mindedness, the fear of expressing one’s ideas to others,
excitement and emotional instability—all accounting for an overwhelming number of
communication problems.

In the process of communication, it is vital to understand each other’s mindset and mental
capacity; this applies in every case whether it is a professor giving a lecture or a conversation
between the employer and an employee. If someone is communicating with the other
individual or a group of individuals with an attitude of disinterest or unwillingness then the
process of communication will not be effective. In this case, it would have believed to be that
attitude of the communicators is inappropriate for the purpose of making the process of
communication effectual. It is therefore considered crucial to overcome the psychological
barriers.

Example - Failure and premature evaluation - This is quite common in organizations that
require a lot of interaction between employees, which leads to another of the most important
socio-psychological barriers to effective communication. Not fully trusting someone means
being skeptical or even hostile to one's messages, while premature evaluation or judgment of
someone often obscures the understanding of what and how one wants to communicate.

4. Socio - Cultural Barriers - Communication also takes place between people belonging to
different nationalities, religions, castes, beliefs, races, ethnicities, etc. in other words, when two
people communicate with each other, there may be differences in their cultural environment. It is
important that in communication a understanding and acceptance of the other person's culture is
formed.

Example - Failure and premature evaluation - This is quite common in organizations that
require a lot of interaction between employees, which leads to another of the most important
socio-psychological barriers to effective communication. Not fully trusting someone means
being skeptical or even hostile to one's messages, while premature evaluation or judgment of
someone often obscures the understanding of what and how one wants to communicate.

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Workplace communication is the process of exchanging information and ideas, both verbally
and non-verbally between one person or group and another person or group within
an organization. It includes e-mails, videoconferencing, text messages, notes, calls, etc. Effective
communication is critical in getting the job done, as well as building a sense of trust and
increasing productivity. Workers may have different cultures and backgrounds, and can be used
to different norms. To strengthen employee cooperation and avoid missed deadlines or activity
that could affect the company negatively, effective communication is crucial. Ineffective
communication leads to communication gaps, which causes confusion, wastes time, and reduces
productivity. Managers and lower-level employees must be able to interact clearly and
effectively with each other through verbal communication and non-verbal communication to
achieve specific business goals. Effective communication with clients also plays a vital role in
the development of an organization and the success of any business. When
communicating, nonverbal communication must also be taken into consideration. How a person
delivers a message has a large impact.

Another important aspect in effective workplace communication is taking into

consideration the different backgrounds of employees. "While diversity enriches the
environment, it can also cause communication barriers." Difficulties arise when a coworker's
cultural background leads him or her to think differently than another. It is for this reason that
knowing about intercultural communication at work and learning how to treat others without
offending them can bring several benefits to the company.

Internal communication barriers within your organisation (workplace)

Among the main barriers of communication in our organization we mention;

1. Opinions and attitudes are often a major socio-psychological barrier in our organization.
It happens that we do not agree between our colleagues on professional issues and
organizational communication between us is not always without problems.
2. Misunderstood / misinterpreted messages. Lack of an effective communication plan can
lead to misunderstood information. We are given information about the work we have to
do by the manager, then the team leader comes and sends us another message. The

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 problem with misinterpreted information is that no one finds out about it until it has
caused a major problem that has a high impact on operations.
3. In our organization it happens that during some meetings, the boss is informed by his
superiors of some unresolved issues. After the meeting he becomes irascible and no
longer communicates in a respectful way and accuses his subordinates of mistakes they
did not make.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Certo Samuel C., Modern Management, Teora Publishing House, Bucharest, 2002
2. Skills You Need. (2011). Barriers to Effective Communication. Retrieved June 18,
2015 from http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/barriers- communication.html
3. Smith, C. (2015). The Seven Barriers of Communication. Retrieved June 19, 2015
from http://guides.co/guide/the-seven-barriers-of-communication
4. Guo, Kristina L.; Sanchez, Yesenia; Borkowski, Nancy (Dec 23,
2009). Organizational Behavior in Workplace. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

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