 BARRIERS OF COMMUNICATION

1. Semantic barriers
 Barriers created by the use of the word.
 Denotative words: (dictionary) can give both +ve & -ve
meanings)
 Man ,woman, business, chair etc.
 (Both sender and receiver must understand the same meaning/
reference )

 Connotative words: (reduce the intensity of some words/ add

emotions)
 father, cottage, prophet, drink, fired, mad, bimonthly, partner,
plane etc.
 Death --- passed away
 “I will take care of your affairs”
 Who will tackle this problem/situation
 2.Physical barriers
 For writing
 Finger prints smudges, unclear photocopies, unreadable
printouts, water, coffee and tea spots etc.
 Badly expressed messages
 Level of Language differences
 For speaking
 Mumbling, speaking too quickly,
 Noises, hissing ventilation, air conditioner, phone bells,
slamming doors, noisy machines ,loss of transmission etc
 3. Psychological Barriers
 Mental filters are unique
 Sensory Perceptions-------sight, hearing, touch, smell,
and taste
 Emotionally blocked---------We accept certain things
Differences in Attitudes
 People have different attitudes towards different jobs
they perform according to their interests and objectives
 Tendency to evaluate
 We evaluate/infer others according to our own
perceptions
 Selective
 4.Poor Retention

 One may have short memory to retain whatever is

discussed
5.Inattentive listening
 Partial grasp of topic, day dreaming, start comparisons,
lack of interest etc
6. Differing status
 Sometimes people of bossy attitudes they don’t like to
listen to people of lower status.
 7. Prejudices
 Being biased against someone’s personality, values,
attitudes, culture, education, age, religion, race, gender
etc
 Don’t make prejudice a yardstick for measuring
people
8. I-Attitude
 Removing I from our discussions creates favorable
impression about us
 Attracts people
 Creates harmony both at home and in office
 Instead of I-------say------we, us, our work
 9.Resistance to Change
 Mental blockage, rigid views
 Reject people, opinions, suggestions
 Indulge in unnecessary arguments
 Creativity begins in a person when you accept to change

10.Environmental Stress

 Environmental stress can de-motivate people

 No harmony , reduce production , unhappy workers , high turn
over etc
 11.Personal Problems

 Gloomy moods will effect any kind of

communication.

12. Channel Barrier

 Selection of medium is incorrect.