Introduction to

Communication
and its barriers
Communication is the process of sharing our ideas,
thoughts, and feelings with other people and having
those ideas, thoughts, and feelings understood by the
people we are talking with. When we communicate we
speak, listen, and observe
Intro
Communication is the process by which a source
transmit any messages ,ideas, information to the
receiver through a medium.

Barriers to communication are the hindrances or

difficulties involved in the process of communication
which distort the message from being properly
understood by the receiver.
Communication process
Barrier in communication
Have you ever been talking to someone and they
misunderstand what you were saying? Why do you
think that happens? At any point in the
communication process a barrier can occur. Barriers
keep us from understanding other’s ideas and
thoughts. Barriers can appear at any point of the
communication loop.
“I am not late!”
Barrier due to Difference in interpretation
of meaning
I can marry
whomever I
please!
Barrier due to Difference in interpretation
of meaning
Except the
I Can Marry fact that you
whomever never please
I please! anybody!
‘Please’ has many meanings!
FOR HER : Please is desire. I can marry whomever I
desire.

FOR HIM (her brother): Please is to become likeable.

Except that nobody likes you.
Identifying barriers
Communication is about overcoming barriers.

State all the barriers

that you can think of
that impact on your
day-to-day
communication
 Common barriers to
communication
Process Barriers: involve all components of the
SMMR model of communication.
Personal Barriers: involve components of an
individual’s communication competence and
interpersonal dynamics between people
communicating.
Physical Barriers: pertain to the physical
distance between people communicating
Semantic Barriers: relate to the different
understanding and interpretations of the
words we use to communicate.
For class discussion: Which of the barriers to
effective communication is the most difficult
to deal with? Explain.
 Process Barriers
1) Wrong encoding of Message
2) Wrong Medium
3) Wrong Message (choice of words)
4) Wrong decoding
5) Lack of feedback
 Example of Process barriers
The Colonel's Order
A COLONEL ISSUED THE FOLLOWING DIRECTIVE TO HIS EXECUTIVE
OFFICERS:

"Tomorrow evening at approximately 2000 hours Halley's Comet will be visible in

this area; an event which occurs only every 75 years. Have the men fall out in the
battalion area in fatigues, and I will explain this rare phenomenon to them. In case
of rain, we will not be able to see anything, so assemble the men in the theater
and I will show them films of it."

EXECUTIVE OFFICER TO COMPANY COMMANDER:

"By order of the Colonel, tomorrow at 2000 hours, Halley's Comet will appear
above the battalion area. If it rains, fall the men out in fatigues, then march to the
theater where this rare phenomenon will take place, something which occurs only
once every 75 years."
COMPANY COMMANDER TO LIEUTENANT:

"By order of the Colonel be in fatigues at 2000 hours tomorrow

evening. The phenomenal Halley's Comet will appear in the theater.
In case of rain in the battalion area, the Colonel will give another
order, something which occurs once every 75 years."

LIEUTENANT TO SERGEANT:

"Tomorrow at 2000 hours, the Colonel will appear in the theater with
Halley's comet, something which happens every 75 years. If it rains,
the Colonel will order the comet into the battalion area."

SERGEANT TO SQUAD:

"When it rains tomorrow at 2000 hours, the phenomenal 75-year-old

General Halley, accompanied by the Colonel, will drive his comet
through the battalion area theater in fatigues."
 Personal barriers

Attitude and values

Difference in perceptions
Abstraction
Filtration
Resistance to change
Attitude and Values
1) Prejudice: Bias; preconceived opinion that is not based on
reason or actual experience.
Attitude and Values
2) Short Attention Span:
Attention span is the amount of time that a person can
concentrate on a task without becoming distracted. Most
educators and psychologists agree that the ability to focus
one's attention on a task is crucial for the achievement of
one's goals.
Attitude and Values
3) Jumping to Conclusions:
Jumping to conclusions is a psychological term referring to a
communication obstacle where one "judges or decides
something without having all the facts; to reach unwarranted
conclusions".
In other words, "when we fail to distinguish between what we
observed first hand and we have only inferred or assumed".
Because it involves making decisions without having enough
information to be sure you are right, this can result in badly
made or rash decisions. This action can be associated with
skills such as impulsiveness.
Ex: “When I went to Mumbai last week…..”
“ Oh Mumbai ! Shahrukh stays there na? ”
Jumping to Conclusions
Differences in Perception
Perception: the way in which an individual gives
meaning to an object, messages or event

Objective reality: the actual object, message or

event
WE DO NOT SEE THINGSTHEY ARE. WE SEE THINGS WE ARE!
Differences in Perception: Why and How?
Experience and Backgrounds Difference between
Speaker and Listener:
Their backgrounds differ. Therefore, understanding
differs.
Both speaking English, but wavelengths are altogether
different, and the two do
not understand each other.
Everyone correlates what he hears or sees with his own
experience.
Instead of hearing what people tell, one hears only what
mind tells us.
Differences in Perception: Why and How?
Beliefs Influence What One Hears:
A is a good office worker but hates outdoor work.
For career progression, his manager makes him a
Sales Executive.
A sees this benevolent act to be a punishment for
him.
He hates the work, so he is sure he will fail there.
He thinks the manager knows this and is acting
to purposefully ruin his career.
Differences in Perception: Why and How?
Our Emotional State of Mind Colours what
one hears:
A worried, fearful employee finds a threat in
everything he hears.
Fear filters quite a lot of communication.
We attach meanings which just do not exist.
Similarly, other emotions like hatred or love
colour information that we receive.
Abstraction:
1) Generalising: make a general or broad statement by
inferring from specific cases.
"it is not easy to generalize about the poor“
Lumping people together and insulting them can be manifest
on the part of the minorities themselves. Almost every
country in the world has some kind of insulting description
for people of another nationality.
All people with a Turban in USA are generalized as terrorists
after 9/11/2001.
 Abstraction
2) Stereotyping: Stereotypes are fixed images in one’s head by
which we perceive the conduct and properties of the
members of a social group as uniform, unchangeable and
given. Stereotyping is the grouping together of people whom,
on the basis of certain signs, we identify with a group. These
days, the signs which give rise to stereotyping are perceived
more as features which attract a certain kind of added
attention to the person marked (a different skin colour, a
specific type of manner of speech, dress etc.), and the fact
that these people are different encourages them in turn to
behave unnaturally. This behaviour is frequently caused by
the various ideas within that society of those who hold a
stereotype.
Stereotyping:
Filtration:
Filtering is the deliberate manipulation of information
to make it appear more favorable to the receiver. For
instance, If an elderly widow loves animals, presenting
her the value of contributing to a specific charity to
help finance rescue shelters for animals rather than
explaining its more global mission may be a good
example of filtering in communication. To the
extreme, this is what "spin doctors" do. Most of us
filter our communication with others simply in
presenting the message in ways we believe the receiver
will best understand.
Filtration
1) Selective Hearing: Hearing only what you want to
hear.
“Everything you do, every thought you have, every
word you say creates a memory that you will hold in
your body. It's imprinted on you and affects you in
subtle ways - ways you are not always aware of. With
that in mind, be very conscious and selective.”
= Phylicia Rashad
 Filtration
2) Assumptions: a thing that is accepted as true or as certain
to happen, without proof.
"they made certain assumptions about the market“
An assumption is a statement that is presumed to be true
without concrete evidence to support it. In the business world,
assumptions are used in a wide variety of situations to enable
companies to plan and make decisions in the face of
uncertainty. Perhaps the most common use of assumptions is
in the accounting function, which uses assumptions to
facilitate financial measurement and reporting.
Assumptions in communication means presupposing
meaning and facts about something or somebody without
verification.
Assumption:
Blind Spots
Cliff Young
In Australia a 600-km marathon is held between the cities of Sydney
and Melbourne. Several years ago a 61-year-old man named Cliff Young
showed up to run the race. Now the world class runners thought he was
some derelict that showed up in the wrong place because Cliff showed
up wearing Osh Gosh overalls and galoshes. And he was obviously an
old man.
When he told them he was there for the marathon, the professional
runners asked if he had ever run in a marathon before. "No," replied
Cliff. "How have you been training?" they asked. "I have cattle on my
station [farm] and since I have no horses, I run around to move them
along." The runners laughed.
You see, every professional marathoner knew with certainty that it took
about five days to run this race, and that in order to compete, you
would need to run 18 hours and sleep six hours. Cliff Young was clearly
not up to their standards.
When the marathon started, the pros left Cliff behind in his galoshes.
He had a leisurely shuffling style of running that targeted him as an
amateur.
Cliff had no training. He did not know what the world class runners
knew. As you have probably guessed, Cliff won the race, but that is
not what is astonishing. What is astonishing is that he cut one and
a half days off the record time.
How? Because of his lack of training, he didn't *know* that you had
to sleep. Cliff just kept on shuffling along in his galoshes while the
pro runners slept, and he finished the race in three and a half days.
He beat everybody. He was a sensation in Australia.
Now that world-class runners *know* that it is possible to run days
at a time without sleep, and that they can conserve energy by
adopting an easy shuffling jog, they have a new way of approaching
long marathons.
We are like the pro runners. We act, not according to the *real
truth* but according to some cockeyed truth given to us by some
well-meaning or not-so-well-meaning *expert*. For this reason,
people that don't know the *accepted wisdom* are more likely to
discover new aspects of life, create remarkable inventions, and
break through into a new realm of consciousness.
Cliff Young
Preconception is a scotoma
Semantic barriers
Lack of common language
Poor vocabulary
Poor grammar, punctuations
Lack of clarity in the message
Use of jargons
Organizational Barriers
Complexity in organisation structure
Status and positions
Policies, rules and regulations
Wrong choice of medium
Communication overload
Fear of superiors
 Emotional Barriers
These are typically formed during childhood,
remaining with you through adulthood. When you are
consistently being taught how to rein in your
emotions, not to speak unless spoken to or that it is
taboo to express your true feelings to someone, this
will surely affect your ability to communicate as an
adult.
Fear
Mistrust
Suspicion
 Social, Cultural and ethical
Social barriers to communication include the social
psychological phenomenon of conformity; a process in
which the norms, values and behaviours of an individual
begin to follow those of the wider group.
Cultural barriers to communication, which often arise
where individuals in one social group have developed
different norms, values, or behaviours to individuals
associated with another group.
Ethical barriers to communication; these occur when
individuals working in an organisation find it difficult to
voice dissent, even though their organisation is acting in
ways they consider to be unethical.
 Cultural Barriers
1. Language differences – people who don’t speak English may
have a difficult time communicating. You should:
a. Speak slowly
b. Use nonverbal communication (smile)
c. Avoid tendency to speak louder
d. Find an interpreter
2. Eye contact – in some cultures, it’s not acceptable, and looking
down is a sign of respect. In others, it shows meekness.
3. Terminal illness – in some cultures, the patient is NOT told
his/her prognosis, and family members are responsible for making
care decisions
4. Touch – in some cultures, it is wrong to touch someone.
5. Personal care – in some cultures, only family members provide
personal care
Interpersonal Barriers
 Interpersonal Barriers
DON’T: Be passive aggressive. What does it accomplish? Being
passive aggressive doesn’t do either party any favors. To illustrate
my point, I will use this classic example:
Ashwin: “Is something wrong?”
Kritika: (scowling) “I’m fine.”
Ashwin: “Um... are you sure?”
Kritika: “Yes.”
Ashwin: “But you seem upset…”
Kritika: (rolling her eyes) “If you can’t see why I’m upset, that’s just
unbelievable.”
Kritika’s passive aggressive responses to Ashwin’s attempt to
address what is bothering her does nothing but prolong the
problem and make it worse. This type of behavior is disrespectful
and opens the door to further conflict by making Ashwin feel
defensive or frustrated.
The End