What are the Barriers to Effective Communication? Barriers and Ways to Overcome it

BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION

Introduction:- The information that is to be delivered must be clear and correct. If one person sends a message and the other person hears it and understands it in the same manner that the sender intended, the communication process is said to be full and successful. Communication, on the other hand, is not always fruitful. Certain communication constraints have an impact on the message's clarity, accuracy, and efficacy. Several factors can prevent the message from reaching its intended destination or from having the desired effect. There might also be a problem with the communication system.

Types of Communication barriers:- Because communication obstacles impact the key factors in the communication process, they may be classified in a variety of ways.

Semantic barriers:- This barrier is connected to the message coding and decoding process. The following are examples of semantic gaps discovered in people's day-to-day usage:

1. Words having similar pronunciation but multiple meanings: They have the same pronunciation but different meanings. As an example, consider the words sight, site, and citation.

2. Badly expressed message: The message is poorly presented due to a lack of clarity and accuracy. Lack of coherence, difficult phrase structure, jargon, and other flaws are major causes of such communications.

3. Wrong interpretation: When one interprets a sign, his interpretation may differ from that of others.

4. Technical Language: When technical terminology is employed in communication, it creates hurdles to interpreting the message in the same sense and spirit. When technical jargon or expert languages are employed in communication and discussion, tension, confusion, and misunderstanding arise between the sender and the receiver.

Organizational Barriers:- It might be the result of contradicting management rules, too many levels of management, or a conflict between line and staff operations. It might be caused by the specialised nature of functions or even the specific language of such functions. It might have originated via formal, informal, or grapevine dealings. The following are some organisational communication barriers:

1. Organization culture and climate: Every organization has its own culture and atmosphere. The independence, thrust, and interaction pattern among employees in an organisation are ultimately influenced by the environment and culture of the company.

2. Organizational rules and regulations: The organization's rules and regulations differ greatly from one another. They may be so inflexible that they impact information flow in the incorrect direction.

3. Status relationships: The link between status, power, and position works as a barrier to communication efficacy. Individuals may be unable to speak what they want to say due to their fear of the other party's position and authority in the communication process. A complicated hierarchical structure of the organisation, such as one that is excessively tall or has too much divisionalisation, may impede the free flow of communication.

4. Lack of cooperation between superior and subordinate: For many personal or organisational connections, there may not be an adequate collaboration between the superior and subordinate, which may lead to incorrect communication in an organisation.

Interpersonal Barriers:- Communication efficiency is heavily influenced by the interpersonal interaction between two people. When the sender and receiver are on the same economic, educational, and social level, and have a solid relationship, there is little to no communication barrier. However, there is a larger likelihood of miscommunication if there is a discrepancy at any level. The most typical illustration of this in an organisation is the Superior and Subordinate Barriers.

The subordinate must obey the superior's orders, complete all jobs effectively, and offer complete information about any situation that develops in the company or at work. Furthermore, the superior should have complete faith in himself and the subordinate.

1. Lack of proper channel: The organisational structure may be complicated, which may impact proper and effective communication from the subordinate. Because of the pressures of position, power, and authority, they may not feel free to speak.

2. No interest in communication: Subordinates may be uninterested in engaging in discourse, discussion, and engagement with their superiors, which has a negative impact on the communication process.

3. Lack of cooperation: A lack of collaboration and mutual understanding also leads to the concealment of specific information in the organisation between superiors and subordinates.

4. Lack of trust: A lack of trust and cooperation between the superior and the subordinate may result in infective communication.

5. The poor relationship between superior and subordinate: A healthy connection between bosses and subordinates must be developed often and openly. They must engage in order to strengthen the system of upward and downward communication. The superior must listen to the suggestions of the subordinates, as well as their issues, and must have trust in them. In the absence of all of this, it is possible that the subordinate will not grasp what the superior says.

6. Fear of penalty: If subordinate fear that he may face repercussions for exercising his right to free speech and upward communication, he may fail to provide a complete or accurate message to his superior.

Individual / Psycho-sociological Barriers: Individual or psycho-social obstacles are the most significant hurdles to interpersonal communication. People communicate in a variety of ways. Personal sentiments want, anxieties, hopes, likes, dislikes, attitudes, viewpoints, and opinions are also present in people. The emotional or psychological state of both parties participating in the communication process influences the meaning attributed to a message.

1. Style: Style, or the method in which a person communicates, entails numerous characteristics. While style overlaps with some of the other variables under consideration, it adds its own particular flavour.

2. Selective perception: The recipient may create his or her own universe around oneself. As he decodes communications, he conveys his curiosity and expectations. He may only accept as much knowledge as he deems appropriate for his universe of thought. As a result, the individual receives partial and unsuitable information, which has an impact on the communication process. Perceptual distortions can be caused by a bad self-concept or understanding, as well as a poor understanding of others.

3. Halo effect: People do not listen closely because of preconceived notions formed from previous experiences. Even if one of the parties has a halo effect, the flow of communication will be disrupted.

4. Status relationship: There may be status and power connection, which may obstruct communication and reduce its efficacy. Status effects also impede communication since individuals in higher levels in organisations have a propensity to "say a lot to subordinates but not listen," making effective communication impossible.

5. Poor attention and Retention: If information is not adequately retained, almost half of it is lost. Each of these issues may affect the sender. It was also stated that around 30% of information is lost with each oral transfer. Human memory does not always retain what is told to it. This leads to a breakdown in communication and needs the information being repeated over many channels.

6. Inattention: One of the primary psychological hurdles is the receiver's distracted mind and hesitant non-listening. People do not respond to ideas/messages received through communication as a result of this.

7. Undue importance of written words: The overemphasis on written words may result in information loss. The subsequent information is not accurate or correct. Written communication frequently conveys what has to be done but not why it needs to be done. It necessitates the ability to persuade.

8. Defensiveness: If a message makes one feel threatened, one gets defensive and responds in ways that impede understanding. Such protective behaviour obstructs comprehension.

9. Closed Mind: A person's thinking might become narrow due to a lack of intellectual foundation, restricted reading, and narrow hobbies. This restricts one's capacity to absorb new concepts. People with closed minds are resistant to fresh knowledge or ideas for change.

10. State of Health: Physical condition can have an impact on the effectiveness of all communication abilities. When one's health is deteriorating, one's capacity to communicate suffers since the mind is not awake and perception is impaired.

11. Filtering: The practice of minimising the details or characteristics of communication is known as filtering. The message is reduced by each individual who gets it based on their or her comprehension of the circumstance. Much vital information may be lost or misread throughout this process, and the sender may fail to express what he wishes to say.

Cross-Cultural/ Geographic Barriers: Culture is a common set of values and characteristics of a group; it is the sum total of the ways of life developed by a community and passed down from generation to generation. Culture influences communication style and competency because it is so deeply ingrained in an individual's way of speaking, behaving, and thinking.

Among the important cultural distinctions are:

1. National Character/ Basic Personality.

2. Language

3. Values and norms of behaviour

4. Social relationships

5. Concepts of time

6. Concepts of space

7. Nonverbal communication

8. Perception

TECHNICAL ASPECTS IN COMMUNICATION BARRIERS

Murphy's Law on Communication succinctly describes a few technical characteristics of communication barriers:

The following are the fundamentals of this communication law:

1. Communication frequently fails. Except that it succeeds by accident. The potential of success in the flow of communication is uncommon due to many impediments.

2. If the message may be understood in several ways, it will be understood in the manner that does the most harm. People receive messages in their own unique ways. In most circumstances, the most detrimental aspect of communication is taken into account.

3. Metacommunication Aside from the message, there is a Meta message in a communication. People's thoughts include meta messages as a result of their behaviours, such as being difficult to reach. It is the most crucial aspect of seat word language.

Noise in the communication process. Because of contextual circumstances, noise might infiltrate the communication process. It is one of the elements that influence the communication process. Mechanical distractions are the most common cause of the noise. Here are a few examples of noise distractions:

                                i.            Human sounds

                              ii.            Traffic

                           iii.            Telephone instruments

                            iv.            Channel defects

                              v.            Birds

                            vi.            Trees

                         vii.            Fans

                       viii.            Chalk writing

                            ix.            Use of Duster

                              x.            Projector and

                            xi.            Nasal Voice

OVERCOMING THE BARRIERS IN COMMUNICATION

Constant effort is necessary to overcome the obstacles that emerge unknowingly during the communication process. Barriers may be overcome if a significant effort is put into the communication process, and effective and efficient communication is sought.

One approach to mitigate the effects of these obstacles is to constantly verify what the massage is during the communication process. The acts are to be done by the Sender, Receiver, and the two of them jointly.

Measures to Overcome Barriers in Communication

The following are some more strategies to overcome communication barriers:

1. Fostering a good relationship: Strong ties between the employer and the employee must be established in order to avoid misunderstandings and accept each other's points of view in order to remove obstacles and promote proper communication in the company.

2. Purposeful and well-focused Communication: Communication should be intentional and focused on a certain person. The recipient should not be left with the impression that the message was pointless or useless at the conclusion.

3. Coordination between superiors and subordinates: The efficacy of communication will be harmed if the superior think along a different line than the subordinate and vice versa. As a result, efficient communication requires good and proper coordination and collaboration between the superior and subordinate.

4. Avoid technical language: It is best to avoid using specialist terminology. Every attempt should be made to use a language that both the recipient and sender of the communication understand. Technical jargon should be avoided in the communication process.

5. Feedback: Through effective feedback, the receiver's selective perception should be reduced. To reduce obstacles, the disadvantage of selective perception should be explained.

6. Accuracy: To increase the efficacy of the communication, the message to be communicated between the parties should be accurate.

7. Clarity in a message: The message to be conveyed should be clear, practical, and without ambiguity.

8. Communication of organizational philosophy: Efforts must be made in a systematic manner to sensitise people to the organisational concept. It should be clearly expressed to its personnel in order for them to pay attention to their day-to-day communication.

9. Flat organizational structure: The structure of the organisation should be clear and basic. To eliminate unnecessary information control, the tall hierarchical structure should be abolished and replaced with a flat structure. The transmission of incorrect information to any member of the organisation will be damaging. The status gap will be reduced if the organisational structure is properly redesigned. When one individual is far higher in the hierarchy than another, the status impact might arise.

10. Division of labour: There should be a good division of labour among individuals in order to limit information overload and prevent information transfer delays.

11. Organization policies: The organization's policies should be written in such a way that they benefit all of its members equally. It should be adaptable and simple to apply. While the organization's aim must be clear, everyone must be aware of his or her position and rights in organisational communication. The network must be completely built so that such impediments do not exist.

12. Minimize semantic problem: People use the same term in multiple contexts or different words in the same context. It may surprise you to learn that the term "charge" has 15 different meanings in the English language. They also happen when people employ jargons or professional shorthand that they expect others to understand, or when they use language that is outside the other person's lexicon.

13. Proper communication channels: There is no need to provide a long discussion report if one expects a fast response from the receiver. One would most likely call him or go to his office to tell him what to do. Remember that a picture is worth a thousand words, and in this day and age, information can be created more rapidly in this manner as well.

14. Right feedback: One-way communication is faster, while two-way communication is more accurate. It assists both the sender and the recipient in measuring their knowledge and improving their combined commitment to the work in difficult settings. It allows both parties to detect and clarify misunderstandings, resulting in better reception and acceptance.

To communicate successfully, we must overcome all hurdles and develop our own talents in order to strengthen our present communication abilities.