Communication: NET PAPER 1: Barriers to effective communication.

 

Barriers to effective communication.

 The information to be communicated should be clear and accurate. If an individual sends the message, and the other one receives it and interprets it in the same way as the sender had intended to express, the process of communication is said to be complete and successful. However, Communication is not always successful. Certain barriers in communication affect the clarity, accuracy and effectiveness of the message.

 

Semantic barriers This barrier is related to the process of coding and decoding the message. Various types of semantic gaps found in the day-to-day use of people are as follows:

Ø Words having similar pronunciation but multiple meaning: Same pronunciation but are having many meanings. For example: Write, Right; sight, site, cite; etc

Ø Badly expressed message: Lack of clarity and precision make the message badly expressed. Lack of coherence, awkward sentence structure, jargons etc. are common faults, which lead to such messages.

Ø Wrong interpretation: Whenever one interprets a symbol, his understanding may differ with others. The Hindi word ‘Nani ’ means Mother’s ma in one part of the country but the small girl in another part of the country.

Ø Technical Language: When technical language is used in the communication process, it creates barriers in understanding the message in the same sense and the same spirit. When technical jargons or specialist languages are used in the communication and conversation process, they create tension, confusion and misunderstanding between the sender and the receiver.

New meanings given to ordinary words by computer technology; to people who are not familiar with computers, “mouse” is only an animal, whereas in computer jargon, it is a device

 

Organizational Barriers: It may originate in contradictory management policies or too many levels of management or the clash between line and staff operations. The specialized nature of functions or even the special language of those functions may cause it. It may have its source in formal-informal, or grapevine transactions. Following are the organizational barriers in communication:

Ø Organization culture and climate: In every organization, there exists a unique culture and climate. The climate and culture of an organization ultimately influence the freedom, thrust and interaction pattern among people in an organization.

Ø Organizational rules and regulations: The rules and regulations of the organization vary widely from one organization to another. They may be so rigid that they may influence the flow of information in the wrong direction.

Ø Status relationships: The status, power and position relationship acts as the hurdle in the effectiveness of communications. Individuals may not be able to say what they wish to say because of their fear for the position and power of the other party in the communication process.

Ø  Lack of cooperation between superior and subordinate: There may not be proper cooperation between the superior and subordinate for various personal or organizational relationships, which may hold to improper communication in an organization.

 

Interpersonal Barriers: The effectiveness of Communication depends a lot on the interpersonal relationship between two people. If and when the sender and receiver are at the same economic, educational and status level and also have a good rapport with each other, there is hardly any barrier arising in communication. But, in case of a difference at any level, there is a greater chance of Miscommunication. The most common example for this in an organization is the Barriers relating to Superior and Subordinate. The subordinate must follow the order of the superior, carry out all work efficiently, and provide full information related to any matter, which arises in the organization or any work. Moreover, the superior should have full confidence in himself and the subordinate.

 

 

Ø Lack of proper channel: There may be complexity in the organizational structure, which may influence proper and effective communication from the subordinate. They may not feel free to communicate because of the pressure of position power and authority.

Ø  No interest to communicate: There may not be any interest on the part of subordinates to have a dialogue, discussion and interaction with their superiors, which affect the communication process adversely.

Ø Lack of cooperation: lack of cooperation and mutual understanding also leads to the hiding of certain information between the superior and subordinates in the organization.

Ø Lack of trust: There may be a lack of trust and coordination between the superior and the subordinate, which may lead to infective communication.

Ø  The poor relationship between superior and subordinate: A good relationship must develop between superiors and subordinates frequently and freely. They must interact to improve the upward and downward communication system. The superior must listen to the subordinates’ suggestion, their problems, and must have faith in them. In the absence of all this, it may so happen that what the superior speaks, the subordinate may not understand it.

Ø  Fear of penalty: If subordinate fees that because of free expression and upward communication he will face some type of penalty, there is a possibility that he may not provide a full or correct message to the superior.

 

 

Individual / Psycho-sociological Barriers: Individual or Psycho-sociological barriers are the prime barriers in interpersonal communication. People have different styles of communication. People also have personal feelings, desires, fears, hopes, likes, dislikes, attitudes, views and opinions. The meaning assigned to a message depends upon the emotional or psychological status of both the parties involved in the process of communication.

Ø Style: Style, how a person communicates, involves many elements, though style overlaps with several of the other factors in the analysis, it adds its distinct flavour.

Ø Selective perception: The receiver may make a world of his own around himself. He projects his interest and expectations as he decodes messages. He may only take that much piece of information, which may suit his world of thinking. As a result, the person acquires incomplete and inappropriate information, which influence the communication process. Having a poor self-concept or self-understanding, or a poor understanding of others can cause perceptual distortions.

Ø  Halo effect: People do not listen carefully because of impressions based on earlier encounters. Even one of the parties having a halo effect will disrupt the flow of communication.

Ø  Status relationship: There maybe status and power relationship, which may hinder the communication process and affect the effectiveness of communication. Status effects also hinder communication is as much as people occupying higher positions in the organization tend to “tell a lot to subordinates but not to listen, effective communication is not possible.

Ø  Poor attention and Retention: About half of the information, if not properly retained, is lost. The sender may suffer from each problem. It also said that about 30% of the information is lost in each oral transmission. Human memory may not always retain what it is told. This causes communication breakdown and necessitates the repetition of the message using several channels

Ø   In attention: The preoccupied mind of the receiver and the reluctant

Non-listening is one of the major psychologies’ barriers. It is because of it that people do not react to ideas/messages received in communication.

Ø Undue importance of written words: The undue importance given to the written words may lead to loss of information. The successive information is not accurate and right. Written communication often tells what is to be done but not why it should be done. It takes the persuasive quality.

Ø  Defensiveness: If one feels threatened by a message, one becomes defensive and responds in such ways that reduce the understanding. Such defensive behaviour prevents understanding.

Ø Closed Mind: Limited intellectual background, limited reading and narrow interests can cause a person’s mind to be narrow. This limits the ability to take in new ideas. People with closed minds do not take in any new information or suggestions to change.

Ø State of Health: Physical condition can affect the efficiency in all communication skills. In the case of the poor health condition, the communicating ability is reduced as the mind is not alert and perception is low.

Ø Filtering: Filtering is the process of reducing the details or aspects of a message. Each person who receives the message reduces it according to his or her understanding of the situation. In this process, much of the important information may be lost or misinterpreted and the sender will fail to convey what he wants to convey.

 

 

Cross-Cultural/ Geographic Barriers: There are many other cultural differences in body language that can create barriers to effective communication. Those include differences in facial expressions, the use of nodding to indicate agreement or understanding, and the amount of space to give someone with whom you are having a conversation. Cross-cultural communication barriers such as anxiety, uncertainty, stereotyping, and ethnocentrism are caused by inadequate cultural knowledge and the lack of intercultural communicative skills. Adequate training in cross cultural communication and exposure to other cultures is essential in eliminating these barriers.

Physical Barriers/ Channel and Media Barriers: Physical distractions cause a lot of noise, often literally: insufficiently insulated rooms with car noises filtering through, poor lighting, and such things as frequent movement of bodies postures, with a pen in the hand, even the arrival of coffee at a critical stage on the communication process are the causes of communication barriers in organizations. Constant telephone interruptions are one of the commonest physical distractions.

Noise: Noise is any disturbance which occurs in the transmission process. In face-to-face conversation without a microphone, the air may be disturbed by noise in the environment such as traffic, factory work, a typewriter clattering away in a nearby office and people talking, and so on. Wider connotation of noise includes many other factors that are likely to hinder communication. Sometimes, the inner chatting going on in the mind of the listener, which distracts the message received, is also termed as Noise.

Environment: Interferences may also arise from external transceivers, number of links in the chain and circumstantial factors:

 

TECHNICAL ASPECTS IN COMMUNICATION BARRIERS

A few technical aspects in communication barriers are briefly narrated by Murphy’s Law on communication: Following are the basics in this law on communication:

Ø Communication usually fails. Except by chance, it succeeds. On account of various barriers, the possibility of success in the flow of communication is rare.

Ø If the message can be understood, in different ways, it will be understood in just the way that does the most harm. People receive massage in their way. In most of the cases, the most harmful side of communication is considered.

Ø  It refers to the sender manipulating information so that the receiver will see it as more favourable. In organizations, the information is condensed and synthesized. Objective information does not reach to the authority. The more the vertical levels in the organization’s hierarchy, the more opportunities there are for filtering.

Ø Meta communication. In a communication apart from the message, there is a Meta message. Meta message exists in the people’s minds because of their actions such as being hard to contact. It is the most important thing in seat word language.

 

Follow WH Rules by sender:

Ø WHO: To whom should the message go?

Ø WHY:  Why should I communicate? What are the motives?

Ø WHAT: Decide what to communicate. Be clear about what one needs to communicate.

Ø WHEN: The best time for optimum reception is chosen.

Ø WHERE: Choose a location which will not interfere with the reception, understanding and acceptance of the message: Privately? Home or away? In a group? At work or outside?

Ø HOW: Use a language, which the receiver will understand and which is unambiguous.

 

Receiver: The receiver can be aware of the following, to overcome the barriers:

Ø Be fully attentive to the sender.

Ø  Listen actively to the message being sent.

Ø  Ask for clarification and repetition wherever necessary.

Ø Keep checking the receipt of information with sender.