Communication Barriers

Communication is complete and perfect

when the receiver understands the
message in the same sense and spirit as
the communicator intends to convey.
But practically it has been noticed that such
perfect and complete communication does
not take place because of certain
obstacles or other factors known as
communication barriers.
Problems/ barriers/ breakdowns may arise at any of the
following levels:
(a) The sender's level in
(i) formulating/ organizing thought, ideas,
message
(ii) encoding the message

(b) The receiver's level in

(i) receiving the message;
(ii) decoding the received message;
(iii) understanding/interpreting the message.
(c) Transmission level where 'noise'
occurs.

(d) The feedback/reaction level that is a

necessary condition of the
completion of the process.
 Wrong choice of Channel

Anything that Obstructs free flow of

communication is called 'noise'. Or we
may refer to it simply as a 'barrier' to
communication.
Let us consider the following situations:
1. A salesman has to submit a report on the
comparative sales figures of the last five years. If
he writes a lengthy paragraph incorporating the
information, or talks on the phone, he will fail to
communicate anything. He should present the
figures in a tabular form, or preferably make a
bar diagram, which will make communication an
instantaneous process.
2. A manager wants to compliment an employee
for a distinguished performance. Shall he send a
peon with a memo? The manager should
choose a medium that transmits his compliments
with a personal touch,

Each communication must be transmitted

through an appropriate medium. An unsuitable
medium is one of the biggest barriers to
communication
 Physical barriers
Physical barriers are:
-Noise - noise in a factory; external
disturbance in telecom facilities; poor
writing; bad photo-copies; etc.
-Time and distance - if telecom and
network facilities are not available; people
working in different shifts; faulty seating
arrangement in the hall; etc,
 Semantic barriers
1. Interpretation of words. Most of the
communication is carried on through
words, whether spoken or written.
the receiver of the message does not
assign the ‘same meaning’ to a word as
the transmitter had intended.
Eg ;word ‘value’
(i) What is the value of this ring?
(ii) What is the value of learning about
communication?
(iii) I value my good name.
(i v) I got good value for my money.
- on account of different situations, social,
economic, cultural and educational
backgrounds, people interpret even the
contexts differently
2. Bypassed instructions. Bypassing is said
to have occurred if the sender and the
receiver of the message attribute different
meanings to the same word or use
different words for the same meaning.
Eg; An office manager handed to a new
assistant one letter with the instruction, "Take it
to our stockroom and burn it." In the office
manager's mind (and in the firm's jargon) the
word "burn" meant to make a copy . As the letter
was extremely important, she wanted an extra
copy. However, the puzzled new employee,
afraid to ask questions, burned the letter with a
lighted match and thus destroyed the only
existing copy.
3. Denotations and connotations. Words have two
types of meanings: denotative and connotative .
The literal meaning of a word is called its
denotative meaning. It just informs and names
objects without indicating any positive or
negative qualities. Words like 'table', 'book',
'accounts', 'meeting' are denotative.
In contrast, connotative meanings arouse
qualitative judgments and personal reactions.
'Honest', 'competent', 'cheap', 'sincere', etc., are
connotative words.
• Whenever possible, we should choose words
with positive rather than negative
connotations.
 Socio-psychological barriers
1. Attitude and opinion: Personal attitude
and opinion often act as barriers to
effective communication.
-If a change in the policy of an
organization proves advantageous to an
employee/ he welcome it as good; if it
affects him adversely, he rejects it.
2. Emotions. Emotional states of mind play an
important role in the act of communication.
- If the sender is worried, excited, afraid,
nervous, his thinking will be blurred and he will
not be able to organize his message properly.
- the emotions of the receiver also affect the
communication process. If he is angry, he will
not take the message in proper light.
3. Closed mind. A person with a closed mind is
very difficult to communicate with.
-Such a person is not open to conviction and
persuasion.
4. Status-consciousness. Status consciousness
exists in every organisation and is one of the
major barriers to effective communication.
- Subordinates are afraid of communicating
upward any unpleasant information.
5. Inattentiveness. People often become
inattentive while receiving a message in
particular, if the message contains a new-
idea.
-The human mind usually resists-change,
because change makes things uncertain.
6. Faulty transmission. A message is never
communicated from one person to another
in its entirety.
In the process of interpretation,
simplification and translation, a part of the
message gets lost or distorted.
- In oral communications, something in
the order of 30 per cent of the information
is lost in each transmission.
7. Poor retention. Poor retention of
communication also acts as a barrier.
Studies show that employees retain only
about 50 per cent of the information
communicated to them. The rest is lost.
Thus if information is communicated
through three or four stages, very little
reaches the destination, and of that very
little is retained.
 Cultural barrier
Happens because of cultural differences.
The same category of words, phrases symbols, colours
etc. mean different things to people of different countries.
Eg. Western countries ‘black’ colour is associated with
death and express sorrow or grief (mourning). in far
east ‘white is the colour for mourning.
In USA people love to be called by their first name but in
England people are more formal and like to be
addressed by their title or last name.
 Psychological barrier
1. Premature Evaluation
It is a tendency to evaluate a communication
prematurely rather than keeping an open mind during
the interchange.
2. Distrust of communicator.
3. Selective perception
it means that the receivers selectively see and hear
depending upon their needs motivations experience
and other personal characteristics.
 Organisational barrier
1 organisational policy
Hindrance in the free flow of communication in different
direction.
2.Organisational rules and regulations
3.Complexity in the organisational structure
In an organisation where a number of managerial
levels ,the communication delayed as it moves in
hierarchical line.
4.Organisational facilities
Some organisations provide facilities like meeting
,suggestion box etc. for free flow of communication.
 Personal barrier
1.Barrier in superior
attitude of superior
fear of challenge of authority
insistence of proper channel
lack of confidence in subordinates
ignoring communication
2.Barriers regarding subordinates
unwillingness to communicate
lack of proper incentive
 How to overcome barriers of
communication
Open door communication policy to be followed
by managers at all levels.
There should be an atmosphere of confidence
and trust in the organisation
Major efforts towards this direction are:
1.two-way communication
-The policy of organisation should provide a two
way communication-both upward and
downward.
-Proper feedback system to be implemented,so as
to have no communication gap.
2.Strengthening communication network.
- Decentralisation and delegation of
authority should be encouraged to make
information communication more efficient,
through frequent meetings, conferences,
and timely dissemination of information to
subordinates.
3.Promoting participative approach
- the subordinates should be invited to
participate in the decision-making process.
4.Credibility of communication
- The superior must maintain
trustworthiness. If the superior is trusted
by subordinates communication will be
effective.
5.Selecting effective communication
channel
- By effective channel, the meaning is the
message reaches its destination in time, to
the right person, and without any
distortion, filtering or omission.