Barriers of Communication

No matter how good the communication system in

an organization is, unfortunately barriers can and
do often occur . These barriers are:
(or)
Communication of barriers are the difficulties
involved in the process of communication which
distort the message being properly understand by
the receiver
barriers prevent the communication from being
effective

Types of Barriers in Communication:1. Physical

2. Psychological
3Language/semantic
4.Organizational structure barrier
5.Cross-cultural Barriers
6.Overcoming barriers

1.Physical barriers
are often due to the nature of the environment. Thus,
for example, the natural barrier which exists, if staff
are located in different buildings or on different sites.
Likewise, poor or outdated equipment, particularly the
failure of management to introduce new technology,
may also cause problems.
Ex:-Defects in media (letters,courier,fax,)
Noise in Environment(Air vibration, people talking,
in factory bcoz of noise the oral communication is
difficult)
Information overload(in Advertisment&sales
information is an example of overload)

2.Physiological barriers

result from individuals' personal

discomfort, caused, for example, by ill
health, poor eye sight or hearing difficulties

One meaning of the term psychological

barriers is the self limiting beliefs a person
may have which in turn affects their
behavior - that is ....what they do or don't do
as a result of having a self limiting belief.

may

Example for psychological

A person

might have a belief that they can't ride a bicycle

and carry this belief with them through their life, and as such
they would never attempt to ride a bicycle. This belief will
usually have been developed as a result of their past
experience - they may have tried to ride a bicycle as a
young child, perhaps they started to ride but fell off - hurting
themselves in the process. If they tried to ride again shortly
after the first accident, and subsequently fell off again,
hurting themselves, they would perhaps begin to believe
that they can't ride a bicycle. And they will hold this belief or
psychological barrier until they receive sufficiently strong
evidence to change this belief.

PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS
The

difference in background is overlooked

Economic background
Social background
Upbringing

PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS
Self-Centred

attitude
Group identification
Self image
Selective perception
Defensiveness
Filtering
Status block
Resistance to change
Closed mind
Poor communication skills
State of health

Self Centered attitude

In

this the individual persons show their

attitude or behavior of each persons.
In self centered attitude we pay attention to
message which is useful or related to us,-if
it is not for us than we do not pay enough
attention to that message
The person who is highly self centered he is
fails to build up good relation with
others(here we cannot learn more)

Group Identification
In

organization our ideas suggestions & opinions are

influenced in some matters by the group to which we
belong.
In family there is different groups that is an the basis of
age.
There is a conflicts B/W husband & wife because of
their age difference as well as different culture.(both are
from different culture)
In family father says something the children's may nt
lizn that word becoz of the age difference.

Self image
Self

image is nothing but portray(showing

about your self to others Like what your
Our own identification with in the
organization that is what exactly your.
This barriers shows both your
+ve(knowingly the work) as well as ve(if
you do not know that but acting like that)
thing in the organization

Selective perception
This

psychological barriers sometime we

fail to get the complete message which is
sent to us.
After getting that message we project our
expectation in to the communication as we
explain the message
Proper media we have to select to send
message to the right person(without fail)

Defensiveness
Defensive

is nothing but serving for defense.

If we feel threatened by a message we become
defensive and respond in such ways that reduce
understanding.
Example:- In organization the sales manager gives
threatened(decleared intention to injure) message to
his team to reach target than the team will perform
well to be safe.
This is mainly harmful barrier in handling complaints
& grievances(painful or oppressive) in resolving
conflicts

Filtering
Filtering

is the process of reducing the

details (or) unwanted things of a message
If sender send the information that we have
to change or edit all unwanted information
than finally we have to get the actual
information to boss he wants results.

Status block
This

is the main reason to break information

or because of this status barriers occurs in
the organization.
Here the sine our manager never lizn to the
junior than the subordinate he connote
express his new ideas than the barriers starts
in the organization.

Resistance in change
This

is the serious psychological barrier

Some peoples strongly resist new ideas which are
against their established opinion(or)treditions
(or)social customs.
They may avoid the new ideas because the feel
insecure or afraid of changes in methods or situations
The peoples are maintain their own emotions
attitudes, standards. They are not ready to accept
anything new changes.

Close mind
This

is also main barrier of each and every

organization
Close minded seniors are narrow minded
peoples they cannot implement new ideas.
And they are not allowing to young
employees to perform well & to implement
to ideas for growth of organization

Poor communication skills

Lack

of skill in writing & in speaking prevents a

persons from framing the message properly.
Lack of understanding
Because of nervousness the person cannot
communication orally with audience
Because of excitement about on achievement or
new idea may make a person speech incoherent.
Lack of listening, poor reading habits.

State of health
The

human health condition can affect

communication efficiency pain or fever
certainly makes a persons disinclined to
engage in communication.
Perception is low when the state of health is
poor.

Continued
lack

of concentration
Attitude and bias
Lack of self discipline
Low emotional state
Equally, if someone has personal problems like
worries about their health or marriage, then this
will probably affect them.

3.Language/semantic
Semantics,

or code noise, occurs when the meaning of a

message to the sender differs from its meaning to the
recipient.
Too often, this may be the result of jargon, involving
pretentious terminology or language specific to a
particular profession or group.
Unclear message
Faulty translation
Specialists language
Unclassified assumptions

Message related barrier

If your message is too lengthy,

disorganized, or contains errors, you can
expect the message to be misunderstood
and misinterpreted. Use of poor verbal and
body language can also confuse the
message.

4.Organizational barrier
In

organization the manager sends information

through circular,notice,letter etc.
In organization many of the employees they may
not understand the lengthy messages if they ask
the senior persons will never answer properly out
of 100/20% of information only they will get.
in organizations the senior peoples will not give
much interest to the circular and all.

Contd..
In

downward communication the subordinate

may not get exact information. Because of
superior carelessness.
In upward communication the subordinates
passes information to the superior but that(100%)
information will not moves to superior the
managers will edit the unwanted information than
finally they will send the exact message.

Organizational barriers:
Status

relationship
One way flow
Organization structure
Rules and regulations
Distance barriers
Physical barriers
Mechanical barriers

5. Cross-cultural barrier
We communicate

the way we do because

we are raised in particular culture and learn
its language, rules, and norms. Different
cultures (and sub cultures)may have
different rules and norms. Understanding
the other's culture facilitates cross-cultural
communication

Different languages And cultures

Different

languages and cultures represent

national barrier which is particularly
important for organizations involved in
overseas (Proper usage and pronunciation)
business.
Staff shortages are another factor which
frequently causes communication difficulties
for an organization

CULTURAL CONFLICTS IN WORK PLACE

Cultural

conflicts arise because of the

differences in values and norms of behavior of
people from different cultures.
A person acts according to the values and
norms of his or her culture; another person
holding a different worldview might interpret
his or her behavior from an opposite
standpoint.
This situation creates misunderstanding and
can lead to conflicts

Learning about other cultures.

People

can prevent cross-cultural conflicts

by learning about cultures that they come in
contact with. This knowledge can be
obtained through training programs, general
reading, talking to people from different
cultures, and learning from past experience.

Discrimination
Cultural

conflicts lead to Discrimination

toward or against a person or group is the
prejudicial treatment of them based on
certain characteristics.

Dealing with Discrimination in the

Workplace
In

the last few years, charges of gender

discrimination (man vs. woman) in the
workplace have increased. Racial bias,
while no longer the most common
complaint among employees, remains a
problem, as does age discrimination.

Dealing With Discrimination At

Workplace
Dealing

effectively with discrimination is a

two fold process:
Become knowledgeable with regard to anti
discrimination laws,
Pay close attention to what's happening in
your company

Types Of Discrimination
1.Gender

discrimination
Socially, sexual differences have been used
to justify different roles for men and
women, in some cases giving rise to claims
of primary and secondary roles.

Gender Stereo Typing

The united nations had concluded that

women often experience a "glass ceiling"
and that there are no societies in which
women enjoy the same opportunities as
men. The term "glass ceiling" is used to
describe a perceived barrier to advancement
in employment based on discrimination,
especially sex discrimination

Language discrimination
Diversity

of language is protected and respected

by most nations who value cultural diversity.
However, people are sometimes subjected to
different treatment because their preferred
language is associated with a particular group,
class or category. Discrimination exists if there is
prejudicial treatment against a person or a group
of people who speak a particular language or
dialect.

Disability Discrimination
People

with disabilities face discrimination

in all levels of society. The attitude that
disabled individuals are inferior to nondisabled individuals is called ableism

6.Overcoming barriers
Constant

organizational efforts is need to

overcome the barriers which are unconsciously
built up by different people in the organization.
Health Centers:- many organizations provide
medical aid, gymnasium and recreation for the
staff in an effort to keep down stress level.
Regulation like compulsory vacation after a
certain number of months/years are also meant
to ensure that employees avoid stress and
fatigue.

Contd
Semantic

and language barriers can be

overcome only by being careful with the
use of language & by using words which
have clear meaning, by using short and
simple sentence, and also by using visual
aid whenever possible.

7.Personal barriers:
Attitude of superiors
Lack of confidence in subordinates
Insistence of proper channel
Ignoring comm.
Filtering of information
Message overload

8.Barriers related to the

communicator
Unwillingness

to say things differently

Unwillingness to relate to others differently
Unwillingness to learn new approaches
Lack of self -confidence
Lack of enthusiasm
Voice quality

Continued
Prejudice
Badly

expressed message
Loss in transmission
Semantic problem
Over/under communication
attitude

Basic Components