BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION

BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION

Physical barrier

      Physical barriers in the workplace include:

• marked out territories, empires and fiefdoms into which strangers are not allowed
• closed office doors, barrier screens, separate areas for people of different status
• Large working areas or working in one unit that is physically separate from others.

Research shows that one of the most important factors in building cohesive teams is proximity. As long as people still have a personal space that they can call their own, nearness to others aids communication because it helps us get to know one another.

                     This means you are physically separated with the people from your organization, which makes it difficult for you to relate to them or talk to them. Some offices have separate cubicles for each employee while others are placed in a secluded office room. Other times the separation is much larger since working from home has been a trend among companies these days. Also, if you have a very large office space, your tables might be placed far away from each other making it difficult for you to go out of your way just to talk to other employees. When this happens, it is always important that you find different means to communicate. You can call them on the phone, spend lunch with your office mates and do other stuff out of work with them to get to know them more. If you have something to say, don’t be afraid to go an extra mile just to be able to relay things to them.

Perceptual Barrier

               Another hindrance could be a perceptual barrier. This is one of the most common barriers to communication because our actions, words and mannerisms are open to other people’s interpretation. Perception may differ depending on the cultural, emotional, personal and spiritual background of the person. It is very easy to make assumptions without clarifying what the other person means by what he said or by his movements. When this happens, communication is blocked right away and conflict arises. That is why it is important to clarify things before reacting negatively.

                    The problem with communicating with others is that we all see the world differently. If we didn't, we would have no need to communicate: something like extrasensory perception would take its place. The following anecdote is a reminder of how our thoughts, assumptions and perceptions shape our own realities: A traveller was walking down a road when he met a man from the next town. "Excuse me," he said. "I am hoping to stay in the next town tonight. Can you tell me what the townspeople are like?"

"Well," said the townsman, "how did you find the people in the last town you visited?"

"Oh, they were an irascible bunch. Kept to themselves. Took me for a fool. Over-charged me for what I got. Gave me very poor service."

"Well, then," said the townsman, "you'll find them pretty much the same here."

Language Barrier

                      The language barrier is also a good example of another barrier to communication. Sometimes, we don’t know that we use words that are not easily understood by other people. This could be words from a dialect that is not common to the people in your office or it could be jargon that others don’t know the meaning to. Remember that it is always better to use words and phrases that the majority of people will easily understand rather than showing off the words you know that others don’t.

Language that describes what we want to say in our terms may present barriers to others who are not familiar with our expressions, buzz-words and jargon. When we couch our communication in such language, it is a way of excluding others. In a global market place the greatest compliment we can pay another person is to talk in their language.

One of the more chilling memories of the Cold War was the threat by the Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev saying to the Americans at the United Nations: "We will bury you!" This was taken to mean a threat of nuclear annihilation.

However, a more accurate reading of Khruschev's words would have been: "We will overtake you!" meaning economic superiority. It was not just the language, but the fear and suspicion that the West had of the Soviet Union that led to the more alarmist and sinister interpretation.

Interpersonal Barriers to Communication

                       Interpersonal barriers, on the other hand, are barriers to communication that come as a result of the way different people relate to one another.

There are six levels at which people can distance themselves from one another:

1. Withdrawal is an absence of interpersonal contact. It is both refusal to be in touch and time alone.

2. Rituals are meaningless, repetitive routines devoid of real contact.

3. Pastimes fill up time with others in social but superficial activities.

4. Working activities are those tasks which follow the rules and procedures of contact but no more.

5. Games are subtle, manipulative interactions which are about winning and losing. They include "rackets" and "stamps".

6. Closeness is the aim of interpersonal contact where there is a high level of honesty and acceptance of yourself and others.

Working on improving your communications is a broad-brush activity. You have to change your thoughts, your feelings, and your physical connections.

That way, you can break down the barriers that get in your way and start building relationships that really work.

Some people may lack the social skills, therefore they withdraw. Others may find it hard to make time to get to know their co-workers on a more personal level because of their routines like work, and after office activities.  Above all else, if you find that you these barriers to communication are causing you friction in your relationships at work, employing some conflict resolution strategies is prudent to ensure that all employees and coworkers can function together as a group

Emotional barriers

                       One of the chief barriers to open and free communications is the emotional barrier. It is comprised mainly of fear, mistrust and suspicion. The roots of our emotional mistrust of others lie in our childhood and infancy when we were taught to be careful what we said to others.

"Mind your P's and Q's"; "Don't speak until you're spoken to"; "Children should be seen and not heard". As a result many people hold back from communicating their thoughts and feelings to others.

They feel vulnerable. While some caution may be wise in certain relationships, excessive fear of what others might think of us can stunt our development as effective communicators and our ability to form meaningful relationships.

Cultural barriers

                  When we join a group and wish to remain in it, sooner or later we need to adopt the behaviour patterns of the group. These are the behaviours that the group accept as signs of belonging.

The group rewards such behaviour through acts of recognition, approval and inclusion. In groups which are happy to accept you, and where you are happy to conform, there is a mutuality of interest and a high level of win-win contact.

Where, however, there are barriers to your membership of a group, a high level of game-playing replaces good communication.

Gender barriers

                     There are distinct differences between the speech patterns in a man and those in a woman. A woman speaks between 22,000 and 25,000 words a day whereas a man speaks between 7,000 and 10,000. In childhood, girls speak earlier than boys and at the age of three, have a vocabulary twice that of boys.

The reason for this lies in the wiring of a man's and woman's brains. When a man talks, his speech is located in the left side of the brain but in no specific area. When a woman talks, the speech is located in both hemispheres and in two specific locations.

This means that a man talks in a linear, logical and compartmentalized way, features of left-brain thinking; whereas a woman talks more freely mixing logic and emotion, features of both sides of the brain. It also explains why women talk for much longer than men each day.

System design

                  Faults refer to problems with the structures or systems in place in an organisation.

 Examples might include an organisational structure which is unclear and therefore makes it confusing to know who to communicate with.

Other examples could be inefficient or inappropriate information systems, a lack of supervision or training, and a lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities which can lead to staff being uncertain about what is expected of them.

Attitudinal barriers

                   Attitudinal barriers come about as a result of problems with staff in an organization. These may be brought about, for example, by such factors as poor management, lack of consultation with employees, personality conflicts which can result in people delaying or refusing to communicate, the personal attitudes of individual employees which may be due to lack of motivation or dissatisfaction at work, brought about by insufficient training to enable them to carry out particular tasks, or just resistance to change due to entrenched attitudes and ideas.

Individual linguistic ability

                    Individual linguistic ability Is also important. The use of difficult or inappropriate words in communication can prevent people from understanding the message.

Poorly explained or misunderstood messages can also result in confusion. We can all think of situations where we have listened to something explained which we just could not grasp.

Psychological factors

                     Communication’s affected by people's state of mind. We all tend to feel happier and more receptive to information when the sun shines. Equally, if someone has personal problems like worries about their health or marriage, then this will probably affect the communication.

Biases

                   We all have them.  Bias is, after all, shaped by our experiences and who we are.  It becomes an obstacle to effective communication though when we consciously or subconsciously choose to speak only to those who are more likely to understand and agree with us.  It’s natural.  But in leadership, it is also important to extend the reach of our message to those whose biases do not necessarily align with our own.

The workplace, for example, now employs more than one generation of people.  Each generation has its view of the world.  Each generation also has its challenges.  And yet, the messages you send must finds ways to reach and engage everyone to be effective.

Assumptions

              Assumptions sabotage effective communication and have the potential to lead everyone down unintended paths.  For instance, you may assume that because people are nodding while you speak, they understand and agree with what you are saying. Similarly, if you invite questions about your message and get none, it would be easy to assume there are none.   The truth is, few people will risk the potential embarrassment of being the only one who doesn’t agree with or understand your message or doesn’t know what to ask.   To assume they do would be a mistake.

Cultural Barriers

                   There are many factors that make up what we refer to as “culture” but to me, cultural difference is about attitudes and beliefs that come from our personal environment and experience.  As such, two people could get the same message but interpret it in two entirely different ways simply because their frames of reference and language differ.