Barriers to Communication

• Barriers


  Individual obstacles that hinder the flow of effective communications. They prevent the sender and the receiver from understanding each other.
• Barriers to effective communications

  • Differences in perception
  • Jumping into conclusions/ Assumptions
  • Stereotyping
  • Difficulties with self-expression
  • Lack of knowledge
  • Emotions
  • Lack of interest
  • Difference in culture
  • Status differences
  • Gender
  • Personality
  • Language
  • Tone
  • Listening
• Differences in perception


  • The way we view the world is largely determined by the influence of several factors such as age, nationality, culture, education, occupation, sex, status and personality which will all impact on our perception about things
• Jumping into conclusions/ Assumptions

  • Individuals often see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear rather than what is actually there. This may lead to the saying of putting two and two together to make five. In essence, they do not deal with the facts of a matter or issue.
• Stereotyping


  • We run the risk of treating different people with gross disrespect because of our biases and prejudices or we treat different people the same and make the assumption that everybody is the same
• Difficulties with self-expression


  • Some individuals have problems with finding words to express themselves and this can become a barrier when expressing or exchanging ideas.
• Lack of knowledge


  • It is difficult to communicate effectively with someone whose knowledge of a particular subject of discussion is considerably less than yours. Of course it is possible but it requires skill on the part of the communicator to be aware of the difference between the levels of knowledge and communicate accordingly.
• Emotions


  • The emotions of either the receiver or the sender can also prove to be a barrier to effective communications. Any strongly felt emotion is liable to prevent almost anything but the emotion being communicated. The objective is to try to avoid communicating when a strong emotion is liable to make you incoherent or unable to express your views in a clear manner.
• Lack of interest


  • Sometimes individuals get distracted or may daydream when messages are being sent. It is important that the receiver shows interest in the message that he/she receives in order to send the appropriate feedback.
• Difference in culture


  • There are cultural differences in any society. The Japanese will have different norms from the Chinese. Individuals must be aware that people from any given society or even different areas within the same country have cultural differences.
• Status differences


  • These occur when certain individuals have power because of fame, money and position in work places and they may try to assert this power on others who do not have it.
• Gender


  • The sexes may view issues differently. Gender differences may be seen in different conversation styles between men and women. For example, women prefer to converse face to face while men are comfortable conversing side by side focusing on some other focal point.
• Personality


  • Clash of personalities is one of the most common causes of communication failure. We may not be able to change the personality of others, but at least we must be able to reflect at ourselves before finding faults in others.
• Language


  • This may become a problem in instances where its usage distorts intent and obscures meaning. Sometimes subtle distinctions in dialect may obscure the meaning of the message, even slangs may pose a problem for the listener and result in miscommunication.
• Language


  • The word "lift" in England means an elevator and a ride in America. In Trinidad and Tobago the words "horse" and "dog" means friend among young people. For the older generation it may mean animals. For players of playwhe they may symbolize numbers and dreams in Trinidad and Tobago.
• Tone


  • This deals with the voice or sound of a particular message. A tone may sound harsh, aggressive, polite, sarcastic, formal, impolite, etc.
• Listening


  • This is a major barrier to effective communication in instances in which either the sender or the receiver ignores or refuses to listening to the messages conveyed by the speaker.
• Barriers in written documents

  • Poor punctuation and spelling
  • Incorrect grammar
  • Document is unclear/lack of clarity- the purpose of the message is vague or it is difficult to understand what the sender is expressing
  • Messy document- the information is not presented well or it is disorganized