Barriers to communication

Barriers to communication

1.    Organizational barriers: these barriers are formed within the organization through organizational systems, rules, policy, and belief. Such barriers involve organizational policy, organizational rules and regulations, lengthy scalar chain, one way communication systems, and lack of confidence in subordinates.

2.  Physical barriers: internal structure of the organization and layout of the office machine and equipment’s also create barriers in the transformation of information. Some common physical barriers involve physical distance, hierarchy of structure, office design and noise etc.

3.   Psychological barriers: these barriers are generated due to human perception, lack of skill and negative thinking of top level managers, some common psychological barriers involve distrust of communicator, superiority complex, individual perception, premature evaluation, no attention etc

4.       Semantic barriers: these barriers are created due to use of difficult and insensitive language by the sender. In such cases, the receiver will not consider the message and due to which objective of information cannot be gained. Some common semantic barriers involve harsh language, vague language, misleading translation, and technical language etc.

5.       Language Barriers: Clearly, language and linguistic ability may act as a barrier to communication.  However, even when communicating in the same language, the terminology used in a message may act as a barrier if it is not fully understood by the receiver(s).  For example, a message that includes a lot of specialist jargon and abbreviations will not be understood by a receiver who is not familiar with the terminology used. Regional colloquialisms and expressions may be misinterpreted or even considered offensive.

6.   Cultural Barriers: Culture shapes the way we think and behave. It can be seen as both shaping and being shaped by our established patterns of communication. Cultural barrier to communication often arises when individuals in one social group have developed different norms, values, or behaviors to individuals associated with another group. Cultural difference leads to difference in interest, knowledge, value, and tradition. Therefore, people of different cultures will experience these culture factors as a barrier to communicate with each other.

7.  Linguistic Barriers: Individual linguistic ability may sometimes become a barrier to communication. The use of difficult or inappropriate words in communication can prevent the people from understanding the message. Poorly explained or misunderstood messages can also result in confusion. The linguistic differences between the people can also lead to communication breakdown. The same word may mean differently to different individuals. For example, consider a word “face.”

• He is facing a problem
• What is the face value of this share bond?
• Your face is oval shape

“Face” means differently in different sentences. Communication breakdown occurs if there is wrong perception of the meaning of the message by the receiver.