70

Barriers of Communication

Communication is defined as the act of expressing our views to others through the use of signs, expressions, symbols, spoken words, or any activity to reach a common understanding. We can communicate with a person or a group of persons.

But, barriers can affect the message quality reaching the receiver. Sometimes the message sent may not be interpreted correctly by the receiver. Here, we will also discuss the steps to overcome the barriers of communication.

Let’s start.

We will discuss twelve barriers of communication, which are listed below:

• Physical Barriers
  The physical barriers affect both verbal and non-verbal communication. These barriers are present around us in the environment, such as noise, technical problems, design problems, etc.
• Attitude Barriers
  The attitude barriers can arise due to overconfidence, poor management, lack of motivation, and behaviour. Attitude barriers prevent people from communicating effectively with others. Such types of persons are less likeable. These barriers arise due to a lack of understanding that can cause a person to misjudge and ignore another person.
  Respectful, polite, and pleasant behaviour helps us move upward in the workspace with increased sales and productivity.
• Emotional Barriers
  The emotions in a person determine the ease and comfort in which he/she can communicate. It arises due to a lack of emotional intelligence. A better understanding of inner emotions will help us to respect the emotions of other people. Overcoming emotional barriers is an essential skill for effective communication.
• Cultural Barriers
  Cultural barriers usually exit between countries, religions, caste, colour, etc. at any level in society or an organization. Different people have different values, body language, gestures, beliefs, and behaviour. We should not underestimate any culture or religion.
• Language Barriers
  Language barriers are also known as linguistic barriers. A small variation in language can lead to colossal misunderstanding between people. It is recommended to use simple language and words while communicating.
• Gender Barriers
  Gender barriers signify how men and women behave; such barriers include different choices, styles of decision-making, etc. Women prefer to discuss the problems verbally. Overcoming gender barriers are essential to maintain equality in the workspace.
• Lack of focus and eye contact
  Lack of focus and eye contact may lose the interest of listeners or audience. Lack of focus can be due to any reason, such as improper sleep, overworking hours, alcohol, stress, etc.
• Fear of mistakes
  Mistakes are a part of the communication process. The practice is the best key to reduce our mistakes; We can practice exercises to improve our communication skills. Always try to learn from the mistakes.
  For example,
  We sent an email to someone with some mistakes. Do not fear. Instead, again write an email with the text, “Sorry for the mistake. Please, ignore that email and consider the below email.”
  In the above example, we can rewrite the email.
• Psychological Barriers
  The psychological state of a person can be a barrier in communication, such as opinion, consciousness, emotions, attitude, and behaviour. It distracts the user form paying attention while communicating.
  For example, a person will low confidence or self-esteem may not respond appropriately while talking to the superior.
• Perceptual Barriers
  Perceptual barriers are the barriers that prevent a person from correct predictions about others, such as expectations. It depends on how we analyze the things around us to recognize any information. The best way to overcome such barriers is to find a positive solution.
• Feedback Issues
  Feedback ensures that the receiver has correctly interpreted the message from the speaker/sender.

Tips to overcome Barriers of Communication

The tips to overcome the barriers of communication are listed below:

• Suitable time
  We should always check that the current time is suitable for the communication or not. Sometimes, talking to a person who is sad or uninterested will not be two-way communication. The other person might not respond appropriately.
• Be aware of tone, language, and pitch
  The voice should be audible for the listener. It should not harm the feelings of other users.
• Try to make the content attractive
  The content for effective communication should be clear and precise. It should not contain the use of excessive technical words, difficult words, brief paragraphs, etc. The content should be attractive and pleasant.
  We should also check for the grammars, spelling, and errors in our content. The content can be verbal and written.
• Look for feedback
  Communication is a two-way process. We should ensure that the receiver has properly understood our message. In face-to-face communication, facial expressions can easily depict that the receiver has correctly interpreted the message or not. But in other types of communication, we should always try to seek for the feedback.
• Focus on listening skills
  Listening skills are essential both for the sender and listener. We should always try to communicate with a positive attitude, patience, clarity, and attention. Good listening skills also help listeners to extract maximum information from the content or message.
• Work on the body language
  Sitting and standing positions depict the positive attitude and interest of a person in communication. So, we should sit and stand straight without any unnecessary hand movements. Do not try to slump the shoulders in between the communication. Body language, postures, and facial expressions are an essential part of the communication process. We should know to control our body language.
• Maintain eye contact
  Proper eye contact depicts the interest and attention of a person towards others. It is an essential skill for effective communication.
• Practice verbal communication skills
  If we are not confident about speaking in public, we can practice beforehand. We can take speech classes to improve our verbal communication.
• Do not focus on distractions
  Communications become better with less or no distractions. We should not focus on the people passing nearby, opening and closing the door, other people talking, mobile phones, etc. Such distractions can affect our attention and presence from the conversation.
• Identify and remove the noise source
  Noise is a significant barrier in the communication process. We need to overcome the sources to avoid any interference. It is essential to identify the factors that cause interference and try to remove such sources of noise.
• Do not work under pressure
  Immense work pressure can adversely affect our work performance. Try to maintain our work from the beginning so that we can effectively manage our communication with it. It will help us to easily manage our work and communication at the end without any pressure.
• Focus on our weakness
  Effective communication means managing every aspect of communication, either formal or informal. We should regularly work on our weaknesses. We can also ask for suggestions to know which aspect of communication will be better.

---