Effective communication is the ability to continue a conversation with another person in an engaging, focused, consistent and reliable manner. Communication becomes ineffective due to various barriers. Barriers to effective communication can be of many types such as psychological, emotional, physical, linguistic, cultural, etc. This article reviews the most prominent barriers to effective communication.
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| Barriers to Effective Communication |
What are the Barriers to Communication?
Communication is the
process by which ideas, information, opinions, and feelings are exchanged
between people to reach a common understanding.
Since
ancient times, all creatures on the planet have developed methods through which
they share their thoughts and feelings with each other, but the ability of
human beings to use spoken speech and language to convey accurate meanings has
made his communication significantly distinguished from other creatures.
However, the process of human communication may be exposed to a set of barriers that hinder it and limit its effectiveness.
There are
some common barriers of communication including irrelevance to the receiver,
lack of attention and interest, distractions, physical disabilities such as
speech difficulties or hearing problems, differences in perception and
viewpoint, and physical barriers to non-verbal communication.
In this article, we will discuss the most prominent barriers to effective communication.
Definition of Communication
Communication is defined
as the process by which thoughts, information, and feelings are sent and received
through verbal or non-verbal methods and means such as verbal communication,
writing, drawings, signals, and behaviors.
Communication is one of
the main building blocks in relationships between people and organizations.
Communication
can also be defined as the process of creating and exchanging meaning between
parties.
Types of Communication
Communication between individuals and groups
is divided into two main types, namely:
Formal communication: It is the communication that takes place through the various official communication channels within the organizational chart, as it may occur between a superior and a secondary employee or between an employee and a manager or between employees or managers with each other, and these communications can be verbal or written and are often recorded and saved.
Informal communication: It is the casual and unofficial form
of communication, and it is characterized by that it can spread quickly and it
is very difficult to discover its source. In informal communication,
information is exchanged spontaneously and can spread quickly between two or
more people without conforming to formal rules, formalities, processes,
systems, and chain of command. And it is very difficult to discover the source
of information.
Informal communication may
also lead to incorrect rumors, and people's behavior is often affected by
rumors and unofficial information that may sometimes hinder the work
environment.
Basic Elements of the Communication Process
Before addressing the
barriers to effective communication, it is necessary to talk about the elements
of the communication process.
The effective
communication process is a continuous process that includes several main
elements, namely the sender, the receiver, the means of communication, encoding
and decoding in addition to the feedback.
The following points summarize the elements of the communication process and the role of each in this process:
Message: It represents ideas, information, opinions, facts, feelings and other messages that are generated by the sender.
Sender: The sender represents the party responsible for creating the message and transmitting it to the receiver. He is also the source and the person who starts the communication process.
Receiver: The receiver is the person who receives the message from the source and tries to understand the message in the best possible way to achieve the desired goals.
Communication channel: The communication channel represents
the means by which the message is transmitted. The person interested in
communicating has to choose the channel to send the required information,
ideas, etc.
The information is sent to the receiver through certain mediums which may be either a physical transmission medium such as a wire or a logical communication over a multiplexed medium like a radio channel in telecommunications and computer networking.
Encoding: Encoding is the process of converting ideas into communication. The encoding process depends on the purpose of the communication and the relationship between the sender and the receiver. An encoder uses a "medium" to send the message - a phone call, text message, email, face-to-face meeting, or other communication tools.
Decoding: Decoding is the process of interpreting and translating the coded information into a comprehensible and understandable form. Decoding the message is how the listener or audience is able to understand and interpret the message.
Feedback: Feedback refers to any response the
recipient gives to the message. Feedback completes the communication process
and ensures that there is no misunderstanding and miscommunication. If the
feedback clearly indicates that the message has not been understood, this means
that the communication process has failed.
Barriers to Effective Communication
The communication process
encounters a number of obstacles that often distort the meaning or message to
be conveyed, leading to a state of misunderstanding that ultimately leads to
the failure of effective communication.
Barriers to effective
communication can be linguistic, psychological, emotional, or physical.
The following points
contain a simple explanation of common barriers to effective communication:
Language barriers
The language barrier is
one of the main barriers to effective communication, as language is the most
widely used communication tool between humans.
And the fact that every
region or country has its own different language is one of the barriers to
effective communication
It is estimated that the
dialect of each of the two regions changes within a few kilometers, even in the
same workplace the employees possess different language skills and as a result,
the communication channels that bifurcate across the organization are affected.
Psychological barriers
Many psychological
problems stand in the way of effective communication, for example, many people
are afraid of standing on stage or speaking in front of the audience, which may
cause them to have speech disorders in addition to phobias, depression, and
other symptoms. It is very difficult to avoid such circumstances at times, so
psychological barriers are among the most important obstacles to effective
communication.
Emotional barriers
A person's emotional
intelligence often determines the ease and effectiveness of the communication process.
An emotionally mature person is often able to communicate effectively with
others, while people who let their emotions take over often face many
difficulties.
An ideal combination of
emotions and facts results in effective communication, while feelings of anger
and frustration can affect a person's decision-making abilities and thus limit
the effectiveness of their communication.
Physical barriers
A physical barrier is an
environmental and natural condition that acts as a barrier in the communication
process and can lead to distraction resulting in inattention or completely
altering the message, causing miscommunication.
If the physical barriers
are reduced or removed, the communication process becomes effective as there
are less distortion and interference.
The major
environmental/physical barriers include organizational environment or interior
workspace design problems, technological problems, work overload, information
duplication, and noise.
For example, the physical
separation of employees within a large office combined with poor communication
equipment may create severe barriers to effective communication. When messages
are sent, physical barriers like walls, doors, distance, etc. do not let the
communication become effective.
Some physical barriers are
easy to alter whereas, some may prove challenging in the effective
communication process.
Other Barriers to
Communication
Organizational
Structure Barriers:
There are some institutions that rely on a weak organizational structure or do
not have a specific organizational structure within the organization, also the
multiplicity of administrative levels within the organization leads to the
difficulty of defining the powers and the difficulty of defining the goal,
which leads to difficult communication.
Ethical Barriers to
Communication:
Ethical barriers occur when individuals working in an organization find it
difficult to express their opposition, even though their organization is
behaving in ways that they consider unethical.
Physiological barriers
to communication:
Physiological barriers may result from the performance characteristics and
limitations of the human body and the human mind.
Cultural barriers to
communication:
Cultural barriers often arise where individuals in one social group have
developed different norms, values, or behaviors to individuals related to
another group.
Socio-religious
barriers: Other
barriers are social and religious barriers. In a patriarchal society, a woman
or a transgender may encounter many difficulties and barriers during
communication.
Moral barriers: These barriers may
relate to the time of writing the message, the goal of it, or the method of
communication that took place during its expression, for example, the goal of
writing the message may be unclear or its perception of the sender differs from
the sender to the future. Also, the communication process took place at an
inappropriate time, or it took place at a specific time that cannot be changed.
Also, the way individuals sit and the manner of their speech while conveying the message, and negative facial expressions constitute an obstacle to the communication process.