Barriers to Horizontal Communication:

Some barriers to horizontal communication are differences in style, personality, or roles amongst
co-workers.
According to Professor Michael Papa, horizontal communication problems can occur because
of
a)
b)
c)
d)

territoriality,
rivalry,
specialization, and
simple lack of motivation.

Territoriality occurs when members of an organization regard other people's involvement in

their area as inappropriate or unwelcome.
Rivalry between individuals or teams can lead to reluctance to cooperate and share information.
Specialization is a problem that occurs when there is a lack of uniform knowledge or vocabulary
within or between departments.
Finally, horizontal communication often fails simply because organization members are
unwilling to expend the additional effort to reach out beyond their immediate team to others at
the same level.

Barriers to Horizontal Communication Classification

Barriers to Horizontal Communication can be classifide in follwoing ways

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Figure 1: Barriers to Horizontal Communication

Organizational barriers
Organizational barriers are information overload, noise, time pressures, breakdown in the
communication network, information distortion, and cross-cultural barriers.
Information Overload receiving more information than can be reasonably processed. Occurs
for several reasons First, organizations face higher levels of uncertainty because of escalating
change and turbulence in the external environment, so they obtain more information to reduce
the uncertainty. Second, the increasing complexity of tasks and organization structures creates a

need for more information. Again, organizations employ more specialists to provide the needed
information, placing greater information-processing burdens on organizational members. Third,
ongoing developments in technology small mobile computers, the Internet, intranets, the
growing number of large organizational databases increase the amount of information available
to associates and managers. One way in which organizations are trying to deal with the overload
caused by electronic messaging and e-mail is by adopting newer, web-based interactive
technologies for internal communications. These include blogs, wiki sites, and social networking
sites. With this technology, messages are all posted in one place, avoiding redundancy. Also, new
anti-spam software has helped businesses cut down on the cost of unwanted e-mail.
Noise Anything that disrupts communication or distorts the message. Noise can be either an
organizational-level barrier or an individual-level barrier. It may occur at any step in the
communication process or within any element, and it may occur in many forms. Often, it is
unintentional, as when two parties have different perceptions of a message. But at times noise
may be intentional. Other examples of noise include language barriers (especially in international
firms), interruptions, emotions, and attitudes.
Time Pressures In most organizations work needs to be done under deadlines, which create
time pressures and constrain an individuals ability to communicate. When people are under time
pressure, they sometimes do not carefully develop a message before sending it. In addition, the
pressure of a deadline often does not allow for time to receive feedback, so the sender may not
know whether the receiver accurately perceived the message.
Network Breakdowns Breakdowns in the communication network frequently occur in large
organizations because so much information flows through those networks. Many things can
interfere with the flow mail can be misplaced, messages may not be received by those targeted,
and people can forget to relay pieces of information. Larger organizations have more problems
because messages must flow through more people, increasing the probability that the message
will be transmitted inaccurately at some point. One other factor that can cause communication
network breakdowns is the architecture of the work environment.
Specialty Area Jargon One problem in large, complex organizations concerns the
proliferation of specialists. Specialists are highly knowledgeable within their own fields but
frequently have limited understanding of other fields. In addition, they often have their own
language, or jargon. It may be difficult for two specialists in different fields to communicate
effectively with one another because they use different terminology.
Information Distortion It is common for information to be distorted, either intentionally or
unintentionally. Unintentional distortion can occur because of various problems, such as time
pressures, or because of perceptual differences. However, intentional distortion often occurs
because of competition between work units in an organization. Departments frequently have to

compete for scarce resources in their operating budgets. Suppression or distortion of information
can (and does) also occur when an associate has more information than his or her supervisor.
Cross-Cultural Barriers - Cross-cultural barriers occur for two general reasons: lack of
language fluency and lack of cultural fluency. Even though English is becoming an international
language for business, the potential for language barriers continues to exist in cross-cultural
communications. Language fluency is one dimension of what is known as cultural fluency the
ability to identify, understand, and apply cultural differences that influence communication.
Language fluency is necessary for cultural fluency but is not itself enough. Cultural fluency can
affect many dimensions of organizational behavior, including negotiating styles, nonverbal
behavior, personal space, and the use of symbols.

Individual Barriers
Individual barriers differing perceptual bases, semantic differences, consideration of self-interest,
personal space, and poor listening skills.
Differing Perceptions One of the most common communication failures occurs when the
sender has one perception of a message and the receiver has another. Differing perceptions are
caused by differing frames of reference. Our expectations or frames of reference can influence
how we recall and interpret information.
Semantic Differences Semantics refers to the meaning people attach to symbols, such as
words and gestures. Because the same words may have different meanings to different people,
semantic differences can create communication problems. One reason for semantic differences
relates to the proliferation of specialists in organizations. Specialists tend to develop their own
jargon; such terminology may have little meaning to a person outside the specialists field.
Consideration of Self-Interest Often, information provided by a person is used to assess his
or her performance. For example, it is not uncommon for firms to request information from
managers about their units performance. Data such as forecasts of future activity, performance
standards, and recommendations on capital budgets are often used in determining the managers
compensation. Research shows that where data accuracy cannot be independently verified,
managers sometimes provide information that is in their own self-interest. Although this does not
necessarily mean they intentionally distort information, they may provide incomplete data,
selecting only information that is in their own best interests.
Personal Space All of us have a personal space surrounding our bodies. When someone enters
that space, we feel uncomfortable. The size of the personal space differs somewhat among
individuals; it also differs by gender and across cultures. Women seem to have smaller personal
spaces than men. Similarly, the typical personal space in some cultures (such as some European
and South American cultures) is smaller than that in other cultures (such as the United States).

Poor Listening Skills - A frequent problem in communication rests not with the sender but with
the receiver. The receiver must listen in order to hear and understand the senders message, just
as the sender must listen to feedback from the receiver. Managers spend more than 50 percent of
their time in verbal communication, and some researchers estimate that they spend as much as 85
percent of this time talking. This does not leave much time for listening and receiving feedback.
Perhaps more importantly, it has been estimated that managers listen with only about 25 percent
efficiency. Therefore, they hear and understand only 25 percent of what is communicated to them
verbally. This can lead the speaker to become annoyed and discouraged, thus leaving a bad
impression of the listener. Poor listening is not conducive to high-involvement management,
because it breaks down the communication process and will limit information sharing.

An organization that has relied on rigid, formal styles of communication in the past may find it
difficult to switch to more employee-directed, horizontal communication. Lingering expectations
from the old system can significantly inhibit the implementation of horizontal communication.
For example, employees may be reluctant to initiate communications if they are used to
conversations being started only by management. Finally, corporations that operate in different
geographic locations, particularly internationally, may struggle with horizontal communication
across time zones as the confront the barriers of local idioms, customs, and languages.

Ways to overcome the Barriers

Recommedate activities to overcome the horizontal communication barriers are as follows.

Hold a planning meeting approach and commitment

Conduct interviews with top management

Collect, inventory, and analyze material

Conduct associate interviews

Prepare and administer a questionnaire to measure attitudes toward communication

Communicate survey results

Organizations can overcome horizontal communication barriers by establishing mutual trust

between senders and receivers, communication credibility is present, and feedback is
encouraged. Managers also should encourage a free flow of horizontal communication. People
must be comfortable in communicating their ideas openly and in asking questions when they do
not understand or they want to know more. Information should be available and understandable.
People in organizational units should be allowed to develop their own communication systems
independently for an effective communication culture.

Individual Action
Know your audience communicate with others as if you were communicating with yourself.
To communicate effectively, people must know their audience, including the audiences
experience, frames of references, and motivations.
Select an appropriate communication medium when messages are important or complex,
use of rich media, such as face-to-face communication, is necessary. Also, when dealing with
important and/or complex information, it is best to use several forms of communication for
example, by following a face-to-face communication with an e-mail message summarizing the
discussion.
Encourage feedback Communication is a two-way process. To ensure that the received
message is interpreted as intended, feedback from the recipient is necessary. Some guidelines
that individuals can use to obtain feedback include asking recipients to repeat what they have
heard, promoting and cultivating feedback, but not trying to force it, rewarding those who
provide feedback and using the feedback received and responding to feedback, indicating
whether
it
is
correct.
In
other
words,
obtaining feedback, using it, and then feeding it back to recipients.
Regulate information flow and timing regulating the flow of information can help to
alleviate communication problems. Regulating flow involves discarding information of marginal
importance and conveying only significant information. That is, do not pass on irrelevant
information, or else important messages may be buried by information overload or noise.
The proper timing of messages is also important. Sometimes people are more likely to be
receptive to a message and to perceive it accurately than at other times. Thus, if you have an
important message to send, you should not send it when recipients are about to leave work, are
fully engaged in some other task, or are receiving other communication.
Listen actively poor listening skills are a common barrier to effective communication. People
tend to hear and understand only around 25 percent of what is communicated to them verbally.
Listening is not a passive, naturally occurring activity. People must actively and consciously
listen to others in order to be effective communicators.

People at the same level may use following Organizational Communication Networks and
Channels to overcome horizontal communication barriers.

Organizational Communication Networks and Channels for Horizontal

Communication
Directory
functions

of

departments

and

Cross-functional work units

E-mail

 Family day/picnics
Grapevine
Kudos
programs
(colleagues
nominate colleagues for recognition)
Letters
Mass meetings/gatherings

Meetings with team, peers, other

managers,work groups
Memos and reports
Peer evaluation programs
Problem-solving groups
Taskforces
Teleconferencing
Water cooler/informal gatherings