Barriers to Communication

Barrier to communication: Any blockage or hindrance that interferes with the effectiveness of
exchange of ideas or thoughts is called a barrier to communication. These hurdles do not bring
satisfaction to the discussion and can become a crisis if ignored. Recognizing and removing these
hurdles are very important and knowing the common barriers to communication is the first step
towards minimizing their impact.

Barriers are broadly divided into main categories, namely,

A. Physical Barrier/ Environmental Barrier

B. Mechanical Barrier
C. Linguistic or Semantic Barrier
D. Socio-psychological Barrier
E. Cross-cultural Barrier

A. Physical Barrier

The physical and environmental barriers to communication are purely external and usually
not within the control of the persons engaged in communication.

Following are the various kinds of Physical barriers

a) Physical disturbances
Distractions such as traffic noise, whistling, loud music, noise of construction work,
telephonic distractions etc are physical barriers to communication.

b) Environmental stress
Excessive heat, cold, humidity etc may disturb the concentration on the message. The
glare of the sun, lack of ventilation, overcrowding in trains etc affect the process of
communication adversely.

c) Personal problems of health

If the sender or receiver is suffering from fatigue, sleepiness, ill-health or pain in any part
of the body, he/she will not be able to send or receive messages clearly, completely and
efficiently.

d) Problems with speech articulation

Some people cannot communicate efficiently because they suffer from speech defects
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 such as stammering and lisping which may lead to difficulty in articulating the message
clearly or cause mispronunciation.

B. Mechanical Barrier
This barrier is a relatively modern barrier to communication that occurs because of use of
various instruments and machines for communication.
Following are the different kinds of mechanical barrier.

a) Non-availability of proper machines.

Mechanical barrier arise from lack or absence of proper facilities or means of communication.
Lack of mass communication instruments like telephone, fax, radio, television etc leads to
mechanical barrier.

b) Presence of defective machines or interruptions.

Telephones: defect in the instrument, connection problem, cross-connections, poor network
connectivity etc.
Television: Lack of clarity on picture or sound, loss of transmission, defect in the TV set etc.
Computer: Problems with the display, System crash, virus problems, poor or no internet
connectivity etc.

c) Power failure
Power failure is also a serious mechanical barrier because many instruments and machines used
for communication run on electricity.

C. Linguistic or Semantic barrier

Barriers to communication because of the language and its received meaning is called linguistic
or semantic barrier.
a) Inadequate or lack of knowledge of the sender’s Language.
Lack of knowledge or partial knowledge of language impedes understanding and can seriously
affect communication.

b) Mispronunciation/ accents
Wrong pronunciation and pitch can distract the receiver and can be a cause of embarrassment
and amusement. For example, ‘snacks’ pronounced as ‘snakes’ or ‘hall’ pronounced as ‘hole’.
Accent is also a great source of miscommunication. An Australian may not understand what an
Indian is trying to say even though both are in English.

c) Misinterpretation
Language is very subjective. An innocent statement may be interpreted by the receiver simply
because the meaning assigned to a particular word. For example, the statement “She is
diplomatic.” can be a compliment because the word “diplomatic’ in a positive sense means
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 being wise and tactful. But if the receiver perceives the negative connotation of the word which
means two-faced, misinterpretation occurs.

d) Use of Jargon
Jargon means the specialised words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or
group of people and are difficult for others to understand. Speaker has to make sure whether
his audience is aware of the technical words or jargon he uses in the speech. Using too many
jargons can put of the listener and he/she may stop listening.

D. Socio-Psychological Barrier

Socio-psycho barriers are created in our psyche (mind). The experiences of life colour our
perceptions of life. Since people have varied experiences, varied perceptions are formed.
Clashes of such perception can be a barrier in communication

Some of the important socio-psychological barriers are listed below.

a) Status Barrier
Status brings to mind the idea of authority, group leadership, prestige, knowledge or power.
Society assigns different status to people according to his/her education, financial situation or
profession. For example a doctor has more status in society than a clerk or a receptionist.
Likewise in every organization too there is a particular hierarchical structure wherein people
have different degree of status.
People try to show off their status by isolating themselves from their subordinates by showing
them their sense of superiority. Thus, status creates artificial barriers between such persons and
their subordinates physically and emotionally.

b) Halo and Horn Effect

We have a love-hate relationship with people around us. We always trust people whom we
like or admire (people whom we perceive to have a halo) and believe in all what they say.
This is called the halo effect.
Conversely, we are mostly sceptical and distrustful of people we dislike or hate. This attitude
towards persons we dislike is called horn effect. Both the effects can be a barrier to
communication because in both case we are driven by emotions rather than reasoning.

c) Closed mind
A closed mind is a great barrier to communication. Narrow interests, limited reading and poor
intellectual and cultural background can cause a person’s mind to be narrow. This limits the
ability to change and take in new ideas, which in turn limits our understanding of human
nature and blocks a proper reception of message

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 d) Prejudice
Personal attitudes and opinions can act as a barrier to communication. Prejudice is a
preconceived opinion about a person because he belongs to particular group, class, status or
culture. Prejudices are based on feelings and assumptions rather than reasons or facts.

E. Cross-cultural Barrier

The communication gap created between people of different attitudes and beliefs because they
belong to different social, cultural and geographical background is called cross cultural barrier.
If we develop a feeling that only our beliefs, food habits, dressing styles, festivals, social
customs and traditions are right and others are wrong, we can end up having lots of
communication problems and bad relationships.

Some of the most significant differences are

a) Language
The language of any group directly reflects their culture. Even among countries that speak
English like the British and the Australians, a word may not have the same significance.
Connotation of words differs in different cultures. For example when Japanese say ‘yes’
they mean,” I’m listening”. The American takes it to mean “yes, I agree”. Negotiations are
made difficult because of this.

b) Values
Values are our idea of what is good and what is evil; they form our basis of behaviour and
action. Notions of good and bad may differ from culture to culture. For example, Behaviour
expected from women is different from what is expected from women in western cultures.

c) Concept of time
Concept of time is perhaps one of the most troublesome experiences that causes barrier in
cross-cultural communication. For some cultures, ‘time is money’ and is more important
than personal relationships : for others, time is subordinate to relationship. As a result of
conceiving time differently , work behaviour and social behaviour styles vary greatly. In
India, and other eastern country , lack of punctuality and not functioning to the schedule is
almost normal; in Western countries arriving late for the meeting is one of the worst things
you can do.

d) Concept of space
Concept of space has an important effect on behaviour and the distance between two
speakers during conversations. In some cultures speakers stand close enough to touch
them while in other they maintain distance to denote respect. People in South Asian

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 countries like India and Srilanka, maintain less inter-personal distance.

F. Organizational Barrier

a) Hierarchical Barrier
In every organization, there is a hierarchy maintained for its smooth functioning. Most of
the times the hierarchy is so rigid that the message move up and down the ladder only
through one immediate superior or immediate subordinate. There is no contact between the
highest and the lowest level employees. Such a network may be misused by the middle
persons and biased information may be passed on. In such situation, especially in large
organization, people become frustrated and may develop apathy towards the organization.

b) Filtering
Filtering means that the sender of a message manipulates information in such a way that it
will be more favourably seen by the receiver. A manager, for example, likes to tell what he
feels his boss wants to hear, in this process he is filtering information. The net result is that
the man at the top never gets objective information.

c) Slanting
A slant means a bent. In slanting the communicator tends to give a bend to a message
according to what he perceives. He does not look at things objectively but interprets it
according to his own prejudice. Whenever slanting takes place one does not get a clear
picture of reality and the message is reported wrongly. Slang may be done consciously or
unconsciously.

d) Withholding of information
Withholding of information involves suppression of information because of self-interest and
jealousy or taking credit of other’s idea or work.

e) Over dependence on Written communication.

Excessive dependence on circulars, bulletins, notices and letters can lead to communication
failure. Many of the time the messages are not read properly which may cause loss of
important information.

f) Information overload.
In an organization, the information flows from all direction. Managers are at different
centres of information. They have to pick and choose the information and pass it down or
upwards or horizontally. These messages may need some careful editing. If the manager is
bombarded with information he may not be able check the errors of all the messages and
may forward it which can lead to communication barrier.
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