Barriers to Effective

Communication and Their

Management
COMMUNICATION

Tuğçe AYDIN
BARRIERS FOR EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION

Ayşe Bilge ÇAKIR

 Barrier ? Barriers’,
‘Obstacles’, ‘
Hindrances’ and ‘noise’
• Lack of Commonness
• anything that prevents,
restricts or impedes
• ‘distracting stimuli
Barriers to Effective
Communication
• Social
• Psychological
• Cultural
• Physiological,
• System design
• Physical
• Receivers
Social Barriers
Gender
Age
Race
National or Cultural
Origin
Socioeconomic Class
Education Level
Urban or Rural
Residence
 GENDER
Major influence on the way we
communicate with others.
When men and women work together
in a group, men tend to be more
assertive and self-confident.
Women are more likely than men to
express their emotions, to reveal how
they feel about a situation.
 AGE
Young people and old people communicate
in different ways.
We do tend to judge a statement by
different standards if we know the
speaker’s age.
A person’s age or gender is not
important in judging the truth or
wisdom of what that person says .
Their maturity, their educational
backgrounds, and the different eras in
which they grew up make a Generation
Gap inevitable.
Psychological Barriers
• Fear
• Attitude towards self
– audience
– message
• You Yourself is not convinced
with the subject
• Knowledge of subject
• Personality/Status of the
communicator
 PERCEPTION
Our physical limitations are a
screen through which we
perceive things that exist in
our environment.
Our perception is also limited
by psychological screens
that we have developed.
Choosing from among the
many things within our range
of perception those that we
will notice, and block out
the rest is called “Selective
Perception”
Mother: Will you straighten up your
room?
Teenager: Why? What’s messy?
 Selective Perception
• Allows us not only to block out things
that are there, but also to see more
things than are there.

• Leads us to make our own reality!

• Most clearly seen in the human

tendency to stereotype others.
 MOTIVATION
A Motive is a Reason For
Action!
The most strongest
motivations are those
that are most personal.
We are motivated by money,
fame, power, love, status, security,
skill, ambition...etc
it can be both positive
or negative.
 TUNNEL VISION
A closed way of thinking, especially
about abstract topics, such as
religion and politics.
• The person with tunnel vision is one who
has firmly fixed ideas
• The opposite side is open-mindedness
• Person with tunnel vision has attitude
seems to say; “I’ve already made up my
mind, Don’t confuse me with the facts!!!”
 EGO DEFENSIVENESS
A response pattern in which a person
who follows this pattern sees a
disagreement as a personal
attact .
A self-centered
communication

More than just being selfish

 NEGATIVE EMOTIONS
Almost always obstacles to good
communication!
Especially true barrier if the
emotion is uncontrolled, unfocused,
or misdirected.
Other Psychological Barriers
• People’s State of Mind
Happy, Sad
• Personal Problems/Worries
• Pre conceived notions of Communicator
or Receiver
• Mental limitations of human beings,
failure to refer language to
experience, the confusion of concept.
 Cultural Barriers
Semantic Problems: Distortion
in communication comes from
semantics- the use of words or
expressions which have a
different meaning for the
sender or receiver.
Created when communicators
use technical words- usage
common to a particular field or
specialization.
 Cultural Barriers
• Language
Different languages, dialect, individual
linguistic ability, use of difficult words,
inappropriate words, pronunciation
• Norms and values
• Belief
• Social practices and traditions
 Physiological Barriers
• Individuals’ personal discomfort
ill health, poor eye sight, hearing
difiiculties
• Speech and voice defect, feeling of
inferiority, diseases, physical
appearance, lack of skill.
 System Design
• Organisational Structure
unclear, to whom to communicate,
• Insufficient or inappropriate
information systems
• Information overloaded
• A lack of clarity in roles and
responsibilities
• A lack of supervision or training
The distortion of message is any
kind of loss, deformation, miss
presentation or alteration taken
place in original message while
sending it to audience.
Types of Distortion :
1. Systematic Distortion –
Purposely changed
2. Fog Distortion – information is
lost
3. Mirage Distortion - extra,
unwanted information
Status And Power Differences
Differences in
communications are
likely to parallel the
differences in power.
Imbalance or asymmetry
in negotiating power
leads the high power
party to perform
significantly better than
the low power party.
 Physical Barriers
• Channel
– Availability of channel to receiver (Common channel)
– Choice of channel
– Handling of channel by communicator
– Reach : depending on size of audience, mike, etc.
– Noise level in Channel
• Climate
– Extreme temperature (Hot/Cold)
– Bright/ Dim Light
– High Humidity
• Comfort
Physical Barriers Cont…..
Distractions:It occurs
where people
are constantly coming
in and leaving for one
reason or another, and
experinced the
frustration that is
created by this
distracting traffic flow.
Physical Barriers Cont…..
• Distractions
– Noise (Co-workers, Doors, etc.)
– Photographer
– Any announcements
– Instruction Sheet
– Tea
– Late Comers
• Physical Setting of Classroom/
Lecture Hall
– Sitting Arrangement
– Audio-Visual Aids
 Receiver-The Ultimate
• Absenteeism/Day Dreaming/ Pretending
Listening
• Strayers: They constantly take the group off
the track. They drag the discussion out of
context
• Gabbers: They are the people who like to talk
first and try to dominate in the discussion.
They think that they are the only ones with
anything worth saying
• Silent: They are just as well informed as many
other members of the group but they rarely
contribute verbally
Listening without observing
speaker’s tone, gesture,
posture and
facial expression is like
getting the words of a
song without music
Relating to Receiver
• Problem of homogeneity: The more homogeneous
the audience is, the greater are the chances
for successful communication.

• Problem of cooperation and involvement: The listeners

must cooperate and get actively involved in
the communication process, they must try to get
tuned together with the communicator.

• Negative attitude of the audience towards the

communicator: If the audience has negative attitude
for the communicator or if the credibility of
communicator as perceived by the audience is low,
no successful communication will take place.
 Problems in Communication
Relating to Transmission of Message
• Wrong handling of the channels: If the channels
selected for communication are not handled
effectively, their potential for carrying a message
will be dissipated.
• Wrong selection of channels: If the channel
selected is not in accordance with the
objective/subject, interpretation will not be in a
desired way.
• Use of inadequate channels in parallel: For the
message to have got through and received
properly, use of more than one channel in parallel
or at about the same time is essential.
• Physical distraction: Failure to avoid physical
distraction often obstructs successful sending of
the message.
 Points to Remember
• Communication is a two way process.
• Effective communication= Bridging the gap between
encoded and decoded message= Establishing Common
Understanding
• Responsibility of effective communication mainly lies
with the communicator
• Feedback is an important return message. Ensure
getting and using it effectively for better
performance
• Know the roadblocks. This will help you to handle
the communication process in an effective way
• Use Heart and Mind and Soul for an effective
result
• Communication is a skill, learn and practice
 To Sum up

To Become an Effective communicator

Make effective use of
Heart and Body, Mind and Soul