Barriers to communication

Physical, External & Mechanical

 These are the obstacles that prevent a message from
reaching the intended recipient. Some cannot be
controlled because they are in the environment; some
can be controlled.
 Defects in the medium
 Noise
 Defect in organization's communication system
 Within the organisation, the movement of papers and of information
may be held up in the system itself
 Info can get distorted
 At each level the info can get interpreted and edited
 Some info may not reach at all
 Only 20% info reaches the ultimate level if there is a long chain.
Semantic and language barriers
 Words have multiple meanings
 Words get pronounced in multiple
manners
 Emotional and cultural attitudes towards
different things can evoke different
responses in people
Social and Psychological barriers

 Most people are not skilled communicators

 People have personal feelings, desires, fears
and hopes, likes and dislikes, attitudes views
and opinions
 Problem of understanding
 In order to overcome these barriers, you must
know how we deal with a received message.
 We receive message on three levels
 Noticing, Understanding, Acceptance
Social and Psychological barriers
 Self centred attitude: we tend to see and hear things in the light of our own
interest and needs and desires.
 Group identification: many of our ideas, attitudes and value are picked up
from the group
 Self image: is our idea about what we are, what we look like and what
impression we make.
 Selective perception: we see the message according to our own needs and
perception of things
 Defensiveness: reduces understanding
 Filtering: reducing the detail aspect of a message.
 Status block: senior often develops feeling that he knows all
 Resistance to change: some people strongly resist new ideas against
established ideas because they feel insecure
 Closed mind: limited intellectual background, limited reading, narrow
interests
 Poor communication skills
 State of health: physical condition can affect your efficiency in all
communication skills
Laloo Prasad sent his Bio Data - to apply
for a post in Microsoft Corporation, USA.
A few days later he got this reply:
Dear Mr. Laloo Prasad,

You do not meet our

requirements. Please do not
send any further
correspondence. No phone
call shall be entertained.

Thanks
Bill Gates.
Laloo prasad jumped with joy on
receiving this reply. He arranged
a press conference :

"Bhaiyon aur Behno, aap ko jaan

kar khushi hogee ki hum ko
Amereeca mein naukri mil gayee
hai."

Everyone was delighted. Laloo

prasad continued...... "Ab hum
aap sab ko apnaa appointment
Letter padkar sunaongaa ? par
letter angreeze main hai - isliyen
saath-saath Hindi main translate
bhee karoonga.
Dear Mr. Laloo Prasad ----- Pyare Laloo
prasad bhaiyya

You do not meet ----- aap to miltay hee

naheen ho

our requirement ----- humko to zaroorat hai

Please do not send any furthur

correspondance ----- ab Letter vetter bhejne
ka kaouno zaroorat nahee.

No phone call ----- phoonwa ka bhee

zaroorat nahee hai

shall be entertained ----- bahut khaatir kee

jayegi.

Thanks ----- aapkaa bahut bahut dhanyavad.

Bill Gates. ---- Tohar Bilva.

Cross Cultural Barriers
 National character
 Language
 Values and norms of behavior
 Social relationships
 Concepts of time
 Concept of space
 Thinking process
 Non verbal communication
 Perception
Overcoming Barriers
 Persons in position of authority, as well as subordinates
can be helped to overcome these barriers by training in
effective communication
 Cultivate all kinds of communication skills
 The external barriers- keep the channels: notice boards,
intercoms, information meetings up-to-date.
 Take feedback whenever possible
 Personal barriers: special efforts must be taken
 Understand culture of the listener before talking with him
 Do not assume that the listener is just like you
 Listening
45% of communication is
‘Listening’
 Stage 1: listener simply attends to the
speaker to hear the message. If you can
repeat what the speaker has said, you
have ‘heard’ the message
 Step 2: Interpretation.
 Step 3: Evaluation.
 Step 4: Response.
Benefits of listening
 Finding out more information
 Learning about people and how their mind works
 Improving relations with people
 Raising morale of employees/subordinates
 Obtaining suggestions and new ideas
 Discovering why employees perform as they do
 Being able to help with solving problems
Blocks to effective listening
 Distraction in your own mind
 Wandering attention
 Planning to present a good argument
 Lack of interest
 Avoiding the effort to understand what is difficult
 Tendency to criticize
 Emotional block
 Emotional excitement
 Impatience
 Poor health
 Excessive note taking
 Noise
Improving listening skills
 First, pay close attention and full attention
to the speaker. May need determination
and concentration
 Secondly, use your eyes as well as your
ears to listen. (read verbal as well as non
verbal message)
 Thirdly, show speaker that you are
listening; your posture, body language,
eye contact
Good listening tips
 Stop talking
 Put the speaker at ease
 Show desire to listen
 Write down main points and check correctness
 Do not create distraction
 Be patient
 Keep your temper
 Listen between the lines-concentrate also on what is not
being said
 Ask questions at the right time to get clear understanding
 Keep open mind, don’t jump to conclusions
Group Communication
Types of Group communication
 Very formal meetings: parliament, state
assemblies, company shareholders
meetings, management-union negotiation,
university senate
 Formal meetings: committees, managing
councils and general bodies of voluntary
organisation, management meetings
 Informal meetings: ad hoc meetings, task
groups, brainstorming sessions.
Purposes
 To arrive at consensus
 To solve a problem
 To understand the situation
 To inform and explain
 To get feedback
 To collect ideas
 To learn and train
Classifications
 Executive meetings
 Consultation meetings
 Briefing meeting
 Problem -solving meeting
 Negotiation meeting
 Group discussion
 Conference
 Committee meetings
Advantages
 Multiple point of view
 As this is a group activity, it provides social
and emotional support to the participants
 Democratic way of functions
 Easier access to information
Disadvantages
 Time consuming & expensive
 The meeting may/may not reach
conclusion on a issue
 People may not take seriously and reach
without preparation- time waster
 There could be a great deal of useless talk
from the chair
Conducting meeting
 Chairman’s responsibility:
 Opening the meeting
 Running the meeting
 Closing the meeting
 Responsibility of participants:
 Do the homework
 Keep open mind
 Do not disturb others
 Have sporting spirit
 Show interest in what others have to say
 Never personalize difference of opinion
 Speak up
 Don’t get carried away
 Be a good listener
 Be courteous