communication barriers.pptx
- 1. 1 COMMUNICATION BARRIERS Neema Surendran 2nd sem MLibISc University of Calicut
- 2. Introduction Effective communication is achieved when the message sent is received by cent accuracy , which is a rare phenomenon. It is because of various hurdles or barriers in the Communication process. The hindrances distort the messages and the communication becomes ineffective and incomplete. 2
- 4. Physical Barrier ● These are communication interferences that occur in the environment in which communication occurs ● These are easily visible and can take any form, for instance, closed doors or walls. The physical barrier is very high if the distance between the sender and receiver is also too much. ● Physical barriers are described as structural obstructions in both humanmade and natural environments 4
- 5. Some of the interferences are : ■Noise • There are various types of noise like technological noise, written noise, and environmental noise, and all of them are considered physical barriers in communication. ■Distortion • Distortion means misrepresentation, and that is what happens when a message is sent. Actual meaning of the message is lost in transition or during the handling process while encoding and decoding the communication. In simple words, human perception can easily distort the meaning of the message. 5
- 6. ■ Information overflow Sometimes, the communication fails as the information is more than the amount that can be received by the sender at that specific time.The receiver is unable to collect the full information and might miss or misinterpret the message. As the message fails to get the desired result, it acts as a physical barrier in communication. 6
- 7. Causes of physical barriers ■Environment • Includes wind, rain, thunder that creates a random noise . Improper lighting and sudden thunder distort proper communication . Unstable temperature is another environmental factor that is capable of disturbing the flow of the message. ■Time • Shortage of time or sending a message in inappropriate time can be a significant cause of physical barriers as the message is then not conveyed effectively. It is essential to keep the time of the message accurate 7
- 8. ■Distance If the sender and receiver of the message are sitting at a far distance, then they will have to substitute personal communication with emails, messages, video-conferencing, or phone calls. Types of physical barriers in the workplace • Poor lighting • Background noise • Closed doors • Broken and old equipment that is used as a communication tool • Uncomfortable temperatures 8
- 9. Semantic Barrier ● Semantics is the branch of linguistics dealing with the meaning of words and sentences. ●It occurs when the sender and receiver have different understandings of the message sent. ●Semantic barriers are concerned with problems and obstructions in the process of encoding and decoding of message into words or impressions. 9
- 10. Types of Semantic Barriers in Communication Direct meaning of any word which must be shared by two people to understand each other is the denotative meaning. The barriers that arise due to the definition or meaning of a word used differently by sender and receiver is denotative barriers of communication. They disagree on the meaning of a word as they are unaware of the other persons’ meaning. The implied meaning of a word is known as Connotative meaning. Connotative barrier in communication refers to the difference of meaning according to different abstract situations, contexts, actions and feelings. Both the communicators know both meanings of the word, but use only one meaning according to the context, which might be being used differently in the context. 10 Denotative Barriers Connotative Barriers
- 11. Causes of Semantic Barriers ■ Homophones Homophones are the words with same pronunciation but different meaning which might have different spelling too. For example: Words buy, by and bye. They have same pronunciation, but different meanings and spellings. ■ Homonyms Homonyms are the words which have the same pronunciation and their spellings are mostly same, but the intended meaning is different. For example, the noun “bear” and the verb “bear” has different meanings but same pronunciation and spelling. 11
- 12. ■ Homographs Homographs are the words that have the same spelling but the pronunciation and meaning are different. Eg : - The research lead to the discovery of lead ■ Cultural difference Many words have fixed meanings in different norms. So, confusion arises in communication due to meaning of different signs and symbols in different cultures, causing semantic barrier 12
- 13. ■ Difference in use of words Words can mean something different in two different languages even though the words have the same pronunciation and spelling.The unfamiliarity with the word might make the listener react in a bad way. ■ Differences in dialects People from different parts of the world use different dialects for the same language and pronounce a word differently. People, who speak more than one language can not speak a particular language they use less in the same way the people whose native language or mother tongue. ■ Body language and gestures When what you speak and your body language (kinesics) is different, the listener can get offended. Inconsistent body language creates conflict. 13
- 14. Organizational Barriers ■ Status differences : - If sender has a higher status than receiver , then has a tendency of not disclosing all the information to receiver to maintain importance ■ Organizational facilities : - Organization need to hold meetings , suggestion boxes , and complaint boxes for effective communication to increase information potancy ■ Choice of channel ■ Organizational policies 14
- 15. ■ Complexity in organization structure: In an organization where there is a number of managerial levels, communication gets delayed and distorted a number of filtering points are more. ■ Poor coordination ■ Goal conflicts 15
- 16. Tips to prevent organizational barrier 1. face-to-face communication should be encouraged. 2. top management should take sincere and concrete actions to establish a free and permissive climate favoring upward communication. 3. a people-centered rather than a production- centered attitude by management along with an open door in fact as well as in word are other essential elements for effective communication. 16
- 17. Psychological or Emotional Barriers Communication is highly influenced by the mental condition that the communicators are in and is disturbed by mental disturbance. If the people involved in communication are not emotionally well, they won’t be able to communicate properly. 17
- 18. Causes of Psychological Barriers ■ Lack of Attention When a person’s mind is distracted or preoccupied with other things, the person is not able to form proper message, listen to what others tell him/her, interpret the message as required and give proper feedback. ■ Distrust and Defensiveness PoorLack of trust makes them derive negative meaning of the message and they ignore the message. When a person tries to force his/her own ideas and opinions, then receiver does not listen. If the receiver does not agree to the message provided or thinks of it as a threat, he/she will not listen to it. 18
- 19. ■ Poor Retention Retention of information is the capacity of the memory of the brain to store information and the way brain stores information in memory. Brain does not store all the information it comes across, but only the ones it deems useful for future. So, half the information is lost in the retention process.Similarly, brain also loses information that is old and not taken as useful with time. Extracting the information is also a process in the formation of message. Here, the brain tries to remember the required information, the fragments of which have already been lost. ■ Closed Mind and Filtering Man is selfish by nature and put his own needs and problems above all else. This sometimes leads people to filter information that someone is trying to convey to them. This might be due to mistrust, competition, jealousy, or the view that the message is insignificant. 19
- 20. ■ Perception, Viewpoint, Attitudes and Opinions ● Perception is the mindset using which people judge, understand and interpret everything. Each person has his/he own perception of reality which is shaped from mental and sensory experiences. ● viewpoint is also a mindset to look at the world. Sender might have a particular viewpoint that is not shared by the receiver. The sender does not explain the viewpoint but takes the viewpoint as granted. The message is not understood by the receiver as must have been understood, creating a barrier to effective communication. ● Attitude is the established way in which we think and feel about things and ideas which also creates a psychological communication barrier. 20
- 21. ■ Emotions Anyone who isn’t in a good mood is likely to talk less or talk negatively.Various other emotions like fear, nervousness, confusion, mistrust and jealousy affect communication process. ■ Premature Evaluation Some people are always in a hurry by habit. These kinds of people most likely make quick judgments and jump into conclusions. They do not consider all aspects of the information such as social, cultural, economic, etc. and often end up taking quick and wrong decisions. It is important to hear the whole message to make proper judgments because they are not changed easily after they are once made. 21
- 22. Personal Barriers The Personal Barriers relate to the factors that are personal to the sender and receiver and act as a hindrance in the communication process. These factors include the life experiences, emotions, attitudes, behavior that hinders the ability of a person to communicate. 22
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- 24. Financial Barriers Sometimes people can't communicate their ideas and opinions in lack of necessary funds Technological Barriers Time and Again , technological innovations like SMS , MMS , e mail etc need one to be acquainted with the technology. Failure of know-how of a technology is hurdle to efficient communication 24
- 25. Cultural Barriers Different cultures have different meaning of words, behaviors and gestures. Culture also gives rise to prejudices, ethnocentrism, manners and opinions. It forms the way people think and behave. When people belonging to different cultures communicate, these factors can become barriers Causes of Cultural Barriers ■ Language ■ Signs and symbols 25
- 26. ■ Stereotypes and Prejudices Stereotyping is the process of creating a picture of a whole culture, overgeneralizing all people belonging to the same culture as having similar characteristics and categorizing people accordingly. It is a belief about a certain group and is mostly negative.Stereotyping can be done on the basis of many things like nationality, gender, race, religion, ethnicity, age, etc. ■ Behavior and Beliefs Cultural differences causes behavior and personality differences like body language, thinking, communication, manners, norms, etc. which leads to miscommunication. ■ Ethnocentrism It is the process of dividing cultures as “us” and “them”.The people of someone’s own culture are categorized as in-group and the other culture is out-group. There is always greater preference to in-group. There is an illusion of out-group as evil and inferior. This evaluation is mostly negative. 26
- 27. ●Gender barriers have become less of an issue in recent years, but there is still the possibility for a man to misconstrue the words of a woman, or vice versa. ●Even in a workplace where women and men share equal stature, knowledge and experience, differing communication styles may prevent them from working together effectively. ●can be inherent or may be related to gender stereotypes and the ways in which men and women are taught to behave as children. 27 Gender Barrier
- 28. 28 Overcoming Communication Barriers Simple Organizational Structure Avoid Information Overload Emotional State Active Listening Reduction and elimination of noise levels Use of Simple Language Eliminating differences in perception
- 29. Conclusion Communication is not a one-way street. To have others open up to you, you must be open yourself. By overcoming the the barriers to communication, you can ensure that the statement you are making is not just heard, but also understood, by the person you are speaking with. In this way, you can be confident that your point has been expressed 29
- 30. References • https://www.businesstopia.net/communication/psych ological-barriers • https://businessjargons.com/personal- barriers.html#:~:text=Definition%3A%20The%20Person al%20Barriers%20relate,of%20a%20person%20to%20co mmunicate. • https://www.managementstudyguide.com/overcomin g-communication-barriers.htm • Information Communication and society - Bhaskar Mukherjee 30
- 31. 31 THANK YOU