Barriers of communication
Most people would
agree that communication between two individuals should be simple. It’s
important to remember that there are differences between talking and
communicating. When you communicate, you are successful in getting your point
across to the person you’re talking to. When we talk, we tend to erect barriers
that hinder our ability to communicate. There are seven of these types of
barriers to effective communication.
There are 7
Barriers while communicating.
·
Physical
barriers
·
Perceptual
barriers
·
Emotional
barriers
·
Cultural
barriers
·
Language
barriers
·
Gender
barriers
·
Interpersonal
barriers
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| Barriers |
Description
:
1. Physical
barriers are easy to spot – doors that are closed, walls that are erected,
and distance between people all work against the goal of effective
communication. While most agree that people need their own personal areas in
the workplace, setting up an office to remove physical barriers is the first
step towards opening communication. Many professionals who work in industries
that thrive on collaborative communication, such as architecture, purposefully
design their workspaces around an “open office” plan. This layout eschews
cubicles in favor of desks grouped around a central meeting space. While each
individual has their own dedicated work space, there are no visible barriers to
prevent collaboration with their co-workers. This encourages greater openness
and frequently creates closer working bonds.
2. Perceptual
barriers, in contrast, are internal. If you go into a situation thinking
that the person you are talking to isn’t going to understand or be interested
in what you have to say, you may end up subconsciously sabotaging your effort
to make your point. You will employ language that is sarcastic, dismissive, or
even obtuse, thereby alienating your conversational partner. Think of movie
scenarios in which someone yells clipped phrases at a person they believe is
deaf. The person yelling ends up looking ridiculous while failing to
communicate anything of substance.
3. Emotional
barriers can be tough to overcome, but are important to put aside to engage
in conversations. We are often taught to fear the words coming out of our own
mouths, as in the phrase “anything you say can and will be used against you.” Overcoming
this fear is difficult, but necessary. The trick is to have full confidence in
what you are saying and your qualifications in saying it. People often pick up
on insecurity. By believing in yourself and what you have to say, you will be
able to communicate clearly without becoming overly involved in your emotions.
4. Cultural
barriers are a result of living in an ever shrinking world. Different
cultures, whether they be a societal culture of a race or simply the work
culture of a company, can hinder developed communication if two different
cultures clash. In these cases, it is important to find a common ground to work
from. In work situations, identifying a problem and coming up with a highly
efficient way to solve it can quickly topple any cultural or institutional
barriers. Quite simply, people like results.
5. Language
barriers seem pretty self-inherent, but there are often hidden language
barriers that we aren’t always aware of. If you work in an industry that is
heavy in jargon or technical language, care should be taken to avoid these
words when speaking with someone from outside the industry. Without being
patronizing, imagine explaining a situation in your industry to a child. How
would you convey these concepts without relying on jargon? A clear, direct
narrative is preferable to an incomprehensible slew of specialty terms.
6. 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.
Men and women tend to form their thoughts differently, and this must be taken
into account when communicating. This difference has to do with how the brain
of each sex is formed during gestation. In general, men are better at spatial
visualization and abstract concepts such as math, while women excel at
language-based thinking and emotional identification. However, successful
professionals in highly competitive fields tend to have similar thought
processes regardless of their gender.
7. Interpersonal
barriers are what ultimately keep us from reaching out to each other and
opening ourselves up, not just to be heard, but to hear others. Oddly enough,
this can be the most difficult area to change. Some people spend their entire
lives attempting to overcome a poor self-image or a series of deeply rooted
prejudices about their place in the world. They are unable to form genuine
connections with people because they have too many false perceptions blocking
the way. Luckily, the cure for this is more communication. By engaging with
others, we learn what our actual strengths and weaknesses are. This allows us to
put forth our ideas in a clear, straightforward manner.
Communication is
not a one-way street. To have others open up to you, you must be open yourself.
By overcoming these 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.
