This document discusses various barriers to effective communication. It identifies several types of barriers including physical, psycho-social, cultural, linguistic, semantic, and organizational barriers. Specific challenges mentioned include unclear messages, inappropriate mediums, lack of feedback provision, misunderstandings, automated systems lacking a human element, multi-cultural workplaces, different languages, technological changes, and expectations of knowledge workers. Cultural differences in areas like gestures, eye contact, and silence are also examined. Ways to prevent or overcome barriers include keeping the receiver in mind, promoting an open communication environment, analyzing feedback, and being aware of diversity.

1. Barriers in Communication
Prof Aparna Rao
25-06-12

2. FEATURES OF COMMUNICATION
 Dynamic: Constantly changing
 Continuous: You cannot ‘not’ communicate
 Two-way/circular: Never one way
 Unrepeatable: Same message, same sender can
have different meanings for different listeners
 Irreversible: Once said…
 Complex: Multiple cycles, multiple processes at
one time

3. Communication Skills for Managers
 Barriers to Effective Communication
 Messages that are
unclear, incomplete, difficult to understand
 Messages sent over the an inappropriate
medium
 Messages with no provision for feedback
 Messages that are received but ignored
 Messages that are misunderstood
 Messages delivered through automated
systems that lack the human element
15–3 © Copyright McGraw-Hill. All
rights reserved.

4. 21st Century Workplace Challenges & Demands
Present workplace
 Multi-cultural
 Multiple time zones
 Languages
 People
 Technology
 Expectations – Knowledge workers
 Communication

5. Cultural Differences
 Global Village –
Internet, Skype, Technology, time zone
barriers
 Not necessary, but useful to be multi-
lingual
 Accent Neutralization
 Barriers built in from childhood – mindset –
‘not my fault’ / ‘am so strong’
 Mindset evolving towards projection
 Multi-ethnic

6. Types of Barriers
 Physical
 Psycho-social
 Cultural
 Linguistic
 Semantic
 Body Language

7. Physical Barriers
Physical Barriers
 Challenges of multi-tasking - Man, by nature, not
wired for this
 Speed of thinking, talking, typing – 200 wpm, 80
wpm, 40 wpm -Deficit
 Word pickers – During a talk/conversation one
word may trigger a feeling of ‘I know what’s
coming’
 Concentration time – Linkages – miss the
talk, snap back with change of inflection/tone etc
 Medium Interference – in
communication, eating, driving, talking on the
cellphone while walking on the road/public
travel, texting in class…

8. Cultural Differences
 The result of U.S. warning to Japan for
unconditional surrender - an ambiguous
‘mokusatu’ – meaning ‘to kill with silence’
 Tokyo radio used the word, saying the
government would mokusato the declaration and
fight on…The English translation became ‘reject’
and the President took it as a rebuff. The result?
 Egyptian pilots radioed (in English) their intention
to land at an airbase on Cyprus, and the Greek
traffic controllers reportedly responded with
silence, indicating refusal
 The Egyptians’ interpretation of this silence –
assent
 The outcome? Lives lost…

9. Cultural Differences
 Assuming Similarity -Danish Woman with baby in the
US
 Assuming Difference – Urban/rural;
Eastern/Western/South/North etc.
 Eye Contact – Critical – Differences in
stare, gaze, lecherous look, business look …
 Gestures – Thumbs up, Victory sign – meanings
 Basic unwritten rule to follow – no assumptions, no
judgments; ‘Believe nothing of what you hear and
only half of what you see’

10. Linguistic Differences
 Language, Culture & Body Language – inter-twined
 E.g. English – You; Yes, yeah
 Indian languages – Aap, Tum, tu; words describing
relationships – cousin, aunt, mausera bhai, chachera
bhai, mausi, chachi, maami etc.
 Word bai – in Hindi and Marathi
 When disrespect is perceived, the message is lost in
the emotional thought process over the disrespect

11. Semantic Differences
 French Lemonade – cannot be launched with the
same name in English speaking countries
 Japanese brand of cold drink
 Argentinian curry powder - Poo
 German drink
 Portugal tuna – Atum bum
Communication is about making meaning… make sure
you communicate what you are meant to
 The intended outcome of the message should be
clear to sender and receiver

12. Psycho-Social Barriers
 Status
 Horns/Halo Effect
 Allness & Closed Mind
 Resistance to Change
 Unclarified Assumption
 Different Perceptions

13. Organizational Barriers
Communication Relationship Satisfaction
 Extent to which available information meets task-
related and general information needs of employees
in an organization
 Perceptions of Justice – Distributive, Procedural &
interactional Justice
 Evaluated by 4 aspects of communication in an
organization – with immediate superiors, peers, top
management & overall communication within the
organization

14. Justice – Multi dimensional Construct
 Distributional Justice – Fairness of the outcome of
the process
 Procedural – Fairness perceived in the policies,
procedures and criteria followed in the process
 Interactional – perceptions about the manner of
treatment of people

15. Premises & Survey Findings
 There is a positive correlation between CRS and all
facets of organizational communication
 CRS and top management would provide strong
predictions for distributive and procedural justice
 CRS with immediate supervisor is a predictor for
interactional justice
 Necessary to ensure that messages are routed
through communication channels

16. BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION
•PERCEPTUAL BARRIERS
•CONTENT BARRIERS
Content Known/Unknown, Disinterest
•PERSONAL BARRIERS
Poor Listening/ Thinking of response

17. BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION
•ENVIRONMENTAL BARRIERS
Light/Air/Noise/Ventilation/Interruption
•LINGUISTIC BARRIERS
Language/Semantics/Tone/Delivery
Style
•PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS
Frustrated/Anxiety/Anger/Status
•PHYSIOLOGICAL BARRIERS
Brain-Tongue Speed/ Unwell

19. Language Barriers
'Ici on parle Anglais'...
'Ici on se rit de votre
francais.'
('We speak English
here'...
'We laugh at your
French here')

20. What Kind of Barriers Do You See Here?

21. Types of Barriers
 Interpersonal –
Takes into account uniqueness of individuals due to
age, perceptions, experiences, education, culture, pe
rsonality – interpretation differs – e.g.???
Causes – Wrong assumptions, varied
perceptions, wrong inferences, differing
background, blocked categories
Prevent or overcome – ‘You’ attitude, audience
oriented choice of words, technical words to be
explained, avoid oversimplification

22. Prevent or Overcome Organizational
Barriers
 Keep receiver in mind
 Open communication environment
 Avoid too many transfer stations
 Avoid communication when emotionally
disturbed
 Be aware of diversity in culture, language etc.
 Use appropriate non-verbal cues
 Select most suitable medium
 Analyse feedback

23. Additional Reading
 http://cte.uwaterloo.ca/teaching_resources/tips/effective_
communication_barriers_and_strategies.html - Strategies
 http://www.radford.edu/~kvharring/docs/HRMDocs/5com
m.pdf - Communication across cultural barriers
 http://healthadmin.jbpub.com/Borkowski/chapter4.pdf -
Workplace Communication
 http://www.diversity-matters.net/publications-gestures.pdf
- Gestures
 http://www.languagetrainers.co.uk/blog/2007/09/24/top-
10-hand-gestures/ - Hand gestures to avoid
 www.vikalpa.com/pdf/articles/2010/page-vol-35-55-65.pdf

24. Thank You