2. DESCRIPTIONS OF COMMUNICATION BARRIERS
Aspects of or conditions in a workplace that
interfere with effective exchange of ideas or
thoughts. Such barriers include
(1) status differences
(2) gender differences
(3) cultural differences
(4) prejudices
(5) the organizational environment
3. BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION
• PYHISICAL BARRIERS
• ORGANISATIONAL BARRIERS
• CULTURAL BARRIERS
• LANGUAGE BARRIERS
• CHANNEL BARRIERS
• INTERPERSONAL BARRIERS
• INDIVIDUAL BARRIERS
• ATTITUDINAL BARRIERS
• LISTENING BARRIERS
• BARRIERS WHILE SPEAKING
4. PHYSICAL BARRIERS
• Physical barriers are often due to the nature of the
environment.
• Physical Organizational Barrier includes internal and
external environment like :
– large working areas physically separated from
others
– poor lighting
– staff shortage
– outdated equipments
– background noise
5. EXECUTIVE BARRIERS
• Poor organizational culture, climate
• Stringent rules and regulations
• Status and relationship
• Complexity
• Inadequate facilities/ opportunities of growth
and improvement
6. CULTURAL BARRIERS
• Age and gender
• Education and cultural background
• Social status and economic position
• Temperament
• Health and beauty
• Popularity
• Religion
• Political belief
• Ethics, values, motives
• Assumptions
• Aspirations
• Rules and regulations,
• Standards and priorities
7. CHANNEL BARRIERS
• If the length of the communication is long, or
the medium selected is inappropriate, the
communication might break up
• It can also be a result of the inter-personal
conflicts between the sender and receiver
• Lack of interest to communicate
• Information sharing or access problems which
can hamper the channel and affect the clarity,
accuracy and effectiveness
8. LANGUAGE BARRIERS
• Different languages, vocabulary, accents, dialects represent
national/ regional barriers.
• Semantic gaps are words having similar pronunciation but
multiple meanings.
• Badly expressed message, wrong interpretation and
unqualified assumptions.
• The use of difficult or inappropriate words/ poorly explained
or misunderstood messages can result in confusion.
9. INTERPERSONAL BARRIERS
• Lack of Trust
• Lack of Knowledge of non-verbal
communication
• Wish to capture authority
• Fear of losing power of control
• Lack of Motivation
• Lack of co-operation, fear of penalty and poor
relationship
10. INDIVIDUAL BARRIERS
• Individual's perceptual and personal discomfort.
• Two individuals’ mental perception may/may not be
identical
• Style
• Selective perception
• Halo effect
• Poor attention and retention
• Defensiveness
• Close mindedness
• Insufficient filtration
11. ATTITUDINAL BARRIERS
• It comes about as a result of problems with
staff in the organization.
• Limitation in physical and mental ability,
intelligence, understanding, pre-conceived
notions, and distrusted source divides the
attention and create a mechanical barrier
which affects the attitude and opinion.
12. LISTENING BARRIERS
• Interrupting the speaker
• Not maintaining eye contact with the speaker
• Rushing the speaker to complete what he/she has to
say
• Making the speaker feel as though he/she is wasting
the listener's time
• Being distracted by something that is not part of the
on-going communication
• Getting ahead of the speaker and completing his/her
thoughts
• Ignoring the speaker's requests
• Asking too many questions, for the sake of probing
13. BARRIERS WHILE SPEAKING
• Unclear messages
• Lack of consistency in the
communication process
• Incomplete sentences
• Not understanding the receiver
• Not seeking clarifications while
communicating