Register now or log in to join your professional community.
1- Poor language
2- Poor work experience
3- Lack of self confidence
Lack of interest and attentions.
One of the biggest barriers to communication is our perception. How we interpret various things depends mostly on how we perceive them. We could be looking at the same thing and if asked to describe it we would describe it very differently.
We also have language barrier where the client and the sales executive maybe not have a common language.
Not everybody is aware of understanding same level of abbreviations that are used in emails. One that can affect on the perceptions of understanding a problem mentioned in supposed a formal email received. And the report about the problem is using an abbreviations from the reporting one and do not actually understanding the abbreviation itself.
The reporting work mate is using abbreviations as a kind of ego to show that he/she is professional not knowing that using this might lead into a disaster to the problem. Because they do not consider others might mis understand the reported problem.
It is preferred not to use the abbreviations when you are reporting about a problem to avoid being misunderstood and not to increase the problematic impact you are actually reporting about in your formal email.
Understanding each other language.
Depend on the case but in general Language differences and the difficulty is major barrier to send the correct message to receiver, sometimes surrounded environment and noises effect coummunication, lack of attention, interest, distractions, or irrelevance to the receiver.
Physical Barriers:
In the last few years, various research and scientific observations have proven physical barriers to be the biggest hindrance to effective communication in the workplace.
Cultural Diversity:
Now that the world has openly embraced globalization, you find yourself working in different countries, with different races of people and sometimes very different cultural and moral backgrounds.
Language Barriers:
Just like diversified culture, you end up working with people speaking different languages. An Arab (speaking Arabic) might visit India (language: Hindi) for his company’s Raw Materials supply. Here, there will be a lot of distortion and misinterpretation even in direct contact between the two people.
Limited Or No Feedback
Sometimes people send messages and information that do not require feedback or do not allow it. Here if the information is misrepresented or misinterpreted, then there is no way to clear the doubt the receiver has about the message and hence, unable to properly comply.
Emotional Distractions
Emotions play a big role in effective communication. People can be shy, confident or just plain blunt and may not allow full or honest feedback to the receiver. Sometimes people are good listeners but because of the emotion in the tone the manager or a higher authority exerted, the employee feels he does not have the authority or confidence to reply back.
Distractions
Imagine yourself in a meeting, you are discussing important strategies for the company and there are people arguing outside the room, or maybe there is a game on and people are all gathered together. Such noise and distractions create distortions in effectively conveying messages to the receiver while the sender gets distracted.
Personal Behavior
People have their own attitudes, quirks and perceptions of things. Some people just don’t bother spending too much time in conveying messages and expect people to just understand. Such behavior can be a serious barrier in communication.
Too much information
Sometimes going into too much detail can also be a distortion. You should try to keep the messages simple, plain and to the point with hard facts. That is the best form of effective communication.
Presentation
The way a message is represented is crucial. If a “Stop” sign on the middle of a road were not on laminated material or was too small or didn’t have the word STOP, people would have to spend too much time figuring out what the sign meant and that time is simply wasted. It could also mislead.
The Medium
Finally, the medium of communication must be as short as possible. Like in the previous example of the CEO, if the medium of communication is too long and takes too much time, then the message is likely to be late and loose significance. Use direct e-mails, memos or direct contact instead.
Effective communication can lead to better understanding and higher work efficiency which only results in higher profits. This is the perception that organizations must work with and must develop communication channels with minimum barriers, because the fact remains that barriers cannot be completely removed but they can be minimized.
