Barriers to Effective Communication and How to Overcome Them

We all know that effective communication is the basic need of all business activities of the organization. Even a slight break in communication flow can lead to a misunderstanding of the message. Communication is effective only if it creates the desired impact on the receiver. so to make our communication flowless, we should be aware of various communication barriers and some of which are as follow:----

• Noise:- Any interference in the message sent and message received leads to the production of 'noise' here means a break in the communication process, If noise occurs because of technological faults. However, if the noise is due to human error, the parties involved in the communication process need to take corrective measures.

• Other classification of barriers:- Barriers can be classified according to the process of message formation and delivery we can get them at three levels:----
• Intrapersonal barriers:- Individuals are unique because of their idiosyncrasies. This is mainly because of differences in experience, education, value, and personality. Each of us interprets the same information in different ways as our thinking varies. Certain common causes are responsible for individual inbuilt barriers. The causes that lead to these interpersonal barriers are as follows:-
• Wrong assumptions
• Differing perceptions
• Differing background
• Wrong inferences
• categorical thinking

• Interpersonal barriers:- Interpersonal barriers stem from an individual's attitudes or habits, whereas interpersonal barriers occur due to the inappropriate transaction of words between two or more people. The two board categories into which this barrier can be classified are:-
• Inefficiency in communication skills
• Negative aspect nurturing in the climate
• Limited vocabulary
• The incongruity of verbal and nonverbal message
• Emotional outbursts
• Communication selectivity
• Cultural variations
• Poor listening skills
• Noise in the channel

• Organizational barriers:- Communication barriers are not only limited to an individual or two people but exist in entire organizations. In large organizations where the flow of information is downwards, feedback is not guaranteed. In organizations with many levels of communication, messages have a greater chance of being distorted. This occurs due to poor listening, lack of concentration, or a person's tendency to leave out part of the message. The main organizational barriers are as follows:----

• Too many transfer links:- The more links there are in a communication chain, the greater are the chances of miscommunication.

• Fear of superiors:- In rigidly structured organizations, fear of the superiors prevents subordinates from speaking frankly.

• Negative tendencies:- Many organizations create workgroups. On some occasions, it is possible to have a communication barrier due to conflict of ideas between numbers and non-members of a group.

• Use of Inappropriate media:- Some of the common media used in organizations are graphs and charts, telephones, facsimile machines, boards, e-mails, films, and slides. Computer presentations, teleconferencing, and video conferencing. While choosing the medium should therefore keep in mind the advantages, disadvantages, and potential barriers to communication.

• Information overload:- One of the major problems faced by organizations today is the availability of huge amounts of data which the receiver is unable to handle effectively. This is known as information overload.

                 So, we can say that communication falls into two categories:- Either it is successful or it is not successful. Bearing in mind the possibilities and reasons for communication failure, we can take preventive measures to avoid these barriers.