BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

B. Interpersonal Barriers

Effective communication largely depends upon the sender and receiver and their personal bent of mind, commitment to organizational effectiveness and the relationship they enjoy.

Some of the important interpersonal barriers are discussed in the succeeding paragraphs.

(a) Filtration: Filtration is a process when sender deliberately wants to withhold information from reaching the receiver. It is done by manipulating the information either because the sender believes that all the information is not required or that the receiver is better off not knowing certain aspects of the information. Filtration takes place when subordinates send information to superiors based on the liking of the latter. Boss is told what he likes to hear. Therefore the information may be far from the truth.

(b) Perception: Perceptual process that operate in a situation may heavily influence the communication process related to receiving the information from the environment and interpreting and giving meaning to such information. It is human tendency to hear what he wants to hear and ignore the information that conflicts with his thought process. This type of communication totally distorts the intent and contents of the message. Some of the perceptual situations are as under

(i) Stereotype effect: Manager may perceive people who belong to one category or another as stereotypes. It is general perception that old employees are not hard working, even if some of the old employees work hard. Individuals therefore must be treated distinctly as a separate individuals and their performance assessed accordingly.

(ii) Individuals generally assess their subordinates based on one particular trait that he likes. If an individual is punctual, he may create a favourable perception because he likes punctuality. The other employee may be efficient in his job but he is not considered favourably in his performance appraisal. It should be ensured that an individual is evaluated according to laid down standards and not based on individual liking.

(iii) It is human tendency that a person expects his subordinates to act, think and behave as he does. If a manager works overtime, he expects his subordinates to stay longer. This limits the manager’s ability to effectively deal with different situations and individuals.

It is important for managers to evaluate situations independently and take decision on the merit of the case. The perceptual skill must be applied carefully and each individual treated separately without any perceptual bias so that the credibility of the manager is increased. One must communicate facts, keep up to commitments made and eliminate negativity in perception.

(c) Semantic Barriers: Semantic barriers refer to the interpretation of words, abbreviations and symbols used by the sender and perceived by the receiver. If a receiver is likely to misunderstand symbol of dollar ($) it is better that “dollar” is written in the script. Universally accepted symbols should generally be used in the written communication. Choice of wrong word or a comma at wrong place can change the meaning as to what is intended to be communicated and interpreted by the receiver. It is always desirable to repeat an important part of the message and ensure confirmation from the receiver.

(d) Power Position: Authority, power and status of an individual in an organization affect communication win people interacting at various levels of hierarchy. While authority makes communication more authentic but may create social distance and therefore restrict communication due to ‘gap’ that may be created. ‘Power centers’ may not allow views of lesser powerful individuals in decision making process. Thus free flow of information may not exist in the organization which is counter-productive for growth.

(e) Cultural Barriers: Cultural differences can adversely affect the communication effectiveness. Due to liberalization multinational players are operating in India. It is therefore necessary to understand ethnic backgrounds and cultures of various employees working in the organization. Religious sentiments of the employees must be protected while communicating. Norms play an important role like working on Friday for Muslims, Wearing of White clothes by Hindu women in India etc. In some countries punctuality is not considered important as long as targets are met.

Accordingly the communicator must identify these barriers and identify cultural differences so that an all out effort is made to ensure effectiveness of communication.

(f) Sender Credibility: If a sender’s credibility is high, the receiver will take and interpret message favourably. Conversely, if sender is not trusted receiver may try and interpret the message wrongly by deliberately giving hidden meaning to various words and may even distort the complete message. The communication of an expert is generally taken seriously and acted upon favourably. Emotions also play an important role in communication. If the receiver is happy and in a fine mood, he will receive and interpret message as intended by the sender but if the receiver is angry, frustrated and not in a pleasant mood the communication can be heavily distorted.

BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

When a communication is made by a sender, it must be received correctly by the receiver.

Message must be interpreted by the receiver as has been intended by the sender. There are various problems like the message does not reach the receiver, problems of encoding and decoding, faulty selection of channel, wrong language or the interpretation of the message. The list can be long and unending. These problems are called ‘Noise’ in communication. These problems can be classified as various barriers such as physical distance, noise, attitude and sentiments of sender and receiver.

A. Noise Barrier

(a) Poor Timing: A person must evaluate the timing of sending a message. Receiver must get adequate time to implement the instruction given in the communication.

If the action on the message is required to be taken in a distant future, there is a possibility that receiver may forget the content of the message. Inadequacy of timing and a last minute communication is likely to put too much pressure on the receiver. Message therefore should be sent at an appropriate time.

(b) Choice of Channel: Message can be sent in written, verbal instruction (face to face) or conveyed by electronic media, on line by telephone or using combinations.

Routine messages should be passed on verbally to subordinates and boss. Important messages should be followed in writing as a confirmation to verbal conversation.

Face to face communication is more effective because of the body language of sender and receiver. It provides spontaneous solutions to misunderstanding.

(c) Inadequate Information: Too much or too little information is dangerous.

Information must be of value, meaningful and related to the job of the receiver.

Volumes of information can be quickly sent anywhere around the globe. Information carries value if it is in the desired format and to the point.

(d) Organizational Structure: Every individual in the organization must know the channels of command and communication. They must also know the power centers.

Authority and responsibility must be clearly defined so that the communication is directed towards the correct person and quick decision making is achieved.

Information overload is dangerous. Secretary to the various managers must maintain a log book in which incoming and outgoing messages are recorded. Professional jealousy must not be allowed to interfere with various communications.

(e) Information Overload: Information may be passed to concerning individuals as it is needed. Excessive information causes information overload. Though lot of information now can be handled by the individual due to computers. Excessive information causes confusion and may not be required. Network breakdown may also take place due to information overload.