This document discusses engineering communication skills and barriers to effective communication. It defines engineering communication skills as having objectives, purposes, and different types of communication with strengths and weaknesses. Barriers include physical separation, status differences, gender differences, cultural diversity, lack of focus, physiological issues, noise, decoding problems, ambiguity, and age differences. Specific barriers like lack of focus, ambiguity, physical separation, decoding, and physiological are explained in more detail. The document concludes by outlining ways to overcome various communication barriers such as using technology, learning sign language, being clear, flexible, and avoiding jargon or idioms.

1. NATIONAL UNIVERISTY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
FACULTY OF INDUSTIAL TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND WATER ENGINEERING
Engineering communication skills
TCW 1103
Semester 1.1 - 2017
STUDENT NAME: MBUDZI TAVONGA
STUDENT NUMBER: N0172769W
ASSIGNMENT 01
Engineering communication skills are essential for organisational experience. Define engineering communication skills focusing on :
a) Objectives
b) Purpose
c) Communication types with their strength and weaknesses.

2. Engineering communication barriers
• Engineering communication barriers are factors that affect effective communication in engineering that makes the process
difficult to the communicators.
• These obstacles affect the flow of messages from the encoder to the decoder of the information in the communication
channels.
• Barriers to effective communication obstacles that can retard or distort the message or intention of the message being
conveyed.
• This may result in failure of the communication process or cause an effect that is undesirable

3. Engineering communication barriers include:
 Physical Separation Barrier
 Status Differences
 Gender Differences
 Cultural Diversity
 Lack of Focus
 Physiological Barriers
 Noise
 Decoding barriers
 Ambiguity of words/phrases
 Age barriers

4. Lack of Focus
• The more the sender of the information adds information that isn’t necessary, the greater the risk his/her listeners
will misinterpret the points which are being broadcasted.
• Lack of focus by the listeners may lead to the distortion of information since he/she may carry wrong information
from the sender thus leading to wrong information being spread by the listener due to not paying close attention
while the messenger is distributing his/her message or point or information.

5. Ambiguity of words/phrases and jargon use
• The use of jargon in communication has caused many problems since people may have different perception and view
points from the message received.
• People have the tenancy of hearing what they expect to hear rather than what is actually being said so due to the ambiguity
of the words people may jump to incorrect conclusions causing them to carry wrong information after the communication
process.

6. Physical Separation Barrier

7. • Rises when the communicators fail to be able to identify the non-verbal cues, gestures, posture and general body
language of the sender.
• The communicators may be physically-separated environments that led to difficulty in finishing the idea or passing the
information properly.
• Some people unconsciously talk with their body parts so if they are far away from each other the receiver of the message
may fail to get the message being send by the sender’s gestures.
• Gestures create a visual for their listeners, so the receivers will remember more information and will remember the
message longer.

8. Physiological Barriers

9. • Physiological barriers may result from the sender or receiver’s physical state.
• Physical disabilities such as hearing problems or speech difficulties may cause communication to be difficult for example,
a receiver with reduced hearing may not grasp to entirety of a spoken conversation especially if there is significant
background noise.
• Bad hand writing for written communication may cause difficulties since the receiver may fail to read the information to
be delivered.
• Poor retention due to memory problems
• Information overloaded
• Gender physiological differencies

10. Decoding barriers
• these may result from the lack of communication skills of both the sender and the receiver of the message.
• The decoder might lack of Interest in what he or she is doing,
• Physical distractions,
• proper diagnosing, analysing of information must be done.

11. Status differences barriers
• This type of barrier exists due to differences in organizational hierarchy where employees have difficulty communicating
either up or down the corporate ladder.

12. Gender barriers
• some people in the society now also presume that there are differences between a male and a female.
• Women express their emotions than man, to reveal how they feel about a situation.
• men are good in spatial thoughts likewise women are good in emotional decisions and language based thinking.

13. How to overcome communication barriers
• The messenger should put thoughts into his/her words this will reduce a case where the messenger begin to say too
much and his/her message will be like a train about to derail.
• Whenever he/she realises this the messenger should put the brakes on and get him/herself back on track.
• The messenger should always keep his/her objective in mind and should always pay attention to listener .
• One should ask him/herself that are they hanging on every word or are they dazed? Are they attentive or fidgeting?

14. How to overcome physical separation barriers
• Modern technology have come to rescue physical communication barriers.
• Communicators do now have efficient or appropriate information systems and communication channels due to the
introduction of technology such as emails, phone calls, video-conferencing and webcams thus helping to eliminate the
barrier and provide closer communication.

15. How to overcome physiological barriers
• sign language may overcome the problem of those who have hearing problems so communicators should learn sing
language to increase effective communication.
• written communication may reduce that problem, written communication like issuing out flyers to the receivers who have
the disability of hearing.
• Technology also have resolved the barrier of communication in blind people by the use of options like talkbacks while
operation a mobile phone, tape recorder ,talking computer terminal and Kurzweil reading machine etc.

16. How to overcome verbal communication Barriers
• The person who is sending the information must be very clear in what he wants to communicate,
• The communicator should be honest rather than manipulative,
• The sender and the receiver should be flexible towards each other,
• The sender should Focus on what heshe knows,

17. How to overcome age barriers
• people tend to judge a statement by different standards if one know the speaker’s age,
• should be an element of trust between the people communicating whether they are of same age or not,

18. How to overcome external barriers
• Make use of high quality equipment in order to clear voices and sounds e.g. microphones and speakers,
• When projector screens are used, lower the background lights,
• The colours and the contents must be checked before addressing to the gathering when projector screens are used.

19. How to overcome language and cultural
barriers
• The sender should Speak slowly and clearly,
• Avoid idioms
• Provide information via multiple channel
• Be careful of jargon.

20. References
• Bankovic, M. (2013). Business communication: script. Retrieved from:
http://www.vts.edu.rs/images/nastava/PoslovneKomunikacije/POSLOVNE_KOMUNIKACIJE-skripta.pdf
• In Stuart Hall, Dorothy Hobson, Andrew Love, and Paul Willis (eds.), Culture, Media, Language, pp. 128–38. London:
Hutchinson, 1980. In Stuart Hall; Meenakshi Gigi Durham; Douglas M. Kellner, eds. (2001). "Encoding/Decoding". Media
And Cultural Studies: Keyworks: 171. External link in |journal= (help)
• "Multilingual London". Phon.ucl.ac.uk. 1999-03-29. Retrieved 2012-08-22.s