1. Topic 3: Describe Common
Barriers to Effective
Communication in Business
Contexts
2. Barriers to Effective Communication
• A barrier to communication is anything that
distorts the process of communication. It
makes one miss parts of a message or the
whole message or creates misunderstanding of
a message or information to the interlocutors.
• The following are common barriers that fall
under linguistic, social, physical, and
psychological to effective communication:
3. Barriers to Effective Communication
• Semantic Barriers
• These are meaning barriers which arise from
limited knowledge in symbols (linguistic symbols
and signs) which we communicate. Words which
have diverse meanings that are in most cases not
understood are always employed as main forms of
communication. Semantic barrier occurs when a
message is not understood although it is received
exactly as it was transmitted.
4. Barriers to Effective Communication
• A word may be difficult for hearer to
understand or may have one meaning for
a sender and another for the receiver
(denotative vs. connotative meanings).
Others include: vocabulary size,
ambiguity, jargons, slangs, language
differences, mispronunciation of words
e.g. radar/ ladder, etc.
5. Barriers to Effective Communication
• Physical Barriers
• These are environmental factors that can
reduce or prevent the sending and receiving of
messages. Such barriers include distance,
distracting noise, breakdown of
communication media such as telephone,
radio, TV sets, etc.
6. Barriers to Effective Communication
• Psychological Barriers
• These barriers occur when the receiver is thinking or
picturing something else in his/her mind. Such barriers
are accompanied by worry, anger, hunger, hatred, fear,
disappointment, pain, etc. These affect the
communication process. Careful selection of the words
is highly recommended especially in emotional
situations to avoid the slip of the tongue which may
trigger psychological reaction and render message
transmission ineffective.
7. Barriers to Effective Communication
• Personal/Emotional Barriers
• These are communication barriers/ interferences that
arise from human emotions, values and limitations.
They are the most common type of barriers in work
situations and include poor listening habits. These may
also include beliefs and attitudes- based on religion,
sex, politics; trust and honest, that is, a lack of trust can
cause the receiver to look for hidden meanings in the
sender’s message. Others are: reluctance to confront,
fear of being wrong, anxiety and sad memories.
8. Barriers to Effective Communication
• Socio-Cultural Barriers
• These capture elements like, generation gap
e.g. youths vs. elders; information overload/
under load and socio-cultural diversity. The
greater the difference between the sender’s and
receiver’s cultures, the greater the chance for
miscommunication.
9. Barriers to Effective Communication
• Physiological Barriers
• These are related to the problems in the
functioning of the body organs. Such as,
speaking or listening impairments.
10. Barriers to Effective Communication
• Organizational Barriers
• 1. Inattention: at times we just not listen, but only
hear.
• 2. Time pressures: in a haste to meet deadlines,
the formal channels of communication are
shortened, or messages are partially given or not
completely transferred.
• 3. Distraction or noise: communication is also
affected a lot by noise or distractions.
11. Barriers to Effective Communication
• 4. Complexity in organizational structure: greater the
hierarchy in an organization (i.e. more the number of
managerial levels), more is the chances of
communication getting destroyed.
• 5. Poor retention: human memory cannot function
beyond a limit. One can’t always retain what is being
told especially if he is not interested or not attentive.
12. Overcoming Communication Barriers
• There is a lot of communication barriers faced
these days by all. It is essential to deal and
cope up with these communication barriers so
as to ensure smooth and effective
communication.
13. Overcoming Communication Barriers
• 1. Eliminating differences in perception: the
organization should ensure that it is recruiting
right individuals on the job.
• 2. Use of simple language: use of simple and
clear words should be emphasized. Use of
ambiguous words and jargons should be
avoided.
14. Overcoming Communication Barriers
• 3. Reduction and elimination of noise levels: it
is essential to identify the source of noise and
then eliminate that source.
• 4. Active Listening: Listen attentively and
carefully.
15. Overcoming Communication Barriers
• 5. Emotional state: during communication one
should make effective use of body language.
He/she should not show their emotions while
communication as the receiver might
misinterpret the message being delivered.
16. Overcoming Communication Barriers
• 6. Simple organizational structure: the
organizational structure should not be
complex. Simpler the organizational structure,
more effective will be the communication.
• 7. Avoid information overload: the managers
should know how to prioritize their work.
They should not overload themselves with the
work.
17. Overcoming Communication Barriers
• 8. Give constructive feedback: avoid giving
negative feedback. The contents of the
feedback might be negative, but it should be
delivered constructively.
18. Overcoming Communication Barriers
• 9. Proper media selection: the managers should
properly select the medium of communication.
Simple messages should be conveyed orally,
like: face to face interaction or meetings. Use
of written means of communication should be
encouraged for delivering complex messages.
19. Overcoming Communication Barriers
• 10. Flexibility in meeting the targets: there
should not be much pressure on employees to
meet their targets.
