NIMRA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND
TECHNOLOGY
I MBA : Managerial Communication and Soft Skills
NOTES
DR. SHAIK
SHAHEEN TAJ
MBA.,
MA., M PHIL., PHD.
UNIT
III
Barriers of effective communication
Anything that obstructs free flow of communication is
called ‘barrier’ to communication. Each communication must be transmitted
through an appropriate medium. An unsuitable medium is one of the biggest
barriers to communication.
Physical barriers:
Noise:
Noise is quiet often a barrier to communication. If factories, oral
communication is rendered difficult by the loud noise of machines. Electronic
noise like blaring often interferes in communication by telephone or
loudspeaker system. The word ‘noise’ is also used to refer to all kinds of
physical interference like illegible handwriting, smudged copies of duplicated
typescript, poor telephone connections, etc.
Time and
Distance: Time and distance also act as
barriers to the smooth flow of communication. The use of telephone along with
computer technology has made communication very fast and has to a large extent,
overcome the space barrier. However, sometimes mechanical breakdowns render
these facilities ineffective. In such cases, the distance between the
transmitter and the receiver becomes a mighty barrier. Some factories run in
shifts. There is a kind of communication gap between persons working in
different shifts. Faulty seating arrangement in the room can also become a
barrier to effective communication, for whichever seats the employees may be
occupying, they definitely want an eye contact with one another. These barriers
need just a little care to overcome.
Semantic Barriers
Interpretation of words:
Most of the communication is carried on through words.
Words in spoken or in written form are capable of communicating a variety of
meanings. We should understand the meaning of the words according to the
context. But on account of different Social, Economic, Cultural and Educational
backgrounds, people interpret even the contexts differently. The result is
miscommunication. If the receiver of a message doesn’t assign the same meaning
to a word as the transmitter had intended, it leads to miscommunication.
Bypassed instructions:
If the sender and the receiver of the message attribute
different meanings to the same word or use different words for the same
meaning, bypassing occurs. Murphy and Pack have given classic example for
bypassed instruction which can play havoc with the communication process.
For example: An office
manager handed to a new assistant one letter with the instruction, “Take it to
our stockroom and burn it.” The manager meant, to make a copy on a company
machine which operated by a heat process. The puzzled new employee, afraid to
ask questions, burned the letter and destroyed it.
Denotations and Connotations:
Words have two types of meanings: denotative and
connotative. The literal meaning of a word is called its denotative meaning.
Words like ‘table,’ ‘book,’ accounts’’ ‘meeting’ are denotative. Here only
names of objects are informed without any positive or negative qualities.
In contrast, connotative meanings arouse qualitative
judgments and personal reactions. ‘honest,’ ‘competent,’ ‘cheap,’ ‘sincere,’
etc are connotative words. Few words have favourable connotations in certain
contexts and unfavourable connotations in others. ‘cheap’ is one such word.
For Example: 1. They
gave us cheap stuff. 2. At this shop, they sell things cheap.
‘Cheap’ in the first sentence refers to quality and has an
unfavourable connotation. In the second sentence it refers to prices and is
favourable.
To minimize semantic barrier, familiar words should be
preferred. Orelse the words intended as a compliment are interpreted as an
insult by the receiver. Always positive connotations should be used instead of
negative connotation. We should clarify the shades.
Socio-Psychological
Barriers
Attitudes and
opinions: Personal attitude and opinions
often act as barriers to effective communication. People react favourably or
are hostile according as the information is to their personal advantage or not.
If the information is advantageous to an employee, he welcomes it as good or if
it affects him adversely he rejects it.
Emotions: Agitated mind cannot receive or transmit anything
correctly. Emotional state plays an important role in the act of communication.
The communicator should not try to communicate while in a state of emotional
excitement. In the same way, the receiver should not react to the message of his
mind is disturbed.
Closed mind: A person with a closed mind is very difficult to
communicate with. He rejects a message or a proposal and reveals deep-rooted
prejudices, opinions and emotions if asked to state his reasons. Closed mind
people react with anger and give a sharp rebuff to anyone who tries to argue
with them. They preclude all possibility of communication by doing so.
Status – consciousness: This exists in every organization and is one of the major
barriers to effective communication. People are over – conscious of their lower
or higher rank and do not express themselves candidly. Such communication
failures can be averted if the managers and other persons in authority rise
above the consciousness of their status and encourage their employees to talk
freely.
The Source of Communication: If the receiver has a suspicion about or prejudice against
the source of communication, there is likely to be a barrier to communication.
People often react according to their attitude to the source of facts than to
the facts themselves.
Ex: If an employee gets compliment from an executive, who
is in the habit of finding fault with his employees, the employee becomes
suspicious and starts attributing motives to the compliment.
Faulty transmission: In oral communication, 30% of the information is lost in
each transmission. A message is never communicated from one person to another
in its entirety.
Poor retention: Employees retain only 50% of the information communicated
to them. The rest is lost. Poor retention leads to imperfect responses and
hampers the communication process.
Gateways to Effective interpersonal Communication
In order to enhance
the effectiveness of communication, we can focus on the following aspects:
• Plan the message: Before we decide to communicate an
idea/information/message, we need to plan it properly. The message should match
the purpose and should be transmitted through the appropriate format.
• Use Proper language: The language used for a message should
be clear, lucid and appropriate. The density of words used should match with
the level of maturity of the receivers.
• Don’t be evaluative: If we listen to somebody with
preconceived notions, we won’t be able to receive process and interpret the
message properly.
• Give proper Orientation: All the employees should be given proper
orientation regarding the objectives, policies, procedures, and organization
structure and work culture of an organization immediately after they are
recruited. This helps in interpersonal communication as well as communication
with the people at the higher and lower hierarchies.
• Be an active listener: Active listening is an art which very
few people can master. Many of us confuse listening with hearing. But listening
demands more attention and interest than hearing, hence it is very important in
communication.
• Have an unbiased attitude: Any person with a biased mind will not
be able to communicate properly with others. Hence it is necessary to train
people to be unbiased through education, counselling and discussions to help
them become good communicators. .
• Respond, don't re-act: When we are dealing with a problematic
situation or person, we must understand the facts properly and respond
appropriately. If we react in a situation like this, our emotions and feelings
take an upper hand and we end up as bad communicators. Our negative reaction to
people in stressful situations will aggravate the situation and lead to total
collapse of communication. We must respond mindfully rather than re-act emotionally.
Though it requires self-knowledge and discipline, it allows us to be more
effective in our communication.
• Promote congruence: Communication will not be effective
unless and until people are willing to communicate. This willingness to
communicate needs to be inculcated among people to keep them intact.
• Use the grapevine: The grapevine can be used to predict the
responses of the employees regarding a particular issue. This is mainly useful
for checking plans which are likely to be implemented in future. On the basis
of the responses collected from people, appropriate decisions can be taken.
• Transmit the message in Instalments: If too much of information is sent
within too short a period of time, it will not be digested by people. So it is
wise to send the information/message in chunks. This makes the transmission of
the message more effective and facilitates feedback. Information overload
results in miscommunication or a complete collapse of communication.
• Provide feedback: In order to enhance the effectiveness of
communication, feedback mechanism should be built into all communication
networks so that necessary amendments can be made to enhance the quality of
communication in future. Suggestions, clarifications, performance reports,
surveys and emphatic listening are some of the feedback mechanism we use to
ensure the success of communication.
• Overcome bypassing: When we receive a message, we must respond it
appropriately and immediately. Bypassing it will hamper the transmission of the
message.
• Maintain semantic accuracy: While using words with different
connotations we must make it clear in its meaning by providing contextual
clues. Semantic accuracy will improve the effectiveness of communication and
will facilitate timely feedback.
• Add some eloquence: While presenting the facts, we should be
able to present them in a seamless manner so that there is eloquence and the
listener does not have any problem in comprehending the logical link between
the facts. This in turn will positively impact communication.
• Improve the ambience: Improper ambience often mars the communication
between two participants. If people fight in a meeting where a saint is giving
a sermon on world peace, there is no necessity of his sermon. Similarly, if we
are speaking in a crowded place with noises flowing in from all corners, we won’t
be able to drive anything into the minds of the audience. On the other hand, a
calm atmosphere will be appropriate for such an act of communication.
• Use proper etiquette: Social etiquettes play an important role in
ensuring successful communication. A person may be a master of his/her subject,
but his/her lack of etiquette may mar his/her chances of a promotion. Likewise,
proper telephone etiquettes are also essential for making an act of
communication successful.
• Watch your language: We should opt for clear, positive
language and sincerity to encourage shared understanding and earn the support
of our group.
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