Barriers to Communication
Barriers to Communication and Causes of Communication Failure in Businesses Barriers to communication can occur if the recipient has failed to convey the meaning or / and the importance of the message.
· Sender breakdown – too much information is being sent, so the recipient misses key points. Also, language can be difficult to understand, as it can be too complex.
· Method breakdown – when information is very detailed or complicated, then written instructions are better than messages which can be misinterpreted.
· Recipient breakdown – the recipient deliberately makes a choice to misinterpret the message because of their attitude to either the sender to the message at hand.
Other problems with communication could be:
· Long chain of command.
· Language - complex, and hard to understand.
· Vague purpose – not detailed enough, more explanation required
· Inappropriate medium (method used, e.g. written, electronically etc).
· Red tape – message gets passed on to many different people before finally reaching the recipient making the process too long and the message changing. Also, actions can be delayed as a result of a late arrival of the message.
· Status of two parties – can be intimidated by the other person’s status because of their gender, age etc.
· Location – distance of recipient or where message has to reach.
· Distraction – Communication channels breaking up.
BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
No matter how good the communication system in an organisation is, unfortunately barriers can and do often occur. This may be caused by a number of factors which can usually be summarised as being due to physical barriers, system design faults or additional barriers.
Physical barriers are often due to the nature of the environment. Thus, for example, the natural barrier which exists, if staff are located in different buildings or on different sites. Likewise, poor or outdated equipment, particularly the failure of management to
· Sender breakdown – too much information is being sent, so the recipient misses key points. Also, language can be difficult to understand, as it can be too complex.
· Method breakdown – when information is very detailed or complicated, then written instructions are better than messages which can be misinterpreted.
· Recipient breakdown – the recipient deliberately makes a choice to misinterpret the message because of their attitude to either the sender to the message at hand.
Other problems with communication could be:
· Long chain of command.
· Language - complex, and hard to understand.
· Vague purpose – not detailed enough, more explanation required
· Inappropriate medium (method used, e.g. written, electronically etc).
· Red tape – message gets passed on to many different people before finally reaching the recipient making the process too long and the message changing. Also, actions can be delayed as a result of a late arrival of the message.
· Status of two parties – can be intimidated by the other person’s status because of their gender, age etc.
· Location – distance of recipient or where message has to reach.
· Distraction – Communication channels breaking up.
BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
No matter how good the communication system in an organisation is, unfortunately barriers can and do often occur. This may be caused by a number of factors which can usually be summarised as being due to physical barriers, system design faults or additional barriers.
Physical barriers are often due to the nature of the environment. Thus, for example, the natural barrier which exists, if staff are located in different buildings or on different sites. Likewise, poor or outdated equipment, particularly the failure of management to