10.

Organisational Barriers:

These barriers may arise on account of the followings:

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1. Organisational policies should be clear to avoid misinterpretations. Expressly stated

policies are better understood than implicit policies. As implicit policies are subject to
interpretation of behaviour of top managers, people may be subjective in interpretation.
Different people can draw different meaning of behavioural gestures which obstructs the
effective flow of communication.

2. Strict rules and regulations make observance to these rules also rigid. People lose creativity
in transmitting messages. Choice of channels, medium and dimension of communication can
be against the willingness of people and, thus, stand in the way of effective communication.

3. Too many levels in the organisational hierarchy can delay processing of information.
Information can be filtered, particularly in case of upward communication as negative
information is generally not transmitted.

Language Barriers:

Language barriers relate to use of words, jargons and different interpretation by senders and
receivers. The same statement may carry different meaning for different people. This deters
the process of effective communication.

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Some of the common language barriers are as follows:

1. Semantics:

Semantics is the study of words and their meanings. Problems arising on account of
transmission of meanings are semantic problems. Different words mean different things to
different people. Around 500 words in English language have about 25 definitions each. It is
natural, therefore, that they are interpreted differently. If the word means the same to the
sender and the receiver, communication is complete and effective, otherwise, communication
breakdown is likely to occur.

2. Poor Messages:

Clear ideas but wrongly chosen words and sentences are as bad as poor ideas. Wrong words
and sentences can lead to misinterpretation of messages. Poorly explained or misunderstood
messages can result in confusion. Words, sentences and paragraphs should be well connected
and coherent to convey the might meaning.

The message must be properly expressed to promote understanding. The word ‘profit’ for
example, has different connotations. It can mean pre-tax profits, fixed amount of profit, post-
tax profits or a rate of return. Choice of words and their interpretation is, therefore, important
to make communication effective.
3. Inconsistency in Verbal and Non-verbal Communication:

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Though verbal communication is a powerful medium of communication, non-verbal or

gestural communication is equally effective in conveying the right message. Not only should
our language be clear, our facial expressions, gestures, body movements and appearance must
also correspond to the language. A manager who says ‘good morning’ to subordinates without
even looking at them will not be very popular amongst them.

4. Individual Linguistic Ability:

Use of difficult or inappropriate words in communication can prevent people from

understanding the message. The sender may use difficult words in his message which
receivers cannot understand. This will result in wrong interpretation of the message. Saying
‘hostile instead of belligerent’ or ‘harmless instead of innocuous’ will result in better
communication. The sender should use simple words and language which can be understood
by the receiver.

Psychological Barriers:

Psychological barriers are the major source of communication breakdown. Psychological

factors represent people’s state of mind. We are receptive to information when we are happy.
If, however, we have personal problems, this affects communication.

Some of the common psychological barriers are as follows:

1. Filtering:

Filtering means manipulating information in a way that only favourable information is sent to
the receiver. In business organisations, when messages are transmitted vertically along the
chain of command, some part of information normally gets lost on the way.

In upward communication, subordinates tend to pass only that information upwards which is
likely to be followed by rewards. Information about their failures and non- achievements is
not sent upwards. Filtering is a common barrier when organisational hierarchy has large
number of levels.

2. Assumptions:

Communication based on assumptions is bad communication. If workers presume that

managers will pay them financial rewards if they work overtime, they are wrong unless there
is clear indication in this regard. Nothing should be stated as presumed while transmitting
official information.

3. Degree of Trust and Openness:

Worth of the message depends upon worth of the sender. A manager who is perceived by
subordinates as knowledgeable, trustworthy, sincere, concerned about welfare of others, fair
in taking decisions and open minded, will be rated high by them. Employees will carry out his
directions sincerely. If, however, they do not trust or have biased opinion about the sender,
they will ignore or misinterpret the message.

4. Fear:

Communication in an environment of threats, fear, punishment and penalties is a barrier to

effective communication. There must be positive motivation for receivers to carry out the
directions.

5. Emotions:

Emotions—feeling of love, threat, compassion, anger, jealousy, embarrassment, etc. largely

affect encoding and decoding of the message. Emotions are important and communicators
must understand them to avoid communication breakdowns. For instance, when the sender is
happy, his encoding of message will be different from that when he is depressed. Receiver’s
emotions also affect understanding of the message.

A message in angry mood is interpreted differently from that in a happy mood. Calm and
composed emotions help in effective communication. If the boss had controversy at home, he
may lose temper on his subordinates even if the subordinates are right. This will result in poor
communication.

6. Perception:

Perception is feeling, knowledge and understanding of the subject-matter conveyed. People

with different cultural, educational and emotional backgrounds understand the message
differently. People tend to hear or see what they want to hear or see and, therefore, perceive
the message in their own way.

If sender’s perception is different from that of the receiver, it will make the message
misleading and communication process ineffective. In perception distortions, meaning of the
message lies in the perception of the receiver than the words.

7. Noise:

Noise is the disturbing element that obstructs free flow of information. It is “interference that
occurs in a signal and prevents you from hearing sounds properly.” Communication is
generally not noise-free. Noise filters or screens out information during its transmission.

Sometimes, the important information is filtered. Physical noise (disturbance in telephone

line, sounds of machine, loudspeakers in a nearby locality) and psychological noise (mental
disturbance or unrest) make oral communication ineffective. It distracts concentration of the
sender and receiver to communicate effectively. Though noise cannot be eliminated, it should
be minimised so that communication does not turn into miscommunication.

8. Poor Listening:

Listening is different from hearing. We do not listen when we are preoccupied with other
thoughts and engagements. When a speaker is speaking on the subject in which we are not
interested, we hear but do not pay much attention to what he is saying. Unless we listen and
not just hear, communication will not be effective.

9. Poor Retention:

Human mind cannot retain all that is communicated to him orally. He tends to forget a part of
the information because of his limited retention capacity. It is, therefore, advisable to make
the receiver repeat the message and also use more than one channel to communicate the same
information. Sending reminders can also help to overcome the problems of poor retention.

10. Resistance to Change:

Organisations operate in the changing, dynamic environment. When managers introduce

change in people, technology or structure, it may involve change in their social or emotional
state and, therefore, they may be resistant to change. Resistance to change generally results in
miscommunication because people do not want to carry out the orders as directed by the
sender.

11. Inattentiveness:

A teacher asks her student, ‘Am I clear?’ and the student replies, ‘Yes Ma’am’. On being
asked to repeat what she said, he is unable to do so. He is not attentive in the class. He is,
perhaps, staring outside the window or watching his teacher’s new wrist watch.
Inattentiveness results in distraction and the listener misses out what is being said.

Even while reading a book, the inattentive reader does not understand what he is reading
while he may have actually read half the book. The reader or the listener is inattentive because
of distractions or mental preoccupation.

12. Closeness of Mind:

Some people are not open to new ideas, persuasion and suggestions. They prefer to work
along pre-defined courses of action and are not willing to listen to others. On being offered
suggestions, they may react negatively, “I know how to do my work. Don’t give me
suggestions.” Closeness of mind may reject useful and lucrative suggestions. It acts as a
barrier to communication.

13. Attitudinal Barriers:

These barriers arise because of problems with staff in the organisation. They may be the result
of factors such as poor management, lack of consultation with employees, personality
conflicts that can result in people delaying or refusing to communicate, personal attitudes of
individual employees that may be due to lack of motivation or dissatisfaction at work, brought
by insufficient training to enable them to carry out particular tasks, or just resistance to
change due to entrenched attitudes and ideas.