“Communication, in order to succeed must be correct, clear, complete, concise, concrete,

candid and courteous”.

- Francis T Bergin

INTRODUCTION

Communication is a complex process wherein information is shared between individuals

through a common system of symbols, signs, and behaviour expressing feelings, ideas, views,
opinions, etc. For the communication to succeed there must be a transmission of thoughts,
ideas and feelings from one mind to another. Effective communication is an essential
component of organizational success whether it is at the interpersonal or intergroup or
organizational or even external level. Although all of us have been communicating with
others since our infancy, the process of transmitting information from an individual (or a
group) to another is a very complex process with many sources of potential error. These
errors serve as barriers that take place within the communication systems and are very
unfortunate and unwanted. Every individual wants that his functioning should be
implemented in a smooth manner without the occurrence of barriers.

Here is a sneak peek into some of the barriers in communication and many feasible ways and
strategies to overcome these barriers are suggested below.

1. Environmental and Physical Barriers- Physical barriers refer to a large number of

physical factors ranging from noise and bodily movements to ill health of either or both the
participants, confusion and discomfort. There are many environmental factors too involved in
affecting the effective communication process. Messages can be blocked by environmental
factors, such as the physical setting or the situation where communication takes place.The
environmental and physical barriers generally include time, space, place and medium (Behra
& Tripathy, 2006).

Effective Strategies to Overcome Environmental and Physical Barriers:

Since these kinds of barriers generally occur within workplace, one of the ways to improve
the process of communication and to remove the barriers to effective organizational
communication is by forming a positive attitude within the workplace. It is vital to be
considerate, respectful and polite with one’s colleagues, superiors and subordinates in order
to create an integrated working environment.

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Barriers prove to be highly unproductive and will not lead to goodwill of the organization. It
is up to the individuals to possess this responsibility of overcoming the barriers, working
incoordination with the co-workers, efficiently supervising and managing the subordinates
and maintaining trustworthy relations with one’s employers and superiors.

As far as the physical barriers are concerned, they can be surmounted by following some
small yet effective steps such as making appropriate seating arrangements in the classroom or
the lecture hall. The seating arrangement has to be such that all the audience face the speaker
in order to have eye contact. Secondly, the audibility and visibility in the hall should be
ensured. Moreover, the visual and aural distractions should be minimized. It is also necessary
that the environmental comfort is provided to achieve optimum effect.

Here are some points that can help you to manage environmental factors for effective
communication:

 Make sure that the environment is comfortable and secure. People need to feel safe before
they will listen or offer suggestions.

 Check that there is nothing behind or near the audience that may cause distraction (for
example, activity seen through an open window or door; a television screen).

 Turn off your mobile phone when you are communicating with other people.

 Wait until any distracting noise is turned off before you even try to communicate. If this is
not possible, move to a quieter location.

2. Language and Semantic Barriers- When communicating with other people, no matter
what kind of communication means is utilized, whether it is formal or informal, it is vital to
make use of appropriate words, vocabulary and language; all kinds of communication should
reflect decency. Language and vocabulary that is used in communication should be
understandable to everyone in the audience because use of inappropriate levels of language,
jargon or slang is often not understood by somepeople you arecommunicating with (Rani,
2016).

Use of homophones, homonyms and homographs is also a cause of semantic barrier in

effective communication. Homophones are the words with same pronunciation but different
meaning which might have different spelling too. For example: buy, by and bye. Homonyms

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are the words which have the same pronunciation and their spellings are mostly same, but the
intended meaning is different. For example, the noun "bear" and the verb "bear".
Homographs are the words that have the same spelling but the pronunciation and meaning are
different. For example, "The research leads to the discovery of lead". In this sentence, both
the words have the same spelling, but different pronunciation and different meanings. These
words can be interpreted wrongly when used unknowingly causing the semantic barrier in a
communication process. This, in turn, makes the communication ineffective.

Effective Strategies to Overcome Language Semantic and Barriers:

In order to tackle linguistic barriers, use of simple language is a very useful method keeping
in mind the kind of people (age-group, profession et.al)you are communicating with. Ideas
and information can also be effectively disseminated by using graphic symbols, charts, audio-
visual resources, etc. The speaker also should prepare handouts and recommend books for
better communication. Taking feedback as frequently as possible is another useful means of
overcoming linguistic barrier. While communicating with each other people should use a
common language, so that everyone can understand it well.

The quality of one’s voice is also important for clear communication. People should speak
with appropriate volume as per the situation and use clear diction. If one feels that a word
being used by them is likely to be unfamiliar to the receiver, they should make its meaning
clear the first time one uses it. Whenever possible, one should choose words with positive
rather than negative connotations. Also, listening actively to other people and letting them
know that you are listening is an excellent way to overcome language and semantic barriers.

3.Socio-Psychological Barriers-Man is responsible for developing the art of communication

but himself is the biggest hurdle in an effective communication.There is one more barrier to
effective communication: socio-psychological which comes out of attitudes, emotions, status,
source of communication, inattentiveness, poor retention, unsolicited communication,
premature evaluation, past experiences, stereotype etc.

Effective Strategies to Overcome Socio-Psychological Barriers:

Socio-psychological barriers are difficult to tame. Calling attention and motivating listeners,
however, go a long way. Feedback also helps overcome psychological barriers to a large
extent. The listeners expect some kind of assistance and sympathy which is very useful for
the success of the communication. Judicious use of audio-visual media helps bridge the

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communication gap.One can overcome it only when he/she believes that breaking free from it
is possible.

4. Organisational Barrier- The organizational barriers refers to the hindrances in the flow of
information among the employees that might result in a commercial failure of an
organization.

The effectiveness of communication greatly contributes to the success of an organization and

the performance of its managers. Therefore, it is imperative for an organization to improve
the free flow communication, overcoming the possible barriers. Some communication
barriers cannot be eliminated altogether but can be controlled (Zaineb, 2010 as cited in
Kapur, 2018).

Effective Strategies to Overcome Organisational Barrier:

 Employee orientation:

If employees are given orientation about organizational objectives, policies, procedures,

programmes, authority relations etc., communication barriers stand minimized significantly.

 Improving interpersonal relations:

Improved interpersonal relations develop mutuality in organizations with employees

becoming more cooperative and working together for accomplishing organizational goals.
This requires superiors to respect the dignity and authority of their subordinates, which in
turn develops the subordinates’ trust towards their superiors and eliminates status
differences.

 Empathetic listening:

Due to typical managerial attitudes, quite often upward communication is greatly distorted.
Managers often use their status and talk more in course of discussion with subordinates,
without allowing them to express their feelings and emotions. Lack of such listening quite
obviously creates barriers to communication, as managers evaluate information without
getting the free and frank response from subordinates.

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 Grapevine:

Ignoring official channels of communication and trusting grapevine creates barriers in

communication. Hence, reliance on grapevine should be eliminated.

5. Cross-cultural Barriers-Communication also takes place between people belonging to

different nationalities, religions, castes, creeds, races, ethnicities etc. In other words, when
two people are communicating with each other, there may be differences in their cultural
backgrounds. It is vital to overcome all the barriers that might occur within the course of
communication. It is crucial to make people aware of one’s own culture with whom they are
communicating.

Effective Strategies to Overcome Cross-cultural Barriers:

 It is vital to form an understanding and acceptance of other person’s culture.

 Respecting other’s feelings and attitudes.
 Using active listening skills.
 Using open body language and an encouraging vocal tone.
 Taking other people’s fears and concerns into consideration.
 Refraining from giving unsolicited advice.

CONCLUSION

Language is a powerful vehicle of communication. Sometimes, however, owing to a number

of factors successful or effective communications do not take place. Some of the more
prominent factors leading to breakdown or failure in communication are: environmental and
physical, language and semantic, socio-psychological, organizational and cross-cultural
barriers. Of course there are also equally effective means through which these barriers can be
overcome.

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REFERENCES

Behra, A & Tripathy, B. (2009). Barriers to Effective Communication and How to Overcome
Them. Acamede, Vol. XIII, No.1, 14-15. Retrieved November, 2009 from
https://www.slideshare.net/nivyapganesh/barriers-to-effective-communication-and-how-to-
overcome-them-by-arun-k-behera-bijay-k-tripathy.

Crampton, S. M. (1998). The informal communication network: factors influencing grapevine

activity. Public Personnel Management. Retrieved July 2, 2008 from
http://www.allbusiness.com/management/735210-1.html.

Kapur, R. (2018). Barriers to Effective Communication. Retrieved March 16, 2018 from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323794732_Barriers_to_Effective_Communication.

Rani, U. (2016). Communication Barriers. Retrieved from June 17, 2016 from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304038097_COMMUNICATION_BARRIERS.

Zaineb, A. (2010). Barriers to Effective Communication in an Organization and Overcoming

it. Retrieved June 17, 2015 from
http://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning-design/barriers-to-communication.