Barriers to Communication

Graphics courtesy of Pryor LearningOpens in new window There are many barriers to communication and these may occur at any stage in the communication process. Barriers may lead to a message becoming distorted and therefore risk wasting both time and/or money by causing confusion and misunderstanding. Effective communication involves overcoming these barriers in order to convey a clear and concise message. This literature discusses a number of common barriers to effective communication.

Group-Based Communication Differences

The purpose of group communication is to exchange information in order to make decisions, resolve confusion, build rapport, and get closer to attaining the business goal.

One of the challenges of group communication is that the group is made up of different people who may have different styles of communication. The way people communicate affects the way they send and receive messages. If multiple different styles of communication are preset in a group, there are increased chances that the message may get lost.

Each of the individuals in a group or team has a comfortable or characteristic way of speaking, called a linguistic styleOpens in new window, that is making communication difficult between them. Deborah TannenOpens in new window describes linguistic style as a person’s characteristic way of speaking which includes tone of voice; speed; volume; use of pauses; directness or indirectness; choice of words; credit-taking; and use of questions, jokes, and other types of speech.

These linguistic style differences may occur because of cultural or regional differences between people. When people’s linguistic styles differ and these differences are not taken into account and understood, ineffective communication is likely to occur.

Cross-Cultural Differences

It is important to recognize that communication is conducted in different ways around the world. For example, compare countries like the United States that place a high value on individualismOpens in new window with countries like Japan that emphasize collectivismOpens in new window.

American leaders rely heavily on memoranda, announcements, position papers, and other formal forms of communication to stake out their positions in an organization.

Japanese leaders, in contrast to American leaders, will engage in extensive verbal consultation over an issue before making an announcement.

Today’s leaders must make themselves familiar with cross-cultural communication differences. Leaders communicate with people from abroad, they should try to find out as much as they can about cultural differences and the aspects of communication styles that are specific to the country or culture in question.

Gender Differences

Gender differences also affect the communication process. The following are two examples:

An assessment by a male leader of how well a woman is coping with change, for example, compared with male colleagues may thus conclude: “She seems very uncertain since she is always asking questions.”

However, this assessment may have more to do with gender differences related to a willingness to question, for example, about change than to real differences in attitude toward the change itself.

Tannen found that the linguistic styles of men and women differ in practically every culture or language. These differences are demonstrated for men and women in general, and are not indicator of all women or all men.

In the United States, many women tend to downplay differences between people, are not overly concerned about receiving credit for their own accomplishments, and want to make everyone feel that they are more or less on an equal footing, so that even poor performers or low-status individuals feel valued.

Many men, in contrast, tend to emphasize their own superiority, take credit for accomplishments whenever possible, and are not reluctant to acknowledge differences in status.

General Differences in Communication

Today’s workplace often includes people from different generations—traditionalists, baby boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials—with Gen Zers also starting to show up.

Among the challenges in this scenario is the fact that different generations prefer different media and they have different expectations and norms about communication.

When it comes to communication mediaOpens in new window, Millennials and Gen Xers are more likely to love their digital devices than boomers and traditionalists. Millennials were brought up with instant messaging and texting and prefer these media over phone calls, letters, and reports.

Younger employees also are more likely to use the Internet and social media to accomplish their work tasks. However, advances in communication technology, along with scammers, for example, have changed the approach people in organizations of all ages use to call prospective clients on the phone.

Due to the continued increase in robo or cold calls that are either real or fake, organizations have had to turn to more effective communication strategies regardless of what generation someone is from. Organizations have increasingly relied on various forms of technology to communicate with different generations.