Communication is the process of sharing our ideas,
thoughts, and feelings with other people and having
those ideas, thoughts, and feelings understood by the people we are talking with. When we communicate we speak, listen, and observe Intro Communication is the process by which a source transmit any messages ,ideas, information to the receiver through a medium.
Barriers to communication are the hindrances or
difficulties involved in the process of communication which distort the message from being properly understood by the receiver. Communication process Barrier in communication Have you ever been talking to someone and they misunderstand what you were saying? Why do you think that happens? At any point in the communication process a barrier can occur. Barriers keep us from understanding other’s ideas and thoughts. Barriers can appear at any point of the communication loop. “I am not late!” Barrier due to Difference in interpretation of meaning I Can Marry whomever I Please! Except the I Can Marry fact that you whomever never please I Please! anybody! Identifying barriers Communication is about overcoming barriers.
State all the barriers
that you can think of that impact on your day-to-day communication Common barriers to communication Process Barriers: involve all components of the SMMR model of communication. Personal Barriers: involve components of an individual’s communication competence and interpersonal dynamics between people communicating. Physical Barriers: pertain to the physical distance between people communicating Semantic Barriers: relate to the different understanding and interpretations of the words we use to communicate. For class discussion: Which of the barriers to effective communication is the most difficult to deal with? Explain. Process Barriers 1) Wrong encoding of Message 2) Wrong Medium 3) Wrong Message (choice of words) 4) Wrong decoding 5) Lack of feedback Example of Process barriers The Colonel's Order A COLONEL ISSUED THE FOLLOWING DIRECTIVE TO HIS EXECUTIVE OFFICERS: "Tomorrow evening at approximately 2000 hours Halley's Comet will be visible in this area; an event which occurs only every 75 years. Have the men fall out in the battalion area in fatigues, and I will explain this rare phenomenon to them. In case of rain, we will not be able to see anything, so assemble the men in the theater and I will show them films of it." EXECUTIVE OFFICER TO COMPANY COMMANDER: "By order of the Colonel, tomorrow at 2000 hours, Halley's Comet will appear above the battalion area. If it rains, fall the men out in fatigues, then march to the theater where this rare phenomenon will take place, something which occurs only once every 75 years." COMPANY COMMANDER TO LIEUTENANT:
"By order of the Colonel be in fatigues at 2000 hours tomorrow
evening. The phenomenal Halley's Comet will appear in the theater. In case of rain in the battalion area, the Colonel will give another order, something which occurs once every 75 years."
LIEUTENANT TO SERGEANT:
"Tomorrow at 2000 hours, the Colonel will appear in the theater
with Halley's comet, something which happens every 75 years. If it rains, the Colonel will order the comet into the battalion area."
SERGEANT TO SQUAD:
"When it rains tomorrow at 2000 hours, the phenomenal 75-
year-old General Halley, accompanied by the Colonel, will drive his comet through the battalion area theater in fatigues." Personal barriers
Attitude and values
Difference in perceptions Abstraction Filtration Resistance to change Attitude and Values 1) Prejudice: Bias; preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. Attitude and Values 2) Short Attention Span: Attention span is the amount of time that a person can concentrate on a task without becoming distracted. Most educators and psychologists agree that the ability to focus one's attention on a task is crucial for the achievement of one's goals. Attitude and Values 3) Jumping to Conclusions: Jumping to conclusions is a psychological term referring to a communication obstacle where one "judges or decides something without having all the facts; to reach unwarranted conclusions". In other words, "when we fail to distinguish between what we observed first hand and we have only inferred or assumed". Because it involves making decisions without having enough information to be sure you are right, this can result in badly made or rash decisions. This action can be associated with skills such as impulsiveness. Ex: “When I went to Mumbai last week…..” “ Oh Mumbai ! Shahrukh stays there na? ” Jumping to Conclusions Differences in Perception Perception: the way in which an individual gives meaning to an object, messages or event
Objective reality: the actual object, message or
event WE DO NOT SEE THINGSTHEY ARE. WE SEE THINGS WE ARE! Differences in Perception: Why and How? Experience and Backgrounds Difference between Speaker and Listener: Their backgrounds differ. Therefore, understanding differs. Both speaking English, but wavelengths are altogether different, and the two do not understand each other. Everyone correlates what he hears or sees with his own experience. Instead of hearing what people tell, one hears only what mind tells us. Differences in Perception: Why and How? Beliefs Influence What One Hears: A is a good office worker but hates outdoor work. For career progression, his manager makes him a Sales Executive. A sees this benevolent act to be a punishment for him. He hates the work, so he is sure he will fail there. He thinks the manager knows this and is acting to purposefully ruin his career. Differences in Perception: Why and How? Our Emotional State of Mind Colours what one hears: A worried, fearful employee finds a threat in everything he hears. Fear filters quite a lot of communication. We attach meanings which just do not exist. Similarly, other emotions like hatred or love colour information that we receive. Abstraction: 1) Generalising: make a general or broad statement by inferring from specific cases. "it is not easy to generalize about the poor“ Lumping people together and insulting them can be manifest on the part of the minorities themselves. Almost every country in the world has some kind of insulting description for people of another nationality. All people with a Turban in USA are generalized as terrorists after 9/11/2001. Abstraction 2) Stereotyping: Stereotypes are fixed images in one’s head by which we perceive the conduct and properties of the members of a social group as uniform, unchangeable and given. Stereotyping is the grouping together of people whom, on the basis of certain signs, we identify with a group. These days, the signs which give rise to stereotyping are perceived more as features which attract a certain kind of added attention to the person marked (a different skin colour, a specific type of manner of speech, dress etc.), and the fact that these people are different encourages them in turn to behave unnaturally. This behaviour is frequently caused by the various ideas within that society of those who hold a stereotype. Stereotyping: Filtration: Filtering is the deliberate manipulation of information to make it appear more favorable to the receiver. For instance, If an elderly widow loves animals, presenting her the value of contributing to a specific charity to help finance rescue shelters for animals rather than explaining its more global mission may be a good example of filtering in communication. To the extreme, this is what "spin doctors" do. Most of us filter our communication with others simply in presenting the message in ways we believe the receiver will best understand. Filtration 1) Selective Hearing: Hearing only what you want to hear. “Everything you do, every thought you have, every word you say creates a memory that you will hold in your body. It's imprinted on you and affects you in subtle ways - ways you are not always aware of. With that in mind, be very conscious and selective.” = Phylicia Rashad Filtration 2) Assumptions: a thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof. "they made certain assumptions about the market“ An assumption is a statement that is presumed to be true without concrete evidence to support it. In the business world, assumptions are used in a wide variety of situations to enable companies to plan and make decisions in the face of uncertainty. Perhaps the most common use of assumptions is in the accounting function, which uses assumptions to facilitate financial measurement and reporting. Assumptions in communication means presupposing meaning and facts about something or somebody without verification. Assumption: Blind Spots Cliff Young In Australia a 600-km marathon is held between the cities of Sydney and Melbourne. Several years ago a 61-year-old man named Cliff Young showed up to run the race. Now the world class runners thought he was some derelict that showed up in the wrong place because Cliff showed up wearing Osh Gosh overalls and galoshes. And he was obviously an old man. When he told them he was there for the marathon, the professional runners asked if he had ever run in a marathon before. "No," replied Cliff. "How have you been training?" they asked. "I have cattle on my station [farm] and since I have no horses, I run around to move them along." The runners laughed. You see, every professional marathoner knew with certainty that it took about five days to run this race, and that in order to compete, you would need to run 18 hours and sleep six hours. Cliff Young was clearly not up to their standards. When the marathon started, the pros left Cliff behind in his galoshes. He had a leisurely shuffling style of running that targeted him as an amateur. Cliff had no training. He did not know what the world class runners knew. As you have probably guessed, Cliff won the race, but that is not what is astonishing. What is astonishing is that he cut one and a half days off the record time. How? Because of his lack of training, he didn't *know* that you had to sleep. Cliff just kept on shuffling along in his galoshes while the pro runners slept, and he finished the race in three and a half days. He beat everybody. He was a sensation in Australia. Now that world-class runners *know* that it is possible to run days at a time without sleep, and that they can conserve energy by adopting an easy shuffling jog, they have a new way of approaching long marathons. We are like the pro runners. We act, not according to the *real truth* but according to some cockeyed truth given to us by some well-meaning or not-so-well-meaning *expert*. For this reason, people that don't know the *accepted wisdom* are more likely to discover new aspects of life, create remarkable inventions, and break through into a new realm of consciousness. Cliff Young Preconception is a scotoma Semantic barriers Lack of common language Poor vocabulary Poor grammar, punctuations Lack of clarity in the message Use of jargons Organizational Barriers Complexity in organisation structure Status and positions Policies, rules and regulations Wrong choice of medium Communication overload Fear of superiors Emotional Barriers These are typically formed during childhood, remaining with you through adulthood. When you are consistently being taught how to rein in your emotions, not to speak unless spoken to or that it is taboo to express your true feelings to someone, this will surely affect your ability to communicate as an adult. Fear Mistrust Suspicion Social, Cultural and ethical Social barriers to communication include the social psychological phenomenon of conformity; a process in which the norms, values and behaviours of an individual begin to follow those of the wider group. Cultural barriers to communication, which often arise where individuals in one social group have developed different norms, values, or behaviours to individuals associated with another group. Ethical barriers to communication; these occur when individuals working in an organisation find it difficult to voice dissent, even though their organisation is acting in ways they consider to be unethical. Cultural Barriers 1. Language differences – people who don’t speak English may have a difficult time communicating. You should: a. Speak slowly b. Use nonverbal communication (smile) c. Avoid tendency to speak louder d. Find an interpreter 2. Eye contact – in some cultures, it’s not acceptable, and looking down is a sign of respect. In others, it shows meekness. 3. Terminal illness – in some cultures, the patient is NOT told his/her prognosis, and family members are responsible for making care decisions 4. Touch – in some cultures, it is wrong to touch someone. 5. Personal care – in some cultures, only family members provide personal care Interpersonal Barriers Interpersonal Barriers DON’T: Be passive aggressive. What does it accomplish? Being passive aggressive doesn’t do either party any favors. To illustrate my point, I will use this classic example: Ashwin: “Is something wrong?” Kritika: (scowling) “I’m fine.” Ashwin: “Um... are you sure?” Kritika: “Yes.” Ashwin: “But you seem upset…” Kritika: (rolling her eyes) “If you can’t see why I’m upset, that’s just unbelievable.” Kate’s passive aggressive responses to Adam’s attempt to address what is bothering her does nothing but prolong the problem and make it worse. This type of behavior is disrespectful and opens the door to further conflict by making Adam feel defensive or frustrated. The End