Communication Skills – MCM 301 VU

Lesson 11

Overcoming Communication Barriers

In order to overcome communication barriers it is important first, to recognize the most common

communication barriers and then, understand their negative impact on communication.

Broadly classifying the barriers: there are three kinds of communications barriers, which are: Sender-

message, physical, and listener-receiver. When effective exchange of understanding is not taking place,

one or more of these barriers is getting in the way. When a barrier is present in a communication

exchange, communication will suffer to some degree. The figure below illustrates the strength of the three

barriers in relationship to our attempt to identify and reduce them. The figure illustrates that physical

barriers are the easiest to identify and reduce or eliminate while the listener barriers are most often the

hardest to identify and reduce or eliminate.

Acceptance of the

responsibility of

communication breakdown is

quite a different matter. It is

difficult to get anyone to admit

that they might be the cause of

ineffective communication. A

sender feels that most

communication problems are

the fault of the listener or

receiver. These people are not

anxious to confess that they

might be the cause of

communication barriers. The

same is true with the listeners.

A listener feels that most

communication problems are a

result of sender or message

caused communication barriers.

They show little interest in

accepting responsibility for poor or inadequate communication.

LISTENER BARRIERS

These barriers relate to the listeners mind set. Typical mind sets of listeners include not paying attention

or daydreaming. The listener generally exhibits resistance toward the sender and/or the message. Listener

resistance can also be characterized as uneasy communication, perhaps even confrontational

communication.

Examples of listener barriers include:

1. Listener jumps to conclusions.

2. Listeners tend to see and hear what they want to see and hear. This usually means they listen to

that which seems to agree with their own preconceived ideas

3. Listeners tend to reject any message that contradicts their beliefs and assumptions.

4. Listeners may have emotional problems that cause their minds to be preoccupied.

5. Listeners do not ask questions to clarify when they do not understand a point. They tend to fill in

with their own ideas.

Listener barriers that arise in situations where communication is taking place for the first time usually

happen by surprise after the exchange process starts. In situations such as disciplinary reviews, accident

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Lesson 11

Overcoming Communication Barriers

In order to overcome communication barriers it is important first, to recognize the most common communication barriers and then, understand their negative impact on communication. Broadly classifying the barriers: there are three kinds of communications barriers, which are: Sender- message, physical, and listener-receiver. When effective exchange of understanding is not taking place, one or more of these barriers is getting in the way. When a barrier is present in a communication exchange, communication will suffer to some degree. The figure below illustrates the strength of the three barriers in relationship to our attempt to identify and reduce them. The figure illustrates that physical barriers are the easiest to identify and reduce or eliminate while the listener barriers are most often the hardest to identify and reduce or eliminate. Acceptance of the responsibility of communication breakdown is quite a different matter. It is difficult to get anyone to admit that they might be the cause of ineffective communication. A sender feels that most communication problems are the fault of the listener or receiver. These people are not anxious to confess that they might be the cause of communication barriers. The same is true with the listeners. A listener feels that most communication problems are a result of sender or message caused communication barriers. They show little interest in accepting responsibility for poor or inadequate communication. LISTENER BARRIERS These barriers relate to the listeners mind set. Typical mind sets of listeners include not paying attention or daydreaming. The listener generally exhibits resistance toward the sender and/or the message. Listener resistance can also be characterized as uneasy communication, perhaps even confrontational communication. Examples of listener barriers include:

Listener jumps to conclusions. 2. Listeners tend to see and hear what they want to see and hear. This usually means they listen to that which seems to agree with their own preconceived ideas 3. Listeners tend to reject any message that contradicts their beliefs and assumptions. 4. Listeners may have emotional problems that cause their minds to be preoccupied.
Listeners do not ask questions to clarify when they do not understand a point. They tend to fill in with their own ideas. Listener barriers that arise in situations where communication is taking place for the first time usually happen by surprise after the exchange process starts. In situations such as disciplinary reviews, accident

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reviews or review of inadequate performance, the receiver may feel resistance at the start of the exchange process. The title Listener Barrier fixes ownership of this barrier with the listener. Even so, it is the sender’s responsibility to achieve understanding and therefore, the sender’s responsibility to recognize and take action to overcome these barriers. Because the ownership of this barrier is with the listener, there tends to be reluctance by the sender and receiver (listener) to deal with (neutralize) this barrier. Following are some reasons:

Sender may not discover listener resistance.
Sender may be aware of listener resistance, but not know what to do about it.
Sender may dislike or be disliked by the receiver.
Sender may be aware of their resistance and not want to do anything about it.
Listener feels resistance and does not understand why. No matter what the cause of listener resistance or the reluctance to overcome it, it is necessary to neutralize listener resistance to achieve commitment. SENDER-MESSAGE BARRIERS These barriers generally relate to style and content of communication, both of which originate with the sender. Examples of sender barriers include:
1. Sender has not decided or specified precisely what listener response is expected.
2. Sender incorrectly assumes the listener has adequate knowledge to understand the message.
3. Sender uses words and examples unfamiliar to the listener.
4. Sender continues talking when the listener’s attention has been distracted (i.e. noise, uncomfortably cold or hot, other people, dangerous objects, etc.).
5. The sender may say the message in a way that turns of the listener or may even antagonize the listener to cause a totally different message to come through than the one intended.
6. The 500 most commonly used words in the English language have 14,070 dictionary meanings. They mean different things to different people.
7. More words are used than are necessary to convey the message, which forces the listener to make conclusions about which words carry the real meaning of the message.
8. More than one issue is included in a single message, which confuses the listener.
9. Illustrations or examples used may not be appropriate to get the point across to the listener.
10. The sender may intentionally beat around the bush and never get to the point of the communication. Sender-message barriers start to develop before there is any attempt to exchange understanding with anyone else. They continue throughout the exchange whether the exchange is written, spoken, or a combination of both. The title Sender-Message fixes ownership and responsibility for this barrier with the sender. Oftentimes, there is a reluctance to deal with (overcome) this kind of barrier for the following reasons:
Sender may not be aware of the barrier’s existence.
Sender, in a supervisory position, may feel that the receiver is responsible for understanding.
Senders may be aware of their existence, but not know what to do about it.
Senders may be aware of their existence, but feel that the urgency is too great to spend sufficient time to overcome it.
Receivers may not be aware of their existence.
Receiver may realize that a message is unclear or that the method or style of presentation is causing the

Overcoming Communication Barriers-Communication Skills-Lecture Handout, Exercises of Communication and Presentation Skills

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Lesson 11

Overcoming Communication Barriers

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barrier, but hesitates to take a risk and mention it to the sender. docsity.com