Potential Barriers To Communication And Ways Of Their Reducing
Cultural difference has a major impact in barriers to communication. People of different backgrounds and cultures will have a difficult time conversing different people may see things differently or even interpret them incorrectly. The terminology used is an obvious barrier to communication because some people may not the understand the language you are using and it will be difficult to understand. The words you use may be interpreted incorrectly.
Body language is barrier to effective communication. Whilst you are speaking it is important you show the correct body language, body language can say something completely different to what you are saying. It also gives an impression of what kind of person you are. Moreover, if someone is speaking to you your body language can show if you listening to them or if you are even interested in what they are speaking about, for example, if you have your arms crossed and your seated relaxed it could show that you're tired or not interested.
Lack of concentration can also be a communicative barrier. When communicating if someone is not paying attention to the speaker i. e looking somewhere else or playing with a pen it shows a lack of interest and concentration. Background noise is another barrier to communication. If there is a high volume of background noises when communicating it could be difficult for someone to hear and understand what you are saying.
Spelling and Grammar should be correct in written communication, if a word is spelt incorrectly it could be extremely difficult to understand what you mean. If you are writing a letter or an email to company incorrect spelling creates a barrier as the reader may not understand and it also shows uneducated and unprofessional character.
Identifying relevance is another barrier to effective communication. When writing if you do not show the relevant information but if you hide relevant information with other information it can be easily missed.
How to reduce the impact of barriers to effective communication
- Terminology
- Cultural Differences
- Body Language
- Background Noise
- Spelling and Grammar
- Identifying relevance
To reduce the barrier of terminology you must use less technical words so that people can understand because people who have not studied IT may not be aware or understand some of the words your are using. However, if you need to use the correct words for example when speaking to someone in the IT field you should make sure you use the correct terminology.
When are you speaking to someone with a different cultural background you must make sure you do not say anything which may offend someone else and you should show the utmost respect.
To overcome the barrier of body language you should speak in a good tone and present yourself smartly by standing straight with your hand by your side or using them to help you explain.
The impact of this barrier can be reduced by going to a room which has less background noise or even waiting for the volume of the background noise to lower before continuing to speak.
This barrier can be solved by using a spell checker when you are finished with your work which would show you all the spelling and grammar mistakes in your work or you can simply do your work slowly and you can see the mistakes you make and correct them yourself.
By using large font sizes, Colours or placing important information separately you can overcome this barrier. This is so people can see the important information because it is separate from the other information.
