We explain what the communication barriers are and the elements that intervene in their process. Also, how to avoid these barriers.
What are communication barriers?
It is known as communication barriers to obstacles and difficulties that may arise during the process communicative and hinder its correct culmination or distort the original message.
The communication is a process of transmission (often reciprocal) of ideas and concepts, which involves a sender (who produces and encodes the message), a receiver (who receives and decodes it), and a physical channel through which it is transmitted, using a code common between the first two.
The channel must be conducive to the transmission of the message, the code must be mutual, and those who intervene must be willing to participate, so that the information can be transmitted.
In this sense, communication barriers are accidents of different types that involve these elements that intervene in the process. These accidents can be of different types:
- Physical Circumstances ofenvironment that distort communication, hinder or prevent it in whole or in part. For example: the material defects of a magnetic recording, the ambient noises that can obscure the voice of the emitter, the presence of numerous communicative acts at the same time that they become indistinguishable, etc.
- Semantics. They are those related to the code of communication itself, which can vary between senders and receivers, making understanding difficult (or simply impossible). For example, when we try to read a text in another language, or when we use a word from the same language that has different meanings in another country.
- Physiological. Tares and bodily defects of the sender or receiver, which make them less suitable for the communication process. For example: deafness, aphonia, blindness, etc.
- Psychological. Those conditions of the sender and / or receiver that have to do with their emotionality or their personality, and that predispose him in some way to a specific form of communication. This may mean that they are not ready at all, or that they simply reject communication, for example, being nervous, distracted, scared, etc.
How to avoid communication barriers?
To avoid communication barriers, as far as possible, it is advised:
- Try to send clear messages, in a related code (perhaps it should be verified first that it is).
- Promote that the environmental conditions are conducive to the communicative act. For example, speaking during a concert by rock it can be difficult.
- Employ feedback: switch places of sender and receiver often. The opposite of monologue.
- Be aware of the mood or emotional state that is possessed at the beginning (or during) the communicative act, as well as of one's own predispositions or even prejudices, if relevant, to be able to keep them at bay.
- Check that the channel is conducive to initiating communication: that the sender does not listen to anyone else, that he is willing to communicate, etc.