Barriers & Breakdowns in Communication

1. Semantic problems
Most of the communication is based on the words and words can be used in different ways. The meaning of word is in the mind of the sender and also in that of the receivers. But then it is not necessary for the meaning in the mind of the sender to be the same as in the mind of receiver. It is therefore important for the sender to encode his message in such a way that the

2. Filtering
It means that a sender manipulates information in such a way it will be seen more favorably by the receiver. e.g. A manager likes to tell his boss what he feels his boss wants to hear. In this process he is filtering information.

3. Noise
Noise means the interference that occurs in a signal and prevents you from hearing sounds properly. In a factory where there are machines and engines making a constant noise, oral communication becomes difficult.

4. Lack of planning
In a business environment ,communication is not a casual affair. But unfortunately many people take it lightly. The result is that the message to be sent across may not be carefully planned. It may not be properly organized or composed or transmitted through a wrongly chosen medium.

5.Information overload
Unrestricted flow of information becomes another barrier. Too much information is no unmixed blessing. 6. Loss by transmission When messages pass on from person to person in a series of transmissions they are likely to become less and less accurate. They get diluted on the way.

7. Poor listening
Communication breaks down due to the problems which keep cropping up owing to poor listening. Mostly people get too much involved in their own problems and pampering their own egos .

8. Poor retention
Human memory depends upon ones mental make-up, one may not always retain what he is told. Thus the necessity of repeating the message using several channels/media becomes obvious.

9. Offensive Style of Communication

Experts point out that the greatest barrier to communication is quite often the style of communication used by the manager. When a manager sends a message in such a way that the workers /juniors feels offended and if the relationship between the manager and junior is already strained, any offensive style adopted by the manager is bound to lead to communication breakdown.