BARRIERS OF

COMMUNICATION
Barriers means hurdles/hindrances
or obstacles which affect/hamper
the free flow of communication

Types of communication
barriers

Semantic barriers (concerned to the

language)
Socio-psychological barriers (concerned
to the societal factors and other
psychological factors)
Personal barriers (concerned to the
persons individual thoughts, may be a
part of psychological barriers)

Physical and mechanical barriers

Organizational barriers

Semantic barriers

Semantic is the science of meaning or

The branch that deals with linguistics and
meanings
These arise from the use of language-oral
or written
Rightly saidAs thinking can corrupt the language
,the language can also corrupt the
thinking

Types of semantic
barriers:

Vocabulary-(lack of knowledge about

words and their meanings, can be
overcome by studying more)
Jargon- specific or technical language
Faulty translations-<may be due to
language or due to the fact that words
have denotative(dictionary meaning) and
connotative(wide array meaning)
meaning>

Unclarified Assumptions: (due to the

assumptions of sender)
Words with different meanings/variety of
meanings:( the word charge has around
15 meanings)
Badly expressed message( lack of clarity,
precision, poor sentence construction etc)

Body language and gestures: (when

verbal and non-verbal communication
dont go in matching)

Physical and mechanical

barriers:

Noise (anything that distracts the

concentration while various activities of
the communication process.)
Types of noise:
Environmental noise-(to cold or too hot
weather, body odour etc )
Physical noises-(loud speakers ,gossips
etc)
Psychological
noises-(ego
clash,
preoccupied thoughts ,fatigue ,anxiety
etc)

Competing noises: (noises due to the

limited resources and time, requirement
of multitasking etc )

2.Distance : between the sender and

receiver , how much they are separated
by the geographical distances
3.Time :information is always time bound.
Information late is always obsolete.
4.Information Overload: (leads to errors in
implementation of information, there may
be red tapism, important part of
information may not be worked upon )
5. Faulty Equipments :( low ink in fax
machine ,distractions at phone )

Organizational barriers :

Which arise due to the structure of

organization, its culture and its peculiar
style of working .
Types of organizational barriers:
1.Status Relationship(due to the various levels in the
organization)
(status refers to the regard and attitude
displayed and held towards a position by
the members of organization.)

2. Rules and regulations :(may lead to the delay in action or

reluctance in the convey of message)
3. Complex organizational structure :( Like- long communication lines
several layers of supervision
co-existence of specialists )

Superior-sub-ordinate relationship(in case there is a lack of cordial

relationship /w bosses and employees
,then there may be a fear among
employees to be the victims of boss
anger and the employers think that the
workers may raise their voices high.)

Personal barriers

-which arise due to the personal traits of

either the sender or receiver.
1.lack of confidence in subordinates
2.Ignoring communication
3.Pre-mature evaluation
4.Emotional conflicts (say, being over
emotional)
5.Poor listening
6.Poor retention

How to overcome these

barriers?
1.Two way communication
2.Flat organizational structures
(with fewer levels and lesser amt of
supervision)
3.Improved relationship
(mutual trust among employers and
employees)
4.Timely information (MIS may be used by
the mgmt)

5. Clarity of message
(no ambiguity ,language should be clear
and simple)
6.Dynamism
(there must be flexibility to adapt to certain
sudden or drastic changes)
7.Consistency of message
(consistent with the rules , objectives
,policies and programmes of the org.)

8.Feedback-(must be taken regularly ,even

the non verbal communication must be
taken into consideration)
9.Empathetic listening-(to avoid premature
evaluation )