What are barriers to effective communication?

Effective communication is essential for a business to operate as smoothly as possible. Whether it is between employees or a conversation with a customer, communication barriers can often go unnoticed and lead to an unpleasant outcome for both parties. This article will cover common barriers that are standing in the way of effective communication and the impact that they can have within a business.

Common Barriers to Communication

Filtering occurs when someone withholds or alters the information that they are giving to someone. This causes a discrepancy between the sender and receiver, which can lead to misunderstandings and more problems down the road. Most of the time, the sender will filter information because it will spark a negative reaction in the receiver. However, this will ultimately harm a business because any problems that need to be addressed may be pushed aside and could lead to costly mistakes.

Selective Perception is when the receiver, often subconsciously, ignores some of the information that they are sent. This will lead to the same issues caused by filtering because the sender feels that the receiver understood everything was said when the receiver did not.

Lack of trust and transparency can lead to issues, as well, especially in downward communication. If your employees feel like they cannot trust or are suspicious of the management, then they will be less likely to comply with management and will uphold less communication, which will cause a standstill and inefficiency in operations. Building trust takes time and is a crucial aspect of any business, more transparency will help increase it.

Lack of Contextwhen communicating with someone will create confusion on the receiver's end – they will not understand what the sender is trying to say because they aren’t aware of the background information that the sender may be referring to in their message. To ensure that the receiver has context, it may be necessary to briefly summarize what has happened at the beginning.

Professional Jargon (terminology that experts in a field use that is hard for ordinary people to understand) when communicating with a customer or new employee could also lead to confusion. For example, if a medical professional uses the term “dictum” when diagnosing a patient, the patient will most likely not know what the doctor is referring to. Instead, saying “a generally accepted truth” will be much easier to understand.