Barriers to Communication -II

Personal Barriers

The Personal Barriers refer to the personality traits of the sender and receiver which act as a hindrance in the process of communication.

These factors include the life experiences, emotions, attitudes, skills behaviour.

a)Lack of Listening Skills

The efficiency of communication process is reduced when receiver has lesser attention span and listens what he wants to listen. If the receiver is just physically present but is lacking mental involvement, then he is unable to give the desired feedback which creates a disturbance the process of communication.

b)Selective Attention

This problem arises when the person is impatient and gives priority to his needs and avoids to listen the whole message. He listens only that part of the information which is helpful for him and fulfills his objective and ignores all the other aspects which acts as a barrier in the process of communication.

c)Lack of knowledge

The communication process is disturbed when the sender and receiver have less knowledge about the subject matter.

d)Lack of vocabulary

This communication problem occurs when the sender uses some words which are difficult for the receiver to understand.

In the organisational context, both the superiors and the subordinates have their personal barriers that hinder to communicate effectively. 

These barriers are:

• Barriers Related to the Superiors in the organisation
• Barriers related to the subordinates in the organisation.

Barriers Related to the Superiors in the organisation

a)Less faith in subordinates

Many times it has been observed that the superiors have less trust in the capabilities of the subordinates. Hence they do not trust their capacity to provide relevant information. They deliberately ignore the suggestions and recommendations from the subordinates and discourage them to further communicate which hinders the communication process.

b)Fear of challenge of Authority

If a superior feels that a particular communication may affect his authority negatively then that individual may not speak it out clearly and openly.

The superiors intentionally hide their weaknesses by not communicating their ideas to others to cope with the expectations of their authority. As they think if they will not perform in line with their authority, they will be demoted to the lower levels.

Barriers related to the subordinates in the organisation

a)Lack of Incentives

It has been observed that the subordinates give their suggestions and recommendations with an aim to earn incentives. If the incentives are lacking, then the subordinate is not willing to communicate which affects the communication process badly.

b)Unwillingness to communicate with the Superiors

The subordinates are unwilling to communicate with their superiors to hide the information which is negative in nature and can have an adverse effect on them. If it is really essential to provide the information, then the individuals modify it in such a way that it does not have a negative impact which acts as a hindrance in the process of effective communication.

Thus, there are several personal factors, which vary from person to person and influence the communication to a great extent there by obstructing the purpose of communication as intended.