REGIONAL PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPPORT INITIATIVE

(REPPSSI)

DIPLOMA PROGRAM :CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH

NAME. :WAMUNEO .P.KABUKU
NRC NO. :341037/74/1
PHONE NUMBER. :0970526829
STUDENT NUMBER. :CAMH2208090043
NAME OF COURSE. :CHILD AND ADOLESCENT HUMAN RIGHTS AND LAW
NAME OF LECTURER:GODFRY NIRENDA
COURSE CODE. :447-23-A
DISTRICT :LIVINGSTONE
ASSIGHNMENT :2
INTAKE. : 2ST YEAR STUDENT ,2022
DUE DATE. : 30 TH OCTOBER2022.

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Communication is the most important aspect of any leader in any institution if it is to

lead diligently ,there many factors that might led to communication breakdown such

as communication barriers, communication barriers are defined as challenges that

hinder a speaker or rather a sender or receiver fails to interpret or

understand ,among these challenges are;Process ,personal ,semantics and physical

featrers of which this essay will highlight how a leader can be able to overcome

these challenges.

To get started ,it is important to take note and consider that overcoming barriers in

Communication, Communication is a key part in everyone’s life. Communicating is a

skill that requires constant learning. As easy as communicating may seem to be,

communication is a rather complex skill for all people to master. Multiple barriers

exist for communication.

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While as a leader in a particular organisation or institution ,its important to take note

of some few aspects that can definitely assist when trying to over these challenges

that as a result bring about mis understating. Communication barrier refers to

anything which interferes with communication flow between the receiver and sender

in communication.

In addition, semantics deals with of the meaning of words. Thus, the semantic

barriers are barriers related to language. Such barriers are problems that arise

during the process of encoding and/or decoding the message into words and ideas

respectively. Both the oral and the written communication are based on

words/symbols which are ambiguous in nature. Words/ symbols may be used in

several ways and may have several meanings. Unless the receiver knows the

context, he may interpret the word/symbol according to his own level of

understanding and may thus misinterpret the message. The most common semantic

barriers are listed as under:

Furthermore ,misinterpretation of Words Semantic problems often arise because of

the gap between the meaning as intended by the sender and that as understood by

the receiver. This happens when the receiver does not assign the same meaning to

the word/symbol as the transmitter had intended. Words are capable of expressing a

variety of meanings depending upon their usage

For instance, in the context in which they are used. The association between the

word/symbol and the meaning assigned to it is of arbitrary nature. For example, the

word ‘yellow’ when used as an adjective can have multiple connotations depending

upon its usage. Words have two levels of meaning- literal (descriptive) and

metaphorical Hence, the receiver is free to interpret it in any of these ways based on

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his own imagination and experience. But for communication to be perfect, it is

essential that he must assign to it the same meaning which the sender had in his

mind while encoding the message.

On another hand ,there is always a possibility of misinterpretation of the messages.

Mostly, such problems arise when the sender does not use simple and clear words

that can convey the exact meaning to the receiver.

Use of Technical Language Technical or specialized language which is used by

people or professionals who work in the same field is known as jargon. Such

technical language can be a barrier to communication if the receiver of the message

is not familiar with it. For example, in the computer jargon, ‘to burn a CD’ means ‘to

copy the data on a CD’. To a layman, the word ‘burn’ may have a very different

connotation.

Another example is Ambiguity which arises when the sender and the receiver of the

message attribute different meanings to the same words or use different words to

convey the same meaning. Sometimes, wrong and speculative assumptions also

lead to ambiguity. A sender often assumes that his audience would perceive the

situation as he does or have the same opinion about an issue or understand the

message as he understands it, and so on. All such assumptions may turn out to be

wrong and cause communication failure.

In other words ,communication is interpersonal in nature. Thus, there are certain

barriers that are directly linked to the persons involved in the communication

process, i.e. the sender and the receiver, which influence the accurate transfer of the

message. These are called personal barriers. In any business organization, the

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attitude of the superiors and the subordinates play a vital role in determining the

success of communication.

Moreover , If the superiors have a hostile attitude, then there are chances that they

may filter the information or manipulate the message, sometimes intentionally, in

order to achieve certain selfish motives. Many superiors are not open to suggestions

and feedback as they presume that their subordinates are not capable of advising

them. Also, they often tend to keep too busy with work and do not pay much

attention to communication. Due to this, the downward flow of information within the

organization is badly affected and this in turn leads to poor performance. Besides,

the superiors often exercise their authority by insisting that the subordinates should

approach them only through proper formal channels of communication. If, under any

circumstances, the subordinates try to communicate to the superiors directly, then

they may take offense as they perceive such an attempt as a challenge to their

position of power. Such an attitude thus becomes a barrier to effective

communication.

On the other hand, there are certain factors that influence the participation of the

subordinates in upward communication. Lack of confidence and fear are the primary

reasons why the subordinates fail to communicate openly and comfortably with the

superiors. If they feel that some information may, in some way, harm their prospect/

interest in the organization, then they prefer to conceal such information. In case, if

that is not possible, then they filter the information so that they cannot be held

responsible for the same.

Moreover, when the superiors do not support the active involvement of the

subordinates in the functioning of the organization by encouraging them to exchange

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their ideas and to give suggestions that would contribute to the success of the

organization, the subordinates become indifferent to such reciprocity and this creates

a barrier to upward communication. If the subordinates feel that their ideas and

suggestions are of no value to the superiors, then they do not feel motivated to

convey the same. Therefore, on the basis of the above discussion, we may conclude

that personal barriers have their origin in the attitude of the sender as well as the

receiver. Personal barriers often lead to distortion, filtering, and omission of

information and thus have an adverse effect on the fidelity of communication.

However ,at the very outset, that the sender should reveal the purpose of his

message and the important topics that he would deal with. By doing so, he prepares

the receiver for what is to follow. This helps the receiver to identify the main points of

the message, to recognize the link among the important ideas that the message

contains and to organize them in a meaningful pattern in his mind. The message

should be compact and the sender should concentrate exclusively on the main ideas

or information that he intends to convey. Likewise, the sender should situate his

ideas in an appropriate context so that the audience will evaluate and interpret them

within that common frame of reference which the sender has indicated or suggested.

While communicating, the sender should, at all times, emphasize the important

points of the message with the help of bulleted lists, chart, graphs, illustrations, body

language, tone, pitch, etc. He should also provide a summary at the end of his

presentation or write-up. This will help the receiver to grasp the overall meaning of

the message, thus making it easy to understand the various parts, i.e. ideas, in

relation to the overall framework.

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Furthermore ,the sender should arrange the ideas/information in such a way that it is

appealing to the audience’s visual and/or auditory senses. In written communication,

the writer may make use of an attractive layout and good quality paper to attract the

readers’ attention. While communicating orally, the sender must take care to

minimize noise. He should make sure that his surroundings are well-equipped with

the necessary acoustics. He should pay special attention to his facial expressions,

gesture, and eye contact with the audience at the time of delivering the message

In the initial stage of the communication process, the onus is entirely on the sender

of the message. But in the later stage, the receiver plays an active role once he

starts absorbing and processing the information in his mind. Thus, the receiver of the

message also plays an equally important role in the successful completion of

communication.

In conclusion ,for leader to be able to overcome ,initially on the part of the receiver

should be able to decode the sender message on this assertion why the essay

focused on explaining on how a leader can overcome communication barriers such

as , the receiver must develop the habit of noting down the important points.