KENYA TECHNICAL TRAINERS COLLEGE

INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT

ANITA CHEROTICH

2022IM147574

Entrepreneurship

Discuss barriers to effective communication

1.Differences in Perception: eg people of different ages, nationalities, cultures, education, occupation,

sex, status, personality etc - each have different perceptions. Thus, differences in perception are often
the root of many of other barriers to communication. Perceptual Bias/Different Perceptions: Selective
hearing eg avoids listening to what is unpleasant or what did not fit him/her pre-existing attitudes and
values. Communication does not easily take place between people who have different perceptions. Eg.
An employee listening to his manager talk about the importance of team work and its benefits but is
not comfortable in the team would likely ‘block’ the message.

2.Jumping to Conclusions: “see what we expect to see, hear, what we expect to hear” rather than what
is being said.

3.Stereotyping: treating all people as if they were the same. Thus, danger of discussing people and
what they say/communicate. A good example is taking a whole community/religious group to be the
same if there is one who has done wrong.

4.Lack of Knowledge: It is difficult to communicate effectively with someone who has a very different
background from yours, or whose knowledge of the particular subject of discussion is considerably less
than yours.

5.Lack of interest: The receiver’s lack of interest in your message. Do not assume that everyone is as
concerned about our interests as we are.

6.Difficulties in Self-Expression: Communicator has difficulty finding the words to carry ideas. This also
goes with lack of confidence.

7.Emotions: Any strong felt emotion of either receiver or communicator can also prove to be a serious
barrier.

8.Personality: Differences in people’s personality can cause problems. Often our resulting behavior can
then affect the bahaviour of the other person eg the issue of ‘clash of personalities’ is one of the most
common causes of communication failure. Strong influences against personalities may make one accept
or reject what is being said with due consideration.
9.Poor Listening Skills: for example, a group/audience/receiver who is not used to sitting down and
concentrating – therefore, message is not successfully communicated thus resulting in an inappropriate
feedback.

10.Information Overload: this results from giving too much details, facts in avery short period of time.
This would mean that most of the message would not be communicated successfully.

11.Lack of Interest/Hostile attitude: this occurs when an individual believes that the message being
communicated is not for him/her, is a waste of valuable time, the n the person’s message will not get
through

12.Lack of Understanding: using ‘big’ words or unfamiliar words to the audience/receiver that they do
not understand, words with symbolic meaning, different interpretations will lead to misunderstanding.

13.Poor Timing: The message must be delivered at the right time. Eg. Telephoning at lunch time and
Friday afternoons may make it difficult to get through because the person you need is not available.

14.Noise: This is any sound/anything that is unwanted which interrupts a communication channel. The
noise could be either:Technical: eg. Interference on a mobile phone or fax not working

Physical: too much activity in the area where communication is taking place

15.Psychological: increased anxiety may interfere with ability to pay attention to the other speaker.

16.Appearance of the Individual: this may hinder communication if the audience is critical. A speaker
with a dirty outfit/who is poorly dressed may not receive the favourable response from the audience.

17.Distraction: any upsetting factor which influences the human senses such as strong light/strong smell
will hinder effective communication.

18.Mistrust: when the parties in the business of communicating do not trust one another and there is
no goodwill. Effective communication will be hindered.

19.Distance: distances are factors in communication. When the place to be communicated to is very
far/the people are far apart, weak signals may not reach easily. Therefore communication is hindered.
However, the effect of distance can be countered by information technology where satellite disks can be
used for long distance communication.

20.Geographical Features: these can hinder communication in that mountains, rivers, ranges, valleys,
lakes and oceans do separate people/area and again this can easily overcome through modern
technology.

21.Different Status: communication take place easily between people with different status within the
organization/school etc

22.Language barriers
Language barriers involve miscommunications related to vernacular differences or translation
difficulties.

Even when speaking the same language, dialects, accents, and unique communication quirks can all
result in misunderstandings and other unintended consequences.

23.Cultural barriers

Cultural barriers to communication stem from differences in social norms and values.It’s important to be
aware of ethnocentricity, or the assumption that all cultures share your values, beliefs, and lifestyle.
Addressing ethnocentrism and emphasizing inclusion in your company culture will help team members
feel valued and included, regardless of their background. Externally, you can educate your team on how
to avoid business etiquette missteps in other cultures

References

O’Hair, D. Friedrich, G. and Dixon, L. (2002) Strategic Communication

in Business and the Professions, 4th edition, Boston: Houghton

Mifflin, p. 3.

3. Eglin, R. (2001) ‘Graduates become more demanding’, The Sunday Times

Appointments Section, 2 September, p. 12.

4. Reed Employment Services (2002) Motivating People at Work: What is to be

Done? London.

5. Caulkin, S. (1998) ‘How that pat on the back can mean money in the bank’,

The Observer: Work Section, 19 April, p. 1.

6. Withers, P. (2002) ‘The sweet smell of success’, HR Magazine, June,

pp. 76–92.

7. Ocasio, W. (2001) ‘How do organizations think?’, in T. Lant and Z. Shapira

(eds) Organizational Cognition: Computation and Interpretation, Mahwah, NJ:

Lawrence Erlbaum, p. 42.

8. Huczynski, A. and Buchanan, D. (2001) Organizational Behaviour: An

Introductory Text, Harlow: Pearson, p. 5.

9. Talcott Parsons (1963) Structure and Process in Modern Societies, New York:

Free Press.

10. Clampitt, P. (1991) Communicating for Managerial Effectiveness, Newbury

Park: Sage.

11. Hargie, O. and Tourish, D. (eds) (2000) Handbook of Communication Audits for

Organisations, London: Routledge.

12. Tourish, D. and Hargie, O. (eds) (2004) Key Issues in Organisational

Communication, London: Routledge.

13. Berger, B. (1994) ‘Revolution at whirlpool’, Internal Communication Focus,

November, pp. 8–11.

14. Moskowitz, M. and Levering, R. (2002) ‘Nurturing staff helps your profits

grow’, The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For, Supplement, 24

March, pp. 4–5.

15. Moskowitz, M. and Levering, R. (2002) ibid., p. 4.

16. The Sunday Times (2003) 100 Best Companies To Work For (Supplement),

p. 14.

17. Morley, D., Shockley-Zalabak, P. and Cesaria, R. (2002) ‘Organizational

influence processes: perceptions of values, communication and effectiveness’,

Studies in Communication Sciences, 2: 69–104.

18. Schermerhorn, J.R. (1996) op. cit., p. 2.

19. Beck, C. (1999) Managerial Communication: Bridging Theory and Practice, Upper

Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall