Barriers to Communication and Strategies to Overcome Them

This article discusses the different barriers to communication such as emotional, physical, cultural, and interpersonal barriers. It also provides strategies to overcome these barriers such as using appropriate words, respecting another person's desire to communicate, choosing a distraction-free location, eliminating personal assumptions, and using translators to overcome language differences.

Business communication

Communication
Communication is meant by systematic flow of information or message from one user to
another. This process of transfer of information is comprised of a sender willing to share a
message and a receiver of the message on another end. There are various factors and aspects that
prevents effective completion of this process which are determined as barriers to communication.
These communication barriers are as follows:
 Emotional barriers: Emotional barriers to communication is determined as emotional
limitation of an individual that results in inefficient communication process among
people. It includes various values and emotions such as self-confidence, anxiety, anger
issues, pride, etc.
 Physical barriers: These barriers to communication includes physical factors or aspects
that results in prevention of effective expression or understanding of message or
information taken into consideration for communication.
 Cultural barriers: Cultural barriers in communication refers to cultural difference
between people engaged in the procedure of sharing and receiving of message or
information.
 Interpersonal barriers: These barriers includes personal inability to form connection
with other people and results in being a barrier to communicate with people.
Furthermore, these barriers results in withdrawal of personal views and thoughts from
being shared to other people.
Strategies required to eliminate these barriers
 Appropriate consideration of words: The choice of appropriate words is a necessary
factor of effective communication and prevention of barrier to communication.
Consideration of relevant and suitable vocabulary results in effective expression of
information or message as well as efficient understanding of same on another end. It
includes consideration of appropriate body language, tone of expression, vocabulary, etc.
according to the particular scenario or situation.
 Respect towards another person's desire to communicate: This strategy of prevention
of communication barriers suggests that an individual must pay respect towards another
person's desire to communicate. For instance, ignorance towards an individual's desire to
communicate could lead degradation of person's morale and self-confidence.

Furthermore, this initiative will result in completion of effective communication process
with better understanding of information.
 Choice of distraction free location: Location preferred for communicating plays vital
role in completion of communication process effectively and efficiently. For instance,
locations without distractions lead to smooth flow of information among people engaged
in transfer and understanding of message. Whereas, communication process regulated in
location with distraction often lead to misinterpretation or misunderstanding of
information with inefficient expression of the same.
 Eliminate prior personal assumptions: Personal assumptions and beliefs prior to
interaction with someone often results in inefficient completion of communication
process. Prior assumptions and beliefs sometimes lead to prevent an individual from
communicating with another person. Non-judgemental and unbiased approach to
communication must be taken into consideration for completion of communication
process effectively.
 Use of translators to overcome language difference: As language difference is major
barrier to communication with people form different location or culture. In addition to
that, language translators taken into account for communicating with people from
different culture or location results in providing additional value towards communication
process.

References
Books and Journals
Beischel, K.P., Hart, J. and Turkelson, S.L., 2016. Conducting a multisite education research
project: strategies to overcome the barriers to achieve the benefits. Nurse
educator, 41(4), pp.204-207.
Bonvillain, N., 2019. Language, culture, and communication: The meaning of messages.
Rowman & Littlefield.
Sless, D., 2019. Learning and visual communication. Routledge.