{"id":1289,"date":"2017-11-02T21:43:30","date_gmt":"2017-11-02T21:43:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.resourcezoneinternational.com\/?p=1289"},"modified":"2019-07-06T04:06:23","modified_gmt":"2019-07-06T04:06:23","slug":"types-of-communication-barriers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.resourcezone.com.au\/?p=1289","title":{"rendered":"Types of Communication Barriers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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So-called \u2018bad\u2019 communication is pretty simple. Bad communication is what happens when you\u2019re not able to get your ideas and feelings through to the other person \u2013 when you\u2019re misunderstood. In order to overcome bad communication or unnecessary barriers to understanding, you need to have a plan and a goal for every important conversation you are involved in. Making the assumption that others feel, hear and understand things in the same way you do can be a sure way to \u2018mess up\u2019 a conversation. We therefore need to be careful not to focus so much on our own agenda that we forget that we are just half of the conversation.<\/p>\n

For effective communication to take place, each person has to understand what the other is saying and what they mean by the words they use. At the simplest level we need to be using words which have a common meaning and we should check that meaning. For example, we may use words such as \u2018quickly\u2019, \u2018soon\u2019, \u2018right\u2019, and so forth, but are we always sure that what we understand them to mean is what the other person understands? People are often frustrated because what they mean is not what others understand. The leader who gives someone a job to do \u2018quickly\u2019 without explaining what they mean can be left waiting much longer than they would like for a result. Similarly, doing something \u2018soon\u2019 may mean a lot longer for kids than most parents would like. \u00a0The same goes for asking for a given \u2018quality\u2019 of result – this needs clarification in order to be meaningful.<\/p>\n

So, you should ideally be thinking very carefully about the words you intend to use and then be specific about what some of the more ambiguous words mean. For instance, \u201cI\u2019d like this done by the end of the day\u201d, \u00a0or \u201cIf you finish your presentation by Tuesday, I will have time to read it before it\u2019s delivered on Wednesday morning\u201d leaves much less room for misunderstanding or confusion about what is being said.<\/p>\n

In general terms, to avoid misunderstandings based on different perceptions of what we mean, we need to always check the other person\u2019s experience when it comes to our communication. This means that we should develop a good appreciation of all the possible barriers that might arise so that we can take these into account ahead of time. You will notice that the list below is not only about poor word choices.<\/p>\n

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Things which can create barriers in conversations:<\/strong><\/h5>\n