Recognizing Communication Barriers

When you send a message, you intend to communicate meaning, but the message itself contains no meaning. The meaning exists in your mind and in the mind of your receiver. To understand each other, you and your receiver must share similar meanings for words, gestures, tone of voice, and other symbols.

The communication process is effective only when each step is successful. Ideas cannot be communicated if any step in this process is blocked (skipped or completed incorrectly). When interference in the communication process distorts or obscures the sender's meaning, it is called a communication barrier, or noise. Recognizing communication barriers is the first step in overcoming them. Examples of barriers to effective communication include perceptual differences, restrictive environments, distractions, and deceptive communication tactics.

Even when two people experience the same event, their mental images are not identical. When sending a message, you choose the details that seem important to you. However, when receiving a message, you try to fit new details into your existing pattern, and if a detail doesn't quite fit, you're inclined to distort the information rather than rearrange your pattern.

Our perception affects how we see the world and even how we develop language. For example, consider the word cookie. You might think of oatmeal, chocolate chip, and sugar cookies. However, someone from Europe may think of meringues, florentines, and spritz. You both agree on the general concept of cookie, but your precise images differ.

Language is only one of the many differences that exist between cultures. Communicating with someone from another country may be the most extreme example of how different cultures can block communication. But even in your own culture, you and your receiver may differ in age, education, social status, economic position, religion, and life experience. The more experiences you share with another person, the more likely you are to share perception and thus share meaning (see Figure 1–7).

Figure 1–7	How Shared Experience Affects Understanding

Every link in the communication chain is open to error. By the time a message travels all the way up or down the chain, it may bear little resemblance to the original idea. If a company's formal communication network limits the flow of information in any direction (upward, downward, or horizontal), then communication becomes fragmented. Lower-level employees may obtain only enough information to perform their own isolated tasks, learning little about other areas, so only the people at the very top of the organization can see "the big picture."

When managers use a directive and authoritarian leadership style, information moves down the chain of command but not up. In a recent poll of 638 employees, 90 percent said they had good ideas on how their companies could run more successfully. Yet more than 50 percent said they were prevented from communicating these thoughts because of a lack of management interest and a lack of effective means for sharing their ideas.²¹

Communication barriers are often physical distractions: bad connections, poor acoustics, or illegible copy. Although noise of this sort seems trivial, it can block an otherwise effective message. Your receiver might be distracted by an uncomfortable chair, poor lighting, health problems, or some other irritating condition.

Another kind of distraction is poor listening. We all let our minds wander now and then, and we are especially likely to drift off when we are forced to listen to information that is difficult to understand or that has little direct bearing on our own lives. We are even more likely to lose interest if we are tired or concerned about other matters.

Emotional distractions can be difficult to overcome. When you are upset, hostile, or fearful, you have a hard time shaping a message objectively. If your receiver is emotional, he or she may ignore or distort your message. It's practically impossible to avoid all communication when emotions are involved, but you must recognize that emotional messages have a greater potential for misunderstanding.

The sheer number of messages can also be distracting. A recent study by the Gallup organization found that, on a typical day, the average white-collar worker sends and receives as many as 190 messages (see Figure 1–8).²² With phone calls, e-mail, faxes, and voice mail—not to mention printed research, reports, and industry news—many executives are overwhelmed by information overload (the increased volume of messages from all sources).²³

Figure 1–8	Message Mania

Language itself is made up of words that carry values. So merely by saying things a certain way, you influence how others perceive your message, and you shape expectations and behaviors.²⁴ An organization cannot create illegal or unethical messages and still be credible or successful in the long run. Still, some business communicators try to manipulate their receivers by using deceptive tactics.

Deceptive communicators may exaggerate benefits, quote inaccurate statistics, or hide negative information behind an optimistic attitude. They may state opinions as facts, leave out crucial information, or portray graphic data unfairly. Unscrupulous communicators may seek personal gain by making others look better or worse than they are. And they may allow personal preferences to influence their own perception and the perception of others.

At Staples, managers must communicate clearly with the employees they supervise, regardless of differences in their age, gender, culture, or ethnic background.