LECTURE 4

LECTURE 4
BARRIERS IN EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION /COMMUNICATION FALLOFF
People in the world are not exactly alike. Cultures or countries are not the same. These differences, however, can cause problems in conveying your meanings. Each person’s mind is different from others. As a result, message sender’s meanings and the receiver’s response are affected by many factors, such as individual:

a. Semantic barriers(Convention of meaning)
b. Physical Barrier
c. Psychological barriers
• Emotional barriers
• Perceptual barriers
d. Barriers involving values attitudes etc

i) Semantic Barrier

A basic principle of communication is that the symbols the sender uses to communicate messages must have the same meaning in both the sender’s and receiver’s minds. You can never be sure that the message in your mind will be clearly sent to your receiver. The world is full with errors, as a result of differences in semantic (meaning) understanding. A symbol is a sign for something that exits in reality. Thus your name really a symbol or word represents you. Only through common experience in a connection made between the symbol or word attached to you and the person you are in reality .Anyone with less common experience will not easily relate the symbol (your name) with you. Besides, there are problems in convention of meaning, so you must make yourself familiar with different types of meaning.

Denotation
A denotation is usually the dictionary definition of a word. Denotative meanings name objects, people or events without indicating positive or negative qualities. Such words as car, desk, book, house, and water convey denotative meanings. The receiver has a similar understanding of the thing in which the word is used.

Connotation
A connotation is an implication of a word or a suggestion separate from the usual definition. Some words have connotative meanings, that is, qualitative judgment and personal reactions. The word man is denotative, father, prophet, brother are connotative. Some words have positive connotations in some contexts and negative meanings in others. For example, slim girl and slim chances.

ii) Physical Barriers

Communication does not consist of words alone. Another set of barriers is caused by your own physical appearance, your audience, or the context of the document or the presentation. Your ideas, however good and however skillfully imparted, are at the mercy of various potential physical barriers.

For Writing
There is a whole barrage of possible physical blocks, jammed or jagged margins, fingerprints or smudges, unclear photocopies, unreadable word processor printout, water or coffee, tea spots etc

For Speaking
Mumbling, not enunciating, speaking too quickly, noises become of hissing ventilation, blowing air conditioning, ringing telephones, slamming doors etc. are different aspects of physical barriers.

iii) Psychological Barriers

Because of the changing world, everyone has his own concept of reality. Also, human beings, sensory perceptions – touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste are limited, and each person’s mental filter is unique. In our daily interaction with others, we make various abstractions, inferences and evaluations of the world around us.

• Emotional Barriers

One possible psychological block is emotional, you may be emotionally block is you are announcing a new policy that whether you may become popular or unpopular. Similarly, you may have emotional barrier while making your first presentation or writing someone you dislike.

• Perception barriers

The perceptual problem is that people think differently so as a result their perception of reality is different. The material world provides a special reality to teach individual. As human being’s sensory perceptions—touch, sight hearing, smell, taste -- are similar, and each person’s mental filter is unique. We make various abstractions, inferences and evaluations of the world around us.

Abstracting
Selecting some details and omitting others is a process called abstracting. On many occasions abstracting is necessary. Differences in abstracting take place not only when persons describe events but also when they describe people and objects. However, you should be cautious about “slanted” statements.
Slanting is unfair in factual reporting. When presenting some particular facts, you include your own biased ideas into it, you make slanting statement. Try not to let personal preferences affect your factual reporting of information.

Inferring
Conclusions made by reasoning from evidence are called inferences. We make assumptions and draw conclusions even though we are not able to immediately verify the evidence. Some inferences are both necessary and desirable; others are risky, even dangerous.

Necessary Inferences
When we reach a foreign country, we are sure that we will be treated politely.
When we post a letter, we infer that it will reach its destination.
When we base our inferences on direct observation or on reasonable evidence, they are likely to be quite dependable. Conclusion we make about things we have not observed directly can often be untrue.
As an intelligent communicator, we must realize that inferences may be incorrect or unreliable and anticipate the risks before acting on them. Be careful to distinguish clearly among verifiable facts, and mere guess work.

Barriers Involving Values, Attitudes etc.
Both personality and attitude are complex cognitive process. The difference is that personality usually is thought of as the whole person whereas attitude may makeup the personality. The term attitude describes people and explains their behavior. More precisely an attitude can be defined as a persistent tendency to feel and behave in a particular way towards some object.
For example: Naeem does not like night shift, so his attitude is negative towards his work assignment.

A receiver’s attitude towards a message can determine whether it is accepted or rejected. The effectiveness is influenced also by the values, attitudes, and opinions of the communicators. People react favorably when they receive agreeable message. Receivers’ views of the information will affect their response. This response could be what the sender desires or just the opposite. Occasionally people react according to their attitudes toward a situation rather than to the facts.
Closed Mind
Some people hold rigid views on certain subjects. They maintain their rigid views regardless of the circumstances. Such a closed minded person is very difficult to communicate to.

Sender’s credibility
Credibility in the sender is important in getting a favorable reaction. Often people react more according to their attitude towards the source of information that to the information itself. An effective communication builds credibility by writing and speaking in a fair and just manner and by considering receiver’s point of view. Other circumstances, such as environmental stresses, personal problems, and sensitivity affect attitudes, opinions and responses.