Barriers to Effective Communication
L33T Index; The Three Key Topics
General Communication Barrier:
In general communication the main barrier would be the cultural differences.
To help overcome the cultural barriers that are prevalent in today's modern and diversified society you should be willing to learn about these cultures and the things they do and might not do. For example, in many Asian cultures they find it disrespectful to keep prolonged eye contact, whereas in an English culture it is respectful and normal to look someone in the eyes when they're talking. Showing an eagerness to learn about the variety of cultures will only benefit you when it comes to interacting with a different culture; this is because you'll have existing knowledge and be able to show respect but while still being able to succeed in your job.
When interacting with the recipient of a different culture you should always use a formal language, this is because different cultures could get offended by specific words or phrases you might tend to use outside of work. Or even the way you say something could be misconstrued and taken at great offence, thus reflecting badly on you as a person despite this being a completely accidental mistake.
Interpersonal Communication Barrier:
When you're in an interpersonal situation, whether you know it or not your body language is giving off signals to the person you're in conversation with; whether it be positive or negative signals. If you're talking to someone who you like then you're more likely to be looking them in the eyes, not constantly moving around, not looking around and getting distracted but instead you'll be focused and paying all your attention onto the person. On the contrary to this if you don't like the person you'll become bored and start to look around and get distracted, you might begin to yawn if you're seated you'll begin to slouch.
You could overcome this barrier by always acting intrigued, looking the person in the eyes and keeping an open posture instead of crossing your arms and slouching if you're sat down. If you notice someone who seems to have a negative body posture when you're talking to them then try to move a bit more as people can often get bored when you're just sat down talking, so getting up and walking around while you're talking or even using your hands to demonstrate helps keep people interested.
Written Communication Barrier:
In any business, small or large, the key to success is being effective when communicating via writing. This is because being able to effectively write limits the risk of wasting time, aggravating fellow co-workers with writing that doesn't make sense and frustration that comes with not being able to decrypt someone else notes when they have eligible handwriting. If you compose a business email to a client then you would need to have perfect written communication skills, if your writing isn’t to a high level then the professionalism of you and the company you’re working for are questioned and this reflects badly on you and your company..
You can overcome this barrier by always proof reading your work before you send it off, this means that once you have composed an email, letter or any other form of written communication you reread what you have put and if necessary you get someone else to check it over for you. This might sound tedious but if you get into the habit of not reading your work then you might miss out on some of your bad habits, silly spelling mistakes and it could ultimately reflect poorly on you.