How to Identify Two Barriers of Communication
It is almost impossible to make a good impression and get ahead in the workplace if you cannot communicate clearly. Being an effective communicator not only means expressing oneself clearly and being understood, but also understanding others. When there are barriers to communication, misunderstandings can occur, relationships can be damaged and productivity is negatively affected. By learning how to identify the two main barriers to communication, the physical and the non-physical, you can help prevent them and allow for smoother relationships.
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Instructions
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Physical Barriers
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Determine whether or not physical barriers in the workplace are contributing to communication difficulties. Take a walk through the building with fresh eyes. Bring a visitor through with you to help recognize potential difficulties. Be on the look-out for possible problems, such as two departments that are on different floors from each other with a slow or often crowded elevator between them.
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Check that all employees have equal access to computers and daily email. Old, slower computers might make it difficult and time-consuming for individuals to contact each other. Ask employees how much time they spend each day checking and answering internal emails.
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Inspect the set-up of meeting rooms. Are chairs arranged in a circular configuration, more conducive to verbal interactions or do people sit in rows with their backs facing one another? Observe the interactions during staff meetings to determine whether or not people at the back of the room are engaged in the discussions. Sit at the back of the room and check the quality of the sound. Are the speakers at the front of the room audible to those in the back row?
Non-Physical Barriers
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Check to determine whether or not there might be a language barrier. Are all the employees native English speakers? If not, perhaps their understanding of spoken English surpasses their understanding of the written language.
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Ask the employees if they are aware of any interpersonal difficulties among the staff. If there is a conflict between two individuals or two groups of individuals, this will impede the communication between them. If two workers are angry and do not wish to speak to each other, they may be unwilling to pass on necessary information to each other.
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Check to determine whether or not the intended message is always the one that is received. Psychological blocks to communication often mean that people sometimes hear what they expect to hear rather than what was actually said. Distribute a survey or questionnaire as a follow-up to instructions that are distributed at a meeting to test whether or not the message has indeed been received as it was intended.
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Tips & Warnings
If there is an important communication to be distributed, try sending it verbally and then follow up in writing. Repetition is an effective way of ensuring important news is likely to be received.
When surveying employees about effective communication in the workplace, assuring anonymity will increase the veracity of the responses received. If the workers fear looking foolish or incompetent they will not respond truthfully.
References
Resources
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