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OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION

Ways to overcome barriers to communication

Learner, do you know that these barriers can affect the performance of most businesses? Why? For an organisation to operate effectively, it is important that it overcomes communication barriers, otherwise the business will fail to communicate and working relationships will be difficult.

Let us now explore the ways to overcome barriers to communication:

(1) Select appropriate channels of communication – this will make the communication more effective. For instance, during this period of Covid 19 it is not appropriate to use a notice board to convey an important health and safety message because some might not read it. And at the same time, face-to-face communication is prohibited. Therefore, electronic communication seems to be the most relevant method of communication.

(2) Create trust between the sender and receiver – if a business accepts all staff as being important and as having useful contributions to make, then there will be mutual understanding among parties. However, if some workers feel less important communication in the business would be strained.

(3) Create appropriate physical conditions – it must be suitable for receivers to hear or receive the messages without affecting people’s morale and concentration. For example, making sure that there are no distractions such as background noise, bad lighting or environments that are too hot or too cold.

(4) Use simple language – communication should be easy to understand and the message must be clear and precise. Avoid using complex, vague words and jargon. For instance, teachers must select the right content and must move from the simple to the complex when presenting information to learners. People involved in the communication process should ensure that all parties involved can understand the language used.

(5) Listen attentively or carefully – pay attention to what the sender is saying so that you may understand the message being communicated. For example, learner, during a lesson it is very important to listen so that by the time you are supposed to ask questions you will know what to ask for clarity and what you understand. In short, one should listen to understand not necessarily to answer.

(6) Be emotionally balanced – the sender of the message should not force their emotions onto the receiver rather be empathetic and accommodative. The sender should use body language effectively so that there is a match between the message and the body language.

(7) Give feedback – it is important to give positive and constructive or valuable feedback in time to people involved in the communication process. For example, learner, if your teachers mark your work soon after you have written your work and give you feedback on time, you would be able to see where you need to improve and how much content you know.

(8) Avoid being defensive – do not be defensive or attempt to justify yourself. Rather allow constructive criticism because then everyone will participate in the communication process.

(9) Avoid offensive language – the participants in the communication process must not use unacceptable language and vulgar words. For example, workers are unlikely to work hard in an organisation where their employer treats them badly by speaking to them using offensive words and not respecting them.

(10) Use direct communication – try to communicate with the employees face-to-face instead of using indirect communication, such as e-mails. For instance, indirect communication might take time and the receiver will not be able to read the sender’s body language or be able to ask questions.

So learner, I hope you can see that even if there are barriers to communication, organisations must strive to overcome them in order for effective communication all the time.


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