Barriers In Group Communication

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Barriers in Group Communication Often times, one experiences barriers that will confound communication. To avoid this, it is important to know and understand what these barriers are. The first of these is filtering. People generally like to avoid conflict so they might tell you what you want to hear just to please you. Doing so distorts the communication process. This is most likely to occur when there are many levels within the organization, as employees tend to avoid relaying bad news. Another common barrier is selective perception, wherein “receivers in the communication process selectively see and hear based on their needs, motivations, experience, background and other personal characteristics” (Robbins, 2007). Years ago I worked as a warehouse manager for a tile and stone distributor. I would convey my thoughts to my boss, who held the position for years before my hiring, about how I wanted to organize the warehouse. He would proceed to tell me that it was his experience to do it another way, dismissing my opinion. This was very frustrating but could certainly have been avoided had I been aware of the notion of selective perception. With such a wide variety of communication methods in use today such as emailing, instant messaging, faxing, and face to face meetings, one can be subject to information overload. When this occurs, people will concentrate on the issues they know and understand the best, often times passing over or losing important information. Clear communication can be confused by a number of other barriers as well. Language barriers, differences between generations, and varying levels of education can all lead to information misinterpretation. Emotions are also important to be aware of. Heightened states of emotion such as joy or anger can have a huge impact on communication. Substituting sound, rational thought with

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