Barriers to Communication

Brief introduction
It's not always easy and often takes a lot of
determination. But making an effort to remove
the obstacles - tangible and intangible - that
stand in our way, can be the key to building
relationships that really work.
Many people think that communicating is easy.
It is after all something we've done all our lives.
There is some truth in this simplistic view.
Communicating is straightforward.
What makes it complex, difficult, and frustrating
are the barriers we put in the way:

1. Physical barriers

Physical barriers in the workplace include:

marked out territories, empires and fiefdoms into which
strangers are not allowed
closed office doors, barrier screens, separate areas for people of
different status
large working areas or working in one unit that is physically
separate from others.
Research shows that one of the most important factors in
building cohesive teams is proximity. As long as people still have
a personal space that they can call their own, nearness to others
aids communication because it helps us get to know one
another.

2. Perceptual barriers

The problem with communicating with others is that we all see the
world differently. If we didn't, we would have no need to
communicate: something like extrasensory perception would
take its place.
The following anecdote is a reminder of how our thoughts,
assumptions and perceptions shape our own realities:
A traveller was walking down a road when he met a man from the
next town. "Excuse me," he said. "I am hoping to stay in the next
town tonight. Can you tell me what the townspeople are like?"
"Well," said the townsman, "how did you find the people in the last
town you visited?"
"Oh, they were an irascible bunch. Kept to themselves. Took me for
a fool. Over-charged me for what I got. Gave me very poor
service."
"Well, then," said the townsman, "you'll find them pretty much the
same here."

3. Emotional barriers

One of the chief barriers to open and free communications is

the emotional barrier. It is comprised mainly of fear, mistrust
and suspicion. The roots of our emotional mistrust of others lie
in our childhood and infancy when we were taught to be
careful what we said to others.
"Don't speak until you're spoken to"; "Children should be seen
and not heard". As a result many people hold back from
communicating their thoughts and feelings to others.
They feel vulnerable. While some caution may be wise in
certain relationships, excessive fear of what others might think
of us can stunt our development as effective communicators
and our ability to form meaningful relationships.

4. Cultural barriers

When we join a group and wish to remain in it, sooner or later

we need to adopt the behaviour patterns of the group. These
are the behaviours that the group accept as signs of belonging.
The group rewards such behaviour through acts of recognition,
approval and inclusion. In groups which are happy to accept
you, and where you are happy to conform, there is a mutuality
of interest and a high level of win-win contact.
Where, however, there are barriers to your membership of a
group, a high level of game-playing replaces good
communication.

Lack of cultural sensitivity

Culture comes in many shapes and sizes. It
includes areas such as politics, history, faith,
mentality, behaviour and lifestyle.
The following examples demonstrate how a
lack of cultural sensitivity led to failure:

a. When colouring in 800,000 pixels on a map of India,

Microsoft coloured eight of them a different shade of
green to represent the disputed Kashmiri territory. The
difference in greens meant Kashmir was shown as nonIndian, and the product was promptly banned in India.
Microsoft was left to recall all 200,000 copies of the
offending Windows 95 operating system software to try
and heal the diplomatic wounds. It cost them millions.

b. The fast food giant McDonald's spent

thousands on a new TV ad to target the Chinese
consumer. The ad showed a Chinese man
kneeling before a McDonald's vendor and
begging him to accept his expired discount
coupon. The ad was pulled due to a lack of
cultural sensitivity on McDonald's behalf. The ad
caused uproar over the fact that begging is
considered a shameful act in Chinese culture.

c. When the US firm Gerber started selling baby food in

Africa they used the same packaging as in the US, i.e.
with a picture of a baby on the label. Sales flopped and
they soon realised that in Africa companies typically
place pictures of contents on their labels.
d. The film Hollywood Buddha showed a complete lack of
cultural sensitivity by causing outrage and protest on the
streets of Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Burma when the
designer of the film's poster decided to show the lead
actor sitting on the Buddha's head, an act of clear
degradation against something holy.

e. The concept of Big Brother was somehow taken to the

Middle East. The show was pulled of the air after its first
few episodes due to public protests and pressure from
religious bodies stating the show's mixed gender format
was against Islamic principles.
f. A golf ball manufacturing company packaged golf balls
in packs of four for convenient purchase in Japan.
Unfortunately, the number 4 is equivalent to the number
13 due it sounding like the word "death". The company
had to repackage the product.

 If businesses want to succeed internationally,

cultural sensitivity must be at the heart of
everything they do; from their personal
interaction and relationships with clients to the
products/services they develop.
All international communication is influenced by
cultural differences. Even the choice of medium
used to communicate may have cultural
overtones.

 For example, it has been noted that advanced

industrialized nations rely heavily on electronic
technology and emphasize written messages over oral
or face-to-face communication. Certainly the United
States, Canada and Germany exemplify this trend.
But Japan, which has access to the latest
technologies, still relies more on face-to-face
communications than on the written mode. The
determining factor in medium preference may not be
the degree of industrialization, but rather whether the
country falls into a high-context or low-context culture.

 High-context cultures (Mediterranean, Slav, Central

European, Latin American, African, Arab, Asian,
American-Indian) leave much of the message
unspecified - to be understood through context,
nonverbal cues, and between-the-lines interpretation of
what is actually said.
By contrast, low-context cultures (most of the Germanic
and English-speaking countries) expect messages to be
explicit and specific. The former are looking for meaning
and understanding in what is not said - in body
language, in silences and pauses, and in relationships
and empathy. The latter place emphasis on sending and
receiving accurate messages directly, and by being
precise with spoken or written words.

Sequential or synchronic

Some cultures think of time sequentially - as a linear commodity to

"spend," "save," or "waste." Other cultures view time synchronically
- as a constant flow to be experienced in the moment, and as a
force that cannot be contained or controlled.
A friend from Venezuela was invited to a party in the States. The
hours on the invitation were stated as 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. This
was almost inconceivable to the Venezuelan. "How can anyone
know when the party will be over?" she asked. To her way of
thinking, a party can't be "timed." It begins when it begins and ends
when it ends.
Whether time is perceived as a commodity or a constant determines
the meaning and value of being "on time." Think of the
misunderstandings that can occur when one culture views arriving
late for a meeting as bad planning or a sign of disrespect, while
another culture views an insistence on timeliness as childish
impatience.

Sequential culture
In sequential cultures (like North American, English,
German, Swedish, and Dutch), businesspeople give full
attention to one agenda item after another. In many other
parts of the world, professionals regularly do several
things at the same time. I once cashed a check at a
Panamanian bank where the teller was counting my
money, talking to a customer on the phone, and admiring
the baby in the arms of the woman behind me. To her, it
was all business as usual.
The American commoditization of time not only serves
as the basis for a "time is money" mentality, it can lead to
a fixation on timelines that plays right into the hands of
savvy negotiators from other cultures.

A Japanese executive explained: "All we

need to do is find out when you are
scheduled to leave the country - and, by
the way, it amuses us that you arrive with
your return passage already booked. We
wait until right before your flight to present
our offer. By then, you are so anxious to
stay on schedule, you'll give away the
whole deal."

Synchronic culture

In synchronic cultures (including South America, southern Europe

and Asia) the flow of time is viewed as a sort of circle - with the past,
present, and future all inter-related. This viewpoint influences how
organizations in those cultures approach deadlines, strategic
thinking, investments, developing talent from within, and the concept
of "long-term" planning.
There's a joke about an American and a Chinese businessman
sitting on a park bench in Hong Kong. The American is saying,
"Well, you know I've been in Hong Kong for my company for thirty
years. Thirty years! And in a few days they are sending me back to
the States." The Chinese executive replies, "That's the problem with
you Americans: here today and gone tomorrow."
Orientation to the past, present, and future is another aspect of time
in which cultures differ.

 Americans believe that the individual can influence the

future by personal effort, but since there are too many
variables in the distant future, we favor a short-term view.
This gives us an international reputation of "going for the
quick buck" and being interested only in the next
quarterly return. Even our relationships seem to be based
on a "what have you done for me lately?" pragmatism.
Synchronistic cultures have an entirely different
perspective. The past becomes a context in which to
understand the present and prepare for the future. Any
important relationship is a durable bond that goes back
and forward in time, and it is often viewed as grossly
disloyal not to favor friends and relatives in business
dealings.

Affective or neutral

With much angry gesturing, an Italian manager referred

to the idea of his Dutch counterpart as "crazy." The
Dutch manager replied. "What do you mean, crazy? I've
considered all the factors, and I think this is a viable
approach. And calm down! We need to analyze this, not
get sidetracked by emotional theatrics."
At that point, the Italian walked out of the meeting.
In international business practices, reason and emotion
both play a role. Which of these dominates depends
upon whether we are affective (readily showing
emotions) or emotionally neutral in our approach.

 Research conducted with people who were upset about

something at work, noted that only some cultures
supported expressing those feelings openly. Emotional
reactions were found to be least acceptable in Japan,
Indonesia, the U.K., Norway and the Netherlands - and
most accepted in Italy, France, the U.S. and Singapore.
Reason and emotion are part of all human
communication. When expressing ourselves, we look to
others for confirmation of our ideas and feelings. If our
approach is highly emotional, we are seeking a direct
emotional response: "I feel the same way." If our
approach is highly neutral, we want an indirect response:
"I agree with your thoughts on this."

It's easy for people from neutral cultures to sympathize with the
Dutch manager and his frustration over trying to reason with "that
excitable Italian." After all, an idea either works or it doesn't work and the way to test the validity of an idea is through trial and
observation.
That just makes sense - doesn't it? Well, not necessarily to the
Italian who felt the issue was deeply personal, and who viewed any
"rational argument" as totally irrelevant!
When it comes to communication, what's proper and correct in one
culture may be ineffective or even offensive in another.
Culture is, basically, a set of shared values that a group of people
holds. Such values affect how you think and act and, more
importantly, the kind of criteria by which you judge others. Cultural
meanings render some behaviors as normal and right and others
strange or wrong.

5. Language barriers

Language that describes what we want to say in our terms may

present barriers to others who are not familiar with our expressions,
buzz-words and jargon. When we couch our communication in such
language, it is a way of excluding others. In a global market place
the greatest compliment we can pay another person is to talk in their
language.
One of the more chilling memories of the Cold War was the threat
by the Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev saying to the Americans at the
United Nations: "We will bury you!" This was taken to mean a threat
of nuclear annihilation.
However, a more accurate reading of Khruschev's words would
have been: "We will overtake you!" meaning economic superiority. It
was not just the language, but the fear and suspicion that the West
had of the Soviet Union that led to the more alarmist and sinister
interpretation.

6. Gender barriers

There are distinct differences between the speech patterns in a man

and those in a woman. A woman speaks between 22,000 and 25,000
words a day whereas a man speaks between 7,000 and 10,000.
To a woman, good listening skills include making eye contact and
reacting visually to the speaker. To a man, listening can take place
with a minimum of eye contact and almost no nonverbal feedback.
(Women often cite a lack of eye contact as evidence that their male
boss "doesn't value my input.")
Men are more comfortable when approached from the side. Women
prefer approaches from the front. Likewise, two men speaking will
angle their bodies slightly, while two women will stand in a more
"squared up" position - a stance that most men perceive as
confrontational.
When a man nods, it means he agrees. When a woman nods, it
means she is listening.

Female superiority in reading nonverbal signals during business

meetings allows women to accurately assess coalitions and
alliances just by tracking who is making eye contact with whom at
certain critical points.
Men are judged to be better at monologue - women at dialogue.
A man's ability to hold his emotions in check and to "keep a poker
face" is viewed as an advantage in business situations. A woman's
tendency to show her feelings more outwardly in gestures and facial
expressions is perceived as a weakness.
When a woman can't read the person she's talking to, it makes her
anxious. Men's ability to mask their facial expressions causes
uneasiness in women, who often perceive this as negative
feedback.

 As women make decisions, they tend to process and

think of options out loud. Men process internally until
they come up with a solution. This can lead to problems
if a male thinks that the female's verbal brainstorming
means that she's looking for approval rather than just
thinking aloud.
Men's discomfort dealing with emotion leads them to
believe that there needs to be a solution, rather than
understanding that sometimes people just need to be
heard.
Because they access the full message (words and body
language), women are better at watching and listening
for reactions. This allows them to ensure that they are
being understood, and adjust accordingly.

 In negotiations, men talk more than women and interrupt

more frequently. One perspective on the value of speaking
up comes from former Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright, who - when asked what advice she had for upand-coming professional women - replied, "Learn to
interrupt."
Men make direct accusations (You didn't do it!) while
women use an indirect method (Why didn't you do it?)
Women are viewed as less professional when they resort
to girlish behaviors (twirling hair, playing with jewelry, etc.)
or flirtatious body language (tossing hair back, crossing and
uncrossing legs, etc.).
Men who don't know each other well tend to keep a greater
distance between them than women who have just met.

7. Interpersonal barriers

There are six levels at which people can distance themselves

from one another:
Withdrawal is an absence of interpersonal contact. It is both
refusal to be in touch and time alone.
Rituals are meaningless, repetitive routines devoid of real
contact.
Pastimes fill up time with others in social but superficial activities.
Working activities are those tasks which follow the rules and
procedures of contact but no more.
Games are subtle, manipulative interactions which are about
winning and losing. They include "rackets" and "stamps".
Closeness is the aim of interpersonal contact where there is a
high level of honesty and acceptance of yourself and others.

Conclusion
Working on improving your communications is a
broad-brush activity. You have to change your
thoughts, your feelings, and your physical
connections.
That way, you can break down the barriers that
get in your way and start building relationships
that really work.

THANK YOU!