Barriers to communication

There are many barriers to communication, some of these include linguistic barriers, psychological barriers, emotional barriers, physical barriers and cultural barriers. The barriers listed are all interpersonal barriers. There are three main different types of barriers, these are General, Interpersonal and Written Communication. 

General

An example of a general barrier is cultural differences which can make communication difficult as people in different cultures have different mindsets, languages spoken, ethnicities and morals, this can make two people very different and make it almost impossible for them to communicate. Another barrier is background noise, for example if you are trying to have a conversation with someone, and music is being played on speakers outside and a window is open, it can really distract the person you are speaking to or disrupt the conversation which makes communication between both people harder, a solution would be to simply close the window. 

This could be reduced by ensuring that people are diverse meaning that they are equally from different cultural backgrounds, this is called diversity training which can lead to inclusivity in a work place. Another way this could be reduced is by encouraging and sharing knowledge of different cultures, evidence shows that the sharing of knowledge from different cultural backgrounds can lead to creative outcomes from those who participate. This applies for language spoken and different mindsets. 

Interpersonal

An example of a interpersonal barrier is poor body language, body language can be used to engage the person or people you are speaking with, it can also be used to show emotion or convey a message, negative body language such as lack of eye contact is a clear sign that the person being communicated with is uninterested or not engaged in communication. There a many types of nonverbal communication, some include facial expressions, gestures, eye contact and your posture. Lack of interest is another interpersonal barrier and is shown through the amount of speaking done with the person communicating or the lack of eye contact with the person being communicated with. 

To overcome interpersonal barriers to communication, simple language can be used that both people understand, so avoiding the use of complex words and ideas. Another way you can overcome interpersonal barriers is by providing feedback to others on their communication as we could all learn more if we got feedback from others. By staying calm, this can pave the way for positive personal communication, allowing both people to give the conversation the time it needs which is important when communicating directly with another person.

Written communication

An example of a written communication barrier is poor spelling which can confuse the reader and make it hard for the writer to convey the message that they want to. It's the same principle for poor grammar too as it could confuse the reader if the writer or sender has poor grammar. Another example of a barrier is irrelevant content which can let the reader start to lose interest in what the writer is stating or complicate the message the writer is trying to convey.

Poor written communication is a huge barrier as it's one of the main ways of communicating. One way this could be reduced is by educating a person on the correct ways to communicate, for example, telling them that they've spelled something wrong and then the correction too so they don't make that mistake again in the future. A person can also educate themselves by using software such as grammarly to correct their spelling or grammar.