STUDENTS' CORNER - 124

Miscommunication will cause great harm to those involved and in business, it will mean loss of profit or the customers.  We have been dealing with barriers to communication so that there shall be no lapse in communication.

We will see now some more barriers to communication; we have dealt with perceptual and status barriers to communication.

Emotional Barriers

In fact, man is said to be primarily an emotional being and intellect generally tends to justify or rationalize what emotion has grabbed as the fact at the moment.  ‘Passing on the buck’ appears to be a very common response to any situation that is not favourable to it.  May be in personal communication with one’s own relatives or friends, this emotional stand in communication may not be serious in terms of consequences. But in business communication, the primary thing is no faint shadow of personal likes and dislikes is permitted.  The focus must be the goal of the business communication, namely, to promote business and to maintain business relationship unbroken.  In business communication, possibly the only major barrier to communication is likely to be loss of confidence in oneself and in one’s understanding of the business context.  Diffidence will negatively impact one’s communication style and skill. He may flounder in his expressions and fail to convey what he is expected to convey at the moment.  The business communication suffers.  Again, the same fate will be the result if one is rather too confident in communication; that is , pride; it will also affect communication since it tends to place the opposite man on a lower pedestal. Anxiety in excess, diffidence, pride and even anger--- these are the major emotions that will rob you of your efficiency in communication. If you feel any of these emotions it is advisable to wait for the emotions to subside and then, when subsided, communicate.

The other barriers are Cultural, language, gender barriers to effective communication. Respect for other cultures, conscious efforts to improve communication skills and never to give importance to gender discrimination in business communication are the ways to win the barriers and communicate effectively.