3.

Cultural barriers to communication

• In the multicultural workplace typical of doing business in a global economy, cultural
barriers to communication abound.
• . People from different parts of the world have a different frame of reference, and they may
display emotions differently and display different behaviours.
Language Barriers : Communication between people speaking different languages is difficult.
Language is a way of looking at the world . Even skilled translators can find it tricky to convey
complex emotions and concepts, which can lead to misunderstandings.
 Stereotypes : Stereotypes are assumptions people make about the traits of members of a
group. For example, a stereotypical American is thought to be impatient and arrogant as
well as friendly and tolerant. The danger is entertaining stereotypes is that an individual
is thought to possess characteristics that are ascribed to the group.
Obviously, not all Americans are
impatient and arrogant, nor are they all friendly and
tolerant.
Behavior Differences: Behavioral differences between employees of
different cultures can cause misunderstandings.
In some cultures, looking someone in the eye when they are talking to you
is considered rude, while in other cultures refraining from doing so is
considered disrespectful. Getting right to the point at a business meeting
may be considered impolite by some, who expect to have" small talk"
before the business discussion. Likewise, in some cultures, people talking
to each other give each other space, while in other cultures, they stand
close. These differences can be barriers to effective communication if they
are not recognized.
Emotional Display What is considered an appropriate display of emotion
can differ from culture to culture. In some countries, displaying anger, fear
or frustration in the workplace is considered inappropriate in a business
setting. People from these cultures keep their emotions hidden and only
discuss the factual aspects of the situation. In other cultures, participants in
a discussion are expected to reveal their emotions. You can imagine what
misunderstandings can arise if a businessperson displays strong emotion in
the company of employees who feel that such behavior is out of place.
4. Physiological Barrier Physiological barriers to communication are related with the
limitations of the human body and the human mind (memory, attention, and perception).
Physiological barriers may result from individuals’ personal discomfort, caused by ill-health,
poor eye sight, or hearing difficulties.
 Poor Listening Skills Listening to others is considered a difficult task. A typical
speaker says bout 125 words per minute. The typical listener can receive 400–600
words per minute. Thus, about three-fourth of listening time is free time. The free time
often sidetracks the listener. The solution is to be an active rather than passive listener.
A listener's premature frown, shaking of the head, or bored look can easily convince
the other person/speaker that there is no reason to elaborate or try again to
communicate his/her excellent idea.
Information Overload Nurses are surrounded with a pool of information.
It is essential to control the flow of the information, else the information is
likely to be misinterpreted or forgotten or overlooked. As a result,
communication may get distorted.
Inattention At times, we just do not listen but only hear. For example, your
boss is immersed in his/her very important paper work surrounded by so
many files on the table and you are explaining him/her about an urgent
office problem. In this situation, due to the inattention, the boss will not
listen to you (he/she will only hear you); hence, he/she may not get what
you are saying and it may lead to disappointment.
Emotions The emotional state of a person at a particular point of time affects his/her
communication with others as it has an impact on the body language (nonverbal
communication). If the receiver feels that the sender is angry (emotional state), he/she
can easily infer that the information being obtained will be very terrible. Emotional state
causes some physiological changes in our body that may affect the pronunciation,
pressure of the speech, and tone of the voice of the sender as well as the perception,
thinking process, and information interpretation of the receiver during verbal
communication.
Poor Retention Human memory cannot function beyond a limit. One
cannot always retain all the facts/information about what is being told to
him/her especially if he/she is not interested or not attentive. This leads to
communication breakdown.
5. Problems with Structure Design: companies or institutions can have
organization structures that are not clear, which can make communications
difficult.
Also to blame for faulty communications are bad information systems, and
lack of supervision or training of the people involved.
System design faults refer to problems with the structures or systems in
place in an operation.
Examples might include an organizational structure that is unclear and
therefore makes it confusing to know who you are to communicate with.
Other examples could be inefficient or inappropriate information systems, a
lack of supervision or training, and a lack of clarity in roles and
responsibilities that can lead to employees being uncertain about what is
expected of them.
What Is A Physical Barrier To Communication?
 
A physical barrier to communication can be defined as an element or a physical factor that acts
as a distraction to hinder the flow of communication. A physical barrier can be natural or human-
made and is easy to spot. Noise, bad architecture and closed doors are all physical barriers to
listening. Even a network disturbance due to a thunderstorm can be considered as one of
the examples of physical barrier. 
Factors That Can Create A Physical Barrier
 Surroundings, distance between people, time differences and faulty modes of communication
are all factors that can create a physical barrier. Executives must be quick to identify these
factors to deal with their negative effects on productivity. Let’s take a look at the causes behind
physical barriers:
Workplace Architecture
A poorly designed workplace can create a physical barrier. Employees find it difficult to
communicate with their seniors if they sit far away or on different floors. Cabins and guarded
work areas prevent teams from operating smoothly. Communication in such places relies on
emails and calls and that creates noise and distortions. Accessibility becomes a concern and
communication suffers. Uncomfortable chairs, glaring screens and dim lighting are all
characteristics of a poor workplace and contribute to physical barriers.
Distance
Geographical distance is a major cause of physical barriers. It prevents personal
communication, which is substituted by phone calls, video conferences, messages or emails.
Network issues are common and long-distance communication can experience obstacles of poor
reception or slow internet. Sending hard copies of documents takes time and delays the process
of communication.
3. Time
Limited time or different time zones can both create a physical barrier between two people. The
sender must construct a concise message for the receiver if time is limited. This ensures
conveying the crucial information in the absence of a detailed conversation. A video conference
between teams from England and India has to take place at a time that suits both parties since
they’re separated by over five hours.
4. Environment
Environmental conditions can affect the flow of information. Thunder can create noise that
interferes with hearing. Lightning and heavy rain can cause faults in mainframes and
disturbances in signals. Heat can cause fires that can damage wiring or lead to fires. Cold
temperatures can also disrupt communication by freezing lines and open systems.
5. Technical Disturbances
A major cause for physical barriers are disturbance in mediums or technical issues. A faulty
phone will create noise or suppress volume, a broken fax machine can prevent a message from
coming through, a defective printer can prevent storage of hard copies of data and a crash in the
system will delete all the unsaved information.These factors create several types of physical
barriers that obstruct the flow of communication. 
Examples Of Physical Barrier In Communication
 Communication can be affected by a noisy machine in the office or poor Wi-Fi strength. The
closed door of a cabin can act as a physical barrier for an employee trying to reach their
manager.
There can be different types of physical barriers such as bad lighting, old and broken equipment
or uncomfortable room temperatures.
examples of physical barrier in communication that filter information and restrict
communication:
1. NoiseA loud, unpleasant sound or a disturbance in an audio signal can be termed as noise.
Noise restricts the flow of messages, makes them inaccurate or unclear and causes
misinterpretations. Noise can be environmental, technological or written. Environmental noise
relates to loudness in the background of the speaker or receiver. A defective phone will not
establish effective communication between two people. A poorly constructed, written or printed
message is an example of written noise.
2. Excessive Information The receiver will face the same problem if they’re not equipped to
handle excess information.
3. DistortionA distorted message is one that is misrepresented or misinterpreted. It happens
when the meaning of a message is lost in translation, in transition or during decoding.
Receiver Oriented Communication Barriers
The receiver can also have some barriers in the course of the interaction. Some of the barriers
emanating from the side of the receiver are as follows:
1. Poor Retention If the receiver has poor retention capability, he would probably get lost in
the course of the proceedings.
If the decoder feels that his retention capacities are not good, a judicious strategy for him
would be to jot down points.
2. Inattentive Listening It is very difficult to exercise control over one’s mind. Listening is
more of an exercise in controlling the mind and exercising it to assimilate messages.
3. Tendency to Evaluate Being judgmental and evaluative are both the starting points for
miscommunication. Remember, one mind cannot perform two activities at the same time.
ously by listening.
4. Interests and Attitudes“I am not interested in what you are saying” or “My interest
lies in other areas”. Starting any piece of communication with this kind of indifference can
thwart any attempts at communication.
5. Conflicting Information The conflict between the existing information and fresh one
results in the elimination of the latter unless and until the receiver is cautious and verifies
with the sender the reliability and validity of the message.
6. Differing Status and Position Position in the organizational hierarchy is no criterion to
determine the strength of ideas and issues. Many companies have started encouraging
youngsters to come up with ideas/ solutions to a particular problem.
These ideas are then discussed among the senior managers and their validity is ascertained
keeping the workings and the constraints of the company in mind.
6. Sematic Barriers: Interpersonal communication is how co-workers or employees relate to
one another in the workplace on a daily basis. This might also be referred to as professional
communication. Workplace relationships take in a whole gamut of interactions. Water cooler
conversations, discussions in meetings and Zoom calls are all instances of workplace
communication. It’s often overlooked, but social interaction is also an important
communication component in the workplace, and sometimes after hours too. It may involve
discussions among co-workers about work and leisure-time activities. They might be held over
dinner or drinks or at the office gym. As a result, all these are also settings where semantic
barriers of communication can occur. 
Types Of Semantic Barriers
 
There are two broad categories of a semantic barrier that are seen in the workplace. These are
denotative barriers and connotative barriers.
Denotative barriers are those that are based on the actual meaning of words, while connotative
barriers are those based on the associations people have with words.
The word itself causes denotative barriers. These communication barriers can be overcome by
translating the word into another language or using other words to minimize confusion. 
Connotative barriers arise when the meaning someone associates with a concept doesn’t match
with what someone else understands. These barriers can be overcome by attempting to
understand the meaning that someone associates with a word or by speaking in more detail.
Many barriers come from the same place: a difference of opinion between individuals based on
different perspectives or experiences with an issue. Whether denotative or connotative, these
barriers can be overcome by recognizing that an individual has a different perspective,
acknowledging this and trying to understand it. 
Examples Of Semantic Barriers
 There are language features and quirks that can cause miscommunication. Let’s take a look at
common communication problems arising from these examples of semantic barriers:
1. Use Of Idioms
Idioms are phrases that have a figurative meaning that’s different from what it literally sounds
like. For instance, if you ask someone, “Can you give me a hand?” or if you say, “I can’t get a
hold of John,” the figurative meaning differs from the literal meaning. We use such phrases and
figures of speech as a matter of course in our daily interactions and we don’t really even think
before doing so. However, if the receiver of the message is unfamiliar with the expression, it’ll
leave them confused.
2. Misunderstood Words
Words may be a barrier to communication because some words have different meanings or
usage in different contexts. For instance, homonyms are words that sound the same but have
different meanings and are spelled differently. When used in spoken language, however, this can
easily cause confusion. For example, the words ‘write’ and ‘right’. They sound the same but
mean different things. We can avoid confusion by choosing a different word, for example
‘correct’ instead of ‘right’.
3. Non-Native Speakers
People often cross international borders on account of work nowadays. This leads to
problems with things getting lost in translation, as we saw in the example of Chevrolet.
Many people have a limited vocabulary when they’re speaking in a language that is not
their native tongue. This can create a barrier to communication.
 4. Missed Or Misinterpreted Jokes
Sometimes jokes don’t come across as they should. This could happen because people
misunderstand the meaning of certain words and phrases or if they’re just not funny. They
might even be inappropriate or offensive. Jokes rarely travel well across cultures, as they
depend on a shared understanding of language and usually contain specific cultural touch
points. Using humor, while effective and enjoyable, is thus not always advisable in the
workplace. 
5. Differences In Emoting
Some individuals don’t express their feelings willingly or openly. This might be a cultural issue
or an individual one. Due to certain mental health or sensory conditions, emotions can also be
misinterpreted.
 6. Tech Trouble
It used to be called a cross connection: when phone lines literally got tangled and you could
hear someone else’s conversation. The modern version of this is the poor Internet connection
causing frozen screens and broken audio, which can result in misinterpretation or
misunderstanding.
 7. Lack Of Information
When we deliver partial or incomplete information, the meaning of the rest of the message
might be misunderstood by the receiver.
 There are many examples of semantic barriers to communication that arise in the workplace.
Luckily, they can also be overcome.