Filters and Barriers

What are some of the filters and barriers to communication?

Affects of Filtering - 1

·      Due to "filtering" or barriers

·         A large or significant portion of a message may be lost

·         Some sources or causes of which are as follows

·      Language

·         Not everyone on the project may be fluent in the prevailing language

·         Technical language may differ from discipline to discipline

·         The project may, or may not have its own glossary of terms

·         Use of jargon should be avoided

Affects of Filtering - 2

Culture

·         Professional standards, attitudes and morals may differ

·         From country to country

·         Or even region to region

Semantics

·         There may be different points of view

·         The message may rely on, or reference, established policies or procedures

·         Of which the recipient may, or may not be aware

·         Certain sentence structures, or word groups, may have established meaning or special implications

Affects of Filtering - 3

·      Knowledge base

·         Not all recipients may have the same level of knowledge, education or intelligence

·         Or the may have insufficient attention span

·         To master the whole of the message

·      Message content

·         The message may be based on certain assumptions

·         Explicit or implicit

·         Or there may be "hidden agendas" at play

Affects of Filtering - 4

·      Ethics generally

·         Culture aside, the sender may

·         Be deliberately withholding critical information

·         Or playing power games

·         The sender may be predisposed to say what the listener wants to hear

·         Rather than telling it the way it is

·         There may even be a lie and cover up

Affects of Filtering - 5

·      Reputation and authority

·         The reputation or seniority of the sender may be such

·         That the message content is accepted without demur

·         Even though it is improperly understood

·         Or the message implies "No questions, please!"

·         Or the message structure is so compelling

·         That it is followed without question

Affects of Filtering - 6

·      Background

·         There may be special "environment" conditions

·         Such as fear of exposure, down-sizing or dismissal

·         Which colors or distorts the message

·         Resulting in irrational or dysfunctional behavior, at odds with the original intent

·      Preoccupation

·         The recipient may already be heavily engaged

·         With little time to properly decode the message

·         Or spatial separation may render the message apparently obsolete on arrival

Communication barriers

Some barrier examples

·         Optimism: "It'll happen the way it'll happen!"

·         Impatience: "We'll cross that bridge when we get there!"

·         Blindness: "It'll never happen to us!"

·         Intransigence: "We've always done it this way!"

·         Over-confidence "We'll fix it later!"

·         Secrecy: "We don't want any interference!"

·         Power-play: "We know best!"

·         Mixed message: "Do it because it's our policy!"

·         Indirect message: "You should have known better!"

·         Disparagement: "It'll never work, the boss won't like it, it'll cost a fortune, so let's be realistic!"

Overcoming barriers

Some suggestions

·         Be self-aware

·         What you want, see, feel and do

·         Listen actively

·         And avoid turn-offs

·         Make information readily available

·         Avoid unnecessary secrecy

·         Establish a regular "two-way" information flow

·         Provide training

·         In speaking, listening and writing skills

·         Provide feedback

·         For more on feedback