Barriers to communication have led to some of the worst accidents in human history. There are several barriers to good communications and some of the worst are:
• distractions in either the visual sense or sense of hearing
• physical barriers such as closed doors and large work areas
• perceptual boundaries
• emotional barriers
• language barriers
• gender barriers
These are some of the most difficult barriers to communication that exist today, and the loss of good communications in a business can have devastating financial impact. Thus, these barriers must be overcome. And some of the best ways to overcome these barriers is to address them head-on.
One of the best ways to overcome the barriers is to use common sense. If you know there is a person who will be in the discussion or meeting that speaks a foreign language, have an interpreter available before the meeting starts. Have your meeting in a meeting room with earth-tone colors and no windows if at all possible. Remove any and all physical barriers that you possibly can and have an open the discussion meeting with all employees to let them know that the men and women of the company are equally valued employees of the company and no preferences exist and no discrimination will be tolerated.
Breaking down many of these barriers will involve changing the way people think and feel. Obviously that is something that is not going to change overnight. It will take some real work over a period of time to overcome some of these barriers that have been part of our society for much longer than any of us have been alive. But if you value good communication and want your business to succeed in the long run, you're going to have to work on these barriers to good communications.
• distractions in either the visual sense or sense of hearing
• physical barriers such as closed doors and large work areas
• perceptual boundaries
• emotional barriers
• language barriers
• gender barriers
These are some of the most difficult barriers to communication that exist today, and the loss of good communications in a business can have devastating financial impact. Thus, these barriers must be overcome. And some of the best ways to overcome these barriers is to address them head-on.
One of the best ways to overcome the barriers is to use common sense. If you know there is a person who will be in the discussion or meeting that speaks a foreign language, have an interpreter available before the meeting starts. Have your meeting in a meeting room with earth-tone colors and no windows if at all possible. Remove any and all physical barriers that you possibly can and have an open the discussion meeting with all employees to let them know that the men and women of the company are equally valued employees of the company and no preferences exist and no discrimination will be tolerated.
Breaking down many of these barriers will involve changing the way people think and feel. Obviously that is something that is not going to change overnight. It will take some real work over a period of time to overcome some of these barriers that have been part of our society for much longer than any of us have been alive. But if you value good communication and want your business to succeed in the long run, you're going to have to work on these barriers to good communications.
