Communication Barriers

Communication is vitally important to us if we wish to succeed in life. Without communication, our success in learning academically or skills is lowered. Without communication, we are unable to order the correct meal at a restaurant. Without communication, there is a very large chance that our relationships will fail.

It then becomes urgent, or at least important that we consider what barriers there may be when we are communicating when we are trying to bring our point across to another person. Anything from vast physical differences to slight differences of internal beliefs may be the reason for complete and utter miscommunication.

Humanity is in a position where individuals can be nearly identical or vastly different from each other. The chances that you will need to deal with at least some people who are different from you is rather high.

Let us take a look at the possible barriers that you might encounter.

Race

This is actually not the big barrier. I only mention it here because it is one of the first things that people think of when they think about people who are different from them. Though it usually accompanies the big differences, a person's Race a key barrier.

The only time it does indeed become a barrier to communication is when someone is going to discriminate against a race and close off their communication with that person based solely on appearance.

Culture

Far more relevant to communication barriers is the case of cultural differences. It is possible to raised in a certain culture regardless of your racial background.

We see this simply when comparing the cultures of various Caucasian cultures, various African cultures or various Asian cultures. Some of these people MAY look the same, but they do not act the same. They do not have the same values in honor, convention or rights.

This can cause a sentence or sentiment to be completely misunderstood between one culture and another. A question asked by one culture in the intention to be open and honest to the other might be seen as vulgar and rude to someone of another culture. Or the inverse when a question in modulated quietly and privately while the other culture considers this sly and tricky.

The solution to this is finding out as much as possible about the other person's culture and keeping this in mind when communicating with them.

Language

Right behind Culture comes Language. If you are not communicating in someone's first language then there is usually a bit of a gap and you will need to make yourself very clear when speaking to these individuals.

I know this very well with our 11 official languages plus additional foreign languages are thrown into it all. I was working on a construction site with around 1800 people where there where 17 different first languages spoken.

Have you ever been in a room where people are speaking a language that you do not really understand beyond a few basic words? It may be easier for you to imagine this scenario then. Usually, it is non-English speakers needing to take part in an English conversation in the workplace, because English becomes our medium language.

If there is a difference in language then make sure to use as many infographics and pictures as possible. I find that when I am speaking to such a person, that I use a lot of grand hand gestures and I do so until the other person copies me and speaks with their words and their hands. In fact, I have even gotten used to certain gestures that are typical of a certain language speaker.

Bottom line is slow down, pay attention and repeat yourself until you really get the point across.

Age – Generations

Of course, there is a bit of a barrier in communicating between a generation that spent time playing in the mud outside and the generation who spent the same age mostly stuck to their cell phone or computer screen.

Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Y(Millennials) and Z(Centennials) all thrown together in today's life. Never before in recorded history has there been a time where so many generations of people at the same time. This is 5 generation groups.

In fact, the average world life expectancy has DOUBLED from 1880 till 2010. At an average over those 120 years then by 2030, the world average life expectancy will have reached close to 100 years. This will mean that by that time there will be 7 generation groups alive simultaneously.

Perhaps by then, the definitions of Generations will also broaden.

Getting back to the subject of communication, Millennials have an generally optimistic point of view, they are independent and have a heavy reliance on technology. Having children is something that is done usually with some forethought or hesitation. As opposed to Traditionalists where it was a dream and the Boomers where it happened without worry.

Values regarding family time is probably the biggest bone of contention. The way that people spend their day around each other - the move to digital where people no longer speak face to face is likely the biggest difference between generations right now. It forms a basis of contention and other subjects follow on from there.

Other Barriers

There are other barriers to communication besides Race, Culture, Language, and Age. However, these are going to be the biggest barriers to effective communication. Another barrier, some might argue, is Sex and Gender.

I do not actually believe that this is that much of a case, especially when you have removed the other barriers. Take a man and a woman of the same Culture, Race, Language, and Generation, then they will have a lot more in common with each other than a vast selection of humanity around them. Add in a gay person to this that still matches them in the other factors and again, there are enough similarities to them that they all know the same kind of information.

On the subject of the LGBT+ community, if a gay person came from the Baby Boomer generation, they were treated and known a certain way, till today most straight Boomers are inherently homo-phobic whereas for Millennials it has become a basic point of reference and acceptance has become far more typical. There is a huge difference between the two generations in fact. So there will be a barrier of communication between sexual preferences in the earlier generations but not the newer generations.

Conclusion

There are many other possible barriers to communication. Some are even specific to one person. Most of these barriers will have roots in the above, we cannot cover them all. We cannot include them all, the solution to the problem is fairly simple.

Be aware of the differences between yourself and the other speaker. Make sure to slow down the conversation if the comprehension is dropping. Repeat the communication given to you by the other to verify in your own words what has been discussed.

Make sure to walk away from the interchange knowing what was said. If you do not... the changes are that you will have an argument come up in your future!

All Image credits to pexels.com

Part of my 60-day article challenge

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