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9
Barriers to communication 
Barriers
to communication include 'noise' from the environment, poorly constructed or coded/decoded 
messages (distortion) and failures in understanding caused by the relative position of the senders and 
receivers. 
9.1 General faults in the communication process 
Distortion
or omission of information by the sender 
Misunderstanding
due to lack of clarity or technical jargon
Non-verbal signs 
(gesture, posture, facial expression) contradicting the verbal message, so that its 
meaning is in doubt 
'Overload'
– a person being given too much information to digest in the time available
People
hearing 
only what they want 
to hear in a message 
Differences
in social, racial or educational 
background
, compounded by age and personality differences, 
creating barriers to understanding and co-operation
(Mnemonic using words in bold above: Distorted Messages Never Overcome Personal Differences.) 
9.2 Communication difficulties at work 
Status
(of the sender and receiver of information) 

A senior manager's words are listened to closely and a colleague's perhaps discounted.

A subordinate might mistrust their superior believing that they might look for hidden meanings in 
a message.
Jargon. 
People from different job or specialist backgrounds (eg accountants, personnel managers, IT 
experts) can have difficulty in talking on a non-specialist's wavelength.
Suspicion. 
People discount information from those not recognised as having expert power. 
Priorities. 
People or departments have different priorities or perspectives so that one person places more 
or less emphasis on a situation than another.