Guidelines to Overcome Communication Barriers
Overcoming the communication barriers is essential to ensure effective communication. Although it is not possible to eliminate all the barriers, they can be minimized to a great extent. The following guidelines are offered in this regard:
Clear organizational policy: Organization should have adequate, clear and explicit communication policies. Such policies will reduce confusion and promote the flow of communication.
Provision for feedback: In order to make communicate effective, massagers should actively seek feedback from subordinate. Feedback reduces the chance of misunderstanding and disparity between the messages sent and received.
Reorganization: In order to create a favorable communication climate, complex organization structure should be reorganized. Reorganization may involve reducing authority layers and establishing clear authority and responsibility relationship.
Management development: For improving communication skills, management development is necessary. This development is possible through delegation of authority, decentralization, arranging seminars and workshops, providing training on computers and other electronic means of communication.
Orientation: Orientation refers to introducing the newly appointed employees with the company mission, goals, policies, rules and regulations, procedures etc. This can greatly enhance the effectiveness of communication in the organization.
Promoting informal relationship: Informal relationship can play a vital role in promoting communication. Hence, management should use informal communication channel along with the formal channels.
Selecting proper media: Effectiveness of communication largely depends on appropriateness of media. Therefore, media should be selected considering some factors such as importance of message, communication environment, knowledge of the receiver etc.
Communication training: To make the employees efficient communicator, organizations can arrange various training programs for them.
Reducing information overload: Commutation system becomes defective if more information flows at a time than its necessity. To resolve this problem, only necessary information should be conveyed. Moreover, separate messages should be communicated after certain interval.
