Some Examples of Communication Barriers
- i) Inattention during conversations (focus is elsewhere rather than on the conversation, eg multitasking; gives the impression that conversation is not as important as the other tasks you are focusing on)
- ii) Restricted information channels (not sharing all relevant information; no news is good news; understandably some information cannot be shared)
- iii) Lack of feedback (receiving little or no information or discussion on your performance; people need to know where they stand, ie are they doing the work correcrly; lack of appropriate feedback increases dis-engagement)
- iv) A culture of not asking questions (directive, hierarchical, top-down approach can discourage the asking of questions; questions are important in problem-solving, ie need to be able to answer questions before getting to problem solving mode)
- v) Too much formality (can stifle conversation; more authentic, open, free conversations occur in informal settings like outside the workplace, when walking, etc)
- vi) Overreliance on e-mail (need to encourage more face-to-face conversations, communications, etc; average person spends around 2.5 hours on e-mails daily; e-mail is a great tool but needs to be balanced by other communication forms)
- vii) Lack of positive role models (start with yourself to model good behaviours - by having good conversations)
- viii) Unchecked fear and emotion (worrying about the other person’s reaction around issues, etc that need to be discussed; occurs when a participant hopes that issues go away or sort themselves out, rather than confronting them; don't assume that you will know how the other person will react to the conversation)
- ix) Physical office layout (an open office plan lacks privacy; it can stifle worthwhile conversations)
NB
"...If you want to transform organisational culture, you must first improve the quality of the conversation..."
Tim Baker, 2025a