Barriers to Effective Communication

Communication can fail in many ways. The sender thinks she has communicated; the receiver has not understood, has misunderstood, or has not received the message at all. The barriers to effective communication can be categorised, and the categorisation helps a school head diagnose what is going wrong in her own communication.

Why barriers matter

The handout names the problem directly:

In many communications, the message (what is said) may not be received exactly the way the sender intended. It is, therefore, important that the communicator seeks feedback to check that their message is clearly understood.

A school head who assumes her message landed because she said it loses information she needs. The standard mitigation is feedback: ask the receiver to play back what she heard. The play-back often reveals gaps that the sender did not know existed.

The skills of active listening, clarification and reflection may help. But the skilled communicator also needs to be aware of the barriers to effective communication and how to avoid or overcome them.

Active listening, clarification, and reflection are the active skills. The barriers are what these skills are working against.

Six categories of barrier

The handout names six categories.

Language barriers

Language and linguistic ability may act as a barrier to communication. Even when communicating in the same language, the terminology used in a message may act as a barrier if it is not fully understood by the receiver.

Two layers here.

1. Different first languages. A teacher whose Urdu is stronger than her English may struggle with English-medium policies. A parent who speaks only Urdu cannot read English newsletters.
2. Specialist terminology. Educational jargon (“formative assessment”, “differentiation”, “scaffolding”) is opaque to non-educators. A school using jargon with parents alienates them.

A school head should write for the audience’s language. Technical terms for internal teachers; plain language for parents.

Psychological barriers

The psychological state of the communicators will influence how the message is sent, received and perceived. Under stress or being angry, one may say things one did not actually mean. A receiver may also misinterpret if under stress.

Communication is filtered through the psychological state of both parties. A stressed teacher hears criticism in neutral comments. An anxious parent reads threat into routine notices.

The mitigation is to be aware of the receiver’s state. A difficult conversation with a teacher right after she has had a hard day in class will go worse than the same conversation the next morning.

Physiological barriers

May result from sensory dysfunction, either on the part of the receiver or the sender. Fatigue may also lead to a breakdown in effective communication.

Hearing issues. Vision issues. Exhaustion. Hunger. These are physical states that make communication harder. A tired teacher at the end of a long day does not absorb a complex new procedure well, regardless of how clearly it is explained.

The mitigation is awareness of timing and physical state.

Physical barriers

Often due to the nature of the environment. If staff are located in different buildings or on different sites. Poor or outdated equipment. Information overload.

Environmental obstacles. A noisy room. Poor lighting. Bad internet for video calls. A school with multiple buildings where teachers rarely cross paths.

Many schools have physical barriers without realising it. The senior school and junior school in separate buildings, with no shared common space, develop different cultures because they communicate less than they think.

Systematic barriers

May exist where there are inefficient or inappropriate information systems and communication channels. Or where there is a lack of understanding of the roles and responsibilities for communication.

System-level problems. No clear channel for raising concerns. Email that nobody reads. Meetings that produce no notes. Coordinators who do not pass information up or down.

The fix is to design the communication system deliberately. Channels for different kinds of information. Clear ownership of channels. Norms about response times.

Attitudinal barriers

Behaviours or perceptions that prevent people from communicating effectively. May result from personality conflicts, poor management, resistance to change or a lack of motivation.

Personal barriers between people. Two teachers who do not like each other rarely communicate well, no matter how good the channels are. A teacher who has lost trust in the principal does not hear the principal’s communication accurately.

Attitudinal barriers are the hardest to fix because they sit inside the people. The mitigation is relationship work, which takes time.

Eight common specific barriers

The handout names common barriers that appear in daily school communication.

1. The use of jargon: over-complicated, unfamiliar and/or technical terms.

Educational jargon is everywhere. Use it carefully with parents and non-educators.

2. Emotional barriers and taboos: some people may find it difficult to express their emotions and some topics may be completely off-limits or taboo.

Topics that staff or parents will not discuss openly. A school that does not name what cannot be discussed cannot address it.

3. Lack of attention, interest, distractions, or irrelevance to the receiver.

If the receiver does not care, the message does not land. A school head’s job includes making her communication relevant to each audience.

4. Differences in perception and viewpoint.

The same situation looks different from different angles. A discipline incident looks one way to the teacher, another to the parent, another to the student.

5. Physical disabilities such as hearing problems or speech difficulties.

Inclusion matters. Communication channels should accommodate disabilities.

6. Not being able to see the non-verbal cues, gestures, posture and general body language.

This is a barrier in phone, video, and written communication. The richness of in-person is lost.

7. Expectations and prejudices which may lead to false assumptions or stereotyping.

Assumptions about a particular teacher, parent, or student colour how their communication is received.

8. Cultural differences.

Different cultures have different communication norms. In Pakistan, age and seniority shape communication norms; the same words from a younger teacher and a senior one land differently.

How a school head can lower barriers

Specific practices:

1. Simplify language for the audience. Plain Urdu and plain English work better than jargon.
2. Choose timing carefully. Difficult conversations need timing.
3. Use multiple channels. Important messages should travel through more than one channel.
4. Invite feedback. Ask the receiver what she understood.
5. Build relationships. Lower attitudinal barriers through trust over time.
6. Design the system. Set clear channels, ownership, and response norms.

A school head who attends to barriers communicates better than one who does not. The improvement is sometimes dramatic. A staff that suddenly understands and acts on communication is often the result of removing a barrier the head did not know existed.

Flashcard

What are the six categories of barriers to communication, and which one is hardest to fix?

Tap to reveal

Answer

Language, Psychological, Physiological, Physical, Systematic, Attitudinal.

1. Language. Different first languages or jargon. Fixed by simplifying.
2. Psychological. Stress, anger, anxiety. Fixed by timing and awareness.
3. Physiological. Sensory issues or fatigue. Fixed by accommodation and timing.
4. Physical. Environment. Fixed by changing the physical setup.
5. Systematic. Bad channels and unclear roles. Fixed by designing the system.
6. Attitudinal. Personality conflicts, resistance, lack of trust. Hardest to fix because it sits inside the people; needs relationship work over time.

A school head who attends to all six communicates better than one who focuses only on her own message clarity.