Group Communication - Essay Example

Group Communication Group Communication Barriers in Group Communications Barriers to communication are the hindrances that keep the communication from being effective. These barriers cause distortion in the process of communication therefore the actual meaning of the message is lost somewhere on the way from the sender to the recipient. Following is the analysis of the barriers in group communications. Filtering Filtering is the manipulation of the message by the sender so that it sounds favorable to the recipient.

It is one of the barriers in group communications because the completeness of the information is compromised due to filtering by the sender. Filtering usually occurs when the communication takes place between an officer with higher authority and a subordinate. The subordinate tries to filter information in such a manner that it sounds favorable to the manager. Selective Perception Perception is the manner in which a person processes the information. A person’s perception is developed by a number of factors such as; social background, education, experience and other characteristics.

Selective perception takes place when the recipient processes only that information that sounds favorable to the recipient. It is a barrier because the message is not received by the recipient as it is intended by the sender. Information Overload Information overload, as the title suggests, is the giving away of more information by the sender than the capacity of the recipient allows him to process at a time. It is barrier in group communication because the recipients would process the information to a certain extent and when the overload of the information begins, they would either ignore the subsequent information or forget it.

Emotions Emotions play an important part in the interpretation of information. A person interprets the same message differently in different emotional states. It is a barrier in group communication because it hinders the ability of the recipients to interpret the information rationally and they might accept wrong information or disregard right information. Language Language is highly important for effective group communication. The sender of information must take into account certain characteristics of the recipients and language is one of them.

Even if the sender and recipients share the same language, the context and social background of the recipients might hinder their ability to interpret certain words as intended by the sender. Silence Silence is usually interpreted as absence of information of lack of communication but it may also be a significant barrier in group communications. Recipients might interpret silence in a number of ways. It may be interpreted as sender’s inability to communicate effectively, sender’s lack of information of his unwillingness to communicate.

Therefore, silence is also a significant barrier in group communication. Communication Apprehension Communication apprehension is the anxiety experienced by people in oral communication in specific set of circumstances. Some people are good at having information communication, however in formal or group communications, they experience anxiety. It is a barrier in group communication because it might keep the sender from communicating valuable information to recipients. Gender Differences Research suggests that men and women have different motives while communicating.

Men tend to emphasize their status while women tend to create new connections. This can also be a barrier in group communications. If the sender is a man and the recipient is a woman, the recipient may consider the sender’s message as harsh or offensive. “Politically Correct” Communication Politically Correct communication is the attempts made by the speakers to avoid being offensive. These attempts to be inoffensive may be a barrier in group communication because the sender might not be able to communicate the message in its entirety in order to make it inoffensive for all the recipients.

A number of phrases might be considered as discriminatory while being essential for effective communication at the same time. Thus, the inability to use such words and phrases may render the sender’s message incomplete (Robbins & Judge, 2011). References Robbins, S. P., Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational Behavior. 14th Edition. New York: Prentice Hall.