Four Barriers to Effective Communication

Why is communication so often go wrong? Here are four reasons for breakdowns in communication:

1. Poor listening skills. Poor listening skills top the list when it comes to barriers to communication. Poor listening skills may be because:

* Lack of engagement with the other person or topic at hand: you just do not care enough to listen.

* Distractions in the environment such as excessive noise or activity.

* Disagreement with the speaker, which results in mental "stop" the other person.

* Passive listening rather than active participation with the speaker.

2. Assumptions. There are many assumptions we make when you communicate with others. For example, you might think that you know what the other person will say, so you just "leave" conversation.

3. Non-verbal signals. A recent survey showed that only 7% of our communication is tied to what we actually say! A full 55% of communication is done through non-verbal signals, and another 38% is based on tonality. So if your non-verbal signals are in conflict with what your mouth says, people will remember what you say.

4. Improper use of questions. Many people think if they ask many questions, they communicate well and connects with the other person. This may possibly be true! We must ask the right questions at the right time to get the information we need to communicate effectively. It means asking open questions - questions that begin with who, what, when, why, where and how. Open questions help real discussion and understanding to take place.