A vital part of working on a team is learning how to be aware of others and their needs. You cannot work effectively with others if you are only focused on yourself and what you need to be successful in your endeavor. Instead, you must be aware of what those you are working with might also need and how that might differ from you.
We talk about this specifically when thinking about barriers to communication.
Elements of Communication
To summarize, communication is made up of four parts: the sender, receiver, medium, and barriers.
The sender is the person communicating the message. They must choose the medium to communicate their message by and examine the barriers that might exist in being able to communicate their message effectively.
The receiver is the person hearing the message the sender is communicating. They must also be aware of potential boundaries in order to listen effectively.
The medium is the method by which the message is communicated. Knowing the barriers to your message can also inform which medium you might choose to use.
And, finally the barriers are anything that might stand in the way of the receiver understanding the message you wish to communicate.
In order to examine barriers to communication more closely and think about ways in which we can be more aware of what the receiver needs, I’m going to break up the kinds of barriers into three categories: physical, personal, and informational.
Physical Barriers
Physical barriers have to do with the space you occupy and what might stand in your way. This can include things like location, noise, and time.
These barriers should heavily influence your decision about which medium to use. Sometimes they influence it in ways you cannot control: for example, if someone is in a different location than you, then you cannot meet in person. But if you can meet in person, you should think about barriers when considering where to meet and if it will be conducive to the kind of meeting you are trying to have.
Written messages are not the best form of communication for hashing out details or reading tone, but recognizing your barriers to communication might mean realizing that you should rely more heavily on written communication like email for some correspondences more than others. For example, if you are communicating with someone in a different time zone and it’s difficult to find a time when you can both get on a video call, using written communication might mean that you are able to talk sooner than waiting to schedule a meeting.
Personal Barriers
Personal barriers are things that you cannot control about yourself that affect how you relate to the world. This includes factors like age, race, gender, culture, and socio-economic status.
These facts about ourselves affect the way that we communicate in ways that we are not always aware of. As a sender, you should build self-awareness to think about how your particular way of interacting with the world might be different from your receiver. Be aware of power dynamics that might be at play too: a supervisor bringing up a difficult topic with an employee will have a different dynamic than two co-workers having the same conversation.
Age might also play a role when thinking about your chosen medium. Especially in intergenerational communication, choosing a medium that you are both comfortable using will help you be able to focus on the message instead of being distracted by the medium.
Being aware of how the receiver might perceive your message based on personal factors about who the two of you are will help you communicate effectively.
Informational Barriers
Finally, informational barriers recognize the simple fact that we all have different sets of knowledge, and you need to be aware of the differences between your knowledge set and that of those you’re seeking to communicate with.
You wouldn’t describe a concept in the same way to a high-school student as you would a grad student. But that goes both ways. Don’t assume that because someone is younger than you, for example, that they know less. Approach the topic humbly, ready to answer questions or be proven wrong in your assumptions.
Broadening your perspective beyond yourself to consider what others around you need from you in order to receive a message will help you communicate more effectively and avoid confusion.
Gracie McBride is the Content and Systems Coordinator at The Crossroad.
