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Methods of dealing with communication barriers. Methods for overcoming communication barriers and improving communication

Communication- this is communication, i.e. exchange of opinions, experiences, moods, desires, etc. The content of a particular communication can be different: a discussion of the news, a weather report or an argument about politics, solving business issues with partners (you won’t list everything). Whatever it is, it is always communication, and it is impossible to imagine communication without it.

barriers of misunderstanding. In many situations, a person is faced with the fact that his words, his desires and motives are somehow incorrectly perceived by the interlocutor, "do not reach" him. Sometimes one even gets the impression that the interlocutor is defending himself from us, our words and experiences, that he is erecting some kind of barriers.

In essence, each person has something to protect from exposure. Communication is influence; therefore, if communication is successful, there must be some change in the ideas about the world of the one to whom it is addressed. Meanwhile, not every person wants these changes, as they can disrupt his self-image, his way of thinking, his relationships with other people, his peace of mind. Naturally, a person will defend himself against such information and will do so firmly and decisively.

the outstanding psychologist B.F. Porshnev, he wrote as follows: “Although every speaker inspires, however, not every verbal suggestion is accepted as such, because in the overwhelming majority of cases there is also a counter psychological activity called countersuggestion, countersuggestion, which contains ways to protect against the inexorable action of speech "".

It is the countersuggestion that is main reason the emergence of those barriers that appear in the way of communication.

Porshnev identified three types of countersuggestion: avoidance, authority, and misunderstanding. As we will see later, avoidance and authority are defenses against the source of communication, and misunderstandings are defenses against the message itself.

avoidance. Avoidance of sources of influence, avoidance of contacts with a partner is implied. From the outside, this "protection" is very well traced - the person is inattentive, does not listen, "misses past ears", does not look at the interlocutor, constantly finds a reason to be distracted, uses any pretext to end the conversation.

Avoidance as a type of protection from exposure is manifested not only in the fact that the individual avoids certain people but also in avoiding certain situations.

Thus, the easiest way to protect against exposure is to avoid contact with the source of this exposure.

In connection with this action of authority, it is very important to know how it is formed and on what the assignment of authority to a particular person depends. Here you can find many different bases. This may be the social position (status) of the partner, his superiority in important this moment parameter or its attractiveness in certain situations, and good relationship to the addressee of the impact, etc. It is clear that, only taking into account the nature of the formation of ideas about the authority of the interlocutor, one can hope for the real effectiveness of communication.

Misunderstanding. It is far from always possible to identify the source of information as dangerous, alien or non-authoritative and thus protect against unwanted influence. Quite often, some potentially dangerous information for a person can also come from people whom we generally and generally trust. In this case, the defense will be a kind of misunderstanding of the message itself.

The system of barriers can be imagined as an automated security system- when the alarm is triggered, all access to the person is automatically blocked. In many cases, the alarm goes off on time. However, other options are also possible - a false alarm and disabling the alarm.

For anyone interested in effective communication, it is important to know how to overcome psychological barriers.

Communication always involves at least two people. Each person simultaneously affects and is affected.

attention management does not always require special knowledge, but if we manage ourselves or others intuitively, then, of course, mistakes are possible.

In any communication, it is important, firstly, that the listener's attention be drawn to the speaker and to what he says, and secondly, that this attention be constant, not scattered. This is the only way to increase the effectiveness of communication. Consequently, both the speaker and the listener must be able to solve problems of attention management - these are tasks of attracting attention and maintaining it.

The first of the most effective methods of attracting attention is reception of "neutral phrase". Its essence, with all the variety of applications, comes down to the fact that at the beginning of the speech a phrase is uttered that is not directly related to the main topic, but for some reason it certainly has meaning, meaning and value for all those present and therefore collects their attention.

The second method of attracting and concentrating attention is the so-called reception of "enticement". Its essence lies in the fact that the speaker at first says something in a way that is difficult to perceive, for example, very quietly, very incomprehensibly, too monotonously or illegibly. The listener has to make special efforts to at least understand something, and these efforts involve concentration of attention. Using this technique, the speaker, as it were, provokes the listener to apply methods of concentration of attention.

Another important way to "gather" attention is eye contact technique between speaker and listener. A lot of people use this technique, knowing its effectiveness: they look around the audience, stare intently at one person, fix the gaze of several people in the audience and nod to them, etc. Establishing eye contact is a technique widely used in any communication (not only in mass communication, but also in personal, business, etc.). Staring at a person, we attract his attention, constantly moving away from someone's gaze, we show that we do not want to communicate: any conversation begins with mutual eye contact.

The next task in managing attention is maintaining it. The listener's attention can be distracted by any extraneous stimulus - a loud knock on the door, an interesting conversation of neighbors, a change in lighting, one's own thoughts off topic, etc. The first group of techniques for maintaining attention, in essence, boils down to excluding all extraneous influences as much as possible, isolating oneself from them as much as possible. That is why this group can be called methods of "isolation".

That is why the technique of "isolation" for the listener is the skills of his own listening, the ability not to be distracted by his thoughts and not to lose information.

Another group of techniques for maintaining attention is methods of "imposing a rhythm". A person's attention is constantly fluctuating, as if flickering, and if you do not specifically make efforts to restore it all the time, then it will inevitably slip away, switch to something else. Monotonous, monotonous presentation especially contributes to such distraction. When our interlocutor speaks monotonously, without expression * even an interested listener can hardly hold his attention, and the more he tries to hold it, the more he falls asleep. It is here that the techniques of "imposing a rhythm" are applied. Constantly changing the characteristics of voice and speech is the easiest way to set the desired rhythm of the conversation.

The next group of techniques for maintaining attention are the so-called accent techniques. They are used in cases where it is necessary to draw the partner's special attention to certain, important from the speaker's point of view, moments in the message, situations, etc. These methods can be divided into direct and indirect. Straight emphasis is achieved through the use of various service phrases, the meaning of which is actually attracting attention; such as "please pay attention", "it is important to note that...", "it is necessary to emphasize that...", etc. Indirect accentuation is achieved due to the fact that the places to which attention should be drawn stand out from the general structure of communication due to contrast - they are organized in such a way as to contrast with the surrounding background and therefore automatically attract attention.

Managing attention in communication is an important task not only for the speaker, but also for the listener. If he wants to see and hear exactly what the partner says and does, and not something else, then he must be able to control his attention.

Similar information.

Communication is the most important component in the activities of the leader, since communication is the exchange of information between people. Without the exchange of information, they cannot work together, formulate tasks and solve them.

When exchanging information, specific communication barriers may arise. They exist both at the level of interpersonal and at the level of organizational communications. The emergence of a barrier of understanding is usually associated with a number of reasons, both psychological and other.

A communication barrier is a combination of external and internal causes and phenomena that hinder effective communication or completely block it.

The main barriers are:

1. Interpersonal barriers: perception barriers, semantic barriers, non-verbal barriers, poor feedback, inability to listen;

2. Complex (mixed) interpersonal barriers: barrier "authority", barrier "avoidance", barrier "misunderstanding", barrier "logical misunderstanding".

It is important for almost all people to be able to communicate in such a way that they are understood correctly, that they are listened to and heard. Therefore, it is important to know how to overcome communication barriers.

Overcoming avoidance. The fight against this kind of barriers includes managing the attention of a partner, the audience, and one's own attention.

To attract attention. Attention can be attracted by external and internal factors. External are the novelty (surprise), intensity and physical characteristics of the signal, internal are those that are determined by the relevance, significance, importance of the signal for a person, depending on his intentions and goals at the moment.

Maintaining attention. The listener's attention can be distracted by any stimulus that is extraneous in relation to this interaction - a loud knock on the door, one's own thoughts off topic, etc.

Managing attention in communication is an important task not only for the speaker, but also for the listener.

Using the phenomenon of authority. According to the criterion of authority, a person decides the question of trust in the interlocutor. If he is recognized as non-authoritative, his influence will not be successful, but if there is authority, then communication will be effective.

Overcoming the phonetic barrier. It is unlikely that anyone will be surprised by the advice: in order to be correctly understood, one must speak clearly, legibly, loudly enough, etc. Also, feedback is extremely important to overcome the phonetic barrier. In a given conversation, the optimal rate of speech or diction can be established along the way, based on the reaction of the listener.

Overcoming the semantic barrier. The semantic barrier is a consequence of the mismatch of people's thesauri. Overcoming this barrier is possible with a more complete understanding of the partner's status. In essence, there is nothing impossible in this - we constantly take into account the status of a partner in communication, although we do this involuntarily. Numerous errors in communication are associated precisely with the underestimation of the difference in the vocabulary of different people.

Overcoming the stylistic barrier. To overcome the stylistic barrier, it is necessary to be able to correctly structure the transmitted information, which will be easier to understand and better remembered. Overcoming the logical barrier. Logic, as you know, can be different, which means that when building an impact, it is important to take into account the partner’s favorite logic.

Overcoming the logical barrier is associated with the knowledge of the effectiveness of different arguments and ways of argumentation. In order to be understood by the interlocutor, it is necessary, if possible, to take into account the logic of the partner.

Effective communication can be called that communication, in which the influence of barriers is reduced to a minimum. Overcoming communication barriers is carried out in various ways, such as: removing all objective barriers, using the most understandable vocabulary for the interlocutor, avoiding complex or professional terminology, formulating the message as clearly and clearly as possible, determine the success of the context of a particular communication situation, regular feedback.

Thus, communication barriers inevitably lead to inefficient management of the organization and interfere with the work of the manager if measures are not taken to eliminate them in time.

1. The concept and types of communication barriers.- [electronic resource].- Access mode- http://genefis.ru/view.php?id=14

2. Zverintsev A.B. Communication management. PR manager's workbook St. Petersburg: Soyuz, 1997.-267 p.

3. Conflict and barriers in communication. - [electronic resource]. - Access mode - http://www.sunhome.ru/psychology/1417/p2

In studying this issue, the student should learn that interpersonal and organizational barriers hinder the effective communication process.

Interpersonal barriers- due to perception, semantics, non-verbal information, low-quality feedback, inability to listen.

1. Perceptual barriers - conflict between areas of competence, the basis of the judgment of the sender to the recipient. It occurs almost always in the transfer of information, especially in communications between an individual and a group. This is due to the fact that from the entire flow of information, people select only data that attracts their attention. Therefore, those communications are considered effective in which at least 30% of the information is already known to the recipients, is within their competence and has formed certain stereotypes of perception in them.

In addition, people interpret the same information differently depending on accumulated experience. In particular, an experienced worker knows how to solve problems that arise in the production process, understands his manager perfectly. A beginner will have to make much more effort and time to understand the situation and make the right decision.

The selectivity of perception largely depends on social status of interlocutors. As a rule, the words of the boss are listened to more than the words of the subordinate.

The factor that determines selective perception is also emotional condition information recipient. Emotional arousal interferes with the normal perception of information: a person hears only himself, is captured by his own feelings and experiences.

2. Semantic barriers . Semantics studies the ways in which words are used and their meaning. It is known that words (symbols) various people is understood differently, so what someone says is not necessarily also understood by the receiver of the information. For example, a manager instructs a subordinate to perform certain work when he is free, i.e. he means that the work is not very urgent, and the subordinate may understand differently and postpone the really important and urgent work. This also applies to professional statements or words of foreign origin.

3. Sociocultural differences between the sender and recipient of information. They are manifested in the communication of people of different social strata, nations and religions, when not only words can have different meanings (in case of imperfect translation or use of jargon), but also gestures, tone, rituals, i.e. nonverbal symbols.

4. Non-verbal barriers . Non-verbal information is the use of any symbols instead of words (look, facial expressions, gestures, intonation).

5. Poor quality feedback . As already mentioned, feedback consists in the fact that it makes it possible to determine whether the message received by the recipient is really understood in the way the sender wishes. Poor quality feedback makes it impossible to determine this. This complicates communications, the sender does not have confidence that his information was correctly understood.

6. inability to listen . Many people think that listening is just being calm and letting the other person talk, but this is only a small part of the process of attentive, focused listening. Often communications are ineffective because the recipient cannot accurately perceive the message being conveyed.

Organizational communication barriers:

1. Distortion of messages . Messages can be distorted unintentionally due to the difficulty of interpersonal contacts and consciously, when any employee does not agree with the message, then he interprets the message in his own interests. For example, there is a tendency to report only good things to top-level managers. Those. subordinates do not inform the manager about a potential or existing problem, but rather only report good news, because they want to get a good attitude from him.

2. Information overload arising as a result of huge flows of information.

3. Unsatisfactory organizational structure (the presence of unnecessary functional units, a large number of management levels). It has been proven that the more levels of management an enterprise has, the higher the probability of information overload, since each next level of management can correct and filter messages.

Ways to improve the communication process:

1. Regulation of information flows. Such an information exchange is considered optimal, in which only that information is transmitted and in such an amount that is necessary to ensure the management process.

2. Interaction between the leader and subordinates: short meetings with one or more subordinates to discuss problems, reduce the time of meetings, encourage the initiative of employees seeking contact with the leader.

3. Organization effective system feedback: sending executives to structural divisions to discuss various issues, questioning and surveys of employees.

4.Offer collection system:

Most often, such a system is implemented in the form of suggestion boxes, where employees of the company can anonymously submit their proposals. However, this option is not very effective, since the employee does not know whether his proposals have been considered or not, and there is also no remuneration of employees for rationalization proposals;

A private telephone network through which employees can make anonymous calls and ask questions;

Creation of a group of managers and ordinary workers who meet and discuss issues of mutual interest;

Quality mugs.

5. Creation and distribution of information bulletins about the work of the enterprise, financial indicators.

6. Computerization of the information process.

Thus, communications, as an integral element of management technology, must be effective. To do this, it is necessary not only to choose the right communication methods, but also to minimize the impact of communication barriers.

Overcoming avoidance. The fight against this kind of barriers includes managing the attention of a partner, the audience, and one's own attention.

To attract attention. Psychological research shows that attention can be attracted by external and internal factors. External are the surprise, intensity and physical characteristics of the signal, internal are those that are determined by the relevance, significance, importance of the signal for a person, depending on his intentions and goals at the moment.

Maintaining attention. The ability to maintain attention is associated with the awareness of the same factors that are used when attracting attention, but this time it is a fight against the fact that the attention of another is distracted by some kind of "alien" stimuli that do not come from us.

The listener's attention can be distracted by any stimulus that is extraneous in relation to this interaction - a loud knock on the door, one's own thoughts off topic, etc. The first group of techniques for maintaining attention essentially boils down to excluding all extraneous influences as much as possible, to "isolate" from them as much as possible. Another group of techniques for maintaining attention is the constant change in the characteristics of voice and speech in order to avoid monotony.

Managing attention in communication is an important task not only for the speaker, but also for the listener.

Overcoming the phonetic barrier. In order to be correctly understood, one must speak distinctly, legibly, loudly enough, etc. To overcome the phonetic barrier, feedback is extremely important. In a given conversation, the optimal rate of speech or diction can be established along the way, based on the reaction of the listener.

Overcoming the semantic barrier. The semantic barrier is a consequence of the mismatch of people's thesauri. Due to the fact that each person has a unique individual experience, he also has a unique thesaurus (this is understanding in communication and interaction of people connected by the same discipline or profession). We constantly take into account the partner's thesaurus in communication, although we do this involuntarily. Numerous errors in communication are connected precisely with the underestimation of the difference between thesauri. We constantly underestimate the difference in thesauri, based on the belief that "everyone understands everything like me." Meanwhile, just the opposite is correct: "everyone understands everything in their own way."

Overcoming the logical barrier. Overcoming the logical barrier is associated with the knowledge of the effectiveness of different arguments and ways of argumentation. There are two main ways of constructing argumentation: ascending and descending. Ascending argumentation is such a construction of a sequence of arguments in which their strength increases from the beginning to the end of the message. With descending argumentation, on the contrary, the strength of the arguments decreases towards the end of the message. Conclusion: in order to be understood by the interlocutor, it is necessary, if possible, to take into account the logic of the partner. The most important individual communication skill is the ability to listen.

Secondly, it is necessary to choose suitable channels for the transmission of one's own messages. A complex message requires the use of a capacious communication channel (telephone, personal conversation), routine messages and data can be transmitted in the form of notes, letters or e-mail. Thirdly, both the sender and the recipient must try to understand the other party's point of view. When receiving information, managers must exercise special attention, which will allow them to recognize if the interlocutor has any prejudices, clarify what was misunderstood, and correct their own message. When a manager sees everything with his own eyes, meets people, he gets a much more complete picture of the organization, gets the opportunity to directly convey important ideas and values to employees.

Second, managers must develop and use formal channels of communication, in all directions. Third, managers should encourage the simultaneous use of multiple channels of communication, formal and informal. These multiple channels include written directives, face-to-face discussions. Fourth, the structure of the organization must match the needs for communications. If there is a shortage of horizontal communication channels in an organization, similar teams can be created in it, other “rapid response” groups, positions of integrator managers, and matrix structures can be introduced. The organizational structure, among other things, should reflect the needs for information.

Communication has long been an integral part of our lives. At work, while studying, in transport, at home, on the Internet - but you never know where else! It occupies the lion's share of our time. And everything would be fine if it were not for communication barriers. It is they, these annoying hindrances, that prevent us from enjoying and benefiting from it. These barriers arise in a variety of situations and in almost every person. Therefore, in order to achieve success in life, you need to have a good understanding of what communication barriers are and how to overcome them.

What are the difficulties in communication?

Probably, each of you had the feeling that the interlocutor seemed to be defending himself, erecting an invisible wall between you. This wall is that notorious barrier. Where do they come from? Communication barriers appear in our lives for various reasons - as a rule, this is a close interweaving of the characteristics of our characters and situations. And already, it happens, you can’t figure out who or what is to blame.

As mentioned above, almost every person faced problems in various communication situations, regardless of their gender, age, social status, values and attitudes. This can only mean one thing - the reasons for which there are barriers to communication are different, and they are present in the life of every person.

These reasons may or may not be recognized by communicating people. It largely depends on how quickly these people notice that they have problems, understand what kind they are, and finally be able to solve them. By the way, communication barriers can even be contrived by one or more interlocutors - and even this is enough for failures in interacting with each other.

It must be said that some barriers may be more common than others in certain people and in certain situations. They can be characteristic of a certain gender, age, profession, nationality, culture, situation. Each of these patterns deserves separate consideration, but we will not do this in the framework of our article.

So, what are the main types of communication barriers?

Communication barriers. These are communication barriers associated with the exchange of information between interlocutors in the course of communication. What are they?

semantic barrier. He gets in your way when you and your interlocutor mean completely different things by the same concepts. Such a barrier occurs almost always and everywhere, because. We have a very different understanding of many things. For example, for one girl good husband- this is the one who loves her, takes care of her, earns enough money, wants a child, likes to spend time with her; and for the other, the one who rarely drinks and rarely beats her. Therefore, speaking on the same topic - “what kind of men are all the same!” - they will actually talk about different things and may encounter misunderstandings with each other. In order to destroy this barrier, it is necessary to understand the partner and his picture of the world well - the meanings that he puts into various concepts. In case of possible inaccuracies, always explain in detail what you mean, and try to use words and phrases that are understandable to the interlocutor.

logical barrier. In fact, this is the inability to express one's thoughts. In the speech of such a person, causal relationships are confused, there is a substitution of concepts. Or it can be difficult for him to find words for those complex thoughts that run through his head. If you encounter such an interlocutor, then be patient: listen to him very carefully and ask questions - this will help you get the information you need. If you yourself sin with such a feature, then it is better to try to get rid of it. Listen to how good speakers or writers express their thoughts, read a textbook on logic, take a public speaking class, or simply ask friends for feedback with recommendations - any of these options will help you become a more attractive conversationalist.

phonetic barrier. This is a bad speech technique - when it is not clear what the interlocutor is saying, and this makes it difficult to perceive information. If you are interested in communicating with this person, then there are several options. With a formal or business communication you will have to adapt to his manner of speaking, occasionally asking again in incomprehensible moments. In informal or friendly communication, you can gently convey to the interlocutor that it is difficult for you to understand him because of some features of his speech. Ask him, if possible, to adapt to you and correct them.

modality barrier. We all receive information from the world through five senses, but one of them is a priority. This is your modality. For example, people with a visual modality are best at assimilating the information they see, but the information they hear is much worse. Knowing this, try to immediately determine the modality of your interlocutor and use it: show graphs and diagrams to the visual, play with your voice with the auditory, and touch the kinesthetic more often and show everything “on your fingers”. Use appropriate verbs in your speech, such as “see,” “hear,” or “feel.”

Personal barrier. Each of us has a character, and some of its features may not suit someone. But for someone, these features are so pointed that his character can be a barrier in communication. This may be due to ignorance of their features or a lack of self-control. For example, excessive slowness or, conversely, fussiness can annoy communication partners. In case you yourself have encountered such a person, try to communicate your discomfort and ask him to be slower or faster. Well, try to adequately perceive your own shortcomings, because. for some, they can also become a barrier.

Interaction barriers. These are barriers associated with interaction with a person during communication and arising from dissatisfaction with the behavior of a communication partner. As a rule, there are significant differences in the positions of the interlocutors.

Motivational barrier. It occurs when communication partners have different motives for making contact. For example, you want support from a friend, but she wants you to discuss her new dress. In this case, you may encounter misunderstanding and even quarrel. To prevent this from happening, it will be useful to indicate your own motives in time: “You know, now I really need you to support me, and then we will discuss the dress.”

barrier of incompetence. Often found in collaboration. You may be angry at your partner's incompetence when he starts talking nonsense that is obvious to you. This causes feelings of anger, frustration and wasted time. You have two options - either gradually push him to a deeper understanding of the issue (for example, gently explaining something), or curtail communication. The choice is yours, and it depends on your goals.

ethical barrier. It arises in a situation of incompatibility of the moral positions of communication partners. The main thing is not to try to re-educate or ridicule your interlocutor. It is much more correct to curtail communication or try to find some kind of compromise, especially if you have some important common goal.

communication style barrier. Each of us has our own unique style. It depends on temperament, character, upbringing, profession and other factors. As a rule, it takes a long time to form, and then it becomes difficult to change it. The communication style includes the main motive (why do you communicate - self-affirmation, support, etc. ...), attitude towards others (kindness, tolerance, cruelty ...), attitude towards yourself and the nature of the impact on people (pressure, manipulation, persuasion and etc...). Most often, we have to simply accept the communication style of another person, since it is difficult to change it, and communication is often necessary.

Barriers to understanding and perception. These are barriers associated with the perception and knowledge of each other, as well as with the establishment of mutual understanding on this basis.

aesthetic barrier. It occurs when we do not like the way the interlocutor looks. For its occurrence different reasons, for example, if he is untidy or slovenly dressed or we are annoyed by something in his appearance. It can be difficult not to think about it, but it is necessary, because this contact can be very important for us.

social barrier. The reason for difficulties in communication may be the different social status of partners. However, it is important to remember here that the appearance of such a barrier is primarily associated with attitudes in the minds of the interlocutors. If they attach importance to each other's social position and for them it can be an obstacle, this can complicate communication. But for many situations, status is unimportant - for example, to discuss some of your favorite activities or support each other.

Barrier of negative emotions. Agree, it is quite difficult to communicate with an upset or angry person. Many of us tend to take these emotions personally (at least in part). Here it is necessary to remember that often the reason for the bad mood of the interlocutor lies in some other things - the situation in the family, problems at work or a personal crisis. However, if the negative emotions of the interlocutor significantly impede the conversation, it is better to postpone it for another time.

installation barrier. Very often, communication is complicated if your partner initially does not have a very good opinion of you. In most cases, it will be best to discuss this issue and honestly ask the interlocutor about it, try to explain to him that he is mistaken. In those situations where this is not possible, just try to take this fact into account and build your communication with your partner carefully enough. When some time passes and he realizes that his installation is not supported by anything, it may disappear by itself.

Double barrier. It lies in the fact that we involuntarily think of our interlocutor as ourselves: we attribute our opinions and views to him and expect from him the same actions that we ourselves would have committed. But he is different! It is important not to forget about this and try to perceive and remember everything that distinguishes him from us.

Rudeness and ignorance. We all come across people who are simply ill-bred. Sometimes such treatment just needs to be endured, especially in the case when a person does not respond to comments. It is very important to remain polite in such a situation - sometimes this in itself suppresses rudeness. Remember that in dealing with such a person you have some kind of goal, and this is clearly not a desire to put him in his place.

Inability to listen. It manifests itself in a lack of interest in what you are saying, a desire to talk about yourself, or constant interruption. If you need a nosebleed in this situation to be listened to, try to speak better. Use various ways attracting attention: intonation, facial expressions, gestures, the basics of NLP.

Who is he - a person who regularly encounters barriers in communication?

We told you about the main barriers that prevent fruitful communication between people. However, have you noticed that some people constantly have some kind of difficulties associated with communication, while others go like clockwork?

Indeed, there are types of character that make it difficult to interact with other people. As a rule, such a person behaves in a similar way in completely different situations. And then he himself complains that no one wants to communicate with him. In this case, the personality of this person acts as a barrier in communication.

What are the main features of such a character? First of all, it is necessary to say about such a feature as global distrust. Such a person does not trust himself, nor people, nor the world in general. He is suspicious and opposed to those around him. As a rule, he achieves his goals at the expense of other people. At the same time, he is often torn apart by internal contradictions, which he is not very aware of. A person who is unsuccessful in communication is characterized by self-centeredness, authoritarianism and a tendency to manipulation.

He loves very much when he is praised, when he gets what he has long wanted. He has possessive traits. If his desires are not satisfied, he gets angry, but at the same time he almost never helps other people in achieving their goals and does not sympathize with them. Such a person is emotionally unstable, and his mood often changes. Those around him describe him as irritable and quick-tempered, but internally cold. He often experiences negative emotions and has a low level of self-control.

This person has a poor understanding of others and their feelings. He is insensitive to what happens to them, is distinguished by low insight and observation. It is not given to him to understand that something else may be important to the interlocutor or that he understands the meaning of this or that phrase in a different way. Often he is not able to predict and assess the future. He is characterized by timidity, isolation, self-doubt, alienation, passivity, lack of initiative.

Usually such a person turns out to be intolerant, poorly educated and ignorant. At the same time, he thinks in very rigid categories and frameworks, and the surrounding reality should not go beyond them. He has a lot of stereotypes. He is envious and at the same time conceited. Expects a lot from other people, prone to outbursts of jealousy.

He does not know how to argue his statements, choose an adequate form for them, establish and stop contact with others. Unsuccessful in communication, a person does not know how to give good feedback. He talks a lot and listens little, periodically makes unacceptably long pauses in his speech, likes to interrupt his interlocutors and then “slow down” (this is due to the fact that his vocabulary does not match what he wants to say).

For him, social norms often turn out to be incomprehensible - he does not know how to keep his distance, he is prone to blackmail, lies, pressure and aggression. Most often in communication uses the following strategies: protection and avoidance of communication, depreciation of the opinions of others and aggression, control over others or excessive formalism. Such a person can be characterized as immature, infantile, and sometimes immoral.

As a rule, this person is not very satisfied with his life and success. Any failures cause anger and aggression in him, as a result of which he often tries to achieve his goals by some immoral means. He does not value himself or other people. He lacks the ability to truly love and have close relationships, so he usually does not have friends and loved ones.

Indeed, the psychological portrait we have drawn is terrible and resembles the image of some kind of criminal or marginal. But in one way or another, it is. Constant communication difficulties are a symptom that a person has something wrong inside himself. But it is far from necessary that he will have all the features and features listed above. Psychological picture, written above, is collective, and it includes a great many different people with a common problem. Therefore, in life you can observe only some individual traits and features.

Difficulties in communication and life situation

However, it all depends not only on the personality and character of the person. There are situations in which almost all of us become uncomfortable. This is reflected in all our behavior, including communication with other people. In this case, the barrier is the situation that caused discomfort, and its features.

Once in such circumstances, all participants in communication feel uncomfortable. Some are more aware of this, and some less so. At the same time, they do not just feel it - by chance or on purpose they prevent each other from satisfying their desires and achieving the goals of communication. As a result of this, everyone is worried, angry, do not understand each other and generally tense up. Most often this happens in situations of restriction, refusal, accusation and insult (which, in general, is not surprising).

On the one hand, collective memory affects. Humanity in general and the inhabitants of Russia in particular have repeatedly experienced suppression, repression, wars, famine. Therefore, insults, accusations, restrictions and refusals are very clearly imprinted in the minds of people, who subsequently use them more and more often to resolve conflicts, overcome obstacles, gain power and even seek happiness. This is becoming a typical way of responding to an entire nation, speaking globally.

On the other hand, having such a negative memory becomes optional when we have such a richly represented culture of aggression. Probably each of you will agree that in modern society aggression is given a lot of attention. All kinds of media are especially guilty of this - television, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, advertising companies. The culture of aggression is also gaining popularity due to some features of our lives: overcrowding of schools, hospitals and prisons, high level unemployment, low qualifications of people working with the population, low wages and lack of career prospects, corruption, poor quality of government work and much more, which you know firsthand. You all experience this and know that these situations are always fraught with communication barriers.

How to understand that there is a barrier in communication?

Of course, being inside the situation, it is not difficult to do this. In the process of difficult communication, you experience discomfort, distrust of your partner, cannot open up, show emotions, do not know what to say - in general, such communication cannot be called easy. However, if you need to assess the presence of psychological barriers, then knowing how people behave in a situation of difficult communication will be very useful.

In the role of such an external indicator is our non-verbal. Hostility, craving for power and dominance, insincerity and the desire to stand out are especially clearly manifested in it. As we wrote above, our unlucky subject in communication can experience this whole gamut of feelings and desires. In what specific signs are all its negative features manifested?

1. First, it is eye contact. In the case of communication barriers, it is usually rare, not intense, and sometimes completely absent. Glances at a partner may be present (there are even long ones), but they all occur at the moment of active communication - especially when the interlocutor states something unpleasant, but important. Moreover, if the interlocutor begins to look away, sensing something was wrong, our “subject” will immediately try to pretend to be a darling and look into them - but this look will actually be cold and hard.

2. Secondly, this is the pose. Feeling difficulties in communication, people often take either unnatural, angular and tense postures, or vice versa, inadequately relaxed, sometimes even lax. Very often, the position of the body is closed (crossed arms, legs, the body turns away from the interlocutor) or “elevated” (the desire to sit higher, look down at the interlocutor).

3. Thirdly, gestures. As a rule, they are sharp and intense, which is also unnatural. The desire to hide the hands (for example, in pockets or behind the back), clench the hands into fists, “grab” or take up more space due to posture and gestures is clearly expressed. This may be interspersed with private touching of oneself and the other.

4. Fourth, facial expressions. The face often expresses tension. Facial expressions are strange - for example, the mouth can smile, but the eyes remain motionless. In general, the face is characterized by expressions that demonstrate distrust and hostility towards the interlocutor, as well as contempt and anger.

Of course, a person experiencing communication difficulties does not always behave in this way. These are only the most typical and striking markers, and from them one can conclude not only that there are barriers in the interaction, but also about the interlocutors themselves - about their attitude towards each other and about their goals and guidelines in communication.

How to overcome communication difficulties?

So, we moved on to the most interesting thing - how to step over psychological barriers. Difficulties in communication are not easy, but they can be overcome. "How?" - you ask. And we will tell you about some ways and techniques to overcome communication barriers.

Watch your appearance. This does not mean that you should always look like a movie star on the red carpet. On the contrary, in many situations it will be pretentious and unnatural. Your appearance should evoke sympathy. This is facilitated by accuracy, neatness and the ability to wear those things that really suit you.

The manner of communication should correspond to the situation and people. Agree, it will be a bad move if at the disco you communicate with everyone with restraint and strictness, and at the negotiations - fun and without distance. Consider the characteristics of the interlocutor: his age, gender, upbringing, character and views. For example, you should not wear a short skirt to a meeting with a Muslim.

Try to put yourself in the place of a communication partner and try to understand his point of view. As you probably already understood, we are all different from each other. The same things are perfect for us different meanings, and we understand them differently. This is where most of the barriers come from. Most The right way the solution to such problems is to allow the other to be different and different from you, and also to try to understand his position, even if you do not agree with it.

Practice empathy and sensitivity. This, accordingly, is the ability to empathize with other people and feel what is happening to them to the smallest changes in the state. These two traits are the key to success in communication.

Don't expect from your partners what they can't give you. So you only cause resentment in yourself and guilt in the other for not giving you. Try to want real things from partners that match their characteristics, and tell them about your expectations.

Do not try to fully live up to your partner's expectations. Firstly, it is boring, and secondly, it is very difficult, and it is impossible to exist like this for a long time. It is better to be natural to the maximum, but taking into account the interlocutor and social norms.

Watch your words. Your messages should be logically connected, contain information of interest to the interlocutor and rely on something in common - for example, common understanding the meaning of words or some minimal shared memory. Your speech should be understandable to the interlocutor both in the literal sense and in the sense of matching his horizons.

Be open and honest about your thoughts, feelings, and expectations. If you are asked about something, and you are already sure of your refusal, it is better to voice it right away. So neither you nor the interlocutor will lose time and resources.

Reception "view from the side." Sometimes, in order to understand something (for example, to realize what specifically interferes with your communication with your partner), you need to look at the situation from the outside, describe it in abstract words without introducing your emotions and personal characteristics.

Respect your partner. Even if he annoys you incredibly, try to show your imagination and find something that will make you respect him. It can be some little thing, for example, his manner of highlighting individual words with intonation. Or something more serious - for example, a very rude person in communication, who at the same time spends half of his income on charity. In any person, you can find something good and worthy of respect, and if you can’t do this, then you should think - do you really need this communication?

Unfortunately, in life there is no such thing that you can communicate without barriers only with pleasant people. As a rule, we all somehow find ourselves in situations where these difficulties arise. The task facing you at this moment is to feel the barrier, determine its type and apply the method that most effectively eliminates it. Be calm, self-confident, tolerant of the weaknesses of others and try not to get into conflict situations!