13 Barriers of Listening

Dr.Priti Hingorani

1.      Module 13: Barriers of Listening

2.      Learning Outcomes

3.      Introduction

4.      Types of Listening Barriers

5.      Techniques to Overcome Listening Barriers

6.      Summary

1.  Module 13: Barriers of Listening

2.  Learning Outcomes:

• By the end of this module, students will be able to
• Know various barriers to effective listening.
• Learn the techniques to overcome the barriers to effective listening.

3.  Introduction

In this era of globalization, people are so busy and the urge to multitask is very high and often becomes the biggest barrier in listening. It is not easy but most of people do this while someone is speaking. At the same time people are engaged with something else that is happening in the immediate environment, they are either talking to someone, or thinking about house hold works, or preparing in mind what to reply. All these small instances lead to big barriers in listening. Rega, M. (2000) explained that, “A major part of your success in listening will come from accepting that you can only do one thing at a time successfully.” This is how through following this statement people can overcome the barriers of Listening.

4. Types of Barriers to Listening

Deep Listening is miraculous for both listener and speaker. When someone receives us with open-hearted, non-judging, intensely interested listening, our spirit expand

–      Sue Patton Thoele

Author

To have better listening, it is essential to be aware about the barriers of listening and the techniques to overcome those barriers. The following are some variables that create barriers to listening:

4.1 Listener Oriented Barriers

Receiver or listener oriented barriers can be seen in the course of the interaction. Although at the initial phase, i.e. when speaker is formulating his message into words, at that point of time listeners role is passive, he becomes active when he starts understanding and grasping the information. Similarly like speaker listener is also equally to be blamed if the situation goes worst and message is discontinued, or if it leads to some conflicts due to the misinterpretation.

The  barriers from listener’s side are further discussed below:

4.1.1 Lack of interest in listening

It results due to two reasons:

– Listeners feel that they know the topic very well and their knowledge is so wide that there is little left to learn.

– Listeners feel that the topic is not relevant to them; they listen to information within their interest.

In these two conditions receivers stop listening when they really feel that the topic is not of their interest or they know more than what is being conveyed, or the speaker have nothing new to offer.

4.1.2 Preconceived and premature ideas

If the listener is very rigid for the preconceived knowledge and is not flexible in grasping the change, it results in listener related barriers. Premature evaluation jumps to conclusion, as psychologist Carl Rogers has noted, “The problem is the very human tendency to evaluate what is said from one’s point of view only” (Raman & Singh, 2006). This immediate evaluation sets as a barrier.

4.1.3 Perceptual alteration

Differences in perception is the situation in which we hear the message the way we want to and miss the real meaning that sender was trying to convey. Although the speaker wants to convey some particular message but we perceive it our own way. It occurs most often when listeners interpret words based on their own experience and attach different meanings to it.

4.1.4 Ego centralism

Ego is one of the big barriers in listening through the side of individuals. A new employee who joined recently in the organization will not be listened by senior employees, or a person with less experience will be underestimated by those professionals having high experience. This is because of the ego barrier which comes in between two individuals as the listener often refuse to listen to opposing view because of self-image.

Source: Mukerjee, H. (2013), Business Communication: Connecting at Work, Oxford University Press, New Delhi

4.1.5 Selective discernment

It is rightly said, that ‘half knowledge is a dangerous thing’. Listeners suffer from the barrier of selective discernment, when they pick up information selectively, i.e. they listen to those points what they feel of their use and leave the other information. As the message is not fully listened it acts as a barrier and leads to miscommunication.

4.1.6 Daydreaming

Sometimes it happens that the listener is lost in some other thoughts and is not able to receive the information or message. The thoughts can be having some earlier memories or may be some future plans, due to this the present ideas are not listened and the message is lost.

Source: Dawle, A. (2014) “Listening Skills”, available online at http://www.slideshare.net/dawle_ap/listening-skill-31922743

4.1.7 Physiological Reasons

Reasons like mood swings, anxiety, depressions, ill health, fatigue, sleeplessness or other related problems also works as a barrier to listening. The casual attitude or lack of effort or concentration also results in barriers. This attitude or mindset is structured by listener’s unique physical, mental and emotional characteristics.

4.1.8 Focus on actions

Instead of listening to the words, the listeners shift their focus on the actions or appearance of the speaker. The listening barrier here plays role when the listeners instead of concentrating on words or message shift their attention to the way of communicating and the dressing of the speaker. In this way speaker non verbal signals act as a barrier and the message is not taken by the listener.

4.1.9 Self centred listening

Rather than listening on what is being said by the speaker the listener concentrates on what he needs to reply. This is known as self centred barrier towards listening because here the listener is not listening but just phrasing their own ideas to be spoken out.

4.1.10 Emotional Barriers

Emotional needs take many forms. Bentley, T. (1993) explains, that “when we are listening to someone speak it is possible that what we hear can trigger prejudicial or emotional responses. The feeling thus generated interrupts our ability to listen well to the speaker.” This is not the fault of the speaker but the remembrance of past feelings which may leads to resentment, anger, disgust and works as an emotional barrier because with such emotional state we hardly could listen properly.

4.2 Speaker Oriented Barriers

Sender-oriented barriers could be controlled or uncontrolled. Attempt should be made on the part of the sender to recognize and eliminate those barriers. Before the person starts delivering the message the quality of his/her speaking style cannot be judged. The wrong delivery becomes the barrier in listening. As the sender is the creator of message, he needs to be tremendously careful not to raise barriers. If his communication gives rise to or signify that there are barriers, the communication comes to a pause. Some of the barriers that are sender-oriented are as follows:

4.2.1 Para linguistics

It refers to vocal communication which separates from actual message. Paralinguistic means the manner of speaking. The tone, voice, pitch, loudness, pauses and silences all matters. The monotonous or dull voice, low volume, makes the topic uninteresting and becomes a barrier through distracting the attention of listener.

4.2.2 Complex concept

It is important for a speaker to know about listeners, who are they, from which profession, their age and experience. For the reason that many times the listeners are from different background and are new to the subject which is going to be discussed. Despite of this the speaker stars with a complex concept rather than beginning with a simple one. As the listeners do not understand a complex concept of the subject they are new to, they stop listening.

4.2.3 Exceeding the time

The speakers suffer from the poor habit of not respecting the allocated time, i.e. exceeding the time and keep on speaking. When the speech is too long it deviates the concentration of listener and becomes a barrier for the listener to grasp the message.

4.2.4 Difference in speed

A person can speak fewer words in a minute in comparison to listening. The listening capability of an individual is much more than speaking and due to this gap, the listeners mind wanders towards other things. Due to the vacant mind conversation suffers with barriers, as during this free time many listeners surrender to external distractions. Therefore, speaker needs to understand its audience and make variation in his speech accordingly.

All these reasons affect interpretation of message and become the barriers in listening.

4.3 Environment Oriented Barriers

Environment barriers are those which are caused due to:

Some technical problems in the medium used for communication Due to certain turbulence in the nearby environment.

Also because of certain noise factors in surroundings.

Besides these, incorrect selection of medium of communication, wrong timings, poor lighting, improper space or distance between individuals, frequent movements of body parts or can be called as unnatural gestures, playing with a pen, difference in cultures or in relationships, or even offering tea during an significant discussion- all of these are also responsible for creating environment barriers. The important environment barriers are discussed below:

4.3.1 Medium of Communication

If the medium of communication is teleconferencing or videoconferencings there are chances that listening may suffer. At this time retaining interest will be very difficult because speaker may be sitting miles away from the listener. Besides this the technical issue of network cut, low audibility level, noises and sounds, malfunctioning of devices and other interruptions may also arise as a barrier.

4.3.2 Timings

Time is a very important aspect to deliver the message. To keep listeners attentive it is necessary for the speaker to choose the subject delivery according to the time. If the discussion on dry topic is started post lunch the listeners will feel bored and will not be interested in listening, as the mind is not active at that time and for a speaker it is very difficult to attract the attention of audience.

4.3.3 Physical barriers

If the sitting arrangement is not good, i.e. the chair on which the listener is seated is not comfortable, if the ventilation is poor, or if the temperature is too hot or cold, all these are responsible for listening related environmental barriers. At the same time any kind of noise or sounds equally affects listening.

4.3.4 Proximity

Refers to space or distance maintain between speaker and listener. The level of distance we maintain with others depends largely on our level of familiarity with the other persons. The space is less between friends, and more between professionals, and even more with strangers. But yes it is true that we can’t share the secret with someone standing too far, and this is how sometimes if the level of proximity is not balanced it works as a barrier to listening.

4.3.5 Cultural differences

In recent epoch diversity in culture is a common aspect. People with different cultures work together, and these differences between culture acts as an individual listening barrier. As in some countries it is acceptable to question the speaker while the conversation is going on but the same act is not tolerable in other cultures. The query between conversations is considered disrespectful, thus becomes a barrier.

4.3.6 Role of Relationships

A strong bond between speaker and listener helps in good understanding, but if the bond is not stronger it becomes a barrier in listening. If the listener is having antipathy towards speaker or if the speaker is not liked by listeners, then even the golden words spoken by the sender will not be grasped or listened by the receiver.

The impression of a speaker in listeners mind will determine to a large degree, what they learn or what influence the speaker made on them.

5. Overcoming Listening Barriers

We discussed various barriers to listening that we face in our day to day work environment. These barriers hamper the effective listening, and therefore it is important for a listener to practice the skill of listening to overcome these barriers.

Overcoming the barriers to listening is a difficult task; it demands patiently working on them. Thus, efforts should be made by the speaker, listener as well as others concerned with the process of listening to remove the barriers.

Techniques to overcome listening barriers are:

5.1 Overcoming Listeners related barriers

To overcome Listeners related barriers it’s important to avoid the biases while listening.

5.1.1 Develop interest:

If the message is too boring, use questions to probe for more interesting and inspiring material. If the information is too difficult, ask the speaker to simplify.

5.1.2 Preconceived idea/ knowledge:

Even if a person is an expert in particular field, it is vital to listen to others ideas. One should not block oneself to selective learning by listening only half view point or not to prejudge the speaker, rather learn to appreciate. Avoid criticizing and focus on the content not on the speaker.

5.1.3 To overcome selective discernment

It is important to listen with an open mind as it helps in gaining something new and knowledgeable, or a different viewpoint. Develop a positive attitude, seek areas of interest, and remind self that something of value can be learned.

5.1.4 Perceptual Alteration:

Evaluate the context properly as different words may have different meaning for different people. Focus on what is being said, than on who is saying it. Strive for removing personal biases, respect others freedom of values and believes. At least try to understand another’s viewpoint if not necessarily agreeing with it

5.1.5 Ego Barriers:

Ego harms the process of listening, and acts as a barrier, it’s important to overcome, as learning does not have any age, sometimes the less experienced people are tactful and can spread new ideas of working. Ego centralism can also harm others emotions as EGO depicts, ‘Edging God Out’. Thus if God is not residing in you it is the worst time span of one’s life.

5.1.6 Physiological Reasons:

To avoid this barrier receiver needs to keep away from listening when suffering from ill health, for better understanding listen when physically fit and increase listening efforts.

5.1.7 Concentrate instead of dreaming:

A complete attentiveness towards the content of the speech and not the delivery along with an unprejudiced, objective and cooperative attitude helps us to listen effectively.

5.1.8 Shift towards full body listening:

Instead of only focusing on actions, appearance or on words, try to make full body listening. If you are only lead by speaker’s appearance bring your mind back to listen carefully.

5.1.9 Emotional Language:

This barrier is difficult to overcome for those who are not in control of their emotions. It is better to avoid conversations when you are angry or excessively sad. Do self introspection to be aware and to control your emotions. Learning the skill of emotional intelligence can help you overcome this barrier.

5.2 Overcoming Speaker related barriers

This is one of the more difficult barriers to overcome. As firstly one needs to be self-aware that the speaker is distracting you. Don’t allow the distraction to build to a point where you stop listening.

5.2.1 Evaluate the paralinguistic:

Maintain the eye contact to observe non verbal signals, understand the actual meaning and provide feedback.

5.2.2 Complex content:

This is reasonably simple to deal with by asking questions of clarification. “Never let an acronym go unchallenged and use ‘What…?’ questions when the context is ambiguous. ‘What do you mean by..?’ is the simplest form” (Change factory, 2014).

5.2.3 Consciousness for the amount of time

It is noteworthy to be conscious about the time you spend while talking, and be alert for the listener’s signs. Be willing to give up the floor at reasonable intervals. Think before speaking; don’t keep on stretching the speech if there is nothing important to say.

5.2.4 Adjusting the speed: The mind wander because of the speed difference in listening and speaking activity. It is helpful to jot down the points or make the notes instead of relying on memory. Do not interrupt the speaker in between, it is better to write down the questions and clarify once the speaker has finished with his message.

5.3 Overcoming Environment related barrier

5.3.1 Medium of communication:

While listening through the help of technical devices, clarify doubts. Ask the speaker to give pauses while speaking if it seems difficult to grasp the message at one goes.

5.3.2 Physically fit environment:

Try to find and be in comfortable environment during the conversation, find a quiet area and sit with your back to windows and away from traffic. Identify and eradicate distractions, if distractions cannot be eliminated than increase concentration.

5.3.3 Right timings & Space:

Choose the right timings to discuss the subjects, the simple and the complex, and maintain the proper space between people while discussions or other related communications.

5.3.4 Cultural Barriers:

Listeners need to be patient and they must know the value system of other cultures so that they may act accordingly. To avoid misunderstanding in intercultural communication its necessary to clarify with the speaker to ensure that listener have understood the message correctly.

Overcoming these listening barriers may seem difficult. Practising some simple techniques will take away the difficulty and the rewards for doing so are great.

6. Summary

For the success of any type of listening activity, it is essential that the receiver or listener takes the same meaning to the message as projected by the speaker or sender of the message. But all acts of communication are not ideal or perfectly successful all the time. Listening includes not only hearing but also understanding various sounds, pitch, intonation, tone, etc. It is a two-step process. The first step is to listen carefully the second step is to check and analyze. Sometimes we do not pay attention to the speaker and regret afterwards and wish that we may had listened carefully what was being delivered by the speaker.

Things which hinder us in attentively listening acts as barriers in listening process which may lead to many misunderstandings. The barriers that lead to the failure of communication can be from listener side like; Lack of interest in listening, Preconceived and premature ideas, Perceptual alteration, Ego centralism, Selective discernment, Daydreaming, Physiological Reasons, Focus on actions, Self centred listening, Emotional Barriers, or from speaker side such as; Para linguistics, Complex concept, Exceeding the time, Difference in speed, or can be other environmental barriers as; Medium of Communication, Timings, Physical barriers, Proximity, Cultural differences etc.

To become a good listener we have to overcome listening barriers which seem difficult but are not impossible as there are various ways to listen thoughtfully.