Communication Obstructions In Communication

If no one heard the message, was it ever really said? When communicating, no matter how good a message may be, being obstructed can result with the receiver not understanding the purpose of the message. When an obstruction occurs, the message will be received imperfectly. Obstructions can exist in many forms as fault in the sender, receiver, and even the medium or channel used. These can be noise, the code, and the medium itself that can lead to obstructions.

Just like the static on a radio, noise can keep the listeners from hearing a message. In reference to communications, noise is anything that prevents a message from getting to the receiver completely accurately or perfectly. Noise can be divided into external noise and internal noise.

This can be time, clothing, hand and facial symbols, and artifacts. An obstacle to a nonverbal code could be time zones. If someone is trying to communicate to someone else who is in a different time zone, the time they are scheduled to communicate will be different. If this difference is not recognized, one party may be expecting a conference call, but the other may be just waking up. Another example could be fashion. In a tribe in Thailand, women are seen wearing copper rings that appear to extend their necks. While these rings look like they make the neck longer, they actually push down the shoulders and chest cavity. These rings mean various things among the sub-culture of the tribes such as beauty, age, and even protection. The strongest message communicated by these rings is actually when the rings are not there. When a woman divorces her husband or commits adultery, her copper rings are removed. Since the woman’s neck is so weak, they must spend the rest of their life lying down and she will forever be marked as someone

DePauw University defines verbal codes as “…a set of rules about the use of words in the creation of messages, whether spoken or written.” This definition can even be extended further into language that is not just spoken or written, but also physical and visual. For example, in a meeting not only will language be spoken and written, but it will also be portrayed in data charts. Obstacles to verbal communication can be not understanding the language, noise that prevents the message, but also not having the senses to receive the message. This has been overcome by sign language and braille but it can still be difficult because the entire culture is not able to communicate this way. The most difficult obstacle that was overcome of verbal communication was found in Helen Keller. This woman was blind and deaf by age of three. She was able to form simple gestures to express her wants and needs, but until the woman Anne Sullivan came Helen was unable to truly communicate. As Anne worked with Helen, she began to understand the concept of symbols and language and eventually learned sign language. Once Helen was much older, she even began to learn how to speak by placing her fingers on Anne’s throat, mouth, and nose (Wimp.com). Using her senses to feel vibrations, Helen was able to learn a complex form of verbal communication despite her