Physical barriers to communication are tangible issues that physically intervene between the sender and recipient of a message. They affect whether the message is received and heard in the way that the sender intended. There are many different types of physical barriers to communication, from distance through technology to environmental issues. Some may be natural, but others are distinctly artificial.

This page discusses some of the main physical barriers to communication. It also explains how these barriers can be overcome to improve the effectiveness of communication at home or at work.

Types of Physical Barriers to Communication

Two fundamental physical barriers to communication are distance and time.

Communication is generally easier when the two people involved are physically closer, because there are more options. Talking face to face is the clearest way to communicate, but even with that, there may be some barriers to communication such as background noise or the weather. As you get further away, there are fewer effective ways to communicate directly, and there are also more potential barriers to interfere.

Time can also cause problems such as delaying receipt of messages. People in different time zones may find it harder to communicate effectively because they are awake and functioning at different times of the day. This can be a particular issue at work, especially in multi-national companies where meetings may need to be scheduled out of hours for some people to accommodate workers elsewhere in the world.

There are also many barriers relating to the physical environment in which the communication takes place.

Environmental barriers to communication include:

• Background noise

  Background noise is the noise going on around you while you are trying to communicate—that is, the noise around and outside your immediate communication.

  In an office, it might include the noise of people chatting quietly or loudly, telephone conversations, and the background hum of a printer or other machinery. At home, it might include the noise of kitchen appliances, a running tap, or music playing. Outside, it could be the noise of cars or other traffic, or the sound of the weather.

  Background noise makes a huge difference to the transmission of spoken messages.

  There are two reasons for that. The first is a direct impact: noise simply makes it harder to hear the message. The second is indirect: background noise can be quite distracting. It can prevent the speaker from transmitting their message accurately, and it can stop the listener from focusing on the incoming message.

• Architectural barriers

  Architectural barriers are those created by the building in which you are living or working.

  They include things like the layout of the building and the internal environment, and also how people use the space. For example, it is much harder to transmit messages in an environment where there are no quiet spaces or meeting rooms. Open-plan offices are better for direct communication and knowing what is going on, but also noisier. An open-door policy is much better for communication than one where managers' doors are routinely kept closed.

  Architectural barriers may also be created when people are in different parts of the same building.

  For example, at home, parents may find it easier to communicate with teenage children by text, rather than shouting upstairs. At work, people in different departments or working on different floors may choose to email or phone rather than walk across to each other.

• Insufficient lighting

  Poor lighting can have several possible effects on communication.

  It can make it harder to read written messages. It can also make it harder to see body language and facial expressions, which can disrupt message transmission. Straining to see is also tiring, and fatigue itself will directly affect ability to send and decode messages.

  Over time, insufficient lighting can have more fundamental effects, such as affecting eyesight on a permanent basis. This is therefore an important health and safety issue, as well as a barrier to communication.

• Temperature and weather conditions

  Temperature and weather conditions can also have several possible effects on communication.

  Some of these will be direct, and others indirect. The direct impacts include creating noise: for example, the sound of rain drumming on a roof can interfere with people's ability to hear. When you are outside, the sound of wind can also have that effect. Storms can interrupt power supplies or internet connections, directly interfering with electronic communications.

  Indirectly, being too hot or too cold can affect comfort, which is distracting. Temperatures can also affect the safety of particular environments, which may disrupt communication through evacuation of buildings.

• Discomfort

  Physical discomfort is very distracting.

  A hard chair, being too hot or too cold, lights being too bright, or being cramped, can all affect ability to concentrate—and that affects ability to hear and decode messages.

Overall, therefore, the physical environment can make a big difference to people's ability to hear and decode messages—and therefore to the effectiveness of communication.

However, there are also other physical barriers that can affect communication. These include how the message is phrased and transmitted, and disruptions in technology.

Phrasing- and transmission-related physical barriers to communication include:

• Disruptions or breakdowns in technology

  Technology has become an important—not to say fundamental—part of how we communicate. From text messages among family members or colleagues, through to emails, communication platforms like Slack, and video calling apps, we routinely rely on technology to communicate at a distance.

  This is great when it works—but the more technology that we use, the more chances there are for it to break down.

  Problems such as a poor internet connection for a video call, corruption of a file during transmission, or even just missing a notification, can disrupt communication. The problem here is often that the sender is unaware of the disruption—but the usual instant receipt does not happen.

• Information overload

  Information overload happens when people have too much information to process.

  There are two ways in which this may occur. Sometimes senders may provide too much information, and this can obscure their main point.

  When someone is overloaded with information, they select what to read or hear. Unfortunately, this may not be the elements that the sender most wanted them to receive. The message itself is transmitted—but the main points are not.

  The second way information overload can result is because there are too many communication channels and messages.

  People simply cannot keep up with the deluge of information, and tend to give up trying to do so.

• Poor phrasing

  Senders can also disrupt communication by their choice of phrasing.

  Unclear messages can themselves form a barrier to effective communication. If your choice of words does not make sense to the person you are communicating with, then the message you have sent will not get through. This often happens when messages are sent in a rush, and the recipient's knowledge or understanding is assumed.

• Cognitive dissonance

  Interestingly, personal appearance can also have an effect on whether messages are heard.

  People make judgements about you based on your appearance. This judgement can affect how clearly your messages are heard. If people think that you look and sound professional, they may be more likely to accept your message—even if that message is hard to hear.

  However, if you do not look very professional, for example, because you are scruffy or unkempt, they may be less likely to listen to your message. If your email address is unprofessional, people may also be less likely to take you seriously.

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Overcoming Physical Barriers to Communication

It should be clear that the different types of physical barrier to communication all need different approaches to dismantle them. However, there are also some common principles that may help in considering how best to address them. These include:

Dismantle physical barriers where possible

When you can, it is a good idea to physically remove barriers.

If the issue is that members of a team are in different places, find a way to bring them together. If it is background noise in an office, provide spaces where people can go to talk, noise-cancelling headphones for calls, or better soundproofing.

It is important to remember that there are generally fewer physical barriers to communication as you get closer. It is also true that technology can help to remove some of the physical barriers to communication, but it can also add its own issues. Talking face to face is therefore better when it is possible.

Crucially, the physical environment in an office or home—the heat, lighting, noise and comfort level—should never be an issue.

People should be comfortable in those environments. If they are not, you probably have bigger issues than simply communication problems.

Choose the right channel—and control the number of channels

Choosing the right channel will ensure that communication is as effective as possible.

If you are physically close to someone, go and talk to them. However, if you need the information in writing, then you may need to confirm your conversation by email. The crucial issue is to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each channel, so that you can choose the most appropriate one for what you want to achieve.

It is also a good idea to limit the number of channels through which people can communicate, especially ones that do broadly the same thing.

This avoids people spending hours checking all the various channels to ensure that they haven't missed a message.

Choose the right time and place

There is also a time and a place for every communication.

Trying to explain something important at the end of the day when someone just wants to leave, or is tired, is not going to work well. Similarly, explaining something complex in a noisy, distracting environment, is less than ideal.

Choose a time when people will be receptive, and an environment that gives you the best chance of getting your message across.

Consider your key points and audience

Take time to craft your message to suit your audience.

Consider your audience's level of knowledge, and what information they actually need. Craft your message around that. Avoid extraneous information and keep your language simple and succinct.

Our pages on Know Your Audience and Clarity in Writing may be helpful to help you develop these skills.

Invest in technology and training

If you are going to rely on technology to support communication, make sure that you invest in it appropriately.

This means in both the technology, and ensuring that those using it know what they are doing. There are usually free versions of most apps, but it may be better to pay for the upgrade, and get what you need to do the job. Similarly, time spent ensuring that people know how to use the technology is likely to pay off later, when everyone can use it efficiently.

Buying decent microphones and headphones will also pay off if you do a lot of remote calling and video calling.

Finally, it is a good idea to invest in good—and rapid—technical support if you rely on technology for effective communication.

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A Final Thought

Overcoming physical barriers to communication is not trivial—but it is also not always difficult. Identifying problems is the first step, and you can do that best by checking that recipients have heard and understood your message.

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