Communication is simply the act of transferring information from one place to another. It is mutual exchange of facts, thoughts, opinions or emotions that requires presentation and reception, resulting in common understanding among all parties. A message or communication is sent by the sender through a communication channel to a receiver. The sender must encode the message into a form that is appropriate to the communication channel, and the receiver then decodes the message to understand its meaning and significance.

Misunderstanding can occur at any stage of the communication process. Effective communication involves minimizing potential misunderstanding and overcoming any barriers to communication at each stage in the communication process.

Some common barriers for communication are:

Filtering - Filtering implies willful distortion of information. This problem usually arises in upward communication. In upward communication, employees tend to pass only those messages that create positive impression about them.

Selective perception - Perception is the unique way in which people respond or interpret an object. Difference in perception is a very common problem in effective communication. For example, a subscriber of Sri Lanka Telecom land phone in Sri Lanka may positively react to the government’s move to privatize Sri Lanka Telecom expecting a better service. But an employee of Sri Lanka Telecom might view this as step to cut jobs and retrench existing employees.