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ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · Communicating in business

Which of the following is an example of a PHYSICAL barrier to effective communication in an organisation?

Open-plan office noise that makes calls hard to hear is a physical barrier because it comes from the working environment. Prejudice against a department is an attitudinal barrier, and ambiguous wording in a report is a language barrier.

  1. AAn employee's prejudice against a colleague's department
  2. BOpen-plan office noise that makes telephone calls hard to hearCorrect
  3. CA manager's use of ambiguous wording in a report

Explanation

Noise in the environment that interferes with hearing is a physical barrier. Prejudice is a psychological or attitudinal barrier, and ambiguous wording is a semantic or language barrier. Only the first is rooted in the physical surroundings.

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