Anything that gets in the way of communicating sets up a barrier. Barriers are found in physical situations, attitudes, and behavior.
First let us review physical barriers. These are generally the easiest to deal with. If the distraction to listening is noise you can simply shut the door, turn it down or off, or ask the person/people making noise to cooperate. Sometimes this does not work so then scheduling comes in to play. You can schedule appointments, calls, etc. at a time when there is less interruptions or when it can be controlled. This is especially true with work at home jobs as there can be many distractions like the children, spouse, or even dirty dishes in the sink that are just calling you to do them.
The most difficult physical barrier is a wandering mind while you are listening. Statistics state that the average conversation is around 125 words a minute yet we can think at a rate of 400 to 600 words per minute. Unfortunately this gives us ample time to wander to our thoughts rather than listen.
Attitudes to barriers are the ones you can see. Pretending to listen, no concern for what the person is talking about, and even those that have made up their mind not to listen on the basis of appearance or voice. This usually leads to a pre-judgment and ultimately block the listener out.
Selective listening is when we hear only what we want to and what fits our ideas. We take out only what we want and miss valuable information. This is a big one in relationships and can cause many problems. Make yourself aware of where you tend to selectively listen and take action to do better.
Behavior barriers are both verbal and nonverbal. A good example of a verbal barrier is interrupting the speaker. This is sometimes looked at as being impolite, rude, and even rejection. A parent that interrupts their child may not learn more about what is happening in their life and a salesperson that interrupts may not learn what would help the person to buy. Be careful not to control the conversation.
Nonverbal examples are avoiding eye contact, fiddling with things, sliding down in the chair, and basically just not paying attention. Listening is paying attention so no matter what the barrier is be sensitive to the speaker and show appreciation. Listening is a deliberate skill it is not by chance.