RAHUL KASERA

15P221
MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION
Date: 26.06.2015
12 Angry Men: Understanding and
Analyzing Barriers to Communication
The prominent barriers to communication as depicted in the
movie are:
Initially we analyze the 11 characters who initially voted Guilty.
1. Person 1 assumes the role of the moderator. He focuses only
on that role and is a poor listener and a poor assimilator
as is evident when he turns his face in dismay after an
altercation with another juror.
2. Juror 2 simply forms a pre conceived notion and hence
not open to fresh ideas about the entire case and is
initially not ready to change his opinions.
3. Juror 3 is guilty of having a aggressive attitude which
make him vulnerable to being misunderstood by the group
and which hampers effective communication between him
and the other members of the group.
4. Juror 4 seems to be affected by lack of analytical ability
as is evident when he mentions that the story regarding the
boy visiting the films is flimsy since he does not remember
the characters or the name (Later Juror 4 is himself proved
wrong and his arguments are contradicted).

5. Juror 5 seems to lack confidence in his reasons of

considering the boy Guilty and hence passes the privilege
that he gets. This creates a gap in communication as the
members might be confused due his lack of reasoning.
6. Juror 6 too suffers from pre conceived notions. Secondly,
he does not analyze the case from his point of view and
does not question the testimony of others.
7. Juror 7 suffers due to poor listening skills and an
apparent disinterest in the matter itself. For him the
decision is a matter of fact thing. This creates a disharmony
in the group and the entire process of communication
between the members gets disoriented.
8. Juror 9 is most experienced of the jurors. Initially he differs
in opinion from juror 8 but later changes his opinion thus
displaying good listening skills and good analytical skills.
9. Juror 10 comes across as a highly prejudiced person and
his philosophy seems to be fact that his first opinion is his
last opinion thus showing his inflexibility in the process of
communication.
10.
Juror 11 too acts as patient listener though initially
he too has his notions but he displays fine flexibility and
then changes his vote.
11.
Juror 12 comes across as the most disinterested
listener in the group. He seems to be pre occupied with
his own agenda (doodling) and does not really align to the
dynamics of the group communication.
Juror 8 stands out as the only reason why the boy receives
acquittal from the jurors. He displays exemplary

communication skills. He comes across as keen observer and

a great listener in the sense that he seeks to understands
everyones point of view and then seeks to counter them with his
analysis of the situation. He comes across as a great sender in
the sense that he manages to change the point of view of 11
others. He is also very patient and is ready to accept others
point of view as is evident throughout the course of the film
thus making him a great listener as well. He does not allow
miscommunication to brew by going over the points again and
again and holds no prejudices or any pre conceived notions.
This is how he manages to convince the others to change their
verdict.