Chapter One

Introduction

What is Communication?

 As a social being we are to communicate with each other for various purposes. Even
before the development of language system the ancient men used ‘signs’ and ‘symbols’
for exchanging information. From psychological point of view communication is a
‘conscious act’ which requires motivation; that is a person communicates with another
person having a particular ‘Motive’.

 Communication is a two-way process through which two or more people can share their
ideas and feelings. It may be understood as transfer of information, idea, opinion, attitude
etc. from a sender to a receiver with a view to making it understandable to the later. By
effective communication is meant the process of sending a message in such a way that
the message received is close in meaning to the message intended.

 In our definition of communication, we see that three conditions are necessary for
communication to take place.

First, there must be at least two persons (sender and receiver) involved in
communication.
Second, there must be some information to be communicated.
Third, an attempt must be made to transmit this information.

Some Definitions-

 According to Gary Dessler, “Communication is the exchange of information and the

transmission of meanings.”
 According to Murphy and Peck, “Communication is a two-way process of exchanging
ideas or information between human beings.”
 According to Prof. B.R.Ricks, “Communication is the exchange of information that is
mutually understood.”
 According to Elliot Jaquer, “Communication is the sum total of directly and indirectly,
consciously and unconsciously transmitted feelings, attitudes and wishes.”
Features of Communication

Six main characteristics of Communications

1) Two or More Persons: The first important characteristic of communication is that there
must be a minimum number of two persons because no single individual can have an
exchange of ideas with himself. A listener is necessary to receive one’s ideas. Therefore,
there must be at least two persons- the sender of information and receiver.

2) Exchange of Ideas: Communication cannot be thought of in the absence of exchange of

ideas. In order to complete the process of communication there must be an exchange of
ideas, orders, feelings, etc., among two or more than two persons.

3) Mutual Understanding: Mutual understanding means that the receiver should receive
the information in the same spirit with which it is being given. In the process of
communication, it is more important to understand the information rather than carry it
out.

4) Direct and Indirect Communication: It is not necessary in communication that the

receiver and giver of information should be face-to-face with each other. Communication
can be both direct and indirect. Direct communication means face-to-face conversion,
while indirect communication is through other means.

5) Use of Words as well as Symbol: There can be many means of communication like the
written, the oral and symbolic. The examples of symbolic communication are the ringing
of bell for closing a school or a college saying something by the movement of the neck
showing anger o disapproval through eyes, giving some decision by the raising of a
finger in cricket, etc.
Objectives of Communication

1) Stronger Decision Making: Your ability to communicate effectively increases

productivity both yours and your organization.

2) Increased Productivity: With good communication skills you can anticipate problems,
make decisions, co-ordinate work flow, supervise others, develop relationships and
promote products and services.

3) Steadier Work Flow: Communication acts as tool for the effective work related flow of
information.

4) Strong Business Relationships and Enhanced Professional Image: You can shape the
impressions you and your company make on colleagues, employees, supervisors,
investors and customers in addition to perceiving and responding to the needs of these
stakeholders ( the various group you interact with) without effective communication,
people misunderstand each other and misinterpret information. Ideas misfire or fail to
gain attention and people and companies flounder.

5) Clearer Promotional Materials: Your organizations need for effective reach of

company name and public promotions are based on effective promotional material such
as advertisements, bill boards, online add, posters etc are all communicated for effective
message delivery and meaning.

6) Provide Advice: Giving advice is based on individual-oriented and work oriented, advice
should not given to the person for pinpointing his mistakes rather it should be helpful for
his improvement. Effective advice promotes understanding and it can be a two way
process if the subordinate staff given freedom.

7) Provide Order: Order is an authoritative communication pattern and its directive to

somebody always a subordinate to do something. Orders will be written and oral orders,
general and specific orders, procedural and operational orders, mandatory and
discretionary order. Order should be clear and complete, execution should be possible
and given in a friendly way.

8) Suggestion: Suggestion is supposed to be very mild and subtle form of communication.

Suggestions are welcomed for it is not obligatory to accept them, it can be voluntary and
anonymous and submitted through suggestion boxes.
9) Persuasion: Persuasion may be defined as an effort ‘to influence the attitudes, feelings
or beliefs of others if you are convinced, you do not impose, you are not rigid, are
prepared to meet half-way and you can look at the situation from the other person’s angle
also.

10) Education: Education is a very conscious process of communication, it involves both

teaching and learning by which organizations provide to their employees in the form of
training. Education is given for management, employees and outside public.

11) Warning: If the employees do not abide by the norms of the organization warning is a
power communication tool and it can be general and specific. Specific warning should be
administered in private and after thorough investigation. The aim of the warning should
be the organization betterment.
12) Raising Morale and Motivation: Morale stands for mental health and it is a sum of
several qualities like courage, resolution, confidence. High morale and effective
performance go hand to hand. Motivation is a process that account for an individual
intensity, direction and persistence of effort towards attaining a goal.

13) To Give and Receive Information: Communication’s main idea is to give and receive
information because managers need complete, accurate and precise information to plan
and organize employee need, to translate planning into reality. Information will cover all
aspects of the business.

14) To Provide Counseling: Counseling is given to solve employee’s mental stress and
improve the employee’s productivity.

15) To Improve Discipline: Finally discipline is the foremost part of any business
communication. The various disciplinary codes are effectively communicated to
employees through disciplinary codes.
Importance of Communication

The importance of communication in an organization can be summarized as follows:

 Communication promotes motivation by informing and clarifying the employees about

the task to be done, the manner they are performing the task and how to improve their
performance if it is not up to the mark.

 Communication is a source of information to the organizational members for decision-

making process as it helps identifying and assessing alternative course of actions.

 Communication also plays a crucial role in altering individual’s attitudes, i.e. a well
informed individual will have better attitude than a less-informed individual.
Organizational magazines, journals, meetings and various other forms of oral and written
communication help in moulding employee’s attitudes.

 Communication also helps in socializing. In today’s life the only presence of another
individual fosters communication. It is also said that one cannot survive without
communication.

 Communication also assists in controlling process. It helps controlling organization

member’s behavior in various ways. There are various levels of hierarchy and certain
principles and guidelines that employees must follow in an organization. They must
comply with organizational policies, perform their job role efficiently and communicate
any work problem and grievance to their superiors. Thus, communication helps in
controlling function of management.

 An effective and efficient communication system requires managerial proficiency in

delivering and receiving messages. A manager must discover various barriers to
communication analyze reasons for their occurrence and take preventive steps to avoid
those barriers. Thus, the primary responsibility of a manager is to develop and maintain
an effective communication system in the organization.
Steps/Elements of Communication Process

The communication process refers to the steps through which communication takes place
between the sender and the receiver. This process starts with conceptualizing an idea or
message by the sender and ends with the feedback from the receiver. In details,
communication process consists of the following eight steps:

 Developing idea by the sender: In the first step, the communicator develops or
conceptualizes an idea to be sent. It is also known as the planning stage since in this stage
the communicator plans the subject matter of communication.

 Encoding: Encoding means converting or translating the idea into a perceivable form that
can be communicated to others.

 Developing the message: After encoding, the sender gets a message that can be
transmitted to the receiver. The message can be oral, written, symbolic or nonverbal. For
example, when people talk, speech is the message; when people write a letter, the words
and sentences are the message; when people cries, the crying is the message.

 Selecting the medium: Medium is the channel or means of transmitting the message to
the receiver. Once the sender has encoded message, the next step is to select a suitable
medium for transmitting it to the receiver. The medium of communication can be
speaking, writing, signaling, gesturing etc.

 Transmission of message: In this step, the sender actually transmits the message through
chosen medium. In the communication cycle, the tasks of the sender end with the
transmission of the message.

 Receiving the message by receiver: This stage simply involves the reception of sender’s
message by the receiver. The message can be received in the form of hearing, seeing,
feeling and so on.

 Decoding: Decoding is the receiver’s interpretation of the sender’s message. Here the
receiver converts the message into thoughts and tries to analyze and understand it.
Effective communication can occur only when both the sender and the receiver assign the
same or similar meanings to the message.
 Feedback: The final step of communication process is feedback. Feedback means
receiver’s response to sender’s message. It increases the effectiveness of communication.
It ensures that the receiver has correctly understood the message. Feedback is the essence
of two-way communication.

Communication and Efficiency of Management

 There is a saying, “Human minds are the like parachutes, they don’t work until they
are opened” – management try to open the minds of the employees and guide them to
achieve the desired goal. But this job of management will not be possible if there is no
communication.

 Efficiency of managers and workers at all levels of organization mostly depend on

effective communication system. Performing management function efficiently and
coordinating these functions with one another require communication. Thus,
communication is regarded as in integral element in achieving organizational success.

 Communication is pervasive in all managerial function. In performing managerial

functions like planning, organizing, directing, motivating, coordinating and controlling
managers must engage in internal and external communication. As a result, organizations
can achieve their goals and meet their challenges. (Newstrom & Davis, 2002)

Now let us see how communication helps the function of management

 Ensure Coordination: If there is no communication, employees will not be able to know

what their colleagues are doing. Management will not be able to receive information and
cannot give directions; as a result the organization will collapse. Thus for the existence of
the organization communication is essential.

 Helps in Controlling: Managers exercise controlling function when any deviation takes
place. But without the help of communication deviation cannot be identified.
 Assist direction: Proper direction is essential to fulfill the organization goal. If mangers
cannot receive required information about the proceedings then they will not be able to
provide proper directions. Thus there must be a sound communication system for
receiving required information.

 Supports motivation: To motivate employees, management at first tries to understand

the motives and attitudes of the employees. Without communication skill others attitude
cannot be evaluated and thus proper incentives cannot be provided to motivate them.

 Human resource development: The future of the organization largely depends on the
development of the human resource of the organization. It has been proved that managers
having excellent communication skill can guide the human resource in proper directions.

 Leadership: Leadership is the process of influencing and supporting others to work

enthusiastically toward achieving objectives. That is managers achieve goal by directing
the activities of others. Thus they need to communicate with others to provide proper
direction.

 Decision Making: Decision making perhaps the most important managerial activity also
depends on communication. Top management needs useful information to make effective
decision. Adequate and authentic information can be obtained through sound
communication system.

Finally it can be said that manages can play a vital role to ensure the
achievement of organizational goal but without effective communication that will turn
into a nightmare.

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