Communication

Communication
The word communicate comes from the Latin verb communicare /communis (meaning common) that means to impart, to participate, to share or to make common. By virtue of its Latin origin it is also the source of the English word common. Whatever is common is shared by all. Hence the sense of sharing is inherent in the very origin and nature of communication. And, what is that we share in communication? The one word answer is information, i.e., something to tell, in whatever way we like, or as the situation demands.

Communication
In the words of Johan Adair Communication is essentially the ability of one person to make contact with another and to make himself or herself understood. Or, if you prefer a slightly more formal version, communication is the process by which meanings are exchanged between people through the use of a common set of symbols.

Communication
Peter Little defines it as Communication is the process by which information is transmitted between individuals and/ or organizations so that an understanding response results. Another very simple definition of communication has been provided by W.H.Newman and C.F.Summer Jr, Communication is an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions or emotions by two or more persons.

Communication
Two major objectives emerging from these definitions are information and persuasion. The emphasis is mainly on 4 points: (a) The Process of communication involves the communication of ideas; (b) The ideas should be accurately replicated (reproduced) in the receivers mind, i.e., the receiver should get exactly the same ideas as were transmitted. If the process of communication is perfect, there will be no dilution, exaggeration or distortion of the ideas;

Communication
(c) The transmitter is assured of the accurate replication of the ideas by feedback, i.e., by the receivers response which is communicated back to the transmitter. This shows that communication is two-way process including transmission and feedback; (d) The purpose of all communication is to elicit action.

Communication
Communication is a unified process of thinking, reading, writing, speaking and listening, and in fact the last four are the basic communication skills that we all require. The following communication ability and skills are required for success in business career: Must be able to communicate effectively with all levels of management. Must have substantial experience, training in oral and written communication and demonstrate good writing skills.

Communication
Be able to prepare special analyses, research reports, and proposals. Need ability to compose effective correspondence. Must have ability to communicate and sell ideas, firm, and products. Must be able to cultivate and maintain good customer relationships. Need skills in gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data and in writing analytical reports.

Effective Communications in Business

Effective Communications in Business

If you can communicate effectively in speaking and writing, you have a highly valued skill. Communicating effectively in speaking and writing extends across all areas of business, including management, technical, clerical and social positions. For effective communication it is more important to know how to say what you want to say.

Importance and Benefits of Effective Communication

Importance and Benefits of Effective Communication

Communication is the lifeblood of organizations, and effective communication improves an organizations productivity, image, and responsiveness. Communication is effective when it helps people understand each other, stimulates others to take action, and encourages others to think in new ways. It helps you speed problem solution, strengthen decision making, coordinate work flow, cement business relationships, clarify promotional materials, enhance your professional image, and improve your response to stakeholders.

Importance and Benefits of Effective Communication

Good communication skills increase your chances for career success and your ability to adapt to the changing workplace. Your job, promotion, and professional reputation often depend on doing well in written and oral communication. Also, your ability to communicate effectively is a valuable asset for many activities in your personal life. If your career requires mainly mental rather than manual labor, your progress will be strongly influenced by how effectively you communicate your knowledge, proposals, and ideas to others who need or should receive them.

Importance and Benefits of Effective Communication

It is an established fact that effective communication is essential for success and promotion in business. The way you communicate both within and outside your own country will affect everything you accomplish. Your ability to speak and write effectively will also make a difference to your organization. Developing the right attitude and preparing adequately are crucial to effective communication in the international marketplace.

Components of Communication

Components of Communication
Communication is a process of transmitting and receiving verbal and nonverbal messages. Communication is considered effective when it achieves the desired reaction or response from the receiver. Simply stated, communication is a two-way process of exchanging ideas or information.

Components of Communication
Communication includes six components: context, sender-encoder, message, medium, receiver-decoder, and feedback. Lets have a look at how these factors interact in the communication process, affected by various contextual conditions and decisions.

Components of Communication
Context
Every message, whether oral or written, begins with context. Context is a broad field that includes country, culture, organization and external and internal stimuli. Every country, every culture, and every company or organization has its own convention for processing and communicating information. This aspect of context is the playing field on which you must plan, design, and communicate your message successfully.

Components of Communication
Another aspect of context is the external stimulus that prompts you to send a message. The source of this prompt may be a letter, memo, note, electronic mail, fax, telex, telephone call, a meeting, or even a casual conversation. Your response to this prompt may be oral or written. Next, internal stimuli have a complex influence on how you translate ideas into a message. When you encode, your own view of the world affects the choices you make in language

Components of Communication
Sender-Encoder:
When you send a message, you are the encoder, the writer or speaker, depending on whether your message is written or oral. You try to choose symbols usually words (and sometimes also graphics or pictures) that express your message so that the receiver(s) will understand it and react with the response you desire. Here you basically need to decide which symbols best convey your message and which message channel will be most effective among the oral and written media.

Components of Communication
Message
The message is the core idea you wish to communicate; it consists of both verbal (written or spoken) symbols and nonverbal (unspoken) symbols. Your first task is to decide exactly what your message is and what content to include. You must consider your context and especially the receiver of your message how the receiver will interpret it and how it may affect your relationship.

Components of Communication
Medium
Your message channel depends on all the contextual factors and the nature of the message itself. The choices of medium include the printed word, electronic mail, or sound. Like message content, the choice of medium is influenced by the relationship between the sender and the receiver. Some research suggests that the urgency of a message is a primary factor in whether to use the written or spoken medium. You may also consider factors such as importance, number of receivers, costs, and amount of information.

Oral vs. Written Media

Immediate feedback Shorter sentences; shorter words Conversational Focus on interpersonal relations Prompt action Less detailed technical information More personal pronouns More colloquial language Simpler constructions More imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory sentences Delayed feedback Longer sentences; longer words More formal Focus on content Delayed action More detailed technical information Fewer personal pronouns More complex constructions Useful for permanent record: detailed documentation Possibility of review

Components of Communication
The written channel is often preferred when the message is long, technical, or formal in nature, and when the message must be documented. The oral channel is effective when the message is urgent or personal or when immediate feedback is important.

Components of Communication
Receiver-Decoder
The message receiver is your reader or listener, also known as the decoder. Many of our messages may have more than one decoder. The receiver as well as the sender is influenced by the context and by the external and internal stimuli. Both receive messages through the eyes and ears but are also influenced by nonverbal factors such as touch, taste, and smell. All factors of a message are filtered through the receivers) view of and experiences in the world.

Components of Communication
Feedback
Feedback can be oral or written. It can also be an action, such as receiving in the mail an item you ordered. Sometimes silence is also used as feedback though it is almost always ineffective. Senders need feedback in order to determine the success or failure of the communication.

CONTEXT Stimuli

Sender- Encoder

Receiver-encoder

Massage
(experiences, attitudes, skills) Receptor mechanisms Perception Decoding Idea interpretation

(experiences, attitudes, skills) Perception Idea encoding Symbol decisions Sending mechanisms

Medium Verbal, nonverbal

FEEDBACK Verbal, nonverbal

Components of Communication
These six components represent what happens in communication. A context exists in which a sender chooses a message to communicate; the sender must also choose the medium for the message; a receiver decodes the message and provides feedback.

Internal and external communication

Internal and external communication

Internal communication
refers to the exchange of information and ideas within an organization. Communication among the members of an organization is essential for effective functioning. The communication can take place downward, upward and horizontally. It helps increase job satisfaction, safety, productivity, and profits and decreases absenteeism, grievances and turnover.

Internal and external communication

Downward communication:
Organizational decisions are usually made at the top and then flow down to the people who will carry them out. Most of what filters downward is geared toward helping employees do their jobs. From top to bottom, each person must understand each message, apply it, and pass it along.

Internal and external communication

Upward communication
Upward internal communication has become increasingly more significant. Many executives sincerely seek frank comments from employees, in addition to the usual periodic reports. Successful managers listen closely to opinions, complaints, problems, and suggestions, especially when these are clearly and effectively stated.

Internal and external communication

Horizontal communication
Communication also flows from one department to another. This horizontal communication helps employees share information and coordinate tasks, and it is especially useful for solving complex and difficult problems. Among various ways of communicating within companies are memos, reports, meetings, faceto-face discussions, teleconferences, videoconferences and electronic mail.

Internal and external communication

Just as internal communication carries information, up, down, and across the organization, external communication carries it into and out of the organization. Companies constantly exchange messages with customers, vendors, distributors, competitors, investors, journalists, and community representatives.

Internal and external communication

One important form of communication is the Internet. A company Web site can impart crucial information both inside the organization (using an intranet) and outside (via the Internet). Web sites can communicate a companys image to the outside world and a companys culture to employees.

Concepts and problems of communication

Concepts and problems of communication

Each persons mind is a unique filter. Problems with communication are more likely to occur when the communicators filters are sharply different. The message senders meanings and the receivers response are affected by numerous factors, such as individual Conventions of meaning Perceptions of reality Values, attitudes, and opinions

Concepts and problems of communication

Conventions of meaning:
A fundamental principle of communication is that the symbols the sender uses to communicate messages must have essentially the same meaning in both the sender and receivers minds. You can never assume that the message in your mind will be perfectly transmitted to your receiver.

Communication Problems in Conventions of Meaning

Concepts and problems of communication

Communication Problems in Conventions of Meaning The meanings of words (semantics) are constructed within each persons experience of reality. The knowledge we each have about a subject or word affects the meanings we attach to it.

Concepts and problems of communication

Miscommunicated Instructions:
When the message sender and receiver attribute different meanings to the same words or use different words though intending the same meanings, miscommunication occurs. To avoid communication errors when you give instructions or discuss issues, be sure your words convey the intended meaning to the recipient. When you are the recipient of unclear instructions, before acting on them, ask questions to determine the senders intended meaning.

Concepts and problems of communication

Reactions to denotations, Connotations:

Because words have both denotative and connotative meanings and because the sender has not considered the receivers probable interpretations and reactions, miscommunication can occur. A denotation is usually the dictionary meaning of a word whereas a connotation is an implication of a word or a suggestion separate from the usual definition.

Concepts and problems of communication

To communicate effectively, you must be aware of the connotative meaning of your words, and you must realize that some people have their own idiosyncratic meanings because of their experiences and background. Thus we need to choose our language carefully and consider both its denotations and its connotations to convey the exact idea we want and to achieve our desired results.

Concepts and problems of communication

Perceptions of Reality
Complex, infinite, and continuously changing, the material world provides a special reality to each individual. Also, human beings sensory perceptions touch, sight, hearing, smell, taste are limited, and each persons mental filter is unique. We make various abstractions, inferences, and evaluations of the world around us.

Communication Problems in perceptions of Reality

Communication Problems in perceptions of Reality

Abstracting:
Focusing on some details and omitting others is a process called abstracting. In countless instances, abstracting is necessary. However, you should be cautious about slanted statements.

Necessary, desirable abstracts:

Whether you write or speak, you are usually limited by time, expense, space, or purpose. You need to select facts that are pertinent to accomplish your purpose and to omit the rest (as you do, for example, in a one-page application letter about yourself).

Communication Problems in perceptions of Reality Slanted statements:

Conscientious communicators, both senders and receivers of messaged, should try to determine whether the facts they are acquainted with are truly representative of the whole. Slanting is unfair in factual reporting. Not only the language you use but also the type of information you include and exclude can result in slanting, revealing your own biases. Although total objectivity is not possible, you should try to not let personal preferences influence your factual reporting of information.

Communication Problems in perceptions of Reality

Inferring:
Conclusions made by reasoning from evidence or premises are called inferences. Every day most of us find it necessary to act on some inferences. We make assumptions and draw conclusions even though we are not able to immediately verify the evidence. Some inferences are both necessary and desirable; others are risky, even dangerous.

Communication Problems in perceptions of Reality Necessary, desirable Inferences:

For business and professional people, inferences are essential in analyzing materials, solving problems, and planning procedures. In our everyday activities, we make inferences that are necessary and usually fairly reliable. When we base our inferences on direct observations or on reasonable evidence, they are likely to be quite dependable; but even so, there are disappointing exceptions. Conclusions we make about things we have not observed directly can often be untrue.

Communication Problems in perceptions of Reality Risks of Inference:

As intelligent communicators, we must realize that inferences may be incorrect or unreliable and anticipate the risks before acting on them. If you are presenting a report on which an important executive decision may rest, be careful to distinguish clearly among verifiable facts, inferences based on facts, and mere guesstimates.

Values, Attitudes, and Opinions

Values, Attitudes, and Opinions

Communication effectiveness is influenced also by the values, attitudes, and opinions the communicators have in their mental filters. People react favorably when the message they receive agrees with their views toward the information, the facts, and the sender.

Communication Problems Involving Values, Attitudes, Opinions

Values, Attitudes, and Opinions

Communication Problems Involving Values, Attitudes, Opinions
Receivers views of the information presented will affect their response, which could be what the sender desires or just the opposite.

Favorable or unfavorable information:

The effective communicator considers the receivers, and whenever possible, emphasizes the points the receivers will regard as favorable or beneficial. Receivers often react to unfavorable information by rejecting, distorting, or avoiding it.

Values, Attitudes, and Opinions

Inadequate or Incorrect information
Occasionally people react according to their attitudes toward a situation rather than to the facts.

Closed Minds:
Some people hold rigid views on certain subjects. These people do not consider facts or additional information and maintain their rigid views regardless of the circumstances.

Values, Attitudes, and Opinions

Senders Credibility:
Often people react more according to their attitude toward the source of information than to the information itself. In general, people react more favorably to a communicator who has credibility someone whom they trust and respect. An effective communicator builds credibility by writing and speaking in a fair and just manner and by considering receivers points of view.

Values, Attitudes, and Opinions

Other circumstances affecting attitudes, opinions, responses:
when personal, business, or environments stresses occur, attitudes toward messages may be affected. Lifes stresses affect our ability to send effective messages and color our responses when we receive them. Sensitivity to your own state of mind as well as to that of your receiver helps you communicate your messages in a positive way.