Communication process

COMMUNICATION PROCESS

SONDARVA YAGNESH MDept of Extension Education BACA, AAU, Anand

What is Communication□ According to J. Paul. Leagans,

"Communication is a process by which two or more people exchange ideas, facts, feelings or impressions in such a way that each gains a common understanding of the meaning, intent or use of message."

□ It is the process by which information is exchanged and understood by two or more people, usually with the intent to motive or influence behavior.

□ In a broad sense, it is the process of transferring meaning in form of ideas or information from one person to another.

□ It is to be noted that a true interchange of meaning between people includes not only the words used in their conversation.

□ It includes a number of other aspects of human behavior viz., facial expression, vocal expression and all the unintended and involuntary gestures that suggest the meaning

BASICS

Successful communication involves following conditions and mastering these to perfection:

A. BASICS FOR WRITTEN COMMUNICATION1. Use easy to understand language□ 0.1% Solution□ 46% Nitrogen□ Productivity2. Check your spellings□ Psychology –Philosophy -Physiology□ Though-Thought□ Through-Thorough

A. BASICS FOR WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

3. Use appropriate words, punctuations, paragraphs and signs

4. Be courteous in your written communication, show that you are taking care about others

□ Courteous: Polite, especially in a way that shows respect.e.g. No, we have never met earlier : I think we are meeting first time

□ Do not use any form of slang or insulting words Slang: The dictionary defines slang as very informal

words and expressions that are more common in spoken language and are not thought suitable for formal situations.

A. BASICS FOR WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

5. Ensure clarity, accuracy and stimulate response Clarity:

Accuracy: i.e. truthStimulate response : i.e. use of encouraging wordse.g. Jay Jawan, Jay Kisan: Jay Hind: Jay Vigyan

6. Demonstrate empathy: Ability to understand other person's feelings, experience and ability to understand Farmers, Children, Officials

7. Write specific what you mean to convey exactly; don't use words which create double meaning.

B. BASICS FOR VERBAL COMMUNICATION

1. Maintain eye contact-Eyes have often been called mirror of character -Make your eyes smile and maintain eye contact

pleasingly while communicating-This builds trust, goodwill and positive relationship

2. Don't stare rudely while communicating3. Modulate your voice and voice level

Modulate: to change the quality of your voice in order to create a particular effect by making it louder, softer, lower, etc.


4. Check your pronunciations Taklif-Taflik,

Matlab-Matbal, Tamilnadu-Talimnadu, Valsad-Vadsal, Luxury-Vuxury, Anilkapur-Anilpakur, Balram Jakhad-Jalram Jakhad


5. Show sincerity In hearing others point of views,

creating conducive situations6. Be courteous

Yes please, I beg your pardon, sorry, excuse me7. Eliminate offending/disliking words and

unparliamentarily language 8. Be specific and move toward target timely9. Take care of specific words and statements

e.g. Sing a song – Song a sing

C. BASICS FOR BODYLANGUAGE

□ COMMUNICATION THROUGH GESTURES AND POSTURE

1. GESTURES: Move your hands, head, face etc. as a way of expressing what do you mean or what do you want.

2. POSTURE: The position in which you hold your body when standing or sitting

3. Movement of body should be synchronized with verbal communication

4. Fine tune your gesture, actions and words5. Avoid unwanted actions and irrelevant body

language as these create negative impact

C. BASICS FOR BODYLANGUAGE

6. Facial expressions: Instead of saying ‘HAPPY TO SEE YOU’ with serious face, the best facial expression is SMILE

7. BODY LANGUAGE: Expert communicator can actually judge other’s personality by observing body language He marks confidence, aggression, nervousness, positive attitude, empathy, etc.- All together, positive body language should be maintained while communication.

D. DRESS AND GROOMING

□ GROOMING: □ Grooming means to give a neat and tidy appearance

to.□ Grooming needs attentions, because people easily

notice what is not proper.□ Realize that improper clothing is being observed by

people that will affect on confidence□ Are people listing to you or are they unable to pay

attention because of dress and grooming?

Communication Flow□ Communication flows in four ways

in any organization:(a) Down word communication(b) Upward Communication (c) Lateral (or Horizontal Communication)(d) Diagonal Communication

Communication Flow

(a)Down word communication: - This type of communication normally follows the organization's chain of command from top to bottom.(b) This type of communication usually includes: (c) (i) Information related to policies, procedures, rules,

objectives, and plans, (ii) Work assignments and directives, (iii) Organization's progress and status,

(iv) Requests and/or orders for information(d) Down word communication may be written or oral. It is

usually transmitted through memos, reports, conferences, meetings, speeches, and interactions between superior and subordinates

Communication Flow

(b) Upward Communication: • Formal upward communications comprise messages

that flow from the lower to the higher levels in the hierarchy of an organization.

• They normally take the form of progress or performance reports and requests for resources and typically be viewed as a feedback of data or information from lower levels to upper management levels

Communication Flow(c) Lateral (or Horizontal) Communication:

- It is the diagonal exchange of messages across peers or co-workers, both within and across departments. Thus it is of two broad categories;

(i) Communication among peers within the same work group or department,

(ii) Communication that occurs between different departments on the same organizational level.

□ The basic purpose of such communication is not only to inform but to request support and co-ordinate activities.

□ Most organizations build in horizontal communication in the form of task forces, committees, liaison personnel etc.

Communication Flow

(d) Diagonal Communication: □ Such communication includes that which cuts

diagonally across an organization's chain of command.□ Here a superior of one department may communicate with lower rank person of another department.

COMMUNICATION MODEL

Communicator Message Channel

Treatmentof

message

Audience

AudienceResponseFeedback

Communicator □ This is the person who starts the

process of communication in operation. He is the source or originator of the message.

Characteristics of a good communicator□ Credibility: He should be perceived credible by the

audience□ He must know his objectives, audience,

message ,channels and how to organize and treat his message

□ He must prepare a plan for communication along with communication material and a plan for evaluation of results

□ He must have skill in selecting, treating and expressing messages. He must also be able in selection and use of channels, understanding his audience and collecting the evidence of results

□ He should have interest in his audience and its welfare and in his message and how it can help people

Message A message is the information a communicator wishes his audience to receive, understand, accept and act upon. A good message be:

* In line with the objectives to be attained* Clear and understandable* Significant and specific* Accurate and timely* Appropriate to the channel selected* Appealing and attractive to the audience* Applicable by the audience

Channel

□ Channels are the physical bridges between the sender and receiver

□ They are the extension methods through which messages are transmitted from its source to the users

□ Channels are no good until they are chosen and used carefully

Obstructions which can enter the channels □ Failure of the channel to reach the intended audience□ Failure to select the channel appropriate to the

objective□ Failure on part of the communicator to handle the

channel skillfully□ Failure to use the channel in accordance with the

abilities of the audience□ Failure to use enough channels in parallel□ Failure to avoid physical distraction□ Use of too many channels in a series

Treatment of the message □ Treatment of the message has to do

with the way a message is handled to get the information across to an audience

□ It is related to the technique or manner of performance in presenting the message

□ The purpose of treatment is to make the message clear, understandable and realistic to the audience

Audience □ An audience is the intended receiver of the message□ In good communication, the audience aimed at is

already identified by the communicator□ The more homogeneous the audience, the greater are

the chances of successful communication□ Likewise, the more a communicator knows about his

audience and can pinpoint its characteristics, the more likely he is to make an impact

Audience response

□ This is the terminating element in the communication process

□ The response of the audience is the ultimate objective, the goal of any communication function

Feed back

□ Extension communication is never complete without feedback information

□ Feedback means carrying some significant responses of the audience back to the communicator

□ Communication work is not an end in itself□ The communicator should know what has

happened to the audience, after the message has reached them

Barriers to Communication

□ The importance of communication in modern organizations can hardly be under-emphasized.

□ This is why managers usually spend a considerable portion of their time to communicate with others

□ Research has, however, shown that almost 75% of all business communication fails to achieve the desired objectives.

□ Certain external forces which are beyond the control of an organization render communication ineffective.

Barriers to Communication□ There are in fact, a number of barriers

to effective communication These barriers interrupt and block communication and prevent mutual understanding.

□ Some barriers arise in inter personal, face to face communications, while others are unique to organizational structures.

Barriers to Communication(A) Organizational barriers: □ It is interesting to note that the organizations, by their

very nature, tend to inhibit ineffective communication.

(i) Hierarchical barriers: □ When an organization starts growing, its structure

expands. This creates various communication problems

□ If a message has to pass through added levels, it will obviously take long time to reach its destination and will tend to get distorted on the way

Barriers to Communication

(ii) Power-differences: □ A person who supervises others creates a

barrier to free and open communication.□ Low power people may be un-willing to

pass bad news upwards while high power people may feel that low status people have hardly anything to contribute.

Barriers to Communication(iii) Specializations: • Specialization often tends to separate people even

when they work side by side.• The performance of different functions, the pursuance

of special interests of subgroups, use of different technical terms frequently prevent the growth of common feelings, make understanding difficult, and act as barrier to communication

Barriers to Communication(iv) Lack of channels: □ Lack of adequate formal channels reduces

communication effectiveness□ Newsletter memos, task forces, and liaison personnel

may solve this problem(v) Mismatch between communication flow

and organization's tasks: □ If a centralized communication structure is used for a

non-routine task, there will not be enough information circulated to solve problems. When a decentralized communication structure is used for solving simple tasks, excess communication takes place

Barriers to Communication(B) Individual barriers: □ Even in the absence of organizational barriers,

communication problems may arise.□ This is usually due to human and language imperfection.(i) Interpersonal barriers: □ Such barriers include problems with emotions and

perceptions held by participants.□ Thus, for instance. the way one perceives one's boss's

message is influenced not only by his relationship with the boss but also by his attitude towards top management in general.

□ Sender's credibility or expertise in the area being communicated also affect the trust of receiver.

Barriers to Communication(ii) Poor listening: □ Poor reception or listening may hamper

effective communication□ Listening may be defined as ‘hearing with

attention and comprehension’□ We might hear the words of a language,

you don’t understand without comprehending the meaning and intent of the words

□ As a listener is a partner in the communicative act or experience, he must keep his attention focused on what the speaker is saying.

Barriers to Communication(iii) Imprecise use of language: Improper use of words and phrases may cause

communication problems(iv) Semantics: □ It refers to words having different meanings for

different people. (v) Inconsistency: □ Lack of consistency between verbal and non-

verbal communications may cause problems.□ If one's facial expression does not match one's

words, the communication will include uncertainty and may confuse the receiver

(vi) Wrong channel: □ .