Meaning of communication

Two-way process of reaching mutual understanding, in which participants not only exchange
(encode-decode) information, news, ideas and feelings but also create and share meaning. In
general, communication is a means of connecting people or places. In business, it is a key
function of management--an organization cannot operate without communication between levels,
departments and employees. See also communications.

It's nearly impossible to go through a day without the use of communication. Communication is
sending and receiving information between two or more people. The person sending the message
is referred to as the sender, while the person receiving the information is called the receiver. The
information conveyed can include facts, ideas, concepts, opinions, beliefs, attitudes, instructions
and even emotions.

Role ofCommunication

Most business people have been in situations where lack of communication or poor
communication caused an adverse result. Not understanding the important role communication
plays in everyday business transactions can cause delayed projects, dissatisfied customers and
angry stockholders. While the overall role of good business communication is to provide clarity
for all concerned, the role changes depend on business goals and the audience at hand.

Communicating With One Or Many

Good business communication means that the message you want to send is received by your
audience without any distortion in the meaning. It is easier to do this in person or over the phone
because you get instant feedback as to whether you are understood. In business this is not always
possible because most communication is "one-to-many," meaning that one person communicates
with two or more people. The chances for distortion in your message are greater. The role of
good business communication is to reduce or greatly eliminate the dissonance that occurs when
one person is communicating with one other person or, more commonly, with many others.
Business Innovation
If your company is planning new products or services, communication can play a pivotal role in
how good your product is, how fast you bring it to market and how well your sales force
performs. New product development is often accomplished in small teams working together. If
these small teams are communicating with each other in an open and honest fashion, innovation
has a greater chance of success. New product development communication needs to be concise
and accurately worded and generally the communication needs to be archived for future
reference. If your company is developing a complicated automotive product, plans, spec sheets
and email memos need to be available to all teammates as well as meeting recaps and minutes.
Shaping Company Morale
If your company is faced with a business downturn, the CEO can do much to bolster employee
morale. This is an example of "one-to-many" communication where the CEO talks to employees
in a company-wide meeting. Whether the CEO is an extrovert or an introvert, a natural
communicator or one who does not relish the role, his style is less important than substance. If he
is honest and open about the firm's prospects and what actions are under consideration to
alleviate the situation, employees will most likely respond positively.
Sales And Marketing
A salesperson calling on individual accounts must typically master the art of one-to-one
communications. In this situation a salesperson must be able to communicate product benefits,
price, payment terms and other aspects of the sale in a clear and unambiguous way. If a prospect
is on the fence as to whether he will buy, the salesperson must be adept at reading body language
and overcoming objections. Company marketing materials are representative of the one-to-many
communications type. They come from the company and are directed to a large audience of past,
current and potential customers. Sales and marketing communications have a role in shaping the
company's image. These communications are often the frontline messages people will recall
about an organization.
Communications Audit
To better understand if the role communication plays in your company needs improvement,
undertake a communications audit. Typically this is accomplished via a short questionnaire
where everyone in the company is asked to respond honestly. Questions about how well
employees perceive internal communications as well as how they see company communications
with outside customers, suppliers and other stakeholders are included. Results are analyzed and
communicated with employees in an effort to improve the role communications plays in the
company.

What is communication process? | Steps of communication process

Communication process consists of some interrelated steps or parts through which messages are
sent form sender to receiver. The process of communication begins when the sender wants to
transmit a fact, idea, opinion or other information to the receiver and ends with receiver’s
feedback to the sender. The main components of communication process are sender, message,
channel, receiver and feedback. In the following, some definitions of the communication process
are quoted:

Robert Kreitner defined, “Communication process is a chain made up of identifiable links. The
chain includes sender, encoding, message, receiver, decoding, and feedback.”

In the opinion of S. K. Kapur, “The communication process is the method by which the sender
transfers information and understanding to the receiver.”

According to Bovee, Thill and Schatzman, “The communication process consists of six phases
linking sender and receiver.”

C. B. Mamoria has pointed out the parts of communication process by saying, “That
communication process model is making up of seven steps or parts: a. the communication b.
Encoding c. The message and the medium or channel, d. reception by the feceiver e. decoding f.
Action and g. feedback.”
The following diagram represents the communication process

Thus, it is clear that communication process is the set of some sequential steps involved in
transferring message as well as feedback. The process requires a sender who transmits message
through a channel to the receiver. Then the receiver decodes the message and sends back some
type of signal or feedback.

Steps or 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:

1. 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.
2. Encoding: Encoding means converting or translation the idea into a perceivable form that can
be communicated to others.
3. 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.
4. Selecting the medium: Medium is the channel or means of transmitting the message to the
receiver. Once the sender has encoded his into a 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.

IMPORTANCE OF FEEDBACK

Giving effective feedback is a vital part of communication, whether inside or outside the
boardroom or classroom. Bob Dignen explains why.
Different aspects of communication lay claim to being the most important: listening effectively
or building trust, for example. Though these are important, the critical skill for me is feedback,
both giving and getting. Effective feedback has benefits for the giver, the receiver and the wider
organisation. Here are five reasons why feedback is perhaps the most important communication
skill.
#1 Feedback is there all the time
Ask people when feedback happens in business and they usually talk about times such as the
annual appraisal, or a disciplinary conversation following some kind of wrongdoing. In fact,
feedback is around us all the time. Every time we speak or listen to another person, in our tone of
voice, in the words we use, in the silences which we allow, we communicate feedback – how far
we trust, how much we respect, the degree to which we love, like or even hate the person in front
of us. We cannot not give feedback. If we think we’re not doing it, we’re a dangerous
communicator because it means we are probably not managing communication effectively.

#2 Feedback is just another word for effective listening

When one human being speaks to another, he or she needs to experience two very fundamental
things – they need to know that they have been understood, and they need to feel that what they
said had some form of value. Remove either of these aspects, and a speaker can quickly become
confused or even irritated. Giving feedback effectively means in one sense simply providing both
aspects; for example, showing understanding – ‘I see.’ or ‘OK. I have the same issue.’ – and
expressing appreciation – ‘That’s important because …’ or ‘That’s very interesting because …’.
#3 Feedback is an opportunity to motivate
Positive feedback is another word for praise, and is all about taking the opportunity to express
appreciation of a job well done, in the hope of inspiring an individual to do many more jobs even
better. Too few leaders, managers and colleagues find time to express thanks to others for
something well done, missing the opportunity to inspire greater positive feeling and commitment
in those already performing well.
#4 Feedback is essential to develop performance
For many, feedback is something akin to criticism or attack. Perhaps this is why it is seldom
practised with any enthusiasm, and certainly anticipated with less. Yet feedback is not criticism,
it is a supportive act intended to deal with under-performance in a constructive way and to
develop performance to a higher level. The language which we use is important here; not, ‘You
didn’t do …’but rather ‘If you had done xxx, it would have …’ or ‘The customer wasn’t very
happy. What else do you think you could have done?’
#5 Feedback is a way to keep learning
Working internationally, which often entails working with high levels of cultural diversity,
business complexity and within virtual teams, means we are likely to get things wrong from time
to time. We will assume things incorrectly. We will communicate in ways which are confusing
and possibly impolite for others. The only way to make sure we don’t continue making the same
mistakes is to get feedback. Invest time in asking and learning about how others experience
working with you - ‘What do you like about the way I work and what don’t you like?’ You might
find it tough to listen to others’ sometimes ill-founded opinions about your behaviour. But it is
what it is; an opinion and not a fact. And if people are thinking it, you may not need to accept it,
but you need to manage the perception by explaining more about what you do and why you do it
the way you do. It takes time, of course, but probably saves time in the long run – with greater
mutual understanding comes greater speed to market.

Importance of professional communication

Professional communication encompasses written, oral, visual and digital communication
within a workplace context. This discipline blends together pedagogical principles of rhetoric,
technology, software, and learning theory to improve and deliver communication in a variety of
settings ranging from technical writing to usability and digital media design. It is a new
discipline that focuses on the study of information and the ways it is created, managed,
distributed, and consumed. Since communication in modern society is a rapidly changing area,
the progress of technologies seems to often outpace the number of available expert practitioners.
This creates a demand for skilled communicators which continues to exceed the supply of trained
professionals.[1]
The field of professional communication is closely related to that of technical communication,
though professional communication encompasses a wider variety of skills. Professional
communicators use strategies, learning theory, and technologies to more effectively
communicate in the business world.
Successful communication skills are critical to a business because all businesses, though to
varying degrees, involve the following: writing, reading, editing, speaking, listening, software
applications, computer graphics, and Internet research. Job candidates with professional
communication backgrounds are more likely to bring to the organization sophisticated
perspectives on society, culture, science, and technology.
Levels of communication
 Types of communication

Types of Communication

Communication

Communication is a process of exchanging information, ideas, thoughts, feelings and emotions

through speech, signals, writing, or behavior. In communication process, a sender(encoder)
encodes a message and then using a medium/channel sends it to the receiver (decoder) who
decodes the message and after processing information, sends back appropriate feedback/reply
using a medium/channel.

Types of Communication

People communicate with each other in a number of ways that depend upon the message and its
context in which it is being sent. Choice of communication channel and your style of
communicating also affects communication. So, there are variety of types of communication.

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Types of communication based on the communication channels used are:

1. Verbal Communication
2. Nonverbal Communication

1. Verbal Communication

Verbal communication refers to the the form of communication in which message is transmitted
verbally; communication is done by word of mouth and a piece of writing. Objective of every
communication is to have people understand what we are trying to convey. In verbal
communication remember the acronym KISS(keep it short and simple).

When we talk to others, we assume that others understand what we are saying because we know
what we are saying. But this is not the case. usually people bring their own attitude, perception,
emotions and thoughts about the topic and hence creates barrier in delivering the right meaning.
 So in order to deliver the right message, you must put yourself on the other side of the table and
think from your receiver’s point of view. Would he understand the message? how it would sound
on the other side of the table?

Verbal Communication is further divided into:

 Oral Communication
 Written Communication

Oral Communication
In oral communication, Spoken words are used. It includes face-to-face conversations, speech,
telephonic conversation, video, radio, television, voice over internet. In oral communication,
communication is influence by pitch, volume, speed and clarity of speaking.

Advantages of Oral communication are:

It brings quick feedback.
In a face-to-face conversation, by reading facial expression and body language one can guess
whether he/she should trust what’s being said or not.

Disadvantage of oral communication

In face-to-face discussion, user is unable to deeply think about what he is delivering, so this can
be counted as a

Written Communication
In written communication, written signs or symbols are used to communicate. A written message
may be printed or hand written. In written communication message can be transmitted via email,
letter, report, memo etc. Message, in written communication, is influenced by the vocabulary &
grammar used, writing style, precision and clarity of the language used.

Written Communication is most common form of communication being used in business. So, it is
considered core among business skills.

Memos, reports, bulletins, job descriptions, employee manuals, and electronic mail are the types
of written communication used for internal communication. For communicating with external
environment in writing, electronic mail, Internet Web sites, letters, proposals, telegrams, faxes,
postcards, contracts, advertisements, brochures, and news releases are used.

Advantages of written communication includes:

Messages can be edited and revised many time before it is actually sent.
Written communication provide record for every message sent and can be saved for later study.
A written message enables receiver to fully understand it and send appropriate feedback.

Disadvantages of written communication includes:

Unlike oral communication, Written communication doesn’t bring instant feedback.
It take more time in composing a written message as compared to word-of-mouth. and number of
people struggles for writing ability.
2. Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication is the sending or receiving of wordless messages. We can say that
communication other than oral and written, such as gesture, body language,posture, tone of
voice or facial expressions, is called nonverbal communication.Nonverbal communication is
all about the body language of speaker.

Nonverbal communication helps receiver in interpreting the message received. Often, nonverbal
signals reflects the situation more accurately than verbal messages.Sometimes nonverbal
response contradicts verbal communication and hence affect the effectiveness of message.

Nonverbal communication have the following three elements:

Appearance
Speaker: clothing, hairstyle, neatness, use of cosmetics
Surrounding: room size, lighting, decorations, furnishings

Body Language
facial expressions, gestures, postures

Sounds
Voice Tone, Volume, Speech rate
Types of Communication Based on Purpose and Style

Based on style and purpose, there are two main categories of communication and they both bears
their own characteristics. Communication types based on style and purpose are:

1. Formal Communication
2. Informal Communication

1. Formal Communication

In formal communication, certain rules, conventions and principles are followed while
communicating message. Formal communication occurs in formal and official style. Usually
professional settings, corporate meetings, conferences undergoes in formal pattern.

In formal communication, use of slang and foul language is avoided and correct
pronunciation is required. Authority lines are needed to be followed in formal communication.

2. Informal Communication

Informal communication is done using channels that are in contrast with formal communication
channels. It’s just a casual talk. It is established for societal affiliations of members in an
organization and face-to-face discussions. It happens among friends and family. In informal
communication use of slang words, foul language is not restricted. Usually. informal
communication is done orally and using gestures.
Informal communication, Unlike formal communication, doesn’t follow authority lines. In
an organization, it helps in finding out staff grievances as people express more when talking
informally. Informal communication helps in building relationships.