Introduction to

Communication

Asi Vasudeva Reddy,

B. Tech, MBA,
Lecturer, NIST
• The term communication has been derived from the
Latin word ‘communis’, means ‘common’.
• It is an important aspect of human behavior and
symbolizes human beings.
• Definition: communication is an exchange of facts,
ideas, opinions or emotions by 2 or more persons
- George Terry
• It is defined as ‘the process of passing information
and understanding from one person to another
 Role of communication in
business
• Efficient working of the business
• Efficient handling of managerial functions
– Planning
– Organizing
– Staffing
– Directing
– Controlling
• Building healthy human relations
• Job satisfaction and enrichment
• Maintaining relations with external parties
• Strategic management
 The benefits of effective
communication
Quicker
problem
solving
Improved Stronger
stakeholder decision
response making

Enhanced EFFECTIVE Increased

professional COMMUNICAT
ION productivity
image

Clearer
Steadier
promotional
Stronger workflow
material
business
relationships
 Characteristics of effective
business managers

• Provide practical information

• Give facts rather than impressions
• Clarify and condense information
• State precise responsibilities
• Offer recommendations
The Communication Process
Phase 6
Phase 1
Receiver
Sender has
sends
an idea
feedback

Chann
Phase 2 Phase 5
el &
Sender Mediu Receiver
encodes m decodes
idea message

Phase 3 Phase 4
Sender Receiver
transmits gets
message message
 Barriers to Communication
• Non-verbal signals
• Language
• Listening
• Pre-judgement
• Relationships
• Emotional responses
 Flow of communication
• Vertical communication
• Horizontal communication
• Diagonal communication
• The grapevine
 Types of communication
CEO
Managing
Director

Human Purchasing
Financial Sales Director Resources Director
Director Director

Training Stores Mgr

Sales Purchase Marketing
Sales Mgr Mgr
A/c A/c Mgr
Personnel
Mgr

Zonal Mgr Zonal Mgr Zonal Mgr Zonal Mgr

Vertical Communication
Horizontal Communication
Diagonal Communication
 Why communication skills
important?
• To secure an interview
• To get the job
• To do your job well
• To advance in your career
Oral communication in the workplace can be:
• A private discussion
• A conversation over lunch
• A gossip in the lift
• A telephone conversation
• A chance meeting in the corridor
• An informal gathering of staff
• Instructing subordinates
• Dealing with clients
• Formal meetings
• Interviews
• Giving a presentation
• Conferences / seminars
 Guidelines for overcoming
communication barriers

1. Adopt an audience-centered approach

2. Open communication climate
1. Modify the number of organization levels
2. Facilitate feedback
3. Commit ethical communication
4. Create lean, efficient messages
1. Reduce the number of messages
2. Minimize distractions
3. Fine tune your business communication skills
 Ethical communication
• Ethics are the principles of conduct that
govern a person or a group
• Ethical communication includes all
relevant information, is true in every
sense, and is not deceptive in anyway.
• Unethical communication can include
false-hoods and misleading information
– Plagiarism
– Selective misquoting
– Misrepresenting numbers
– Distorting visuals
 Communicating in teams
• Types of teams
– Formal teams: part of organization’s
structure
– Informal teams: they are not a part of
formal organization but are formed to solve
a problem.
• Problem solving teams
• Task forces
– Virtual teams: they bring together
geographically distant employees to interact,
share ideas, information and accomplish
goals
Advantages Disadvantages
• Increased information • Teams are
and knowledge unproductive and
• Increased diversity of frustrating
views • Group think
• Increased acceptance • Hidden agenda
of a solution • High cost of
• Higher performance coordinating group
levels activities
 Listening
• Types of listening
– Content listening
• To understand and retain the speaker’s message
– Critical listening
• To understand and evaluate the meaning of the speaker’s
message on several levels: the logic of argument, the
strength of the evidence, the validity of the conclusions, this
implications of the message for you and your organization
– Emphatic listening
• To understand the speaker’s feelings, needs and wants, so
that you can appreciate his/her point of view, regardless of
whether you share that perspective
Listening process

Receiving

Interpreting

Remembering

Evaluating

Responding

Acting
 Difference between good listener and
bad listener

A bad listener A good listener

• Easily distracted
• Daydreams
• Fakes attention
• Tunes out if delivery is poor
• Tends to argue
• Makes the most of the opportunity
• Fights distractions
• Makes an effort to concentrate
• Uses body language to show attention
• Judges content over delivery
• Interrupts only to clarify
• Gives speaker a chance before judging
Is not obsessed with emotional words
•
• Considers evidence

• Reacts to emotions
 Techniques for effective
listening
• Prepare to listen
• Avoid pre-judgement
• Be open-minded
• Establish eye-contact
• Don’t interrupt
• Watch for signals
• Judge content, not delivery
• Extract key points
• Give feedback
• Block out distractions
Media of Communication

• Written communication
• Oral communication
• Visual communication
• Audio-visual communication
• Computer-based communication
 Written communication
Merits Limitations
• It is accurate and precise • Time consuming
• It can be repeatedly • Expensive
referred to
• Quick clarification is
• It is a permanent record
not possible
• It is a legal document
• It facilitates assignation of
responsibilities
• It has a wide access
 Oral Communication

Merits Limitations
• Saves time • Not possible if
• Saves money distance is more
• Powerful means of • Unsuitable for lengthy
control messages
• Immediate feedback • Messages cannot be
• Immediate clarification retained for long
• Can be informal • No legal validity
• More effective in groups • Greater chance of
misunderstanding
 Essentials of effective oral
communication
• Clear pronunciation
• Be precise
• Confidence
• Logical sequence
• Appropriate word
• Natural voice
Face-to-face communication

Merits Limitations
• Facial expressions and • Difficult to practice in
gestures help to large-sized
communicate better organizations
• Particularly suitable • Not effective in large
for discussions gatherings
• Ineffective if the
listener is not
attentive
 Computer-based
communication
Merits Limitations
• Quickest means of • Uncertain legal
communication validity
• Space no longer a barrier to
communication • Fear of undesirable
• Video conferencing can leakage
replace personal meetings • Virus problem
• Better means of keeping
permanent record of
valuable and bulky data
• World wide web as a
publishing platform
 Non verbal communication
• Body language
– Posture
– Facial expressions
• Wrinkles on face suggest worry.
• Raised eye-brows, wide-opened eyes, gapping
mouth show surprise and shock.
– Gesture: is a movement of the head, hands or
legs to express an idea, feeling or emotion
• Head nod suggests ‘yes’
• Shaking of the head sideways suggests ‘ no’
• Thumbs-up suggests ‘approval’
– Body movements
• Positioning or movement of the body
• For eg. Audience leaning towards the speaker if they are
interested
• Hold themselves back when they are not interested
– Posture
• The way in which someone usually stands or sits or holds his
shoulders, neck and back
– Eye contact
– Touch
• Paralanguage: Refers to a wide
range of vocal characteristics like:
– Tone
– Pitch
– Speed of delivery
– Pauses
– Speech breakers
– Stress
• Proxemics: Space Language
– The study of space between two interacting persons
– This space defines the level of intimacy between them.
• Intimate zone 0-18 inches family, close relatives
• Friendly zone 18”-4feet informal business meet
• Social zone 4-10ft business transactions
• Public zone over 10ft public gatherings

• Silence
 Characteristics of non-verbal
communication
• Verbal and non-verbal communications
usually co-exist
• Body postures and gestures along with dress
and language accurately reveal the status
and education levels of the communicators.
• Non-verbal communication is more reliable
than verbal communication.
• Non-verbal communication carries cultural
bias.
• Should be interpreted in a context.