Communication Process

Definition: The Communication is a two-way process wherein the message in the

form of ideas, thoughts, feelings, opinions is transmitted between two or more persons
with the intent of creating a shared understanding.

Simply, an act of conveying intended information and understanding from one person to
another is called as communication. The term communication is derived from the Latin
word “Communis” which means to share. Effective communication is when the
message conveyed by the sender is understood by the receiver in exactly the same way
as it was intended.

Communication Process
The communication is a dynamic process that begins with the conceptualizing of ideas
by the sender who then transmits the message through a channel to the receiver, who
in turn gives the feedback in the form of some message or signal within the given time
frame. Thus, there are Seven major elements of communication process:

1. Sender: The sender or the communicator is the person who initiates the

conversation and has conceptualized the idea that he intends to convey it to others.
2. Encoding: The sender begins with the encoding process wherein he uses
certain words or non-verbal methods such as symbols, signs, body gestures, etc. to
translate the information into a message. The sender’s knowledge, skills, perception,
background, competencies, etc. has a great impact on the success of the message.
3. Message: Once the encoding is finished, the sender gets the message that he
intends to convey. The message can be written, oral, symbolic or non-verbal such as
body gestures, silence, sighs, sounds, etc. or any other signal that triggers the response
of a receiver.
4. Communication Channel: The Sender chooses the medium through which he
wants to convey his message to the recipient. It must be selected carefully in order to
make the message effective and correctly interpreted by the recipient. The choice of
medium depends on the interpersonal relationships between the sender and the
receiver and also on the urgency of the message being sent. Oral, virtual, written,
sound, gesture, etc. are some of the commonly used communication mediums.
5. Receiver: The receiver is the person for whom the message is intended or
targeted. He tries to comprehend it in the best possible manner such that the
communication objective is attained. The degree to which the receiver decodes the
message depends on his knowledge of the subject matter, experience, trust and
relationship with the sender.
6. Decoding: Here, the receiver interprets the sender’s message and tries to
understand it in the best possible manner. An effective communication occurs only if the
receiver understands the message in exactly the same way as it was intended by the
sender.
7. Feedback: The Feedback is the final step of the process that ensures the
receiver has received the message and interpreted it correctly as it was intended by the
sender. It increases the effectiveness of the communication as it permits the sender to
know the efficacy of his message. The response of the receiver can be verbal or non-
verbal.

Note: The Noise shows the barriers in communications. There are chances when the
message sent by the sender is not received by the recipient.

10 Most Important Nature or Characteristics of Communication

1. Communication involves at least two persons:

Communication involves at least two persons-the sender and the receiver. The sender
sends the message and is known as the communicator. The receiver receives the
message and is known as communicate.

2. Communication is a two ways process:

Communication is essentially a two ways process. It does not merely means sending
and receiving messages. It is not complete unless and until the message has been
understood by the receiver in the same sense.

3. Purpose of communication:
The basic purpose of communication is to create an understanding. The receiver should
understand the message sent and should response accordingly.
4. Form of communication:
Communication may take several forms e.g. order, instruction, report, queries etc. It
may be verbal or written. It may be formal or informal.

5. Scope of communication:
Communication pervades all human relationship. It is essential in all type of
organizational and at all levels of management.

6. Communication is a dynamic process:

Communication is influenced by the mood and thinking of the sender and receiver. The
way a message is accepted depends upon the fact that which of the fine sensory
organs of the receiver is active at that time.

7. Communication is much more than words:

Communication is not merely sending or receiving facts, expressed in words. It also
involves ideas and emotions. A lot of communication is done through signs, symbols
and gestures.

8. Communication is a goal oriented process:

Communication is goal oriented and is effective only when there is congruence of goals
of sender and receiver.

9. Communication is conversational:
Communication sets up a link between facts, ideas, and thus helps the communicator
and communicates to progress logically.

10. Communication is an interdisciplinary science:

Communication to be effective derives knowledge from several sciences like-
anthropology (study of body language), sociology (study of human behaviour),
psychology (study of attitude) etc.

Characteristics of Communication

Two-way process: The two-way process refers to a communication where the

participants take turns in being speaker-listener, writer-reader, the process being
complete only if there is a feedback from the receiver to the sender on how well the
message is understood.
Verbal and nonverbal: Verbal communication uses sounds and language to express
ideas and concepts while non-verbal communication uses gestures, touch and body
language to send and receive wordless cues between people.

Language familiarity: Effective communication means that the sender must use a
language the receiver is familiar with, otherwise the communication will be a failure.

Interest in the message: The receiver has to be interested in the subject the sender
has to convey, so that the communication process is successful.

Perception: There should be a consensus between the message that is sent and the
one that is received. The intended meaning has to be the same for an effective
communication.

Continuity: Communication is continuous because in everything we do, we have to

convey or receive information, the exchange of information being a continuous process.

Formal or informal: Formal communication conforms to established professional rules

and standards while informal communication is casual, unofficial and does not conform
to any regulations.

4 TYPES OF NOISE THAT CAN DISRUPT COMMUNICATION

By:  JASON E. NORRIS (2016)

1. PHYSICAL NOISE INTERFERES WITH COMMUNICATION

Physical noise is interference that is external to both speaker and listener; it hampers
the physical transmission of the signal or message.

Examples of physical noise:

loud party at the neighbors while you’re trying to record

loud kids who don’t want to take their nap

irritating hum of your computer, air conditioner, or heater.

2. PHYSIOLOGICAL NOISE INTERFERES WITH COMMUNICATION

Physiological noise is created by barriers within the sender or receiver.

Examples of physiological noise on the podcaster’s side:

articulation problems
mumbling

talking too fast

talking too slow

forgetting to pause

forgetting to breathe

An example of physiological noise on the listener’s side: hearing problems. Maybe the
listener can’t hear high tones as clearly as they used to. For some, low tones are the
problem. Their difficulty in literally hearing words and sounds becomes physiological
noise.

3. PSYCHOLOGICAL NOISE INTERFERES WITH COMMUNICATION

Psychological noise is mental interference in the speaker or listener.

Three examples of psychological noise are wandering thoughts, preconceived ideas,

and sarcasm.

“WANDERING THOUGHTS” CAN BE A KIND OF PSYCHOLOGICAL NOISE

This is primarily a listener problem. If you’re trying to communicate a concept in your

podcast, “wandering thoughts” is an obstacle because your listener may be distracted
and have difficulty keeping up with you. This is often a problem when talking about
abstract ideas.

Sometimes as podcasters, we cause a listener’s thoughts to wander, especially if we

talk too fast, too slow, or fail to pause.

But occasionally “wandering thoughts” can be a podcaster problem, too. Have you ever
started talking about one point only to find yourself lost talking about something
completely unrelated? It takes a lot of concentration (and maybe planning) to stay
focused.

“PRECONCEIVED IDEAS” CAN BE A KIND OF PSYCHOLOGICAL NOISE

Another type of psychological noise is when people think they already know something.
That noise interferes with a listener’s willingness to hear a new perspective.

Other preconceived ideas include biases, prejudices, presuppositions, and closed-

mindedness.
When there is psychological noise like this, you have to work harder than usual to make
sure you’re communicating clearly.

“SARCASM” CAN BE A KIND OF PSYCHOLOGICAL NOISE

If you don’t care to actually persuade someone to see things your way, then sarcasm is
the easy way.

Sarcasm is noise to your listener unless your listener already agrees with you.

If your listener disagrees with you, then sarcasm guarantees they won’t pay attention to
your message.

Sarcasm can also rile them up. When they come back at you with their knee-jerk
response, that’ll be noise to you.

And then true communication stops.

Finally, there is another type of noise that appears to be psychological, but it’s actually
linguistic and deserves its own category.

SEMANTIC NOISE INTERFERES WITH COMMUNICATION

Semantic noise is interference created when the speaker and listener have different
meaning systems.

Maybe when I use a word, you have a slightly different meaning in mind. This can cause
confusion.

JARGON CAN BE SEMANTIC NOISE

Jargon is a fantastic linguistic shortcut. If everyone listening agrees and understands

the terminology, then jargon makes communication quicker and clearer.

However, if listeners have different definitions of the terminology, then jargon becomes
noise. This is especially noisy to people outside your particular job or field.

ABSTRACT IDEAS CAN BE SEMANTIC NOISE

Another kind of semantic noise is when your words and sentences are nebulous or
ambiguous