Chapter Z Process of communication A The process of communication involves the passing of an idea from one person to another. This process involves the necessary elements — sender, message (idea), channel (for transmission) receiver, feedback and the context. First the idea is encoded into a message by the sender. The message then transmitted to the receiver in any form (oral, written, non- verbal or a combination of verbal and non-verbal). Then the receiver decodes the message and lastly confirms to the sender that his or her message has been received and understood (feedback). And, this whole process happens in a particular context and the communication barriers affect each element. The effective communication is a two-way process — a message is sent and received and a feedback is sent and received. The interaction of the elements that comprise all transactional communication can be illustrated in the following figure: ~~ Noises ~ ~ ~ Feedback ~ Noises Context ~~ Noises ~~\ {Common Commun tel tant | impo st ess ( cess! tg proc ; ents, pro’ communicate” different ways by different wit, Ty le: L 2. Communication uv receive sent it detail about a Effective Business Comm ty Mai, ms to understand the communi, r ati has several elem, % terme in and again; they are. St, h again gain; re: at e thr0U8 al context, interpret, Feedbagh ty ceive ut the terms. source (sender): the person who communicates 101 rbal and nonverbal — the link betwee Message Ce eet) the idea, thought or feeling t, x source and re shared. i i : erson(s Receiver (the audience): the p (s) for whom 2 communication is intended. Channel (means of communication ~speed, " imicrowave radio/TV/cable/telephone): the pathway ¢ the message to be sent . Feedback (verbal and nonverbal from audience, 0 and A): message returned by the receiver to the sender . Noise: form of interference; usually have negatie impression/obstacle. . Context (situation — time, place, occasion): facto’ surrounding and : oe fa affecting th ion o message ing the transmissi ication Barriers Cc al . ‘cho smooth relations an hamper if the elements fail to establie Meause a miscommunge et Any one of the elemest ° ion. Like:Process of communication Noise -whatever the channel we communicate, Presence of noise is always there, some of them do not create much problem like sounds of fan, air conditioner, light music, birds twittering etc. but certain | noises like movement of heavy vehicles, horns ; during bad traffic, thunder lightening, mikes in public functions ete. cause huge problems to the understanding of a message. Sender - poor preparation - poor audience analysis ~ an abrasive personal style - poor first impression Message - poor organization - inappropriate language - technical errors - unfamiliar written format -spoken language filled with nervous fillers Channel - various forms of external noise Receiver - poor listening or reading skills - lack of empathy Feedback - environment that discourage feedback - insufficient feedback - feedback that comes toolate - response that focus on minor points Context - information overload - failure to understand the cultural differences At each stage in the process encoding, Ge ae on decoding there is the possibility of interference W aE nae hinder the communication process. This interference is I ao as noise. Often a comparison is made between communica| yon and a leaky bucket. If you use @ Jeaky bucket to carry water,Effective Business Commy, . "atin 40 . . . jous points in your journe . ill be lost at Von. It is not possible to stor th ur destin’ ins holes. The a: P ogi water tap tO yo e bucket contains a a Mount g wat water beca ‘ll be determined by e “m er Of holes i te ou will lose wl of the holes, the rou : y © to Your fing bucket, the size th of time it takes you to Bet to el destination and len also be other events that ocey, a You, destination. ay Biyinease the amount of wate, ig your journey w! formation is transferred from the transmit ; Similarly when a all of the information may be Teceived i to the ie cause of holes called noise. Each of the noi, the era the amount of information transferred. Just asin tle Pe ache more holes decrease the amount of Water, morg aleaky es the amount of correct information Teceived, noise decreases the c ca Noise can take a variety of forms including: {Language issues and cultural differences: 1h, receiver(s) may not (fully) understand the language used by the transmitter. This may occur if the transmitter’s language is foreign to the receiver. There may also be language problems (that the communication process) if the message contains technical information and the receiver's is not familiar with the technical terms used. Cultural differences created by an individual’s background and experience affect their perception pane world, Such cultural differences may affect the Pretation (decoding) of the message sent. yy \"Environmental ; issues: If the , at the transmitter or Teceiver are j th environment th: is noi the Sounds may pr n, 1s noisy and full of sound, Background noise gee Message being fully understood “Ch: Sn cteated by colleagues or machinery ‘Channel issues: information ig “s the channel used to transfer t informatio eta ia it may Prevent all or some of tH ori ine, a crac Ting paetred. Examples include a faulty Zi Tin the case of ora} mesgae? handwriting that cannot be re%4 S in Meorrect facial gestures.Process of communication 4l Receivers attitude an 7 interested in the eee Connvice If the Teceiver(s) is not to decoding) this may reluee aS 0 give their full attention received or the accuracy of the infor them. Similarly the Teceiver(s) may by "jumping to conclusions" or 7 manner that suits their own inter fhe true meaning of the message, 1 aes Transmission journey: i.e. steps in the message, If the message is complicated or there are lots of steps taken to transfer the Message it may affect the accuracy or interpretation. Comparing with the leaky bucket if the leaky bucket has to carry water over a longer distance more water will probably lost than if the journey was shorter. rmation transmitted to misinterpret the message eading the message in a ‘ests/objectives and distort Role of Communication in Business Organisation Organisations cannot operate without communication. Communication is the life source of organisations because organisations involve people. People cannot interact with each other without communication. Effective communication affects every aspect of business — from creation of a business image and goodwill to sale of goods and services, from effective customer service to efficient internal operations, from dealing with suppliers to dealing with government officials. There are two different types of audiences in business organisation — the internal audience and the external audience. The internal audience are the organisation's employees and owners. The external audience are the customers and suppliers, a well as general public, other business organisations, an government officials with whom it jnteracts.Effective Business my ° pusiness organisation: 4 in Communication communication » Audience Example ternal audience Employee Newsletter ats Employees Quarterly finanej al Teport * owners External audience General public Customers News release Advertisement Vendor requirements Annual report Suppliers Government Officials v : . soe . . ‘Internal communication: This is communicating through various channels within an organisation. Effect a nttcation among employees is crucial to the success al s Internal communication involves femmunicating back and forth within the organisation hrough such Written and oral channels as memos, repos ect A i pe’ oral presentations, speeches, emails, and person n salves communica. _ lephone Conversation. It inv Communication “P and down the organisational hierat™ tween _ takes pl. ace among co-workers as a ation busines», Subordinates, Through inte and probe are nSS decisions ane made, policies methods like free gi tused and solved. Using a O-f Conversation, formalProcess of communication 43 speeches, phone calls, emails, ; hes, phone calls, emails, and questionnai organisations linked success and profitability te eik ine _internal communication, oe (External communication: Exter to communication with major audiences in an organisation’s external environment like the general public, customers and suppliers, other business organisations and government officials. Through external ls. . communication business organisations establish themselves in the market place and work with others to keep their operations functioning. nal communication refers General public > advertisement Customers > sales presentation, order fulfilment, handling complaints Suppliers and other business > Letters, written proposals, reports, oral presentations, meetings, telephone calls, informal conversations Government > Correspondence regarding government regulations, tax payments, report, bids on specific projects Prormal and informal communication channels: Formal and informal pathways that define the manner in which messages are sent within an organisation's communication network. Communication channels include such formal pathways as letters, reports, memos, proposals and oral presentations and informal pathways like office grapevine. Formal and informal channels operate both within and eue the organisation. While a memo, for instance, is usual y considered a formal internal message, a conve! we around the cafe is regarded as informal internal a ge. Similan i while a public relations press release 1s it ma i wy lo communicate with outsiders, a c@ ual phone ca re « es another company is a part of the informal external gray 7 wa44 c annels? V-formal ch De nication channel includes Commun, mu mars eats he organisation Managemen, “Ato, tl nee sanctioned by company’s organisational es ae aera aoe i fos id in organisation chart. The Organ athe hich is Fa formal lines of communication sng in S ng the positions, departments, and funy Mons usually wi chart indicate relationships amo! of an organisation. Pp eens d system ) Communication flow an v irecti munication within the fon e direction taken by com cat crennel is known as the communication flow. Organisati chart make it easier to see how communication can take Dace. H Vertically (between levels) ; ® Horizontally (between sections) ® Diagonally (between different levels & sections) It is important to keep all communication routes open for effectiveness of communication, Vertically the messages can communicate both upward and downward. Downward communication: Superiors communicate with subordinates - either written or oral like company handbook, Comm u : 0. : subordinates fa directed upwards from managers, supe SUperiors of an organisation i re s - “Ports, meetings informa tectors by using mem Iscussions, etc.Process of communication ; c Horizontal communication: k Horizonte (also a as re : ‘al ve OWN as Jateral ee comm ra Seeur s between people of wane —/ Sales staff, departmental head (az cirectors, supervisors by using memos, repor' See meetings, seminars, conferences, Diagonal communication: Involve more than one dept. and without obvious line of authority. Relies largely on cooperation, goodwill and respect between the parties concerned. We can sum up about the message type and the communication flow with the following figure: Upward Downward Horizontal Diagonal Higher levels of the organisation Coordination Information suopon.aysuyM6 . amunication network: ‘this 18 the tal communication, The 7 vig and horizon munication networks, cach of sete com pattern involving upward, ional communication. ores ¢ down \Z oe \ /™. Chain Wheel @<+e-+e~-~+e--e@ Circle N, \ ; ue “ynprocess of communication 47 ach network, in the example, ig veh of whom is ea ‘yale up of five members, formation information moves ‘up and ” on al chain, horizontally. In the wheel, supervisors comma nn i four subordinates who report back to higher mana, as al oe t not to each other. The cirele network allows membel i, interact with members next to them but with no one a se "I c all-channel net work is the only network in which, fro communication takes place among all group members. ‘In the “y” network, two subordinates are shown communicating with the same manager, with two more managerial ls shown above that. In this sc, communication is limited primarily to workers and immediate supervisors. Informal communication channel. Informal communication channels consist of communication patterns that are independent of the formal channels approved by the management. These channels are sometimes more efficient than the formal channels, Sometimes it often operates independent of management control. Informal communication channels can be of both internal and external; for instance: © At lunch, three co-workers from different departments talk about a rumour of company’s lay-off. e Ina health club one of the company’s Vice President talk to Accounting Manager about a new advertising campaign. atch during the weekend company, sible © While watching a cricket m with a friend from a_clicnt representative hears about a opportunity. e Arumour spreads that popular drink of the company is contaminated by pesticides.sO a “On ication: Instead of learni internal communica’ } mntostpall in and personal changes and new Projects fron about p a and official company eocumet 1. employees sometimes gain information through unofficial 7 Ee lependent ames These informal internal communication channels are known as grapevine. Keith Davis, an expert on human relations who studieg informal communication patters for rene 30 years, has i i ding to its accuracy, speeq characterised the grapevine accordlr C J base of operations, confidentiality and ties to forma communication. i ite informatio * Accuracy: Grapevines pass accura' ation between 75 % to 95% of the time. Though the failure rate is less, even a small inaccuracy can destroy the complete message. Speed: Communication travels through grapevine at an extremely fast pace. While a message sent through formal channels may take days to reach its audience, while messag e sent through grapevine can travel in hours as it is usually always oral, that reaches faster than written one. Base of operations: grap primarily during the wos Confidentiality: confidential infor; through the grap . ae oe Communication: the grapevine ements the formal communicati munication. The systems operate joi a ntly, Davis also finds four travels through the different Paths in which information grapevine, gossi &rapevine, they are: single-stram 5 'P Srapevil ili . r grapevine, We on a ne, hen aeilty grapevine and clusté wine: evine communication occurs rk hours and at the work place. Contrary to popular belief, 5 protected as it passes evine, strate thprocess of Communication Re) @-6-@-—-®, Single-strand Gossip oO © Q@.G VO.’ - Lo 96 Og ProbabilityOED 50 Bee” In the single-strand grapevine information travels jn straight line from person A to person B to person Cand so on, The further the communication moves from its original sources, the greater of chance of distortion. In the gossip grapevine, information comes from a single source, in the above figure person A. The probability grapevine is characterised by random communication. Person A passes information on a random basis some people but not to others. In the cluster grapevine, person A selectively communicates with some people but not with others, with only some of the grapevine participants passing the information on. According to Davis this cluster is the most common type of grapevine. To many managers grapevines are threatening as they believe that they undermine their controls, but actually good managers realising the importance of grapevine utilise these to have accurate information. One thing we need to keep in mind regarding the grapevine that it sometimes spreads rumour that causes anxious situations. What is rumour? Rumour isa story about an organisation which is in general ie ation but which is unconfirmed by the facts. For example, Nhat ney epee about company lay-off, dismissal of top, ee ; ng, a project, ete. Realising the danger o! umours, managers may attempt to deal with them through memos, meetings and — other orma 8 Ir S, ectin, communication channels, >Process of communication 5) How to fight a rumour? a. b. Be alert: On first hearj Hert: 2) Caring a rumour, we location and wordings, We need io i lent epee the ee ay Slay ale, 7 2 reports, If we hear len or more, we shosld pared peop ec Mid Tepeat it. Busin SCS targeted bye ask r exa er Cg rey 5 i ie or examp) C, can request their di ributors,, alesmen and others M contact. with Public heck with competitors to see if they share the problem, Evaluate the rum damaging the rumou our: We have to find out how ris, for example, it may slow down our sales. We have to monitor whether it damages the morale of those who are its target. We need to find out how many people who hear it, believes it to be true. Plan a counterattack: We have to assemble all facts about the forms of the rumour and where it has spread. We can focus the counterattack in regions where it most heavily concentrated, if it is a local one, we need to deal it locally. Launch the counterattack: We must refute the rumour point to point, with solid evidence, backed by experts. We need not deny more than is alleged in the rumour. We should point it out that the rumour is untrue and unjust, and it is unfair to spread lies. Principles of effecting communication ; fev y being aware of Effective communication can be achieved by pera the barriers that exist, and by considering ca following vital factors: f ication? What's the objective of the communicatio icated? Who will be communicated? / Under what circumstances 1s taking place? , How will the recipient react? the communication52 Effective Business Communication The writer's techniques for effective communication are as follow: Read Listen intelligently Think clearly and plan Select appropriate media Use appropriate language Time your communication appropriately Be open minded Obtain feedback Set and maintain high standard of communication SAAHKRY PH ° 6 Information and. Communication Technology (ICT)of communication ears there ha ; revolution. While paper-based ya information technology much evident for Processing iifonmalion a are still very more and more office functions and ad communication undertaken by computerised technology. The lures are now such information technology on eee of cannot be ignored. This also makes the task of methods saproiaae aap selon more interesting and challenging ‘or the writer especially fo ‘ : presentation. Coy ly for a logical structure and attractive ICT (information and communications technology - or technologies) is an umbrella term that includes any communication device or application, encompassing: radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, satellite systems and so on, as well as the various services and applications associated with them, such as videoconferencing and distance learning. ICTs are often spoken of in a particular context, such as ICTs in education, health care, or libraries. A good way to think about ICT is to consider all the uses of digital technology that already exist to help individuals, business and organisations use information. ICT covers any product that will store, retrieve, manipulate, ene receive information electronically in a digital form. for example, personal computers, digital televisions, emails, robots, ete. ogy is concerned transmission or cerned with F icati nol So, information and communication tech : manipulation, with the storage, retrieval, aaa eon receipt of digital data. Importantly, is ae other. the way these different uses can work wi . wd i broad types © In business, JCT is often categorised into a product:\ OS GATION a. The traditional computer-based technologies, like PCs at home and work, and, ” b. The more recent and fast growing — digitay communication technologies that allow people and organisations to communicate and share information digitally. Let us take a brief look at these two categories to demonstrate the kinds of products and ideas that are covered by the ICT. \) Traditional computer-based technologies These types of ICT include: Application Use, examples Word e.g. Microsoft Word: Write letters, | processing reports etc Spreadsheets e.g. Microsoft Excel; Analyse financial information; calculations; create forecasting models etc Database e.g. Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Access; software Managing data in many forms, from basic lists (e.g. customer contacts through to complex material (e.g. catalogue) Presentation E.g. Microsoft PowerPoint; make software presentations, either directly using a computer screen or data projector. Publish in digital format via email or over the Internet Desktop e.g. Adobe In design, Quark Express, publishing Microsoft Publisher; produce newsletters, magazines and other complex documents. nl Graphics g. Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator; software Macromedia Frechand and Fireworks; sreate and edit images such as logos,Process of communication Digital Communicatj fi 0n technologies include, [ Specialist . Applications Example Accounting g. ig package E.g, Sage, Oracle; Manage an organisation's accounts including revenuesfsalen purchases, bank accounts ete. A wide range of systems is available ranging from basic ___ packages suitable for small businesses through to sophisticated ones aimed at multinational companies, Computer Aided Design Computer Aided Design (CAD) is the use of computers to assist the design process. Specialised CAD programs exist for many types of design: architectural, engineering, electronics, roadways Customer Relations Management (CRM) Software that allows businesses to better understand their customers by collecting and analysing data on them such as their product preferences, buying habits etc. Often linked to software applications that run call centres and loyalty cards for example.\) ICT that is common in everyday life: m PC, Laptops, Tabs in the office, at home u Benefits of ICT — automated analysis of data, speed, record keeping, international capabilities m Cost of office automation — social implication — redundancy H Internet - database, graphics, e-mail, video conferencing, etc. Questions: Quiz 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8 9 What is feedback in communication process? How context is an element of communication process? How does message can be a barrier in communication process? How the speaker can also be a barrier in the communication process? Who are the internal audience for communicating in a business organisation? What is horizontal communication? What messages usually pass through a downward communication? What is a circle communication network? What is a gossip grapevine? 10. Define rumour. 11. What is ICT? Questions: Short 1, 2; What are the basic elements of communication process? Explain how noise and context can be a communication barrier. Why language and cultural differences we need to consider for a successful communication? What role does communication play in a business organisation?process of communication 5 6. 7 8 9. 37 What is external com: i munication j - does a business comm tion in a business? How unicate externally? does ‘wheel’ work? What is grapevine? What are grapevine? How can you fight against the rumour? the characteristics of Questions: Broad 1 2. Draw a communication flowchart. Explain all the elements of communication process. What are the formal and informal communication channels? Explain them briefly. What are the principles of effective communication? How rumour spreads and how can you stop the rumour? . What is ICT? What role does ICT play in modern communication? What digital technologies now you use for communicating?