 Communication is an acting word which means to share.

 sharing ideas, concepts, feelings and emotions

 Communication is the exchange of ideas. You cannot share ideas without communicating.
 Communication is the process of creating, transmitting and interpreting ideas, facts, opinions and
feelings.
 It is therefore essentially the sharing process that involves exchange between the two parties
 Communication can either be oral or it can be written.
 If you want any situation to improve or perfect you must have effective communication
 Communication helps us to learn and become more knowledgeable about each other, about issues
 Through whichever means, it is important to note that every human being communicates to express
their ideas, their hopes, their wishes, their knowledge, their believes and their resolutions
 Communication can either be verbal; using speech or be written or can also be in body language
 We can categorize all communications under 3 heads
1. Oral
2. Nonverbal
3. Written
Witten Words
 Must be able to be communicated in a way that when one reads can be able to understand the
message without having to think too much.
 Must be flowing and understandable without having to struggle to put pieces together
 Written examples are
o Reports
o Illustrations
o Memos (external/internal)
o Telegrams
o Faxes
o Emails
o Tenders
o Letters etc.

Oral Words
 Oral words articulate the matter.
 Could be communicated through
o Tele-interviews
o Speech presentations

Non-verbal
 This is the interpretation of a body movement, signs, symbols, disguised symbols, fearful
expressions, breath and eye movements
 If I am able to read this type of communication, I will be able to scan my environment
 Basic objectives of communication can be summarized as follows
 To understand others
 To get clear reception and understanding of our messages sent to you
 To get the acceptance of our ideas
 To get the required action
  The modes of communication can be formal or informal
 Formal communication can be inter-memos, official rules, regulations, guidelines of any
communication that has been defined by the organization as formal
 Informal communication is the one that is not guided by any rules or regulations e.g. you
communicate to your colleague and s/he asks ‘who said’? And now you start looking for authorities
to quote and say ‘it’s the manager who said’.
 Unfortunately, the informal communication can be used to spread rumors and gossips. This is now
what we call the grapevine. And there are several disadvantages of informal communication
I. The information can be false and misleading
II. Lead to conflict
III. Can be used by others to witch-hunt a particular person
IV. To create a negative image about a particular person
V. To create a negative perception about a person or a function
 Informal communication is used to influence negative thinking about someone or function or
something or institution
 Communication is the transmission of information
1. The people that are involved in various stages through which information has to pass these
are the;
 Senders and receivers
2. The mechanism used in the production of that information
3. The methods used for the transmission of the information
Internal communication within an organization
 Three ways we can communicate internally
1) Vertical
2) Horizontal
3) Diagonal
Vertical
 Communicating upwards
 In this type of communication you need to consider some important things here:
 Be sure your information is important because your boss’s time is limited
 Bes sure the information is accurate and complete
 Be brief (no abunuasi stories)
 Communicate both bad and good news
 Communicate regularly
 When you present a problem, always suggest potential solutions
 Make an agenda, a list is appreciated for early presentations
 Be sure your timing is right
 Establish clear objectives ; downwards, this helps in identifying potential problems,
gain staff commitments, gather information for discussion making and tips on
handling several things
 Maintain an open door policy; let your employees see that they can come in when
they have problems
 Listen attentively and objectively
 Use active listening
Horizontal
  This is the interaction among peers/colleagues
 There is no chain of commands or formalities here when communicating
 But one has to be careful not to become too familiar with their leaders
Diagonal
 Travels all the directions and most of the time it is informal
 Used during sermons
 It is not a reliable communication but when it is formal, it is centered towards a particular
communicator or individual like a preacher or a teacher to everybody
 Communication flows irrespective of status or positions
 It builds relationship between the superior and the subordinate since everyone shares the
same message
External communication within an organization
 Involves
1) Advertising
2) Media interaction including social media
3) Public relations
4) Presentations
5) Negotiations
 It has 9 elements
1) Sender; the source or person who is the communicator
2) Encoding; process of putting the ideas/thoughts into a message
3) Message; what the sender is going to transmit
4) Media; the communication channel you are going to use to send to the message to the
receiver
5) Decoding; the process by which the receiver interprets the meaning of the
message/information received
6) Receiver; the person receiving the message
7) Response; the action the receiver has after getting the message
8) Feedback; the response that the receiver sends or communicates back to the sender
9) Noise; the unplanned distortions during communication process resulting in the receiver
receiving a different message from what the sender send
Principals of successful communication
1. Clarity
a. Avoid using ambiguous words
b. Use simple sentences
c. Give frequent illustrations and examples
d. Use punctuations correctly
e. Use words carefully
f. Emphasize where possible and necessary
g. Use the language the reader/listener understands
h. Repeat yourself with different words
i. Let the listener know your subject right from the start
j. Provide all the information needed or necessary to the receiver
2. Character
a. Compete for the receivers attention
b. Express your personality
 c. Talk about persons, systems and things
d. Use down to earth figures or even language of speech i.e. grammar, spellings, figures, dates have to
be correct
e. Be interested in the subject you are dealing with
3. Courtesy
a. It is important that your attitude be right
b. Be the one who sympathizes; let your words be of self-apathy
c. Do not be abrupt
d. Control, check whether the message has been received and the desired action taken

Effective communication

 Effective communication is required at various levels within an organization

 It is important that the manager or the person in charge must relate with those under them
 Effective communication of information and decisions is essential component for management employee
relationship. The manager cannot get the work done from the employees unless they are communicated
effectively on what he wants to be done.
 Most management problem arise because there is lack of effective communication within the organization
 Effective communication is easily used for motivation of employees
 Effective communication is good for increasing productivity
 Effective communication is good for cutting down expenditures
 Effective communication creates or establishes harmony among all the staff and among all the departments

Importance of written communication

 It is clear
 Can be further discussed
 Provides a permanent record for future use