Basics of Professional

Communication
MTTM ZC241 (Lecture No. 1)
BITS Pilani Mandeep Kaur
Technical Report Writting
Pilani Campus

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OVERVIEW

What is the first thing you do when you arrive at

work each morning?
• Do you greet your co-workers and meet to talk
about what needs to be done that day?
• Do you check your email to get directions for
an assignment?
• Do you write a memo to help others know
what you need to do and how to do it?

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Continued……

• If any of these experiences are part of your

day, then you can see why good
communication is arguably the most
important skill to have in today's job market.

• And most communication happening in the

workplace is a technical communication.

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WRITING IN THE WORKPLACE

If you are currently employed, chances are you

have already written a technical document.

According to one study,

• The average employee spends 20% of his or
her work time writing,
• Managers spend 50% of their jobs writing, and
• CEOs as much as 90% of their time writing.

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WRITING IN THE WORKPLACE
(continued)
• Most likely, you are writing about your
business, the products you help create, and
the services your company offers - how to
develop, advertise, distribute, or use your
goods.

• Maybe without even realizing it, you have

been a part of technical communication.

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Continued……

Companies use technical communication to:

• Instruct employees on how to complete a task
• Provide research and data on specialized
topics
• Communicate with other companies about
the specifications of goods and services
• Explain to the general public how to use a
product

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 ????
??
But, what is
Technical
Communication?
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DEFINITION OF TECHNICAL
COMMUNICATION

• Technical Communication is the process of

communicating over audience by providing
information about the technical processes.

• It uses a number of media platforms to

provide information to a target audience.

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DEFINITION OF TECHNICAL
COMMUNICATION

• Technical communication is not journalistic

writing, expressive writing, or creative
literature. It does not use symbolism or vague
literary references.

• Its purpose is not to entertain. Instead,

technical writing is designed to inform or
instruct an audience with a specific goal in
mind.

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Subjects of Technical
Communication
Let's look at a comparison of technical writing
and creative writing.

• The subject for creative writing can be just

about anything - from daffodils to rainbows –

• But the subject for technical writing is much

more specific.

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Subjects of Technical
Communication (continued)

• That subject will be based on the products and services

related to a business.

• The subject might be about a new medicine and how it

will be developed, a new toy and how it will be
manufactured or a new cell phone and how it should
be used.

• The subject of technical communications is always

focused on a product. Why it's needed, how it should
be created and what it should be used for.

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PURPOSE OF TECHNICAL
COMMUNICATION

The purpose of technical communication is

• to make information clear and

understandable in order to make
business more productive and consumer
goods more convenient.

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IMPORTANCE OF TECHNICAL
COMMUNICATION

Good technical writing will:

• Help employers understand and complete jobs
tasks more successfully.
• Provide backgrounds on which new ideas can
be built without repetition.
• Prevent problems with the development and
manufacturing of products.
• Inform consumers how to assemble, fix or use
a product.

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PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION

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PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
(continued)

• Sender: The communicator or sender is the

person who is sending the message.

• Source: For communication, there must be a

source of information. Although a sender is
the immediate source of information, the
ultimate source is stimuli, which stimulates
the sender to communicate.

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PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
(continued)

• Purpose: Communication never happens without

any purpose or objective i,e. Communicator must
have some intentions in his mind for which he is
interested to communicate with one or more
than one person.

• Encoding: It is the process of putting thoughts

and ideas of the message into symbolic form.
• It is also termed as 'mental wrapping' of the
communication.

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PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
(continued)

• Message: A communication in writing, in speech,

or by signals.
• When there is any interest or intention or idea in
the mind of communicator, he makes encoding of
such which is known as message.
• Thus a message is an encoded information which
is communicated to the receiver or destination.
• If there is no message, there will be no
communication.

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PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
(continued)
• Channel / Medium: When the information or message
has been encoded, a sender then selects media.

• Media means through which something is

communicated to others.

• The media for oral communication are conversation,

telephone calls , conference, meeting and others.

• Written communication uses media like newspapers,

letters, e-mail, report, memo, chatting etc.

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PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
(continued)

• Decoding: It is the process through which

receiver provides meaning to the message sent
by the sender i. e., it helps the receiver to
interpret or understand the sending message.

• Such decoding depends on the knowledge and

perception of the receiver, past experience with
the similar communicator, personal desire etc.

• "Decoding is the process of translating the

symbols into the interpreted message"

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PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
(continued)

• Receiver: A receiver is the person or body who

receives the message sent by the sender.
• The receiver is the destination that may be an
individual or an organization.
• When the receiver receives the message, he
decodes the message to create a meaningful idea
from the message received.
• In case of two way communication, the receiver is
required to provide response to the original
sender of the message.
• Effective communication takes place with shared
meaning and understanding.
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PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
(continued)

• Feedback: It is the response of receiver to communicate

to the original sender to create two-way communication.

• Feedback ensures proper and mutual understanding

between sender and receiver.

• It can be a verbal or nonverbal reaction or response.

• It can be external feedback (something we see), like

written, spoken, signaled or given through other means
or internal feedback (something we can’t see), like self-
examination.
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PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
(continued)

• It’s the feedback that allows the communicator

to adjust his message and be more effective.

• It requires the same step-by-step process as

followed by the initial sender.

• Without feedback, there would be no way of

knowing if meaning had been shared or if
understanding had taken place.
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PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
(continued)

• Noise: It is the distortion during the

communication process which causes
disturbance to the message sent.
• As a result, receiver can get a different
message than what the sender has sent.
• Generally, environment noise is any element
or activity that disturbs, confuses or makes
the communication process more difficult.

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LEVELS OF
COMMUNICATION
Intrapersonal
Communication

Interpersonal
Communication

Small-Group
Communication

Public Communication

Mass Communication

There are 5 levels of communication

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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
1. INTRAPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

• It take place within an individual; we may

also say it is self-talk.
• It is crucial because it provides a person with
an opportunity to assess self or a situation,
before acting on it, ultimately affecting the
person behavior.

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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
2. INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

• It takes place whenever two or more people

interact & exchange messages or ideas.
• This is also one of the most common forms of
• communication in our daily lives.
• Interpersonal communication may further
categories into assertive, nonassertive &
aggressive communication.

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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
3. SMALL-GROUP COMMUNICATION

• An example of a small-group
communication is when nurse interact with
two or more individuals face-to-face or use
a medium (like a conference call).
• Patient care conferences, staff meetings
& reports are good examples of small-
group communication.

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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
5. PUBLIC COMMUNICATION

• Public is generally defined as a large

group of people.
• Communication with such a large
group of people is known as public
communication.
• Public communication requires essential
skills to influence people at large & media
material to reach member of the public
clearly & loudly.

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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
6. MASS COMMUNICATION

• Mass communication refers to imparting and

exchanging information on a large scale to a wide
range of people.

• It is usually understood for relating newspaper,

magazine, book publishing,radio, television
and film, even via internet as these mediums are
used for disseminating information, news and
advertising.
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FLOW OF COMMUNICATION

• In an organization, communication flows in 5 main directions-

Downward

Upward

Lateral/Horizontal

Diagonal

External

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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
DOWNWARD FLOW OF
COMMUNICATION

• Communication that flows from a higher level in an

organization to a lower level is a downward
communication.

• In other words, communication from superiors to

subordinates in a chain of command is a downward
communication.

• This communication flow is used by the managers

to transmit work-related information to the
employees at lower levels.

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DOWNWARD FLOW OF
COMMUNICATION (continued)
Employees require this information for performing their
jobs and for meeting the expectations of their managers.
Downward communication is used by the managers for the
following purposes
• Providing feedback on employees performance
• Giving job instructions
• Providing a complete understanding of the employees job
as well as to inform them on how their job is related to
other jobs in the organization.
• Communicating the organizations mission and vision to the
employees.
• Highlighting the areas of attention.

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DOWNWARD FLOW OF
COMMUNICATION (continued)

Organizational publications, circulars, letter to

employees, group meetings etc are all examples of
downward communication. In order to have
effective and error-free downward communication,
managers must:
• Specify communication objective
• Ensure that the message is accurate, specific and
unambiguous.
• Utilize the best communication technique to
convey the message to the receiver in right form.
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UPWARD FLOW OF COMMUNICATION
• Communication that flows to a higher level in an
organization is called upward communication.
• It provides feedback on how well the organization is
functioning.
• The subordinates use upward communication to convey
their problems and performances to their superiors.
• The subordinates also use upward communication to tell
how well they have understood the downward
communication.
• It can also be used by the employees to share their views
and ideas and to participate in the decision-making
process.

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UPWARD FLOW OF COMMUNICATION
(continued)
• Upward communication leads to a more
committed and loyal workforce in an
organization because the employees are given
a chance to raise and speak dissatisfaction
issues to the higher levels.
• The managers get to know about the
employees feelings towards their jobs, peers,
supervisor and organization in general.
• Managers can thus accordingly take actions
for improving things.
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UPWARD FLOW OF COMMUNICATION
(continued)
• Grievance Redressal System, Complaint and
Suggestion Box, Job Satisfaction surveys etc
all help in improving upward communication.
• Other examples of Upward Communication
are -performance reports made by low level
management for reviewing by higher level
management, employee attitude surveys,
letters from employees, employee-manager
discussions etc.
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LATERAL / HORIZONTAL FLOW OF
COMMUNICATION

• Communication that takes place at same levels of

hierarchy in an organization is called lateral
communication, i.e., communication between
peers, between managers at same levels or
between any horizontally equivalent
organizational member.

• Basically when colleagues meet to discuss issues

of common interest, resolve problems and share
information.

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THE ADVANTAGES OF LATERAL/
HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION

• It is time saving.
• It facilitates co-ordination of the task.
• It facilitates co-operation among team members.
• It provides emotional and social assistance to the
organizational members.
• It helps in solving various organizational problems.
• It is a means of information sharing.
• It can also be used for resolving conflicts of a
department with other department or conflicts within
a department.

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DIAGONAL FLOW OF COMMUNICATION

• Communication that takes place between a

manager and employees of other workgroups
is called diagonal communication.
• It generally does not appear on organizational
chart.
• For instance - To design a training module a
training manager interacts with an Operations
personnel to enquire about the way they
perform their task.

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EXTERNAL FLOW OF COMMUNICATION

• Communication that takes place between a

manager and external groups such as -
suppliers, vendors, banks, financial institutes
etc.
• For instance - To raise capital the Managing
director would interact with the Bank
Manager.

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ACTIVITY – RABBIT ORIGAMI

• Step 1: Start with a square piece of origami

paper with white side up.

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ACTIVITY – RABBIT ORIGAMI

• Step 2: Fold the paper in half by folding the

bottom corner to the top corner, then unfold.

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ACTIVITY – RABBIT ORIGAMI

• Step 3: Now fold the left corner to the right

corner, then unfold.

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ACTIVITY – RABBIT ORIGAMI

• Step 4: Fold a small portion of the triangle

base up as shown.

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ACTIVITY – RABBIT ORIGAMI

• Step 5: Fold the left and right bottom edges

up at the center as shown. These are the
origami rabbit ears.

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ACTIVITY – RABBIT ORIGAMI

• Step 6: Turn the figure over.

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ACTIVITY – RABBIT ORIGAMI

• Step 7: Fold the top corner of the head down

as shown.

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ACTIVITY – RABBIT ORIGAMI

• Step 8: Fold the bottom corner of the chin up

as shown, then draw on the face and you're
done. Now you know how to make an origami
rabbit!

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