Communication

 “An exchange of facts, ideas, opinions or

emotions by two or more persons.” Newman &
Summer
 “The sum of all things, one person does when he
wants to create an understanding in the mind of
another. It involves a systematic and continuous
understanding.” L A Allen
 “The exchange of information at least between
two persons with a view to create an
understanding in the mind of the other, whether
or not it gives rise to conflict.” Koonz and
O’donnel
Significance of Communication in
Organization
 No social system functions effectively
without meaningful interaction between
participants. (it is a means through which
organizational participants are linked)
 Communication helps coordinate the
various managerial functions of enterprise.
 It helps disseminate the goals of an
organization.
 Facilitates development of plans for the
achievements of goals.
 Cont..
 Helps manager utilize manpower and
other resources in the most effective and
efficient way.
 Helps managers select, develop, and
appraise members of the organization.
 Helps managers lead, direct, motivate and
crate a climate in which people are willing
to contribute.
 Facilitates control and evaluation of
performance.
 Communication as bridge betn
managers and external Environmt.
 Management  Stakeholders
Function
Planning Customers
Organizing Suppliers
Staffing Government
Leading Community
Controlling others
 Communication Process
 Sender {Developing an idea and Encoding
(process by which the sender translates his
thoughts into a series of verbal and non verbal
action that he feels will communicate the
message to the intended receiver) the Message.}
 Transmission (Through the channel such as
memorandum, computer, telephone, telegram or
television. )
 Noise (Anything that has an disturbing influence
on the message Eg. Poor telephone connection,
an inattentive receiver, gestures or postures that
may distort the message)
 Cont..
 Receiver {Reception of message, decoding
(process of translation of symbols encoded
by sender into ideas that can be
understood)
Receiverthe message, acceptance/
rejectionFeedback
of message, using information}
 Feedback: A message generated by
receiver in response to sender’s original
message. Feedback is necessary to ensure
that message is encoded, transmitted,
decoded and understood.
 Communication Flow in
Organization
CEO

VP VP
Marketing Operations

Manager Manager Manager Manger

Manger Manager
Manager Manager
Advertising Sales Distribution Materials
Materials QC
QC Production
 Communication Flow
Downward Communication:
 This is Communication that flow from

higher levels to lower levels.

 Oral downward communications may take

place by means of instructions, meetings

and telephone.
 Written downward communication involves

memorandum, letters, handbooks,

pamphlets, policy statements, procedures
and electronic news displays
 Cont….
Upward Communication:
 Originates from subordinates and
continues up the organizational hierarchy
to superiors.
 It can take place through suggestion
systems, appeal and grievance
procedures, complaint systems, joint
setting of objectives, group meetings,
practice of open door policy and exit
interviews.
 Superiors have great responsibility of
ensuring free flow of upward communn.
 Cont…
Crosswise Communication: It is of two type
 Horizontal Flow: People at same or similar level in
organization.
 Diagonal Flow: Flow of information among
persons at different levels, who have no direct
reporting relationships.
Crosswise communication help improve
understanding between employees and enhances
the coordination for achieving goals of Orgn. It
can take place during formal conferences, board
meetings and meeting of task teams and/or
project organizations. Company news papers,
magazine, and bulletins, board notices are usual
mediums for the written forms of crosswise comn
 Barriers to Communication
Lack of Planning:
 Sufficient time should be devoted to

thinking, planning and stating the

purpose of the message.
 Provide reasons for particular instructions,

select most appropriate channel, and

release the message at right time.
 Effective communication reduces the

resistance by subordinates.
 Cont..
Badly Expressed Message:
 The message may not be conveyed
clearly.
 Poorly chosen words, careless omissions,
lack of coherence, awkward sentence
structures, inadequate vocabulary,
unnecessary jargon, and failure to clarify
implications are some of the common
reasons for poor transmission of message.
 Lack of clarity and precision leads to costly
errors.
 Cont…
Faulty Translations
 Managers receive many types of messages

from peers, subordinates and superiors.

They in turn, must translate information
meant for these people into language that
can be easily understood.
 The message must be transmitted with

interpretation.
 Sender should have good communication

and analytical skills.

 Cont..
Unclarified Assumptions:
 People’s assumption about message can

hinder communication.
 Some times such assumptions lead to loss

of goodwill.
Semantic Distortion: Ambiguity
 Either deliberate or accidental acts as a

barrier to effective communication

 Eg Ad which says “We sell better

products.”
 Cont…
Loss by Transmission and Poor Retention:
 If message is transmitted from one person

to another in a series, the message tend

to decrease it’s accuracy.
 While communicating orally 30% of the

information is lost in each transmission.

 Employees are able to retain only 50% of

the message and supervisors are able to

retain about 60% of the message.
 Cont..
Communication Barriers in International
Environment:
 Because of wide variation in language, culture

and etiquette.
 Eg Black is the color associated with mourning in

western countries and in far east white is the

color of mourning. Addressing the people with
first or last names
 Large organizations take different steps to avoid

such problems by hiring translators, extensive

language training or by hiring local citizens for
top positions.
 Cont…
Inattention and Premature Evaluation:
 Poor listening due to preoccupied
problems.
 Listener should avoid premature
evaluation of what another person has to
say.
 Listening without jumping to hasty
conclusions can improve communication.
 Listening with empathy can result in better
labor management relation in an
organization.
 Cont…
Impersonal Communication:
 For communication to be effective, face to
face contact (betn superiors and
subordinates) in an environment of
openness and trust is required.
Insufficient Adjustment Period:
 Related to employee’s work pattern such
as shifts in time, place, type and order of
work or shifts in group arrangements.
 Time should be given in such cases to
understand the implications.
 Cont..
Information Overload:
 Unrestricted flow may result in excess
information for employees. They may
react to this information overload in
different ways as follows
 Disregard certain information

 Make errors in processing information

 Delay information processing

 Filter information

 Failure to communicate necessary

information.
 Cont..
Lack of Trust in communicator:
 Some superiors may send messages

that contradict an earlier instruction.

This inconsistency by superior create
distrust among subordinates.
 Subordinates may also distrust

superiors if they were punished for

reporting true but unfavorable
information to their superiors.
 Gateways to Effective
Communication
 Interpersonal Trust
 Effective Listening
 Proper Feedback
 Understand non verbal cues: Include body
postures, eye contact, distance from the receiver,
voice inflation, gestures, emphasis on particular
words, silence etc. (55% impact of expressions,
38% impact of vocal characteristics and only 7%
impact is of words)
 Non directive counseling: Manager help
employees to examine his own ideas, feeling and
attitudes about a problem. Non directive
counseling can be done by holding an interview
with the employee.