Communication

Introduction

Communication is the exchange of messages between people to achieve common understandings and goals. Managers find it incredibly difficult to influence others unless they share common meanings. Communication occurs whenever groups of individuals interact. It is the exchange of information through the use of a common set of symbols. The mechanism connects group members and allows them to coordinate their activities. As a result, when managers encourage effective communication, they improve employee bonds and boost cooperation.

Significance of Communication

The following examples demonstrate the significance of communication in management:

1. Good communication is essential for gaining policy approval, collaborating with others, clearly understanding instructions and ideas, and achieving the required performance improvements.
2. Communication assists management in making critical decisions. Without it, top-level managers may be unable to communicate with one another and address significant organisational issues.
3. Constant communication with employees keeps management abreast of their problems, difficulties, and grievances.
4. Communication is critical for coordination and is at the heart of efficient management.
5. All managers strive for more, better, and cheaper production. In today’s organisations, information passes through several filters, and there is always the possibility of misinterpretation. A good communication system can play a critical role in preventing this delusion.
6. When an effective communication system is in place, it is convenient for employees to express their grievances and bring all of their difficulties to the attention of management.

Types of Communication

Based on Level:

1. Intrapersonal communication: The language or thoughts utilised or thought within the communicator. Intrapersonal communication refers to an individual’s active internal involvement in the symbolic processing of messages.
2. Interpersonal communication: This is the level at which communication channels transmit messages from sender to recipient.
3. Interpersonal communication: Group communication refers to communication that occurs in groups of three to twelve people.
4. Public communication: Public communication is fundamental to our economy, culture, and politics.

Based on Form/Medium Used

Communication can be classified according to the medium used:

1. Verbal Communication: This refers to conversing using written or spoken words.
2. Nonverbal communication: The use of images, signs, gestures, and facial expressions to exchange information between people.
3. Meta communication: In this case, the speaker’s choice of words accidentally communicates something other than what the words say.
4. Formal Communication: A formal communication channel is formally regulated by managers or people in positions of authority in an organisation.
5. Informal Communication: Every organisation has an equally effective informal communication channel in addition to the official channel.
6. Downward Communication: Downward communication is communication that moves from top to bottom.
7. Upward Communication: Upward communication travels from bottom to top or from a lower hierarchical level to a higher level.
8. Lateral Communication: Lateral or horizontal communication occurs when two or more people communicate, such as subordinates working under the same person or operating on the same level.
9. Diagonal Communication: Diagonal or crosswise communication refers to the flow of information between people at different levels who do not have direct reporting connections.

Based on Context

The following are the various styles of communication-based on context:

Organisational Communication

Communication gives an organisation life; it can be compared to the organization’s lifeblood. The communication system is the vehicle through which an organisation is entrenched in its surroundings.

Political Communication

Political communication is communication that deals with a country’s political situation or that frequently influences political decisions and vice versa.

Intercultural Communication

Intercultural communication is the exchange of ideas between people from various cultures. According to Samovar and Porter, it occurs whenever a message is produced by a member of one culture for consumption by a person of another culture and must be comprehended.

Educational Communication

This sort of communication is related to education. It includes any communication flow, level, or system that leads to the acquisition and transmission of knowledge.

For example, a teacher teaching in a classroom or a student presenting in a classroom, etc.

Effective Communication Process

Communication is essential for establishing and maintaining human interactions at work. It cannot be superseded by information technology and data management developments during the last several decades. Communication can be viewed as a flow or process. A purpose—represented as a message to be transmitted—is required before communication can occur. It connects the transmitter with the recipient, transferring meaning from one person to another.

The communication process is depicted in the diagram below. This paradigm has seven components:

1. Source: The source initiates a message. This point of contact can be an individual, a group, or an inanimate object.
2. Encoding: Once the source has selected what message to convey, the message’s content must be converted into a form that the recipient can understand.
3. The Message: The message is the physical product of the original encoding. The message conveys the communicator’s intended ideas and feelings to the receiver.
4. The Channel: The channel is how the message is sent to the receiver (visual, auditory, written, or some combination of these three). The medium through which the message passes is referred to as the channel. For example, documenting an employee’s lousy performance in writing shows that the boss is concerned about the issue.
5. Decoding: Decoding is the process of interpreting what the message implies.
6. The Receiver: The receiver is the object to whom the message is directed, and receiving the message indicates that one or more of the recipient’s senses record the message. For example, hearing a supplier’s voice on the phone or watching the supervisor give a thumbs-up signal.
7. Feedback: A feedback loop is the final connection in the communication process. Feedback is, in effect, communication in the other way. If the sender pays attention to the feedback and correctly analyzes it, the feedback can assist the sender in determining whether the original communication was correctly decoded.

Barriers to Effective Communication

Communication barriers are circumstances that prevent or significantly distort successful communication. Practical managerial communication skills can assist in overcoming some, but not all, communication hurdles in organisations. The following are some of the more visible hurdles to successful communication that every manager should be aware of:

1. Filtering: Filtering refers to a situation in which the sender manipulates information so that the receiver perceives it favourably. A fundamental filtering driver is the number of levels in an organization’s structure. The more vertical levels there are in the organization’s hierarchy, the more options for filtering there will be.
2. Selective Perception: This refers to seeing only what one wants to see. In the communication process, the receiver generally employs selective perception, i.e., he selectively receives the message depending on organisational requirements, needs and characteristics, employee background, etc. One of the most frustrating hurdles to effective communication is perceptual distortion. For example, an employment interviewer who expects a female job candidate to prioritise her family over her work will likely observe it in female applicants, regardless of whether the applicants feel the same way.
3. Emotions: How the recipient feels when receiving information has a significant impact on how he understands it. When you are upset, it is more difficult to consider the other person’s point of view and to choose your words wisely. The more enraged you are, the more difficult this process gets.
4. Extreme emotions: Extreme emotions, such as ecstasy or depression, are more likely to obstruct efficient communication. In such situations, we are likelier to overlook our reasonable and objective thought processes in favour of emotional judgments.
5. Language: The message must be understood by the receiver. Communication breakdowns occur frequently because the language used by the sender is incomprehensible, ambiguous, and indigestible. Language is an essential component of communication. Its use may obstruct accurate and timely action if it obscures the message and distorts intent.
6. Stereotyping: Stereotyping is the use of selective perception. When we have preconceived notions about other individuals and refuse to differentiate between specific behaviours, we use selective perception in our interactions with them.
7. Status Difference: Another obstacle to organisational communication is the hierarchy between employees and management.
8. Use of contradictory signals: When a sender transmits inconsistent messages, he or she is utilising conflicting signals. A vertical message may clash with a nonverbal message.
9. Reluctance to Communicate: Managers sometimes hesitate to relay messages for various reasons. One of the causes could be:
   1. They are unsure about their abilities to do so.
   2. They may despise – or be tired of – writing or conversing with others.
   3. They may hesitate to convey unpleasant news because they fear a negative reaction.

When people give way to their emotions, they create a barrier to good communication.

Projection: The term “projection” has two meanings:

1. 1. Projecting one’s reasons onto the behaviour of others: Managers who are motivated by money, for example, may believe that their subordinates are similarly motivated. Serious issues may occur if the subordinate’s primary motivation is something other than money.
   2. Deploying a defence mechanism to avoid taking responsibility: The projection phenomenon works as a protective mechanism to shield the ego from unfavourable communications. Individuals with a specific flaw will frequently see the same flaw in others, making their flaw appear less severe.

The “Halo Effect”: The “halo effect” creates opinions based on one aspect of a group of elements and generalises that perception to all other elements. For example, a good attendance record in an organisation may lead to positive evaluations of productivity, attitude, or work quality.

Overcoming Barriers to Communication

The following are some more strategies to overcome communication barriers:

1. Building strong relationships: To avoid misunderstandings, strong relationships between the employer and the employee must be built.
2. Communication should be purposeful and focused towards a specific person.
3. Collaboration between superiors and subordinates
4. Avoid specialised language: Avoid using specialised terminology.
5. Feedback: Proper feedback should be used to reduce the receiver’s selective perception.
6. Accuracy: For effective communication, the message sent between both parties must be accurate.
7. Message clarity: The message should be clear, practical, and accessible of ambiguity.
8. Communication of organisational philosophy: Efforts must be made to expose personnel to the organisational philosophy in a structured manner.
9. Flat organisational structure: The organization’s structure should be evident and essential.
10. Division of labour: Proper division amongst people is necessary to decrease information overload and eliminate information transfer delays.
11. Organizational policies: The organization’s policies should be written in such a way that they benefit all members equally.
12. Reduce semantic problems: People should avoid employing words with multiple meanings.
13. Use appropriate communication channels.