DEFINITION
OF COMMUNICATION
It's nearly impossible to go through a day without the use
of communication. Communication is sending and receiving information
between two or more people. The person sending the message is referred to as
the sender, while the person receiving the information is called the receiver.
The information conveyed can include facts, ideas, concepts, opinions, beliefs,
attitudes, instructions and even emotions.
TYPE
OF COMMUNICATION
Communication is essential for
success in any business, and the type of communication will vary given the
circumstances and business needs. In this lesson, you'll learn about verbal,
non-verbal, formal, informal and grapevine communication.
Verbal & Non-Verbal Communication
Communication can be divided between
verbal and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication is
communication using speech that is understood by all parties to the
communication. In other words, it's talking. Keep in mind that we're talking
about speech, not the written word. Written communication falls under its own
category.
Non-verbal communication is a bit more complicated. It is sending a message without
using words to convey meaning. Non-verbal communication can include many
different elements. Let's look at some:
- Vocal cues, referred to as paralinguistics, is a form
of non-verbal communication that includes such things as pitch,
inflection, tone, volume, speed of the speech, quality, non-word sounds,
pronunciation, enunciation and even silence.
- Body movement and gestures are also part of non-verbal
communication. For example, leaning forward may mean interest, while
crossing arms is often viewed as a defensive posture.
- Facial expressions are a common form of non-verbal
communication. Examples of facial expressions include smiling, crying and
grimacing.
- Space can also act as a form of non-verbal
communication. Space includes the concept of territoriality and personal
space. Territoriality is about making sure others know your territory. A
fence is an example of territoriality. Personal space, on the other hand,
is a three-dimensional space surrounding you that you don't want people to
cross. If they come too close, you get uncomfortable.
- Touch is often considered as positive and reinforcing,
such as patting someone on the back for a job well done.
- Clothing and artifacts can also send a message,
including status, conformity or rebellion. Think about a doctor. Do they
really need to wear a lab coat during all examinations? Not really, but
it's a cue to their status. Artifacts include such things as hairstyles,
jewelry, cosmetics, watches, shoes, tattoos and body piercing.
Formal
& Informal Communication
Companies need to be able to
communicate effectively. This is especially true of large companies where
personal interaction may not be practical. This is where formal communication
comes into play.
Formal communication involves utilizing the formal communication channels of an
organization. Formal communication can move vertically in an organization.
Information is collected and flows up to the top levels of management for
review and decision making, while orders flow down from the top to the place
where it will be implemented. For example, employees may be given a
presentation from the human resources department on new policies and
procedures.
Spice
is the Variety of Life
It's almost dinnertime, and your
in-laws are in town for the evening. You desperately want to impress them with
your cooking skills and have spent countless hours researching the perfect meal
to prepare for them. You have chosen a dish that is straight from their ethnic
heritage, and you know that you have to get the spices right, choosing the
right blend and using them at the most optimal time to enhance the flavor of
your dish. After much consideration as to what you need to do and the best way
to do it, you manage to pull it off perfectly!
Communication, like spices, comes in
a variety of types. While having a variety is nice, it is important to know
which one to use and at what time to maximize your success, much like preparing
the meal for the in-laws. Let's take a look at the four most common types of
communication used by managers, including interpersonal communication,
nonverbal communication, written communication and oral communication.
Interpersonal Communication
One of the most important - if not the
most important - forms of communication a manager will engage in on a daily
basis is interpersonal communication. Interpersonal communication can be
described in a variety of ways, but when we examine what it means in the
context of management, we can define interpersonal communication as
communication between a small group of individuals, typically in a face-to-face
setting, where participants engage in a minimally restricted dialogue with each
other.
The reason I say it is 'minimally
restricted' is because individuals who engage in interpersonal communication
share some level of familiarity with each other, making them more likely to self-disclose
information, or provide more intimate details than one would with a stranger,
for example.
Interpersonal communication,
essentially, breaks down barriers which people put up to protect themselves.
You allow yourself to become vulnerable by putting yourself out there.
Managers who engage in interpersonal
communication with their subordinates demonstrate that they not only care about
the organization, especially one that uses teams, but also care about their
employees. Taking the time to get to know who your employees are will make them
feel valued. This is not to say that every employee will want to get to know you
on a more personal level but it at least tells them that you would like to. The
more valued the employee feels, the fewer
barriers they feel they need to
build around them and the more easily information flows. As barriers come down,
relationships are formed that create value within the organization, job
satisfaction increases and the workplace becomes a place where everybody likes
to be.
It is equally important for a
manager to communicate interpersonally with upper management, as well. Since
managers serve as a gatekeeper of information between upper management and
subordinates, an effective manager understands their role in keeping the lines
of communication open. When organizational information fails to reach its
intended recipient, the entire organization can suffer.
Nonverbal Communication
Did you know that the majority of
what you communicate to people on a daily basis is done without words at all?
This is also true for managers. Put simply, nonverbal communication is
anything besides words, such as gestures, actions, facial expressions, body
language and other aspects of your physical appearance, that, when seen,
communicate something. I am sure that you've heard the saying 'it is not what
you say, but how you say it' or perhaps 'actions speak louder than words.'
Managers send, receive and interpret nonverbal messages the same way they would
oral or written communication.
Still, understanding the
significance of nonverbal communication can be troublesome for managers because
it is such a normal part of any managerial action. Our nonverbal communication
is as automatic as breathing because we do it without thinking about it most of
the time. Even though nonverbal communication accompanies oral communication as
an extension of a particular message, the two do not always align. Because
nonverbal communication is often used without consideration, inconsistencies
between oral communication and nonverbal communication can occur. Effective
managers understand and are aware of their nonverbal communication, ensuring
consistency between their spoken communication and their nonverbal
communication.
Written Communication
While managers spend most of their
time communicating with their subordinates and upper managers in a face-to-face
setting, they also spend a good deal of time writing memos, letters, e-mails
and reports. Written communication refers to messages that are transmitted
to receivers in writing. Advantages of written communication include:
1) Immediacy and economical feasibility - A manager can communicate a message quickly to
individuals despite their geographical location. Email is less expensive than
long-distance phone calls and certainly less than travel expenses, especially
when a message needs to be conveyed to a large group.
2) Efficiency and accuracy - Written
communication allows for reflection, affording a manager the opportunity to
refine a message for correctness.
3) Flexibility - A manger can
send a message and the receiver can review it at the time that is convenient
for them.
PROCESS
OF COMMUNICATION
Communication is a process, and if
the process breaks down, communication will fail. In this lesson, you'll learn
about the communication process. We'll also discuss how the concept of noise
can disrupt this process.
7 Major Elements of Communication Process
Seven major elements of communication process
are: (1) sender (2) ideas (3) encoding (4) communication channel (5) receiver
(6) decoding and (7) feedback.
Communication may be defined as a process
concerning exchange of facts or ideas between persons holding different
positions in an organisation to achieve mutual harmony. The communication
process is dynamic in nature rather than a static phenomenon.
Communication process as such must be
considered a continuous and dynamic inter-action, both affecting and being
affected by many variables.
(1) Sender:
The person who intends to convey the message
with the intention of passing information and ideas to others is known as
sender or communicator.
(2) Ideas:
This is the subject matter of the
communication. This may be an opinion, attitude, feelings, views, orders, or
suggestions.
(3) Encoding:
Since the subject matter of communication is
theoretical and intangible, its further passing requires use of certain symbols
such as words, actions or pictures etc. Conversion of subject matter into these
symbols is the process of encoding.
(4) Communication Channel:
The person who is interested in communicating
has to choose the channel for sending the required information, ideas etc. This
information is transmitted to the receiver through certain channels which may
be either formal or informal.
(5) Receiver:
Receiver is the person who receives the
message or for whom the message is meant for. It is the receiver who tries to
understand the message in the best possible manner in achieving the desired
objectives.
(6) Decoding:
The person who receives the message or symbol
from the communicator tries to convert the same in such a way so that he may
extract its meaning to his complete understanding.
(7) Feedback:
Feedback is the process of ensuring that the
receiver has received the message and understood in the same sense as sender
meant it.
COMPONENTS
OF CLASS-ROOM COMMUNICATION
The communication process is vital to
effective learning within a classroom environment. Classroom instruction that
produces positive results acknowledges the need for a liberal use of nonverbal
cues, student involvement and team communication.
Delivering Instruction
Whether by means of direct or indirect communication, instructors must convey
instruction to students within a classroom. When lecturing or describing
assignments, a teacher must gauge the comfort level of each of his students
with his communication style. For example, if he explicitly defines rules and
regulations associated with classwork, he may help students to be clearly aware
of their boundaries, but may also lead them to feel micromanaged. In actual
practice, communication within the classroom tends to be a happy compromise
between both
extremes, being neither exclusively direct or
indirect in nature.
Soliciting Participation
Student involvement during classroom discussions typically fosters a healthy
communication process. Students should be coaxed to participate in the
classroom, despite the fact that many students are reticent to voice their
opinions. The solicitation of participation serves multiple purposes. Students
observe that their questions are worthy of being answered, can freely exchange
ideas with one another and can build confidence as they express themselves in
public. Often, instructors can quickly identify weak areas of student
understanding when they are invited to speak up during a class session.
Verbal and Nonverbal Communication
Communication within a classroom context relies just as heavily on written
instruction, body language and implicit expectancies as it does on verbal cues.
Two-thirds of an instructor's message is contained in his nonverbal language.
Educators should devote attention to the use of appropriate gestures, facial
expressions and constructive use of physical space when teaching a class of
students.
Team Building
Acquisition of essential learning concepts is reinforced when students are encouraged
to incorporate team communication skills within the classroom. Group work
allows students to advance a division of responsibilities as well as to provide
one another with peer support. Educators should monitor teams as they operate
within a classroom, helping students to establish consensus regarding their
approach to the material being studied.
Assessments
In order to assess student mastery of concepts touched upon during classroom
instruction, an educator should compel his students to demonstrate their
knowledge through written or oral tests.
COMMUNICATION
CYCLE
The communication cycle
Communication is about making contact with others and being
understood. It involves people sending and receiving ‘messages’.
We all communicate, or ‘send messages’, continuously. Figure 1.1
describes the communication cycle. It shows that a communication
cycle occurs when:
1. A person has an idea.
2. They code their ‘message’ (using words or non-verbal means).
3. They send their message to someone else (e.g. by speaking).
4. A second person then receives the message (e.g. by hearing
what has been said or by noticing non-verbal communication).
5. The second person decodes the message.
6. The message is understood.
2
This topic introduces you to the forms of communication used
by health and social care workers and the contexts in which
they are used. When you have completed this topic, you should:
■
be able to describe and
explain the communication cycle
■
know about one-to-one,
group, formal and informal
communication in health and social care settings
■
be able to describe a range
of different forms of
communication used by health and social care workers.
Getting started
The communication cycle is a way in which
groups can measure the effectiveness of interaction and messaging. The best
cycles are those that tap into the most effective engagement resources and
promote rapid and in-depth visibility of correspondence. The speed with which
documents and ideas pass through the entire communication cycle measures the
effectiveness of these systems.
Communication cycles include resources such
as email chains, social media outlets and VoIP message outlets. The more
appropriate and acceptable these are to individuals in the business
environment, the faster the response time is and the more quickly the initial
sender gets a response.
The point of a communication cycle is to
generate rapid and accurate interaction between parties that must maintain
access to others at a high priority frequency. These cycles exist in private
social groups and business teams alike.
