UNIT 1

Introduction

Q1) What do you understand by the term communication?

A1) The root of the word “communication” in Latin is communicare, which means to share, or to make common. Weekley, E. (1967). An etymological dictionary of modern English (Vol. 1, p. 338). New York, NY: Dover Publications. Communication is defined as the process of understanding and sharing meaning. Pearson, J., & Nelson, P. (2000). An introduction to human communication: Understanding and sharing (p. 6). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

At the center of our study of communication is the relationship that involves interaction between participants. This definition serves us well with its emphasis on the process, which we’ll examine in depth across this text, of coming to understand and share another’s point of view effectively.

The first key word in this definition is process. A process is a dynamic activity that is hard to describe because it changes. Pearson, J., & Nelson, P. (2000). An introduction to human communication: Understanding and sharing. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill. Imagine you are alone in your kitchen thinking. Someone you know (say, your mother) enters the kitchen and you talk briefly. What has changed? Now, imagine that your mother is joined by someone else, someone you haven’t met before—and this stranger listens intently as you speak, almost as if you were giving a speech. What has changed? Your perspective might change, and you might watch your words more closely. The feedback or response from your mother and the stranger (who are, in essence, your audience) may cause you to reevaluate what you are saying. When we interact, all these factors—and many more—influence the process of communication.

The second key word is understanding: “To understand is to perceive, to interpret, and to relate our perception and interpretation to what we already know.” McLean, S. (2003). The basics of speech communication. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. If a friend tells you a story about falling off a bike, what image comes to mind? Now your friend points out the window and you see a motorcycle lying on the ground. Understanding the words and the concepts or objects they refer to is an important part of the communication process.

Next comes the word sharing. Sharing means doing something together with one or more people. You may share a joint activity, as when you share in compiling a report; or you may benefit jointly from a resource, as when you and several co-workers share a pizza. In communication, sharing occurs when you convey thoughts, feelings, ideas, or insights to others. You can also share with yourself (a process called intrapersonal communication) when you bring ideas to consciousness, ponder how you feel about something, or figure out the solution to a problem and have a classic “Aha!” moment when something becomes clear.

Finally, meaning is what we share through communication. The word “bike” represents both a bicycle and a short name for a motorcycle. By looking at the context the word is used in and by asking questions, we can discover the shared meaning of the word and understand the message.

Q2) What are the eight essential components of communication.

A2) In order to better understand the communication process, we can break it down into a series of eight essential components:

1. Source
2. Message
3. Channel
4. Receiver
5. Feedback
6. Environment
7. Context
8. Interference

Each of these eight components serves an integral function in the overall process. Let’s explore them one by one.

Source

The source imagines, creates, and sends the message. In a public speaking situation, the source is the person giving the speech. He or she conveys the message by sharing new information with the audience. The speaker also conveys a message through his or her tone of voice, body language, and choice of clothing. The speaker begins by first determining the message—what to say and how to say it. The second step involves encoding the message by choosing just the right order or the perfect words to convey the intended meaning. The third step is to present or send the information to the receiver or audience. Finally, by watching for the audience’s reaction, the source perceives how well they received the message and responds with clarification or supporting information.

Message

“The message is the stimulus or meaning produced by the source for the receiver or audience.”McLean, S. (2005). The basics of interpersonal communication (p. 10). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. When you plan to give a speech or write a report, your message may seem to be only the words you choose that will convey your meaning. But that is just the beginning. The words are brought together with grammar and organization. You may choose to save your most important point for last. The message also consists of the way you say it—in a speech, with your tone of voice, your body language, and your appearance—and in a report, with your writing style, punctuation, and the headings and formatting you choose. In addition, part of the message may be the environment or context you present it in and the noise that might make your message hard to hear or see.

Imagine, for example, that you are addressing a large audience of sales reps and are aware there is a World Series game tonight. Your audience might have a hard time settling down, but you may choose to open with, “I understand there is an important game tonight.” In this way, by expressing verbally something that most people in your audience are aware of and interested in, you might grasp and focus their attention.

Channel

“The channel is the way in which a message or messages travel between source and receiver.”McLean, S. (2005). The basics of interpersonal communication (p. 10). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. For example, think of your television. How many channels do you have on your television? Each channel takes up some space, even in a digital world, in the cable or in the signal that brings the message of each channel to your home. Television combines an audio signal you hear with a visual signal you see. Together they convey the message to the receiver or audience. Turn off the volume on your television. Can you still understand what is happening? Many times you can, because the body language conveys part of the message of the show. Now turn up the volume but turn around so that you cannot see the television. You can still hear the dialogue and follow the story line.

Similarly, when you speak or write, you are using a channel to convey your message. Spoken channels include face-to-face conversations, speeches, telephone conversations and voice mail messages, radio, public address systems, and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP). Written channels include letters, memorandums, purchase orders, invoices, newspaper and magazine articles, blogs, e-mail, text messages, tweets, and so forth.

Receiver

“The receiver receives the message from the source, analyzing and interpreting the message in ways both intended and unintended by the source.”McLean, S. (2005). The basics of interpersonal communication (p. 10). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. To better understand this component, think of a receiver on a football team. The quarterback throws the football (message) to a receiver, who must see and interpret where to catch the ball. The quarterback may intend for the receiver to “catch” his message in one way, but the receiver may see things differently and miss the football (the intended meaning) altogether.

As a receiver you listen, see, touch, smell, and/or taste to receive a message. Your audience “sizes you up,” much as you might check them out long before you take the stage or open your mouth. The nonverbal responses of your listeners can serve as clues on how to adjust your opening. By imagining yourself in their place, you anticipate what you would look for if you were them. Just as a quarterback plans where the receiver will be in order to place the ball correctly, you too can recognize the interaction between source and receiver in a business communication context. All of this happens at the same time, illustrating why and how communication is always changing.

Feedback

When you respond to the source, intentionally or unintentionally, you are giving feedback. Feedback is composed of messages the receiver sends back to the source. Verbal or nonverbal, all these feedback signals allow the source to see how well, how accurately (or how poorly and inaccurately) the message was received. Feedback also provides an opportunity for the receiver or audience to ask for clarification, to agree or disagree, or to indicate that the source could make the message more interesting. As the amount of feedback increases, the accuracy of communication also increases.Leavitt, H., & Mueller, R. (1951). Some effects of feedback on communication. Human Relations, 4, 401–410.

For example, suppose you are a sales manager participating in a conference call with four sales reps. As the source, you want to tell the reps to take advantage of the fact that it is World Series season to close sales on baseball-related sports gear. You state your message, but you hear no replies from your listeners. You might assume that this means they understood and agreed with you, but later in the month you might be disappointed to find that very few sales were made. If you followed up your message with a request for feedback (“Does this make sense? Do any of you have any questions?”) you might have an opportunity to clarify your message, and to find out whether any of the sales reps believed your suggestion would not work with their customers.

Environment

“The environment is the atmosphere, physical and psychological, where you send and receive messages.”McLean, S. (2005). The basics of interpersonal communication (p. 11). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. The environment can include the tables, chairs, lighting, and sound equipment that are in the room. The room itself is an example of the environment. The environment can also include factors like formal dress, that may indicate whether a discussion is open and caring or more professional and formal. People may be more likely to have an intimate conversation when they are physically close to each other, and less likely when they can only see each other from across the room. In that case, they may text each other, itself an intimate form of communication. The choice to text is influenced by the environment. As a speaker, your environment will impact and play a role in your speech. It’s always a good idea to go check out where you’ll be speaking before the day of the actual presentation.

Context

“The context of the communication interaction involves the setting, scene, and expectations of the individuals involved.”McLean, S. (2005). The basics of interpersonal communication (p.11). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. A professional communication context may involve business suits (environmental cues) that directly or indirectly influence expectations of language and behavior among the participants.

A presentation or discussion does not take place as an isolated event. When you came to class, you came from somewhere. So did the person seated next to you, as did the instructor. The degree to which the environment is formal or informal depends on the contextual expectations for communication held by the participants. The person sitting next to you may be used to informal communication with instructors, but this particular instructor may be used to verbal and nonverbal displays of respect in the academic environment. You may be used to formal interactions with instructors as well, and find your classmate’s question of “Hey Teacher, do we have homework today?” as rude and inconsiderate when they see it as normal. The nonverbal response from the instructor will certainly give you a clue about how they perceive the interaction, both the word choices and how they were said.

Context is all about what people expect from each other, and we often create those expectations out of environmental cues. Traditional gatherings like weddings or quinceañeras are often formal events. There is a time for quiet social greetings, a time for silence as the bride walks down the aisle, or the father may have the first dance with his daughter as she is transformed from a girl to womanhood in the eyes of her community. In either celebration there may come a time for rambunctious celebration and dancing. You may be called upon to give a toast, and the wedding or quinceañera context will influence your presentation, timing, and effectiveness.

In a business meeting, who speaks first? That probably has some relation to the position and role each person has outside the meeting. Context plays a very important role in communication, particularly across cultures.

Interference

Interference, also called noise, can come from any source. “Interference is anything that blocks or changes the source’s intended meaning of the message.”McLean, S. (2005). The basics of interpersonal communication (p. 11). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. For example, if you drove a car to work or school, chances are you were surrounded by noise. Car horns, billboards, or perhaps the radio in your car interrupted your thoughts, or your conversation with a passenger.

Psychological noise is what happens when your thoughts occupy your attention while you are hearing, or reading, a message. Imagine that it is 4:45 p.m. And your boss, who is at a meeting in another city, e-mails you asking for last month’s sales figures, an analysis of current sales projections, and the sales figures from the same month for the past five years. You may open the e-mail, start to read, and think, “Great—no problem—I have those figures and that analysis right here in my computer.” You fire off a reply with last month’s sales figures and the current projections attached. Then, at five o’clock, you turn off your computer and go home. The next morning, your boss calls on the phone to tell you he was inconvenienced because you neglected to include the sales figures from the previous years. What was the problem? Interference: by thinking about how you wanted to respond to your boss’s message, you prevented yourself from reading attentively enough to understand the whole message.

Interference can come from other sources, too. Perhaps you are hungry, and your attention to your current situation interferes with your ability to listen. Maybe the office is hot and stuffy. If you were a member of an audience listening to an executive speech, how could this impact your ability to listen and participate?

Noise interferes with normal encoding and decoding of the message carried by the channel between source and receiver. Not all noise is bad, but noise interferes with the communication process. For example, your cell phone ringtone may be a welcome noise to you, but it may interrupt the communication process in class and bother your classmates.

Q3) Define the term horizontal communication?

A3) Horizontal communication, also called lateral communication, involves the flow of messages between individuals and groups on the same level of an organization. Horizontal communication does not involve relaying information up or down across levels. Sharing information, solving problems, and collaborating horizontally is often more timely, direct, and efficient than up or down communication. Horizontal communication can produce a higher quality of information exchange since it occurs directly between people working in the same environment. Communication within a team is an example of horizontal communication; members coordinate tasks, work together, and resolve conflicts. Horizontal communication occurs formally in meetings, presentations, and formal electronic communication, and informally in other, more casual exchanges within the office.

Q4) Define the term vertical communication?

A4) Vertical communication is a communication process in which information or messages flows between or among the superiors, supervisers, leaders, or manager to subordinates, employees or team members of different levels of an organizational structure in the downward or upward direction. As such, vertical communication may be upward or downward in nature. Some examples of vertical communication include instructions, formal reports, business orders, and work reports. This form of communication may be formal or informal.

Q5) Define the term Interpersonal communication?

A5) Interpersonal communication can be defined broadly as communicating between persons. The following are examples of communicating for instrumental goals:

• You ask your friend to help you move this weekend (gaining/resisting compliance).
• You ask your coworker to remind you how to balance your cash register till at the end of your shift (requesting or presenting information).
• You console your roommate after he loses his job (asking for or giving support).

Q6) Define the term grapevine communication?

A6) The meaning of grapevine communication is communication held without following a recommended structure in an organization is informal communication. So, grapevine communication can be described as a casual and unofficial communication system within the organization. Think of the lunch meetings you attend with your team. The conversation during such times revolves around your work, yet it remains unofficial and forms informal or personal relationships between you and your team members. Building rapport is a crucial aspect of workplace communication. It leads to better interpersonal relationships that factors into accomplishing organizational goals a lot more efficiently and effectively.

Q7) State the uses of communication?

A7) From the boardroom to the assembly line or sales floor, people must communicate: share ideas, pass on information and convince others regarding which decision to make. Two primary reasons to communicate with others are to inform and persuade. People inform and influence others within a variety of circumstances involving exchange among one-to-one, to a few or to many. While technology has multiplied the number of channels anyone can use, people still distill content to verbal and written. Content, audience and channel converge in a number of business contexts in which one must continually hone skills to accurately convey the information and ideas to accomplish tasks and advance a company within the market.

Interviews

From initial job interviews to final exits, the question and answer dialog of an interview elicits information from respondent by interviewer. Both sides need to understand one another’s needs and agendas to facilitate interaction. In this one-to-one context, as the interviewer asks questions to better understand the respondent, the respondent in turn must carefully listen to the questions and even ask questions themselves to better understand the motivation behind the interviewer’s query, to ensure precise responses. While ostensibly the primary reason for an interview is to inform, in some cases a secondary motive would be to persuade, such as a job applicant convincing a potential employer that the applicant is the right candidate to hire.

Negotiations

Negotiations typically occur one-to-one or among a few, where both parties offer their positions and in a dynamic dialog move to mutually beneficial agreement or consensus. Negotiations can be the flip side of an interview: while the primary purpose is to persuade the other party of one’s own position, the secondary sharing of information alters one’s point of view and the course of the discussion.

Presentations

A more formal one to few or to many context, presentations typically inform an audience. Even a sales presentation conveys information the audience requires to base a decision on. Presentations can combine verbal and written communications via digital slide shows or even multi-media demonstration a presenter can use to emphasize points made verbally.

Sales

Sales contacts occur in nearly any circumstance, including mass media advertising, primarily to persuade the audience to purchase the presenter’s products or services over anyone else’s. Sales contacts use verbal and written communication and can incorporate interview and negotiation techniques as a seller must understand the needs and motivations of a buyer to better convince the buyer of the product’s worth, or discover the perceived value of the service and settle on a bargain both parties can leave satisfied with.

Written Communication

Even the most cursory email tends to use more formal language and structure than a brief telephone chat. Written communication reduces transmission of meaning down to words only, so messengers must carefully choose the words and their placement to accurately convey the message to recipients, whether providing information or persuading others to do something.

Non-verbal Communication

While an audience receives most of a presenter’s message non-verbally, non-verbal communication skills typically receive the least attention. Voice tone and volume, facial expression, body movement and even feet placement broadcast what words alone may conceal. A well-trained communicator can enhance communications and guard against confusion by controlling whether the body amplifies or contradicts the spoken word.

Q8) What are the barriers to communication?

A8) The communication barrier may prevent communication or carry incorrect meaning due to which misunderstandings may be created. Therefore, it is essential for a manager to identify such barriers and take appropriate measures to overcome them. The barriers to communication in organizations can be broadly grouped as follows:

1. Semantic Barriers

These are concerned with the problems and obstructions in the process of encoding and decoding of a message into words or impressions. Normally, such barriers result due to use of wrong words, faulty translations, different interpretations, etc.

For example, a manager has to communicate with workers who have no knowledge of the English language and on the other side, he is not well conversant with the Hindi language. Here, language is a barrier to communication as the manager may not be able to communicate properly with the workers.

2. Psychological Barriers

Emotional or psychological factors also act as barriers to communication. The state of mind of both sender and receiver of communication reflects in effective communication. A worried person cannot communicate properly and an angry recipient cannot understand the message properly.

Thus, at the time of communication, both the sender and the receiver need to be psychologically sound. Also, they should trust each other. If they do not believe each other, they cannot understand each other’s message in its original sense.

3. Organizational Barriers

The factors related to organizational structure, rules and regulations authority relationships, etc. may sometimes act as barriers to effective communication. In an organization with a highly centralized pattern, people may not be encouraged to have free communication. Also, rigid rules and regulations and cumbersome procedures may also become a hurdle to communication.

4. Personal Barriers

The personal factors of both sender and receiver may act as a barrier to effective communication. If a superior thinks that a particular communication may adversely affect his authority, he may suppress such communication.

Also, if the superiors do not have confidence in the competency of their subordinates, they may not ask for their advice. The subordinates may not be willing to offer useful suggestions in the absence of any reward or appreciation for a good suggestion.

Q9) What is the aim of effective communication?

A9) The purpose of effective communication is to get your specific audience to the desired goal. The goal could be informing them or allowing them to understand a message, but also to persuade or convince them to take action.

Q10) What are the steps of communication?

A10) The steps of communication are-

The sender develops an idea to be sent.

The sender encodes the message.

The sender selects the channel of communication that will be used.

The message travels over the channel of communication.

The message is received by the receiver.

The receiver decodes the message.

Q11) What kind of communication skills are important?

A11) Being able to communicate effectively is one of the most important life skills. Those with good interpersonal skills are strong verbal and non-verbal communicators and are often considered to be “good with people”. To learn. Communication is defined as transferring information to produce greater understanding.

Q12) What are the 5 basic communication skills?

A12) These 5 skills are absolutely necessary for successful communication in the workplace or private life.

Listening is one of the most important aspects of communication.

Straight talking.

Non-verbal communication.

Stress management.

Emotion control.