Whati
sCommuni
cat
ion
Communi cat
ioni stheacti
onabletransferofinfor
mat i
onfrom oneper son,group,orplaceto
anotherbywr i
ting,speaki
ng,orusi ngamedi um thatprovidesameansofunder st
anding.
Everycommuni cati
onconsi st
sofami nimum ofonesender ,areceiver,andamessage.The
tr
ansmissionofamessagef r
om sendert or eci
pientri
sksbeingaf f
ectedbymanyt hi
ngs
becausecommuni cati
onimpact show peopl eint
eract.Theseincludet helocation,medi
um
used to communi cate,the cultural si
tuat
ion,and t he emot ions involved. However,
communi cat
ionhelpspeopletointeractandsharevariousaspectsoflif
e.
TypesofCommuni
cat
ion
People communicatein a var iet
y ofways t hr
ough di
ffer
entt ypes ofcommuni cat
ion.
Communi cati
onistheexchangingofinformati
onandshari
ngofideas.Communi cat
ioncanbe
divi
dedintotwomai ncat egor
ies:verbalornonver
balisonecategor y.Anot
hercategor
yi s
formalorinf
ormal.Wewillexaminethesefurt
herbel
ow.
Ver
balvs.Non-
Ver
balCommuni
cat
ion
Ver balcommuni cati
onisprimarilyusedt oconveyamessage.Ver balcommuni cat
iontendsto
bepr eciseandi sthemostef f
ectiveform ofcommuni cati
on.Wor dscanbespokenorwr i
tt
en
tocr eateameani ngfulexchange.Ver balcommuni cati
onal lowsf orasmoot ht r
ansferof
i
nf ormat i
onandcanal l
evi
atemi sunderstandi
ngs.Inverbalcommuni cati
on,apersonspeaks
toanot herper sontoconveyapi eceofinf or
mat i
onoramessage.Ver balcommuni cati
onisthe
mostpr eferr
edandef fecti
vewayt oconductaconver sat
ion.Itisusuallypract
iseddail
ywhi l
e
givingpr esentati
ons,phonecall
s, one-
to-onediscussi
ons,videoconferences,andmeet i
ngs.
Nonver balcommuni cat
ioni nvolvescommuni cati
ngwi thoutt heuseofwor ds.Thisrequires
visualnonver balcuesoruseofot hersensestogett hepoi ntacross.Onepr oblem withthis
type ofcommuni cati
on ist hati tcan be per cei
ved in a var iet
y ofways.Nonver bal
communi cati
oncanbedef inedasusi ngbodyl anguaget opassonmessagesef f
ectivel
y.It
i
ncl udeshandmovement s,
f aci
alexpressi
ons,bodygest ures,etc.Themostcommonexampl e
ofnon- verbalcommuni cati
oni sshaki nghands.Thi stypeofcommuni cat
ionisimpliedbot h
deliberat
elyandnon- del
iberatel
y.
For
malandI
nfor
malCommuni
cat
ion
Communi cati
oncanbef ormalorinformal .Formalcommuni cati
oni scommuni cationt hat
fol
lowsacer tai
nor derwithrul
es.Thistypeofcommuni cati
ont endst ooccuri neducat i
onal
andbusi nessset t
ings.Formalcommuni cationisusual lywr i
tten.Thisi snott het ypeof
communi cati
on thati sused i
n personaldi scussions.Emai l
sand pr inted document sar e
met hodsofformalcommuni cat
ion.Thistypeofcommuni cati
onmustbeusedi nor derf orthe
companybepr oductive.Thi
spreventsmi sunderstandings,asexpect at
ionsar eout l
inedi na
wri
tt
en manner.Anotheradvant
age oft
his met
hod ofcommuni
cat
ion i
sthati
tcan be
r
eferencedi
ftheneedari
ses.
When individualsin an organi sati
on exchange offi
cialinformati
on,itclasses as formal
communi cation.Theseindividualsmayof tenhol
dt hesameordi ff
erentposi
tionswit
hint he
organi
sati
onalhi erar
chy.Fori nstance,communi cati
onbet weenamanagerandt hei
rt eam
member sorbet weent eam leadersofvar ieddepartmentsmayoccur .Thi
stypeofwor kplace
communi cationfoll
owspr edef i
nedst andardsthatanor ganisati
onhasi mplemented.Bel ow
aresomet ypesoff or
malcommuni cati
on:
Downwardscommunicati
on:Thi
si st
hemostcommont ypeoff
ormalcommuni cati
on,where
thei
nfor
mati
onori
ginat
esfrom t
hecompany'
smanagementandr eachesit
sempl oyees.Thi
s
communicat
ionmayoftencomprisewri
tt
eninst
ruct
ions,suchasr epor
ts,memos,manual s
andemail
s.
Upwar
ds communi cati
on:Thi sist he opposi
te of downwar
ds communi
cat
ion,where
empl
oyeesinanor ganisati
onsharet hei
rmessageswi t
hmanagement.I
tsvar
iousfor
ms
i
ncl
uderequest
s,suggesti
ons,compl
aintsandf
eedback.
Horizontalcommuni cat
ion:Thistypeoff ormalcommunicati
on,alsorefer
redtoasl at
eral
communi cati
on,
occursbetweencoll
eagueswhoar eonthesamelevelwit
hinthecompanybut
have differentrol
es.This communicati
on,which may take pl
ace between managers of
dif
ferentteams,isthemostcommonexampl eofhori
zont
alcommunicati
on.
Diagonalcommuni cati
on:Thi
st ype ofcommunicati
on,also r
efer
red to as cr osswise
communi cati
on,occursbet
weenteam membersofdif
fer
entdepar
tments.Forinstance,when
employeescommuni cat
ewit
hmanagersofdi
ff
erentt
eams,suchashumanr esources, f
inance
ormarketing
Informalcommuni cati
oncanbespont aneousanddoesnothaver ul
est hatmustbefoll
owed.
Conversati
onisexchangedi nacasualmanner .Inthewor kplace,t
histypeofcommuni cation
i
susedwhennotspeaki ngdi r
ect
lyofwor kmatters.Thi
st ypeofcommuni cat
ionisimportant
forteambuil
dingandi mprovingmoral
ei nthewor kpl
ace.Thist ypeofcommuni cat
ioncanhel p
newempl oyeesf eelmorecomf or
tabl
eint hei
rnewj obandf eelmorerelaxedinaski
ngot hers
forhelpwhent heyneedit.Formalandinformalcommuni cationarebothi mpor
tant
.
Typesofi
nfor
malcommuni
cat
ion
Singlest
randchai n:Inthistypeofcommuni cat
ion,t
hef l
ow ofcommunicat
ionhasasi ngl
e
sequence,wher eoneper soncommuni cat
eswi t
hanot her
.Thiscreat
esasi nglechainof
communi cat
ion,whereper sonAshar esinf
ormati
onwi t
hpersonB,whot henpassesitonto
personC,whot hengivesittopersonD,etc.
Gossip chain:A gossip chai
n occur
swhen oneempl
oyeecommunicat
eswi t
h allgroup
member s.Somecommonexampl esofgossi
pchai
ncommunicat
ionaregroupdiscussi
ons
andround-tabl
econversat
ions.
Probabili
ty chain:When infor
mati
on fl
ows acr oss peopl
ein a group withouta speci
fi
c
str
ucture,itcreatesaprobabil
it
ychain.Here,thesour ceofinf
ormati
onr andomlychooses
anotherpersonf rom t
henetwor
ktosharetheinf
or mat
ionwith.
Cl
usterchai
n:Inthistypeofcommuni cati
on, aper
soncommunicateswi
thaspeci
fi
cgr
oupof
i
ndi
vidual
s,who t hen sharet he i
nformation wi
th ot
hergroups.Forinst
ance,a seni
or
managementmembermaygi veapieceofi nfor
mationt
oteam manager
s,andeachmanager
t
hensharestheinformati
onwi t
hthei
rteam member s.
Ot
hert
ypesofcommuni
cat
ion
Writ
ten communi cat
ion – Wri
tt
en communicati
on mai
nlycover
swrit
ing,t
ypi
ng,symbol
s,
pr
inti
ng,letter
s,andsoont otr
ansferapi
eceofinfor
mati
on.Wri
tt
encommunicat
ioni
susedt
o
maintai
nr ecords.
Visualcommuni cat
ion–Visual
isi
ngisanotherf
orm ofcommunicati
ont hati
ncludeschar
ts,
graphs,phot
ographs,ordr
awingst odel
iveramessageorconveyi nfor
mat i
on.Itismainl
y
usedduringpresent
ati
onsi
noffi
cesandwr i
tt
enandverbalcommunicat
ion.
Pr
ocessofCommuni
cat
ion
Thecommuni cat
ionpr
ocessinvol
vesavari
etyofstepst
hatmai nl
yhast hreer
eci
pient
s.
Sender
,reci
pient,
andmessage.Her
eist
hecomplet
ecommunicat
ionprocess-
Sender– Thefi
rstcomponenti
sthesender
,whopassest
hemessaget
other
eci
pient
.In
si
mpleter
ms,istheonewhostar
tst
heconver
sat
ion.
Encodi
ng–I nt
hisprocess,thesenderencodesf eel
ingsoropi
nionsi
ntowor
dsorchooses
anynon-
ver
balmeansfortransl
ati
nghisfeel
ings.
Message–Themessagei sthebodywhi chcanei t
herbeani dea,t
ruth,
feel
ings,knowledge,or
opini
on.Thesenderencodest hemessage.Thei nformati
onconveyedshoul dbeavailablefor
thesendert otr
ansmi tt
other eceiver
.Communi cationworkswhenpeopl ehear,see,feel
,and
understandwhatasenderi st r
yingtoconvey;t hi
sensurest hatconcentr
ati
onandat t
ention
aregiventoi mportantdetai
ls,allowi
ngf orthesmoot htransferofinfor
mat i
on.Itisvitalto
understandthatonceasenderhasgr antedinf
ormat i
onthroughacommuni cati
onchannel ,i
t
cannotber eser
ved;oncether eci
pientrecei
vestheinformati
on,thesendercannottakeitback.
Communi
cati
onchannel–Inthi
sst
age,t
hesenderchoosesamedi
um t
hroughwhi
cht
hey
wantt
opassont
hemessage.
Recei
ver–Now,
ther
ecei
verr
ecei
vest
hemessagesentbyt
hesender
.
Decodi
ng–Int
hisstep,t
her
ecei
vert
ri
est
ounder
standwhatt
hesenderwant
stoconveyby
decodi
ngt
hemessage.
Feedback– Thelastst
epoftheenti
recommunicat
ionprocessisthefeedbackwher
ethe
recei
verhasr
ecei
vedandunder
stoodt
hemessageandisnowr eadyt
oanswerback.
pl
easenot
e-SenderandRecei
ver
Theper
sonsendingt
heinf
ormati
onandt
heoner
ecei
vingt
hei
nfor
mat
ionmustbepr
esentf
or
communicat
iont
obeeff
ecti
ve.
Communi
cat
ionBar
ri
ers
Barr
ier
st o ef
fect
ivecommunicati
on can r
esulti
n confusi
on whi
ch can l
ead t
oincor
rect
i
nformati
onbeingconveyedormiscommunicat
ionwhichcanleadt
olossofbusi
ness.
Fol
l
owi
ngar
esomeoft
hebar
ri
erst
oef
fect
ivecommuni
cat
ion:
1.Semant
icbar
ri
ers
2.Psychol
ogi
calbar
ri
ers
3.Or
gani
sat
ionalbar
ri
ers
4.Cul
tur
albar
ri
ers
5.Physi
calbar
ri
ers
6.Physi
ologi
calbar
ri
ers
Semanticbarr
iers:Semanti
cbarr
iersarealsoknownaslanguagebarr
ier
s.Thesebar
ri
ersare
causedduetoi mpropercommuni cat
ionbetweenthesenderandtherecei
ver
.Thefoll
owing
i
nstancesofsemant i
cbarr
ier
scanbewi tnessedi
ncommuni cat
ion.
Poorquali
tyofmessage:Messagewhencommunicat
edshouldbepreci
seandeasyt
o
under
stand,t
hatmakesiteasyfort
herecei
vert
ogr
aspthei
nformat
ionconveyed.
Sometimes,duetot
helackofcl
ari
tyorcompl
exit
yoft
hewayofpr
ovi
dingi
nfor
mat
ionf
rom
thesender
,ther
ecanbeacaseofsemant
icbar
ri
ers.
Fore.g.Amanagerisconver
singinEngl
ishtoagroupofworkerswhounder
standandspeak
French.Itwil
lcr
eat
econfusi
onamongwor ker
sastheywi
llnotbeabl
etounderst
andwhatis
beingconveyedbyt
hemanager .
Technicall
anguage:Languagebarri
ersalsoar
isewhenthesenderoft hemessageis
speakingintechnicalt
ermswhi letherecei
verisunawar
eoft het er
ms.I
tcr eat
es
confusionandmi sunderst
andi
ngbet weenthesenderandr eceiverbyacti
ngasa
barr
iertoef
fect
ivecommuni cat
ion.
PsychologicalBarr
ier
s:Psychologi
calbarrier
s pl
ay an import
antr ol
ei ninter
personal
communi cati
onasthestateofthemindofthesenderortherecei
vercanmakei tdi
ffi
cultt
o
underst
andt hei
nfor
mationthati
sconveyed,
whichoft
enleadstomisunder
standi
ng.
Her
ear
esomei
nst
anceswher
epsychol
ogi
cal
bar
ri
erst
ocommuni
cat
ioncanbeseen.
1.Prematureevaluati
onofinfor
mat
ionbyther
ecei
verevenbef
oreiti
str
ansmit
tedcanleadto
barr
ier
sincommuni cat
ion,asitwil
lcr
eatepremat
ureconclusi
ontot hemessage,which
wit
hholdstheoriginalmessage.
2.I
nadequateatt
ent
ionfrom t
hereceiver
’sendattheti
meofcommuni cat
ioncanleadto
bar
rier
sofcommunicat
ionasthei
nformati
onconveyedbythesenderi
snotproper
lyr
ecei
ved
bytherecei
ver
.
3.Wheninf or
mati
onispassedwit
hinmult
ipl
esources,t
hefi
nali
nfor
mati
onisdist
ort
edasthe
recei
ver
soft hemessagearenotablet
oretai
neverythi
ngt
hatwasconveyed.Thi
scancause
communi cati
onbar
ri
ers.
Organisati
onalbar
riers:Organi
sat
ionalbar
ri
ersaret
hosebarri
erst
hatar
ecausedduet othe
str
ucture,r
ulesandr egul
ati
onspresentint
heorgani
sati
on.Thevar
ioust
ypesofbarr
ierst
hat
can be encounter
ed due t o superi
orsubordi
naterel
ati
onshi
ps wher
et he f
ree fl
ow of
communi cati
onisnotpossible.
Someti
mesthecomplexi
tyoforgani
sat
ionalstr
uct
ureandmul
ti
plemanagersmakeitdif
fi
cul
t
to convey i
nformat
ion properl
y, and t he i
nfor
mati
on gets dist
orted l
eading to
miscommuni
cati
on.
Culturalbar
ri
ers:Cul
turalbar
ri
ersarethoset hatari
seduet olackofsimi
lar
it
iesamongthe
diff
erentcult
uresacrosst heworld.A term thatcan beharml essi
n onecultur
ecan be
regardedasasl angi
nanothercul
ture.Moreover,var
iousbel
i
efscandif
ferf
rom onecul
tur
eto
another.
Physicalbarrier
s:Physicalbarr
ier
stocommuni cat
ionar
et hosethatari
seduet ocer
tain
fact
or sli
kefault
yequipment,noi
se,cl
oseddoor
sandcabinsthatcausetheinf
ormati
onsent
from sendertorecei
vert
obecomedi st
ort
ed,
whichresul
tsi
nimpropercommunicat
ion.
Physi
ologicalbarri
ers:Physiol
ogicalbarri
ersarisewhen asenderort herecei
verofthe
communi cati
onisnotinaposi t
iontoexpressorrecei
vethemessagewi
thclar
it
yduet osome
physi
ologicali
ssuesli
kedyslexi
a,ornervedisor
dersthati
nter
fer
ewit
hspeechorheari
ng.
