Communication

The word “Communication” has come from the Latin word

“communis”, which means common.
The dictionary meaning of communication is to convey or
exchange information and share ideas.
According to W. H. Newman and C. F. Summer,
“Communication is an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions or
emotions by two or more persons.”
Elements of Business
Communication
• 1. Sender:
• He/she is the person who intends to make contact for passing
information and understanding to other person. (communicator).
• 2.Encoding: The purpose of encoding is to translate the thought of
the sender into suitable language with proper usage of verbal and
non verbal languages.
• 3. Message: This is the subject-matter which is transmitted or
passed by the sender to the other party or group of persons. This
might be opinion, order, suggestion, attitude, feeling, view, etc.
• 4. Channels/Medium: Information is transmitted through
certain channels (e.g., radio, television, telephone, letter, e-
mail, text, voice and video messages). The media is selected
by the sender considering various factors.
• 5. Receiver: The person to whom the message is meant for is
known as receiver or communicate.
• 6. Decoding: It means conversion of message by the receiver
into meaningful words for the purpose of understanding.
• 7. Feedback: When the receiver acknowledges the message
of the sender and responds back to him/her, feedback takes
place. Without feedback communication is incomplete.
Features of communication

• 1. Two persons- communication involves at least two people,

sender and receiver. Therefore, it is the exchange of
information between two or more persons.
• 2. Two way process (feedback)- It involves both sending of
message and receiving the response to that message. It is
not complete unless the message has been correctly
understood by the receiver and its response becomes known
to the sender.
• 3. Continuous process
• Communication is an ever-present activity and without it an
organization cannot exist. Communication is as necessary to
an organization as blood circulation in a living body.
Therefore, the managers should ensure that adequate and
smooth communication flows in all directions.
• Breakdown of communication results in misunderstanding,
creation of unfavorable attitudes, hostility and conflict. So,
communication must be a continuous process and move up,
down and sideways for active participation of all concerned.
• 4.circular process- when the response to the message requires
another message to be communicated by the sender to motivate a
response or influence human behavior.
• 5. exchange of information- when communication takes place it must
convey some message between two or more persons which may
occur through several methods like oral, written and non verbal.
• 6.flows in all direction- communication flows in all direction. Vertical,
horizontal, diagonal.
Objectives of communication
• 1. STRONGER DECISION MAKING
• Your ability to communicate effectively increases productivity
, both yours and your organization.
• 2. INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY
• With good communication skills , you can anticipate
problems , make decisions , co-ordinate work flow , supervise
others , develop relationships and promote products and
services.
• 3. STEADIER WORK FLOW
• Communication acts as tool for the effective work related
flow of information.
• 4. STRONG BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS & ENHANCED PROFESSIONAL
IMAGE
• You can shape the impressions you and your company make on
colleagues , employees ,supervisors , investors ,and customers in
addition to perceiving and responding to the needs of these
stakeholders(the various group you interact with ) without effective
communication , people misunderstand each other and misinterpret
information. Ideas misfire or fail to gain attention and people and
companies flounder.
• 5. CLEARER PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
• Your organizations need for effective reach of company name and
public promotions are based on effective promotional material such
as advertisements , bill boards , online add , posters etc are all
communicated for effective message delivery and meaning.
• 6. PROVIDE ADVICE- Giving advice is based on individual-
oriented and work-oriented ,advice should not given to the
person for pinpointing his mistakes rather it should be helpful
for his improvement. Effective advice promotes
understanding and it can be a two way process if the
subordinate staff given freedom.

• 7. PROVIDE ORDER- Order is an authoritative communication

pattern and it is directive to somebody always a subordinate
to do something. Orders will be written and oral orders ,
general and specific orders ,procedural and operational
orders , mandatory and discretionary order. Order should be
clear and complete ,execution should be possible and given in
a friendly way.
• 8.SUGGESTION- Suggestion is supposed to be very mild and
subtle form of communication. Suggestions are welcomed
for it is not obligatory to accept them , it can be voluntary
and anonymous and submitted through suggestion boxes.

• 9. PERSUASION- Persuasion may be defined as an effort ‘ to

influence the attitudes , feelings ,or beliefs of others , or to
influence actions based on those attitudes , feelings , or
beliefs. Persuasion can be done to others if you are convinced
, you do not impose , you are not rigid are prepared to meet
half-way and you can look at the situation from the other
person’s angle also.
• 10. EDUCATION
• Education is a very conscious process of communication ,it
involves both teaching and learning by which organizations
provide to their employees in the form of training. Education
is given for management , employees and outside public.
• 12. WARNING
• If the employees do not abide by the norms of the
organization warning is a power communication tool and it
can be general and specific. Specific warning should be
administered in private and after thorough investigation. The
aim of the warning should be the organization betterment.
• 13. RAISING MORALE AND MOTIVATION
• Morale stands for mental health and it is a sum of several
qualities like courage , resolution , confidence .High morale
and effective performance go hand to hand. Motivation is a
process that account for an individual intensity, direction ,
and persistence of effort towards attaining a goal.
• 14. TO GIVE AND RECEIVE INFORMATION
• . Communication’s main idea is to give and receive
information because managers need complete , accurate and
precise information to plan and organize employee need it to
translate planning in to reality. Information will cover all
aspects of the business.
• 15. TO PROVIDE COUNSELLING
• Counseling is given to solve employees mental
stress and improve the employees productivity.

• 16. TO IMPROVE DISCIPLINE

• . Finally discipline is the foremost part of any
business communication. The various disciplinary
codes are effectively communicated to
employees through disciplinary codes.
Group work
• 1. In what ways communication is important for
business.
• 2.Discuss in group and write individually in you class
work note book.
• 3. submission 0n 23rd August,2017. (Wednesday)
Barriers to communication
• 1. language/semantic barrier: not using of appropriate
language for communication, confusion with similar
sounding words with different meanings.
• 2. physical barrier: they are environmental factors disturbing
the communication such as distance, noise, no proper net
work
• 3. psychological barrier: such barriers arises due to emotions
(lack of mutual trust and confidence), judgements, social
values, inferiority/superiority complex, low self esteem
• 4.status barriers: difference in status of sender and receiver
causes communication break down.
• 5. wrong choice of medium barrier: unsuitable medium is
biggest barriers to communication. Like in some cases face to
face communication would be more effective like wise in
some cases written would be suitable.
• 6. inattentive barrier: not listening properly or being
inattentive is the most common barrier which distorts
communication.
• 7. premature evaluation: when people pass judgements,
come to conclusion or reply with out listening to complete
message is known as premature evaluation. (Video)
Measure to overcome barriers to
communication
• 1. using simple language
• 2. feed back
• 3. control over emotions
• 4. mutual trust and faith
• 5. selectin of correct channel
• 6. use of informal channel of information/ use of grapevine
• 7. importance of listening carefully
• 8.clarity and completeness
Principles of effective
communication
• 1. Principle of clarity- firstly there should be clarity of thoughts,
should be clear and simple to be understood by the receiver.
• 2. Principle of appropriate medium- sender should select the most
suitable/appropriate medium depending upon the nature of
particular message so that message is conveyed properly and
understood rightly.
• 3. Principle of feedback- communication should be two way traffic.
Both telling and listening should take place which will lead to sharing,
understanding and responding. Feed back enables the sender
whether the receiver has properly understood the message or not.
• 4. Principle of consistency- messages communicated should be
consistence with plans, policies and objectives of an organization,
other wise confusion and misunderstanding will take place. There
should not be any gap between what one says and what one does.
• 5. Principle of informality/ use of grapevine- though formal
communication is necessary for running an organization but informal
communication brings quick action by conveying message quickly. It
also helps in supplementing the messages from both sides
(subordinate to superior, superior to subordinate)
• 6. Principle of timeliness- messages, information, idea should be
conveyed at the right time to the right person for effectiveness.
Message losses its importance if conveyed before and after time.
• 7.Principle of attention and flexibility- each individual differs
with emotions, sentiments and interest determining the
degree of attention. There fore, sender should convey the
message in such a way that he/she is able to attract the
attention of all types of receivers.
• 8. Principle of un-biasness and motivational- Communication
should be free of personal interest and should not be
offensive. Communication should be planned in such a way
that it motivates the receiver to express his/her reactions.
Methods or channels of
communication
• 1.Formal communication: It follows the chain of command/
line of authority for communication in an organization.
Formal communication can be written or verbal.
• 2. Informal communication: It follows in all direction and are
free from all sorts of formalities. Informal communication
can be written, verbal or non-verbal.
• Examples of such informal communication may be:
• casual conversation,
• rumours about employees, customers, competitors,
• exchange of news on topics unrelated to work,
• messages in social media and blogs,
• conversation over coffee or lunch, etc.
• Both formal and informal information system coexist in the
organization and are essential to its smooth functioning.
• Advantages of formal communication
• 1. Increase overall efficiency: This
type of communication is used by following the predetermined rules s
o it increases the overall efficiency of the organization
.(well planned)
• 2.Permanent record: The copy of formal communication is always
preserved in the file and it is used as reference. As a result, it is easy
to seek the copy of it if necessary.
• 3. Maintenance of discipline: Under the formal communication
system the workers are bound to be careful to their own duty. So
ultimately it makes discipline in the organization.
• 4.Use as reference: Documents of the formal communication is
recorded by the organization. So, these recorded documents are use
as a source of the employees.
• 5.Ease of delegation of authority: Authority is delegated by the
superiors to the subordinates through the help of this
communication.
• 6.Free from mistakes: Since formal communication has a well defined
rules and regulations. So, there is a little chance of mistakes in
exchanging information within the employees.
• 7.Others: Increasing attention, reliability, accuracy, smooth
communication system, free form distortion, easy to understand, incr
easing company goodwill etc.
• Disadvantages of formal communication
• Wastage of time: Top level management communicates with their
employees by maintaining the board of succession, not by-passing any
executive or any level. That is why it takes a lot of time and it
wastages much time of the concerned person.
• Inflexibility: Ordinarily the formal communication is inflexible. If
somebody out of the channel intends to change his views it is not
possible. Even when it is needed to change, it is very much difficult.
• Lack of initiative: Under this communication system everybody does
their duty by following specific predetermined system. So it makes the
obstacle to develop the creativeness of the employee.
• Authoritarian attitude: In this system the sender is higher authority
and the receiver is lower staffs. Generally the superior’s order cannot
be disobeyed. It creates an authoritarian culture in the organization.
• Lack of cordiality: In the formal communication system the
subordinate staffs strictly follow the order of superior
authority. So the implementer of the order does not obey
their duty properly.
• Costly: In this system the organization policy and rules are
obeyed properly. Sometimes it creates crucial situation and it
is a time being factor. For these, the cost of formal
communication system is higher than those of others.
• Others: Lack of personal relation, delay in decision making,
not suitable for motivation, creates misunderstanding, create
mental distance.
Advantages of informal communication
• 1.Providing recommendation: In this system the employees inform
their superior about their demands, problem and the way to develop
the implementation system of the work. As a result it creates an
opportunity to send the recommendation to their management.
• 2.Flexibility: Informal communication is more flexible than formal
communication because it is free from all type of formalities.
• 3.Rapid communication: Informal communication transmits very fast.
Especially miss-information or rumor spread rapidly to others in the
organization.
• 4.Improve interpersonal relationship: Cooperation and coordination
in informal communication leads to improve interpersonal
relationship which is very much essential to carry out the business
activity smoothly.
• 5.Interpret: The information is given by the top level management under the
formal system. It is easy for the employees to take the explanation by
informal system. So this system plays a vital role to complete the work
properly.
• 6.Present grievance: Under the informal system the employees disclose their
needs, sentiment and their emotions to others authority without feeling any
hesitation.
• 7.Alternate system: The management sometimes does not able to reach all
information by formal system. Informal system covers the gap or familiarity of
formal system.
• 8.Improved relationship: Any problem between the workers and the
management can be solved by informal system. So it makes good
relationships among the employees and the management.
• 9.Increase efficiency: Under the informal system, the employees discuss their
problem openly and they can solve it. For this, the work is done properly and
it develops the efficiency of the employee.
• Others: Improve labor management relationship. Free flow of
information. Remove mental distance. Evaluation of employees.
Obtain immediate feedback. Relieving frustration. Increasing
efficiency. Solution of problems and helping decision-making.
Enhance mutual trust etc.
Disadvantages of informal communication
• 1.Distort meaning: Sometimes the meaning and the subject matter of
the information is distorted in this system.
• 2.Spread rumor: In this system, the miss-information or rumor spread
rapidly. The original information may be transformed to wrong
information.
• 3.Misunderstanding: Under this system, generally, the employees do
not obey the formal authorization system. So it creates the
opportunity to develop misunderstanding.
• 4.Maintaining secrecy is impossible: In informal communication
system maximum communication is made by open discussion. So it is
impossible to maintain the secrecy of the information.
• 5.Difficulty in controlling: Under informal communication system no
established rules or policy is obeyed. So it is very much difficult to
control the information.
• 6.Non-cooperation: Informal
communication system sometimes develops the adversary culture am
ong the employees. So they are not to be cooperative with each other
and their efficiency may be reduced.
• 7.Others: Providing partial information. Not reliable. No documentary
evidence. Damaging discipline. Contradicting to formal information
etc.
Home work
• 1. Write down at least 7 differences between formal and informal
communication.
• 3.Written Communication:
• When communication takes place in writing through letters, memos,
reports, proposals, e-mail, faxes, etc. ‘Written Channel’ is said to be in
use.
• A written channel is often selected in the following cases:
• - when immediate feedback is not required
• - when the receiver stays in a far off place and cannot be brought to
contact easily
• - when distortion of message is not desirable
• - when detailed, complex and planned messages are required to be
sent
• - when permanent record is necessary for future reference.
• 4.Oral Communication:
• ‘Oral Channel’ includes different media e.g., face-to-face
conversations, speeches, meetings, telephone, voice mails, audio and
video tape, teleconference or video conference, etc.
• An oral channel is to be selected if:
• - feedback is required immediately.
• - the receiver of message or audience can be brought to contact
easily.
• - interaction is necessary.
• - simple messages are communicated.
• - no permanent record is to be kept.
• 5.non-verbal/ gesture communication: communication
taking place through expression using the body parts.
Example movement of hands, heads, different form of facial
expression, signals, wink of an eye, smile etc…
• 6. Vertical communication
• 1. Lower Level Communication:
• When information flows from the persons occupying higher positions
to those at lower levels, it is called ‘Lower Level Communication’. The
flow of communication being downward it is also called ‘Downward
Communication’. It is usually conveyed through oral or written orders,
reports, manuals, etc. and is the most common practice in all business
organisations.
• In an organisation, people at lower levels have a high degree of
loyalty, faith, respect and sometimes a mixed feelings of fear and
obedience towards the people of higher levels. This leads to high
degree of acceptance of the communication.
• In the lower level communication there is a possibility of distortion of
information through gossip or ‘grapevine’ communication. In such a
case the ultimate objective of communication is lost. So, care should
be taken to send the information, message or order and receive
feedback without any loss, alteration or distortion of information.
• 2. Upper Level Communication:
• When communication moves upward from the subordinates to the
superiors, it is called ‘Upper Level Communication’. The means of
upper level communication includes the submission of reports and
suggestion, opinions and attitudes, complaints and grievances, etc.
• The upper level employees can understand the pulse of the lower
level employees through such communication. But, it is less common
because it is less favoured by the top managers due to its
troublesome and perplexing nature.
• The effectiveness of such communication depends upon good
superior-subordinate relationship and intention of the superiors to
remove the grievances and honour the emotions of the subordinates.
The subordinates should also be co-operative and avoid unnecessary
criticism, fault-finding attitude, complaining for fake or baseless
grievances, etc.
• 7. Horizontal or Side-Wise or Lateral Communication:
• ‘Horizontal or Sidewise or Lateral Communication’ takes place
between the people of same level in the positional hierarchy of the
organisation through oral or written method. Communication
between the employees or supervisors or managers of the same
department or another department is examples of horizontal or
lateral communication. It helps to promote understanding and co­
ordination in the organisation. It is especially important in large or
decentralised organisation.
• 7. Diagonal communication: Diagonal communication takes place in
all directions. Person holding different ranks in different departments
communicates.
• 8. Internal communication: Exchange of information takes place
among the employees of same organization. It may be formal,
informal, vertical, horizontal or diagonal communication.
• 9. External communication: Exchange of information takes place
between people working in different organization.
• Electronic devices/ technology used for communication
• - short message service
• - audio visual/video conferencing
• - audio conferencing
• - voice messages
• - e-mail
• - fax
• -pager
• Home work

• Q.1. write down at least 6 advantages of written communication.

• Q.2. Distinguish between written and verbal communication.