Communication

Communication (from Latin commnicre, meaning "to share") is the act of conveying intended meaning to another entity
through the use of mutually understood signs and semiotic rules. The basic steps of communication are the forming of
communicative intent, message composition, message encoding, transmission of signal, reception of signal, message
decoding and finally interpretation of the message by the recipient.
The study of communication can be divided into communication studies, which concerns only human communication, and
biosemiotics, which examines the communication of organisms in general. Communication is usually visual, auditory, or
biochemical, while human communication is unique for its extensive use of language.

Nonverbal communication
Nonverbal communication describes the process of conveying meaning in the form of non-word messages. Examples of
nonverbal communication include haptic communication, chronemic communication, gestures, body language, facial
expression, eye contact, and how one dresses. Nonverbal communication also relates to intent of a message. Examples of
intent are voluntary, intentional movements like shaking a hand or winking, as well as involuntary, such as sweating. Speech
also contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage, e.g. rhythm, intonation, tempo, and stress. There may even be a
pheromone component. Research has shown that up to 55% of human communication may occur through non-verbal facial
expressions, and a further 38% through para-language. It affects communication most at the subconscious level and
establishes trust. Likewise, written texts include nonverbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words
and the use of emoticons to convey emotion.
Nonverbal communication demonstrates one of Wazlawick's laws: you cannot not communicate. Once proximity has
formed awareness, living creatures begin interpreting any signals received. Some of the functions of nonverbal
communication in humans are to complement and illustrate, to reinforce and emphasize, to replace and substitute, to control
and regulate, and to contradict the denotative message.

Verbal communication
Effective verbal or spoken communication is dependent on a number of factors and cannot be fully isolated from other
important interpersonal skills such as non-verbal communication, listening skills and clarification. Human language can be
defined as a system of symbols (sometimes known as lexemes) and the grammars (rules) by which the symbols are
manipulated. The word "language" also refers to common properties of languages. Language learning normally occurs most
intensively during human childhood. Most of the thousands of human languages use patterns of sound or gesture for
symbols which enable communication with others around them. Languages tend to share certain properties, although there
are exceptions. There is no defined line between a language and a dialect. Constructed languages such as Esperanto,
programming languages, and various mathematical formalism is not necessarily restricted to the properties shared by human
languages. Communication is two-way process not merely one-way.
An Effective Communication Process*:
Use standard terminology when communicating information. Request and provide clarification when needed. Ensure
statements are direct and unambiguous. Inform the appropriate individuals when the mission or plans change.
Communicate all information needed by those individuals or teams external to the team. Use nonverbal communication
appropriately. Use proper order when communicating information.[5] * for formal English-speaking groups

Written communication and its historical development

The progression of written communication can be divided into three "information communication revolutions":
1. Written communication first emerged through the use of pictographs. The pictograms were made in stone, hence
written communication was not yet mobile. Pictograms began to develop standardized and simplified forms.
2. The next step occurred when writing began to appear on paper, papyrus, clay, wax, and other media. with common
shared writing systems, leading to adaptable alphabets. Communication became mobile.
3. The final stage is characterized by the transfer of information through controlled waves of electromagnetic radiation
(i.e., radio, microwave, infrared) and other electronic signals.
Communication is thus a process by which meaning is assigned and conveyed in an attempt to create shared understanding.
Gregory Bateson called it "the replication of tautologies in the universe. This process, which requires a vast repertoire of
skills in interpersonal processing, listening, observing, speaking, questioning, analyzing, gestures, and evaluating enables
collaboration and cooperation.

Business communication
Business communications is used for a wide variety of activities including, but not limited to: strategic communications
planning, media relations, public relations (which can include social media, broadcast and written communications, and
more), brand management, reputation management, speech-writing, customer-client relations, and internal/employee
communications.
Companies with limited resources may choose to engage in only a few of these activities, while larger organizations may
employ a full spectrum of communications. Since it is difficult to develop such a broad range of skills, communications
professionals often specialize in one or two of these areas but usually have at least a working knowledge of most of them.
By far, the most important qualifications communications professionals can possess are excellent writing ability, good
'people' skills, and the capacity to think critically and strategically.

Family communication
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Family communication is the study and practice of the communication perspective in a broadly defined family, with
intimacy and trusting relationship. The main goal of family communication is to understand the interactions of family and
the pattern of behaviors of family members in different circumstances.
Family communication study looks at topics such as family rules, family roles or family dialectics and how those factors
could affect the communication between family members. Researchers develop theories to understand communication
behaviors. Family communication study also digs deep into certain time periods of family life such as marriage, parenthood
or divorce and how communication stands in those situations. It is important for family members to understand
communication as a trusted way which leads to a well constructed family.

Interpersonal Communication
In simple terms, interpersonal communication is the communication between one person and another (or others). It is often
referred to as face-to-face communication between two (or more) people. Both verbal and nonverbal communication, or
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body language, play a part in how one person understands another. In verbal interpersonal communication there are two
types of messages being sent: a content message and a relational message. Content messages are messages about the topic at
hand and relational messages are messages about the relationship itself. [11] This means that relational messages come across
in how one says something and it demonstrates a persons feelings, whether positive or negative, towards the individual they
are talking to, indicating not only how they feel about the topic at hand, but also how they feel about their relationship with
the other individual.[11] When texting or posting something on social media the relational message is lost and can cause
people to misinterpret the message. Computer-mediated communication is a largely studied topic for this reason along with
many others.

Barriers to effective human communication

Barriers to effective communication can retard or distort the message and intention of the message being conveyed which
may result in failure of the communication process or an effect that is undesirable. These include filtering, selective
perception, information overload, emotions, language, silence, communication apprehension, gender differences and
political correctness
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This also includes a lack of expressing "knowledge-appropriate" communication, which occurs when a person uses
ambiguous or complex legal words, medical jargon, or descriptions of a situation or environment that is not understood by
the recipient.
Physical barriers. Physical barriers are often due to the nature of the environment. An example of this is the natural
barrier which exists if staff are located in different buildings or on different sites. Likewise, poor or outdated
equipment, particularly the failure of management to introduce new technology, may also cause problems. Staff
shortages are another factor which frequently causes communication difficulties for an organization.
System design. System design faults refer to problems with the structures or systems in place in an organization.
Examples might include an organizational structure which is unclear and therefore makes it confusing to know whom
to communicate with. Other examples could be inefficient or inappropriate information systems, a lack of supervision
or training, and a lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities which can lead to staff being uncertain about what is
expected of them.

Nonhuman communication
Every information exchange between living organisms i.e. transmission of signals that involve a living sender and
receiver can be considered a form of communication; and even primitive creatures such as corals are competent to

communicate. Nonhuman communication also include cell signaling, cellular communication, and chemical transmissions
between primitive organisms like bacteria and within the plant and fungal kingdoms.

Noise
In any communication model, noise is interference with the decoding of messages sent over a channel by an encoder. There
are many examples of noise:
Environmental noise. Noise that physically disrupts communication, such as standing next to loud speakers at a
party, or the noise from a construction site next to a classroom making it difficult to hear the professor.

 Physiological-impairment noise. Physical maladies that prevent effective communication, such as actual deafness or
blindness preventing messages from being received as they were intended.
Semantic noise. Different interpretations of the meanings of certain words. For example, the word "weed" can be
interpreted as an undesirable plant in a yard, or as a euphemism for marijuana.
Syntactical noise. Mistakes in grammar can disrupt communication, such as abrupt changes in verb tense during a
sentence.
Organizational noise. Poorly structured communication can prevent the receiver from accurate interpretation. For
example, unclear and badly stated directions can make the receiver even more lost.
Cultural noise. Stereotypical assumptions can cause misunderstandings, such as unintentionally offending a nonChristian person by wishing them a "Merry Christmas".

Psychological noise. Certain attitudes can also make communication difficult. For instance, great anger or sadness
may cause someone to lose focus on the present moment. Disorders such as autism may also severely hamper
effective communication.

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