COMMUNICATION

1. Communication is the sum of all things; one person does when he wants to
create understanding in the minds of another. It involves a systematic and
continuous process of telling, listening and understanding.” – Allen Louis

2. Communication has been defined “As the transfer of information from one
person to another whether or not it elicits confidence.” – Koontz and O’
Donell

3. “Communication is an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions or emotions by

two or more persons.” – George Terry

4. Communication is any behaviour that results in an exchange of meaning. –

The American Management Association
COMMUNICATION PROCESS
1. Sender: Sender means person who conveys his thoughts or ideas to the
receiver. The sender represents source of communication.
2. Message: It is the content of ideas, feelings, suggestions, order, etc.,
intended to be communicated.
3. Encoding: It is the process of converting the message into communication
symbols such as words, pictures, gestures etc.,
4. Media: It is the path through which encoded message is transmitted to
receiver. The channel may be in written form, face to face, phone call,
Internet etc.,
5. Decoding: It is the process of converting encoded symbols of the sender.
6. Receiver: The person who receives communication of the sender.
7. Feedback: It includes all those actions of receiver indicating that he has
received and understood message of sender.
8. Noise: Noise means some obstruction or hindrance to communication. This
hindrance may be caused to sender, message or receiver. Some examples of
noise are:
a. Ambiguous symbols that lead to faulty encoding.
b. A poor telephone connection.
c. An inattentive receiver.
d. Faulty decoding (attaching wrong meanings to message).
e. Prejudices obstructing the poor understanding of message.
f. Gestures and postures that may distort the message.
IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION
1. Acts as basis of coordination: Communication acts as basis of
coordination. Such coordination is provided by explaining about
organisational goals, the mode of their achievement and inter relationships
between different individuals, etc.

2. Helps in smooth working of an enterprise: All organisational interactions

depend on communications. The job of a manager is to coordinate the
human and physical elements of an organisation into an efficient and active
working unit that achieves common objectives. When communication
stops, organised activity ceases to exist

3. Acts as basis of decision making: Communication provides needed

information for decision making. In its absence, it may not be possible for
the managers to take any meaningful decision.

4. Increases managerial efficiency: Communication is essential for quick and

effective performance of managerial functions. The management conveys
the goals and targets, issues instructions, allocates jobs and responsibilities
and looks after the performance of subordinates.

5. Establishes effective leadership: Effective communication helps to

influence subordinates. While influencing people, leader should possess
good communication

SEVEN C'S OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION /

ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD COMMUNICATION

1. Courtesy/Consideration
a. Consideration means preparing every message after keeping the
receiver in mind, by putting yourself in their place.
b. A considerate person does not loose temper, does not accuse others
and is aware of the desires, circumstances, emotions and requests of
the receiver.
c. Courtesy involves being aware not only of the perspective of others,
but also their feelings.
 d. The suggestions to be followed in this regard are:
i. Focus on "You" attitude, instead of " I" attitude.
ii. Use expressions that show respect.
iii. Choose non-discriminatory expressions.

2. Clarity
a. Getting the meaning from your head into the head of the listener or
reader accurately is the purpose of Clarity.

b. Clarity is achieved in part through a balance between precise

language and familiar language.

c. Simple language, familiar words and expressions should be used.

d. Technical terms and business jargon may be used in professional
situations, but it should be avoided if the communication is with the
person who is not acquainted with the terminology.

3. Correctness
a. Message should not contain any wrong information; it should be
authentic.
b. At the time of encoding, the sender should ensure that his knowledge
about the receiver is comprehensive. In case of discrepancy
miscommunication can arise.
c. At the core of correctness is proper grammar, punctuation and
spelling. However, a message may be perfect grammatically, but still
insult or lose a customer.
d. Following are the guidelines for assuring correctness in the message:
i. Use the right level of language
ii. Check accuracy of figures, facts and words
iii. Maintain acceptable writing mechanics
4. Concreteness
a. Communicating concretely means being specific, definite and vivid
rather that vague and general.
b. Often it means using denotative (direct, explicit) rather than
connotative words (ideas or notions suggested by or associated with a
word or phrase )
 c. The following guidelines can be used to compose concrete,
convincing messages:

5. Credibility
a. If the sender can establish his credibility, the receiver has no problems
in accepting his statement.
b. Establishing credibility is not the outcome of a one shot statement.
c. It is a long drawn out process in which the receiver through constant
interaction with the sender understands his credible nature and is
willing to accept his statement as being truthful and honest.

6. Completeness
a. The business message is complete when it contains all the facts the
reader or listener needs for the reaction the sender of the message
desires
b. While striving for completeness, the following guidelines are to be
observed:
i. Provide all necessary information
ii. Answer all questions asked
iii. Give something extra, when desirable

7. Conciseness
a. Conciseness is saying what you have to say in fewest possible words.
b. The message to be communicated should be as brief and concise as
possible.
c. Quantum of information should be just right, neither too much nor too
little.
d. A concise message saves time and expense of both the sender and the
receiver.
 e. To achieve Conciseness, following suggestions are observed:
i. A. Eliminate wordy expressions
ii. Include only relevant material
iii. Avoid unnecessary Repetition
COMMUNICATION BARRIERS
Barriers to communication are obstacles that hinder the effective exchange of
information between individuals or groups.
Types of barriers: -
1. Semantic barriers:
a. Semantics is the branch of linguistics dealing with the meaning of
words and sentences.
b. Semantic barriers are concerned with problems and obstructions in the
process of encoding and decoding of message into words or
impressions.
c. Normally, such barriers result on account of use of wrong words,
faulty translations, different interpretations, etc.
d. Some of the sematic barriers are:
i. Badly expressed message
ii. Symbols with different meanings
iii. Faulty translations
iv. Technical jargon
v. Body language and gesture decoding:

2. Psychological barriers:
a. Emotional or psychological factors acts as barriers to communicators.
b. For example, a worried person cannot communicate properly and an
angry receiver cannot understand the real meaning of message.
c. The state of mind of both sender and receiver of communication
reflects in the effective communication.
d. Some of the psychological barriers are:
i. Premature evaluation: Sometimes people evaluate the meaning
of message before the sender completes his message. Such
premature evaluation
ii. Distrust: Distrust between communicator and communicate acts
as a barrier.
iii. Lack of attention
iv. Loss by transmission and poor retention:
3. Organisational barriers: The factors related to organisation structure,
authority relationships, rules and regulations may, sometimes, act as
barriers to effective communication. Some of these barriers are:
a. Organisational policy: If the organisational policy is not supportive
to free flow of communication, it may hamper effectiveness of
communications.
b. Rules and regulations: Rigid rules and cumbersome procedures may
be a hurdle to communication.
c. Status: Status of superior may create psychological distance between
him and his subordinates.
d. Complexity in organisation structure: In an organisation where there
are number of managerial levels, communication gets delayed and
distorted
e. Organisational facilities: Facilities like frequent meetings, suggestion
box, complaint box, social and cultural gathering, transparency in
operations, etc., will encourage free flow of communication. Lack of
these facilities may create communication problems

4. Personal barriers: The personal factors of both sender and receiver may
exert influence on effective communication. Some of the personal barriers
of superiors and subordinates are mentioned below:
a. Fear of challenge to authority: If a superior perceives that a
particular communication may adversely affect his authority, he or
she may withhold or suppress such communication.
b. Lack of proper incentives
c. Lack of confidence of superior on his subordinates:
d. Unwillingness to communicate
MEASURES TO OVERCOME BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION
1. Clarify the ideas before communication
2. Communicate according to the needs of receiver
3. Communicate for present as well as future
4. Convey things of help and value to listeners
5. Consult others before communicating
6. Be aware of languages, tone and content of message
7. Follow up communications
8. Be a good listener
9. Ensure proper feedback
TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
1. Formal Commination
a. Communication that takes place following the formal lines of
communication is said to be formal communication.
b. This communication may take place between a superior and
subordinate, a subordinate and superior or among same cadre
employees or managers.
c. The communications may be oral or written but generally recorded
and filed in the office.
d. Formal communication may be further classified as –
i. Vertical – Vertical communication flows vertically, i.e.,
upwards or downwards through formal channels. Upward
communications refer to flow of communication from
subordinate to superior whereas downward communication
indicates communication from a superior to subordinate.

ii. Horizontal- Horizontal or lateral communication takes place

between one division and another.

e. Types of formal communication-

2. Informal Communication
a. Communication that takes place without following the formal lines of
communication is said to be informal communication.
b. Informal system of communication is generally referred to as the
‘grapevine’
 c. The informal communication arises out of needs of employees to
exchange their views, which cannot be done through formal channels.
d. Workers chit chatting in a canteen about the behaviour of the
superior, discussing about rumours that some employees are likely to
be transferred are some examples of informal communication

Coordination — The Essence of Management

a. Coordination is the force that binds all the other functions of management.
b. It is the common function that runs through all activities such as purchase,
production, sales, and finance to ensure continuity in the working of the
organisation.
c. It is through the process of coordination that a manager ensures the orderly
arrangement of individual and group efforts to ensure unity of action in the
realisation of common objectives.
d. Coordination therefore involves synchronisation of the different actions or
efforts of the various units of an organisation.

IMPORTANCE OF COORDINATION
a. Growth in size:
a. As organisations grow in size, the number of people employed by the
organisation also increases.
b. At times, it may become difficult to integrate their efforts and
activities.
c. Therefore, for organisational efficiency, it is important to harmonise
individual goals and organisational goals through coordination.
b. Functional differentiation:
a. Functions of an organisation are divided into departments, divisions
and sections.
b. In an organisation there may be separate departments of finance,
production, marketing or human resources.
c. All these departments may have their own objectives, policies and
their own style of working.
d. The process of linking the activities of various departments is
accomplished by coordination.

c. Specialisation:
a. Modern organisations are characterised by a high degree of
specialisation.
b. Specialisation arises out of the complexities of modern technology
and the diversity of tasks to be performed.
c. Specialists usually think that they only are qualified to evaluate, judge
and take decisions. But this often leads to conflict amongst different
specialists as well as others in the organisation.
d. Therefore, some coordination is required by an independent person to
reconcile the differences in approach, interest or opinion of the
specialists.