INTRODUCTION

Communication is not just an act. It is a process. The process of

communication includes transmission of information, ideas, emotions,
skills, and knowledge by using symbols, words, pictures, figures,
graphs, or illustrations. The act of communication is referred to as
‘transmission’. It is the process of transmission that is generally
termed as Communication.
Communication regulates and shapes all human behavior. Therefore,
it is important to have a clear understanding of the concepts of
communication what is communication? Why is it important to us?
How does it work? What are the elements in the process of
communication? What are the different types of communication that
we are engaged in? These are the questions that come to our mind
when we study this subject.
1.2 MEANING OF COMMUNICATION
The English word ‘communication’ is derived from the Latin noun
‘communis’ and the Latin verb ‘communicare’ that means ‘to make
common’. Communication is a much-hyped word in the
contemporary world. It encompasses a multitude of experiences,
actions and events, as well as a whole variety of happenings and
meanings, and technologies too. Meetings, conferences or even a
procession thus can be a communication event. Newspapers, radio,
video and television are all ‘communication media’ and journalists,
newsreaders; advertisers, public relation persons and even camera
crew are ‘communication professionals’.
Communication in its simplest sense involve two or more persons
who come together to share, to dialogue and to commune, or just to
be together for a festival or family gathering. Dreaming, talking with
someone, arguing in a discussion, speaking in public, reading a
newspaper, watching TV etc. are all different kinds of communication
that we are engaged in every day.
Communication is thus not so much an act or even a process but
rather social and cultural ‘togetherness’. Communication can be with
oneself, god, and nature and with the people in our environment.
Interaction, interchange, transaction, dialogue, sharing, communion
and commonness are ideas that crop up in any attempt to define the
term communication.
According to Denis McQuail, communication is a process, which
increases, commonality-but also requires elements of commonality
for it to occur at all. A common language, for instance, does not
necessarily bring people together. There are other factors too at play
such as a shared culture and a common interest, which bring about a
sense of commonality and more significantly, a sense of community.
Denis McQuail sees ‘human communication’ in linear terms as the
sending of meaningful messages from one person to another. These
messages could be oral or written, visual or olfactory. He also takes
such things as laws, customs, practices, ways of dressing, gestures,
buildings, gardens, military parades, and flags to be communication.
Thus, ‘communication’ can be defined as ‘the interchange of
thoughts or ideas’. Again ‘communication’ is viewed as a transmission
of information, consisting of discriminative stimuli, from a source to
recipient’. In everyday life, the communication is a system through
which the messages are sent, and feedback received. It is therefore,
the process of transferring particular information or message from an
information source to desired, definite or a particular destination.
One of the main elements of communication messages is perception.
The effectiveness of communication is limited by the receiver’s range
of perception. Also, people perceive only what they expect and
understand. Lastly, communication makes a demand on the recipient,
in terms of his emotional preference or rejection. Thus, communication
is not to be confused with information. While information is logical,
formal and impersonal, communication is perception.
Communication is more than mere transferring or transmission of
ideas or thoughts. It is not a static act as some of the earlier definitions
suggest but it is a dynamic process of action and interaction towards
a desired goal, as suggested by later definitions. Communication is,
therefore, a process of sharing or exchange of ideas, information,
knowledge, attitude or feeling among two or more persons
through certain signs and symbols.
What do we find in the above definition? It says that two or more persons are
involved in the act, the one who gives information (sender) and the one who l
receives it (receiver). What is being shared? An idea or information,
or an attitude (message) is being shared. And through what means?
The information is shared or exchanged through certain signs or
symbols; it could be language, oral or written. While sharing and
exchanging ideas or information with others, we are actually interaction
with people and establishing a kind of relationship that helps us to
achieve the task set before us.
1.2.1 Some other functional definitions of communication are:
 ‘The transfer or conveying of meaning’ (Oxford Dictionary)
 ‘One mind affecting another’ (Claude Shannon)
 ‘Transmission of stimuli’ (Colin Cherry)
 ‘One system influences another’ (Charles E. Osgood)
 ‘The mechanism through which human relations exist and
develop’ (Wilbur Schramm)
 Communication is the process of transmitting feelings, attitudes,
facts, beliefs and ideas between living beings. (Birvenu)
 Communication is the exchange of meanings between
individuals through a common system of symbols.
(I.A.Richards)
 Communication is the sum of all the things one person does
when he wants to create understanding in the mind of another.
It is a bridge of meaning. It involves a systematic and continuous
process of telling, listening and understanding. (Louis Allen)
1.3 IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION
Communication is important both for an individual and also for the
society. A person’s need for communication is as strong and as basic
as the need to eat, sleep and love. Communication is the requirement
of social existence and a resource in order to engage in the sharing of
experiences, through ‘symbol mediated interaction’. Isolation is in
fact the severest punishment for human being.
Grown-ups, children and old people all need to communicate. Society
punishes criminals by locking them up in solitary cells, thus starving
them of the basic need, and indeed the fundamental right to
communicate. Communication thus involves active interaction with
our environments-physical, biological and social. Deprived of this
interaction we would not be aware of whether we are safe or in danger,
whether hated or loved, or satisfied or hungry. However, most of us
take this interaction and this relationship for granted, unless we
experience some deprivation of it. When that happens we adapt
ourselves to the environment so that we don’t lose touch, in both the
literal and figurative senses. For, to lose touch is to suffer isolation.
The basic human need for communication can perhaps be traced to
the process of mankind’s evolution from lower species. Animals, for
instance, have to be in sensory communication with their physical
and biological surroundings to find food, protect themselves and
reproduce their species. A loss of sensation-the inability to hear a
predator for instance can mean loss of life.
Thus, it is said that the biology of human beings and other living
organisms is such that they have to depend upon each other. This
dependence give rise to a situation where it is the biological necessity
for the human beings to live in groups. Society is therefore, the
outcome of the evolution of the human race and man is a social
animal not by option but by compulsion.
Essentially, the primary function of communication is to inform,
educate, entertain, and persuade people.
1.3.1 Following are the basic functions of communication:
 Education and Instruction- This function of education starts early
in life, at home and in school and continues throughout life.
Communication provides knowledge, expertise and skills for smooth
functioning by people in the society. It creates awareness and gives
opportunity to people to actively participate in public life.
 Information- quality of our life will be poor without
information. The more informed we are the more powerful
we become. Communication provides information about our
surroundings. Information regarding wars, danger, crisis,
famine, etc. are important for the safety and well being of our
life.
 Entertainment- To break the routine life and divert our
attention from the stressful life we lead today, entertainment is
an essential part of everybody’s life. Communication provide
endless entertainment to people through films, television, radio,
drama, music, literature, comedy, games, etc.
 Discussion- debates and discussions clarify different
viewpoints on issues of interest to the people. Through
communication we find out reasons for varying viewpoints
and impart new ideas to others.
 Persuasion- it helps in reaching for a decision on public policy
so that it is helpful to govern the people. Though it is possible
that one can resort to persuasion for a bad motive. Thus, the
receiver must be careful about the source of persuasion.
 Cultural promotion- communication provides an opportunity
for the promotion and preservation of culture and traditions.
It makes the people fulfill their creative urges.
 Integration-it is through communication that a large number
of people across countries come to know about each other’s
traditions and appreciate each other’s ways of life. It develops
integration and tolerance towards each other.
1.4 FEATURES AND SCOPE OF COMMUNICATION
Communication of message takes place through spoken or written
words, pictures and in many other forms. In oral communication, the
transmitter is the ‘voice box’ of the speaker. The receiver of the
message may be the human ear, which converts sound waves into a
comprehensible form, which can be recognised by the human brain;
a television receiver decodes the electromagnetic waves into
recognizable visual representation. In the same manner, the reader,
who can recognize and understand that particular language, can
understand the printed message.
The process of communication involves a procedure consisting of
only a few steps. The information source decides to communicate
and encodes a message, transmits it through a channel to the
receiver, which is then decoded and acted upon. There are noises
or distortions in between the whole process. The main functions of
communication are information, education, entertainment,
enlightenment, and persuasion.
Therefore, the communication process should be designed as such
so as to gain the attention of the receiver, use the signals, symbols, or
codes that are easily understood by the receiver and it must arouse
needs in the receiver and suggest some ways out to satisfy these
needs. Only then it can create the desired response.
However, communication should not be confused with mass
communication, while communication is the activity of sharing, giving,
imparting, receiving information, mass communication ‘is a process
in which professional communicators use communication media to
disseminate messages widely, rapidly, simultaneously and continuously
to arouse intended meanings in large and diverse audience s in an
attempt to influence them in a variety of ways’.
Communication is a required skill at every level of organizational
functioning. The effectiveness, with which a person will be able to
perform in almost any organization, whether social, governmental or
commercial, will depend in large measure upon the ability to
communicate effectively.
1.4. 1 Communication through Arbitrary Symbols
The civilization is reflected in three priceless possessions of mankind,
the first is the human ability to think, the other is his innate capacity to
communicate and the third is his species’ specific competence to
acquire and use the arbitrary symbols system of language. The gifts
of civilization and all the branches of human knowledge have their
origin from this ability to think in abstract and to communicate these
thoughts through symbols of the language. Above all the other media
of communication, language is the most significant because the human
knowledge and relationships are gathered, stored and imparted through
it. The process of communication permits us to use and reuse the
experiences and knowledge from the past into the present and make it
ready for use in future with the help of the symbols of communication,
which stand for some abstract idea.
1.4. 2 Human Interactions through communication
Communication is the means by which people relate to one another.
The society in general or an organization of any type cannot exist
without the relations that are built and strengthened by communication.
Throughout our lives, we are involved in communication situations.
When we talk and work with our colleagues, friends, subordinates,
superiors, experts, teachers, students, family members and with the
people in all walks of life, when we read and /or write the books,
pamphlets, periodicals, special journals, reports, letters, memos,
newspaper, etc. when we listen to or deliver speeches, when we
listen to the radio or watch the TV and films, when we buy or sell
the products or services, when we manage our business and when
we are involved in any other activity, we are invariably involved in
communication situation.
1.4. 3 Communication Technology and Media
Human Behavior is dominated by communication in all aspects of
life to such an extent that we can aptly call him as a communicating
creature. He has applied advanced science and technology of the
tremendous development of communication system. With the help
of dramatic inventions like printing press, telephone, telegraph, radar,
telephoto, radio, television and many other deceive; we have made
our modern communication instantaneous and effective.
The advanced technology of mass and telecommunication has
attracted the attention of the experts and specialists in many fields.
The artists, poets, writers, artisans, architects, etc. are exposed to
different subjects of interest by this technology and it helps them to
conceive new creative thoughts and ideas. The technology, skills of
using media and some concepts of communication are useful to
psychologists in order to investigate certain problems of human
behavior and therapy.
The political as well as social traditions, myths, customs, styles of
living, morals, etc. are passed from one generation to another or
they are changed or destroyed with the help of communication media.
The success of any commercial man depends upon his reception
and transmission of information regarding the market, production,
government laws, banking, innovations in modern technology, etc.
computers play a vital role in receiving, storing, translating, analyzing
and imparting the information for the mathematicians, chemists,
physicists, engineers, etc.
1.5 TECHNIQUES OF COMMUNICATION
1.5.1 Formal and Informal communication
This differentiation of communication is mainly on the basis of
situations. In situations like public speaking, mass communication,
official communication, etc. formal communication is used. Here,
language is used more precisely, and more attention is paid to grammar.
Also we pay attention to our dress, posture, etc. formal communication
occurs in the context of status differences. Informal communication
takes place in case of informal and personal situations. Less attention
is paid to structure of language and grammar. Also less attention is
pair to nonverbal behavior like clothing, gait, posture, etc.
To communicate effectively in your workplace, you need to be able
to identify and use both formal and informal communication channels.
The channels of communication are the formal and informal ways of
communicating with other people.
1.5.1.1 Formal communication channels relate to the structure of
the organization. They include:
 Reporting relationships and policies
 Committee meetings
 Bulletin boards
 Participation in group events
 Internal newsletters
The benefits of reporting relationships
Reporting relationships help to address issues quickly and clearly, and
to spread the communication workload. For instance, in most
organizations your supervisor or manager will be your first point of
contact, rather than the managing director or the head of another
department.
This is useful because:
 Your manager may meet with the other departments regularly
and be able to answer the query.
 If you have a query the answer may be helpful for your colleagues
too – your manager can make sure it is passed on to everybody.
l
 If most people in your department have the same question it is
better that another department only has to answer the query
once.
Policies and procedures
Communication is the flow of information within an organization. It
includes:
 Internal newsletters
 Notice boards
 Memos
 The intranet
 Internal customer service.
A policy is a statement that outlines how the organization will act on a
particular issue. Who can access information? What information can
be released internally and externally? When information can be released?
What the organization aims to achieve by communicating?
A procedure is a step-by-step guide on how to carry out an activity
in the workplace. Communication procedures provide guidelines on
how to share certain types of information. A procedure on writing
internal memos, for example, may include: A style guide, design
template or the Instructions for distribution.
Committee meetings
The meeting with the employees is found to be very useful in building
formal communication the higher-ups are to encourage the employees
to talk about their constructive suggestions, job problems and needs.
They are also to be encouraged to express their views on whether the
management practices help the job performance or interfere with it.
The meetings enable the management to ascertain the worth of their
directives imparted to the workers. The activities and discussions in
the meeting can be well directed if the purpose of meeting is specific
and the agenda is strictly followed. The meetings help to heighten the
team spirit and assure the necessary information flow by encouraging
two-way communication. The useful knowledge and experience of
the employees is mutually shared during the meetings.
Internal Newsletters
The employees are encouraged to write letters. First the management
sends enquiry letters to the employees and the replied are encouraged.
This is a direct and personal way for the employees to transmit the
information to the management.
The employees are encouraged to drop their suggestions and new
ideas in the suggestion boxes. The management, which is aware of
the fact that the small problems and complaints of the employees that
go unnoticed have way of mushrooming into major problems,
encourages the employees to drop their complaints in the suggestion
boxes. These boxes are placed at some convenient places in the firm
and are opened at regular intervals.
Participation in-group events
1. What are the main formal communication channels?
Some casual events provide opportunities for arranging social
gatherings in different departments of the firm. The informal atmosphere
during the sport events, picnics, and parties offer spontaneous
information from the employees to the firm.
1.5.1.2 Informal communication channels are those that develop
through social interaction. They include:
 Conversations at break times
 Grapevines
 Consensus
Conversations at break times
The telephone conversation and face-face conversation are the primary
means of horizontal communication, which facilitate the coordinating
activities of the organization. Today, the modern business houses on
telephone services spend thousands of rupees. The telephonic
communication cannot be as effective as the face-to-face
communication because people cannot use facial expressions and
gestures in telephone conversations. But it is possible to make it
effective through modulations of voice.
Grapevine
Grapevine is an informal communication network, which ignores formal
channels of communication and spreads rumors and gossips at all
levels of the organization. Although every business-organization has
its formal channels of communication, the informal channel of
communication called grapevine also operates in it. It can be easily
found that a large portion of the communication in almost every
business house is not formal or pre-planned. The employees
communicate through informal channels as they do their jobs. It is
neither pre-planned nor deliberately motivated by the management. It
is neither written nor documented or recorded. Therefore, it refers to
any communication that takes place outside the prescribed and preplanned
channels of formal communication. It is not set with the lines
of organizational hierarchy. As it has no set rules and regulations, it is
not confined to a particular direction. It just spreads like a grapevine.
Importance of Grapevine
Though the structure of the grapevine is not so well defined, as that of
the formal channels, it should not be taken for its weakness. The
messages flowing through grapevine have greater speed than that of
the messages flowing through the formal channels. The grapevine
may carry equally vital message through it for the achievement and
success of the organization. It is not correct to underestimate the
grapevine by saying that the vital messages pass only through the
authorized, formal channels. On the other hand, though the formal
channels are systematic, pre-planned and documented, it is authorityladen.
It can never be as speedy and spontaneous as the grapevine.
The employees communicate through grapevine, not because they
are compelled to communicate but because they earnestly want to
communicate with their associates.
The method of formal written communication is slow and expensive
method of information transmission. The grapevine, on the other hand,
is non-expensive method and most-rapid oral method of transmitting
the information to the maximum number of the communication
receivers. The grapevine can flow wherever the participants wish it to
flow, therefore, the manager can use the properly cultivated grapevine
in dealing with the problems that require crossing the boundaries
between the departments.
Grapevine originates from the psychological need of the employees
to talk about their jobs and their associates as the subject of their main
interest. The absence of grapevine surely creates the dull, sick and
unfriendly atmosphere in the organization. Grapevine is also described
as the barometer of public opinion in the organization. If the manager
is sensitive to it, he can gather information about the ideas, opinions,
attitudes and interests of the employees.
The grapevine gives an opportunity to the employees to let off the
suppressed air of anxiety, worries and frustration. When they talk
about their associates, they get emotional relief. The fact that the
employees talk about their associates or that they have the interest in
their associates is a proof of the high morale. Thus, the grapevine not
only promotes unity, integrity and solidarity of the organization but it
also helps to raise the morale of the employees.
Limitations of Grapevine
1 The grapevine may carry some degree of error in it.
2 The baseless, imaginary and non-factual messages may prove
harmful to the organization.
3 Often the employees feed the grapevine with self-serving
information. They add to the facts rather than simply report.
1 The grapevine often carries incomplete information, which leads
to misunderstanding of the receiver.
2 The communicator does not take the responsibility of the message.
3 Sometimes the grapevine spreads the message so swiftly that it
causes damage to the organization.
How to use the Grapevine
The management can use grapevine to supplement the formal channels
of communication. Though it carries some degree of error and
distortion, efforts can be made to correct it. Ignoring the grapevine is
nothing but to ignore a valuable source of communication. The
management can eliminate its negative consequences and, at the same
time, it can nourish its positive benefits. The managers have to learn
to manage and control it.
1 The management can open up all the channels of organizational
communication to present the facts positively before the employees
and thereby can fight the negative messages with the positive
weapons of facts and figures.
2 Better job design and better quality of work life can easily bring
the grapevine under the control of the management.
3 It also prevents the boredom, idleness and suspicions among the
employees.
4 The negative consequences of the grapevine can be easily eliminated
if the management is successful in creating trust-relationship with
the employees.
5 The rumors flourish beyond limits when the employees are not
well informed by the management regarding the policies, objectives
and the work procedure of the organization. The inadequate access
to information and the feeling if insecurity is the reasons behind
the negative out comes of the grapevines. The managers must give
their employees an adequate access to information and the feeling
of security.
6 The rumors spread when the situations are unpredictable,
unstructured, unplanned and are beyond the control of a person
or the persons who are involved in them. Therefore, the best way
to manage and control it is to provide accurate and substantial
information of the situations to the employees. The managers should
pick up the false rumors and dispel them by providing correct
information.
7 Before taking any decision or action, the managers must consider
its possible effects on the informal groups and systems in the
organization.
8 The management can use the grapevine as a barometer of the public
opinions in the organization or to feel the pulse of the employees
in a particular situation. This will surely help them to take right
policy decisions.
9 In the formal activities of the organization, the management should
avoid threatening the informal groups, which are responsible in
spreading the grapevine effectively.
10 The management should find out the people in the informal groups
who are more active on grapevine. These people should be
accurately and adequately informed so that the false rumors causing
excitement and insecurity do not spread among the employees.
11 The management should remember that the workplace community
is maintained not only by the work itself but also by the informal
human relationships. Therefore, the manager should honestly try
to integrate their interests with those of the informal groups.
Consensus
What is Consensus?
The concept of consensus has become quite familiar and desirable
means of informal communication not only in the political fields but
also in the commercial spheres as well. It is a common agreement of
opinion on a given problem among the majority of people in a group
or community. The board meeting of commercial organizations takes
certain decisions through consensus. Sometimes, merely a copy of
resolution is circulated among the members of a particular group to
get their approval. When the decisions are taken unanimously, the
unity of the group is recognised. It projects a good image of the
business house and the status of the organization is raised. It also
suggests high morale of the management to the employees, customers,
shareholders, and other people.
Consensus does not mean that there exist no opposite views among
the members of the group. Of course, perfect unanimity should not e
expected because it cannot exist. As consensus does not imply perfect
unanimity, it implies that the majority of people express a particular
view, which is accepted as the consensus by all the members including
those who actually oppose it. The dissent of the opposition is
sacrificed in the interests of the harmony among the members or in
the larger interests of the organization.
The consensus is sought through consultation. The problem is
presented before the board meeting by the chief of the management in
the form of the proposal or resolution. The problem is analyzed and
some additional information regarding it is also collected.
Significance of Consensus
1 The consensus communication projects a good image of the
management.
2 The essential image of the management presented through consensus
strengthens the confidence of the employees in their superiors.
3 There can be little or no chance for conflict among the employees
because the instructions issued by the directors never conflicts
with each other.
4 The consensus is always based on the attitude of mutual respect,
which enables the members to accept and support the views of
each other.
5 The members promptly accept the decisions of consensus because
they are derived after mutual consultations.
6 The process of consensus ultimately leads to an unquestioning
acceptance of the authority of the chief.
7 The trust of the members in their chief helps to avoid the splits and
conflicts between the majority and the oppositions.
1.5.2 Upward and Downward communication
The importance of free-flowing forthright communications, both
downward from management to employees and upward from
employees to management, can hardly be overemphasized. Whether
it’s to support morale and productivity among the workforce or to
assure that management takes advantage of employee input, good
communications are essential. Where downward communication is
poor, rumors and misinformation will fill the vacuum. Where upward
communication is poor, employee grievances will fester driving down
morale and productivity and increasing vulnerability to union organizing.
1.5.2.1 Upward Communications
Communication is a process where a message sender intentionally
stimulates a desired message in the mind of a receiver. Sometime the
speaker’s purpose is to inform, to entertain, and to persuade or is a
combination of all three. Understanding from the outset that the intent
is to persuade, the communicator will entertain and inform while
influencing the receiver to select a specific course of action.
Traditional administrators always understood the importance of
communication skills. To be successful, they sent messages that clearly outlined
what they wanted and how it should be done. They practiced
their communication skills daily by sending messages upward,
downward and horizontally in the organization. Administrators generally
transmitted information upward in the organization relating to job
assignment, performance, problems, organization practices or policies
and the methodology for accomplishing tasks. They understood that
positive upward communication was more likely to be used by those
above them than negative communication. They further understood
that upward communication should be timely and was more likely to
be accepted if supportive or current policy. They understood that
upward communication was more likely to be effective if it went directly
to a receiver who could act on it.
What is upward channel of communication?
The behavioral scientists have shown the relationship between the
communication and performance. The findings related with it have a
tremendous effect on the management practices of today. The business
management has become concerned more than ever before about
what is going on at several levels below them. They have employed
some fairly new techniques like open-door policy, suggestion schemes,
etc. and they are still anxious to know any new or revolutionary method
to get information from the lower ranks. It is generally found that the
superiors are better communication-senders because they are better
talkers and writers that their subordinate. The subordinates are generally
more cautious and less confident that their superiors when they are to
pass some information through upward channel of communication.
The two-way flow of communication in any business organization is
supported by efficient and effective upward communication. The
management can keep itself in touch with the needs, requirements,
difficulties and grievances of the employees when it receives messages
from the employees. The management is also helped to make sound
decisions on the basis of the sufficient information secured from the
subordinates.
In order to improve the productivity, it is not necessary to put pressure
on the employees or try to motivate the employees towards more
loyalty and hard work by merely putting articles in the company
magazines. But, on the other hand, it is necessary for the management
to develop the procedure for encouraging upward communication to
receive the information regarding production, quality-control,
absenteeism, inventory control, profits, costs, new schemes and
programmes, inventions, advertising, sales, complaints, research, etc
and constructive suggestions regarding various other matters that
promote the welfare of the organization.
When the management receives information and suggestions from
the subordinates regarding the matters given above and many others,
it is able to issue the fresh directives to the employees regarding their
works and procedures. The management can also get an idea of how
the subordinates receive the directives and how the directives are
followed. When the management realizes the problems, difficulties
and grievances of the employees, they can try to find out the solutions.
The upward communication gives an opportunity to an employee to
express his frustrations of the work situation and helps him to relieve
the pressures of the pent-up emotions, which are associated with
their daily problems.
Methods of Upward communication
Meetings
The meetings with the employees are found to be very useful in building
upward communication. The higher-ups are to encourage the
employees to talk about their constructive suggestions, job problems
and needs. They are also to be encouraged to express their views on
whether the management practices help their job performance or
interfere with it. The meetings enable the management to ascertain the
worth of their objectives imparted to the workers.
Counseling
The workers can be encouraged to see the counsel of their superiors.
When the employee comes to his superior with the personal or official
problems and difficulties which adversely affect his working in the
organization, the superior has to earn the trust and confidence of the
employee by encouraging him to talk freely and by taking firm steps
to solve his problems. The managers get valuable information b the
method of counseling, if they can successfully encourage the
employees to talk freely about themselves and also about the
organization.
An Open-Door Policy
The purpose of open door policy is to remove the blocks in the way
of upward communication. The employees are encouraged to walk
into the manager’s cabin without any hesitation for having a problem
and without being afraid that they would invite disfavor of their manager.
Though the open-door policy has good purpose, it is very difficult to
implement because of the socio-psychological barriers that come
between the managers and the employees.
Correspondence
The employees are encouraged to write letters. First the management
sends enquiry letters to the employees and the replies are encouraged.
This is a direct and personal way for the employees to transmit the
information to the management.
Reports
The management may ask the subordinates to present the reports.
The reports are the basic tools used by the management in decisionmaking.
In the large business organization, where a large number of
employees are engaged in different activates, the reports from the
subordinates are extremely important and indispensable for the success
of management functioning. As the senior managers cannot keep a
personal watch over all the business activities, he requires reports
about the progress of the work done by the employees.
Problems of Upward Communication
Positive Encouragement
The upward communication goes to minimum if the management does
not positively encourage it. What goes un rewarded does not thrive in
the organization. Lack of rewards for employee feedback stands as a
problem in upward communication. The management must stake
positive action to initiate the employees to communicate upward.
Simply waiting for the employees to come in with some information is
of no use.
Concealing Unfavorable facts
The employees tend to conceal their difficulties and the on-the-job
problems from their superiors. Especially, they conceal the ignorance
and inability from the boss. They feel the risk in imparting unfavorable
information to the boss because of the belief that the surest way to get
ahead is to agree with the boss.
Delay, Distortion and Filtering
Usually, the upward communication is subject to delay, distortion and
filtering, especially when the lines of communication are long. Each
level in the hierarchy is reluctant to take a problem to the higher
authority, because in doing so, he is afraid that he may lose the favor
of his superior. At each level, an effort is made to solve the problem.
All this results in delay, distortion, and filtering.
Bypassing and Suspicion
Some workers become so bold in the process of upward
communication that they by-pass their immediate –superior authority,
which results in the bypassed authority’s getting suspicious about the
intentions of the subordinates.
Poor Listening
Poor listening skills of the superior often discourage the speaker to
communicate the message listening. Listening does not mean just
hearing a message. It requires careful attention and exact decoding of
the signals received from the speaker. If the superior goes on shuffling
the papers while listening to his subordinates, he pays divided attention
to the speaker’s message. This divided attention is usually interpreted
as his lack of interest in the message. The superior’s divided attention
can adversely affect the superior-subordinate relationship. Poor
listening skills of the superior do not allow him to attend and interpret
the message accurately. If the superior does not develop his listening
skills, it will surely minimize the opportunity for both the superior and
subordinate to benefit from the upward communication.
Communicating Criticism
The subordinates carefully screen or filter the information before
transmitting it to the high status persons. It is very difficult for any
subordinate to communicate criticisms on the superiors and
management policies.
Effective Upward Communication
1. The lines of communication should be kept as short as possible
to avoid the distortion by filtering, screening and editing.
2. To find out how the employees feel about their jobs, it is always
convenient to conduct the employee attitude surveys.
3. There should be a formal system to handle the suggestion
objectively and seriously.
1
4. Positive efforts must be taken by the superiors to eliminate the
fear and awe of the authority from the minds of the workers.
5. Constructive suggestions for the improvement of the
organization must be suitably rewarded. If the information
transmitted by the employees is ignored, they will quickly
abandon this channel. Therefore, the upward communication
must be reinforced and rewarded with adequate attention.
6. The management must ensure the workers that they feel genuinely
concerned for the problems and grievances of the subordinates.
7. It is essential to build a corporate atmosphere of trust. There
must be mutual trust in the relationship between the superiors
and the subordinates. If the workers think that they are going to
be rewarded with punishment for their feedback, they will never
provide it.
1.5.2.2 Downward Communications
On the other hand, downward communication usually dealt with job
instructions, rationale, information and feedback. Downward
communication is a supervisory communication, which is initiated by
the upper management. It flows downward through lithe hierarchy of
command. The effective downward communication is crucial to the
success of the organization. The management or the supervisory staff
has to communicate with the subordinates in order to organize,
coordinate and direct the operational aspects of the organization. It is
a very suitable channel to the organization in which the ‘chain of
command’ is arranged in the ranks that are distinctly one below the
other.
Media of Downward Communication
Oral media dominates the downward flow of communication. It is
convenient for a departmental head to give oral instructions and orders
to the supervisor. Instead of issuing lengthy written instructions, the
Managing Director usually convenes a meeting of the departmental
managers in order to impart the essential directives or to gather their
suggestions on various issues. Yet, the management may use both
oral and written media of downward communication. There are various
alternatives of communication media at the disposal of every
management. Some typical alternative devices of communication are
letters, circulars, memos, company journals, video and audio
recordings, telephone calls, meetings, face-to-face conversations,
speeches to the employees and the posters.
Redundancy of Message
It is found that using a combination of media tends to give best results
because it increases the effectiveness of communication. When the
same message is sent through more than one media, it creates
redundancy. Redundancy is helpful in receiving and memorizing the
message. The busy people in the organization require more message
redundancy in order to act on the direction they receive from their
superiors.
On the other hand, the law of diminishing returns is also applicable to
the organization in which the employees are over burdened with the
overflowing downward communication. The increasing number of
phone calls, memos, letters and meetings may make each employee
much busier but as it requires adequate time to attend each of these
messages, the employee will not be able to give proper justice to the
every piece of work in his hand. Therefore, the management must
remember the proverb ‘more is better, up to a point’.
The objective of Downward Communication
The superiors communicate with their subordinates with the objective
that the employees may do their work with accuracy, neatness, sincerity,
steadiness, thoroughness, honesty and punctuality. They give specific
directives or instructions toe the employees that clarity the ways and
procedures of job performance. They expect that the employees should
maintain the standards of work quality. The employee is instructed
with the view that he does not commit mistakes in his operative or
supervisory works. It is like an electric circuit in a house, which
operates normally with the appropriate amperage demand. When the
amperage demand overloads the circuit, a fuse blows. When the
superiors over communicate with the subordinates, the balance of
handling the messages is disturbed. The major cause of message
overload is the increasing complexity of business life.
Incomplete Information
If an employee does not receive enough information to do the job, the
possible outcomes are dysfunctional. The incomplete information or
the lack of sufficient instructions to the subordinates, result in errors
and unsatisfactory performance. The management then has to use up
the additional time for correcting the errors and also for assessing
them.
The following checklists of suggested vehicles for upward and
downward communication can help to gauge an organization in
performing well with respect to internal communication.
 General manager’s routine staff meeting with supervisors:
In addition to production issues, these staff meetings should
also include topics of interest to employees with respect to
business developments, company affairs, and any other topics
that and any other topics that should be communicated by
supervisors to rank and file.
 General manager’s routine meeting with non-supervisory
employees: In addition to production issues, these meetings
should emphasize issues that involve pay and benefits, problems,
complaints, rumors, and questions.
 Supervisor’s routine meeting with employees: Upper
management should ensure that supervisors have routine
meetings that cover topics beyond production that are of interest
to employees. In many environments, there is a tendency for
supervisors to overlook these important communications
vehicles while under pressure to produce.
 Employee newsletter for home delivery: The spouse should
become involved in events and conditions to give the entire
family a stake in and appreciation of the employee’s job.
 Newsletters for supervisors: Subscriptions to appropriate
newsletters that provide supervisors with information on how
to do their jobs better and how to handling employees and job
problems. Or create a regular supervisor newsletter internally.
 Bulletin board program: Every attempt should be made to
make the bulletin board a viable source of information—in most
cases bulletin boards fall into disuse.
 Employee handbook: Handbooks should be published in an
attractive, easy-to-use format, so that they are readily usable by
employees as a source of information.
 Supervisor’s handbook: This document can serve as a training
aid as well as communication tool.
 Routine discussion meetings between employees and their
supervisors: Supervisors should be trained in techniques for
generating discussion among employees and in how to feed the
information “up the line” on a routine basis. (Supervisors also
need to be trained to feed information back down to employees.)
 Supervisor’s appraisal of individual employees: Periodic
appraisal by each supervisor on each employee under his or
her supervision, including specific and focused questions which
the supervisor must answer about each employee with a method
for passing this information “up the line” in order to fix a “status
appraisal” on each employee.
 Manager’s appraisal of individual supervisors: Again, use
focused, specific questions, recognizing that weak, arbitrary,
unfair, or excessively harsh supervisors are a prime cause of
employee discontent and acting out; be sure this information
goes “up the line” in order to correct supervisory problems.
 Attitude surveys: Annual, anonymous questionnaires given to
employees; use customized, specific questions that will alert
management to trouble spots.
 Employee suggestion program: For employees and family
members, give monetary awards or other forms of recognition
for accepted suggestions.
 Grievance procedure: Have a non-adversary system where
employees feel uninhibited in bringing their complaints and
grievances past their immediate supervisors.
 Open door policy: Encourage employees to ask questions and
take their concerns to anyone in the company.
 Exit interviews: Every employee who leaves the company
should be interviewed and their comments on working
conditions and morale recorded.
Conclusion
All the above vehicles are effective. But more important than any
specific vehicle for upward or downward communication is the
commitment by top management—and the supervisory staff—to the
ongoing importance of communication to the success of the business
mission. This must be implemented through regular, consistent effort
by management at all levels.
1.5 3 Verbal and Written Communication
Verbal communication refers to spoken messages that we transmit by
producing sounds. Oral communication generally involves both verbal
and non-verbal symbols. Mostly we spend a great deal of time
participating in verbal communication both as speakers and listeners.
Written communication obviously means communication through
written or printed words. This is primarily verbal in nature. However,
there is a nonverbal dimension to written communication also. Like
printed materials are formal in nature while hand written letters have a
personal touch.
Both verbal and written communication deal with the creation and
sending of messages. They, however, differ in the ways in which they
are processed. Oral messages are continuous, with words and sounds
spoken and uttered in connected way. These are processed collectively
with no emphasis or focus on individual words. But in written
communication, words are distinct from each other, being surrounded
by white space from all sides.
Written or printed words are processed as individual units. Verbal
and written communication also differs in form and style. While oral
communication is personal, spontaneous and flexible, written
communication is more formal and literate and follows rules of
grammar strictly.
1.5.3.1 Verbal communication
Meaning and importance of verbal communication
Our spoken words have greater impact than that of the sword taken
out of the scabbard. The speeches of famous leaders and
revolutionaries have had the greatest impact on people resulting in
movements and revolutions. The words can encourage the people to
take over and complete the tasks beyond their ability. On the other
hand, the worlds can dis-spirit and discourage the people from doing
even their routine jobs. Oral communication is vital to human
relationships in every business organization as well as social gatherings.
We talk to people for many purposes. We may talk in order to escape
boredom, to get acquainted with a newcomer, to warn the person
about his or her misbehavior, to suggest novel ideas to other people
who work with us, to instruct others, and for a number of other
purposes. Much of the professional and business communication
through oral media takes places between two people.
Effective verbal communication
Pronunciation
All the language units must be pronounced properly and clearly. The
message cannot be intelligible without proper articulation of sounds.
Sometimes, it happens that a person who is able to articulate a sound
properly is unable to pronounce the words correctly. The words in
English language must be stressed on the exact syllables.
Clarity, Conciseness and Completeness
It is essential that the message should be brief and concise, but
complete in every aspect. The brevity should not be achieved at the
cost of clarity and completeness. Too much talking may lead to
misunderstanding and over communication, but too little talking can
lead to partial understanding and under communication.
Vocabulary
The communicator must have a good vocabulary. He should us
choicest words to convey correct meaning. It the person who
communicates orally has inadequate vocabulary; the listener will receive
incorrect and confused meaning.
Self-confidence
If the communicator lacks self-confidence, it is likely that he will not
be able to impress the message on the listener. He must have a sufficient
knowledge of the subject on which he has to talk. Secondly, he must
plan his message carefully before imparting it to the receiver. The
logical sequence of various ideas in the message is an outcome of
organizing and planning the message. Adequate planning, preparation
and organization of the message help the speaker to raise his morale
and self-confidence.
Pitch
There are three patterns 1) rising pitch, 2) falling pitch and 3) dividing
pitch. It is essential to use the correct pitch of sound. The variations
in the pitch sounds can help the speaker to create interest and hold the
attention of the listeners.
Tone and style
The message must make appeal not only to the intellect but also to the
heart of the listener. The words impart the intended meaning when
they arte spoken with the tone and style that suit the occasion. The
tone of the voice gives the listener an idea about the feeling associated
with the words.
Advantage of Verbal communication
Adjustment of message
The speaker gets immediate feedback from the receiver, which helps
him to find out how he receives the message and how he reacts to it.
The immediate feedback not only lets the communicator to know the
kind of response from the receiver but it also helps him to modify his
message in such a way that it becomes readily and favorably acceptable
to the receiver.
Immediate clarifications
The communicator can clarify certain ideals in his message which are
not properly understood by the receiver or which might leave some
doubts in his mind. These doubts or the queries of the receiver arise
from the defective message and these are communicated to the receiver
in the form of feedback.
Time
Verbal messages can be transmitted through telephone almost
immediately whereas the written message take more time to reach up
to the receiver by post. The written message takes comparatively longer
time because it may require consulting, dictating, drafting, typing,
posting, etc. which the oral transmission does not require. When
immediate action is required, the oral communication is the best media.
Persuasion and control
The speaker can judge the replies of the other party and can change
his arguments in such a way that thereby he can influence the attitudes,
feelings, opinions and beliefs of the receivers. The verbal directives
and instructions are effective in controlling the employees and the
situations in order to ensure the fulfillment of the objectives.
Formality
Verbal communication is less formal than the written communication.
Informal talks can help in building friendships and personal relations
between the communicator and the receiver.
Cost
Verbal communication is not as costly a process as that of the written
correspondence, especially when the message is to be communicated
within the organization.
Group communication
Disadvantages of Verbal communication
Future reference
The oral message cannot be referred back in future if they are not
tape-recorded. As compared to written messages, oral messages do
not constitute permanent record. Therefore, it has little or no value for
legal procedures. It cannot become legal evidence in case if future
disputes or lawsuits.
Speaker’s preparedness
Verbal communication cannot be good and effective if the
communicator is not a good speaker. He requires to be lively,
enthusiastic, vital, earnest and keenly interested in the subject.
Lengthy message
Oral communication is not a suitable media for any lengthy official
message that constitutes minute details.
Distortion
The verbal message is more likely to be received in a distorted meaning
by the receiver due to his misunderstanding and misinterpretation of
it. It is found that people tend to have trouble in recalling correctly the
main ideas and factual details, which are communicated to them orally.
Retaining the message
It is found that people tend to have trouble in recalling properly the
main ideas of the factual details, which are communicated to them
orally. Due to imbalanced mental state of the listener or due to the
listening barriers, the receiver may not understand the message
completely and he may even forget the major part of the message
after a long time.
1.5.3.2 Written communication
Need for written media of communication
The old style of communication did not have public relation,
advertising, technology and many aspects of modern day
communication. They would converse almost daily and instruction
was given verbally to people who worked together in an organization.
Also the number of people working together in any organization was
less and so they could easily inspect, direct and judge the work of the
employees. But today, organizations have a team of qualified person
to carry out assignments. These specialists and experts have to
communicate their ideas to one another and also to the management.
This flow of information is necessary to be maintained through written
medial because of the complexity of all these activities.
The written media is like the human sensory organs and memory
power, which receives, analyses and records the information for the
purpose of decision making in the future. Written media helps to
coordinate the knowledge and work of the staff specialists and the
research specialists. There is need for accurate written information to
carry our management and other professional duties.
The art of Written communication
A person, who aspires to get mastery over the techniques of written
communication, must keep his writing tools in enough practice. The
action-oriented people may have the ability to get the things done, but
they may find it difficult to put their thoughts in written words, because
they occupy themselves in their selected activates rather than in
practicing writing skills. Such a person may have the ability to think
logically and clearly and he may express his thinking through oral
communication. He may organize, analyze and evaluate the ideas of
his own and those of others too, and he may really deserve to acquire
the mastery of written media, but he would certainly require some of
his devotion, time and practice to acquire writing skills.
Fundamentals of
Everybody possesses the tools of the written media, but they have to
learn to make effective use of their priceless possession. All the
individuals in the field of business, industry, science, and education
use the tools of written media. These tools of written media are as
follows:
 Memory
 Imaginative power
 Power of observation and study
 Units of language like words, phrases, sentences, etc
 Ability of thinking
 Ability of collecting and analyzing information
 Ability of writing
A good writer is an artist who knows how to write a specific message
effectively by making use of the above tools. He must keep his tools
in good working order. It usually takes years of struggle and hard
work to learn and master the art of writing. Besides reading, a good
writer should try to find a world of information with an inquiring mind
and discerning eye. He can learn a great deal by putting up question
on the subject he wishes to write.
The main purpose of written communication is to move, motivate
and mould the minds and behavior of the people. So it is necessity
for the communicator to study the minds of people he wish to target
through his writing. It must be remembered that the art and skill of
writing depends on the competence and knowledge of the
communicator. Besides all this, the communicator should prevent his
feelings from dictating his thinking and should organize his thoughts,
which are based on factual information.
Advantage of Written communication
Permanent record
Written message can be kept in files as a permanent record of the
general, like the Affairs, transactions and agreements of the business
organization. It remains as an evidence of the company’s performance,
which is useful for future reference. It forms a basis for new policy
decisions and also for the fresh measures for the development and
expansion of the business.
Legal evidence
Written message provides tangible evidence of the agreements signed
between the two particles. It also gives a proof of the stages in which
the transaction was carried out. It can show how the mistakes were
committed in carrying out the transactions by either of the parties
involved in it.
Accuracy
Usually, the written messages are organized more carefully than the
spoken messages. The communicator uses standard languages and
tries to avoid colloquial words and expressions. As compared to oral
messages, the written messages are more accurate in grammatical
structures. Accuracy in languages helps to prevent any
misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the message.
Lengthy messages
Written media is especially more suited for lengthy and complicated
messages. The receiver can read it repeatedly till he properly
understands it. Secondly, it assures retaining every vital detail if the
lengthy and complicated message.
Correspondence
Postal correspondence has given a really wide access to written media.
This facility is available to almost all the communicators and receivers
in the nooks and corners of the world.
Limitations of written communication
Access to literates
The access of the written media is limited to the literates only. There
are millions of illiterates people who cannot use this media.
Costly and time-consuming process
A number of people get involved in the process of collecting
information, consulting, drafting, typing and posting the messages. It
takes the total cost of a business letter to not less that twenty rupees.
Secondly, the oral message reaches almost instantaneously on the
telephone, whereas a letter may reach to the receiver after 2/3 days.
Delayed feedback
The communicator has to wait for the reply from the receiver. In oral
communication, the feedback is almost immediate.
1.6 BARRIERS OF COMMUNICATION
Introduction
Planning, preparation and practice of communication will be
incomplete and unsuccessful unless one identifies and understands
the barriers of communication. These barriers are physical, sociological
and psychological obstacles that interfere with the planning,
organization, transmission and understanding of the message. There
are a number of such obstacles that can occur in the process of
communication. The natural result of such obstacles or interfering
factors is the misunderstanding of the message.
These factors interfere with the self-confidence, self-disclosure and
self-consciousness of the communication senders and receivers. The
barriers of communication are dangers to any organization if they are
not removed on time. When the communicator transmits the idea in
an unchanged and undistorted form to the receiver and the receiver
responds to it, then, the process of the communication is supposed
to have been perfect. But this process of ‘perfect’ communication
can never exist due to the number of factors, which stand in its way
as the barriers. The communicator has to identify and understand the
reasons for poor communication in order to communicate effectively.
Understanding the process of communication is the first step towards
improving the abilities and skills of communication, but understanding
the factors that prevent us in transmitting the exact meaning is very
essential for effective communication.
1.6.1 Language Barrier
1.6.1.1 Lack of common language
Language uses oral or written symbols to transmit meanings from
one person to another. Every human language has its own vocal
symbol system and its own grammatical structures. If the
communicator and the receiver belong to different language groups,
their ignorance of each other’s language or the lack of common
language will be a barrier to communication between them. It is not
possible for them to communicate with each other unless they know
some common language, which is properly, understood by both of
them. An English speaking boy and a Tamil speaking boy will not be
able to communicate without a good knowledge of each other’s
language. If both of them know a common language, say Hindi their
knowledge of Hindi word, phrases, clauses and sentence-structure
should be adequate to express their thoughts and feelings.
1.6.1.2 Semantic Barrier
Words are said to have no meaning but they represent arbitrary meaning
associated with it. A word may have a variety of meanings and the
meaning attributed to a word by the communicator may not be the
same as that of the receiver’s attributed meanings of that word. A
word can have different meaning to different people at different
occasions. It is found by the experts that people attributes 14,000
different meanings to 500 commonly used English words. Therefore,
the sender and receiver are many a time likely to attribute different
meaning to the same word. Sometimes, they may use different words
to communicate the same meaning.
There are many words in English such as light, cheap, etc. which can
be used with favorable as well as unfavorable connotations. A word
can stand for its positive or negative connotations. Sometimes, the
receiver wrongly enters the intended meaning of the sender’s word by
attributing negative meaning to it.
1.6.1.3 Poor vocabulary
Poor vocabulary makes our message more difficult and less effective.
Our pen falters and tongue fumbles when we probe into our brain for a
suitable word or phrase. The words have different connotative and
denotative meanings. The communicator needs to know them clearly in
order to use them with clarity and precision. Words stand not only for
their meanings but they are also charged with action and emotions.
When the communicator and the receiver understand these wordassociations,
they are capable of using them as living entities. Poor
vocabulary does not allow the communicator to write or speak
effectively. If does not allow the receiver to understand the message
clearly. If the receiver does not understand the words, he cannot properly
comprehend the sentences.
1.6.1.4 Poor Grammar and Punctuation
Poor knowledge of grammar and punctuation is a barrier to verbal
communication. A good vocabulary is useless unless the communicator
acquires the knowledge of how to use it in a sentence. More than ever
before, the people involved in written and oral communication today
must have superior grammar skills because an understanding of
grammatical structures provide excellent basis for effective writing,
speaking, listening and reading skills.
If the communicator is not able to choose the correct verb form that
agrees with a given noun or pronoun, if he is not able to select exact
adjective or adverb, or to join the words properly, he will not be able
to communicate his ideas, thoughts and feelings fully and correctly.
In addition to a good grammar, knowledge of punctuation is essential
for effective communication. Many of us do not pay adequate attention
to it. But it must be remembered that the faulty and improper
punctuation can change the intended meaning of the sentence. The
absence or misplacement of a ‘comma’ can prove to be misleading
to the reader.
1.6.1.5 Roundabout Verbiage
Roundabout Verbiage consists of the usage of overworked,
troublesome and exhausted words and phrases, which usually cause
a considerable amount of misunderstanding and confusion. It is a
long-winded way of saying the meaningless padding. By avoiding
such roundabout verbiage, we can add a good deal of liveliness and
simplicity of expression to our written as well as our oral
communication. For example, instead of saying ‘in the majority of
cases’ or ‘ in a number of instances’, we can say ‘some’ or ‘ usually’
instead of saying ‘ commence’ we can use ‘start’ or ‘ begin’. By
omitting such words and phrases, we can save the message from
hollow pomposity.
1.6 2 Physical Barriers
1.6.2.1 Noise
It interferes with the transmission of the signals. It also refers to the
‘unwanted’ signals of messages, which interferes and disturb the
reception of the wanted signals. This disturbance is usually in the
form of sounds, but it need not be always the sounds. It can be in
visual, audio-visual, written, physical or psychological form also. There
are many people who communicate with a little signal and much noise.
In fact, they communicate extraneous matters, which may diminish
the interest in the receivers or may even annoy them. Anyway, they
tell the receiver something more than they are required to communicate.
Their extraneous distracting signal can be the result of their wandering
minds-it can be because they try to communicate something more
about themselves.
Technical or physical noise refers to loud noise of the machines or
blaring noise of the stereo and such other noises, which makes it difficult
for any listener to receive the ‘wanted’ message. Visual noise can be
experienced when a committee member arrives late at the meeting hall
and all the committee members are distracted by his arrival. Poor
telephone connection which interrupt conversations, smudged
typescripts and bad handwriting are some examples of the technical
noise.
1.6.2.2 Time
The frequency of communication encounters affects the human
relationships and the intensity of human relations is affected by the
amount of time that passes between these encounters. If the employee
does not communicate with their superiors for a long time, or if husband
and wife stay away from each other for a ling time, it may create a
communication gap between them, which may affect their relationship.
Time can act as a barrier to communication in some other ways also.
A guest who arrives at midnight will not be able to communicate well
with the host who might feel embarrassed or disturbed in his sleep.
Time will not allow two communicators to talk to each other if they
work in different shifts. A phone call at midnight can irritate or embarrass
the receiver. A husband who keeps his wife waiting for a long time will
not find it easy to communicate with her.
1.6.2.3 Distance
The distance between the communicator and the receiver can be a
strong barrier to communication, if the technical devices of
communication such as telephone, telefax, etc are not available to link
them. Faulty sitting arrangement in the office can create a kind of
communication gap, which can be eliminated by adjusting the distance.
Distance between the workbenches in the offices or in the modern
production departments and half partitions between them are the distance
barriers, which severely limit the communication among the employees.
By minimizing the physical distance down to the personal distance
that ranges from 1.5 to 4 feet. The boss can minimize the status
difference between himself and his employees. A friend or a colleague

who ceases to maintain the personal distance, i.e. 1.5 to 4feet, and
keeps himself always beyond the distances of 12 to 25 feet is a friend
who keeps communication gap.
1.6.2.4 Age
The age, maturity, educational background and the eras in which a
person grows up make a generation, which inevitably comes in the
way of human communication. The generation gap becomes obvious
in their use of vocabulary and style of speeches and the values of life
to which they stick or adhere. Considering his age and maturity, we
tend to apply different standards of judgment to judge the statements
of the speaker. For example, in an organization older workers gradually
form their social group, which often remains apart from the younger
workers. Their likings and interests are different and they take less
interest in sports, cocktail parties and movies. Gradually, the older
workers feel socially isolated and insecure because of the widening
gap of communication between the older workers and the younger
workers.
1.6.2.5 Sex
Men and women communicate with one another according to their
sex. When they work together in a group, men tend to be more
assertive, acquisitive, self-confidence and aggressive than the women.
This may be because a five year boy is encouraged to ‘hit back’ by
his father, but the boy’s sister is told that girls ‘don’t fight’. Thus, sex
stands as a barrier to a direct, honest and appropriate expression of a
female’s thoughts, opinions and beliefs.
On the other hand, man is more assertive of his thoughts and opinions.
It is found that women are more likely than men to express their
emotions and feelings about a situation. But, it must be remembered
that these are general tendencies of sex-typed communication behavior
and not the rules. The girls tend to be less aggressive because they
receive negative results such as rejection, criticism for such behavior.
They are brought up with the feeling that aggressiveness is unfeminine.
A girl, who is brought up with such feminine conceptions about her,
may try to avoid a frank eye contact with the interviewer and may
even speak in a voice that is almost inaudible.
1.6 3 Social-psychological Barriers
1.6.3.1 Status barrier
Statue is a position or social rank of a person in a group. It depends
on the person’s abilities, amount of pay, job-skills, seniority, type of
work assigned, age, etc. statue reflects the degree of power, authority,
importance and responsibility placed on an individual by the other
people in the society. The people at the lower status are usually afraid
of communication unpleasant and unfavorable information to the highstatus
people. They get scared of entering into the air-conditioned
cabins with runs on the floor and a number of telephones on the
table. They become conspicuous of their own status in relationship
with the status of their superiors.
This status consciousness is harmful in the process of upward communication.
People fear that the unpleasant facts communicated to
their superior might bring adverse effects on them, if the information
displeases the superiors. They are reluctant to communicate their
problems, shortcomings, mistakes and other unfavorable information
to the higher-ups because of their fear that the superior might
consider them incompetent and unworthy to do their jobs. They do
not show courage of offering suggestions and plans of improving the
organization and its procedures for the fear of being called arrogant
by their superiors. The high-ups too are strongly conscious of their
status. In order to safeguard the dignity of their status, they avoid
accepting suggestions from the subordinates and presume that their
higher status stands for better knowledge and competence than any
of their subordinates. These assumptions prove serious barriers to
communication between them.
1.6.3.2 Attitudes and values
The attitudes serve the personal needs of the people. They provide
need satisfaction to the individuals. When the message is unfavorable
to the receiver, he cannot be easily persuaded by it. The people in
terms of their attitudes and values interpret the message. Their attitudes
and values are different not merely because they are physically
different but also because they have different backgrounds. They
deal with the individuals and events according to their attitudes and
assumptions. Their personal attitudes, values and opinions are the
barriers to an effective communication.
The most agreeable information for anybody of us is the one, which
is favorable and palatable to our opinions, values, norms and attitudes.
The message, which runs contrary to our views and beliefs, is
not easily acceptable to us even when it is factual and true. We
promptly accept the government policy if it is favorable to our business,
but we express our strong resentment towards it if it adversely
affect our business. Even the process of interpreting the message is
consistent with the existing attitudes and values. It is due to the fact
that our thinking is colored and characterized by our attitudes and
values. Sometimes, these attitudes and values can have emotional
basis. Such attitudes are extremely difficult to change.
1.6.3.3 Different perception of reality
Francis Bacon has said, ‘ Man prefers to believe what he prefers to
be true’. The individual experiences and their interpretations are never
identical because their perceptions are different. If two friends see a
movie together, their interpretation, of the events and the characters
in it will certainly be different.
The communication barrier arises as a result of different selective
perceptions of the same object or idea by two or more people. Our
physical senses like hearing, sight, taste, touch and smell are our
contacts with the physical world. Some people have limited range
and power of their senses, whereas some people have very acute and
strong senses. These physical differences are also responsible for
different perceptions of the existing things. Human needs are strong
motivating factors, which can very easily alter his perceptions. Poor
children tend to estimate a coin of 50 paise to be physically larger
than the children coming from the rich families. We create our own
reality through selective perception, which hides certain things that
are there and see certain more things than which are present there.
1.6.3.4 Inference
Our everyday life is full of various activities based on inference. When
we get up from bed at 8.00 a.m. we infer that mummy might have
already started her housework. When we sit down at a table to write,
we infer that the chair will support our weight and ink will flow from
the pen. Thus, the statements, which are based on the facts and go
beyond the facts, are inferences.
We may have good reason to expect that our inferences will be correct,
but they may prove incorrect due to some unpredicted prob-
ability. As inferences go beyond the facts in making certain statements,
they can give wrong signals too. We are to interpret symbols
on the basis of assumptions, which usually prove correct, but we
must be aware of the probability that they may sometimes prove
incorrect. When we travel in the state transport bus, we infer that we
may reach safely at our destination, but this inference may not prove
correct if the bus is caught in some accident. The inferences drawn
by the specialist are many a time reliable because they are based on
verified facts, but the inferences of the non-experts should be accepted
after receiving more feedback from the concerned people.
1.6.3.5 Abstracting
We use language to communicate our experiences and feelings, but
we cannot communicate every detail of it. We cannot communicate
every detail of our experience to others. Also, we focus our attention
on some details and do not bother about the rest. We prepare a
business report on our observations of the various events in the market.
While preparing it, we abstract the reality and report only the
valuable characteristics of the market. We observe partially and communicate
partially because our experience of the event is also partial.
When we try to convert our experiences and observations into words,
we further abstract it by using selected words, which involve leaving
out the details. If we try to completely describe a simple object like a
‘shoe’ we would require several volumes for it, which would still be
insufficient to describe the object.
1.6.3.6 Closed-Mindedness
A person may close his mind to communicate receptions, if he considers
himself to be a person who knows ‘all’ about a particular
subject. It is very difficult to communicate with a man who has deeply
rooted prejudiced mind. Such a man is not prepared to receive any
message on a subject about which he assumes to know everything.
His mind is closed to new ideas, facts and suggestions. If an employee
approaches his closes-minded boss with some suggestions
to improve the work of a business unit, the boss would retort the
employee by saying that he knows better than the latter regarding
what should be done for the betterment of the organization. Perhaps,
he may further warn the employee that the latter should never try to
teach him again. Thus, he completely rejects the information and
recommendations of the communicator even before he knows the
real facts. The reason behind his closed-mindedness is his deeply
rooted prejudices.
1.6.3.7 Distortion, filtering and editing
When a message is transmitted through translations, interpretations,
explanations and simplifications, some part of it gets distorted or
lost. The accuracy of the message is lost and the transmission becomes
imperfect as the message goes through the filters of translations
and simplifications. The upward communication also tends to
be distorted and filtered. The negative effects of the informal channel
like grapevine are due to distortions and filtering. The message in
grapevine receives fresh additions with every repetition until it gets
worst. Thus, often the original information communicated through
formal and informal channels gets lost or distorted to a large extent
and very little of it is retained.
1.6.3.8 Bad listening
Bad listening is one of the major communication problems. Misunderstanding
and conflicts can be reduced if people would listen the
message with enough attention. Most people do not listen very well
due to various distractions, emotions, excitement, indifference, aggressiveness
and wandering attention. One of the major reasons for
bad listening is an individual’s continual thinking about his own problems
and worries. The poor listeners always feel that the thought in
his mind is more interesting than what the speaker is saying. A college
student involves himself in thinking about his girl friend rather than
listening to the lecture of his professor.
Bad listening can also be due to some strong reason for worrying. An
employee may get engrossed in worrying about the sickness of his
daughter rather than listening to the instructions given by his manager.
Some listeners mentally argue with the speaker before comprehending
the complete message. This usually leads to misunderstanding
and conflict. Their impatience to talk out their thoughts and their
lack of interest in the message contents are strong barriers to communication.
Principles of
1.6.3.9 Emotions
Negative emotions are obstacles in the communication. Emotions are
our feelings about the world around us. Usually, the positive emotions
such as joy, love or affection do not interfere with communication,
but the negative emotions act as strong barriers to effective communication.
Emotionally excited communicator is unable to organize
his message properly. His excited or nervous state of mind does not
allow him to think clearly. He expresses his blurred thoughts with
gesticulations and keeps on repeating the same words. He cannot
even grasp the message sent by the communicator in its true sense.
This is especially true when one’s negative emotion is uncontrolled
and misdirected. It makes him blind for reason. Almost anybody who
comes across such an irritated person becomes a victim of his unfocused
negative emotions. The perplexed, nervous and excited state
of mind never allows smooth flow of communication.
1.6.3.10 Resistance to change
If we receive a message, which proposes a new idea, we tend to be
inattentive to it. The new idea is rejected consciously or sometimes
unconsciously if it conflicts with our beliefs, morals, values, attitudes
and opinions of the receiver. The average adult human mind ignores
the new idea, especially when he feels insecurity and uncertainty about
its aftermath. He feels that the things go along just fine with him and
he would be insecure if the changes are introduced. He is also suspicious
about its success in future. Because of its uncertainty, he hastily
concludes in his mind that the proposal would not be successful. He
even further feels that the proposal would make things worst for him.
The new idea is considered as a drastic proposal, which is not needed.
Thus, the average human mind, which resists change, does not accept
the new ideas from the communicator.
1.7 7 C’s OF COMMUNICATION
Written communication occupies an important position in the communication
sphere, so written communication has to pay adequate
attention on certain principles of necessity. The essentials of every
written communication are principles of unity, coherence and emphasis.
These principles along with other essentials of effective communication,
like language, planning and organization make the written
communication effective.
l
The 7’s :
1.7.1 Clarity: The writing should be correctly planned and expressed
in a logical way, and the writer should make sure that the ideas flow
smoothly from beginning to end. The message must be so clear that
even the dullest man in the world should readily understand it. The
communicator must be very clear about all the aspects of the idea in
his mind and about the purpose for which it is to be communicated.
Next to it, he must be clear about the selection, suitability and usage
of the medium. The signals of the encoded message must be carefully
composed of and transmitted well.
Clarity of written language is the first and foremost emphasis one
should seek in writing. So clarity of language is a form of courtesy.
Clarity, therefore, can be achieved in writing by taking pains by writing
to serve the purpose rather than to impress readers. Understanding
the subject bring about clarity in the writing. Don’t jump about
from one part of the writing to another and then back to the first
aspect. This is confusing for you and the reader. Deal with each
aspect separately and clearly. Clear description brings about the script
alive, takes readers to where you have been and evokes atmosphere.
It can bring flavor in the most arid and dry news story and make the
difference between a report that satisfies and one that does not.
1.7.2 Completeness: It is an essential factor for effective communication.
A message must be organized appropriately in the sense that it
must include all the important ideals and its details. The contents of
the message must be checked in order to verify that there is no omission
of the relevant details. An incomplete message can do little to
convey the information and to persuade the receiver. All the aspects
of the message must be grouped and brought together in logical sequence
to prepare meaningful thought units. The communicator effort
can be more fruitful and effective if the receiver easily reacts to
the sender’s message. The incomplete messages may create doubts
in the receiver’s mind. The receiver of the incomplete message feels
angry, confused and irritated by it.
Effective writing communication implies a condition of being complete
and clear. The principles of unity or completeness apply at
three levels; one, the individual sentences must be unified. Two, individual
paragraphs must be unified and three the totality of the script
must be unified. The first principle states that each simple sentence
must contain a single idea clearly expressed. All sentences relating to
a particular matter constitute a unified individual paragraph. Each
paragraph in a section forms a unit of thought. All units of thoughts
structurally constitute the message of entire communication or a unified
message. Each unified individual sentence conveys only one central
idea. It must be direct, simple, brief, clear and vigorous. Too much
use of buts, ands, pomposity and technical jargon must be avoided.
Prompt and adequate attention of the reader is the essence of purposeful
communication.
Completeness in writing is achieved through orderly arrangement of
ideas flowing into other ideas and progressing into conclusion. An
incomplete writing leads to side tracking, misunderstanding, seeking
clarifications and explanation etc. thus, the writer must consider the
receiver’s capabilities to understand.
1.7.3 Coherence: Coherency is equally essential for good written
communication. Clear communication in simple sentences helps the
reader to understand. Facts and figures must be stated plainly and in
an intelligent manner. Relation and clarity are the two important aspects
of coherence. Coherence means, tying together of several ideas,
under one main topic in any paragraph. Smooth flow, lucidity and
transition aspects should be given effect to and there should not be
any scope for the reader to misinterpret, mis-read or mis-spell the
message. Coherence is given to a larger paragraph or section of a
message and leads to purposeful communication where the writer is
well received, read, understood and acted upon by the reader.
1.7.4 Conciseness: Conciseness is an important factor in effective
communication. It means saying all that needs to be said and no
more. The aimless verbiage, unnecessary details and heavy paragraphs
make our communication ridiculous and ineffective. We must omit
those words and sentences from our message, which are not likely to
bring about results. The message, which can be expressed in fewer
words, is more impressive and effective than the same message expressed
in a number of words. The communicator must organize his
message in such a way that every word in it is meaningful and of
interest to the receiver. Even a single word or a sentence, which does
not contribute to accomplish the purpose of the communication,
should be carefully omitted.
Conciseness refers to thoughts expressed in the fewest words consistent
with writing. It is achieved in writing in definite style and use
of precise words. Unnecessary superlatives, exaggeration and indirect
beginning should be avoided. Care should be taken to use adjectives
judiciously, avoiding irrelevant details, unnecessary expression
and mumbling sentences. Avoid vague judgmental descriptions and
be precise and clear.
1.7.5 Credibility: A good writing is always forceful and direct and
has the power and capacity to produce a reaction or desired effect.
Clarity in writing brings about credibility because it ensures that others
understand the message easily and quickly. A clear and direct
approach in writing makes it possible to achieve the principle of credibility
in your writing. Other essentials of writing like correctness and
completeness add to the strength of credibility in the writing.
1.7.6 Correctness: Without correctness, readers may refuse your
write up. Communication must be correct in tone and style of expression,
spelling, grammar, format, contents, statistical information,
stress-unstressed, etc. there should not be any inaccurate statements
in the message. Efforts must be made to avoid errors in spellings,
punctuations, etc. the incorrect written documents lower the readers’
confidence in the writer.
In the same way, the incorrect statements and other miscellaneous
errors of the speaker lower the listeners’ confidence in him and it
may tarnish his image and reliability too. When communication receiver
finds one error he suspects that there can also be other errors
in the message. Therefore, he starts searching for other mistakes
automatically.
The subject matter of communication must be correct or accurate.
The manner in which the message is transmitted must be absolutely
correct. Accuracy in writing can be achieved by careful checking and
editing. Correctness demands accurate figures, because decisions
may go wrong if wrong figures are given. Over writings, erasures,
strikeovers, wrong spellings, faulty grammar, poor sentence construction
etc may distract the readers and lead to misunderstanding. Written
communication clearly means making others to understand.
Therefore, it is essential that the sender should verify the correctness
of the information before transmitting it to the receiver. And before
accepting the information for important decision-making, the receiver
should clarify his doubts regarding the accuracy and correctness of
the message.
1.7.7 Continuity: As far as possible the writer should avoid jargon.
Jargon is a language that is special to science, commerce, technology,
trade and profession. In writing, the jargon should not be incorporated
as this could make the writing confusing and unclear. Brevity
or use of fewer words brings about continuity and grace in your
writing. The effect of good writing depends on its style and continuity
of subject till the conclusion. If one takes care to be precise,
correct and clear in writing and if the continuity is maintained throughout
writing, the desired effect from the reader is achieved.
1.8 SUMMARY
This unit explained the meaning of communication and gave various
definitions of communication. The different types of communications
were also discussed in detail. We also explained the how the
barriers of communication affect the whole process of communication.
The basic 7Cs of communication have also been discussed.
We can sum up that Communication is important both for an individual
and also for the society.
Communication is more than mere transferring or transmission of
ideas or thoughts. It is not a static act as some of the earlier definitions
suggest but it is a dynamic process of action and interaction
towards a desired goal, as suggested by later definitions. Communication
is, therefore, a process of sharing or exchange of ideas, information,
knowledge, attitude, or feeling among two or more persons
through certain signs and symbols

the process of communication

2.1 INTRODUCTION
Communication is a dynamic process involving a series of actions
and reactions with a view to achieving a goal. How does it work?
Think that you are in conversation with your friend. You are a sender
or communicator, formulate (encode) an idea or message as best as
you can, and pass on the message to your friend, who to the best of
his ability receives or acts on the message (decode). He responds by
formulating his own message and communicates to you (feedback).
If you think your message is understood or well received by your
friend, then you go ahead with the next idea that you have in mind
and the conversation goes on and on.
2.2 PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
Communication is, therefore, a two way process, that is, the ability
to receive is as important as the ability to send. For successful communication,
feedback is crucial because it tells how your message is
being interpreted. It can make or break the communication process.
Process of
Communication
Decoder
Encoder
Sender
Decoder
Receiver
Encoder
Message Channel
Noise
Feedback
Diagram 2.0 Act of Communication

Intheabovediagram, thecommunicatoristheencoder, themessageissymbol(verbal

or non-verbal), the channel is one of the transmission medium, the receiver is
the
decoder, feedback is the response to the message, and noise is any interruption
that
breaks down the communication.
These, infact, are theessential elements or ingredients, which facilitate the
communication process. Each element plays an important role in making the
communication
effective:
2.2.1 Communicator (sender or encoder) is the one who initiates the
communication
process. He may be an editor, a reporter, a filmmaker, a teacher, a writer, a
speaker,
a leader or anybody who takes the initiative to start a dialogue. Before one
speaks or
writes, the message is conceptualized first and then encoded. An effective
communication
depends on the communication skill, knowledge level, and attitude of the
communicator
and how he desires to affect his receiver. An ability to think, to organize
thoughts quickly and express himself effectively are some of the attributes of a
good
communicator.
Somebody who uses appropriate words, sentences, tone, etc. may be called a
good
communicator. He does not fumble, does not look for words and all that he says
is
accompanied by appropriate gestures and delivered at an acceptable pace.
Another
element, which is mentioned here, is knowledge level. We must be able to find
out the
knowledge level of the persons on a particular topic before we start the
dialogue. Also,
a person must never look down upon the people with whom he communicates.
He
must never think that the receivers are inferior to him. The attitudes of a person
should
be mature and the minimum respect due to the other person must be extended to
him.
2.2.2 Encoding is the formulation of messages in the communicator’s mind,
that is, the communicator not only translates his purpose (ideas, thoughts or
information) into a message but also decides on the medium to communicate
his planned message. He must choose the media (speaking, writing, signaling
or gesturing) that the receiver can comprehend well. For instance, an illiterate
receiver will fail to understand a written message, but can understand it well if
told orally.
A message is what a communicator actually produces for transmission using
spoken or written words, photographs, paintings, films, posters, etc. a great
deal of skill and effort is required to formulate a message, the meaning of
which should be understandable to the receiver. Actually the purpose of
communication is to influence the receiver and get favorable responses so
that appropriate decisions can be taken. The success of communication,
therefore, depends on what we say and how we say it. A message can
enhance or distort effective communication. For instance, in an interview
your intention is to impress interviewer, but if you give answers whose meaning
is not clear, the interviewer may perceive that you are incompetent for the
job.
2.2.3 A channel is the vehicle through which a message is carried from the
communicator to the receiver. The channels of communication are manywritten,
spoken, verbal, non-verbal, mass media like TV, radio, newspapers,
books, etc. choosing the appropriate channel, one most suitable for the
message as well as the receiver, is a complicated task.
Success and failure of communication depends on the selection of the right
channel. For example, if you have prepared a campaign on ‘National
Integration’
what media would you choose to reach the intended audience? And
even after selecting the media you have to decide if it is feasible cost wise,
taking into account the number of people and the kind of people who will be
exposed to your message, and certain other factors. Actually your intention
or desire would be to reach out to the maximum number of people but for
efficient communication your attempt should be to minimize time and cost in
the total information exchange effort.
2.2.4 The receiver, at the other end of the communication, is the recipient
of the message and must possess the same orientation as the communicator.
If the receiver does not have the ability to listen, to read, to think, he will not be
able to receive and decode the messages in the manner the communicator want
him to. For effective communication, the receiver is the most important link in
the communication process.
2.2.5 Decoding is the interpretation of the message by the receiver. Actually,
the receiver looks for the meaning in the message, which is common to both
the receiver and the communicator.
2.2.6 Feedback is the response or acknowledgement of receiver to the
communicator’s message. The exchange is possible only if the receiver
responds.
Even through fluttering eyelids, raising an eyebrow, making a face,
organizing a point and asking for explanation, the message is shaped and
reshaped by the communicator and the receiver until the meaning becomes
clear. In this way both participants in communication interact and constantly
exchange roles. In face-to-face communication the receiver responds naturally,
directly and immediately. This provides the communicator an opportunity to
improve and make his communication effective. Feedback, thus, provides an
opportunity to evaluate what is right or wrong about a particular
communication.
It helps to regulate the conversation among two or more individuals and
also stimulates and reinforces an idea that is desired to be communicated.
2.2.7 Noise is an interruption that can creep in at any point of the
communication
process and make it ineffective. Environment is one major cause that
interferes with message reception: like noises from the roadside, constant
chattering
of individuals outside the communication act, blaring loudspeaker, faulty
transmission, etc. noise can occur in other forms also; poor handwriting, heavy
accent or soft speech, communication in a poorly lit room, etc. in fact, these are
barriers to effective communication. For smooth and effective communication,
it is necessary to eliminate or reduce noise as far as possible.
2.3 SUMMARY
Communication is, therefore, a two way process, that is, the ability
to receive is as important as the ability to send. For successful communication,
feedback is crucial because it tells how your message is
being interpreted. It can make or break the communication process.