The word communication has a long and rich history. Since the beginning of time, the need to communicate has been a part of man’s inherent being. The survival of mankind is due to their ability to communicate. Human race has communicated though different techniques and methods; the use of symbols, gestures, sounds, drawings and sign languages were some methods of communication used by the early man. Archaeological evidence shows that the early men were good artists and have been effectively communicating through the visual sense, the transmission, reception, or reproduction of sound and the study of body movements. Through the year’s communication has advanced with the development of technology. Hence it is clear that communication has assumed an immense importance in our time. (Littlejohn, 2002)

Definition

•      Communication is the transmission of a message from a receiver to a sender.

•        The sharing of meaningful information between two or more people with a goal of the receiver understanding the meaning

•      An activity of conveying information through the exchange of thoughts, messages or information, as by speech, visual, signals writing or behaviour 

•      Any activity by which one person gives to or receives from another person information about that person’s needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge or effective states.

Communication may be intentional or unintentional, may involve conventional or unconventional signals may take linguistic or non linguistic, forms and may occur through spoken or other modes. 

The Purpose of Communication

•      To get others to think and act  the way we want them to think and act.

•      To inform others

•      To ask and answer questions

•      To listen to others

Elements of Communication- Source – Message -Encoding-Channel – Receiver – Decoding – Feedback

Communication may be defined as a process concerning exchange of facts or ideas between persons holding different positions in an organisation to achieve mutual harmony. The communication process is dynamic in nature rather than a static phenomenon.

Communication process as such must be considered a continuous and dynamic inter-action, both affecting and being affected by many variables.

(1) Sender:

The person who intends to convey the message with the intention of passing information and ideas to others is known as sender or communicator.

(2) Message:

This is the subject matter of the communication. This may be an opinion, attitude, feelings, views, orders, or suggestions.

The message is what is being transmitted from sender to receiver and has three interpretations: -

a.       The message meant to be conveyed

b.      What the communicator did say and

c.       What the receiver thought he heard

An effective message should have 5 Cs

—  Clear

—  Concise

—  Complete

—  Convincing

—  capable of being carried out

A message should be

—  Timely

—  Meaningful

—  Applicable to the situation

—  Delivered at the right place

—  Use appropriate code

—  Content treatment

(3) Encoding:

Since the subject matter of communication is theoretical and intangible, its further passing requires use of certain symbols such as words, actions or pictures etc. Conversion of subject matter into these symbols is the process of encoding.

(4) Communication Channel:

The person who is interested in communicating has to choose the channel for sending the required information, ideas etc. This information is transmitted to the receiver through certain channels which may be either formal or informal.

(5) Receiver:

Receiver is the person who receives the message or for whom the message is meant for. It is the receiver who tries to understand the message in the best possible manner in achieving the desired objectives.

(6) Decoding:

The person who receives the message or symbol from the communicator tries to convert the same in such a way so that he may extract its meaning to his complete understanding.

(7) Feedback:

Feedback is the process of ensuring that the receiver has received the message and understood in the same sense as sender meant it.

Communication process requires a sender, a message, and a recipient/Receiver although the receiver need not be aware the sender’s intent to communicate at the time of communication. Thus, communication can occur across vast distances in time and space

Three other elements associated with the process of communication are: Entropy, Redundancy and Noise.

Entropy is a measure of the amount of uncertainty in the message/content.

Redundancy either knowingly or unknowingly enters the communication process. If deliberate, it serves the purpose of reiterating the message; otherwise repetitiveness is undesired element.

Noise is actually anything irrelevant, unwarranted, undesired and hence, a disturbance/interference to effective transmission. Noise is anything that disrupts or interferes with the effective communication process.

Noise can be physical, psychological or semantic and can disturb the communication process at any point; noise may be associated with any element in the system:

-           Physical noise or external noise are environmental distractions such as startling sounds, appearances of things, music playing somewhere else, and someone talking really loudly near you, etc;

-          Physiological noise are biological influences that distract one from effectively communicating; these could include sweaty palms, pounding heart, butterfly in the stomach, induced by speech anxiety, or feeling sick, exhausted at work, the ringing noise in your ear, being really hungry, and if you have a runny nose or a cough.

-          Psychological noise are the preconceived bias and assumptions such as thinking someone who speaks like a valley girl is dumb, or someone from a foreign country can’t speak English well so you speak loudly and slowly to them. o Semantic noise is word choices that are confusing and may have the effect of distorting the meaning.

Human communication may be broadly classified as:  

-  Intrapersonal

-  Interpersonal o Group Dynamics

-  Public/Mass

-  Organization

-  Cross cultural

Any of the above, depending on the choice of the medium, may be classified further as verbal, non-verbal/bodily and graphic communication. Whatever may be the type human communication is associated with subjectivity.

 Methods of Communication

A connected team and a connected organization in today’s world is the only way we can achieve greater things. Connections and relations are built with exchange of thoughts and information. Communication serves as a valuable mechanism in building these connections and engagement between people. 

Communication is a very important skill and art. There are four different ways we communicate with others. No matter what form of communication we choose, it is important to have the right intention to connect with the other person.

1. Written

It refers to printed or recorded materials such as plans, contracts, memos, minutes of the meeting, requirement analysis document, design documents risk registers and other related written materials. It is used to provide well-thought and well-planned details, thus easily to be reviewed than verbal communication because everything that has been written cannot be altered right away. More so, it can be used for future reference. 

Written communication can be time consuming, but is extremely essential for formal scenarios which require approvals and having legal implications as well. Emails have ushered in a revolution in making written communication very fast and thus have become a preferred mechanism for sharing detailed information in fraction of a second. 

2. Oral/Verbal

It involves the exchange of message or information by using words verbally through face to face or telephone conversations. It is the most common type of conversation as it paves way to get feedback right after receiving the message. It is known to be spontaneous as well. In verbal communication, the ability to listen and think carefully before speaking is critical.

A person must be careful of the words or expressions to be said. Any word that has been spoken cannot be taken back, so it is important to formulate expressions or sentences carefully.

3. Non-Verbal

Non-verbal communication is sending information without the use of words. It is mostly through one’s body language, gestures, eye-contacts, appearance, pitch and tone of one’s voice etc. one can communicate huge amount of feelings and emotions. They say, “It is important to understand what has not been said explicitly”.  Non-verbal communication includes, body-language, para language (pitch and tone of voice), appearance etc. Research has shown that nonverbal cues or body language,along with facial expressions, tone of voice,and body stance account for almost 55% of all the communication that takes place.

4. Visual Communication

“A picture is worth a thousand words”. Visual aids such as animation, colour, illustration, graphs & charts, drawing, signs and logos immensely enhance written communication. Visual communication is also used in the right balance for making information sharing more effective and efficient.