CHAPTER TWO

THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

2.1. Elements of Communication
Some leaders think they have communicated once they told someone to do something, "I don't
know why it did not get done...I told Abebe to do it." More than likely, Jim misunderstood the
message. A message has NOT been communicated unless it is understood by the receiver
(decoded). How do you know it has been properly received? The answer is by two-way
communication or feedback. This feedback tells the sender that the receiver understood the
message, its level of importance, and what must be done with it. Communication is an exchange,
not just a give, as all parties must participate to complete the information exchange.
Thought: First, information exists in the mind of the sender. This can be a concept, idea,
information, or feelings.
Encoding: Next, a message is sent to a receiver in words or other symbols.
Decoding: Lastly, the receiver translates the words or symbols into a concept or information that
he or she can understand.
During the transmitting of the message, two processes will be received by the receiver: content
and context. Content is the actual words or symbols of the message which is known as language
the spoken and written words combined into phrases that make grammatical and semantic sense.
We all use and interpret the meanings of words differently, so even simple messages can be
misunderstood. And many words have different meanings to confuse the issue even more.
Context is the way the message is delivered and is known as Paralanguage - it includes the tone
of voice, the look in the sender's eye's, body language, hand gestures, and state of emotions
(anger, fear, uncertainty, confidence, etc.) that can be detected. Although paralanguage or
context often causes messages to be misunderstood as we believe what we see more than what
we hear; they are powerful communicators that help us to understand each other. `
Problems with communication can pop-up at every stage of the communication process (which
consists of sender, encoding, channel, decoding, receiver, feedback and context - see the diagram
below) and have the potential to create misunderstanding and confusion.
To be an effective communicator and to get your point across without misunderstanding and
confusion, your goal should be to lessen the frequency of these problems at each stage of this
process with clear, concise, accurate, well-planned communications.

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The Communication Process
i. Source/Sender
The communication process begins with the information source. The sender has some raw of
information. His/her intention changes that information into a message to be communicated. The
source of the message is, therefore, the source of the communication process.
The person who transmits, spreads, or communicates a message or operates the electronic device
is the one who conceives and initiates the message with the purpose of informing \persuading \
influencing \changing the attitude, opinion, or behavior of the receiver (audience\listeners). He
decides the communication symbols, the channel, the time for sending the message after
carefully considering the total situation in which the communication takes place.
Thus, for effective communication to take place, the sender is expected to discharge the
following responsibilities:
 Should ensure the purpose of the communication;
 Should know who the receiver is;
 Should construct the message keeping the receiver in mind
 Should select the appropriate channel and
 Should know the appropriate timing of transmission
ii. Message
It is the information, written or spoken, which is to be sent from one person to another .Here ,the
word “person” stands for the two ends of the system and may represent an individual, or a group
of individuals ,or even electronic machines .
The most important characteristics of a message, as an element of communication, is that it is
organized, structured, shaped and selective –a product of pre-writing or pre –speaking stage. It
exists in the mind of the sender (communicator).
iii. Encoding
Encoding is the process (by the sender), of changing the message (from its mental form) into
symbols, that is, pattern of words /gestures /pictorial forms or signs (physical or of sound) of
specific visual /aural
language. In short, encoding means putting ideas, feelings, facts and opinions into symbols,

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which can be words, actions, signs, pictures and audio-visuals. The communication symbols are
used /selected by the sender, keeping in mind the receiver’s ability to understand.
iv. Channel
This is the vehicle or medium which facilitates the sender to convey the message to the receiver.
The medium of the communication can be written, oral, audio,-visual or live projections. Again
the written medium can be in the form of letters, memos, reports, manuals, notices, circulars,
questionnaires, and minutes and so on.
Similarly, the oral medium can be in the form of a dialogue, a face-to-face, interview, a
telephone conversation, a conference recording and so on.
The channel /medium can be visuals such as posters, slides, documentary films, television
programs and advertisements.
V. Receiver
The receiver is the target audience of the message. The receiver gets the message, understands,
interpreters and tries to perceive the total meaning of the message as transmitted by the sender.
Vi. Decoding
This is the art (by the receiver) of translating symbols of the communication into their ordinary
meanings. However, the total meaning would consist of the words (symbols) together with the
tone and the attitude of the sender as reflected by the structure of the message and the choice of
the words used by him (sender).
vii. Noise
The entire process of communication is open to “noise “which prevents and distorts
communication. Noise may be described as any distortion or hindrance, preventing the
transmission of the message from the (mind of) sender to the (mind of) receiver.
For some communication theorists, noise basically stands for external disturbance in the physical
environment surrounding the act of communication, or noise in the machine used for
communicating the message, such as telephone, poor printout, or hand writing.
But noise can also exist as the result of internal psychological orientation and as the result of
semantic related issues.
viii. Context
The situation in which your message is delivered is the context. This may include the
surrounding environment or broader culture (i.e. corporate culture, international cultures, etc.).

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ix. Setting: The environment on which the communication process takes place has also profound
effect on the existence of understanding between \ among people involved.
X. Feedback: is the loop that connects the receiver in the communication process with the
sender, who, in turn, acts as a feedback receiver and thus, gets to know that communication has
been accomplished. In communication feedback plays an important role. It helps the
communicator to know if there are some corrections or changes to be made in the proposed
action. It also ensures that the receiver has received the message and understands it as intended
by the receiver.
One way communication process do not allow receiver to provide feedback to the sender rather
as much as possible an opportunity should be there to provide feedback by choosing two-way
communication channels.
Effective Feedback
Guidelines for Receiving Feedback
For getting appropriate feedback from the receivers and ensure the existence of effective
communication, the following guidelines are vital to be applied:
 Tell people that you want feedback
 Identify the areas in which you want feedback
 If you are a manager, set aside time for regular scheduled feedback
 Use silence to encourage feedback
 Watch for non-verbal responses as non-verbal symbols may comply or contradict with
verbal symbols.
 Reward feedback
 Ask questions
Guidelines for Sending Feedback
In providing feedback to those whom we communicate, we have to ensure that we are using the
following guidelines:
 Direct feedback to behavior rather than toward the person
 Feedback should be descriptive rather than evaluative
 Involves sharing ideas rather than giving advice
 Providing timely feedback

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Remark: It can therefore be said that the purpose of communication is conveying the ideas and
messages in a manner, which will elicit a response in accordance with the communicative intent
of the speaker .In short, communication is the ability to IMPRESS the listener in accepting the
view point of the sender and giving an appropriate response.
2.2 Barriers of communication
Barriers of communication simply refer to the natural as well as the man- made factors that
hinder the process of effective communication. The barriers can be divided in to four parts.
These are:
1. Physical (External or Mechanical) barriers
Wrong choice of medium
There are various media of communication available to use; oral, written visual, audio visual etc.
All these media have their relative merits and limitations. While a properly chosen medium can
add to the effectiveness of communication, an unsuitable medium may act as a barrier to it. Let
us consider the following situations:
A salesman has to submit a report on the comparative sales figures of the last five years. If he
writes a lengthy paragraph incorporating the information, or talks on the phone, he will fail to
communicate anything. He should present the figures in a tabular form, or preferably make a bar
diagram, which will make communication an instantaneous process.
An employee wants to express his regrets to his superior over his misconduct. In this case,
written explanation alone may prove to be ineffective. Face to face communication will probably
be the best. Let him speak very little, but let him look remorseful; his supervisor will be satisfied
and the whole matter will be amicably settled.

Defect in the channel

These are barriers beyond the control of the parties engaged in the communication, for example
break down in the system of telephones, postal system, telegraph, and noise of other interfering
machines etc.
Defect in the organization and communication system

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Especially if the message has to pass through many chains of command there will be loss of
information because of the editing and judgment included in between, information overload,
inappropriate time of communication etc.
Time and distance
Time and distance also act as barriers to the smooth flow of communication. The use of
telephone along with computer technology has made communication very fast and has to a large
extent overcome the space barrier. However, sometimes mechanical breakdowns render these
facilities ineffective. In such cases, the distance between the transmitter and the receiver
becomes a powerful barrier. Some factories run in shifts, there is a kind of communication gap
between persons working in different shifts. Faulty seating arrangement in the class room can
also become a barrier to effective communication.
2. Semantic barrier
This refers to language problems. It is not only using different languages, but its interpretation of
words, use of technical jargons and difference in language
Interpretation of words
Most of the communication is carried on through words, whether spoken or written, but words
are capable of communicating a variety of meanings. It is quite possible that the receiver of a
message does not assign the same meaning to a word as the transmitter had intended. This may
lead to miscommunication. E.g. think about the word “value” and its meaning in different
contexts.
Denotations and Connotations
Words have two types of meanings: denotative and connotative. The literal meaning of a word is
called its denotative meaning. It just informs and names objects without indicating any positive
or negative qualities. Words like table, book, and account are denotative.
In contrast, connotative meanings arouse qualitative judgments and personal reactions. Honest,
competent, cheap, sincere etc are connotative words. Some of these words like honest-noble,
sincere have favorable connotations, others like cowardly-incompetent have unfavorable
connotations, but there also exist a large number of troublesome words that have favorable
connotations in certain contexts and unfavorable connotations in others.
To avoid problems arising out of connotative meanings of words, the following factors should be
constantly kept in mind:

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 We should prefer words which are familiar to the receiver in the interpretation we wish to
give them
 If we feel that a word being used by us is likely to be unfamiliar to the receiver, we should
make its meaning clear the first time we use it.
 Whenever possible, we should choose words with positive rather than negative connotations.
3. Difference in perception
The reality of an object, an event, or a person is different to different people. Each human being
has limited sensory perceptions and a unique mental filter. No two persons perceive reality in
identical manners. On account of different obstructions, inferences and evaluations they
comprehend reality in a different way. These may sometimes lead to miscommunication.
Abstracting
Abstracting may be defined as the process of focusing attention on some details and omitting
others. For details which look pertinent to one reporter may look insignificant or trivial to
another. We can overcome this barrier if we constantly keep in mind that an abstract can never
be the whole story:
While abstracting, we should try to make our abstract as fairly representative of the whole
situation as possible.
We should realize that others can pick different ideas and facts from the same situation and we
should be mentally prepared to consider what they have to say about it.
4. Socio-psychological barrier
Attitude: personal attitude often act as a barrier to effective communication. If the information
agrees with our attitude we tend to receive it favorable. It fits comfortably in the filter of our
mind. But if information disagrees with our views or tend to run contrary to our acceptable
beliefs and attitude, we do not react favorably.
Emotionality: if people are emotional they tend to be irrational. We must try to suppress our
emotion. Emotional reaction like anger, love, defensiveness, hate, fear, etc. can influence how
we understand others’ messages and how others perceive our own messages.
Closed mindedness: communicating with a person with closed mind is very difficult s/he is a
man with deeply ingrained prejudices and not prepared to reconsider his/her opinions. Limited
intellectual background, limited reading and narrow interests cause a person`s mind to be

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narrow. This limits his/her understanding of human nature and makes him/her incapable of
receiving communication with sympathy.
Self-centeredness: we tend to hear or see everything in light of our opinions and we agree with
those ideas that agree with ours while disagree with those that don't go with ours.
Self image: we don’t tend to accept anything which goes against our self image that we have
cultivated over the years. For instance, an accountant who thinks of him self as an efficient
worker may find it difficult to accept his inefficiency when his superior wants to help him.
Status consciousness: the title the sender has and the kind of privilege and influence he has
could affect communication. This is a major problem in upward communication. A superior may
develop the attitude that he knows everything. He may not be willing to listen to any ideas, how
much bright, given from his subordinates and at the same time subordinates may feel frightened
or shy to tell their ideas to their bosses.
Source credibility: It refers to the trust and confidence that the receivers have in the words and
actions of the sender.
Faulty transmission: a message can never be communicated from one person to another in its
entirety. This is true in particular of oral messages. If a decision has been taken by the board of
directors, it must be in the form of lengthy resolution. This resolution cannot be passed on to the
factory workers in the same form. It has to be translated in simple languages so that they may
easily understand it. But translations can never be perfect. In the process of interpretation,
simplification and translation, a part of the massages get lost or distorted.
Poor retention: poor retention also acts as a barrier to effective communication. Studies show
that employees retain only about 50 percent of the information communicated to them. The rest
is lost. Poor retention may lead to imperfect response, which may further hamper the
communication process.

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