Communication fundamentals

• The Fundamentals of Communication are the set of

basic communication skills that form the foundations
of more advanced communication skills, including
speech.
• If these fundamentals are missing, more advanced
communication can’t be developed.
The key Fundamentals of Communication are as
follows:
• Enjoying being with another person (existence)
• Developing the ability to attend with another person
• Concentration and attention
• Learning to do sequences of activity with another person
• Taking turns in exchanges of behavior
• Sharing personal space
• Using and understanding non-verbal communication
• Cause and Effect
• Anticipation
• Effective managers and professionals in all walks
of life . . . have to become skilled in the art of
‘reading’ the situations that they are attempting
to organize or manage. (Morgan, 1997, p. 3)
1. Analysing communication
“Analysing communication” means interpreting the meaning of message of
speaker.
OBJECTIVES
This chapter will:
show how our personal definitions of communication influence how we act;
review popular models of communication and explain why we need a more
complex approach;
introduce our approach: the communication triangle;
outline a practical example of communication in the workplace and show
how we can use the communication triangle to analyse it.
COMMUNICATION AND ACTION
•Deciding what we mean by communication is not just
an academic exercise. As human beings, we act on the
basis of our perceptions and beliefs.
•So if we have a particular view of human
communication, then we will act on that view.
•If we have a faulty view, then our behaviour may
cause problems.
•An example of how managers act upon their
perceptions and cause problems will make this point
clearer. The example of Fred makes it clear.
•Consider Fred Davis, recently is promoted
telecommunication’s manager, who is responsible for
implementing new telephone, voicemail and email systems in
a large organization which has recently gone through a
merger.
•This case is described by Finn (1999), and is based on
experiences with organizations implementing new
technology.
•Fred is not having a good time: he has received several
messages from senior managers who were unhappy.
What is Fred’s problem?
• The main problem is his failure to manage. This is
based upon his perception of his role and his belief
about how he should act and communicate as a
manager.
• He saw himself as an expert and as a ‘doer’.
• He did not involve in meaningful communication
with the prospective users of new system.
• He had not built a consensus within the organization which
supported his plans.
• Of course, such communication would have slowed him
down and he would not have been able to implement the
system in such a short time.
• He had to think what managing really means and what he
can achieve by working with and through other influential
members of the organization.
• Only by adopting a new managerial style would he be able to
rescue the situation ?– ‘he had not yet begun to shed his
doer role to become an enabler’ (Rogers et al., 1999, p. 580)
Different views of communication: SIMPLE MESSAGES CAN
FAIL
During the Second World War, an acrimonious (bitter)
discussion broke out at a meeting of the combined chiefs of
staff of Britain and the United States. The argument was over
a proposal by the British to ‘table a certain document’. It went
on for some time until one person pointed out that both sides
wished to discuss the document.
The problem was the differing meaning of ‘table’. The more
common British meaning is to ‘put forward for discussion’
while in the United States it means ‘to postpone the
discussion indefinitely’.
Different views of communication
• If different views of communication have very real practical
consequences, what are the main differences? Philip Clampitt (2001)
suggests that managers typically use one of three different
approaches to communication: the ‘arrow’, the ‘circuit’ and the
‘dance’.
• Arrow managers believe that communication operates one way, as in
firing an arrow. If your aim is good, then you will hit the target. If you
have a clear message, then you will communicate. On the positive
side, arrow managers may well spend some time working out their
ideas and making sure that their messages and instructions are as
specific as possible. Arrow managers can also be insensitive to
possible ambiguities in what they say and how they say it.
• In contrast, circuit managers concentrate on communication as a two-
way process, emphasizing the importance of feedback. They usually
emphasize the importance of good listening and trust in relationships.
Clampitt argues that this approach also has some weaknesses.
• In particular, he feels that circuit managers can overemphasize
agreement and fail to recognize real differences in views within the
workplace. Circuit managers may assume that disagreement is simply
a matter of poor communication and that more communication will
almost automatically lead to agreement
• Clampitt concludes that the metaphor of dance is the most
appropriate way of describing communication. To support
this metaphor, he discusses a number of similarities
between communication and dance, including the
following:
a. Both are used for multiple purposes. You can dance to
entertain others, to impress your partner, to express
yourself, and so on. In the same way, you can communicate
for different reasons: to inform, to persuade, to impress, etc.
b. Both involve the co-ordination of meanings. The
importance of co-ordination is an obvious feature of dance.
c. Both are governed by rules. There are sets of rules
which apply to different types of dance: what sort of
steps to use, how these steps are organized in
sequence, what dress is appropriate. Again in this
book we shall see how different rules apply to different
communication situations – ranging from the rules and
conventions of grammar through to social rules and
expectations. Also, these rules can change over time
and be negotiated by the participants.
 ANALYSING COMMUNICATION
• Our approach is based on what we call the communication triangle.
We suggest that you need to think about communication by putting
together two different perspectives:
• define the process: in other words, you need to examine major
components of the communication process and the sequence of
events which are taking place;
• interpret the meanings: in other words, you need to investigate the
social and cultural context, and the historical background to see how
the participants interpret what is going on.
INTERPRETING THE MEANINGS
• In order to fully understand how people
communicate, we need to understand not just the
immediate background but the much broader social
context and history of their relationship.
• Not only we examine how people come to agree on
what is happening, but we also have to look at how
they feel about events.
 
THE PROCESS MODEL OF COMMUNICATION
• The definition of communication in many
management texts is based on a model first
popularized in the 1950s, the so-called mathematical
theory of communication. This was developed from
work on telecommunications systems
• According to it, communication is essentially a one-
way process with information passing from sender to
receiver.
The Communication Process/essential components of communication
(SMMRFC) (Formula:- Samir Maan Malla ra Fadindra Chhetri n)
In the process of communication, how a message by a
communicator is originated and how it is received by the audience
is mainly focused. The process of communication includes the
following steps:
• Sender/encoder:- The person who sends the message(symbols as
speech, written words, gestures etc.) with an intended meaning. The
sender may an institution as well
• Message:- Key idea with a meaning conveyed by the sender to the
receiver. The effectiveness of the message depends on how accurate
and clear it is.
• Medium/channel:- It is the means by which a message is conveyed
to the receiver. The choice of medium is determined by the nature of
audience, message and the receiver.
• Recipient/decoder:- Individual(s) for whom the message is intended for or
targeted at. An ideal recipient has the competencies to understand the
intended message.
• Feedback:- It may be verbal or non-verbal and it helps to make communication
circular(two ways) rather than a linear process(one way). It offers the sender an
opportunity to relate the intended meaning of the message.
• Context:- In appropriate context, the message should be given, otherwise,
there may be barrier in communication. For e.g the advertisement/message of
Sprite is much more contextual in summer rather than winter.
• Noise:- Noise is a random input which distorts a message or which interferes
with its transmission or reception. Noise may be external or internal. Examples
of external noise are traffic noise making conversation difficult or electrical
interference on a telephone line. An example of internal noise is a temporary
irritation which causes a communicator to lose concentration, such as feeling
tired or having a headache.
 SUMMARY
• Our understanding of communication influences the way we behave.
• Managers may define communication as a linear process which may or may not
incorporate feedback.
• This definition is not sufficient and can be misleading in many situations.
• You can analyze human communication from at least two different perspectives: the
process perspective and the interpretive perspective.
• The process perspective emphasizes the way messages are constructed and
delivered, and the various factors which influence how those messages are received.
• The interpretive perspective emphasizes the meaning which we perceive in
situations. This meaning is often the result of complicated historical and cultural
processes.
• We need to consider both process and interpretive perspectives when we examine
particular examples of business communication.