COMMUNICATION

DEFINITION AND PROCESS

COMMUNICATION: transfer of information including feelings and ideas from
one person to another. The transfer process is affected by number of factors
that either help or hinder the message.
: organization can relate with its external environment which include
customers, suppliers, competitors and the government.
: is essential for the coordination of business.
: it is a two-way process in which a sender reaches a receiver with a message.
GOAL: is to have the receiver understand the message as it was intended.
Importance of Communication
It is through this that individual members of the organization will know important concerns
such as:
1. What their organization is
2. What objectives their organization wants to achieve
3. What their roles are in achieving the organization’s objectives
4. How they will achieve those objectives
5. Who the individual members of the organization are
The list above is only a partial enumeration of what needs to be communicated to the various
personalities in operating the organization.
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
: provides management with answers to questions
related to what motivates its workers to perform
effectively, what products or services the customers
want, what products or services the suppliers are
providing and many others.
The Communication Process
 SIX COMPONENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
1. SENDER/ COMMUNICATION SOURCE
: is a person who makes the attempt to send a message which could
be spoken, written, in sign language, or nonverbal to another person
or a group of persons.
: The company clerk cracked a joke in a gathering of employees. To
his dismay, nobody reacted. In another occasion, the same joke was
used by the president to impress his subordinates in his opening
speech.Everybody contributed his share in the general laughter that
followed. The clerk who was also present did not know what to say.
2. THE MESSAGE
: is a purpose or an idea to be conveyed in a communication event.
: the actual physical product as a result of encoding.: is the speech when speaking, written document in writing
and making gestures.
How the message is received is influenced by the following factors:
a. Clarity of the Message: a message written/spoken in a language nobody understands will not pass the
criteria for clarity because the message will not be received properly.
b. Alertness of the Receiver: when the receiver is busy doing something else like listening to music, he will not
be able to understand clearly what the person is relating to him in the story.
c. Complexity and Length of the Message: to a12-year-old child who has never gone to school, the stock market
will be too complex for him and he will not appreciate anything said about it.
d. How the Information is Organized: when the information sent to a receiver is not organized, it will be hard
for the receiver to fully appreciate it.
Example:
The company hired 10 people in 2008; 15employees were fired in 2009; 26
employees were suspended in 2006, and 30 employees were reprimanded in
2008. The message has two components:
1. The thought/ conceptual component of the message: this is contained in
the words,ideas, symbols and concepts chosen to relay the message.
2. The feeling/ emotional component of the message: this is contained in the
intensity,force, demeanor, and sometimes the gesture of the communicator
or sender. This enriches and clarifies the message and its effect is to give the
message its full meaning.
3. THE CHANNEL
: is the medium through which the message travels and it consists of various
types.
a. Face-to-face: most effective
b. Telephone and cellphones
c. E-mail
d. Written memos and letters
e. Posted notices: least effective
f. Bulletins: least effective
Communication Channels may be classified as:
a. Formal Channels: belongs here are the communication policies, procedures,
and other official announcements because it is the one recognized as
authoritative.
b. Informal Channels: do not follow the chain of command because people can
get in contact with each other at a faster pace.
GRAPEVINE: is a type of informal channel that transfer information through
networks of friendships and acquaintances.
Advantage: able to transmit information quickly and efficiently.
Disadvantage: it can transmit incorrect or untimely information.
4. THE RECEIVER
: person receiving the message.: must interpret and understand the
message,however, one will be influenced by factors like age,gender, beliefs,
past and cultural experiences, needs.
5. THE FEEDBACK
: the process of communicating how one feels about something another
person has done or said.: provides a clue to the sender of information
whether the message he sent was received as intended.
: When a supervisor calls his subordinates over the phone and asks, “How
are you getting along with our new recruits?” the answer is a feedback.
6. THE ENVIRONMENT
: refers to the circumstances in which messages are
transmitted and received.
• NOISE: anything that disrupts communication,
including the attitude and emotions of the receiver.
This includes loud music, the feeling about a sick
relative, children playing in the background, etc.
TYPES OF COMMUNICATION

 Internal communication
This is a type of communication that takes place within the organization. It can take place among employees,
managers and subordinates.
Internal communications focus on the way employees interact with one another. This workplace
communication may involve the following:
 Professional collaboration via numerous communication channels such as video, email or live Chat
Employee training modules such as decision-making courses or two-way reviews
 Messaging around an organization’s mission
 Interpersonal communications between management and employees
 Workplace social activities
Internal communication focuses on employee
engagement and employee communication.
Businesses need to ensure that employees can bond
and make effective professional connections. This can
be more challenging for large organizations or those
that encourage employees to work from anywhere.
 External communication
This type of communication takes place between the organization and people outside the
organization like suppliers, creditors, customers, government etc.
External communication applies to the way an organization communicates with the outside
world. This includes:
 Public relations announcements, for example by social media, TV, or radio
 Marketing materials
 Branding of products or services
 Job posts and hiring, including LinkedIn adverts or recruitment drives
 Communication with stakeholders
 Customer support
External communication is important for building a brand, as
well as maintaining strong customer relationships. There
should be an overarching tone to all external
communication in order to show a cohesive organizational
image. It needs to fit with the organization’s mission, ethics,
and industry.
Additionally, having clear guidelines on how to communicate
with customers ensures a consistent, high- quality customer
experience.
 WAYS OF COMMUNICATING IN ORGANIZATIONS

Organizations with effective organizational communication have a number of techniques to

get it right.
Here are some examples of effective organizational communication:
Team meetings
A team meeting should be something the employees look forward to each week — a place
where they can share their concerns, share ideas, ask questions, get important information,
and feel that they are part of the overall process. 80% of your weekly meetings should be
spent solving problems. Team meetings are an important part of organizational
communication. While team meetings more commonly happen in person, they can also take
place virtually.
Remote work training
Remote work training is a type of employee training that takes place
at a distance, and is a part of learning & development process. It's
aimed at people who work from home or remotely rather than at an
office.
Business communication can be more difficult when employees aren’t
sharing the same workspace. As such, the best companies provide
remote work training to ensure that all employees know how to
communicate.
Feedback
A successful business creates an environment where
employee communications are prioritized. As such,
they are always looking to improve organizational
communication techniques and encourage feedback.
They use qualitative and quantitative data to better
the company and improve communications systems.
Social events
Effective communication can’t take place if colleagues are
awkward or uncomfortable around each other. Social events
such as team-building exercises help to create open, honest,
and professional relationships and show employees effective
ways to communicate. A successful organization builds
employees’ attitudes by organizing social events and
encouraging them to interact. Social events create positive
organizational cultures and lift employee spirits.