Chapter One: Introduction to

Communication
 Starter

“Communication - The human connection -

is the key to personal and career
success. ”. Paul J. Meyer
• “The most important thing in
communication is hearing what isn't being
said. The art of reading between the lines
is a life long quest of the wise. ”
• Shannon L. Alder
Motivational Quote
 What is Communication?

The root of the word “communication” in

Latin is communicare, which means to
share, or to make common (Weekley,
1967). Communication is defined as the
process of understanding and sharing
meaning (Pearson & Nelson, 2000).
 What is Communication?
•The sharing of information between
two or more individuals or groups to
reach a common understanding.
•In general communication refers to
imparting or exchanging of
information, ideas ,facts, opinions,
beliefs, feelings, through verbal and
nonverbal means within group of
people usually with the intent to
motivate or influence behavior
Verbal & Nonverbal Communication

• Verbal Communication
– The encoding of messages into words,
either written or spoken
• Nonverbal
– The encoding of messages by means
of facial expressions, body language,
and styles of dress.
Nature of business communication
1.two-way process: communication is two-
way process information not only has to
be sent but also received and
understood. Feedback is an essential
part of communication.
2. Continuous process: communication is
on going process. It essential for human
activity to exist and in business and non
business organizations, continues
interaction promotes understanding and
exchange of information relevant for
decision making
 CONT………..
3. Pervasive: communication is
essential in all types of
organizations, and at all levels of
management.
4. exchange: the basic purpose
of communication is to create
mutual understanding by giving –
seeking information, persuading-
influencing others and generating
responses.
5. Communication is more than
words ( ideas and emotions)
7 Cs of effective communication
7 Cs of effective communication
1. Clarity: Ensuring your message is straightforward, easy
to understand, and free from ambiguity or confusion.
2. Conciseness: Conveying your message with
brevity and minimal use of unnecessary words or
details.
3. Coherence: Organizing your message logically
and in a structured manner to facilitate
comprehension.
4. Courteous :communicating polite and respectful
manner
5.Correctness: Ensuring that your message is accurate
in terms of grammar, facts, and information.
6. Completeness: Including all necessary
information and addressing relevant questions or
concerns in your communication.
7. concrete :specific and tangible avoiding ambiguity
and vagueness
 The Communication Process

• Phases of the Communication

Process:
– Transmission phase in which information is shared by two or
more people.
– Feedback phase in which a common
understanding is assured.
The Communication Process
 Question?

What part of the communication process

has the sender translating the message
into symbols or language?

A. Message
B. Encoding
C. Decoding
D. Feedback
 The Communication Process

• Sender – person wishing to share

information with some other person
• Message – what information to
communicate
• Encoding – sender translates the
message into symbols or language
• Noise/ Interferance – refers to anything
that hampers any stage of the
communication process
 The Communication Process

• Receiver – person or group for which the

message is intended
• Medium – pathway through which an
encoded message is transmitted to a receiver
• Decoding - critical point where the receiver
interprets and tries to make sense of the
message
Data – un interpreted and unanalyzed facts
Information - data that have been interpreted,
analyzed, & and have meaning to some user
 The Communication Process

• Feedback phase is initiated by the

receiver
• Receiver decides what message to send
to the original sender
• Feedback eliminates misunderstandings,
ensures that messages are correctly
interpreted
One-way Vs. Two-way Communications

One-Way Communication - a person sends

a message to another person and no
questions, feedback, or interaction follow
■ Good for giving simple directions

■ Fast but often less accurate than 2-way

communication

Two-Way Communication - the

communicator & receiver interact
■ Good for problem solving
The Role of Perception in Communication

• Perception
– process through which people select,
organize, and interpret sensory input
to give meaning and order to the world
around them
The Role of Perception in Communication
•Biases
– systematic tendencies to use information ab
others in ways that can result in inaccurate
perceptions
Different types of biases and their impact on effective
communication
• Confirmation Bias:The tendency to search for,
interpret, and remember information that confirms
preconceptions while ignoring or discounting
contradictory information.
• Impact: Confirmation bias can lead to selective
perception, where individuals only absorb
information that aligns with their existing beliefs,
making it difficult to have open and unbiased
discussions.
• Availability Bias: The tendency to rely on readily
available information or examples that come to mind
when making judgments or decisions.
• Impact: This bias can distort communication by
causing people to overemphasize recent or vivid
events, leading to inaccurate assessments of
situations and limiting the consideration of less
prominent but relevant information.
Cont..
• Anchoring Bias:The tendency to rely heavily on the first piece of
information encountered (the "anchor") when making decisions,
even if it's irrelevant or arbitrary.
• Impact: Anchoring bias can skew negotiations and
discussions, as people may fixate on initial proposals or figures,
making it challenging to arrive at fair compromises or explore
alternative options.
• Halo Effect: The tendency to assume that someone's
positive qualities in one area also apply to other areas, creating
an overall positive impression.
• Impact: This bias can affect effective communication by
causing individuals to overlook or downplay negative aspects of a
person, product, or idea, leading to incomplete or biased
assessments.
• Hindsight Bias: The inclination to believe, after an event has
occurred, that one would have predicted or expected it to happen.
• Impact: Hindsight bias can hinder objective communication
by making individuals believe they knew something was bound to
happen all along, which may lead to unwarranted self-
assuredness and misinterpretation of past events.
Cont…
• Stereotyping: The application of generalized beliefs or expectations
about a group of people to individual members of that group.
• Impact: Stereotyping can lead to miscommunications by
causing people to make assumptions about others based on
characteristics like race, gender, or age, which can lead to
misunderstandings, prejudice, and discrimination.
• Overconfidence Bias: The tendency to overestimate one's
abilities, knowledge, or judgment.
• Impact: Overconfidence can hinder effective communication by
making individuals less receptive to input and feedback, as they may
believe they already know the best course of action or have all the
necessary information.
• In-group Bias: Favoring one's own group or those perceived as
similar while showing prejudice or bias against out-group members.
• Impact: In-group bias can lead to divisive and exclusive
communication patterns, making it challenging to foster cooperation
and understanding between different groups.
• Authority Bias: Giving undue weight or trust to the opinions and
decisions of perceived authorities or experts.
• Impact: Authority bias can stifle open discussion and critical
thinking, as individuals may defer to authority figures without
questioning or challenging their perspectives.
The Dangers of Ineffective Communication

• When managers and other members of

an organization are ineffective
communicators, organizational
performance suffers and any
competitive advantage the organization
might have is likely to be lost.
Information Richness and Communication
Media

• Managers and their subordinates

can become effective
communicators by:
– Selecting an appropriate medium for
each message—there is no one “best”
medium.
– Considering information richness
• A medium with high richness can carry
much more information to aid
understanding.
 Question

What is the amount of information that a

communication medium can carry?
A. Channel capacity
B. Information richness
C. Bandwidth
D. Message capacity
 Information Richness

• The amount of information that a

communication medium can carry.

• The extent to which the medium enables

the sender and receiver to reach a
common understanding
Information Richness of Communication
Media
 Communication Media

• Face-to-Face
– Has highest information richness.
– Can take advantage of verbal and
nonverbal signals.
 Communication Media

• Face-to-Face
– Provides for instant feedback.
– Management by wandering around
takes advantage of this with informal
talks to workers.
– Video conferences provide much of
this richness and reduce travel costs
and meeting times.
 Communication Media

• Spoken Communication
Electronically Transmitted
– Has the second highest information
richness.
– Telephone conversations are
information rich with tone of voice,
sender’s emphasis, and quick
feedback, but provide no visual
nonverbal cues.
 Communication Media

• Personally Addressed Written

Communication
– Has a lower richness than the verbal
forms of communication, but still is
directed at a given person.
– Personal addressing helps ensure
receiver actually reads the message—
personal letters and e-mail are
common forms.
 Communication Media

• Personally Addressed Written

Communication
– Does not provide instant feedback to
the sender although sender may get
feedback later.
– Excellent media for complex
messages requesting follow-up
actions by receiver.
 Communication Media

• Impersonal Written
Communication
– Has the lowest information richness.
– Good for messages to many receivers
where little or no feedback is
expected (e.g., newsletters, reports)
 Communication Media

• Many managers do not have time to read

all the electronic work-related information
available to them
• Problem with information overload is the
potential for important information to be
ignored or overlooked
• Can result in lost productivity
SIGNIFICANCE OF COMMUNICATION

- For success in business effective

communication has always been
essential
- Increase in size of organizations:
business firms nowadays are employing
thousands of employees. They do have
different operations in different parts of
the world. And effective communication
is needed to manage in offices in
different parts of the world.
- Growing specialization: the division
labour has resulted in different activities
being handled by different departments.
 Cont…….
• Technological advancement: due
to all technology becoming
absolute to rapid technological
growth the employees need to
upgraded to the modern
technology and process.
• Cut-throat competition:
globalization has led to severe
competition between organization
in public, private and foreign .
Advertisement and publicity
become necessary for survival
The end