Target of communication

Target of communication

(i) At the individual levels
This is one to one communication that is mostly carried out orally. In small firms, such oral communications may take place face-to-face but in large corporations, a bulk of this communication is oral but not face-to-face. It may be through the use of telephones, mobile or Internet telephony etc
It can also be through written reports – information flows through the organization to the remotest corners in the form of hourly, shift or daily reports. These reports are further summarized into weekly, monthly and quarterly reports for dissemination at the appropriate levels of the enterprise. Messaging through electronic mail is changing the scenario rapidly.

(ii) At the group level
Contemporarily, this has emerged as the most common form of communication as enterprises move from individual way of job design to a more socially accepted form of team working. Every job that is being done is communicated to the team members, located in different departments, different cities, and different countries. Experience has confirmed that teamwork ensures better and faster completion of jobs at most levels of working.
Both oral and written types of communication are used extensively. Much of the oral communications take place in meetings, seminars, and conferences done by inviting them to a room or through computer-based video conferencing.
Similarly written reports are either circulated physically or, as is becoming more common, soft copies are emailed to everyone. As a rule, no hard copies are made. Anyone wanting hard copies and authorized to have them can request the same from the nearest server station of the computer network. This has been the corporate policy followed by Microsoft for almost a decade now. We are still quite far away from the utopian situation of having „paper-less, people-less‟ offices but there is no doubt that the sizes of the establishments are becoming leaner through downsizing and de-layering of organization structures.

Process of management

Process of management

Once the corporate objectives have been quantitatively and otherwise specified, the normal process of management takes over. Every step of the process is carried through the free flow of communication as described below:

(i) Planning
Planning is based on assumptions about working etc, predictions and forecasts that overarch time horizon designated for planning. For strategic planning, time horizon may extend from 3 to 5 years; for tactical planning, the time horizon is around one year and for operational planning, it may be three months or even less.

It has been said that managing the future really involves management of information about the future. This flow of communication about the achievements in the past, trend analyses and their projection into the future form the grist of planning work. Central to any planning is the strategic intent
of the company. Therefore, along with the detailed planning, communication must include the underlying assumptions and strategy underpinning it.

(ii) Organizing
Once the overall strategic planning is frozen, a design of organization structure must be examined – what changes need be made in the existing design so that it is in tune with the changed requirements of the new strategy.
Every stakeholder of the firm must be communicated properly about the new organization structure, changes brought about and how those changes will take shape. An open, transparent and participative approach in management will go a long way in allaying any fears. Timely and comprehensive communication ensures against gaps, the breeding ground of gossips and rumors.

(iii) Staffing
Staffing involves filling up of the positions as per the requirements of the new organization structure. A proper procedure must be followed for recruitment, without ignoring the rightful claim of internal claimants.
A transparent system for filling up any vacancy must be designed and implemented so that internal candidates do not find themselves at any disadvantage to the recruitment from outside sources.
Open communication about staffing policy, procedures, and practices ensure a high morale of employees.

(iv) Leading (Directing)
The term „directing‟ is being quickly replaced by leading as the former has been monopolized by statutes referring to members of the board of directors whereas the term „leading‟ does not suffer from such deficiency. Leadership qualities are required at all levels. Seniors can lead their subordinates in developing efficient and effective methods of doing work.
Good communicators tell their subordinates only „what‟ to do and their deputies invariably surprise them with their ingenuity by devising „how‟ those tasks may be performed.

(v) Controlling
Management is a profession of control. An average manager spends a great deal of his time in controlling the progress of job against the original planning goals and objectives. This involves progressing and following up during execution, reviewing and monitoring by discussing with the persons concerned with a view to discovering tomorrow‟s problems today and doing something about them now.
Measuring and creating reports and communicating them to the concerned persons in a regular manner form the essence of the process of control. Feedback communications become the lines for communication, coordination,and control.

Communication is key to „success‟

Communication is key to „success‟

Communication skills spell S-U-C-C-E-S-S for everyone including the firm that acquires these skills:

S Self-awareness
U Understanding others
C Caring for others
C Choosing the right words, phrases and idioms
E Esteem of self
S Self-confidence
S Sharing with others

Communication skills „impress‟

Communication skills „impress‟

It is a set of personal skills that transform ones‟ personality. Effective communication skills enable a person to „impress‟ as the acronym elaborates:

I Idea
M Message
P Pause
R Receiver
E Empathy
S Sender
S Security concerns

Thus to impress others especially ones‟ subordinates, peers and seniors, managers/leaders have a duty to themselves – to improve their intra-personal communication skills. Only they can help and no one else can undertake this self-improvement regime on their behalf. Experience has confirmed that these skills are largely acquired and are not inborn.

STRATEGIC RELEVANCE OF COMMUNICATION

STRATEGIC RELEVANCE OF COMMUNICATION

Homo sapiens, as a species, have progressed faster than any other animal species solely because human beings have learned to communicate and cooperate better for the mutual betterment of mankind. Among the fruits of these unrelenting efforts to improve, human beings have successfully won the challenges of time, distance and speed and have acquired the ability to communicate across communities, countries, and continents.

Following ideas, proverbs and quotations provide the proof, if it is needed, to highlight the role of communication in our civilization:

1. Communication is a key to success and advancement
2. Communication is not a quick fix; it is a journey.
3. The verbal edge is the winning edge.
4. What you say or write is you.
5. All progress means war with society.
6. The finest eloquence is that which gets things done.
7. Communication is the glue that holds an organization together
8. Communication is the life-blood of an organization
9. Top executives need to communicate most of the time
10. It is not enough to have a strategy; communicating it to everyone is the real challenge

PRINCIPLES OF GOOD COMMUNICATION

PRINCIPLES OF GOOD COMMUNICATION

Communication is directly influenced by the ability to articulate issues concisely and convey to receivers in words and phrases they are familiar with so as to persuade them to the intended course of action. It is, therefore, a powerful skill to cultivate. Following checklist comprising of 7 Cs and 4 Ss should serve as good guideline for budding managers and leaders:

 Seven Cs of communication

(i) Completeness
Complete messages achieve the desired results without having to incur additional time and expenses is seeking clarifications and getting piece-meal replies. Complete messages from the sender help to build his image, goodwill and credibility. It saves time and cost. Following guidelines are useful:
 Check 5Ws (What, When, Where, Who and Why) and IH (How) of the message
 Answer all questions raised meticulously
 Give some extra information rather than holding it back

(ii) Conciseness
Conciseness is saying message in the fewest words without sacrificing understanding by the receivers. It is the opposite of wordiness or verbosity. By eliminating unwanted words, importance and emphasis of messages is increased. Remember that „brevity is the soul of wit‟. Following guidelines would serve better:
 Omit hackneyed expressions
 Avoid repetition and long winding sentences
 Include relevant facts but with courtesy
 Organize message logically and effectively

(iii) Consideration
Always prepare message keeping receivers in mind. Ideally, senders should put themselves in receivers‟ position and then visualize their needs and wants. Thereafter, they would be able to craft messages that are more in tune with receivers‟ requirements. One should gift wrap whatever one wants to say or write. This requires an attitude, empathy and human touch. It leads to better understanding of the human nature. Following directions should be useful:
 Focus on „you‟ instead of „I‟ or „we‟
 Highlight benefits of the message to the receiver
 Emphasize positive and pleasant aspects of facts
 Imbibe integrity in to the message

(iv) Concreteness
The message should be specific, definite and vivid. Communicators should conscientiously avoid vague and general statements. Some good rules to follow are:
 Choose vivid and image building words in the message
 Use direct and action verbs
 Use specific facts and figures

(v) Clarity
Special efforts are required to see that messages getting across are fully understood by receivers although they may not have identical experience, education and opinions. Every individual has a unique mental filter that gives different meanings to messages although the text is the same. Following tips will be useful:
 Always choose short, familiar and conversational words and phrases
 Endeavour to achieve appropriate lengths for sentences and paragraphs
 Support the message with examples, illustrations and audio-visuals

(vi) Courtesy
Courtesy comes from ones‟ innate desire to respect others. Courtesy brings in new friends and strengthens old friendships. However, one has to develop a „you-attitude‟ and being sensitive to others. A few good rules are:
 Omit expressions that hurt, are irritating and be-little
 Apologize in good faith
 Answer mail regularly and properly
 Be appreciative, thoughtful and honestly factual

(vii) Correctness
Messages done in a perfect way grammatically may fail to achieve their purpose because receivers found them insulting, humiliating and overbearing. Correctness can be ensured by adopting following rules:
 Using correct level of language in tune with the receivers
 Incorporating only accurate data and evidence
 Choosing the right words, phrases and sentences
 Organizing matter systematically into paragraphs of appropriate size

ORGANIZATIONAL BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION

ORGANIZATIONAL BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION

Organization structures of firms are designed to support company‟s objectives. Besides, organizations prescribe systems – a set of policies, procedures, and norms of behavior (code of conduct) to reinforce the achievement of corporate objectives. These are further supplemented by a comprehensive system of performance appraisals, rewards and punishment. A few major organizational barriers are:


(1) Organizational policy
Policies underpin strategy and facilitate their implementation. Organizational policy should support the flow of information in all directions – external and internal communication covering downward, upwards and horizontal communications. If the flow of communication is not supported by firms‟ policy, it will not be smooth and adequate for the healthy functioning of the organization.

(2) Organizational rules and regulations
Some rules and regulations of the firm may come in the way of free flow of communication and may require the provision of proper channels of communication. Such rules and procedures may inhibit the flow of communication and need to be updated to bring them in line with the demands of strategies and their accomplishment.

(3) Status relationship
Greater the difference in the level of status of the functionaries, greater is the possibility of the breakdown of communication between them. If a person has to be frequently interacting with senior personnel, his job gradation needs to be reviewed.

(4) The complexity of organization structure
Tall organizations comprising of many layers of organization structure, delay flow of messages from sender to the receiver. It increases the risk of distortion of the message en route. In such firms, usually, upwards communication suffers very badly.

(5) Organizational facilities
Firms must provide facilities for meeting and conference rooms, complaint/suggestion schemes etc. They should encourage open door policies by senior managers and executives. Companies should also organize gatherings for social, cultural and sports activities as they also contribute to the better flow of information at both informal and formal levels.

GROUP BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATIONS contd...

GROUP BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATIONS

Inattentive listening
If the receiver is preoccupied with something else and is concerned with other issues, he may fail to react to the message, talk, bulletin, notice or circular. Since the receiver is not able to give sufficient attention, the message may fail to register in his mind.

 The loss during transmission of the message
A message that has to pass through several layers of organization structure or many stages before it reaches the target may lose its accuracy. For oral messages, it is estimated that accuracy is lost at every stage of its transmission or relaying. Even in written messages, loss occurs because of differences in interpretation, meanings and translation.

 Loss of retention
Retaining messages in the memory is a difficult process. It applies to both oral and written messages that are circulated. However, if a copy of the written message is available, persons can refer to it again and again. It is said that people remember:
 10 % of what they read
 20 % of what they hear
 30 % of what they see
 50 % of what they see and hear
 70 % of what they say
 90 % of what they say as they perform the task

 Undue reliance on written words
Senders often place undue importance to written message. In spite of the message being well drafted and presented, it may fail to make the necessary impact because of lack of trust and confidence between the parties. Messages, apart from being very good, should be consonant with the organizations‟ purpose and employees‟ own interest.

 Distrust of the communicator
If the person who is sending the message is prone to frequently countermanding, it leads to delayed responses from recipients. Besides, they may not act enthusiastically, perhaps, because they are waiting for amendment to the original message!

 Failure to communicate
Arising from lethargy or any other reason, managers may fail to inform the concerned person(s). In such cases, even a subsequent message may not invoke the right response because of the missing link!

GROUP BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATIONS

GROUP BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATIONS

These are interpersonal barriers to communication. These occur at the level of interaction within a group of employees – members of a section, department or team having members from different specialist functions of the organization.

A few major barriers to communication are:

(1) Premature evaluation of the sender
This happens when the looks, dress or initial introduction to the subject in not impressive or up to the preconceived standard and receivers have done a premature evaluation of the sender. This can also happen when the credibility of the sender of the message is low. Such barriers stop the transfer of information as senders beget a sense of futility. Such barriers can be overcome by:
 Senders developing empathy for the receivers and modifying the message to make it more acceptable to them
 Receivers listening to the speakers free from prejudice and commitment

Barriers at the level of subordinates

Barriers at the level of subordinates

These are:
(i) Unwillingness to communicate
As a rule, if an employee feels giving information may be embarrassing, he would not divulge it or would delay its flow as much as possible. They often modify the information so as to protect their interests. Wrong information can be very misleading too. Wrong information is worse than no information.
(ii) Lack of proper incentive
Lack of motivation comes in the way of the flow of information up or down the lines of command and control. Similarly, if good suggestions from subordinates are ignored or do not evoke enough response or attention, it has a snowballing effect in the organization. Subordinates do not feel enthused about giving suggestions for improvement of products, processes, and systems. This has been the main reason for the dismal failure of suggestion schemes in USA, Europe, and India.

Barriers at the levels of seniors

Barriers at the levels of seniors

These could be:
(i) The attitude of the seniors
If the attitude of the seniors is not helpful either owing to lack of awareness or because of personal agenda, messages will not flow freely to or from them unlike what should happen in a well-lubricated organization structure.
(ii) Insistence on a proper channel of communication
Some seniors like to stay within the confines of the lines of communication as depicted in a formal organization chart. They do not like bypassing these lines of communication and think that these would amount to thwarting of their authority
(iii) Fear of challenges to their authority
Some seniors tend to hoard information going down / up as it may disclose their weaknesses. They may also think if they do not share the information, they would become more important.
(iv) Lack of confidence in the subordinates
Some seniors perceive their subordinates to be less competent and do not like the information going downwards for the risk of its leakage and misuse.
(v) Ignoring communication
Some seniors ignore the information from their subordinates deliberately in order to maintain their importance. This can create a barrier in the minds of subordinates who may loathe providing information to seniors.
(vi) Lack of time
Some seniors are overburdened with work and consequently have no time to provide information downwards, upwards or horizontally.
(vii) Lack of awareness
Some seniors do not appreciate the critical importance and significance of maintaining a smooth flow of information in all directions within and outside of the organization. This also acts as a blocker of the flow of communication in the organization.

Barriers at the individual level

Barriers at the individual level

These are the obstructions caused in the process of sending and receiving messages during the encoding or decoding of ideas, words, and phrases. In most languages, a word has different meanings, depending upon the context in which it is used. Each word has many synonyms but which one is the most suitable in the given situation, is always an issue. These are known as semantic barriers and may take the following forms:

(i) Badly expressed message
 Lack of clarity
 Lack of precision
 Poorly chosen words and phrases
 Careless omissions
 Lack of coherence
 Poor organization of ideas
 Use of jargons
 Inadequate vocabulary
 Awkward sentence structure

(ii) Assumptions not clarified
Messages are normally based on some assumptions that, if not communicated to the receiver, may lead to incomplete message or wrong interpretation of the message.

(iii) Faulty translation
Messages must use words and phrases that the receiver is familiar with so that he can understand and respond to them. This calls for a great mastery and flexibility in the use of language on the part of the sender. In the absence of a suitable choice of vocabulary, the message may not invoke the desired response from the receiver.

(iv) Use of specialist language
Each specialist uses a lingua that is peculiar to that profession. For example, MBAs use a different language that an engineer and a technician use a different language that an ordinary workman. Illiterates use a different language that the educated. Similarly, city dwellers use different words and phrases than village folks. These act as roadblocks for effective communication among them.

OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Barriers to communication arise from the inherent process involved in sending and /
or receiving messages among human beings. Imperfections creep in from:
 Different levels of thinking of individuals
 Different mental filters arising from individual mental filters conditioned by their knowledge, experience, and opinions
 Less than perfect mastery over the language of expression
 The inadequacy of the language
 Limitations arising from bounded rationality
This has been beautifully captured by one of our folklores – there always exists a vicious triangle in each individual so much so that it is an integral part of ones‟ being. The triangle has three apexes – Thinking (Vichar), Saying (Upchar) and Doing (Achar).
 What we think, we do not say (Human inadequacy, imperfect language, and insufficient linguistic capability)
 What we say, we do not do (Semantic and psychological deficiencies)

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Communication is a vast subject; it stands for connectivity and networking in its broadest sense. In the context of an enterprise, business communication is the process of influencing others to achieve common, shared objectives. Communication is a two-way process and is completed only when the feedback is received by the sender. Information flow is a one-way process.

Communication can be verbal covering oral and written form and non-verbal that uses a large number of signs, signals, gestures, expressions, and sounds. As learning about the non-verbal communication increases, it is changing the way people look at both the oral and written communications. Everyone seems to be communicating all the time especially during waking hours. By mastering the art of observing and interpreting body language and related aspects of communication, everyone can become a better communicator!

Business communication is not only a lifeblood of an organization but also the heart of its internal and external communications. Effective communication skills form a vital part of a job requirement, are prerequisite for promotion to higher positions and are essential to all problem-solving. They ignite enthusiasm, enhance motivation and hone traits of leadership. Communication skills are also advantageous in personal life and community work. They enhance will work, skill to work and thrill to work. They promote joy at work, impart satisfaction and happiness.

A deeper understanding of the process of the inward and outward journey at the senders‟ and receivers‟ end goes a long way in students‟ ability to draft and deliver effective messages. The six-stage model of business communication would enable them to gain a deeper knowledge of the subject and acquire more effectiveness in communication skills – the strategic asset they must possess before they can move in to senior corporate positions.

COMMUNICATION PROCESS-Outward journey

COMMUNICATION PROCESS-Outward journey

When an individual has the need to communicate with others, the process starts with the happenings in the brain of the sender who is already subjected to a lot of experiences, emotions, knowledge, and opinions.
(i) Retrieval of information from human memory
This is very much like pulling a file from the filing cabinet. Since it is in response to a need, the file pulled out may not always be the one most appropriate to the stimuli. This may bring in variations in interpreting the message received.
(ii) Choosing the right words and phrases
This stage is highly subjective and is greatly influenced by the mastery of the sender over the language used for communication. Besides, linguistic competence extends to the proper use of the form of verbs, adjectives, adverbs etc
(iii) Delivery of a message
Role of the sender continues to be important as the style, speed and manner of speaking decide the impact of the message. The body language and ability of the sender to throw his voice towards the audience form the major part of the message delivered.
(iv) Sources of distraction
Once again, the message passes through a medium that may have one or several sources of distraction, impairing the message as received by the communicatee.

COMMUNICATION PROCESS-INWARD JOURNEY

COMMUNICATION PROCESS-INWARD JOURNEY

Influence of sources of distraction

If one is hearing music, even a small level of noise can be very disparaging – no wonder, music recording studious are noise proof. Similarly, speech delivered in noisy circumstances can be very difficult to understand and absorb. Noisy classrooms can be lethal for good learning. Even visuals placed in noisy room fail to make the impact they are intended to. Similarly, listeners may miss many cues from the body language that normally forms a major chunk of the message being delivered. A shabbily dressed person cannot make as good an impression as a well-dressed one.
If there are too many distractions behind or beside the speaker, the message may fall flat. The situation is similar to a young man has gone to see a bride at a place where there are many more beautiful girls present, finds very difficult to decide!

Receiving information from the brain

When information arrives at the brain, it passes through a kind of sieve that separates out difficult, strange or awkward words and simplifies them into familiar words. This is a part of the process of abstraction that takes place before the message is classified and stored

Searching for similar material in the brain memory

This is the second part of the process of abstraction that goes on in the brain – it is somewhat like classifying the message before storing. Once this search is completed, the material is stored next to the similar stuff already in the memory. Rarely, one can get identical material and one should be happy to get as near to the one in memory as possible. If it is totally new or alien material, it may not be possible to retrieve it when required!

 Storing the material in the brain

This is a complex stage. Needless to say that human memory is still the fastest to retrieve and recall. Owing to overload or bounded rationality, there is always a limit to what and how much can be stored in the human memory. This faculty or capacity to store also varies widely among individuals and has a significant influence on ones‟ competence to communicate.