COMMUNICATION MODEL - Encoding & Transmission

COMMUNICATION MODEL - Encoding & Transmission 

The process of how the mind converts an idea into words is not yet fully understood. Choice of words by the speaker depends up various factors as below:
 Subject
 Purpose
 Audience
 Personal style
 Mood

Besides, length of the message, tone and style are influenced by:
 Content of the message
 Familiarity of the receiver(s)
 Emotional conflicts
 Difficulty of expressing ideas

Choice of transmission mode depends upon the followings:
 Message
 Audience
 Need of speed / urgency
 Situation

In all cases, it is important to control the transmission link. This not only ensures its availability but also avoids distortion and level of noise. Also, remember that longer the chain of communication, bigger is the problem of ensuring correct transmission of the messages.

COMMUNICATION MODEL--Conception

COMMUNICATION MODEL--Conception

(i) Mental images
All individuals are continuously bombarded by information flowing from
 Sights (Scenes)
 Sounds
 Scents
These streams of sensation are conveyed to the human mind. Each individual has a unique „mental filter‟ because of own experiences, exposures, emotions etc. The mental filter converts these streams of sensation in to a mental map of the event that becomes the basis of perception of the reality. No two mental images of the observers of the same event will be identical!
All sensations received in the mind go through the process of abstraction and simplification.

(ii) Psychological factors

A person tends to hear what he wants to and rejects what he does not want to hear. This is because of several factors as below:
 Sensory factors
 Demographic factors
 Psychographic factors
 Loyalty of individuals
 Personality of individuals

(iii) Technical aspects
These days communication is greatly influenced by the technology and choice of the medium of transmission. Followings should be taken in to account:
 Transmitter
 Transmission process
 Receiver

In most cases, a certain amount of repetition may be desirable to ensure that the message is not mutilated.

(iv) Role of being logical and systematic
The message, to be effective, should be logical and conveyed in a systematic manner. Messages suffer from:
 Logical errors
 False analogy
 Concluding from limited data
 Understanding syllogism (Deductive logic)
 Arguing in circles
Usually in such cases, the middle of the message remains undisturbed but most receivers tend to get misled.

(v) Conclusions
Arriving at the conclusion from the various conflicting and diverse factors is the real issue. As a rule, four possible conclusions are:
 Valid and true
 Valid and false
 Invalid but true
 Invalid and false
Communicators have to avoid the pitfalls and look for valid and true conclusions.

COMMUNICATION 24 X 7

COMMUNICATION 24 X 7

Knowledge and understanding of the subject of communication is growing very rapidly. Considering that people communicate all the time, round the clock or at least during their waking hours, they must learn how to use this abundant resource for business, personal life and society to their greatest advantage. By doing so, they shall be able to achieve their objectives proactively.

In business, this ability, if harnessed fully, will help managers / leaders/students understand
their customers, colleagues and competitors better and will enable them to reorient
their strategies, policies and tactics in every day working.

As a result national economy and global market shall benefit considerably, enabling
them to take the benefits of economic development to the remotest and the most
disadvantaged segments of our planet.

Information as a one-way process

Information as a one-way process

Information flow is another related process. Information is knowledge; it comes from the processing of raw data which records the events as they take place in every minuscule of an organization or an institution. Knowledge is power. The flow of information is considered to be an extremely powerful tool at the disposal of men at all levels of a business enterprise.

However, difference between communication and information flows must be understood clearly. Whereas communication is a two way process, information is a one-way process. It is, therefore, half of the process.

Yet it is used very extensively in organizations. As businesses grow in size, complexity and dynamics, it is very difficult to ensure two way process all the time. Much of the time, information flows one way – downwards, upwards or horizontal along formal lines of command. These lines of command become the channels of information flows and serve as the cornerstones of communication, coordination and control.

Communication as a two-way process

Communication as a two-way process

Communication is a complete process - it starts with communicators sending messages to receivers, the „communicatees‟. An experienced sender of message, whether oral or written, would think of the audience as his customer. He would try to gauge or guess the kind of level of communication the receiver is comfortable with.

Thereafter, he would craft his message in a manner and in the language, words, phrases and idioms that the receiver is familiar with. Each receiver of message is really a customer whose needs and wants should be as well known to the sender as it happens in a market place. Obviously, like the sender who chooses words, phrases and idioms from his vocabulary depending on own learning, experience and exposure, receiver also has his own mental filter that is the product of his learning, experience and exposure. To absorb the message in his mind, he does the abstraction of the message in to words, phrases and idioms that he is familiar with or has command over. This leads to his formulating his response to the message received. Once again, it goes through the mind filter and ultimately comes out of the communicatee and starts its return journey to the sender of the message. It conveys back what is understood by the receiver.

A sensitive speaker is able to judge the reaction of his audience from the gestures, sounds and expressions of the audience – the way they sit, the way they yawn or the way they twitter their fingers etc. It is thus a complete cycle because it is a two way process. Until the full process has been gone through the process of communication is considered to be incomplete.

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Communication as a subject of study has a very vast canvas. To different people, communication implies various areas of study, research and application:

(1) It is a means of transportation from one place to another viz., moving men, machines, materials etc by surface transport like railways, roadways or by air or by sea. It is not uncommon to describe a region or a country backward in terms of means of communication because it is not serviced or well connected by railways, roadways, airways or seaways.

(2) It also relates to means of sending / receiving messages, packets or parcels through post, telephone, telegram, radio, wireless or Internet. These means of communications have undergone rapid changes during the last few decades. Postal services have been revolutionized by courier services – same-day delivery, next-day delivery etc. Telephone services have become commonplace – one can talk to a person anywhere even one orbiting in a satellite without shouting. The mobile telephony and use of Internet has changed the way people talk and communicate with one another. They are changing the way business is done.

(3) Communication is a major focus of attention for artists – singers, dancers, actors, painters, sculptors etc are all trying to communicate with their audiences. They endeavour to win their attention and appreciation so as to secure attractive returns for their efforts
.
In managerial or business context, it is the science and art of communicating. Etymologically, communication as a word is derived from the word „common‟ in English or „Communis‟ from Latin. It means „shared by‟ or „concerning all‟. Thus communication is a process of „influencing others‟ to achieve common, shared objectives. These goals could be that of individuals, families, teams, departments / functions and companies.
Communication has emerged as a very powerful personal skill that individuals must acquire to be able to perform their duties and become efficient managers and effective leaders.

Terms & Definitions in Communication

Terms & Definitions in Communication

Jargon: Term used to describe the stage of language development when children string together
sentence-like expressions that are not very understandable as true words. Children can use either
speech or sign jargon depending on their communication system.

Language: Shared code, used by a group of people, that determines what words mean and the
rules for how words are combined and used to convey ideas to others. Language can be spoken,
signed, or written. “Receptive language” refers to our ability to understand the information conveyed
by others. “Expressive language” refers to our ability to share information with others.

Manual Babbling: Term used to describe the early handshapes used by infants or toddlers who
see sign language in their everyday environment. As with speech babbling, early manual babbling
may not represent any true signs or words. Later manual babbling may be used as part of a young child’s beginning communication system.

Manually Coded English: A sign language system that uses a visual (signed) form of the English
language. There are a number of systems for manually coding English. Most of these systems use
American Sign Language (ASL) signs as a base and also use English word order. Each system for manually coding English has its own variations and rules.

Simultaneous Communication (Sim-Com): A communication system in which spoken English
and its manually coded (signed) version are used at the same time. The term “total communication”
may at times be used to describe simultaneous communication.

Speech: Generally used to mean the expression of language through the spoken word. The term
“speech sounds” refers to the individual consonant and vowel sounds that make up a language such
as English.

Speech-Language Pathologist: A licensed professional who holds a degree in speech-language
pathology and who specializes in the evaluation and treatment of speech, language, and voice disorders.
This may include children whose speech or language problems are the result of a hearing loss.

Total Communication: In this communication system, the word “total” refers to the use of any
form of communication that will enable the child to learn language. Manually coded English is one
part of the system, which also includes speech, listening through amplification, print, and speech reading.
The term “total communication” may at times be used to describe simultaneous communication
(sim-com).