Defining communicationIt is derived from the word communis Which in Latin means common.

It stands for the common activity of human beings of conveying opinions feelings or information etc. Communication is a process of passing information and understanding from one person to another.Keith Davis Communication is any behaviour that results in an exchange of meaning. The American Management Association Communication is the process by which information is passed between individuals and/or organizations by means of previously agreed symbols. Peter Little
Sender Message Message Receiver

Media

Noise

Information source

Encoding Channel Decoding

Destination

Feedback

1. Information Source Sender, person who transmits the message 2. Encoding Puts it into words or symbol 3. Channel Oral, written, electronic signal etc. 4. Decoding Receivers interpretation 5. Feedback acting on communication 6. Noise It can be described as any sort of distortion hindrance, which prevents transmission of message. 7. Filters These are mental in nature 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Classification Of communication Interpersonal Interpersonal Group Mass Verbal Nonverbal

Importance of Communication 1. Healthy Organisational environmentCommunication is to organisation as blood is to human body.In an organisation many people from different background work together as well as interact with outer agencies. Communications through perfect co-ordination binds them and is an effective tool in reaching the goals.

2. Management- employee relationship Communication helps the employees and the management to develop links for better mutual understanding and encourage each other to achieve their self-interest. 3. External and Internal Communications NetworkCommunication between management and employee is internal communication. It helps in the growth of the company as many secret and often embarrassing incidence are kept within the company and are not leaked to the media to avoid a negative image. Breakdowns and other job assignment are reported on time and changes are done accordingly. Thus the business thrives. Similarly in external communications information about the product studies and market analyses flows easily resulting into growth. With growing number of branches of business houses all over the world the communication becomes the most effective tool in management. 4. Functionalisation Division of work into different kinds of duties is called functinalisation. It leads to specialization Trainings with Spacialised workers like engineers, scientists, accountants etc. help in the growth of business. 5. Helps to ease out the complexity of businessIn a company, planning, finance, accounts, purchase, production, advertising, marketing, store, sales, labour-welfare, cultural activities, are all handled by people who have unique skills and knowledge. All these different departments collaborate to manage the business effectively through communications. 6. Solving labour problems More employees are conscious of their rights than before. They are organised into trade unions. Through effective communications between organisation and trade unions many lockouts and strikes are prevented. 7. For growing as multinationalsIt helps in the expansion of business beyond boundaries, as well as in understanding legal, political social, economic and educational environment. Hence with globalisation the importance of communications has increased many folds. 8. Helps in competition -- It is generally seen that the product which is promoted more efficiently is the leader in the market. A company which keeps its communication links open with its customers through proper feedback has the chance of evolving better than others. 9. It helps in better participation & delegation Participative mangers communicate better with its employees. They ask and give opinions, views and suggestions with others and work together as a team. Delegations mean giving the rights of working n an independent atmosphere to a certain prescribed limits. This provides a sense of involvement and satisfaction to the workers and raises their moral. ESSENTIALS OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION An effective comm. is the key of sure success in the modern world. The increasing specialisation and the expansion and complexity of todays trade fare have also brought a revolution in the system of comm. An expert in the field of management or business can survive only if he develops his communicating skills. He must know how to communicate with the new technical and speedy devices. An efficient management executive spends more than 90% of his time in communicating with the banks, transport agencies, government officials, legal advisors, insurance companies, experts, customers and fellow employees. Good comm. does not occur accidentally but needs lot of hard work to develop it.

ESSENTIALS OF COMMUNICATION Essentials of good communication are: Positive and pleasant approach This approach goes a long way in establishing good relations with others. There are many occasions when a person has to disagree, refuse, or bear other peoples negativity and temper. But to handle all these with sugar coated words or tactfully without breaking the good will of the opposite party reflects your positive approach and establishes your goodness in the business circle. Appropriate tone, pitch, quality, force and intensity of voice One must ensure to sound natural, friendly, sincere, pleasant, or authoritative as the situation demands. A good control over your voice is a hallmark of essential communication. Self confidence Lack of self confidence can be a critical barrier to effective communication. Self confidence is a must to communicate your achievements and capabilities. Organised message The message must consist of an introduction, a body and a conclusion. It should follow a proper order and a definite movement. Avoid being repetitive. Proper selection and use of media The choice of media available are; audio-visual, non verbal, oral and written. We must choose the right media depending on the circumstances. We must also pay attention to the right mode of transmitting our communication. Proper selection and use of the channels It is essential that we follow a proper channel of communication .they are grouped in upward, downward, vertical, and horizontal. Grapevine is an informal channel of comm. which spreads in any direction. Adaptability and attentiveness Adaptability means getting used to the circumstances and adapting the intellectual, academic, and linguistic atmosphere. This results in faster comm. In todays complex and global world adaptability is an essential factor in effective communication. Attentiveness means to keep your eyes, ear and mind open to new ideas knowledge. There cannot be effective comm. unless the sender and the receiver are attentive to each other. Good listening skills are highly useful in paying attention. You factor Our comm. is effective only when we speak from the receivers point of view. It should be organised in such a way that it should appeal to the interest of the receiver. Hence we must use You much more that the use of I or we. The word you is magnetic and highly effective in both the oral and written communication. Time factor - Speed and timeliness contribute significantly to the effectiveness of comm. In today's organisation goals are set to be achieved within a time frame. Long speeches that stretch beyond their allotted time lose their force and get diluted. The timing of the communication also is of great importance. How a particular news is to be handled and when it is to be communicated makes a lot of difference to the organisation. CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL COMMUNICATION SEVEN CS OF COMMUNICATION Francis J Bergin advocates that there are 7 Cs to a successful oral and written communication they are Candidness Clarity

Completeness Conciseness Concreteness Correctness Courtesy

SEVEN Cs OF COMMUNICATION CANDIDNESS It means honest and sincere. Our guiding principle should be fairness to self and to others involved. In oral comm. If we are honest then we are confident, which is of great importance in your communication. CLARITY The principal of clarity is most important in all communication. To be clear means to use words that are accurate and familiar with proper stresses and pauses. Our spoken language should consist of short sentences and clear words. COMPLETENESS Clarity is ensured by completeness of message. In conversation or presentation one can miss some part of comm. It is therefore, essential that oral presentations, discussions or dialogues should be as far as possible, planned and structured. CONCISENESS This means brief. We should say whatever we have to say in minimum words. We should avoid being repetitive. ex. At this point of time ( now, at present) As regards the fact that (Considering) In due course of time (soon) not very far from here (nearby) CONCRETENESS - This means definitive Or specific. Avoid using vague words and passive voice. ex.- We dont say you are being requested by me but I request you to always use right words to strengthen your point of view. CORRECTNESS In spoken form of comm. Grammatical errors are somewhat common. But you have to be perfect in the written comm. As they are easy to spot and gives a bad impression. COURTESY Courtesy demands that we do not use words that are insulting or hurtful to the listener. In conversational situations, an effective decorum is to be maintained. We should not be rude and should not use words of abuse or insult like Bloody or my foot" or shit which are common slang being used by many people. Our tone should be of respect or authority as the situation demands.

Characteristics of successful communication

According to Francis J Bergin the seven Cs of successful communications are 1. Candidness / Consideration In business our views should be Honest, sincere, and unbiased. Focus on You instead of I or We Show audience benefit or interest in the receiver emphasize[positive, pleasant facts 2. Completeness Provide all necessary information Answer all questions asked Give something extra, when desired 3. Clarity Choose precise, concrete, and familiar words

 Construct effective sentences and paragraph 4. Conciseness Eliminate wordy expression Include only relevant material Avoid unnecessary repetition 5. Concreteness Use specific facts and figures Put action in your verbs Choose vivid, image-building words 6. Courtesy Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful, and appreciative Use expressions that show respect Choose nondiscriminatory expressions 7.Correctness Use right level of language Check accuracy of figures, facts and words Maintain acceptable writing mechanics BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION Communication is never perfect. Numbers of factors are responsible which stands in the way of complete communication. These are called barriers. Thus the factors which prevents in exact transmitting of the message are barriers to communication. PHYSICAL, EXTERNAL OR MECHANICAL BARRIERS:-- DEFECTS IN THE MEDIUM external defects in some mediums like, telephone, postal system, courier service or even electronic media may fail or break down due to mechanical faults. NOISE It interferes with the transmission of the signal. these disturbances are in the form of sounds, visual, audio visual, written etc. Bad microphone, noise of machine, loud stereo, poor connectivity of phones, week signals bad handwriting etc. are some of the examples. TIME AND DISTANCE -- The frequency of communication affects relationships in the organisation this could be due to working in different shifts. The delay is caused in comm. Often due to some person sticking to strict routine. Distance acts as a barrier due to improper sitting arrangements in the offices. Partitions of the cabin and lack of intercom disturbs the comm. LANGUAGE AND SEMANTIC BARRIERS LACK OF COMMON LANGUAGE If the communicator and receiver belongs to different groups their ignorance of each others language acts as barrier to communication. LACK OF GRAMMATICAL KNOWLEDGE AND POOR VOCABULARY English is one language which has words with multiple meaning. Poor knowledge of English is one of the biggest factors of miscommunication. SOCIO PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS ATTITUDES AND VALUES The messages are interpreted by the people in terms of their attitude and values. Self interest prevents people to see others point of view .If the message runs contrary to their view they distort it.

 DIFFERENT PERCEPTIONS OF REALITY Man prefers to believe what he prefers to be true. Two people have different t perception of life. it could be due to diff. physical senses of hearing, sight, taste smell etc. . Hence we see or hear according to our abilities. FILTERING It is the process of reducing the details or aspects of a message according to the receivers understanding of the situation SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS STATUS BLOCK status is the position or social rank of a person in a group. People in senior position mostly have the attitude of I know better than you'. This acts as barrier. Status consciousness often is directly proportional to lack of information. CLOSED MIND Limited intellectual background, reading causes a persons mind to be narrow. This limits the ability to communicate better. POOR COMMUNICATION SKILLS. Lack of skill in writing and speaking prevents a person from framing a message properly. Bad listening also results in a communication gap. HALO EFFECT AND GROUP IDENTIFICATION -- This is the effect due to a persons trust . We tend to believe in everything if it is coming from a person of trust. CROSS- CULTURAL BARRIERS Each nation has a character of its own they have different set of values and follow a diff. culture. communication becomes difficult when you are in the company of foreigners. Some of the factors affecting communication in such case are Values Social relationship Concept of time Concept of space Body language& non verbal behaviour Paralanguage. CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION The main characteristics of effective oral communication are Consider the objectives Think about the interest level of the communicator Be sincere Use simple language, familiar words Be brief and precise Avoid being vague and general Give full facts Assume nothing Use polite words Cut out insulting message Say something interesting and pleasing Allow time to respond Be a good listener