Communication is defined as the transfer of facts, information, ideas, suggestions, orders, requests,

grievances etc. from one person to another so as to impart a complete understanding of the subject
matter of communication to the recipient.

Features of Communication:

1. Communication is necessary and required in all managerial functions. However, it is an integral

part of the directing process; and assumes greater significance at the directing stage.
2. Communication is a function of every manager. Hence, it is a pervasive managerial function. All
managers would have to make necessary communications to their subordinates and get a
feedback to their communications from the latter.
3. Communication is a continuous process, throughout the organizational life. It is the basis of
organizational functioning.
4. Communication is a complete and rational process, only when the recipient of the message
understands the subject matter of communication. Communication is, in fact, a transmission of
understanding from the sender to the recipient of the message. Something which is an
imperative requirement from the human relations perspective of communication.
5. Communication usually is and should to be a two-way process. This emphasizes on the feedback
aspect of communication such as the sender of the message must get the necessary response or
reaction of the recipient to the communication made to him.
6. Communication is always done with a purpose. For example, if the communication is a work-
order by the superior to some subordinate, the subordinate must comply with the order.
7. Communication process requires, at least, two parties: sender of message and the recipient of
it.
8. Communication is a circular process. Its process starts with the sender of the message and
travelling through various stages completes with a feedback to communication from the
recipient to the sender.

Elements/ Process of Communication:

1. Message - This is the background step to the process of communication; which, by forming the
subject matter of communication necessitates the start of a communication process. The
message might be a factor an idea, or a request or a suggestion, or an order or a grievance.
2. Sender - The person who intends to convey the message with the intention of passing
information and ideas to others is known as sender or communicator.
3. Encoding - Encoding means giving a form and meaning to the message through expressing it into
words, symbol, gestures, graph, drawings etc.
4. Medium/Channel - It refers to the method or channel, through which the message is to be
conveyed to the recipient.
5. Recipient/Receiver – It is the person who receives the message or for whom the message is
meant for. It is the receiver who tries to understand the message in the best possible manner in
achieving the desired objectives.
6. Decoding - Decoding means the interpretation of the message by the recipient.
7. Feedback - To complete the communication process, sending feedback to communication, by
the recipient to the sender is imperative. Feedback implies the reaction or response of the
recipient to the message.
Principles of Communication:

In order to be effective and meaningful, the managerial function of communication must be guided by
the following principles:

1. Principle of Understanding - Communication must be such, as transmits understanding of the

communication message to the recipient as per the intentions of the sender. A practical
application of this principle requires that the message must be clearly expressed whether made
orally or in writing.
Furthermore, the message must be complete, leaving no scope for any doubts likely to confuse
the recipient and compel him towards a misinterpretation of the message.
2. Principle of Attention - Communication must be made in such a manner, that in invites the
attention of the recipient to it. For a practical application of this principle, it is imperative that
not only must the message be expressed in a pleasant and sound manner but also the purpose
of the sender in making communication must be absolutely clarified.
3. Principle of Brevity - The message to be communicated must be brief. However, brevity of the
message must not be sought at the cost of clarity or completeness of the message. The sender
must strike a balance among these three factors -brevity, clarity and completeness.
4. The Principle of Timeliness - The communication must be timely. It must be made at the high
time, when needed to be communicated to the recipient. An advance communication carries
with it the danger of forgetting on the part of the recipient; while a delayed communication
loses its purpose and becomes meaningless, when the right time for action on it has expired.
5. The Principle of Appropriateness - The communication must be appropriate or rational, in the
context of the realization of organizational objectives. Communication must be neither
impracticable to act upon nor irrational, making no contribution to common objectives.
6. Principle of Feedback - Communication must be a two-way process. The feedback of the
recipient to the message must be as easily transferable to the sender as the original
communication made by the sender.
The idea behind emphasizing on the feedback aspect of communication is that it helps the
sender to modify his subsequent communications in view of the reactions of the recipient –
making for better and improved human relations.
7. Principle of the Constructive and Strategic Use of Informal Groups - The management must not
hesitate in making a constructive and strategic use of informal groups, for ensuring and
facilitating speedier communication in emergency situations. Such a use of informal groups
would also help develop good human relations by upgrading the status of informal groups and
their leaders.

Types of Communication

1. Verbal Communication

Verbal communication refers to the form of communication in which message is

transmitted verbally. Communication is done by word of mouth and a piece of writing. Objective
of every communication is to have people understand what we are trying to convey.
 When we talk to others, we assume that others understand what we are saying because
we know what we are saying. But this is not the case. usually people bring their own attitude,
perception, emotions and thoughts about the topic and hence creates barrier in delivering the
right meaning.

So in order to deliver the right message, you must put yourself on the other side of the
table and think from your receiver’s point of view. Would he understand the message? how it
would sound on the other side of the table?

Verbal Communication is further divided into:

a. Oral Communication

In oral communication, spoken words are used. It includes face-to-face conversations,

speech, telephonic conversation, video, radio, television, voice over internet. In oral
communication, communication is influence by pitch, volume, speed and clarity of speaking.

Advantages of Oral communication are:

 It brings quick feedback.

 In a face-to-face conversation, by reading facial expression and body language one can
guess whether he/she should trust what’s being said or not.

Disadvantage of oral communication

 In face-to-face discussion, user is unable to deeply think about what he is delivering, so

this can be counted as a

b. Written Communication

In written communication, written signs or symbols are used to communicate. A written

message may be printed or hand written. In written communication message can be transmitted
via email, letter, report, memo etc. Message, in written communication is influenced by the
vocabulary and grammar used, writing style, precision and clarity of the language used.

Memos, reports, bulletins, job descriptions, employee manuals, and electronic mail are the
types of written communication used for internal communication. For communicating with
external environment in writing, electronic mail, Internet Web sites, letters, proposals,
telegrams, faxes, postcards, contracts, advertisements, brochures, and news releases are used.

Advantages of written communication

 Messages can be edited and revised many times before it is sent.

 Written communication provides record for every message sent and can be saved for
later study.
 A written message enables receiver to fully understand it and send appropriate
feedback.
 Disadvantages of written communication

 Unlike oral communication, written communication doesn’t bring instant feedback.

 It takes more time in composing a written message as compared to word-of-mouth and
several people struggles for writing ability.

2. Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication is the sending or receiving of wordless messages. We can say

that communication other than oral and written, such as gesture, body language, posture, tone
of voice or facial expressions, is called nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication is
all about the body language of speaker.

Nonverbal communication helps receiver in interpreting the message received. Often,

nonverbal signals reflect the situation more accurately than verbal messages. Sometimes
nonverbal response contradicts verbal communication and hence affect the effectiveness of
message.

Nonverbal communication has the following three elements:

a. Appearance
Speaker: clothing, hairstyle, neatness, use of cosmetics
Surrounding: room size, lighting, decorations, furnishings
b. Body Language - facial expressions, gestures, postures
c. Sounds - voice tone, volume, speech rate

Advantages of non-verbal communication:

1. Complementary: Non-verbal cues complement a verbal message by adding to its meaning. You
can pat someone you offended at the back as you say sorry to him or her.
2. Easy presentation: Information can be easily presented in non-verbal communication through
using visual, audio-visual and silent means of non-verbal communication.
3. Substituting: Non-verbal message may substitute for the verbal message especially if it is
blocked by noise, interruption, long distance etc. for example; gestures-finger to lips to indicate
need for quite, facial expressions- a nod instead of a yes.
4. Accenting: Often used to accent a verbal message. Verbal tone indicates the actual meaning of
the specific words.
5. Repeat: Used to repeat the verbal message, example point in a direction while stating
directions.
6. Help to illiterate people: This type of communication use gestures, facial expressions, eye
contact, proximity, touching etc. and without using any spoken or written word. So, it is very
much helpful for illiterate people.
7. Help to handicapped people: Non-verbal cues of communication greatly help in handicapped
people especially to deaf people. Deaf people exchange message through the movements of
hands, fingers, eyeball etc.
8. Attractive presentation: Non-verbal communication is based on visual, picture, graph, sign etc.
that can be seen very much attractive.
 9. Reducing wastage of time: The message of non-verbal communication reached the receiver very
fast. For this reason, it reduces the wastage of valuable time of the communicator.
10. Quick expression of message: Non-verbal cues of communication like sign and symbol can also
communicate some messages very quickly than written or oral messages.

Disadvantages or limitations of non-verbal communication:

1. Vague and imprecise: Non-verbal communication is quite vague and imprecise. Since in this
communication, there is no use of words or language which expresses clear meaning to the
receiver. No dictionary can accurately classify them. Their meaning varies not only by culture
and context but by the degree of intention.
2. Continuous: It is possible to stop talking in verbal communication, but it is generally not possible
to stop nonverbal cues. Also, spoken language has a structure that makes it easier to tell when a
subject has changed, for instance, or to analyze its grammar. Nonverbal does not lend itself to
this kind of analysis.
3. Multi-channel: while watching someone’s eyes, you may miss something significant in a hand
gesture. Everything is happening at once and therefore it may be confusing to try to keep up
with everything.
4. Culture-bound: Non-verbal communication is learnt in childhood, passed on to you by your
parents and others with whom you associate. A few other gestures seem to be universal.
However, most nonverbal symbols seem to be even further disconnected from any essential
meaning than verbal symbols. Gestures seen as positive in one culture may be seen as obscene
in another culture.
5. Long conversations are not possible: In non-verbal communication, long conversation and
necessary explanations are not possible.
6. Difficult to understand: Difficult to understand and requires a lot of repetitions in non-verbal
communication. Since it uses gestures, facial expressions eye contact, touch etc. for
communicating with others which may not be understandable for the simple and foolish people.
7. Not everybody prefers: Everybody does not prefer to communicate through non-verbal
communication with others. Sometimes it cannot create an impression upon people or listeners.
8. Lack of formality: Non-verbal communication does not follow any rules, formality or structure
like other communication. Most of the cases people unconsciously and habitually engaged in
non-verbal communication by moving the various parts of the body.
9. Costly: In some cases, non-verbal communication involves huge cost. For example, neon sign,
power point presentation, cinema etc are very much costly compared to others form of
communication.
10. Distortion of information: Since it uses gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, touch, sign,
sound, paralanguage etc. for communicating with others, there is a great possibility in distortion
of information in non-verbal communication.

Types of Communication Based on Purpose and Style

1. Formal Communication

In formal communication, certain rules, conventions and principles are followed while
communicating message. Formal communication occurs in formal and official style. Usually
professional settings, corporate meetings, conferences undergo in formal pattern.
 In formal communication, use of slang and foul language is avoided and correct
pronunciation is required. Authority lines are needed to be followed in formal communication.

Variations of formal communication

a. Downward Communication - Downward communication moves downwards in an organization,

from the top management to middle and lower level managements travelling via various links in
the scalar chain. Such communication is imperative for organizational purposes.
Mostly it consists of communicating plans and policies of the enterprise to lower level managers
and, issuing orders and instructions to subordinates, for initiating action according to these for
execution of assigned jobs.
b. Upward Communication - This type of formal communication is really a feedback to downward
communication. Upward communication proceeds upwards in an organization from the lower level
management to middle and upper levels of management, travelling via various links, in the scalar
chain.

Upward communication, usually, takes the following forms:

 Reports by subordinates to superiors on work-performance

 Grievances, problems or difficulties of subordinates forwarded to superiors, at appropriate
levels.
 Suggestions and ideas of subordinates to upper management, for kind consideration and
appropriate implementation.
 Clarifications sought by subordinates from superiors as to the orders and instructions issued by
the latter.

c. Sideward/ Horizontal Communication - This type of formal communication takes place among
managers, placed at the same rank, in the organization. It is necessary for achieving co-ordination
of actions of individuals, doing the similar type of work, under managers of equal ranks.

For example, a communication between two assistant production managers. Sideward

communication might take place through the ‘gang-plank’, as suggested by Fayol; or through the
scalar chain, in a hierarchical manner.

2. Informal Communication

Informal communication is done using channels that are in contrast with formal
communication channels. It’s just a casual talk. It is established for societal affiliations of
members in an organization and face-to-face discussions. It happens among friends and family.
In informal communication, use of slang words, foul language is not restricted. Usually informal
communication is done orally and using gestures.

Informal communication, unlike formal communication, doesn’t follow authority lines.

In an organization, it helps in finding out staff grievances as people express more when talking
informally. Informal communication helps in building relationships.