Objectives of communication

1. To exchange information: The main objective of business communication is to exchange information

with internal and external parties. Internal communication occurs within the organization through orders,
instructions, suggestions, opinions etc.
2. To develop plans: Plan is the blueprint of future courses of actions. The plan must be formulated for attaining
organizational goals. In order to develop a plan, management requires information. In this regard, the objective
of communication is to supply required information to the concerned managers.
3. To implement the plan: Once a plan is prepared, it is to be implemented. Implementation of a plan requires
timely communication with the concerned parties. Thus, communication aims at transmitting a plan throughout
the organization for its successful implementation.
4. To facilitate policy formulation: Policies are guidelines for performing organizational activities. Policies are
also termed as standing decisions to recurring problems. Every organization needs to develop a set of policies
to guide its operation. Preparing policies also require information from various sources. Therefore, the
objective of communication is to collect necessary information for policy formulation.
5. To achieve organizational goal: Collective efforts of both managers and workers are essential for achieving
organizational goals. Communication coordinates and synchronizes the efforts of employees at various levels
to achieve the stated goals of the organization.
6. To organize resources: Various kinds of resources are available in an organization such as human
resources, material resources, financial resources and so on. In organizing these resources in an effective
and efficient way is a key challenge to the managers. Communication is the vehicle to overcome this
challenge.
7. To coordinate: Coordination is a basic management function. It involves linking the various functional
departments of large organizations. Without proper and timely coordination, an achievement of organizational
goals is impossible. Therefore, the objective of communication is to coordinate the functions of various
departments for the easy attainment of organizational goals.
8. To direct the subordinates: The job of a manager is to get the things done by others. In order to get the
things done, management needs to lead, direct and control the employees. The performance of these
managerial functions depends on effective communication with subordinates.

Interpersonal Communication

So, now that we know what directions communications travel, how do they get from sender to receiver? Interpersonal
communication is how an individual chooses to engage with another individual or group. There are three types of
interpersonal communication:

Oral Communication

The chief means of communication is oral, and in most cases, it’s the most effective. Examples of oral communication
can be a speech, a one-on-one meeting, or a group discussion.

The primary advantage of oral communication is speed, as the sender of the messages encodes it into words, and a
receiver immediately decodes it and offers feedback. Any errors can be corrected early, before mistakes are made
and productivity hindered.

The primary disadvantage of oral communication comes into play whenever the message has to be passed through
many people. Did you ever play the game “telephone” with your friends as a child? If you did, you’ll remember that on
player starts a message as a whisper at one end, and by the time it reached the other it was often changed,
sometimes in a funny way. All laughs aside, that’s a real phenomenon and a real issue in organizations. When
messages are verbally passed from person to person, there’s potential for that message to become distorted.

Written Communication

Written communication includes newsletters, memos, email, instant messaging and anything that you type or write.
They’re verifiable forms of communication, existing beyond the moment of transmission and something receivers can
refer back to for clarification.

The primary advantages of written communications is exactly that—they are written. They exist beyond the moment of
transmission and can be used as reference later. Due to their ability to easily be referenced, written communications
are particularly good for lengthy, complex communications. Additionally, the process of creating a written
communication often requires that the sender be more thorough in his or her communication, because there is often
enough time to revise and review what’s been written, and to be more careful about the information being transmitted.

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A disadvantage of written communication is lack of feedback. Oral communication allows a receiver to respond
instantly to the sender with feedback. Written communication doesn’t have a built-in feedback mechanism, and
because of that feedback can arrive too late for appropriate action. Another disadvantage of written communication is
that it’s time consuming. Due to the lack of immediate feedback, it’s often a good idea to be more thorough in your
written communications, which inevitably takes more time to consider how your words might be unclear and
preemptively write in additional context. If a message needs to be communicated quickly, a written communication
isn’t always the best solution.

Non-Verbal Communication

It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it! There’s a myth that says communication is 35% verbal and 65% non-
verbal. If that were true, people speaking a foreign language would be much easier to understand. However, it’s very
true that non-verbal communication adds additional meaning to in-person conversations. Non-verbal communication
includes all of those things that aren’t spoken but definitely transmit part of the message, including the following:

 facial expressions
 gestures
 proximity to receiver
 touch
 eye contact
 appearance

For instance, your friend may be telling you that she’s really excited about a party she’s planning to attend. But if she
appears apathetic and listless, the communication doesn’t come across quite the same. Senders who stand too close
to a receiver send a different message than those who keep a socially acceptable distance. Senders who make eye
contact appear to be more confident than those who avoid it. And finally, a sender’s general appearance—choice of
dress, hygiene, choice of delivery method etc.—can also send a message that either supports or detracts from the
verbal message.

Intonation is also a form of non-verbal communication. How you say something, using your tone and inflection, is also
reflected in the sender’s message to the receiver. Consider the phrase “How would you like to go to lunch?”

Factors that influence communication are described as follows:

1. Positional Relations
when the boss communicates with subordinates, communication becomes more fruitful because the boss is superior
to subordinates interims of knowledge, experience, and position.
Hence, more importance is given to communication and communication becomes more dynamic. It is one of the most
important factors that influence communication.

2. Functional Relations
If there is a harmony of the function of the sender and receiver, then the communication becomes more active
because there is a similarity of level thought and planning which influences their attitude to communicate properly.

3. Experience
It always affects communication because the sender and receiver both are known to each other. Both better and bad
past experiences influence the way to exchange words, news, ideas, and emoticon.
If there exists a better experience, then communication remains sound. While bad experience creates a
communication gap.

4. Group Relations
If both sender and receiver belong to the same group, then there are agreements in terms of class and which
influences better communication.
For example, a trade union acts as a group having unity and uniformity towards its appeal to management.

5. Educational Qualification
The creation of a better message by the sender as well as a proper understanding of the message by the receiver is
very much affected by academic qualification.
Poor education hampers the creation as well as an understanding of any message; while sound education influences
better communication.

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For example, if the sender is highly qualified while the receiver is illiterate, then written communication between them
will be meaningless.

6. Emotion & Feeling

All people are not the same. It is natural that different people have different emotions and such differences in emotion
affect communication a lot; For example, the emotion of a person aged 40 is obviously different from the emotion of a
person aged 16.
Here, communication must happen with due care otherwise the objective of communication may fail. Another most
important factor that influences communication.

7. Misunderstanding
If there is any mistake, vagueness, or confusion regarding any word in communication then it creates
misunderstanding between the sender and receiver.

8. Hereditary Difference
Such difference causes a person to be different in terms of nature, attitude feelings, thinking, and emotions, and for
this reason communication can be barred.
For example, a person from a poor family and a person from a rich family is not the same. The style of communication
of two people will be different.

9. Geographical Difference
If the sender and receiver reside in different geographical areas, then the characteristics of respective geography
interims of language, norms, values, and others will obviously affect the communication.
For example, A person from an Arabian country or a person from America or a person from Europe, or a person from
Africa will obviously have a different attitude and such differences will influence communication to a great extent.

10. Working Environment

It affects the efficiency and productivity of workers and employees because the environment shapes the behavior of a
person.
So, a person working in a better environment will obviously have good communication skills, while a person working in
a poor environment will obviously have limitations in communication.
For example, A person working in a multinational firm and a person working in a govt. enterprise in Bangladesh will be
different communicators.

The above-mentioned factors directly or indirectly influence communication. So, respective factors should be
considered by the person while communicating with others to fulfill the desired objective.

Barriers to Effective Communication

1. Filtering: Filtering is the distortion or withholding of information to manage a person’s reactions. Some examples of
filtering include a manager’s keeping a division’s negative sales figures from a superior, in this case, the vice
president. The old saying, “Don’t shoot the messenger!” illustrates the tendency of receivers to vent their negative
response to unwanted messages to the sender. A gatekeeper (the vice president’s assistant, perhaps) who doesn’t
pass along a complete message is also filtering. Additionally, the vice president may delete the e-mail announcing
the quarter’s sales figures before reading it, blocking the message before it arrives.
2. Selective Perception : Small things can command our attention when we’re visiting a new place—a new city or a
new company. Over time, however, we begin to make assumptions about the environment based on our past
experiences. Selective perception refers to filtering what we see and hear to suit our own needs. This process is
often unconscious. We are bombarded with too much stimuli every day to pay equal attention to everything, so we
pick and choose according to our own needs. Selective perception is a time-saver, a necessary tool in a complex
culture. But it can also lead to mistakes.
3. Information Overload : Messages reach us in countless ways every day. Some messages are societal—
advertisements that we may hear or see in the course of our day. Others are professional—e-mails, memos, and
voice mails, as well as conversations with our colleagues. Others are personal—messages from and conversations
with our loved ones and friends.
4. Emotional Disconnects: An effective communication requires a sender and a receiver who are open to speaking
and listening to one another, despite possible differences in opinion or personality. One or both parties may have to

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 put their emotions aside to achieve the goal of communicating clearly. A receiver who is emotionally upset tends to
ignore or distort what the sender is saying. A sender who is emotionally upset may be unable to present ideas or
feelings effectively.
5. Lack of Source Familiarity or Credibility: Have you ever told a joke that fell flat? You and the receiver lacked the
common context that could have made it funny. (Or yes, it could have just been a lousy joke.) Sarcasm and irony
are subtle and, therefore, they are potentially hurtful commodities in business. It’s best to keep these types of
communications out of the workplace, as their benefits are limited, and their potential dangers are great. Lack of
familiarity with the sender can lead to misinterpreting humor, especially in less-rich information channels such as e-
mail.
6. Workplace Gossip : The informal gossip network known as the grapevine is a lifeline for many employees
seeking information about their company (Kurland & Pelled, 2000). Researchers agree that the grapevine is an
inevitable part of organizational life. Research finds that 70% of all organizational communication occurs at the
grapevine level (Crampton, 1998). Employees trust their peers as a source of information, but the grapevine’s
informal structure can be a barrier to effective communication from the managerial point of view. Its grassroots
structure gives it greater credibility in the minds of employees than information delivered through official channels,
even when that information is false.
7. Semantics : Words can mean different things to different people, or they might not mean anything to another
person. This is called semantics. For example, companies often have their own acronyms and buzzwords (called
business jargon) that are clear to them but impenetrable to outsiders.