INTRODUCTION

Objectives:

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

1. Define the term communication.

2. State and explain the elements of communication.

3. Discuss the barriers to effective communication.

4. Suggest ways to overcome barriers to communication.

5. Relate the models of communication to various communications setting.

MEANING AND DEFINITION OF COMMUNICATION

The word communication has been derived from the Latin word communis, which means share or

to participate. Thus, communication stands for sharing or transmission of information, idea, an

option, an emotion, a fact or an attitude. It includes both, the act of communicating as well as the

message to be communicated. Communication is the process of passing information and

understanding from one person to another. It is also the “the act of any natural or artificial means

of conveying information or giving instruction.” Thus communication is the process of passing

information and understanding from one person to another with three sides to it:

-Transmission of subject-matter or message

- Involvement of two parties to complete the process of communication

- The person to whom the message is transmitted must understand it in the same sense in

which the sender of the message wants him to understand it.

Attempts have been made by different authors to define communication. A few are enumerated

below:
Alder and Towne (1996) - Communication is an on-going process involving a relationship

between participants who occupy individual but overlapping fields of experience who are involved

in the simultaneously sending and receiving of messages which are subject to distortion from

various forms of noise.

W. H. Newman and C.F. Summer Jr. -Communication means to share in, to give to another, or

to interchange thoughts, opinions or an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions, or emotions by two or

more persons.

Hudson - Communication in its simplest form is conveying of information from one person to

another.

Keith Davis - Communication is the process of passing information and understanding from one

person to another.

George R. Terry -Communication is a continuing and thinking process dealing with the

transmission and interchange with understanding of ideas, facts and courses of action.

Berelso and Steiner -Communication is the transmission of information, ideas, emotions, skills,

etc. by the use of symbols, words, pictures, figures, graphs, etc. It is the act or process of

transformation that is usually called communication.

Peter little- Communication is a process by which information is transmitted between individuals

and or organizations that an understanding response results.

William Scott - Administrative Communication which involves the transmission and accurate

replication of ideas ensured by feedback for the purpose of eliciting actions which will accomplish

organizational goal.

Whatever the definition there are key emphasis of these definitions namely

i) That there has to be something to be communicated

 ii) That communication is about accurate replication in the receivers mind.

iii) That there should be feedback from the recipient.

iv) There has to be parties involved in communication

Main components of communication

• Communication must have a source (sender)

• Communication must have content (message)

• Communication must have a media

• Communication must have a destination: i.e. recipient

• Communication must have a feedback

Characteristics of communication

1. Communication maintains and animates life. It creates a common pool of ideas,

strengthens the feeling of togetherness through exchange of messages and translates

thought into action.

2. Interchange of information: The basic characteristic of human communication is that

it aims at the exchanging of information. It is a two-way process. The exchange can be

between two or more persons. It may be at the individual or the organizational level.

3. Continuous process: communication is a continuous process. It is not static. It is

constantly subject to change and is dynamic. The people with whom communication is

held, its content and nature, and the situation in which communication is held-all keep

changing.
 4. Mutual understanding: The main purpose of communication is to bring about mutual

understanding. The receiver should receive and understand the message in the manner

that the sender intended him to.

5. Response or reaction: Communication always leads to some response or reaction. A

message becomes communication only when the receiving party understands and

acknowledges it, and also reacts and responds to it.

6. Universal function: Communication is a universal function, which covers all levels of

authority.

7. Social activity: Communication is a social activity, too. The components of a society

are into a relationship of sharing, be it information, feelings or emotions. The same

holds true for business communication. It involves the effort of the people to get in

touch with one another and to make themselves understood. The process by which

people attempt to share meaning and relate to one another is, thus, a social `activity

Why has communication become so important today?

Communication has become increasingly more important compared to the yester years particularly

in this era of globalization dominated by modern management education. Society and businesses

have become more complex and more global.

The following factors have added to the importance of communication.

i) Growing size of organizations: Modern organizations are gigantic as compared to

those of yesteryears and many continue to expand. Communication is the only link

among the large number of people in the set-up.

ii) Growing importance of human relations: Modern management has brought in the

concept of human resource management. Today, it is no longer the Management -

decides-and-workers - follow kind of working relation. Participative management

has become the keyword. People will not cooperate unless they are treated

humanely. This has only increased the importance of communication in business

organizations.

iii) Public relations: Every organization has certain social responsibilities as they

interact with different segments of the society. They communicate with the

customers, shareholders, suppliers, traders, trade unions, media, government and

the people in general.

iv) Advances in behavioral science: Modern management lays great stress on the

theories of behavioral sciences like sociology, psychology, philosophy,

anthropology spiritualism and transactional analysis. Their growing importance can

be judged by the tremendous surge in the sale of books on these subjects. The

essence of all the writings is that we change the way of looking at human nature.

Improvement in communication skills can do this effectively.

v) Technological advances: Today’s computer age affects not only the methods of

working, but also the composition of groups. Communication is the only way to

meet the challenge and to strengthen the relationship between superiors and

subordinates. Teleconferencing has become a key link for immediate decision-

making and feedback in large business organizations.

vi) Growth and trade unions: The last century has seen a tremendous increase in the

size of the union of workers. These unions occupy a very important place in an
 organizational set-up. Hence, mutual understanding between the management and

the unions is very important. Communication, therefore, has a vital role to play.

vii) Consumerism [increase in the demand for consumer goods]: Communication has

become an inevitable cycle since the growth of consumerism. In this era of global

marketplace, the competition is real tough, and companies are under constant

pressure to attract clientele and to perform. The effort to persuade customers to

buy a product is virtually never-ending. This has led to a tremendous growth in

communication. From pamphlets, brochures and advertisements in the print and

electronic media to workshops, demonstrations, contests and attractive schemes,

consumerism has spawned a whole new way of communication.

viii) Distance education: The advent of the Open University system has led to an

increase in communication. In many countries, a large segment of the population

is gaining distance education.

Application/Importance of communication in Organizations

Communication can be described as the life blood of the business as no business can develop in

effective communication. In addition communication is a vital tool of management. One of the

major functions of an office is communication. This involves receiving, recording,

processing of information and communicating the information to various functions of the

organizations.

Communication in an organization can be seen in two perspectives.

I. Internal communication (within the business)

 II. External communication (with outside entities)

a) Importance of internal communication

Internal communication refers to exchange of information or message between persons of same

organization, e.g. between employer and employee. It brings:

i) Better understanding between employer and employees.

If complaints of employees are forwarded to employer on time and in the right way it will minimize

the chances of misunderstanding.

ii) Great efficiency.

The sound communication system enables the management to instruct the supervision of

subordinates on changes of policy which results to the increase in the efficiency of

employees.

iii) Effective co-ordination:

Effective communication leads to effective co-ordination of business/organizational activities

v) Proper communication avoids losses:

If there is a machine breakdown or shortage the management can be informed quickly to take

timely action to avoid any possible losses.

b) Importance of External communication.

This refers to exchange of information between an organization and other organizations or

persons outside the organization. The following facts indicate the importance of external

communication.

i) Good reputation

Effective communication with customers and either business enables company establish good

reputation this increases prestige of that company.

ii) Improvement in public relations

When a company communicates with general public to keep them informed of its activities

more people become interested to deal with that company.

iii) Better business prospects

Due to good communication the company can attract more customers.

iv) Choice of customers

A company can get information about the liking and disliking of customers. This

information will help company produce goods according to the choice of customers.

v) Government department

The business will deal with licensing authorities, foreign trade offices, customs

authorities, banks and other financial institutions. All these institutions require good

communication when negotiating.

vi) Job requirements

Most jobs require communication skills such as personnel public relations, marketing, editing,

research, advocates, etc. Executives are expected to make speeches they are expected to give

interviews to media. All these require communication skills.

NB communication is both for a student and an employee/employer. It is for life

WEEK TWO

THEORIES/ MODELS OF COMMUNICATION

A theory is an explanation; it provides us with most adequate and effective explanation of a given

study area at a given time. Theories provide us with ideas, facts and figures, descriptions and
presumptions about a thing, event or idea which enables greater degree of understanding and

control over it. There are about four theories that attempt to explain communication.

i) The linear process model

It is also known as transmission view and was modeled by Shannon and Weaver in 1949 as an

extension of information theory.

- It emphasis on the notion of a sender sending information to the receiver.

- It views communication in terms of information transfer and divides it to a number of

stages, which are seen as components in communication process and are also known as

communication variables.

The components of communication in the linear model are:

- Sender- The source

- Receiver- destination

- Message-the information

- Code- the form message takes

- Channel-the means /medium

- Noise-Physical interference e. g sound, light etc

It considers communication to occur on a straight line.

Evaluation/critique of this model

- Linear process model provides us with notable key concepts useful to understanding

communication.

- It provides adequate account communication forces such as mass media (radio, T.V),

telegraph, it however falls short of explaining other communication that involves feedback.

- Linear model views communications as one way process

 ii) Interactive process model

It is an improvement on the linear model as it attempts to address some of the

inadequacies of the linear model. It notes that communication is not always intentional

as people interpret aspects of our behavior including appearance irrespective of whether

they were intentional behavior or not. It takes communication to be a two-way process

involving information exchange hence feedback. It considers the receiver and the sender

to occupy their own respective and overlapping fields of experience showing that both

the receiver and the sender must have a degree of shared understanding or knowledge

for communication to occur e.g. language. It views meaning to reside not in the code

(word) but residing in the minds of the speaker and receiver. The model broadens the

concepts of noise beyond physical noise to include anything that interferes with the

original intended meaning of a message. A part from the physical noise it incorporates

others forms of noise.

Other forms of noise include:

a) Psychological noise- individuals features such as emotions, expectations biases etc.

b) Sematic noise- the differences in people understanding of the meaning of certain words

(which is influenced by their field of experience including culture). Semantic noise can

occur at the level of denotation (literal or dictionary meaning of a word) or connotative

level (refers to emotional overtones conveyed by words)

NB Senders of messages need to choose words carefully so that the connotative meaning received

does not interfere with the intended meaning e.g. a male calling women girls could be interpreted

as derogatory in African context while it may be perceived positively in other cultures.

iii). Transactional process model

It presents communications a more dynamic process. It accounts for the way we receive and

send information simultaneously when communicating. Human mind as comparable to a

computer processor involved in multitasking hence sending and receiving information at the

same time incorporating the use of double feedback both sender and receiver as communicator

Communicating is viewed as an on-going process as opposed to static process consisting of

discrete instances of communications. Communicating to somebody you know takes place

within the context of previous communication exchanges, communication does not always start

on a clean slate all the time but in the context of the previous communication interactions.

It incorporates the relationship dimensions i.e. we have certain kinds of relationships with the

people with whom we communicate ranging from working, intimate to impersonal.

Communication is seen as negotiative–meaning is negotiated. Communication involves

negotiation of image or status within a relationship dynamic e.g. way we communicate with a

boss will influence his or her understanding of you and vice versa. Negotiation occurs at a

variety of levels-power credibility trust etc.

Transactional model incorporates a rage of other factors that influence communication namely

context.

Context/situation or setting within which communication takes place or the circumstances that

surround a particular piece of communication context may be seen as:

i) Situational-communication in football pitch is different from church service

ii) Temporal-relates to immediate time frame e.g. the time of day and timing of an event

e.g. using good timing for a salary increase request.

 iii) Historical-this refers to historical placing in time for example we are living at a time

when discriminatory behavior and language are tolerated less. Sexist or gender biased

language are less tolerated today than they were 30 years ago.

iv) Social /culture context-refers to the kind of society and culture within which

communication is occurring.

COMMUNICATION PROCESS

All Communications have to be originated, produced, transmitted, received and understood. For

this case an idea has to be encoded, transmitted through media, to the recipient who has to

understand in order to decode the message. The success of every communication is a function of

how well the process was adhered to.

Elements/Components of Communication

For communication to occur there are key ingredients that must be present which are

i) Sender- this is the source of the information, the origin of the information to be shared

who is responsible of conceiving the idea to be shared, put the idea into a form that the

receiver can understand, chooses the medium and the channel to be used to

communicate.

ii) Receiver- This is the destination of the message; the person(s) to whom the message is

intended who is responsible of receiving and interpreting /assigning meaning to the

message received. The person is also responsible of choosing the time, the channel, and

medium through which to send feedback. They also send feedback.

(The roles of the sender and the receiver are interchangeable)

 iii) Feedback-This refers to signals passed to sender either in written, spoken or signal. A

possible problem could arise from wrongly interpreted feedback by sender or no

feedback at all.

iv) Context- This refers to the surrounding and circumstances or the environment in which

communication is made.

v) The noise- Noise is used to refer to any factors which prevent proper exchange of

information apart from that from the sender or receiver. Noise can be physical

e.g. typewriters or the telephone bells which interrupt meetings, or it can be some

other form of interference. Such as bad telephone connections, poor handwriting in

letter, conflicting messages.

vi) Message- The unit of communication, the idea or information to be shared

vii) Medium- the form into which the message is put through; written form,

spoken/oral/verbal, visual, non-verbal etc.

viii) Channel- network or means through which the message is transmitted: internet, phone

email, face-to-face, letters, Memos, reports, gestures, graphs and charts, photos, videos,

films etc.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Channel of Communication

The channel chosen is very important since it will affect the way the receiver will interpret the

message.

The following factors should be considered when choosing a channel of communication:

1. Cost

- The cost of choosing the medium should be within the reach of the sender.
 - It should be affordable.

2. Urgency

- The medium used should deliver the message within the time required by the sender.

Hence very fast mediums should be used to send urgent messages.

3. Confidentiality

Confidential messages should be sent using confidential means that allow secrecy.

4. Reliability

The means chosen should be relied upon to deliver the message to the required person in

the correct context and form, within the required time.

5. Distance

Distance between the sender and receiver.

The means used should be convenient for the distance.

6. Details of the message

Medium used should accommodate all the details of the message.

7. The receiver

The medium should be chosen with the receiver in mind. Hence written communication

can only be used if the receiver is literate while oral methods can be used if receiver has

speech capability.

Communication Process/Cycle

Communication is a process which is sequential in nature and a key determinant of

successful/effective communication and if not well adhered to it results to communication

breakdown or ineffective communication. It comprises of the following stages:

Figure 1 outlines a simple communication process

Figure 1: The Basic Communication Model (Source: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax,

under CC-BY 4.0 license).

i) Encoding: is the process where individuals initiating the communication process send

out a set of systematic symbols. For example, when saying, “Hello, how are you

today,” that is using the systematic symbol of language to create a common code for

the receiver. An appropriate “language/form” is then chosen: it could either be oral,

written word (language), picture or “non-verbal” communication. The problem that

could arise here to affect the process is the poor relationship between the sender and

the receiver.
 ii) Communication Medium and Channel Selected: Here an appropriate medium is

selected, which could be: oral, written word (language), picture/visual or “non-verbal”.

The channel chosen could be: letter, interview, electronic mail, telex, WhatsApp, Tik

Tok, use of messenger. The possible problem area here is the choice of wrong medium,

time wasted, expense incurred, no written record.

iii) Decoding: is the receiver accepting the encoded message and makes an interpretation.

Most messages have two aspects of meaning- an underlying/implicit/hidden meaning

and an explicit/overt meaning.

iv) The receiver then provides feedback which is, in many cases, the final stage, and

usually communicates back a message of acknowledgement of the message based on

their own understanding/ interpretation of the message received. In this example the

feedback is the recipient recognizing the greeting and responding with “I’m fine, how

are you?” and then the process/cycle either repeats itself or ends.

It this is this step that completes the process.

v) Another part present in the communication process is the introduction of noise. Noise is

the way encoding and decoding can be distorted by a variety of elements. Noise can

come from a plethora of problems including physical distractions, poor channels, and

cultural disconnect.

BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION

It is not every attempt to communicate that achieves the desired results or is effective.

Communication is most effective when it moves speedily and smoothly in an interrupted flow. The
free flow may however breakdown due to various physical or technical hindrances. Hindrances

can occur at the level of sender, transmitter or the medium or the receiver.

1. Mechanical barriers.

A communication may not reach properly if the mechanism that carries it breaks down.

Some possible mechanical failures are:

[a] A weak microphone or poor sound spread [acoustics] of the meeting place.

[b] Defective telephone lines.

[c] Electricity /computer breakdown.

[d] Poor printing quality or paper spread of ink, overlap of colours.

[e] Atmospherics on radio or TV especially in cloudy weather.

2. Physical barriers.

These may be due to inadequate staff, faulty procedures, inaccuracy in processing and delivery of

communication, loss of documents, fills, and failures of staff to follow the procedures laid down

etc. These could be classified into two:-

1. Noise: A part from the ordinary noise from loud vehicles or blaring from loud speakers or

telephones noise also refers to all kind of interface like illegible handwriting emerged copies of

duplicate type receipt or telephone connections.

2. Time and Distance: The distance between a transmitter and receiver is a barrier.

Sometimes gaps occur in communication between people spreading in different shifts. Seating

arrangement in the room can also become barrier to effective communication. For whichever

position the employees may be occupying they want eye contact with each other. Sometimes

background noise, whether in a face-to-face meeting on either end of the telephone, reduces the

audibility of the spoken words. Also, if the listener is too far from the speaker, he may not be able
to hear him, in which the distance is the barrier. Similarly, the time taken for the message to reach

to its destination can become a barrier, e.g. a telegram delivered too late.

3. Psychological and physiological barriers.

i) Physiological barriers are biological of physical in nature.

a. A person of weak hearing or eyesight cannot always receive the communication in full.

b. The age of the listener puts its own limitations on his ability to receive messages. One

may be too young or too old to understand certain things.

c. A person’s educational level governs his understanding. Some background knowledge

is required to understand certain things.

d. There are gender barriers too. Boys and girls in general have their own areas of

specialization where they understand faster. Boys are more outdoors oriented while

girls tend to take major interest in house work. A boy who is told to do a “girl’s job

may put a psychological barriers.

ii) Psychological barriers

a. A wandering mind cannot fully gather the inputs given to it. While roving is a natural

tendency of the mind and the attention of a listener is limited, there may be causes of

inattention too. These may be visual or audio distractions- gaudy pictures or songs in

the neighborhood.

b. Ideological loyalties may form a barrier to communication. One may have a political

party membership, a philosophical principle [like hedonism, i.e. devotion to sensory

enjoyment], a religious affiliation that have already bound the way one thinks. Such a

person may not be receptive to the ideas counter to his ideology.

 c. Loyalty to a brand or organization is also a barrier. One who is loyal to one brand may

not be receptive to a rival product’s ad. One may not be receptive to the ideas counter

to his ideology.

d. Emotional states of a person can act as barriers. If one is in a fit of anger, he may not

listen to reason. He may also find it difficult to communicate soberly with a person who

has not contributed to his anger. There is a spillover effect- the emotion generated by

one transaction spill over into an unrelated transaction.

e. One’s prejudices acts as a hindrance to reason. A prejudice is a judgment formed

without proper information. One may have a racial prejudice, a caste prejudice and so

on. This is the opposite of an open mind. A liberal education is meant to remove

irrational notions which stay on as prejudice.

f. Personality limitations put a barrier, too. These are similar to ideological barriers, as

some personalities are naturally attracted to certain ideologies. However, personality

variations are far too numerous. One’s aspirations, viewpoints, analyses make one open

or closed to certain messages. One bent into a job for livelihood may not listen to the

advantages of entrepreneurship.

[k] Fixed images about other people stand as barriers to see them on in a new role. A

comedian in as a hero of a firm may not be acceptable to an audience which sees him typed

in comedy roles.

Poor mental retention power is a barrier. If one fails to take timely notes when instructions

are given, hoping to remember them all, one has perhaps given away apart of the

communication.

4. Semantic and language barriers

 Semantic is the study of how words convey meanings. What happens if the speaker/writer means

one thing and the listener/reader takes it in another meaning? The context changes the meaning

of the word. One has to ask, is the word conveyed in its proper context? Words are indeed so

tricky to use that one can hardly ever convey the same thing to all the receivers in given words.

The words generate different meanings in different minds, according to their previous

associations and language levels. Literary texts, created by master writers and ready by experts

critics, are continually open to reinterpretations. Some of these, conflict with each other.

5. Information overload

Information passed on especially in the age of information that we are in can be too much such

that it poses difficulties in sieving the important from the mass of information. It therefore

appropriate to communicate precisely and only the needed information at a time

6. Restrictive environment.

The flow of information is sometimes so restricted that it becomes a barrier, this is especially so

in the organization has a tall and in flexible organization structure such that by the time tha

massage moves from the top to the bottom and vice versa it may suffer distortion or be overtaken

by time.

Principles/ qualities of effective communication (the C’s of Communication)

Not everything purported to be communication is effective. For effective communication there are

rules and guidelines which differ from one setting to another. They are otherwise known as

qualities of communication or six C’S of communication.

1. Clarity

This is divided into three:

 a. Clarity of thought

b.Clarity of expression

a. Clarity of thought

- This is important when the idea is being generated in the mind of the sender

- At this point, three points should be checked upon:

i. What is the objective of the communication?

- To warn, educate, congratulate

ii. What is to be communicated?

- Example- a song, play, poem

iii. Which medium is appropriate for the purpose of communication?

Examples- letters, photographs, interviews etc

b. Clarity of expression

The following should be considered

a) Avoid jargon

Jargon is a special language of trade, certain profession or field of study e.g medicine, business,

law and only understood and used by people from such fields. It therefore creates a scenario

of difficult understanding to those who are not from that field.

b) Avoid ambiguity

An ambiguous message is one that contains words that have more than one meaning. This may

encourage misinterpretation of the words.

Example: The word dispense could mean both

- to prepare medicine

- to dismiss someone
 - Use short sentences

Short sentences area easier to comprehend for they are not complex and so not demand greater

concentration as is the case for long ones

- Use of simple words

Simple words tend to be more effective for they are easily understood and are interpreted correctly

Example: Use of the word ‘before’ instead of ‘prior to’.

2. Use of Concrete expression

Concrete expressions create visual images that are easy to register and remember. This can be

achieved by avoiding being too general or vague in your expressions.

Example: you can say, that toy is cheap for it costs Two hundred shillings / instead of plainly

saying ‘that toy is cheap’.

3. Conciseness

One should be straight to the point. The words and phrases chosen should give the intended

message in its intended context in the most exact meaning. The flow of words and language

should bring the receiver as close as possible to the meaning and as little room as possible

should be left to the receiver for interpretation.

Be as brief as possible but not at the expense of clarity, correctness or courtesy

How to achieve conciseness

i. Avoid repetition:

Example: Me, I am thanking you-…………..”

ii. Include only relevant facts and details

iii. Organize you message well e.g. it should hold together.

iv. Avoid wordy expressions, figures of speech and ambiguous words.

4. Consideration

In your message, you should always show consideration for the reader or listener. This can be

done in the following ways.

a. Ensure integrity in your message.

- Ethical principles of sincerity and fair treatment should be observed.

b. Emphasize positive and pleasant statements e.g. in case where one has to send a message of

regret, use positive and pleasant words. E.g. ‘Thank you for your application for a course

in Micro- Finance; you are however advised that the commencement date is July next

year….”

4. Courtesy

This calls for a politeness and civil attitude towards the other - the receiver. The following points

may assist in promoting courtesy.

i. Answer the letters promptly or respond to the message promptly.

ii. Omit negative expressions such as ‘we regret’ instead use friendly statements.

iii. Apologize sincerely for an omission and thank generously for any favour done.

5. Completeness

Complete presentation of facts and details in any business communication.

- Incomplete communication leads to ineffectiveness of the action to be taken,

irrelevancy, misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the message. This is because it

leaves a number of questions unanswered.

- The message should be organized in such a way that the reader/ listener is not in doubt

about the details contained in it.

- Include all relevant details when sending a message

 - Check on the 5Ws - Why? What? Where? Who? When?

6. Correctness

This simply means:

- Giving correct facts / statement/ arguments etc.

- Sending the message at the correct time.

Send the message in the correct style/ medium/ channel

CHAPTER REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Give a brief explanation of the term Communication.

2. With the help of a diagram describe the process of communication.

3. Senders of messages have an intended meaning of their message, however, rarely are the

messages received/interpreted as intended. Justify this assertion

4. Communicate as members of an organization or perish. Discuss.

5. Students fail in their exams many times because of their in ability to use the Cs of

communication. Using practical examples in sentences prove the correctness of this

assertion?