Communication

• The imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium.
• Communication is the act of conveying meanings from one entity or group to another through the
use of mutually understood signs, symbols, and semiotic rules.
Definition of Communication: It is a two-way exchange of information.
• Communication is very essential at all levels in human life without which one can’t survive in this
social environment encompassing personal as well as professional.
• All human interactions are form of communication. In the present day environment, nothing can be
achieved by the organization without effectively communicating with management, employees, and
various stakeholders including customers and suppliers. The organization achieves tremendous boost
in its performance when it masters the art of communication.
• Communication is from a Latin word ‘communis’, which means common or shared understanding.
• In its simplest form, communication is the transmission of a message from a source to a receiver, or
the process of creating shared meaning.

Importance of Communication:
Communication is the heart of any organization. Everything you do in the workplace from the results
of communication. While developing your career you will get to know why communication is
important.
In the Organization:
Communication plays a very important role in the management of any organization. As it is a tool for
sharing thoughts, ideas, opinions and plans in various parts of an organization. Good communication
is required not only in building relationships but also for a successful business. That is why
communication is having tremendous importance in the organization. Communication helps to
increase efficiency at the workplace.

Importance for Individuals:

Communication is important to express oneself. It also satisfies one's needs. One should have
effective communication for advancement in the career. In your personal life, effective
communication skills can smooth your way and your relationships with others by helping you to
understand others, and to be understood.

To Secure an Interview:
To secure yourself in the interview you should communicate confidently and clearly. Good
communication skills would help you to get selected for the job.

For Motivation:
Communication is a basic tool for motivation. This can improve the morale of the people.

To Increase Productivity:
With effective communication, you can maintain relationships. It helps to increase productivity.

To Develop Professionalism in Students:

In the future students will become doctors and then they need to communicate effectively with their
patients. They need empathy, friendliness in their profession for interacting with patients. In the
future students will become political / business, entrepreneurs, and leaders, in all these fields they
need to communicate effectively.
 To Increase the Quality of Being Friendly With Others:
It is important to be friendly with others. Good communication builds strong friendships. It will give
confidence. In this way, communication skills enhance the ability to understand and share the
feelings of each other. It is important for making friendly relationships.

Process of Communication:
The whole communication process consists of the following:
1) The sender—the source of the message
2) The encoding process
3) The channel used
4) The decoding process
5) The receiver—the person who receives the message.

Barriers to Communication
1. Language Barriers of communication:
Because language is the most often used medium of communication, it is one of the most significant
hurdles to efficient communication. Each major region has its own language, and dialects between
regions can differ by a few kilometres, and even a thick dialect can make communication difficult.
Diverse employees will have different linguistic skills even in the same workplace, and as a result,
communication channels that transcend the corporation will be affected. Even when communicating in
the same language, a message’s terminology can be a barrier if it is not fully understood by the
receiver(s), who is unfamiliar with the terminology. Regional idioms and expressions may be
misinterpreted or even offensive to some people.

2. Psychological Barriers of communication:

There are a variety of mental and psychological issues that can obstruct effective communication, such
as stage fright, speech disorders, phobias, depression, and so on. Anger, fear, jealousy, insecurity,
shyness, and close-mindedness are all psychological barriers that can obstruct communication. All of
these conditions are difficult to manage at times and will obstruct communication.
However, it is possible that some people have a propensity of initiating an argument when someone
disagrees with them, which can have a negative impact on both personal and professional relationships.
3. Emotional Barriers of communication:
The ease and comfort with which a person can speak is determined by their emotional IQ, and a person
who is emotionally mature will be able to communicate effectively. However, it is often obvious that
those who let their emotions to rule their lives will experience issues. For efficient communication, a
perfect blend of emotions and facts is required, and emotions such as anger, irritation, and humour can
cloud a person’s decision-making abilities, limiting the efficiency of their communication.

4. Cultural Barriers of communication:

As the world becomes more globalised, any major office may contain people from many corners of the
globe, and different cultures have varied interpretations of some core societal norms. From one culture
to the next, clothing, religions (or lack thereof), food, drinks, pets, and general behaviour will differ
dramatically.
As a result, we must take into account these various cultures while communicating and cultivating
cross-cultural sensitivity in order to overcome such cultural obstacles. This is referred to as being
culturally acceptable, as people and businesses frequently miss out on these chances owing to cultural
obstacles.
5. Physical Barriers of communication:
They are the most evident impediments to successful communication, and they are usually easily
removed in concept at least, such as noise, closed doors, malfunctioning communication equipment,
closed cabins, and so on. For example, in a large office, physical separation between employees,
combined with faulty equipment, can create significant communication barriers.

6. Physiological Barriers of communication:

Certain ailments, diseases, or other limits may also obstruct good communication between an
organization’s multiple channels, with the shrillness of voice, dyslexia, and other physiological barriers
to successful communication being examples. These aren’t critical, though, because they can be readily
adjusted for and deleted.

7. Gender Barriers of communication:

Gender barriers to communication refer to the limitations that arise in the process of exchanging
information between individuals of different genders. These barriers emerge due to societal
expectations, cultural norms, and stereotypes associated with gender roles. They can
prevent meaningful communication, and restrict understanding and collaboration between people of
different genders.
These barriers manifest in various forms, including differences in verbal and non-verbal communication
styles, linguistic choices, emotional expression, and power dynamics. Gender barriers can restrict
individuals from fully expressing themselves, lead to misinterpretation of messages, and maintain
inequality and bias in interactions.
It is important to note that gender barriers to communication are not inborn to individuals but are
shaped by social and cultural influences. By recognizing and understanding these barriers, individuals
can work towards overcoming them, fostering meaningful communication that values diverse
perspectives and experiences.

8. Interpersonal barriers to communication:

Interpersonal barriers are any negative patterns of behaviour that hinder you from communicating or
discourage others from communicating with you.
In many cases, miscommunication results from unintentional verbal or non-verbal cues. We may
misinterpret someone’s facial expressions or choice of words and form opinions based on that
 misunderstanding. At other times, conflicts develop simply because people express themselves
differently.
Barriers can also stem from the workplace culture and leadership, making it difficult for employees to
voice their concerns or questions. In more detail, let’s look at a few types of interpersonal
communication barriers.

Perspectives in Communication

What are Perspectives in Communication (Types)

A communication perspective focuses on the way in which the shared meanings and practices are composed
through language and symbol, construction of messages and their dissemination through media,
organisations, and society. We all come to each communication exchange with our own perspectives
through which we see the world, the person we are communicating with and the situation or topic we are
communicating about.
These mean that we don’t start with the same perspective as the individual we are communicating with.
The individual perception can be basically classified into two main types:

1. Visual Perception
Visual perception is the ability to see and demonstrate the visual information that surrounds us. The method
of assimilating one's environment is referred to as perception. If perception is inaccurate or altered in any
way, problems with reading, spelling the words, handwriting and changes in comprehension may occur.

Features of Visual Perception:

Visual perceptual skills include the ability to arrange and interpret the information that is seen. The
importance of visual perceptual skills in academic success is accepted by the scholars and acknowledging,
reading would not be possible without adequate visual perception.
Visual perceptual processing impacts the ability to grasp and learn. Without accurate visual perceptual
processing, a student would have difficulty in learning, reading, to give or follow directions, copy the
written information, visualise objects or past experiences, have good eye-hand coordination, integrate
visual information with other senses in performing actions like ride a bicycle, playing catches, shoot baskets
when playing basketball, or hear a sound and visualise where it is coming.

Forms of Visual Perception:

 Visual Discrimination: Ability to be aware of the distinctive features of forms including shape, size,
colour and orientation.
 Visual Figure Ground: Ability to distinguish an object from irrelevant information of the
background.
 Visual Closure: Ability to recognize a complete feature from dilapidated information
 Visual Memory: Ability to retain information over a required period. Obtaining maximum
information in the shortest time provides for optimal performance and is essential for reading
comprehension and spelling. Dysfunctions in visual memory may cause prolonged time in copying
assignments, difficulty recognizing the same word on the next page, and difficulty retaining what is
seen or heard.
 Visual Sequential Memory: Ability to perceive and remember a sequence of objects, letters, words,
and other symbols in the same order as originally observed.
  Visual form constancy: Ability to recognize objects as they change in their size, shape, orientation.
 Visual spatial skills: Ability to understand directional concepts that organise external visual space.
These skills allow an individual to develop the concepts, such as left and right, back and front and
up and down as they relate to their body and to objects in space. A visual spatial deficit may
contribute to poor athletic performance, difficulties with rhythmic activities, lack of coordination
and balance, clumsiness, reversals of forms and letters etc.

2. Language

Another way we experience perspective in communication is through language. And it is a fundamental

tool of human communication. However, we should also take into consideration that languages change
based on region, country or ethnicity. Thus, people may interpret these messages differently.

Features of Language:
 Active Listening: It helps in communicating information effectively and efficiently. This feature is
used in conducting counselling, seminars, etc and allows communicators and receivers to
understand content efficiently.
 Adjective: It describes the qualities of the noun used in the content.
 Quantitative: Feature describes the quantity of anything. It proportionate the subject.
Interrogative: This feature is used in questioning an individual
 Alliteration: Feature is used to repeat the first letter of the word in the sentence.
 Simile: This feature is used to compare two things, like "as useful as is used to compare things.
 Metaphor: This feature is used to describe an object, person, noun, subject, etc. differently.
 Emotive language: It is used to express emotion.

Forms of Language:
 Morphology: Morphology determines how words are formed in any concerned language. It focuses
especially on their internal structure and how the meaning can be altered through the addition
of prefixes and suffixes.
 A morpheme is the smallest element in a language capable of creating a distinction in meaning, as
such it is essential in understanding of morphology.
 Syntax: Syntax refers to the rules that govern how words combine to create meaningful
pronouncement. Morphemes combine to form words, which further combine into phrases and
phrases get further combined according to set rules into clauses.
 Phonology: Phonology is the study of the categorization of the speech sounds of a particular
language and the rule system that governs how they are used to generate meaningful words. It
describes the basic unit of speech in any language as the phoneme and examines how speech
sounds change when they are combined. In addition, phonology examines other surface features of
speech such as inflection, stress and pausing.
 Other factors affecting our Perspective
Our perspective in communication can be influenced by a variety of factors, including past experiences,
prejudices, feelings, and environment. Here is a closer look at how these factors can affect our
communication:

1. Past experiences: Our past experiences can shape the way we perceive and interpret
communication. For example, if we have had negative experiences with a particular topic, we may
be less receptive to messages related to that topic. On the other hand, positive experiences can
make us more open to communication on that topic.
2. Prejudices: Prejudices, or preconceived notions about individuals or groups, can affect how we
communicate with others. If we have biases against a particular group, we may be less likely to
listen to their perspectives or give them the benefit of the doubt.
3. Feelings: Our current emotional state can affect our communication by influencing our tone of
voice, body language, and word choice. For example, if we are feeling angry or frustrated, we may
be more likely to communicate in an aggressive or confrontational manner.
4. Environment: The environment in which communication takes place can also affect our perspective.
For example, a noisy or distracting environment may make it difficult to focus on the conversation,
while a calm and comfortable environment may promote more productive communication.

To improve our communication in light of these factors, it is important to be aware of our own biases and
emotional states, and to work to overcome them. We can do this by actively listening to others, being open
to new perspectives, and trying to see things from the other person’s point of view. Additionally, creating a
comfortable and conducive environment for communication can help to promote more productive
conversations.