The 7 C’s of Communication

The seven C’s of communication is a list of principles that you should ensure all of your
communications adhere to. Their purpose is to help ensure that the person you’re communicating
with hears what you’re trying to say. The seven C’s are: clear, correct, complete, concrete,
concise, considered and courteous.

Clear
There are several stages to clarity.Firstly, it’s important to be clear about the purpose of the
message you’re delivering. The recipient should be made aware of why they are receiving the
message and what you’re trying to achieve by delivering it. If there are multiple goals, each should
be laid out separately.Secondly, it’s essential that the content of the communication is itself clear.
You should avoid jargon, use simple language, use simple structures and focus on the core points
of your message.

Correct
It’s essential that both the factual information and the language and grammar you use are correct.
If your audience spots errors in either, they will be distracted and your credibility will be greatly
reduced. This will reduce the effectiveness of your communication.Some communications simply
must be correct, clear and concise.

Complete
Completeness is often one of the most important of the 7 Cs of communication.When creating a
message, it’s important to give the recipient all of the information they need to follow your line of
reasoning and to reach the same conclusions you have. This level of detail will be different in
different situations, and you should adjust your communications accordingly.In addition, you
should make things as easy as possible for the recipient. For example, if you are issuing a “call to
action”, provide explicit guidance on that action. Increasingly it’s common to include things like
hyperlinks in written communications or to attach FAQs, both of which help audiences access a
complete set of information while also ensuring that core communications focus on core
messages.

Concrete
When shaping your communication you must ensure that you are specific and that the logic and
messages that you’re using fit together, build on each other and support each other. Your
arguments should be based on solid facts and opinions from credible sources and you should
share irrefutable data to support your argument.It may be important to help bring the solid nature
of what you’ve created to life for your audience through examples that show the relevance of your
messages for them as individuals.

Concise
When communicating messages of this nature it’s important to stick to the point and keep your
messages short and simple. Don’t use 10 words if you can use five. Don’t repeat your
messages.The more you say, the more risk there is of confusion. Avoid that risk by focusing solely
on the key points you need to deliver.

Courteous
People are not always courteous.You can increase the effectiveness of your communications by
being polite and showing your audience that you respect them. Your messages should be friendly,
professional, considerate, respectful, open and honest.

To help ensure you are courteous, you should always use some empathy and consider your
messages from the point of view of the audience.
 Considered & Coherent
The last of the 7 Cs of communication is considered or coherent. If your communications are not
coherent they will not be effective. To help make sure your communications are considered and
coherent you should have a logical flow and your style, tone and language should be consistent
throughout.

In addition to making sure that each communication you issue is coherent within itself, you should
also ensure consistency of message

The importance of communication in an organization can be summarized as follows:

1. Communication promotes motivation by informing and clarifying the employees about the task to
be done, the manner they are performing the task, and how to improve their performance if it is not
up to the mark.
2. Communication is a source of information to the organizational members for decision-making
process as it helps identifying and assessing alternative course of actions.
3. Communication also plays a crucial role in altering individual’s attitudes, i.e., a well informed
individual will have better attitude than a less-informed individual. Organizational magazines,
journals, meetings and various other forms of oral and written communication help in molding
employee’s attitudes.
4. Communication also helps in socializing. One cannot survive without communication.
5. Communication also assists in controlling process. It helps controlling organizational member’s
behavior in various ways. There are various levels of hierarchy and certain principles and guidelines
that employees must follow in an organization. They must comply with organizational policies,
perform their job role efficiently and communicate any work problem and grievance to their
superiors. Thus, communication helps in controlling function of management.An effective and
efficient communication system requires managerial proficiency in delivering and receiving
messages.Directions of Communication

Organizational communication takes place upward, downward and horizontally. Downward

communication flows from the managerial and executive levels to the staff through formal channels
such as policy manuals, rules and regulations and organizational charts. Upward communication is
initiated by staff and directed at executives; it frequently takes the form of a complaint or a request.
Horizontal communication occurs when colleagues meet to discuss issues of common interest,
resolve problems and share information.
The term communication is derived from the Latin word “Communis” which means to share.
Effective communication is when the message conveyed by the sender is understood by the
receiver in exactly the same way as it was intended.
 Communication Process
The communication is a dynamic process that begins with the conceptualizing of ideas by the
sender who then transmits the message through a channel to the receiver, who in turn gives the
feedback in the form of some message or signal within the given time frame. Thus, there are Seven
major elements of communication process:

1. Sender: The sender or the communicator is the person who initiates the conversation and has
conceptualized the idea that he intends to convey it to others.
2. Encoding: The sender begins with the encoding process wherein he uses certain words or non-
verbal methods such as symbols, signs, body gestures, etc. to translate the information into a
message. The sender’s knowledge, skills, perception, background, competencies, etc. has a great
impact on the success of the message.
3. Message: Once the encoding is finished, the sender gets the message that he intends to convey.
The message can be written, oral, symbolic or non-verbal such as body gestures, silence, sighs,
sounds, etc. or any other signal that triggers the response of a receiver.
4. Communication Channel: The Sender chooses the medium through which he wants to convey
his message to the recipient. It must be selected carefully in order to make the message effective
and correctly interpreted by the recipient. The choice of medium depends on the interpersonal
relationships between the sender and the receiver and also on the urgency of the message being
sent. Oral, virtual, written, sound, gesture, etc. are some of the commonly used communication
mediums.
5. Receiver: The receiver is the person for whom the message is intended or targeted. He tries to
comprehend it in the best possible manner such that the communication objective is attained. The
degree to which the receiver decodes the message depends on his knowledge of the subject
matter, experience, trust and relationship with the sender.
6. Decoding: Here, the receiver interprets the sender’s message and tries to understand it in the best
possible manner. An effective communication occurs only if the receiver understands the message
in exactly the same way as it was intended by the sender.
7. Feedback: The Feedback is the final step of the process that ensures the receiver has received
the message and interpreted it correctly as it was intended by the sender. It increases the
effectiveness of the communication as it permits the sender to know the efficacy of his message.
The response of the receiver can be verbal or non-verbal.
Note: The Noise shows the barriers in communications. There are chances when the message
sent by the sender is not received by the recipient.
 Noise is an unwanted signal which interferes with the original message signal
and corrupts the parameters of the message signal. This alteration in the
communication process, leads to the message getting altered. It is most likely to
be entered at the channel or the receiver.