Professional

communication 1

1-The communication process

  The communication process
In this lecture:  Key factors of effective communication
 Barriers to effective communication
The  How is information exchanged?
communicatio
n process
A simplistic Encoding Decoding

model would Channel Audience

Sender
be as follows
Message Message
 Given that all the participants in the communications process have
their own unique perspective, it is up to the communicator to make
sure that the message:
→ accurately reflects what is intended
→ presented in the most suitable format
Encoding
Any ambiguity in the message will automatically hinder
communication
• Complicated phrases or jargon are usually inappropriate, e.g.

→ We would be best to facilitate the removal of superfluous stock at

our earliest convenience

• It would be better to say:

→ We need to get rid of our excess stock as soon as possible

 Clarity of purpose, message and delivery are essential elements of
effective communications.

 Lack of planning or preparation reflects not just on yourself but on

your organisation as well.
 It is important to ensure that you use an appropriate channel or
medium to communicate with a target audience.

 There are various media to communicate with a target audience:

Channels of → Face to face ( meetings, interviews, presentations, informal
communication chats)
→ Oral ( using the telephone, voicemail, answer machines …)
→ Written ( using letters, memos, reports, email …)
→ Visual ( using charts, tables, diagrams, slides, maps, notices …)
(a) Internal channels of communication
Internal channels of communication include:
→ Reports, briefs and summaries prepared for a specific audience
including specific objectives.
→ House journals are appropriate if the intention is to contact all
staff within an organisation.
→ Meetings of interest groups or teams and internal presentations
take place among small groups of identified staff, who share a
common interest or need for a particular knowledge or information.
→ Formal procedures for written warnings, interviews and
disciplinary hearings are needed to deal with personnel issues.
(b) External channels of communication

→External channels of communication include corporate brochures,

sales literature and paid-for-advertising.
→External communications can also take the form of letters,
telephone calls or reports. Key personnel in projects, departments
or teams need to be briefed as to ongoing communication
externally.
→The cost of external channels of communications -particularly if
they include advertising- is an important consideration
(c) Selecting the channel of communication
The choice of a communication channel depends on a number of
factors:
 The urgency of the message
 Whether the information is to be transmitted internally or
externally
 The size and location of the target audience
 The nature of the information itself - particularly the
complexity of the message
 Who is your audience?
 Communication is also determined by the status of the target
audience: doctor, patient, mother, wife, husband, single
Decoding parent, child.

 The same message may be sent to different audiences using

differing language and channels of communication
 The need for a written record
 Whether the message is sensitive or confidential
 The cost of communicating
 The need for interaction or feedback
  The person receiving the message will be responding to the
communicator’s style and vice versa.

Feedback  The following chart gives an indication as to the effect non-

verbal communication can have on an audience.
 Feedback can take place immediately or over a long period of
time.

 It may be the desired outcome of a series of communications

which will take place over several months.
 Key factors of effective communication
 People respond to each other as to their perceptions of each other’s
personality. As individuals we function as:
Personality  The person we are.
 The person we believe ourselves to be.
Perception
 The person as perceived by others.
These three personalities are often significantly different.
  Often we make a judgement about facts and information we
come across.
Judgement
 When we pass this information on to others we subconsciously
make an “internal” judgement about what we feel is important.
  The recipient of a message tends to be more attuned to the
message if it is congenial to or confirms the person’s own frame of
Congeniality reference.

 Frame of reference: all the attitudes and presumptions that

determine how a person perceives issues and events
  Sometimes rumours are intentional or unintentional leaks of
information which become part of the organisational culture.
 They are unfounded but spread rapidly because of fear and
uncertainty. Rumour support existing speculations.
Rumour  Rumours need to be substantiated or denied by persons in
authority who have, and are acknowledged as having, access to
the relevant (correct) information.
  The confidence that readers and listeners have in a
communication is affected by the extent to which they believe the
information and the credibility of the communicator.

Percieved  Teachers are listened to because there is a perception that they

status are honest, objective and competent.

 Estate agents may arouse suspicion because they are trying to

make a large commission from the seller
 Barriers to effective communication
 For a communication to be effective it is dependent on the
nature and quality of the information which is being sent to
the recipient.

 It also relies on the interpretation placed on the

communication by both sender and receiver.

 In fact there are many barriers to successful communication.

Thy can interfere with the encoding and decoding stages.
(a) Technical  For example, if a message is not received because of
interference on a mobile telephone or because a fax machine is
noise not working properly.
(b) Physical  For example, if an office is too noisy because it lacks sound-
proofing or a group is too large so they cannot hear what is
noise being said in a presentation.
(c) Lack of
 For example, if, during a sales presentation, an individual
interest or believes a product is not appropriate for his needs or feels
hostile strongly that his valuable time is being wasted, then the
person’s message will not get through.
attitude
  For example, if a group of staff on a training course are not
(d) Poor used to sitting down and concentrating on what is being said
listening skills then their lack of listening skills might mean that the message
is not successfully communicated.
(e)  For example, during a meeting a manager might try to give his
audience a long list of facts and figures in a short period of
Information time; this would mean that most of his message would not be
overload communicated successfully.
  For example, if someone had a poor grasp of language and used
(f) Semantic incorrect words such as “economically variable” instead of
noise “viable”, or the person used technical jargon or abbreviations
which were not understood by the audience.
  For example, if a person at an interview said that he was very
(g) Psychological interested in the job being described but started to yawn and
noise gaze disinterestedly out of the window as the interviewer was
speaking.
  For example, telephoning at lunch times and on Friday
afternoons may make it difficult to get through because the
person you need to contact is unavailable.
(h) Poor
timing  Or if you are talking to someone in an appraisal interview
telling them how long-term planning in the firm might affect
their role, they are unlikely to be listening if they know that the
next topic concerns their annual pay rise!