INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION

Communication is an integral part of human existence. It contributes to the success or failure of every
human activity.

Communication is essentially the ability of one party/person to make contact with another party/person
and to make himself/herself understood. It is vital for human beings to receive and exchange
information. Communication is regarded as the foundation of a successful organization. no group can
exist without communication.

Communication may be defined as the imparting, conveying or exchange of information, ideas or

The communication cycle

Information---Sender---Encoding---Message---Medium/Channel---Receiver---Decoding----

^ |

| |

|-------------<----------------Feedback---------------<------------------|---|

The process of communication

The communication process consists of five stages and these are

1. Conceiving the message

2. Encoding the message

3. Transmission of the message

4. Decoding the message

5. Feedback

1. Conceiving the message

Communication is concerned with manipulating information and the world is constantly presenting us
with the information we need. Information is the raw material of the communication- the actual data. It
may be an opinion, an idea, a fact or a combination of fact and opinion. (for example, the letter W, can
be M or 3 or a summation sign depending on which angle you look at it from.)

Perception is the process of gathering information and giving it meaning. We perceive differently and
selectively depending on our educational background, needs, tastes, personality etc.
Apart from the world presenting us with information, one may also be required to actually look for that
information. This information may be gathered from people, books, files, internet, magazines, journals,
television, radio and newspapers. The information is first of all acquired, then organized to give it
meaning in respect of the needs of the receiver and finally structured into the message itself.

2. Encoding the message

Encoding is the process by which the sender (the body responsible for passing on information) puts the
information in a form that can be sent. Any given idea may be expressed in many ways depending on
your subject, purpose, audience, personal style, mood, cultural background, educational background
etc.

Some of the problems at the encoding stage include:- indecision about content, lack of familiarity with
the situation or the receiver, emotions, difficulty in expressing ideas for example, limited education or
vocabulary.

3. Transmission of the message

It is important to ensure that one uses an appropriate medium and channel to communicate with a
target audience. The medium is the larger group of communication instruments within which the
message belongs. That is, written, oral, visual, nonverbal communication. The channel is the physical
means by which the message is communicated.

There are various factors that one would consider when selecting the communication medium and
channel and these are

a. The urgency of the message

b. Confidentiality

c. The situation

d. The audience profile

e. The cost

f. Availability

g. The distance involved.

h. The message itself

For communication to occur, the receiver must get the message. Physical reception if only the first step.
The receiver also has to absorb the message mentally, that is, the message has to be understood and
stored in the receiver’s mind. If there is no barrier to the communication, the message is interpreted
correctly. The receiver will assign the same meaning to the message as the sender intended and
responds in the expected way.

5. Feedback

Feedback is the final link of the communication chain. It is the receiver’s response to the message. It
may take the form of a smile, an action, a written or spoken message. Even the lack of a visible response
is a form of response n a sense.

Feedback is a key element in the communication process because it enables the sender to evaluate the
effectiveness of the message. If the receiver does not understand what you mean, you can tell by the
response and reshape or reconstruct the message.

Feedback plays an important role by indicating significant communication barriers.

Feedback can take place immediately or over a long period of time. One can look at communication and
compare it with a pool of stagnant water. When one takes a stone and throws it in the water, there will
be the splash, the sound, the ripples and the stone will sink. That is the same as communication,
whereby, the stone is communication and the water is the receiver. The receiver will have the
immediate response and the continual response to a message.

Both the sender and the receiver can respond to feedback.

When the receiver is sending the feedback, the roles reverse. The receiver becomes the sender and the
sender becomes a receiver.

Barriers to effective communication

There are several barriers that one may encounter when communicating and the barriers include:-

1. Wrong choice of medium. Each communication should be transmitted through an appropriate

2. Noise- noise is the name given to the features of the setting in which communication takes place
which interfere with the accurate transfer of the message. It may be physical noise- that which you can
hear, e.g. loud music, people screaming, hooting vehicles; it could be psychological noise- that is those
things that are within the person that makes the person not to listen, e.g. illness, stress, having other
things in the mind etc. it could also be technical noise- this is caused by the machine that someone may
be using to communicate e.g. a hanging computer or a programme that is not responding, a static
phone, illegible photocopy. And it could also be environmental noise- these are the things within the
environment that make it difficult to concentrate, e.g extremely hot or cold weather, a foul smell.

3. Semantic barriers- this is whereby a person may interpret the same word differently or use
different words for the same meaning. This causes a barrier to communication.

4. Attitude- individuals get their attitudes from their education, religion, culture, environment and
general experience. Attitudes can distort ones awareness of messages in communication and thus
hinder the communication process. An individual with a closed mind is very difficult to communicate
with. The attitude may be towards the topic or the person communicating.

5. Emotions- the emotions of either the sender or the receiver can prove to be a barrier. Any
strongly felt emotion is liable to prevent almost anything but the emotion being communicated. If the
sender is too emotional, he/she will not be able to organize or encode the message properly. If the
receiver is too emotional, he/she may not listen to the communication.

6. Inadequate communication skills- communication skills are the abilities to send and receive
messages clearly and effectively with no possibility of misunderstanding. A barrier to communication is
created when one or the other party fails to possess the necessary communication skills.

7. Lack of listening ability- the ability to listen is an essential ability for all of us. Unless the sender
can listen, he or she will be unable to discover the real response of the receiver. Unless the receiver can
listen, he/she will fail to grab the true significance of the message.

8. Stereotyping- because individuals learn from their experiences, they run the risk of treating
different people as if they were the same. Thus there is the risk of treating different people as if they
were the same.

9. Incorrect information- this is the fact that the information may simply be wrong. If the mistake is
discovered, it will undermine the receiver’s trust in the sender and may create a barrier in attitude
which can hold up effective communication in later exchanges.

10. Perceptual bias- people often see what they expect to see and see what they expect to see
rather than what is actually there. It occurs when one has selective hearing and selects what they want
to hear.

11. Information overload- it can occur if the receiver of the message receives too much information.
This may make the message not to be communicated successfully.

12. Ego- this is where the receiver believes he/she is of a higher status than the sender and is thus
not willing to listen.

13. Wrong timing- communication should be delivered a t the appropriate time. Wrong timing both
in terms of chronological timing and psychological timing could lead to ineffective communication.
Key factors for effective communication

1) Clarity of message- the message should be as clear as possible. The message can be conveyed
properly only if it is clearly formulated in the mind of both the sender and the receiver.

2) Personal communication skills- this is one of the simplest ways in which communication may be
improved. A simple awareness of these abilities as skils which can be developed will help in improving
communication.

3) Defining the purpose of the communication- A clear purpose will help one to avoid information
overload as they will know what to say and what not to say.

4) Environment- consider the environment where the communication will take place. Ensure that it
is conducive for the communication.

5) Judge the right moment for the communication both in terms of its chronological rightness and
psychological rightness.

6) Know the subject matter that you would like to communicate. This will help to avoid sending out
incorrect information.

7) Use the appropriate tone and style when communicating. Do not be too harsh to the receivers.

8) Choose the right medium for the communication. Bear in mind the factors that influence the
choice of the medium to ensure that the appropriate one is used for the communication.

9) Understand your receiver- the more you know about your target audience, the easier it is to
avoid barriers to communication. By considering how a communication might be received, you are more
likely to shape a message that will not be misinterpreted.

10) Establishing good relations- the mode of communication should be chosen in such a manner
that it does not hurt the feelings of the receiver. It should create proper understanding in the mind of
the receiver which leads to developing and maintaining a good relationship between sender and
receiver.

11) Use the appropriate language for the receiver.

The seven C’s of communication

1) Clarity

2) Correct

3) Concise
4) Convincing

5) Courtesy

6) Consistency

7) Complete