Chapter one

Overview of communication

Meaning of Communication
The term communication is derived from the Latin work “Communis”, which means common.
Literally, to communicate means to tell, show, spread and inform. As communication is a much more complex
factor in our present world, not surprisingly, the problem of defining it as a subject of study has also become
increasingly difficult. For our purposes, however, we can define communication as: The process by which
people attempt to share meaning (ideas, feeling, thought, experience, knowledge, skill, etc.) for some purpose
through the transmission of symbolic messages.
Our working definition of communication calls attention to the following five essential points.
1. Communication is a process: Communication refers to a series of activities to be accomplished in a
sequence; it does not refer to incidental events and transactions among people.
2. Communication is purposeful: When senders - receivers communicate the sender originally should
have an objective to be checked at the end of the communication process. Communication is not just
the transfer of messages but purposeful transfer of messages between senders and receivers. Thus it
does not refer to incidental transactions between people
3. Communication involves people: Communication shows the degree of understanding among senders-
receivers and how they relate to each other. Therefore, it refers to communication among people only
and the exchange of interpersonal behaviors among them.
4. Communication involves shared meaning: This suggests that in order for people to communicate,
they must agree on the definitions of the terms and symbols they are using. The symbols used by the
sender should be similarly interpreted by the receiver in order to ensure equal or similar understanding
between them.
5. Communication is symbolic: In communication symbols such as, letters, numbers, words, gestures,
sound, etc. can only represent or approximate the ideas they are meant to communicate. In other words
symbols are not perfect representations of our ideas. Thus we have to take care in selecting symbols
that best approximate the sender’s ideas.
Communication is vital to human existence. It is how we pass on to others our thoughts and feelings, tell them
what we want them to do, ask them to help us, share with them our knowledge and experience. Without
communication we would each live as if alone in the world.
Nature/Characteristics of Communication
As articulated by Gerald Miller, communication has three basic characteristics: dynamism,
Uniqueness and transactional nature.
 Dynamism: Every communication event stems from a series of past events and triggers a series of new
ones. Communication is affected by prior attitudes, planned thoughts and people to whom the message
is addressed. It is thus a dynamic phenomenon without beginning, without end, continually responding,
and continually changing.
 Uniqueness: Evolving naturally from the notion of dynamism is the concept of uniqueness. No two
communication events are a like because of the change in the sender, the audience, delivery, time
situation etc.
 Transactional Nature: Communication scholars Wenberg and Wilmot mentioned that in
communication all persons are engaged in sending (encoding) and receiving (decoding) messages
simultaneously. Each person is affecting the other. Each communication transaction involves reciprocal
exchanges of feelings, meanings, ideas and responses.

Significance of Communication

The ability to communicate with others is an essential attribute of human life and we are all of us grappling with
communication tasks most of the time we are awake. Only when we are alone and also not reading or writing or
listening, we stop receiving messages from the world of people outside ourselves, stop trying to send out
messages to the fellow human beings around us. Communication plays, then, a vital part in our personal daily
lives. Furthermore, communication has been characterized as the “life-blood” of an organization. Every
organization depends for its daily functioning on an intricate communication network, which has grown up
during the years and has proved itself indispensable. “No person is an Island”; today more than ever all the
people
of the world rely upon another for products, services, ideas, etc. The above two paragraphs show that the
importance of communication be viewed from two angles: individual angle and organizational angle.
Man conflicts with himself, with his environment and with his fellow creatures. He is capable of
emotions, ideas and reasoning. He must learn the art of adjusting to himself, to his work, and to his associates
even as that self, that work, and those associates change. A person must learn and
practice the art of human relations, an art that enhances the individual person and the society of
which he is a member. Like all other people, you are a complex system of thoughts and feelings, of ideas and
emotions. Although similar to other human beings, you are a unique person. Yet you must live and work with
others. You are a human being not an island. Multiply this complicated being you by the millions of other
complicated and unique people on this earth. Add the unpredictable influences of society and nature. Recognize
that today a person economically, is not an island; s/he cannot isolate herself/himself from her/his fellow men.
You will then discover that at the core of human relations is modern man’s obligation to fulfill himself with in
the requirements of nature and society. Even though all people including you are emotional-rational beings, still
you are unique from others in that you have geared your career to successful business management. Therefore
you have assumed the obligation of striving, ethically and efficiently, to use thoughts and feelings ideas and
emotions, actions and reactions in leading your life and conducting your work.
To be specific communication serves the following three purposes in personal or individual life.
 Job Success: The two dimensions of management most often cited as the keys to individual and
organizational success are technical ability and understanding of people. Effective communication skills
to listen, speak, and write complement these two dimensions. Therefore enhance ones job success, a
person learn the art of human relations to effectively communicate her/his ideas, experiences, thoughts,
skills and feelings.
 Personal Satisfaction: Mastery on a certain area goes beyond vocational success or promotion, i.e.
personal satisfaction. Thus communication skill can be a source of personal satisfaction, particularly in
the areas of art such as writing, painting, etc.
 Meeting Social and Ethical obligations: A person may be in conflict with him/herself, with other
people, and/or with the community at large. With the help of communication people continue
Communication in management

As a student or an employee, whatever you academic classification or job title may be, you participate in the
coordination of resources and objectives. In doing so you participate in management, the continuing process of
achieving order efficiently through intelligent decisions that govern an organization. Simultaneously, you
participate in communication, the reciprocal process of sharing information through symbols, principally words.
Communication is essential to sound management; your success as a manager- a person who is in charge of
coordinating the human and non-human resources of an organization- greatly depends upon your ability to
communicate effectively.
Communication is essential to each of the five basic functions of management. In order to plan,
Organize, staff, direct and control, managers must be able to communicate with other persons- and
communicate well. Information from others helps formulate plans; information provided to others defines job
assignments and helps organize work; information on standards, progress and personal factors fulfills the
directing function; while information in the form of written and oral progress reports is a fundamental element
in controlling. Communication is a linking process that enables each of the basic functions of management to be
carried. Effective communication is therefore the “life blood” of every organization.
Objectives of communication
The main objectives of all communication in an organization is the general welfare of the organization.
Effective communication is needed at all stages in order to ensure this welfare. At the planning stage,
information is needed on the various aspects of the enterprise, the feasibility of the project being undertaken,
finances involved, manpower required, marketing conditions, publicity campaigns, etc. at the execution stage,
orders are issued to the employees to start work, the workers associated with the project are constantly
motivated and kept involved, a sense of discipline is cultivated among them and their morale is kept high.
Communication can be used for any or more of the following objectives:
 Information
 Advice
 Order
 Suggestion
 Persuasion
 Education
 Warning
 Raising morale
 motivation
Information
Passing or receiving information about a particular fact or circumstance is one of the most
important objectives of communication. It can be done either through spoken or written language
or by using any other system of signs or signals. Managers need complete, accurate and precise
information to plan and organize; employees need it to translate planning into reality.
Advice
Commercial activities in the modern world have become extremely complex. Each individual
activity needs specialized handling, which cannot be expected from people working single-
handed. However competent a businessman may be, he cannot have specialized knowledge of all
branches like finance, taxation, publicity, engineering, public relations, etc. if he wants to run his
business successfully, he will have to seek expert advice quite frequently.
Counseling
Counseling is very similar to giving advice. Only, counsel is objective and impersonal. The
counselor is a man of greater skill or knowledge on some specific subject and he offers his
counsel without any personal interest or involvement. Advice has a personal touch about it;
counsel is almost professional. Advice is often unsought and is unwelcome; counsel is eagerly
sought.
Order
Order is an authoritative communication. It is a directive to somebody, always a subordinate, to
do something, to modify or alter the course of something he is already doing, or not to do
something.
Instruction
Instruction is a particular type of order in which the subordinates not only ordered to do a job but
is also given guidance on how to do it. If the accounts officer asks one of his clerks to prepare a
voucher, he has an order. If he shows the clerk how to prepare a voucher and then asks him to
prepare more, he has issued instructions. All instructions are implied orders, but all orders cannot
be instructions.
Suggestion
Suggestion enjoys one great advantage over other means of communication like advice or order.
Advice comes from an expert; order comes from a higher authority. In either case, the recipient
of the communication is slightly conscious of his inferiority and may resent it. Accepting a
suggestion is at his discretion, so a suggestion is usually welcome.
Persuasion
Persuasion is an important objective of communication. It may be defined as an effort ‘to
influence the attitudes, feelings, or beliefs of others, or to influence actions based on those
attitudes, feelings, or beliefs.’ Buyers have often to be persuaded to buy a particular article
available with the seller in place of the one they actually wanted to buy. In the office or the
factory, the lazy, the incompetent and the disgruntled workers have to be persuaded to do their
work.