CHAPTER- ONE

OVERVIEW OF COMMUNICATION

1.1 MEANING OF COMMUNICATION

Different writers define communication in different ways. Let’s look at various possible ways of
defining communication. The root of the word “communication” in Latin is communicare, which
means to share, or to make common. Communication is defined as the process of understanding and
sharing meaning. The word communication is derived from communis (Latin), meaning common.
It stands for a natural activity of all human beings to convey opinions, feelings, information and
ideas to others through words (written or spoken), body language or signs (PD Chaturvedi and
Mukesh Chaturvedi, 2004). Communication is the most vital ingredient in an organization.
George Verdman in his book, Effective Communication of Ideas, defined communication as
purposive interchange, resulting workable understanding and agreement between the sender and
receiver of a message. According to Charles E. Redfield, communication is the broad field of
human interchange of facts and opinions, and not the technologies of telephone, telegraph, radio,
and the like. This is because social communication is concerned with the interaction of people,
individually and in groups, the subject is interwoven with semantics, sociology, anthropology,
education, and administration. Chester Bernard states that the first executive function is to
develop and maintain a system of communication. It is communication which gives life to an
organizational structure and so can be called the lifeblood of an organization conceived as an
organic system. It is a thread or the via media that holds the various interdependent parts of an
organization together. If it stops, organizational activity ceases to exist. This has relevance not
only to the internal functioning of an organization but also to the exchange of information it
carries on to the environment. The communication system serves as the tool by which the
organization is embedded in its environment. Therefore, a communication system not only
integrates various organizational sub-units, in a systematic sense but also serves as an elaborate
set of interconnected channels designed to sift, sieve and analyse information input from the
environment. Subsequently, it exports processed information to the environment. When people
are asked to define communication, some define communication as “the process of transferring
ideas from one person to another”. When you see this definition on surface it seems sound.
However, it is incorrect way of defining communication. Why do you think it is so? Because the

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words transferring and from one person to another inaccurately imply that communication is
like pouring liquid from a pot to another pot. In other words, the definition implies a simple, one
way action where person A takes knowledge from his or her head and simply pours (transfers) it
into the head of person B, the same way the water poured to a pot. Person B may refuse to accept
A’s ideas and may, instead, wish to present his or her own ideas (give feedback) unlike the pot.
The Latin root of communicate is communicate, which means “to make common to many,
share”. According to this definition, when people communicate, they express their ideas and
feelings in a way that is understandable (common) to each of them. They share information with
each other. So, what is the correct way of defining Communication? Hamilton and Parker
(1987), define communication as” the process of people sharing thoughts, ideas, and feelings
with each other in commonly understandable ways.” Bovee and Thill (2000) defined
communication as the process of sending and receiving messages. They distinguished
communication and effective communication. According to Bovee and Thill, effective
communication occurs when individuals achieve a shared understanding, stimulate others to take
actions, and encourage people to think in new ways. Dear student, now look back the definition
you gave for communication earlier at the beginning of this topic and revise it again in line with
the definitions forwarded here. Because this course is concerned primarily with effective
business communication, the discussions and illustrations you will read focus mainly on business
messages. However, you can apply them also to other organizations, to other professions, and to
your personal communication.

1.2. SIGNIFICANCE OF COMMUNICATION

In order to show the importance of communication to organization it is better to define what

organization is. An organization is a group of people associated for business, political,
professional, religious, athletic, social, or other purposes. Its activities require human beings
to interact, react- communicate. They exchange information, ideas, plans, make decisions,
rules, proposals, contracts and various agreements which all of them cannot happen without
communication. Communication is the life blood of every organization. Whether an
organization is large or small, the sharing of information among the parts of an organization,
as well as between the organization and the outside world, is the glue that binds the
organization together. As a member of an organization, be it formal or informal organization,
you are a link in the communication chain. Whether you are a top manager or an entry level

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employee, you have information that others need to perform their jobs. At the same time,
others have information that is crucial to you. Communication skills are important because it
is through communication that you gain the information you need to make successful
decisions at work. The success of an organization depends on communication skills of its
employees. Researches indicate that communication skills were rated “extremely important”
relative to other kinds of abilities by the surveyed organization. Researchers conducted on
business organizations also show that “inability to communicate” and “poor communication
skills” were the most frequently mentioned reasons for not hiring a job applicant. From this
you can see that communication affects even your personal life.

The main reasons why we need to communicate are:-

Physical needs –its presence and absence affects physical health and it becomes a
matter of life and death.

Identity needs-our sense of identity comes from the way we interact with other people.
Communication is the way that we all learn who we are.

Social needs-communication provides us vital link with others.

Practical needs –communication is a method that we achieve what we want. We use it

to convince others, tell information to others.
1.3. FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION

Communication serves at least one of the following four purposes. Of course,

communication may serve two more of these purposes at the same time.

1. To tell –to inform others e.g. to explain how to do a job.

2. To sell-sell products, getting approval for your project i.e. to enforce or convince
others.

3. To learn –to share ideas, understand others, to capture knowledge.

4. To decide –good decision needs information and you trade/obtain or exchange

information through communication.

1.4. CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUNICATION

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 1. Communication is a process –communication is not discrete, static or solitary instead
it exists in time and changes consistently. Communication is a process of integration
between or among people.

2. Communication uses symbols –it is through symbols that we communicate either it is

written or oral and facial expressions or gestures.

3. Communication is contextual –communication occurs in a context, the shared symbol

is part of context. With no context, we will not know what is appropriate to say and
what is not.

4. Communication is purposive –we communicate each other or one another for a

purpose if no purpose then we are not motivated.

5. Communication is two-way-existence of sender and receiver assures that

communication is two way.

6. Communication is irreversible

7. Communication is not panacea

1.5. ROLE OF COMMUNICATION IN MANAGERIAL ACTIVITIES

The role of communication becomes more critical as organizations grow in size, complexity and
sophistication. Control is exercised through the giving of information that is understood and
willingly appropriated, through coordination effected through procedures, plans or direct orders,
and through indoctrination. Control is not completed until a report is rendered concerning
performance. A communication system which is satisfactory today may not remain so tomorrow.
Consequently, there is a need for adjustment in the communication system according to the
changing needs of an organization. Also communication system of an organization is an
exceedingly powerful determinant of an organization’s effectiveness. Pfiff
ner considers communication as the heart of management. Miller describes communication as
the bloodstream of an administrative organization. For Peter Drucker, it is the ability of the
various functional groups within the enterprise to understand each other and each other’s
functions and concerns.

Each of the managerial activities relies heavily on communication to achieve goals.

1. Planning and the need for communication

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 2. Organizing and the need for communication

3. Staffing and the need for communication

4. Directing and the need for communication

5. Controlling and the need for communication

Today, from the small to the multinational enterprise, every organization needs an
effective communication system to enable it to function and flourish. In an organization,
effective communication is required for various purposes such as:

 Enables managers to update their knowledge

 To promote employees’ sense of belonging and commitment
 To effect changes smoothly
 To motivate and create a sense of identification with the organization’s goals
 To inform and convince employees about decisions and the reasons behind those
decisions
 To develop employees’ clear understanding of their roles and future growth
opportunities +in the organization and
 To empower employees with information on development and activities.
Hence, an effective communication system is vital for the good health of an organization. If there
is a continuous sharing of ideas and interactive meetings between the management and workers,
the overall atmosphere of understanding and goodwill would prevail in the workplace. If
decision making is transparent, employees would understand reasons for those decisions and
accept and implement them even if they affect them adversely. The following three advantages
reemphasize the need for communication in management:
Creates a sense of belonging: an understanding of their roles and career paths in the
organization would make employees feel part of the whole setup.
Resolves disputes: all disputes in organization, which lead to huge losses of time, money and
good human relations are caused by communication failures.
Develops a sense of total situation: a great value of effective communication lies in making
people not only know and understand the message but also perceive the meaning of things
happening around them. Through communication, employees not only think of but also see
realities as part of the total business scenario.

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