Chapter 1 Types of Business Communication 4.0 Objectives 4.4 Introduetion 4.2 Business Communication 4.3. The Classification, Functions & Scope of Business Communication 4.4 Internal Communication 4.5 External Communication 4.6 Conclusion 4.7 Summary 4,8 Check your Progress — Answers 4.9 Questions for Self— Study 4.40 Suggested Readings — 1.0 OBJECTIVES — Alter studying this chapter you will be able to ~ * Describe the classification of Business Communication * Explain the functions of Business Communication Explain the scope of Business Communication — 1.1 INTRODUCTION = If you are like most of us, you spend more time communicating than doing anything else. Probably you spend a large part of each day talking and listening. When you are not talking or listening, you are likely communicating in other ways — reading, ‘writing, gesturing, drawing. Or perhaps you are just taking in information by seeing, feeling, or smelling. All of these activities are forms of communication and certainly you do them throughout most of your conscious moments, Something we do so much must be important. Probably it is tho most important of all our activites. It is easy to see that communication is what has enabled us to develop the civilized society we know today. It is one activity that we human beings clearly do better than the other forms of life on earth, and it largely explains our dominant role. Communication has enabled us to organize-to work in groups; and through organization, we have been able to overcome barriers to our existence that we could not have conquered individually. But we need not discuss further how communication has contributed to our development as human beings. Its role is obvious to us all. We need only conolude that communication is vital to our success and well being in civilized society. — 1.2 BUSINESS COMMUNICATION — Though business communication is a specialized branch of general communication, there is no basic difference between the two. The process is the same and so are the principles that regulate them. The difference lias in their application to situations. Whereas general communication plays many roles in the world at large, business communication is specifically concemed with business activities, which are well-defined Business activities are of two types, internal and external. Among the internal activities are: maintaining and improving the morale of employees, giving orders to workers, prescribing methods and procedures, announcing policies and organizational ‘Types of Business Communication /1changes, and keeping the management informed. The external activities relate to selling and obtaining goods and services, reporting to the government and the shareholders on the financial condition and business operations, and creating a favorable climate for conducting business. Every activity, internal or external, leads to some result. Therefore the main purpose of every communication in business is to obtain some result that is, to secure an action by the receiver. The sender expects him to do something on receiving the message-write a cherub, place an order, approve an. action, send some information, etc. To achieve this purpose, the language used is direct, plain, concise and to the point, and the style concentrates on drawing attention, arousing interest or creating desire, developing conviction, and inducing action. The main features that lend business communication a distinct identity are as follows: 1. Itdeals with various commercial and industrial subjects. 2. It is characterized by certain formal elements such as commercial and technical vocabulary, the use of graphic and audio-visual aids and conventional formats. 3. It is impartial and objective as extreme care is taken to convey information accurately and concisely. 4. It has comparatively a high concentration of certain complex writing techniques and procedures. To sum up, we may define business communication as the use of effective language for conveying a commercial or industrial message to achieve a predetermined purpose. ™ 1.3 CLASSIFICATION, FUNCTION AND SCOPE OF BUSINESS = COMMUNICATION The importance of communication in business becomes even more apparent when we consider an organization's communication activities from an overall perspective. These activities of communication are classified under different classes of communication which are explained in detail below: Verbal Communication It is the ability to communicate by using words that separates human beings from the rest of the animal kingdom. Our verbal ability also enables us to learn from the past - to benefit from the experience of others. Oral Communication Oral communication is one of the most common functions in business. Consider, for example, how limiting it would be if a manager could not attend meetings, ask questions to colleagues, make presentations, appraise performance, handle customer complaints, or give instructions. Oral communication is different from written communication in that it allows more ways to get a message across to others. You can clear up any questions immediately; use nonverbal clues; provide additional information; and use pauses, emphasis, and voice tone to stress certain points For oral communication to be effective, a second communication skill = listening - is also required. No matter how well crafted the content and delivery of an oral presentation; it cannot achieve its goal if the intended audiences do not have effective listening skills. Some research has found that nearly 60% of all communication problems in business are caused by poor listening, ‘Written Communication Writing is more difficult than speaking because you have to get your message correct the first time; you do not have the advantage of immediate feedback and non- verbal clues, such as facial expression to help you achieve your objective. Examples of 'ypical written communication, in industry include the following: + Memo: A memo is a written message sent to someone working in the same organization. + Letters: A letter is a writton message sent to someone outside the organization; it also can be sent by computer via commercial electronic mail networks, such ‘Communication Skills / 2as MCI or CompuServe. + Exmail (electronic mail): E-mail is a message transmitted electronically over a computer network most often connected by cable, telephone lines, or satelites. The recipient's computer receives and stores the message almost instantaneously after it is sent. The recipient may read, respond to, file, oF discard the message - all without the use of paper + Reports: A report is an orderly and objective presentation of information that assists in decision-making and problem solving. Examples of common business reports include policies and procedures, status reports, minutes of meetings, financial reports, personnel evaluations, press releases, and computer printouts, + Miscellaneous: Other examples of written communication include contracts, sales literature, newsletters, and bulletin - board notices. Writing is crucial in the modern organization because it serves as the major source of documentation. A speech may make a striking impression, but a memorandum leaves a permanent record for others to refer to in the future in case memory fails or a cispute arises. For written messages to achieve their goals, they must be read. The skill of efficient reading is becoming more important in today's technological world. The abundance of widespread computing and word processing capabilities, along with the proliferation of convenient and economical photocopying and faxing has created more paperwork rather than less. Thus, information overload is one of the unfortunate by- products of our times. These are other implications of technology on business ‘communication are discussed throughout this text. Function of Communication A very significant role is played by communication in the management of modem large organizations. Such organizations are being designed on the basis of specialisation and division of labour and have large number of people working together. Since they are functionally related to each other, there is high need of coordination among them. This coordination requires mutual understanding of the organizational goals, the mode of their achievement and the relationship between the works being performed by various individuals. All this can be achieved by effective ‘communication. Communication, thus, becomes an essential ingredient for effective management. Often it is said that management and communication are so closely related that they are almost synonymous. The role of communication in management can be identified by identifying the various functions that are performed by communication. Such functions are information function, command and instructive function, influence and persuasive function, and integrative function. Let us see how these functions are important and are performed by communication. Information Function Information is vital for the functioning of any living system—people or organization. Living systems can achieve some viability in their environments only to the extent that they have some appropriate means of acquiring and procassing information about themselves and their environments. This information is used as the basis for orientation to those environments and for determining their behaviour. The technology of communication has greatly enhanced man's information-generating capacities. It is our ability to affect each other communicatively which has $0 greatly increased the importance of the information giving and receiving aspect of our existence. As a consequence, we can create purposive organizations of people variously committed to some common endeavor. It is particularly the existence of such purposive organizations which give ise to the importance of information-giving and receiving. No organization can fulfil its purpose except to the extent that its communication process furthers its movement towards its specific goals in some way. Command and instructive Function Communication performs command and instructive function. Those who are hierarchically superior—whether in family, business, civil, or military—often initiate communication not only for the purpose of informing their subordinates but often for the purpose of telling them what to do, directing them,, or commanding their behaviour in some way. The command and instructive function of communication is more observable in formal organizations than it is in informal organizations. Individuals who are hierarchically superior within an organization structure are both privileged and obligated to command and control certain task-related behaviours of their “Types of Business Communication 73subordinates. Those same subordinates have a similar obligation and privilege vis-a- vis their own subordinates, and so on from the top to the bottom of the organizational hierarchy. Orders, directives, requests, procedures, even performance appraisals all function as command messages. Influence and Persuasive Function Of all that has been written about communication over the years, perhaps more has been written about the persuasive function of communication than about any other aspect. There are those who take the position that all communication is persuasive in character. However, in management, influence and persuasion taken together represent one of the several functions as other functions are equally important. Managers can influence others either coercively or communicatively. Since influence through coercion has its limitations in organizational setting, managers can do well to influence others through effective communication. In fact, leadership is more effective than exercise of authority in getting the maximum from the employees. Leadership, to a very great extent, depends upon how the manager communicates with his employees and others who may be related with the organization in one way or the other. Integrative Function Communication performs the integrative function by relating various components of the organization and maintaining equilibrium among them. In the broadest sense, the integrational aspect includes all behavioural operations which (i) serve to keep the system in operation, (it) serve to regulate the interactional process, and (ii) relate the particular context to the larger context of which the particular interaction is but a special situation. The communication that occurs has. the consequence of energising, organizing and channelising the behaviour of living systems. However, if the messages we create in order to comprehend our environment are not cumulative and self-organizing in some way, it would be impossible to gain or to maintain the necessary degree of equilibrium or stable state relations with various aspects of environment. For example, at the larger than face-to- face human groups, some formalisation takes place and integrative functions are provided in part by bureaucratisation, proceduralisation, institutionalisation, ete. In fact, ‘when a social system exceeds the integrative limits of face-to-face interactions, the necessary integrative mechanisms become embedded in the social system's literature, art folklore, mythology, beliefs, mores, institutional practices, etc. Scope and Importance of Communication in Organizations When one walks through the halls of a contemporary organization he sees managers and other employees reading reports, drafting electronic mail on their computers, attending meetings, conducting interviews, talking on the telephone, conferring with subordinates, holding business lunches, reading mail, dictating correspondence, and making presentations. In short, he sees people communicating. In an organization, we spend more time communicating than doing anything else. An organization can be defined as a group of people working together to achieve a common goal. Communication is an important too} towards achieving the goal. How does one know that there is a common goal? Therefore, communication must have occurred before a common goal could even be established. And a group of people working together must interact; that is, they must communicate their needs, thoughts, plans, expertise, and so on. Communication is the means by which information is shared, actives are coordinated, and decision-making is enhanced. Understanding the working of communication and the process of communicating competently within an organization helps people participate more effectively in every aspect of business. Therefore, good communication skills are crucial for the success of any organization. From an individual's point of view proficiency in writing and speaking skils helps the individual to acquire a job, perform well, and earn promotions. If one decides to go into business, writing and speaking skills will helps him promote his product, manage his employees among other things. The same skils also help him achieve his personal and social goals. ‘The Formal Communication Network Within the organization, information may be transmitted from superiors to subordinates (downward communication), from subordinates to superiors (upward ‘Communication Skills / 4communication), among people at the same level on the organizational chart (horizontal communication), and among people in different departments within the organization (cross-channel communication). These four types of communication make up the organization's formal communication network Downward Communication: In most organizations the largest numbers of vertical communications move downward - from someone of higher authority to someone of lower authority. For example, at Anuro's Systems, Rohit Mishra sends a ‘memo to Neolima Shrikhande about a computer report; she, in tun, confers with Eric Fox. Through written and oral channels, information regarding job performance, policies and procedures, day-today operations, and other organizational information is communicated. Higher - level management communicates with lower-level employees through such means as memos, conferences, telephone conversations, company newsletters, policy manuals, bulletin- board announcements, and videotapes. One of the problems with written downward communication is that management may assume that what is sent downward is received and understood. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Upward Communication: Upward communication is the flow of information from lower-level employees to upper-level employees. For example, Jean Tate sends ‘a monthly status report to the president regarding human resources actions for the month, and Neolima responds to Rohit's memo regarding the computer report. Upward communication can take the form of memos, conferences, reports, suggestion systems, employee surveys, or union publications, among others, Upward communication is important because it provides higher management with the information needed for decision-making, It also cultivates employee loyalty by giving employees an opportunity to be heard, to air their grievances, and to offer suggestions. Finally, upward communication provides the feedback necessary to let supervisors know whether subordinates received and understood messages that were sent downward Horizontal Communication: Horizontal communication is the flow of information among peers within the same work unit, For example, the administration division holds a weekly staff meeting at which the three managers (jean, Lary, and Eric) exchange information about the status of their operations. Horizontal communication is important to help coordinate work assignments, share information on plans and activities, negotiate differences, and develop interpersonal support, thereby creating a more cohesive work unit. More the Individuals or departments within an organization interact with each other to accomplish their objectives; the more frequent and intense will be the horizontal communication. The most common form of horizontal communication is the committee meeting, where most coordination, sharing of information, and problem solving take place. Intense competition for scarce resources, lack of trust among coworkers, or concems about job security or promotions can sometimes create barriers to the free flow of horizontal information, Cross-Channel Communication: Cross-channel_communicaton is the exchange of information among employees in cifferent work units who are neither subordinate nor superior to each other. For example, each year a payroll clerk in Jean Tate's department sends out a request to all company employees for updated information about the number of exemptions they claim on their tax forms. Slaff specialists use oross-channel communications frequently because their responsibilites typically invoWve many departments within the organizations. Because they lack line authority to direct those with whom they communicate, they must often rely on their persuasive skills, a5, for instance, when the human resources department encourages employees to complete a job -satisfaction questionnaire. “Types of Business Communication 75i) ox » 1) Mention various funetions of communication 2) Explain integrative function in detail 3) Define downward communication 4) _ Define upward communication The Informal Communication Network The informal communication network (grapevine) transmits information through nonofficial channels within the organization. The informal communication network (or the grapevine, as itis called) is the transmission of information through nonofficial channels within the organization. Carpooling to work, waiting to use the photocopies, jogging at noon, in the cafeteria during lunch, or chatting at a local PTA meeting - wherever workers come together, they ate likely to hear and pass on information about possible happenings in the organization. Employees often say that the grapevine is their most frequent source of information on company plans and performance. In one recent survey of 451 executives, 91% reported that employees typically use the grapevine for information on company "bad news" such as layoffs and takeovers. Office politics was cited as a grapevine topic by 73%, whereas only 41% said their employees turned to the grapevine for “good news.” * Most ofthe information passed along the grapevine (about 80%) is business related, and most of it (75% to 95%) is accurate, + The grapevine is pervasive. It exists at all levels in the organization - from corporate boardroom to the assembly ine, * Information moves rapidly along the grapevine, + The grapevine is most active when change is taking place and when one’s need to know or level of fear is highest -during layoffs, plant closings, acquisitions, mergers, and the like, + The grapevine is a normal, often vital, part of every organization Rather than trying to eliminate the grapevine (a futile effort), competent managers accept its existence and pay attention to it. They act promptly to counteract falso rumors. Most of all, they use the formal communication network (including meetings, memos, newsletters, and bulletin boards) to ensure that all news - positive and nagative - gets out to employees as quickly and as completaly as possible. The free flow of information within the organization not only stops rumors; its simply good business. —_—_ 1.4 INTERNAL COMMUNICATION = Internal-operational communication consists of the structured communication within the organization that directly relates to achieving the organization's work goals. By structured we mean that such communication is built into the organization's plan of operation. By organization's work goals we mean the organization's primary reason for being—to sell insurance, to manufacture nuts and bolts, to construct buildings, and the lke. ‘Communication Skills / 6The Typical Company, to use a familiar example, has as its major work goals the making and selling of what sits, To achieve these work goals, it has an established plan of operation, in which communication plays a major role. More specifically, each typical employee has an assignment within the plan. In order for the plan to’ work, some communicating must be done. Some of the assignments require certain working information. In order for all assignments to be performed as a harmonious and unified effort, certain coordinating information must be communicated. All of this information ‘low is intemal-operational communication ‘Specifically, internal-operational communication is carried out through any number of structured activities. In the Typical Company, for example, much of the intemal-operational information is entered into the company computer from executive workstations to become part of Typical’s database. From the database, programmed reports are developed to give each operations department the information it needs. Then the reports are communicated back to specific workstations; for example, sales reports and inventory records combine to communicate production needs to the production planning department. Finally, the production planning department communicates these-needs to the various production departments through a strategically planned work schedule. Within each production unit and among production units, of course, additional communicating must go on. Superiors make decisions and transmit them to subordinates. Departments exchange information, and workers communicate working information with one another. Memorandums are written, reports are prepared, and conversations are held—all in the process of coordinating efforts and supplying the information needed for achieving the organization's goals. In every company division and in every activity, similar internal-operational communication occurs. — 1.5 EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION =— External-operational communication is that part of an organization’s structured communication concerned with achieving the organization's work goals that is conducted with people and groups outside the organization. It is the organization's communication with its publics — suppliers, service companies, customers, and the general public. Into this category fall all of the organization's efforts at direct selling— sales representatives, sales spiels, descriptive brochures, telephone call backs, follow-up service calls, and the like. Also included are all of the organization's advertising efforts — for what is advertising but a deliberate, structured communication with an organization's public. Radio and television messages, newspaper and magazine space advertising, and point-of-purchase display material obviously play a role in the organization's plan for achieving its work objective. Also in this category is everything the organization does to enhance its public relations. These activities include the organization's planned publicity, the civio-mindedness of its management, the courtesy of its employees, and the condition of its physical plant. All these and many more communication efforts combine to make up the organization's external-operational communication. The extreme importance of an organization's external communication hardly requires supporting comment. Certainly it is obvious that any business organization depends on outside people and groups for its success. It is an elementary principle of business because a business organization's success depends on its ability to satisfy customers’ needs, the organization must communicate effectively with these customers. It is equally elementary that in today’s complex business society, organizations depend on one another in the manufacture and distribution of goods as well as the sale of services. This interdependence necessarily creates needs for communication. Like internal communications, these outside communications are vital to an organization's operation. — 1.6 CONCLUSION = Thus by studying various types of business communication and their role in an industry, we come to know how important it is to have effective business ‘communication which acts as a tool to make progress in any business endeavour. Communication is the lifeline of day to day living as well as business. Any successful organisation creates a formal communication structure to enable smooth {unetioning. New employees are indoctrinated on the various aspects of organisational communication. “Types of Business Communication 77— 4.7 SUMMARY — Business Communication is one of the important kinds of communication which is a backbone of any industry. There are certain kinds of Business Communication like Internal, External, upward, Vertical, horizontal communication which play an important role in any organization There are certain functions like informational, integrative, persuasive function ete. that play an important role in carrying out day to day business activities. Source : hitp:/vjagopalk tripod.com (Link) = 1.8 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS - ANSWERS, = 1) Various functions of communication are Information function command and instructive function, influence and persuasive function, integrative function 2) In the broad sense, integrative function includes a behavioral operations which serve to keep the system in operation, serve to regulate the international process relate the particular context to the larger context of which the particular interaction is but a special situation, 3) Downward communication is the type of communication which moves from someone of higher authority to someone of lower authority. 4) Upward communication is the flow of information from lower level employees to upper level employees, — 1.9 QUESTIONS FOR SELF - STUDY = 1) What are the types of business communication? 2) Define upward communication 3) Define downward communication 4) Define vertical communication 5) What is meant by internal communication? 6) What is meant by extemal communication? — 1.10 SUGGESTED READINGS = * Communication Skills Dr. Rao & Dr. Das, Himalaya Publishing House © Communication Skills Dr. Urmila Rai & 8.M, Rai, Himalaya Publishing House ooo ‘Communication Skills / 8NoTES “Types of Business Communication 79NoTES ‘Communication Skills / 10Chapter 2 Communication Process Objectives Introduction Elements of Communication ‘The Communication Cycle The Barriers to Communication Conclusion Summary Check your Progress ~ Answers Questions for Self — Study Suggested Readings — 2.0 OBJECTIVES — After studying this chapter you will be able to - Describe the various elements of communication. Explain the communication cycle. Discuss various barriers to communication, —= 2.1 INTRODUCTION = ‘Communication is one of the vital parts of the organizational structure. It is the two way process, it is important to understand the various elements of communication, the communication cycle, and the barriers that hinder communication -_ 2.2 ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION = Since communication is one of the most important parts of the organizational structure, we start our study of communication with an analysis of the communication process. Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages. - sometimes through written words and sometimes through such nonverbal means as facial expressions, gestures, and voice qualities. As illustrated in the figure 1.1, the communication model consists of five parts: the stimulus, fiter, message, medium, and destination. Ideally, the process ends with feedback to the sender, although feedback is not necessary in order for communication to have taken place. || Filter Medium Fig,2.4 the Communication Process To illustrate the model, let us follow the case of Rohit Mishra, an engineer at Uttrascent Chemicals (UC). Last year, while in the process of working on another project, Rohit developed Ultra Light, a flat, electro luminescent sheet of material that serves as a light source. Rohit developed Ultra Light, which was bendable and could be produced in a variety of shapes and sizes. ‘Communication Process 117The market for lighting is vast, and Rohit, even though an engineer and not a businessman, felt the sting of inventing a device that had great potential but that belonged to somebody else (Uitrascent Chemicals). He was disappointed in Ultrascent Chemicals’ eventual decision not to manufacture and market this product. Let us. examine the communication process, to understand what happened to Rohit Mishra after Ultrascent Chemicals’ decision, Incident Component Communication Rohit receives a memo from the head of R&D He interprets the memo to mean that UC has no interest in his invention He decides to relay this information to his brother He telephones Anurag His brother receives the call ‘Anurag listens and gives Rohit his reaction Rohit receives a stimulus He filters the stimulus He forms a message He selects a medium the message reaches its destination ‘Anurag provides feedback The Stimulus In order for communication to take place, there first must be a stimulus, an event that creates within an individual the need to communicate. This stimulus can be internal or external. An internal stimulus is simply an idea that forms within your mind. External stimuli come to you through your sensory organs - your eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and skin. A stimulus for communicating in business might be an’ e-mail message you just read, a presentation you heard al a staff meeting, a bit of gossip you heard over lunch, your perception that the general manager has been acting preoccupied lately, or even the hot air generated by an overworked heating system (or colleague!). You respond to the stimulus by formulating a message, a verbal message (written or spoken words), a nonverbal message (non-written and non-spoken signals), or some combination of the two. For Rohit Mishra, the stimulus for communication was memorandum he received from the head of the research and development (R & D) department informing him that UC was not interested in developing Ultra Light but would, instead, sell the patent to some company that was interested. The Filter lf everyone had the same perception of events, your job of communicating would be much easier; you could assume that your perception of reality was accurate and that others would understand your motives and intent. Unfortunately, each person has a Unique perception of reality, based on his or her individual experiences, culture, and emotions at the moment, personality, knowledge, socioeconomic status, and a host of other variables. These variables act as a filter in shaping everyone's unique impressions of reality Once your brain receives a message, it begins to interpret the stimulus to derive meaning from it so that you will Know how to respond or whether any response is even necessary. Stimuli that reinforce existing beliefs are likely to create a more lasting impression and to generate a stronger response than those that call into question your oxisting beliefs. Likewise, stimuli are affected by your current emotional or physical frame of reference. An event that might normally cause you to react strongly might not even register if youre suffering from a bad cold or from lack of sleep. Or a remark made innocently might cause a strong negative reaction if you're angry or upset about some: earlier event, ‘The memo Rohit received from R & D simply reinforced what he had come to expect at his company, which had become successful by focusing on its own Communication Skills / 12predetermined long-range objectives and which showed litle interest in exploiting unexpected discoveries such as Ultra Light. Rohit’s long involvement in the research that had led to this product caused him to assume a protective, almost paternalistic, interest in its future. Besides, after so many years in the lab, Rohit was ready for a new challenge. These factors, then, acted as a filter through which Rohit interpreted the ‘memo and formulated his response - a phone call to his brother in Pune. At tho time of Rohi's call, Anurag Mishra was sitting alone in his office at Pune: sampling four different brands of cheese pizza. As a marketing manager in charge of a new pizza account, he was preoccupied with finding a competitive edge for his client's product, and his perception of Rohit's message was filtered by his current situation. To hear his scientist brother, the IIT graduate who all his life had preferred to pursue solitary scholarly research, suddenly erupting over the phone with the idea of starting a business contradicted Anurag’s lifelong preconceptions about Rohit and acted as a strong filter resisting Rohit’s urgent message. Furthermore, Anurag's emotional and physical frame of reference-hunkered down as he was over several cheese pizzas - did not put him in a receptive mood for a grand scheme that would take crores of rupees and many years of hard work. But Anurag’s background - his economic status, his education, and his current job-added another point of view, in this case a highly favorable filter for taking in Rohit's message. If Rohit is good enough at communicating his message, he might be able to persuade Anurag to join him in buying the Ultra Light patent from UC and starting a business. The Message Rohit's message to Anurag was, “Let's form our own company.” The extent to which any communication effort achieves its desired goal depends very directly on how well the message (the information to be communicated) is constructed. Success at communicating depends not only on the purpose and content of the message but also, just as important, on how skilful you are at communicating, how well you know your audience (the person or persons with whom you're communicating), and how much you hold in common with your audience, As a sciontist, Rohit did not have an extensive business vocabulary. Nor did he have much practice at oral business presentations and the careful pacing and selective reinforcement required in such circumstance. In effect, Rohit was attempting to make an oral business proposal, unfortunately without much technique or skil. "You'te crazy, Rohit. You don't know what you're talking about." This initial response from Anurag made it clear to Rohit that this message wasn't getting through. But what Rohil lacked in skill, he made up for in knowing his audience (his kid brother) backward and forward. "You'te chicken, Anurag” had always gotten Anurag's attention and interest in the past, and it worked again. Rohit kept challenging Anurag, something he knew Anurag couldn't resist, and kept reminding him of their common ground: all the happy adventures they had shared as kids and adults. The Medium Once the sender has encoded a message, the next step in the process is to transmit that message to the receiver. At this point, the sender must choose the form of message to send, or the medium. Oral messages might be transmitted through a staff meeting, personal conference, telephone conversation, press conference, voice mail, or even such informal means as the company grapevine. Written messages might be transmitted through a memorandum, a report, a letter, a contract, a brochure, a bulletin- board notice, electronic mail, a company news letter, a oress release, or an addition to the policies and procedures manual, And nonverbal messages might be transmitted through facial expressions, gestures, or body movement. ‘Communication Process 113Because Rohit is in the process of talking with Anurag over the phone, his medium is a telephonic conversation, The Destination The message is transmitted and then enters the sensory environment of the receiver, at which point control passes fiom the sender to the receiver. Once the message reaches its destination, there is no guarantee that communication will actually occur. We are constantly bombarded with stimuli and our sensory organs pick up only a part of them. Even assuming your receiver does perceive your message, you have no assurance that it will be interpreted (fitered) as you intended. Your transmitted message becomes the source, or stimulus, for the next communication episode, and the process begins anew. — 2.3 THE COMMUNICATION CYCLE = MESSAGE CHANNEL neha ocho war FEEDBACK CHANNEL After Rohit's enthusiastic, one-hour phone call, Anurag promised to consider the venture seriously. Anurag’s response provided feadback (reaction to a message) to Rohit on how accurately his own message had been received. In time, it led to many more versions of the communication process, both written and oral, before the two brothers founded Anuro’s Systems, a small company whose primary product is Ultra Light and which employs 204 people at its corporate headquarters in Pune, and at a completely automated manufacturing plant in Nashik, Maharashtra The communication cycle is fairly easy to understand, Within any noisy universe, a sender encodes a verbal or nonverbal message, sends it through any message channel to a receiver, who decodes the message. The reosiver then encodes a reply, which is returned through a feedback channel to the sender. who decodes it, deals with it somehow, and perhaps sends another message. Without a full loop, communication is incomplete. Our individual acts of communication are how each of us makes sense of reality. Our "sense-making” communication habits form all our relations. The way individuals interact in families is reproduced within the formal and informal organizations in their lives. These groups construct the institutions comprising the communities composing the diverse cultures and societies constituting our nations and our world. As the dominant species on earth, our habitual ways of interacting are imprinted on the planetary systems, reflecting our choices. Witness global warming amidst global whining Communication spins the web of life, Alife is interactive How we communicate with ourselves and with others produce the nature of the society and environment where we live and breathe and have our being. "Senders' and "receivers" interacting (like yin and yang) generate life itself. Our interactions ‘Communication Skills / 14create our realities, Conflicts can stem from encoding and decoding errors or assumptions. A filtering system has evolved to help us humans deal with sensory overload. Every outgoing and incoming message gets fitered through the cultural and genetic biases implanted in our minds for pattem recognition. Unconscious barriers to intrapersonal and interpersonal communication tend to fragment our awareness. We filter out data incongruent with our mindset. Divisions persist between our perceptions and reality (if “reality” may be known). We tend to evolve what | call split perceptions to hide from ourselves the truths about reality that we wish to avoid. Our split perceptions enable us to believe that we live separate and apart from others in our world that we can get away with any outrage to ourselves or to others. We suffer from the delusion that we may escape the consequences of global interactivity. We see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear. We pretend we are not pretending. We are blind by choice. Ignorance is bondage. Understanding interactivity is the key to healthy communication. We can transform ourselves and our world by changing the way we communicate with others and ourselves. Every thought, word and deed sends out ripples altering life for everyone. That's the nature of communication. That's the nature of life in an interactive universe. Why not accept it? A global sense of our deep interactivity inspires responsible and mindful self rule = 2.4 THE BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION = Considering the complex nature of the communication process your messages may not always be received exactly as you intended. As a matter of fact, sometimes your messages will not be received at all; at other times, they will be received incompletely or inaccurately. Some of the obstacles to effective and efficient communication are verbal; others are nonverbal. These barriers can create an impenetrable "brick wall’ that makes effective communication impossible, Verbal Barriers Verbal barriers are related to what you write or say. They include inadequate knowledge or vocabulary, differences in. interpretation, language differences, inappropriate use of expressions, over abstraction and ambiguity, and polarization, Yahoo confounders Jerry Yang and David Filo help Internet users overcome information anxiety by locating and organizing the mass of data available on the Web. You must know enough about both your topic and your audience to express yourself precisely and appropriately. Inadequate knowledge or Vocabulary: Before you can even begin to think about how you will communicate an idea, you must, first of all, have the idea; that is, you must have sufficient knowledge about the topic to know what you want to say. Regardless of your level of technical expertise, this may not be as simple as it sounds. Assume, for example, that you are Lamy Haas, manager of the finance department at Anuro’s Systems. Rohit Mishra, president of the company, has asked you to evaluate an investment opportunity. You've completed all the necessary research and are now ready to write your report. Or are you? Have you analyzed your audience? Do you know how much the president knows about the investment so that you'll know how much background information to include? Do you know how familiar Rokit is with investment terminology? Can you safely Use abbreviations like NPV and RRR, or will you have to spell out and perhaps define net present value and required rate of return? Do you know whether the president would prefer to have your conclusions at the beginning of the report, followed by your analysis, or at the end? What tone should the report take? The answers to such questions will be important if you are to achieve your objective in writing the report Differences in Interpretation: Sometimes senders and receivers attribute different meanings to the same word or attribute the same meaning to different words. When this happens, miscommunication can occur. A word's denotation defines its meaning; its connotation indicates our associations with the word. Every word has both a denolative and a connotative meaning, Denotation refers to the literal, dictionary meaning of a word. Connotation refers to the subjective, ‘Communication Process 115emotional meaning that you attach to a word. For example, the denotative meaning of the word plastic is “a synthetic material that can be easily molded into different forms.” For some people, the word also has a negative connotative meaning - "cheap or artificial substitute.” Most of the interpretation problems ocour because of the personal reactions engendered by the connotative meaning of a word. Do you have a positive, neutral, or negative reaction to the terms broad, bad, aggressive, hard-hitting, workoholic, corporate raider, heac-hunter, gay, golden parachute, or wasted? Are your reactions likely to be the same as everyone else's? The problem with some terms is not only that people assign different meanings to the term but also that the term itself might cause such an emotional reaction that the receiver is "tumed off to any further communication with the sender. Language differences In an ideal world, all managers would know the language of each culture with which they deal. Intemational business people often say that you can buy in your native language anywhere in the world, but you can sell only in the language of the local community. Most of the correspondence between American or Canadian firms and foreign firms is in English; in other cases, the services of a qualified interpreter (for oral communication) or translator (for written communication) may be available. But even with such services, problems can occur. Consider, for example, the following blunders: + In China, Kentucky Fried Chickens slogan "Finger - lickin’ well” was translated "So good you suck you fingers.” + In Puerto Rico, General Motors had difficulties advertising Chevrolet's Nova model because the name sounds like the Spanish phrase Nova, which means, “It doesnt go.” * In Thailand, the slogan "Come alive with Pepsi” was translated “Bring your ancestors back from the dead with Pepsi.” + When the ICA used a machine translation system to translate Russian, the Bible verse "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" became "The vodka is good, but the beef is rotten.” To ensure that the intended meaning is not lost during translation, legal, technical, and all other important documents should first _be translated into the second language and them retransiated into English. Beware, however, that communication difficulties can arise even among native English speakers. For example, a British advertisement for Electrolux vacuum cleaners displayed the headline’ "Nothing Sucks like an Electrolux." Copywriters in the United States and Canada would never use this wording! Inappropriate Use of Expressions : Expressions aro aroups of words whose intended meanings are cifferent from their literal interpretations. Examples include slang, jargon, and euphemisms. The use of slang, jargon, and euphemisms is sometimes appropriate and sometimes inappropriate. Slang is an expression, often short-lived, that is identified with a specific group of people. Here, for example, are some slang terms (and their meanings) currently popular on college campuses: Barbie - A painstakingly dressed and groomed female Brain burp - A random thought Circle of death - A lousy pizza Zo0 a course - To fail McPaper - A quickly or poorly written paper Phat - Very cool Posse - Group of friends Rocks for Jocks - Easy introductory Geology course Teenagers, construction workers, immigrants, computer technology ‘Communication Skills / 16professionals, and just about every other subgroup you can imagine all have their own sets of slang. Using appropriate slang in everyday speech presents no problem: it conveys precise information and may indicate group membership. Problems arise, however, when the sender uses slang that the reosiver doesn't understand. Slang that sends a negative nonverbal message about the sender can also be a source of problems. + Jargon is the technical terminology sued within specialized groups; it has sometimes been called "the pros’ prose.” As with slang, the problem is not in using jargon — jargon provides a very precise and efficient way of communicating with those familiar with it. The problem comes in suing jargon either with someone who doesn't understand itor in using jargon in an effort to impress others. + Euphemisms are inoffensive expressions used in piace of words that may offend or suggest something unpleasant, Sensitive writers and speakers use euphemisms occasionally, especially to describe bodily functions. How many ways, for example, can you think of to say that someone had died? Slang, jargon, and euphemisms all have important role to play in business communication - as long as they're used with appropriate people and in appropriate contexts. They can, however, prove to be barriers to effective communication when used to impress, when used to often, or when used in inappropriate settings. ‘The word transportation is abstract; the word automobile is concrete. Over abstraction and Ambiguity: An abstract word identifies an idea or feeling instead of a concrete object. For example, communication is an abstract word, whereas memorandum is a concrete word, a word that identifies something that can be perceived by the senses. Abstract words are necessary in order to communicate about things you cannot see or touch. However, communication problems result when you use too many abstract words or when you sue too high a level of abstraction. The higher the level of abstraction, the more difficult itis for the receiver to visualize exactly what the sender has in mind. For example, which sentence communicates more information: "I acquired an asset at the store” or "I purchased a laser printer at Computer Land"? Similar communication problems result from the overuse of ambiguous terms such as a few, some, several, and far away, which have too broad a meaning for use in much business. communication. For example, a report contained the following sentence: “The shipping department received a lot of complaints last month.” Isnt it important to know exactly how many complaints they received? Polarization: At times, some people as though every situation is divided into two opposite and distinct poles, with no allowance for a middle ground. Of course, there are some true dichotomies. You are either male or female, and your company either will or will not make a profit this year. But most aspects of life involve more than two alternatives. For example, you might assume that a speaker either is telling the truth or is lying. In fact, what the speaker actually says may be true, but by selectively omitting some important information, he or she may be giving accurate information. Is the speaker telling the truth or not? Most likely, the answer lies somewhere in between. Likewise, you are not necessarily tall or short, rich or poor, smart or dumb. Competent communicators avoid inappropriate either/or logic and instead make the effort to search ‘for middle-ground words when such language best describes a situation Nonverbal Barriers Not all communication problems are related to what you write or say. Some are related to how you act. Nonverbal barriers to communication include inappropriate or conflicting signals, differences in perception, inappropriate emotions, and distractions. Inappropriate or conflicting Signals Suppose a well-qualified applicant for a secretarial position submits a resume with a typographical error or an accountant's personal office is in such disorder that she could not find the papers she needed for a meeting with the president. When verbal and nonverbal signals confit, the receiver tends to put more faith in the nonverbal signals because nonverbal messages are more difficult to manipulate than verbal messages, Many nonverbal signals vary from culture to culture. Remember also that the United States itself is a multicultural country: a banker from Boston, an art shop owner from San Francisco, and a farmer from North Dakota are likely to both use and ‘Communication Process 117interpret nonverbal signals in quite different ways. What is appropriate in one context might not be appropriate in another. Communication competence requires that you communicate nonverbal messages that are consistent with your verbal messages and that are appropriate for the context Differences in Perception: Even when they hear the same speech or read the same document, people of different ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, cultures, and 80 forth often form very difficult perceptions. We discussed earlier the mental fiter by which each communication source is interpreted. Because each person is unique, with Unique experiences, knowedge, and viewpoints, each person forms a different opinion about what he or she reads and hears. ‘Some people tend automatically to believe certain people and to distrust other people. For example, while reading a memo from the company president, one employee may be so intimidated by the president that he or she accepts everything the president says, whereas another employee may have such negative feelings about the president that he or she believes nothing the president says. It is generally more effective to depend on logic instead of emotions while communicating Inappropriate Emotions: In most cases a moderate level of emotional involvement intensifies the communication and makes it more personal. However, too much emotional involvement can be an obstacle to communication. For example, excessive anger can create such an emotionally charged environment that reasonable discussion is not possible. Likewise, prejudice (automatically rejecting certain people or ideas), stereotyping (placing individuals into categories), and boredom all hinder effective communication. Such emotions tend to create a blocked mind that is closed to ideas, rejecting or ignoring information that is contrary to one’s prevailing belief Distractions: Any environmental or competing element that restricts one’s ability to concentrate on the communication task hinders effective communication. Such distractions are called noise. Examples of environmental noise ate poor acoustics, extreme tempereture, uncomfortable seating, body odour, poor telephone connections, and illegible photocopies. Examples of competing noise are other important business to attend to, too many meetings, and too many reports to read. Competent communicators make the effort to write and speak clearly and consistently and try to avoid or minimize any verbal or norwerbal barriers that might cause misunderstandings. / 24 Check your progress / (1) What are the parts of communication? 2) Mention verbal barriers 3) Mention non-verbal barriers 4) Define Siang 5) Define Jargon X ‘Communication Skills / 18— 2.5 CONCLUSION — Thus, in order to be able to communicate well we need to know the basic elements of communication, working of the communication cycle, various barriers which may occur during communicating with each other. — 2.6 SUMMARY = In short, the communication model consists of five parts, the stimulus, fiter, message, medium and destination. The communication cycle consists of sender, receiver, message, medium or channel through which message is encoded as well as decoded and finally the feedback on the basis of which an organization decides its further policies and strategies. In order to understand the process of communication learners should also understand the kinds of barriers which may occur during the ‘communication process. Source : hitp:/bo0ks.goog!e.co.in (Google book) = 2.7 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS - ANSWERS = 23 1) The parts of communication model are the stimulas, fter, message, medium & destination, 2) Verbal barriers are related to what you write or say. They include inadequate knowedge or vocabulary differences in interpretation, language differences inappropriate use of expressions, over abstraction, ambiguity & polarization. 3) Nonverbal barriers include inappropriate or conflicting signals differences in perception, inappropriate emotions & distractions. 4) Slang is an expression often shortlived that is identified with a specific group of people, 5) Jargon is the technical terminology sued within specialized groups. —_ 2.8 QUESTIONS FOR SELF-STUDY = 1) Which are the Elements of Communication? 2) Explain the Communication cycle in brief. 3) Which are the barriers of communication? Explain them in brief. — 2.9 SUGGESTED READINGS — + Communication Skills Dr. Rao & Dr. Das, Himalaya Publishing House ‘+ Communication Skills Dr. Urmila Rai & S.M. Rai, Himalaya Publishing House ooo ‘Communication Process 119Notes ‘Communication Skills / 20Chapter 3 Principles of Communication 3.0 Objectives 3.4. Introduction 3.2. The Medium of Communication 3.3. Accuracy 3.4 Brevity 3.5 Clarity 3.6 Courtesy 3.7 Conclusion 3.8 Summary 3.9 Check your Progress - Answers 3.40 Questions for Self - Study 3.11 Suggested Re — 3.0 OBJECTIVES — After studying this chapter you will be able to ~ * Describe the medium of communication . Explain the Principles of Communication — 3.1 INTRODUCTION —« Communication is effective when it is accurate, brief and clear. Its effectiveness can then be enhanced by using the relevant media to transmit it to the receiver. In this chapter we would discuss about the various principles of ‘communication and the media used for the same. -_ 3.2 THE MEDIUM OF COMMUNICATION = Newspapers, magazines, television, radio, telephones, billboards, personal computers, the Internet, the World Wide Web, and e-mail all are vehicles for conveying information within a medium or media. They aren't the media or a medium in which they operate. To understand the difference between a communication’s vehicle and a ‘communication’s medium, you merely need to understand how the terms medium, media, and vehicles are correctly used while discussing transportation. The First Communications Media Was Interpersonal OK. So, how does all this relate to an understanding of the communications medium popularly misnamed New Media? Just as only three transportation media exist, only three communications media exist. ‘As with transportation media, two of those communication media are ancient and arose independent of technology. But the third medium is relatively new and its Use is totally dependent upon technology: Oddly, the first and earliest of these three communications media is only one not to have a commonly accepted name. So, we'll call this first medium the Interpersonal Medium. This aboriginal medium arose in basic animal communications, predating both humans and technology. Human technology later extended its speed and reach, Principles of Communication 127Interpersonal conversation is the basic form of this medium. The vehicles that human technology later bull for it include the postal letter, telephone call, and electronic mail Just as the transportation media of land or water have some unique characteristics, so does this Interpersonal Medium of communications. It notably has two hallmarks: + Each participant has equal and reciprocal control of the content conveyed. + And the content can be individualized to each participant's unique needs and interests However, those hallmark advantages come with equal disadvantages: + The equal control and also the individualization of content degrade into cacophony as the number of participants increases beyond two (for example, try simultaneously holding different conversations with more than one person). For those reasons, this Interpersonal Medium characteristically is used for communications between only two people. And why many academics who study communications media term it the ‘one-to-one’ medium. ‘Mass Medium is the Second of Three Communications Media Extant The Mass Medium is the second communications medium. Most people mistake the Mass Medium as a product of technology and don't realize how old it really is. Like the Interpersonal Medium, the Mass Medium predates technology. It originated with the utterances and speeches of tribal leaders, kings, and priests. Technology has merely extended its speed and its reach to global dimensions, Some vehicles in the Mass Medium are edicts, oratory, sermons, scriptures, plays, books, newspapers, billboards, magazines, cinema, radio, television, bulletin boards, and webcasting, Communications in the Mass Medium generally go from a one person (for examples, a leader, a king, a priest, a publisher, or a broadcaster) to many people (the audience, readership, listenership and viewership). This also is why many academics. who study communications media term it the ‘one-to-many’ medium. The hallmark characteristics of the Mass Medium are: * That the same content goes to all recipients. «And that the one who sends it has absolute control over that content. The corresponding disadvantages of the Mass Medium are: ‘+ That its content cannot be individualized to each recipient's unique needs and interests and that the recipients have no real control over that content. Like the Interpersonal Medium, the Mass Medium isn't necessarily dependent upon technology. For example, an actor or speaker can perform without any technology. Two Mutually Exclusive Media of Communications with Mutually Exclusive Vehicles Bofore we list the third communications medium, let's note some contrasting characteristics of these two earlier communications media. Just as the transportation media of land and water have mutually exclusive characteristics, so do the Interpersonal Medium and the Mass Medium for communications: ‘+ The Interpersonal Medium can deliver an individualized message but only to one person at a time, + The Mass Medium can simultaneously deliver messages to an infinite number of people but its messages cannot be individualized for each recipient. + The Interpersonal Medium allows each participant equal control over the content, * The Mass Medium allows control over the content by only one person, Communication Skills / 22Those mutually exclusive characteristics of the Interpersonal and Mass media have been important because anyone who wants to individually communicate a unique message to each recipient has had to use the vehicles of Interpersonal Medium. And anyone who wants at once to communicate message to a mass of people has had to use the vehicles of the Mass Medium. Development of a New Communication Medium, Just like using the sky as transportation medium, for most of human history the possibilty of any third communication medium existing had been inconceivable. Anyone needing to communicate had to choose between the mutually incompatible characteristics of the Interpersonal and the Mass mecia. But, Just like how several technologies converged nearly a century ago to make the sky a transportation medium, the evolution of several ostensibly unrelated technologies converged during the past century to create a thitd and entirely new communications medium. Among those convergent technologies were: The invention of digital communications during the late 1940s; The invention of the Transport Control/Internet Protocol ((TCP/IP) in the late 1960s; ARPANET's creation of the Intemet during the early 1970s; The invention of the personal computer in the late 1970s And to lesser degrees of the importance: ‘+ The invention of the HyperText Transport Protocol (HTTP) in the late 1980s; ‘+ The opening of the Internet to the public in 1992; ‘+ The invention of the Mosaic browser software in that same year. These and other technological innovations converged to create a new communications medium that has characteristics inconceivable even a decade ago. ‘The New Medium The hallmark characteristics of this New Medium are: ‘+ That individualized messages can simultaneously be delivered to an infinite number of people. + And that each of the person involved shares reciprocal control over that content. In other words, the New Medium has the advantages of both the Interpersonal and the Mass media, but without their complementary disadvantages. * No longer must anyone who wants to individually communicate a unique message to each recipient have to be restricted to communicating with only one person at a time. ‘+ No longer must anyone who wants at once to communicate message to a mass of people be unable to individualize totally the content of that message for each recipient. Note that the New Medium for communications, like the transportation medium of the sky, is entirely dependent upon technology, unlike the two preceding communications media, Like humans flying with technology, this form of communications can't be done with technology. Misnomers & Mistaken Impressions Because the New Medium simultaneously encompasses both the characteristics and the reach of the two previous communication media and therefore can easily perform each of those media's individual tasks, many people mistake the Principles of Communication 723New Medium as merely an electronic extension of the interpersonal or Mass media, Most people mistake it as a paperless or antenna-less form of the Mass Medium (2 mistake somewhat like seeing aviation only from the perspective of the ground.) Moreover, many marketing consultants often mistakenly refer toit as a ‘one-to- one’ medium But the academic and the consultants who truly understand this New Medium and its possibilities to simultaneously deliver an infinite number of individualized messages while providing equal control over that content refer to the New Medium as the ‘many -to-many’ medium to distinguish it from the ‘one-to-one’ (Interpersonal) or ‘one-to-many’ (Mass) media. Mistakes, misnomers, and misperceptions of the New Medium are easy to make because the vehicles of this New Medium are only starting to appear, as are the true capabilities of this New Medium. Its Capal What are this New Medium's capabilities? Just consider the converged technologies that make this New Medium possible. For instance, the millions of computers interconnected through the Intemet can acquire, sort, package, and transmit information in as many ways as there are individual people. They can establish those communications simultaneously. And they allow each participant (senders and receivers) to share equal simultaneous control This can result in unprecedented forms of communications. Imagine that when a person visits a newspaper Web site, he sees not just the bulletins and major stories that he wouldn't have known to request information about but sees the rest of that edition customized to his own unique needs and interests. Rather than every reader seeing the same edition, each reader sees an edition that has simultaneously been individualized to his interest and generalized to his needs, Or imagine that each viewer who is simultaneously watching a broadcast can stop, rewind, or fast forward the program at will, or even change the denouement of the program's plot Realize that these New Medium forms of content inherently are forms of mass customization, something impossible with either the Interpersonal Medium or the Mass Medium, The existence of this New Medium will catalyze, economize, and popularize entirely new vehicles for production and istribution, just as the invention of the medium of air did for transportation ‘And it will create entirely new concepts in and forms of content. Its Early Vehicles What are some of this New Mediums early vehicles? +The personalized web site is one (personalized actually is another misnomer, individualized is a more accurate term). + Some computer games, such as Myst, are New Medium vehicles. + Napster is a New Medium vehicle + (But note that the Internet is not by itself a New Medium vehicle no more so than a road can be a land vehicle.) ss Other New Medium vehicles are only now being developed as entrepreneurs and companies realize this medium’s possibilities. But It's All Part of a Superset of Change Underway The New Medium itself is merely a manifestation of a larger, revolutionary historical change underway that transcends just issues of communications. ‘Communication Skills / 24Analysts and pundits talk about this larger change as an Informational Revolution that is superceding the world of the Industrial Revolution in much in the same way that the Industrial Revolution itself superceded the Agrarian Revolution. But the terms Informational, Industrial, and Agrarian merely refer to characteristic products of these phases in the evolution of human society. Not to the natures of these revolutions themselves. During the Agrarian world, which began about 5,000 to 10,000 years ago, a person who needed clothing had to make his clothing himself. Or another person made his clothing individually for him. Only one piece of clothing would be made at a time and each piece of clothing would be individualized to individual size and needs. Then some 200 years ago, mechanical technology evolved to the point where factories could be created, and the Industria! Revolution began. In the Industrial worid, millions of pieces of clothing could be produced, but none could be individualized to the exact measurements of its ultimate consumer. Note how these complementary advantages and disadvantages of products from the Agrarian and Industrial ages are similar to the complementary advantages and disadvantages of the Interpersonal Medium and the Mass Medium. This is because most of what we nowadays perceive to be the Interpersonal Medium dates from the Agrarian Revolution and most of what we nowadays perceive to be the Mass Medium dates from the Industrial Revolution. Now, new advancements have created technologies that unite the advantages of both Agrarian individualized production and Industrial mass production, with none of the complementary disadvantages. For example, companies using these new technologies, such as Levis Strauss & Co., have begun to mass-produce jeans that are individualized to each user's exact specifications, This is similar to how the New Medium can send instantly individualized messages to mass of recipients. Both the New Medium and Levis Strauss & Co.'s abilities to mass produce of individualized jeans are manifestations of the Informational Revolution. The Informational Revolution’s effects upon society are being compared to those from the invention and promulgation of printing presses. However, the actual significance of the Informational Revolution is greater The invention of the printing press was merely a technological amplification of the Mass Medium By contrast, this New Medium indeed is an entirely new medium; leap beyond mere innovations such as the printing press. Returning to our analogy between transportation and communications media, the development of the air as transportation medium didn't entirely replace land or sea transportation. Neither will the development of this new communication medium entirely replace the Interpersonal or the Mass media, However, it wll certainly and markedly reduce and limit those previous media, much as the invention of aviation did to land and sea transportation, quantum — 3.3 ACCURACY = The second step to communicate effectively is to ensure that one’s communication is absolutely accurate. ‘Accuracy’ here not only means that the facts that are included are correct, but that all the facts are included. If a piace of communication is incomplete in any respect, it may be as bad as a piece of communication that contains incorrect facts because: i. It makes it difficult for the communicated to understand all the implications of the communication, li, This misunderstanding may result in a feedback which would not have occurred if the communicated had understood the communication and all its subtleties completely. Principles of Communication 125A checklist to ensure that the communication is accurate In order to ensure that one's communication is accurate. One must check whether the answers to all the questions in the following checklist are in the affirmative. 1 Are all the facts correct? Have all the relevant facts been included? Has the purpose of the communication been mentioned? Has the expected feedback, if required, been indicated? Is the communicated left with no doubts about the matter(s) discussed in the communication? Have all the figuresitables | graphs been double-checked? Have all the typographical errors been corrected? In short, an accurate piece of communication conveys to the communicated the 'S Ws’ about the subject of the communication along with any other necessary information. The 'S Ws' are: Why? When? Who? What? and Where? Other essential information that should also be included is things like the answer to the question, How?" pron Once all this information has been mentioned without any errors, the communication is considered to be accurate — 3.4 BREVITY —_— It is important to keep any sort of business communication as short and as simple as is possible, since long pieces of communication take @ great deal of time to go through, and often leave the communicated feeling initated In order to ensure that communication is concise, it must: 1, be relevant 2. not have many repetitions 3. not contain long expressions that are not required These four points have been discussed in following 4 sections Structure The structure of any communication should be such that it contains an opening, a body, an indication of the expected feedback and a closing. This is known as the four-point plan. The opening should state the purpose of the letter. Also, if the communicated and communicator are acquainted, it may convey a brief greeting. For example, i In response to your advertisement. ji, This is to inform you that il, With reference to your letter dated. The body should contain all the information that is relevant to the subject spoken about in the communication, After that, the communicator should indicate: i the response he expects from the communicated ii The action which will be taken either by the communicator or a third party as a result of the information conveyed in the body. ‘And finally, a logical and relevant closing is made. Such closings could include a number of statements, a few examples of which are: i ook forward to meeting you soon. ji. I would be grateful if you could reply promptly. ‘Communication Skills / 26Following the four-point plan thus makes its possible to the communicator all the essential information to the communicated in a logical sequence. Relevance This basically means that all the information included in the communication should pertain directly to the subject being discussed. The communicator should: i come straight to the point ji, not cloud the issue by including unnecessary details, and thus create confusion ii, not beat about the bush in any manner Repetition Although repetition is sometimes used to stress @ point, if itis used too often, it simply iritates the communicated Tautology, for example, is one form of repetition that states the obvious, and is completely unnecessary in most cases. In the phrase, ‘All alone by myself, which is an illustration of tautology, the "by myself is not required. To be ‘all alone’ one must be solitary. Also, phrases like ‘return back’, apart from being incorrect, are also redundant since to return anywhere, one must go back Another form of repetition is where the same information is repeated time and time again, with nothing new being added to it. Even though this does emphasize it to the communicated, itis usually not required and should be avoided. Conciseness Many peopie believe that all forms of official communication should include old fashioned, long-winded phrases. This belief is completely incorrect, and if itis possible, these long phrases should be substituted using short and simple ones instead, Hore is a table showing how some of these long-winded phrases can be made concise. No. ‘Avoid this Use this 7 |With the exception of Except for 2, |At the present time Presently/currently 3. Enclosed herewith please find | Enclosed is 4, |Due to the fact that Because 5, {In the event that Irwhen 6. |We are in a position to We can 7. {Taking into consideration Considering 8, |I would like to advise you that | Please note that 9. |In the vicinity Nearby 10. |Under a separate cover [Separately —_ 3.5 CLARITY — Clarity is one of the most important features of business communication. It manifests itself in two forms: i Clarity of thought i, Clarity of expression Clarity of thought To ensure that one can communicate effectively, one has to clarify one's thoughts so that they can be conveyed to the communicated precisely. This can be Principles of Communication 127done by making sure that one is absolutely certain of what the purpose, content and the expected feedback of the communication It is also necessary to familiarize oneself with all the details of the subject Under discussion so that information can be conveyed to the communicated in a brief and logical sequence, instead of in a haphazard fashion. Clarity of expression It is. absolutely essential for the communication to be clear to the communicated so that the communication process can fiow smoothly. To ensure that the communication does not produce any sort of confusion in the mind of the communicated, the communicator should try to use language which the communicated is familiar with, There are a number of factors that affect the clarity of any piece of communication such as: The use of jargon The use of idioms Words which are often confused The use of foreign words Punctuation The use of abbreviations Tho use of acronyms Words with multiple meanings. Jargon Jargon, as has been mentioned earlier, are words, acronyms or abbreviations, which are peculiar to a particular field or profession. They are usually technical words, and should be avoided if it is possible to substitute them with words that are in common usage since lay people find it difficult to decipher them 2 NOPhepe Idioms Idioms are phrases that have a particular meaning that is completel from their literal meaning. Although these phrases often make what is in the communicator’s mind absolutely clear, they are capable of leaving a person who does not know the language well completely confused, For example, the idiom ‘birds of a feather’ has nothing to do with either birds or feathers but simply means ‘people of the same type’ Other examples of idioms are: 1. all along from the beginning all but almost Anin exhausted Allin all taking all the facts into consideration Back bite speak disparagingly about someone Back handed vague Back out withdraw Back up support Barge in interrupt Black and blue _batlly bruised —

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