1.1.

1 COMMUNICATION: CONCEPT, DEFINITION, NATURE

Communication is sharing our feelings, ideas and opinions with others. This can be
intellectual, personal, spoken or written in nature. We live in groups and man is
invariably a social animal. As the social needs insist that we share our thoughts with
others. This can be called communication. It is a two-way process. In spoken
communication, we have speakers and listeners who send and receive verbal messages
from each other. In written communication, we have writers and readers, whereas in
visualization and observation, the symbols and signs are included.

Communication motivates, informs, suggests, warns, orders, changes behaviour, and

establishes better relationships, to make interaction meaningful and make oneself
understood. Communication is effective when a communicator is effective enough to
communicate competently, simply, clearly, sincerely and dynamically. Ones
communication can be termed as successful, if the receiver acknowledges it, i.e., when a
listener or reader understands, reacts, responds to this communication and shapes his/her
learning behaviour. The word communication is derived from the Latin word
‘communis’, which means ‘common’, i.e., to share, exchange, send, transmit, write,
relate and communicate. The other etymological source mentions that ‘communication’ is
derived from the Latin term ‘communicare’, which means to impart or participate. This
word often denotes and means different things to different people. In short, we can define
communication as sharing ideas and feelings mutually. As it involves interaction, it
encourages exchange of ideas until all the experiences become a common profession.

All of us have thoughts and ideas, which we would like to communicate. But before that
we carefully choose words, pictures, symbols, etc., to effectively convey our information.

The receiver at the other end receives the message and understands it. For example, you
go to a railway station to fill a reservation form. You find out that you do not have a pen.
You ask a person standing there near the counter whether he could lend you one. If that
person understands your language, he /she will respond accordingly. If he / she does not
know the language, you can use gestures, signs, symbols, etc. In this way, we
communicate regularly in our daily life.
The communication model involves the following steps:

 An information source, that helps us produce a message

 A transmitter or an encoder, who encodes the message into signals and sends it.
 A channel, which processes the signals for transmission.
 A receiver, which / who decodes the message from the signal.
 A destination, where the message arrives finally.
 All this involves the external influence of a sixth element called noise or any other
barrier, which acts as a dysfunctional factor in the process of communication

DEFINATION: Before us trying to know about communication, the very first thing that
we should know is the definitions. But in communication, the definitions aren’t as easy as
the other. There are a lot of definitions about communication from different people and
different culture. Well, check this out.

"A communication takes place when one individual, a sender, displays, transmits or
otherwise directs a set of symbols to another individual, a receiver, with the aim of
changing something, either something the receiver is doing (or not doing) or changing his
or her world view. This set of symbols is typically described as a message." William
Rice-Johnson.

I'm a great believer that any tool that enhances communication has profound effects in
terms of how people can learn from each other, and how they can achieve the kind of
freedoms that they're interested in.
Bill Gates
"To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we
perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with
others."
Tony Robbins

NATURE: Communication can be pervaded (necessary) in every area of human

existence. By simply crying and moping fully newborn babies convey what is this great
about their appearance in this world. By means of creating your seem these people
probably express his or her anticipation with regard to mother’s appreciate as well
as love. Communication represents the important role inside personal
existence, family member’s existence, cultural existence, company existence and many
others. Development Communication with relationships, cultures, civilizations and
many others the two inside micro as well as macro amount are determined by
successful effective communication. The nature of communication is discussed below:

1. Communication is related to human activity: Communication exchanges are

actually directly linked with every single ball of human being lifetime. It is
necessary within primary some sort of substantial human being lifetime. Taking
pleasure in restful lifetime, acquiring person-to-person interactions, creating a
flourishing point out and so on. Aren’t probable without having communication
exchanges.

2. Communication involves two or more parties: At least, two parties are involved
in virtually any communication exchange process. This party exactly who
communicates information is known as sender and the party exactly who is
provided with the info is known as a device. Even so in some instances some sort
of sender could send out a message for you to many receivers.

3. Communication could be one-way or maybe two-way process:

Communication might take the design involving two-way or maybe one-way
process. With two-way communication, the receiver sends his feedback to the
sender after receiving the message. One-way communication means you move
involving information style sender to be able to receive only. In this particular
means of communication receiver doesn’t present his or her reaction to your
sender.
 4. Success of communication depends on a proper understanding of the parties
involved: Powerful communication comes about if your receiver feels your
concept you might say your sender posts the idea. If the receiver doesn’t deliver
his or her reaction to your sender, your sender is not going to fully grasp your
receiver’s view. In this case, your communications are going to be inadequate. As
a result, to make your communication prosperous the two senders and receiver got
to know your side effects of different.

5. Conversation in organization flows in a variety of styles: With organization,

information flows in a variety of recommendations, for example way upward
direction, down way, horizontal way and many others.

6. Communication is media or channel based: Every single person

communication comes about by means of suing a selected method.
This media could be composed, common and non-verbal or maybe a mixture of
spoken and non-verbal media.

1.1.2 IMPORTANCE AND COMPONENTS OF COMMUNICATION

COMPONENTS OF COMMUNICATION: Communication being the

important thing to express ourselves the way we want and communicate the feelings in a
better manner , its components include :
Context: Every message (Oral or written), begins with context. Context is a very broad
field that consists different aspects. One aspect is country, culture and organization.
Every organization, culture and country communicates information in their own way.

Another aspect of context is external stimulus. The sources of external stimulus include;
meeting, letter, memo, telephone call, fax, note, email and even a casual conversation.
This external stimuli motivates you to respond and this response may be oral or written.

Internal stimuli are another aspect of communication. Internal Stimuli includes; You
opinion, attitude, likes, dis-likes, emotions, experience, education and confidence. These
all have multifaceted influence on the way you communicate you ideas.

A sender can communicate his ideas effectively by considering all aspects of context
mentioned above.

Sender/Encoder: Encoder is the person who sends message. In oral communication

the encoder is speaker, and in written communication writer is the encoder. An encoder
uses combination of symbols, words, graphs and pictures understandable by the receiver,
to best convey his message in order to achieve his desired response.

Message: Message is the information that is exchanged between sender and receiver.
The first task is to decide what you want to communicate and what would be the content
of your message; what the main points of your message are and what other information to
include. The central idea of the message must be clear. While writing the message,
encoder should keep in mind all aspects of context and the receiver (How he will
interpret the message). Messages can be intentional and unintentional.

Medium: Medium is the channel through which encoder will communicate his
message. How the message gets there. Your medium to send a message, may be print,
electronic, or sound. Medium may be a person as postman. The choice of medium totally
depends on the nature of you message and contextual factors discussed above. Choice of
medium is also influence by the relationship between the sender and receiver.

The oral medium, to convey your message, is effective when your message is urgent,
personal or when immediate feedback is desired. While, when your message is ling,
technical and needs to be documented, then written medium should be preferred that is
formal in nature. These guidelines may change while communicating internationally
where complex situations are dealt orally and communicated in writing later on.

Receiver/Decoder: The person to whom the message is being sent is called

‘receiver’/’decoder’. Receiver may be a listener or a reader depending on the choice of
medium by sender to transmit the message. Receiver is also influenced by the context,
internal and external stimuli.

Receiver is the person who interprets the message, so higher the chances are of mis-
communication because of receiver’s perception, opinion, attitude and personality. There
will be minor deviation in transmitting the exact idea only if your receiver is educated
and have communication skills.

Feedback: Response or reaction of the receiver, to a message, is called ‘feedback’.

Feedback may be written or oral message, an action or simply, silence may also be a
feedback to a message.

Feedback is the most important component of communication in business.

Communication is said to be effective only when it receives some feedback. Feedback,
actually, completes the loop of communication.

1.1.3. COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Linear concept of communication:

Shannon Weaver Model:

Feedback is not considered as an important part in this model as it is said that feedback
makes the process long. It is a point of consideration that message if send to the receiver,
is not complete till the time it is interpreted in same manner as the sender sends the
message

Remember that both sender and receiver has its own notions , which in real life make the
fact weak that perfect communication is where both of them understand each other . So
the complete process is as follows:

Therefore the complete process of communication is as follows:

Communication process consists of some interrelated steps or parts through which
messages are sent form sender to receiver. The process of communication begins when
the sender wants to transmit a fact, idea, opinion or other information to the receiver and
ends with receiver’s feedback to the sender. The main components of communication
process are sender, message, channel, receiver and feedback In details, communication
process consists of the following eight steps:

 Developing idea by the sender: In the first step, the communicator develops or
conceptualizes an idea to be sent. It is also known as the planning stage since in
this stage the communicator plans the subject matter of communication.
 Encoding: Encoding means converting or translation the idea into a perceivable
form that can be communicated to others.
 Developing the message: After encoding the sender gets a message that can be
transmitted to the receiver. The message can be oral, written, symbolic or
nonverbal. For example, when people talk, speech is the message; when people
write a letter, the words and sentences are the message; when people cries, the
crying is the message.
 Selecting the medium: Medium is the channel or means of transmitting the
message to the receiver. Once the sender has encoded his into a message, the next
step is to select a suitable medium for transmitting it to the receiver. The medium
of communication can be speaking, writing, signalling, gesturing etc.
 Transmission of message: In this step, the sender actually transmits the message
through chosen medium. In the communication cycle, the tasks of the sender end
with the transmission of the message.
 Receiving the message by receiver: This stage simply involves the reception of
sender’s message by the receiver. The message can be received in the form of
hearing, seeing, feeling and so on.
 Decoding: Decoding is the receiver’s interpretation of the sender’s message. Here
the receiver converts the message into thoughts and tries to analyze and
understand it. Effective communication can occur only when both the sender and
the receiver assign the same or similar meanings to the message.
 Feedback: The final step of communication process is feedback. Feedback means
receiver’s response to sender’s message. It increases the effectiveness of
 communication. It ensures that the receiver has correctly understood the message.
Feedback is the essence of two-way communication.

1.1.4 DIRECTIONS OF COMMUNICATIONS, NETWORKS OF

COMMUNICATION

Four directions of business communication are: I. Downward Communication II. Upward

Communication III. Lateral or Horizontal Communication IV. Diagonal or Crosswise
Communication. Every organization has a multidimensional or multidirectional
communication. The directions in which communication are carried out are:

I. Downward Communication:
Traditionally, the emphasis in business organizations has been on downward
communication. This is because of the hierarchical nature of organizations where all
communication basically and naturally flows from top to bottom. It is the communication
that comes from superiors and flows down to the subordinates.

Methods of Downward Communication:

Downward communication can be written as well as oral. The oral communication is
mostly through information channels. The written downward communication takes the
form of orders, circulars, policy statements, memos and procedural documents.Example,
a CEO (Chief Executive Officer) or a General Manager issuing instructions or sending
letters to various departmental heads.

Objectives:1. To give specific directions about a job, 2. To explain procedures, 3. To

apprise subordinates of their performance. 4. to explain the significance of a job given to
a subordinate with respect to the organization’s goals

II. Upward Communication:As the term suggests, this channel of communication

pushes information upwards. It starts from the people at the lowest level of an
organization and reaches the top. An open-door policy, social gatherings, reports, direct
correspondence, counseling, etc. are some common methods of upward
communication.Managers have now recognized the importance of this channel of
organizational communication. Until now, it was felt that the right to communicate had
been vested only in the top management.
Methods of upward communication:

(a) Periodical meetings:These are regular meetings with the staff and subordinates
conducted to invite suggestions, opinions or other ideas.(b) Written Representations:
An example of upward communication is a written representation given by employees to
their superiors as regards what they feel about the work environment and suggestions
regarding improvement.(c) Informal Gatherings:Parties and get-togethers provide
opportunities for the employees to share their feelings and have an interaction with the
superiors.(d) Suggestion Schemes:The employees are encouraged to give suggestions on
the practices and the systems being followed in the organization. For this purpose, a
suggestion box may be kept.

Objectives:

(i) Feedback: This channel provides the management with the necessary feedback. On
the basis of the feedback, the management can ascertain whether the subordinates have
understood a given set of directions properly.
(ii) Outlet for held-up Emotions:The employees get an opportunity to vent their
problems and grievances when they communicate with the management.
(iii) Positive Suggestions: Quite often, this channel brings forward some very useful
suggestions from the employees, which can be implemented for the organization’s
benefit.
(iv) Harmony: Upward communication creates a congenial atmosphere and brings the
management and the employees closer to each other. It creates a positive psychological
factor as employees feel involved.

III. Lateral or Horizontal Communication:

This kind of communication takes place between departments or people on the same level
in an organizational structure. It is one of the most frequently used channels of
communication. Face-to-face discussions, telephonic talks, periodical meetings, memos,
etc. are the ways of carrying out this type of communication. It is very important for the
smooth functioning of every organisation as it promotes understanding and coordination
between various departments. Embarrassing situations can arise when there is a lack of
proper horizontal communication.For example, the production and the marketing
departments must interact with each other because marketing tactics and production
planning go hand-in-hand.

Objectives:

(i) To create a friendly atmosphere in an organization (ii) To cut across departmental

barriers (iii) To ensure quick feedback

.IV. Diagonal or Crosswise Communication: Diagonal or crosswise communication

envisages a horizontal flow of information as well as interaction across different levels of
an organization’s hierarchy. Communication flows across different levels in an
organization among people who may not have direct reporting relationships. Diagonal
communication is used to speed up the flow of information.

Objectives:
(i) To help in proper coordination(ii) To communicate effectively whether
laterally, horizontally and diagonally(iii) To improve mutual
understanding(iv) To boost the morale of lower level
staff through interaction across all the levels in
the organization

NETWORK OF COMMUNCIATION:: In Circle pattern, the sender (Group Leader)

can communicate with the receivers (group members) who presents next to him/her. No
others group members can’t receive the sender’s message directly and they receive
messages from the other group members who sharing the message from the sender. In
this pattern of communication the sender messages travels all over the group through
sharing by its members will take time to reach sender again. To put it simply The circle
has no leader; here there is total quality. Each member of the circle has exactly the same
authority or power to influence the group. one more problem is that communication is
very slow.

Chain pattern: In Chain pattern, the same problems were appearing as like a circle
pattern. The worst part in the pattern is the last member receives the modified messages
from the leader. In this case the leader can’t find whether the last member receives the
correct information or not because there is no feedback to identify the message distortion

Y Pattern : In Y pattern, it’s more complicated pattern and also has the communication
problem which appears in both circle and chain pattern. The group is separated into three
and the group members can communicate with the other members group through leader
only
The wheel : In Wheel pattern, one of the best pattern while compare to other three. The
leader has direct contact with all the group members and there are no communication
problems, time issue and feedback from the group members. But all the group members
can’t connect with one another as the main head act s a hub of wheel .

The all channel ( free flow communication ) : The all-channel or star pattern is like the
circle in that all members are equal and all have exactly the same amount of power to
influence others, except that each member in this pattern may communicate with any
other member. This pattern allows for the greatest member participation. Communication
through these networks occurs often but not always face-to-face. Messages may be
written in informal memos or in formal letters and reports

These are some of the most important network of communication out of these we can
make a conclusion that wheel communication is the best , which is prevalent in many
companies .
1.1.5. TYPES OF COMMUNICATION: FORMAL, INFORMAL, VERBAL, AND
NON-

 Communication based on parties involved: Communication is mainly two

types on the basis of parties involved in the communication process. These are
internal communication and external communication.

 Internal communication: Internal communication refers to the flow of

information to the internal participants of an organization. It happens only
within the organization. The main purpose of this communication is to
ensure smooth functioning of organizational activities. Internal
communication may be of two types: Vertical communication and
horizontal communication.

 Vertical communication: When information flows between

superiors and subordinate of an organization, it is known as
vertical communication. Vertical communication can be of three
types: Downward communication, upward communication and
diagonal communication.

 Downward Communication: Downward communication

occurs when information flows form superiors to
subordinates. Through downward communication,
superiors send organizational goals, policies, job
assignments, orders, instructions etc to their subordinates.
  Upward Communication: Upward communication occurs
when information flows form subordinates to superiors.
Through upward communication, subordinates convey their
responses, reactions and performance feedback to their
superiors.

 Diagonal or cross communication: Diagonal

communication occurs when information flows between
persons at different levels who have no direct reporting
relationships. Diagonal communication is used to speed
information flow, to improve understanding and to
coordinate efforts for the achievement of organizational
goals.

 Horizontal communication: When information flows among

persons holding the same position or rank in the organization, it is
called horizontal communication.

 External communication: When an organization communicates with

external or outside parties, it is called external communication. External
parties include customers, suppliers, investors, bankers, insurance
companies, government agencies, local communities etc. the main purpose
of external communication is to exchange information with the outside
parties.

 Communication based on formality: Communication can be classified on the

basis of the formality into two types: formal communication and informal
communication.

 Formal communication: When communication occurs by following the

prescribed rules and procedures of the organization, it is called formal
communication. Formal communication is governed by the established
chain of command.

 Informal communication: When communication does not follow any

prescribed rule or procedure, it is called informal communication. The
 basis of informal communication is spontaneous relationship among the
participants. Informal communication is sometimes more powerful and
more effective that formal commutation.

 Other types of communication: There are two other useful types of

communication. These are as follows:

 Personal communication: When people exchange information related to

their personal lives or personal affairs, it is called personal
communication. Every person engages himself or herself in personal
communication. Personal communication occurs among the parties within
the organization and outside the organization.

 Mass communication: Mass communication is a process of transmitting

messages to a large number of scattered audiences. Through mass
communication, information can be transmitted quickly to a large number
of people who generally stay far away form the sources of information.
Mass communication is done through radio, television, newspaper,
magazine, leaflets etc

Verbal communication: Effective verbal or spoken communication is dependent on a

number of factors and cannot be fully isolated from other important interpersonal skills
such as non-verbal communication, listening skills and clarification. Human language can
be defined as a system of symbols (sometimes known as lexemes) and
the grammars (rules) by which the symbols are manipulated. The word "language" also
refers to common properties of languages. Language learning normally occurs most
intensively during human childhood. Most of the thousands of human languages use
patterns of sound or gesture for symbols which enable communication with others around
them. Languages tend to share certain properties, although there are exceptions. There
is no defined line between a language and a dialect. Constructed languages such
as Esperanto, programming languages, and various mathematical formalism is not
necessarily restricted to the properties shared by human languages. Communication is
two-way process not merely one-way.
Non verbal communication: Nonverbal communication between people
is communication through sending and receiving wordless clues.

It includes the use of visual cues such as body language (kinesics), distance (proxemics)
and physical environments/appearance, of voice (paralanguage) and of touch (haptic).[1] It
can also include (the use of time) and oculesics (eye contact and the actions of looking
while talking and listening, frequency of glances, patterns of fixation, pupil dilation, and
blink rate).

Culture plays an important role in nonverbal communication, and it is one aspect that
helps to influence how learning activities are organized. In many Indigenous American
Communities, for example, there is often an emphasis on nonverbal communication,
which acts as a valued means by which children learn. In this sense, learning is not
dependent on verbal communication; rather, it is nonverbal communication which serves
as a primary means of not only organizing interpersonal interactions, but also conveying
cultural values, and children learn how to participate in this system from a young age.
1.1.6 BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION:

The barriers can be categorized into five verticals viz a viz:

 Physical & Mechanical Barriers: It comprises of Noise, Distance, Time,
Information Overload, Physical Barrier, and Words with different meanings,
Denotation & Connotation.
 Language & Sematic Barriers: It comprises of Unclear Message, Words,
symbols with different meaning, Jargons, Faulty Translations, Unclarified
Assumption, and Body language & Gestures.
 Social Psychological Barriers : It comprises of Difference in Perception,
Difference in attitude, Emotions, Inattention, Closed minds , Premature
evaluation, Distrust, Resistance to change, cultural difference
 Organisational Barriers: It includes Status relationship, one way flow, complex
organisation structure, rigid rules & Regulations, Distance Barriers, Physical
barriers, Mechanical barriers.
 Personal barriers: It includesattitude of superiors, lack of confidence in
subordinates, ignoring communication, filtering of information, shortage of time,
message overload.
1.1.7 PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE BUSINESS WRITING.

Business Writing is a type of written communication, usually with standard structure

and style. According to the Capella University, it addresses the needs of specific
audiences and has prose and lists for a particular topic that concerns business.

1. Stay Focused

First off, you need to adjust the scope and scale of your writing to influence the
behaviour of your readers. This is the first step towards sharpening the focus of your
writing.

 Scope - adjust the breadth (restricting yourself to the subject matter) and depth
(level of detail included) of your material.

 Scale - length of your writing. The larger your scale, the higher the need to plan
your writing.

 Behaviour - action or inaction of your reader after reading your material.

2. Identify your Purpose

Next is to identify the purpose of your writing and connect it to your readers’
expectations. Avoid buzzwords and simply use a ‘purpose analysis model’ (usually
sieved from questions asked when taking your initial brief) to gather your thoughts in 3
simple ways:

 Identify your personal values and ambitions

 Identify your readers' expectations

 Find areas of overlap emphasize recurring commonalities and address all

discrepancies.
3. Explain your Meaning

Always explain the meaning of whatever you write, whilst making sure readers can also
relate!! :0)

For example, answering the question ‘what does A mean to B’ in a business stakeholders'
communication is a simple, yet effective way of connecting with your readers. If you are
looking for a simple way to put this into writing, use the ‘[Statement], meaning
[consequence] ‘format. Simple illustrations include:

 We are facing stiffer competition in our market, meaning we need to develop new
products

 This logistics team achieved its set targets, meaning team members have earned a
bonus.

4. Substantiate, substantiate, substantiate!!!

 Your writing will gain credibility when it is substantiated with facts. Always
make sure to verify your factual statements before 'publishing'. ;0)

 My approach will be to use focus as the lead principle. This will guide you when
building a text from scratch. Once the main structure of the text has been
prepared, your substantiating details can then be added.

5. Always build a Structure

Three useful indicators include the use of sequence, consistency and balance to build a
structure that guides the reader though your text…

 Sequence - order in which your writing unfolds;

 Consistency - using the same style and the same words when referring to the same
object;
  Balance - your sentence or paragraph must be long enough to maintain a readers'
interest but not too long. Consider sentences that are around 2 to 3 lines and
paragraphs that hover around 6 to 10 lines.

6. Provide enough writing Clarity

Ensuring clarity when you're writing is presenting your piece so that the readers’ thinking
revolves around a compelling idea.

Total clarity is therefore achieved during editing, since this is where you create a distance
between yourself and the material; i.e. reviewing and re-writing it. This puts your writing
into perspective and allows proper evaluation of the pros and cons of your work, a
definite litmus test to check whether the initial five principles are self-evident.

7. Remain Humble!!!

Be humble while writing and editing, and always critically judge your work first. Though
this has no effect on how good the technicality of your work is, the truth is that most
people are sick of reading anything that has an arrogant or condescending tinge to it. A
tinge you definitely want to avoid if your thoughts are to be heard via your writing

1.2 SUMMARY

Communication motivates, informs, suggests, warns, orders, changes behavior, and

establishes better relationships, to make interaction meaningful and make oneself
understood. Communication is effective when a communicator is effective enough to
communicate competently, simply, clearly, sincerely and dynamically. One’s
communication can be termed as successful, if the receiver acknowledges it, i.e., when a
listener or reader understands, reacts, responds to this communication and shapes his/her
learning behaviour. The word communication is derived from the Latin word
‘communis’, which means ‘common’, i.e., to share, exchange, send, transmit, write,
relate and communicate. The other etymological source mentions that ‘communication’ is
derived from the Latin term ‘communicare’, which means to impart or participate. This
word often denotes and means different things to different people. In short, we can define
communication as sharing ideas and feelings mutually. As it involves interaction, it
encourages exchange of ideas until all the experiences become a common profession. But
communication has many of its impediments, we in this chapter have focused upon this
aspect also, secondly we have learned about the various aspects of communication and
also we came across the effects of business writing and as to how we can work on the
correspondence.

1.3 TERMS TO REMEMBER: ‘Communicare’, Sender Message, Medium,

Feedback, Receiver, Impediments, Network, Types of Communication, Business
writing.