Professional Communication

Skills for Social Studies

(CSSO102)
Lecturer: Paul Svongoro
CONTENTS
Course aims
Course outcomes

Course content
Course general description
The course generally aims at developing students
professional communication skills so that
managers & organisations succeed in the areas
of:

Planning
Organising
Leading
Controlling
The human-communication
analogy
Communication is to an organisation like
the bloodstream/oxygen in the human being
Humans may undergo surgery to correct

blood supplies and the bodys physical

efficiency
Organisations may have to revamp their

communication systems to survive

Course objectives
By the end of the course students should:
Demonstrate an understanding of key

communication concepts and contexts

Demonstrate an understanding of

theoretical communication concepts by

practising them
Origins of communication

The term 'communication' originates from

the Latin word communicare, which
means:

to share information
to impart information
for understanding.
Communication defined
The transfer and exchange of information
and understanding between people through
meaningful symbols (Hellriegel et al, 2004)
This information can be:
Ideas
Values
Opinions
Facts
Definition contd
Can be formal or informal
Can be verbal or non-verbal
Takes a variety of forms e.g.:
Face to face interactions, phone calls
Faxes, emails, letters, memos, reports
Videos and oral presentations
Problems of
communication
Communicators should be careful about:

How the message is organised (encoding)

How the message is sent, e.g. giving long

complicated instructions over the phone
instead of providing a written list (channel)
How the message is interpreted by the
receiver (decoding)
Example
A text message to a
friend can be sent but
not received.
Has communication
taken place?

How does the friend who

is expecting that
message but has not
received it interpret this?
A mere message is NOT
communication
A message can be something that is said.

Or even something that is NOT said.

A message can also be something that is

done.

Or even something that is NOT done.

Elements of
Communication
Communication is a PROCESS
Communication comprises a number of

ELEMENTS
The elements of communication combine to

make the process complete.

Elements of Communication

Sender Speaker/ Writer

Receiver Listener/ Reader
Messages The message content
Feedback Responses/Reactions
Encoding Message formulation
Decoding Interpreting message
Interference Which impede message
transmission
Barriers to communication

There are many Barriers to effective

Communication, one major barrier being
lack of Listening Skills.

Barriers affecting communication,

particularly Listening are as follows:
Barriers contd.
Gender
Culture
Religion
Age
Status
Language- semantic & syntactic
Technical- equipment breakdown
Environmental
Phsiological
Characteristics of
communication
Dynamic
It is a process that is constantly changing
We react to what others say and do then

they react to our reactions and so on

Characteristics contd
Irreversible
Basically once a message has been sent, it

cannot be reversed
Once you have said something, you cannot

take it back, no matter how many apologies

or denials you may give.
Characteristics contd

Continuous

Duringintrapersonal communication individuals

communicate within themselves for purposes of decision
making and formulation of self-concept

Whether awake or asleep, communication continues to take

place.

SO......

It only ceases when ones brain no longer functions.

Characteristics cont.
Contextual
What is appropriate in one context may be
inappropriate in a different context e.g.:
Prayer meeting at Church
Political rally
Lecture
Date
Board meeting
 The Models of
Communication
Linear, Interactive and Transactional.
A Linear View
Linear Model
In this linear communication model,
communication is like giving an injection: a
sender encodes ideas and feelings into
some sort of message and then conveys
them by means of a channel (speech,
writing, and so on) into a receiver, who
decodes the message.
Linear Model cont.
The model highlights how different channels
can affect the way a receiver responds to a
message.

It also introduces the concept of noise- a

term used by social scientist to describe any
forces that interfere with effective
communication. Noise can occur at any
stage of the communication process.
Linear Model cont.
The model highlights how different channels
can affect the way a receiver responds to a
message.

It also introduces the concept of noise- a

term used by social scientist to describe any
forces that interfere with effective
communication. Noise can occur at any stage
of the communication process.
Linear Model cont.
The model highlights how different channels
can affect the way a receiver responds to a
message.

It also introduces the concept of noise- a

term used by social scientist to describe any
forces that interfere with effective
communication. Noise can occur at any stage
of the communication process.
Linear Model cont.
Three types of noise can disrupt
communication- external, physiological and
psychological.
External noise also called physical, includes
those factors outside the receiver that make
it difficult to hear, as well as other kinds of
distractions. E.g., a smoky room.
Physiological noise involves biological factors
in the receiver or sender that interfere with
accurate reception: illness, fatigue and so on.
Linear Model cont.
Three types of noise can disrupt
communication- external, physiological and
psychological.
External noise also called physical, includes
those factors outside the receiver that make
it difficult to hear, as well as other kinds of
distractions. Eg., a smoky room.
Physiological noise involves biological factors
in the receiver or sender that interfere with
accurate reception: illness, fatigue and so on.
Linear Model cont.
Psychological Noise refers to forces within a communicator that interfere
with the ability to express or understand a message accurately

Example are stress and defensiveness.

Disadvantages of the Linear
View
It makes the assumption that all communication
involves encoding. For e.g. There are nonverbal
cues that occur whether we speak or not. Some
of these cues are unconsciously done.
It also suggest that communication flows in one

direction, from sender to receiver. It ignores the

fact that receivers react to messages by sending
other messages of their own.
An Interactive View
Interactive Model

This model makes the importance of feedback

clear. It shows that most communication is ,
indeed, a two way affair in which we both send
and receive messages.

It also identifies a clue to the cause of many

misunderstandings. Such misunderstandings
often arise because communicators often
occupy different environments- fields of
experience- that help them understand others
behaviour.
Environment in
communication
In communication terminology, environment
refers not only to a physical location but also
to the personal experiences and cultural
background that participants bring to a
conversation.

Consider just some of the factors that might

contribute to different environments:
A might belong to one ethnic group and B to
another
A might be rich and B poor
Interactive Model cont.

In the figure showed in the previous slide, the

environments A and B overlap, representing the
background communicators must have in
common. As the shared environment becomes
smaller, communication becomes more difficult.
Differing environments make understanding

difficult, but certainly not impossible. Hard work

and many communication skills help to bridge
the gap that separates us.
A Transactional View
A transactional View

The activity of communicating is best

represented by a transactional communication
model.
A transactional model reveals that we usually

send and receive messages simultaneously, so

that the images of sender and receiver should
not be separated as if a person were doing only
one or the other, but rather superimposed and
redefined as communicators.
Transactional View cont.

The model also posits that communication isnt

something we do to others, rather, it is an
activity we do with them.

The transactional nature of communication is

explained in the relationship between parents
and children.
In concluding

Communication is a continuous, transactional

process involving participants who occupy
different but overlapping environments and
create a relationship by simultaneously sending
and receiving messages, many of which are
distorted by external, physiological and
psychological noise.