Understanding Effective Communication: Process, Barriers, and Overcoming Techniques, Lecture notes of Communication

Download Understanding Effective Communication: Process, Barriers, and Overcoming Techniques and more Lecture notes Communication in PDF only on Docsity! 61 Market SurveyUNIT 7 COMMUNICATION Structure 7.0 Objectives 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Importance of Communication 7.3 Process of Communication 7.4 Means of Communication 7.5 Barriers of Communication 7.6 Overcoming Barriers of Communication 7.7 Ten Commandments of Communication 7.8 Let Us Sum Up 7.9 Key Words 7.10 Answers to Check Your Progress 7.11 Terminal Questions 7.12 Further Readings 7.0 OBJECTIVES After studying this unit, you will be able to: ● explain the meaning of communication ● identify the need of communication ● describe the process of communication ● identify the barriers of communication ● identify various ways of overcoming the barriers of communication ● elobrate various means to improve the effectiveness of communication in our day-to-day work. 7.1 INTRODUCTION The term communication is derived from the Latin word ‘communis’ meaning common- standing for sharing of ideas in common. Communication is two-way process of reaching mutual understanding, in which participants not only exchange information but also create and share meaning. It is a process by which an individual or group transmits information, ideas and feelings to another individual or group. It is a two way process which aims at conveying understanding from one person to another. Main purpose of communication is to convey information and ideas in such a manner that will produce a response as desired by the sender. In this unit, you will learn the concept, importance, process and means of communication. You will also be acquainted with the barriers of communication and how to overcome the barriers of communication. 62 Human Resources 7.2 IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION Communication may be made through oral or written. In oral communication, listeners can make out what speakers is trying to say, but in written communication, text matter in the message is a reflection of your thinking. So, written communication or message should be clear, purposeful and concise with correct words to avoid any misinterpretation of the message. Written communications provides a permanent record for future use and it also gives an opportunity to employees to put up their comments or suggestions in writing. So, effective communication is very important for successful working of an Organization. The communication is required at various levels and for various aspects in an Organization. The importance of communication is as follow: For manager – employee relations: Effective communication of information and decision is an essential component for management-employee relations. The manager cannot get the work done from employees unless they are communicated effectively of what he wants to be done? He should also be sure of some basic facts such as how to communicate and what results can be expected from that communication. Most of management problems arise because of lack of effective communication. Chances of misunderstanding and misrepresentation can be minimized with proper communication system. Motivation and morale: Communication is also a basic tool for motivation, which can improve morale of the employees in an organization. Inappropriate or faulty communication among employees or between manager and his subordinates is the major cause of conflict and low morale at work. Manager should clarify to employees about what is to be done, how well are to be done and what can be done for better performance to improve their motivation. He can prepare a written statement, clearly outlining the relationship between company objectives and personal objectives and integrating the interest of the two. Increase productivity: With effective communication, you can maintain a good human relation in the Organization and by encouraging ideas or suggestions from employees or workers and implement them whenever possible. You can also increase production at low cost. It is through the communication that employees submit their work reports, comments, grievances and suggestions to the management. Organization should have effective and speedy communication policy and procedures to avoid delays, misunderstandings, confusion or distortions of facts and to establish harmony among all the concerned people and departments. Communication is like the blood circulation system of the human body, the absence of which can lead to decay and death of an Organization. It is a purposeful exchange of meaningful information between two sources, the sender and receiver. Communication establishes a common ground for understanding. 7.3 PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION You have learnt the importance of communication. Lets us take a closer look at the elements in the communication process. The communication process is a simple model that demonstrates all the factors that can affect communication. Communication is effective if the message received is understood in the same spirit. The process of communication is as follow: Sender: The communicator or sender is the person who is sending the message. There are two factors that will determine how effective the communicator will be. 65 Market Survey1. Filtering: Some time the information is filtered by the sender himself. A Manager is attempting to filter the information in the process of altering the communication in his favour. The subordinates tend to tell the boss what he likes to hear. The supervisor likewise is reluctant to admit to his subordinates, their problems or situations which reflect adversely on his ability. These natural tendencies stand as barriers to upward and downward communication and lead to many wasteful and avoidable problems. Selective Perception: The receiver in the communication process generally resorts to this, i.e. he selectively perceives the message based on the organizational requirements, the needs and characteristics background of the employees etc. Perceptual selection may sometime lead to perceptual distortion. People interpret information in terms of stereo types which is misleading normally. Emotions: How the receiver feels at the time of receipt of information influences effectively how he interprets the information. For example, if the receiver feels that the communicator is in a jovial mood, he interprets that the information being sent by the communicator to be good and interesting. Extreme emotions and jubilations or depressions are quite likely to hinder the effectiveness of communication. A worried employee may see a threat in every thing he sees and hears. Language or Semantic Barrier: Communicated message must be understandable by the receiver. Words mean different things for two different people, words also vary in degree of abstraction. Language by the very nature may be incomplete and semantics may create communication problems. In an Organization, people come from different regions, different backgrounds and speak different languages. People have different academic backgrounds or qualifications, different intelligence and hence use complex words or Jargons in communication. Information Overload: The effectiveness of communication is likely to be hampered when Supervisors / Manager allow themselves to be undated or overloaded with wealth of information. That is the reason why Supervisors / Managers are forced to ignore or just give a cursory review of too many messages. In this process, inevitably, many of the messages are either overlooked or misinterpreted. Time Pressure: Supervisors/ Managers are often subjected to time pressure because decisions must be made within specified deadline. Such time pressuring can create communication problems. Actions do not match with words: This is the most serious barrier to communication. A supervisor who asks his men not to sleep while on duty cannot get the desired results if he himself is guilty of sleeping while on duty. 7.6 OVERCOMING BARRIRES OF COMMUNICATION To make communication effective, Supervisors /Managers must attempt to remove the barriers. Let us learn the measures for overcoming the barriers of communication Regulate the Flow of Information: Communication should be condensed and only relevant information should be communicated. Feedback: The Supervisor immediately after communicating a message can ask “Did you follow what I said? “Then the receiver’s response is feedback. Feedback need not always be verbal. 66 Human Resources Use Simple Language: Language is perhaps the biggest barrier of communication. Effective communication is achieved when message is both received and understood. A supervisor should try to avoid jargons or complex words and use a simple language that a subordinate can understand. Level of Knowledge: It is always advantageous to speak in the subordinate’s language. We should try to understand the level of knowledge, his educational qualification, and fluency of language of the receiver. It is best to communicate in the mother tongue of subordinate. Listen Carefully: Communication problems arise because of poor listening. Listening is different from hearing. Hearing is passive where as listening is active and intellectual process. While listening, on should stop talking, should be patient, hold his temper, ask questions, remove distractions, should immensely concentrate on what speaker is saying. Control Emotions: Emotions severely cloud and distort the meaning. When Supervisor or the subordinate is mentally upset over an issue they are quite likely to misunderstand the message. The best thing is to defer or postpone further communication until calmness and coolness is established. Emotion can be in any form like anger, disgust, upset. Watch for non-verbal cues or body language: In case of oral communication the sender should observe the actions of receiver and find whether they go along with the understanding. A supervisor should watch the non-verbal cues or body language carefully. In any Organization grapevine cannot be totally eliminated. A supervisor should make best use of this. He should be careful in dealing with grapevine because it can carry damaging rumours that adversely affect the effectiveness of communication. 7.7 TEN COMMANDMENTS OF COMMUNICATION You have learnt the importance, process, means, the measures that help in overcoming the barriers of communication.In order to make communication effective let us observe some important aspects which make the communication effective: 1. Clarify ideas before communicating: The more systematically a message is analyzed, the more clearly it can be communicated. By systematically thinking through the message and considering who will be receiving and/or affected by it, a professional may facilitate the process of communication 2. Examine the true purpose of communication: One must ask himself/herself this question – what am I really aiming to accomplish with this message? The communication can then be properly designed. 3. Take the entire environment, physical and human, into consideration: Question such as, what is being said, to whom and when are very important. Your skill lies in how you say what and when. 4. When valuable, take advice from others while planning communication: Consulting others can give you additional insight regarding how best to handle the communication. Third person not being directly involved can provide unbiased inputs. 5. Be careful of the overtones and the basic content of the message: The listener will be affected the way you put across your message. In fact your tone, facial expressions are also to be considered. 67 Market Survey6. Use crisp language and be clear: It is very important that the words are well chosen and as much as possible the language is crisp. In other words use minimum words to send across the message and convey useful information. 7. Follow-up on communication: One must solicit feedback in ensuring that the receiver has understood the message. 8. Communicate with the future as well as the present in mind: Most communication happens in meeting with the demands of the current situation. However this should be in accordance with the long-term goals as well. 9. Be a good listener: By concentrating on the receiver’s response you can ensure his extent of interest in you. 10. Exhibit congruency: Match your words with your body language. Check Your Progress B 1. Give three examples of verbal communication. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. 2. Identify four barriers of communication. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. 3. Distinguish between verbal and non-verbal communication. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. 4. List out any three ways of overcoming the barriers of communication. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. 5. Which of the following statements are True or False? i) Mere “transmission” of information and ideas is called communication. ii) Decoding refers to the process by which the receiver translates the message into the terms that are meaningful to him. iii) Encoding means that Communicator’s message must be translated into a common language which reflects the idea. iv) Body language does not include facial expression, eye contact, postures, gestures, etc. v) Some examples of the written communication are: Orders, Instructions, Letters, Memos, Reports, Information Bulletin, etc.