2. Concept of Communication:
Concept of Communication:
• Derived from Latin word “Communist” which
means common
• Three definitions of communication are given
below:
– Moorhead and Griffin (2009):- “Communication is
process in which two or more parties exchange
information and share many”
Diwakar Singh
3. Contd….
– Ivancerich, Donnelly, and Gibson (2011):
“Communication is the transmission of
information and understanding through the use of
common symbols”
– Stephen P Robbins(2017): “Communication is the
transference and understanding of meaning”
• Described as a process through which,
– One person transmits information
– To another person through appropriate medium
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4. Contd….
The five vital components of communication as
pointed out by:
Sender of message
The message itself
Receiver of the message
Transmission channels
Reception of the message
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5. Contd….
• The traditional view of communication holds
that:
– Communication is transmission of information
• From one person to another person
– Point of view is not adequate for :
• An effective communication to take place
– An example of one way communication:
• Sender’s information is not sure whether or not the
receiver
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6. Contd….
– This view has now been modified.
– Effective communication, the process of sending :
• A message in such a way that:
• The message received as close in meaning as
• Possible to message intended
– A person of group has to try to see and
• Feel as the other person or groups sees and feels
– It may be:
• A political with people
• A manager with employees
• A teacher with student
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7. Contd….
– Dean Barunlund’s (1971) approaches to
summarize the communication process
– The approaches are as follows:
– The message - cantered approach:
• Consists of the transmission of an effective “message”
• To communicate , the sender must
– Properly construct the content
– Arrange it properly and
– Deliver it effectively
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8. Contd….
– The transmission cantered approach:
• Concerned mainly with the “flow of information”
• The emphasis is on:
– The transmission and reception of the message
– The meaning- cantered approach:
• Concerned with seeking “meaning” from:
– What the transmitted message has to say:
– The components (three approaches) of the total
communication process
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9. Contd..
– Transmission of the message is:
• Vital in group or
• Interpersonal interactive
– Conclude that communication is:
• A process which involves people
• A process through which information between:
– A sender and receiver in which both:
– The parties share the meaning the message
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10. Role and Purpose of Communication in
Management:
• A large portion of manager’s time is spent
communicating;
– Explaining plans
– Schedules
– Polices
– Procedures and subordinates
• Management functions like:
– Planning
– organizing
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11. Contd….
– Leading
– Controlling (involve communication)
– Decision making
– Coordination
– Interpersonal relationship
• Henry Mintzberg (1993) studied:
– The working of business executives
– Found that 78% of their time spent in
communication relatives activities like,
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12. Contd…..
• Attending meeting
• Attending visitors
• Receiving phone calls
• Touring different offices
– 22% their work was spent for “desk-work”
– Managers at all levels of the organization:
• Spent considerable time in communication
• Peters and Waterman (1982) found that:
– Best managed companies were ones,
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13. Contd….
– Which were involved:
• Open and
• Informal communication
– The excellent companies encouraged:
• Greater communication
– Without their system
• Such companies had made workplace
arrangement
• To increase opportunities for interpersonal
interactions:
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14. Contd….
– Companies encouraged managers:
• To leave their desk
• Talk with other people or
• Shop floor employees
• Called management by walking around
– Companies had designed open spaced offices:
• To encourage people to observe other
• Interact with each other
• Called management by talking around
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15. Contd….
– Companies had designed their office buildings
with:
• Escalators instead of elevators to facilitate open face
• To force interaction
– Companies had enough space for:
• Formal and
• Informal meetings together
– Today, business organizations:
• The gap of new communication technologies
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16. Contd….
• Both opportunities and limitation
– Some forms of mail transmitted electronically
have been available:
• The telegram
• The mailgram
• The cablegram
• Fax
• Email
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17. Contd….
– These technologies have contributed to the
emerge of “Paperless Office”
• Teleconferencing
• Victual office
• Telecommunicating
– Well- designed communication system serves the
following purpose for the organizations:
• Information sharing
• Problem solving
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18. Contd…
• Decision making
• Strategy implementation
• Team management
• Organizational change and development
• Evaluation and control
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19. Communication Structure:
• A pattern through which
– The members of a group or
– Organization communicate with each other
– Known as :
• Communication network
• Communication channel (formal channel of
communication)
– Communication network is complex in large
organization
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20. Contd…
• Four major types of communication structure
in organization.
• These are:
– Wheel
– Chain
– Circle
– All channels
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22. Communication Process:
• Several steps are involved in communication
process:
– Steps in the communication process
• Linked in a chain
– The transmission of the message becomes
complex, because:
• It has to travel through these different steps
– Steps or elements that make-up the
communication process include:
• Sender or source
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25. Types of Communication:
• In organization, information flows in three
directions:
– Down
– Up and
– Sideway
• Through formal and informal channel
– We will deal with other types:
• Formal
• Informal
• Interpersonal
• Non-verbal communication
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26. Contd….
• Formal communication:
– Official channel of communication
– Flows through established line of authority
– Controlled and regulated by :
• Management of an organization
– Examples of formal communication include:
• Official letter
• Memo
• Notices
• Newsletter
• Reports
• Staff meetings
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27. Contd….
• The form of formal communication:
– Downward
– Upward (information)
– Downward communication deals with:
• Instructions
• Plans
• Policies
• procedures
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28. Contd….
– Upward communication deals with:
• Employee suggestions
• Grievance procedure
• Meetings
• Problem solving groups
Two important features of formal
communication are:
• It follows the authority structure
– Organization structure determines:
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29. Contd…..
• Who communicates with whom and
• For what purpose
• Information ownership rests with same person
in the organization:
– They have the information and
• Hence, they have power of information
– If these persons do not want to disclose
information
• Formal communication cannot take place
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30. Contd….
– Informal communication:
• Unofficial communication
• Occurs outside the formal channels
• Employees communicate with one
– Another to maintain their social relationship and friendship
• The most common forms of informal communication
include:
– Grapevine
– Rumors
– Non-verbal communication
Diwakar Singh
31. Contd…
• The Grapevine:
– An informal network of flow of information among
people in an organization
– Called a “Social network of informal
communication”
– Has been recognized as a part of organizational
life
– John Newstrom and Keith Davis (1998) have
identified possible four types of grapevine chains:
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32. Contd…..
• Single stand chain:
– Person A tells to Person B
– Who tells it to person C and
– So on down the line
• Gossip chain:
– One person seeks out and
– Tells everyone the information of:
• Interesting but non-job related
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33. Contd….
• Cluster chain:
– The person tells the information:
• To the selected ones
– Employees pass on the information, they have
obtained only:
• To their close friends
• To people they trust
•
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34. Contd....
– The rumors:
• The stories based on very little that are verifiable
• Spread throughout the organizations
• A rumor has three components:
– Target
– Allegation
– Source
– Interpersonal communication:
• A two-way communication system
• The primary means of managerial communication
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35. Contd….
• Takes place between or among two or more individual
(called dyad)
• The most common type communication in organization
– Because, all communication among
» Employees
» Management and employees
– The important methods of interpersonal
communications are:
• Oral communication
• Written communication
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36. Contd….
• Non-verbal communication:
– Has three aspects:
• The verbal aspects (use of language – written or oral)
• The emotional aspects (the mood or feeling being,
expressed)
• The non-verbal aspects (body language)
– It occurs without the use of word (body language):
• Eye-contacts
• Gestures
• Postures
• proximity
Diwakar Singh
37. Contd…..
The following elements of the body language
are important for managers to understand:
• Physical proximity:
– Means the person want to know each other
– They are interested in:
• Interaction and
• Friendship
– On other hand:
• Physical distance indicates lack of interest
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38. Contd….
• Physical appearance:
– It indicates:
• Height
• Physique
• Face
• Hair
• Hand
• Other parts of body
– This shows social skills
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40. Contd….
• Direction of Gazes or Eye movements:
– Indicates something about
• The receiver of a message
– The first interaction between:
• Two persons start with eye contact
Diwakar Singh
41. Barriers to Effective Communication:
• Many barriers to effective communication
• Because of these barriers:
– Effective exchange of information cannot take
place
• Managers must be aware of these business
– And breakdowns in communication
• They should know how to manage :
– The communication process and
– minimize the potential problems
Diwakar Singh
42. Contd…
• For present analysis:
– We will follow the classification used by:
• Kreitna (2007) as:
– It is more comprehensive
– Process barriers:
• Encoding and decoding
• Filtering
• Conflicting signals
• Fear and mistrust
• Noises
• feedback
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43. Contd….
• Physical barrier:
– Physical distance
– Hierarchical structure
– Office design
– Distortion
• Semantic barriers:
– Semantic
– Long and complex sentence structure
– Use of jargons
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44. Contd…
• Psychosocial barriers:
– Lack of interest
– Reference groups
– Perception
– Value judgments
– Status difference
– Social barriers
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46. Enhancing Effective Communication:
• The latest development in management literature
emphasize that:
– The role of formal
– Rigid organization structure should be minimized and
• The use of group activities such as:
– Terms
– Quality circles
– Task forces
– Committees
• Should be maximized
– To enhance effective communication
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47. Contd….
The following are some communication
methods to enhance effective communication:
– Improving communication process:
• A great deal of communication problems arises because
of:
– Lapses or
– Careless handling of communication
– Careful design of the message:
• Use appropriate words
• symbols
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48. Contd….
• Reducing physical barrier:
– Create problems in effective communications:
• The rigidity of formal communication
• Status differences
• Locational distance
– To minimize the effects of physical factors on
organization communication
• Informal communication network should encourage.
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49. Contd….
• Simplifying the language:
– Language translates the sender’s ideas into:
• Written or oral messages
– If the sender and receiver of message clarify
• The set of symbols to be used before
– They communicate confusing regarding
» Regarding the meaning of
» Words and symbols are minimized
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50. Contd…
• Promoting interpersonal relationship:
• Human factors generate distortions that can
be fully eliminated:
– Difference in:
• Culture
• Perception
• Emotion
• Internet
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51. Contd….
• These barriers are caused because of :
– Misunderstanding of original message
• Thus, the
– Norms
– Values
– Interests
– Needs
– Influence of reference group
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52. Cont…
– How
– When and
– What information is communicate?
• These barriers can be removed:
– If greater interpersonal interactions take place
within organization
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53. Contd….
• Adjusting with communication technology:
– The age of communication technology
– The use of communication technology can reduce:
• Made communication much easier
– On the other hand:
• Extreme dependence on technology can reduce:
– The use of face-to-face meetings
– Conversations and
– Formal communication
Diwakar Singh
54. Contd…..
Thus, the problems and limitations imposed by
the communication technology like:
– Information overload
– Time pressure etc.
– Should be minimized to enhance
• The effectiveness of such technology
– The less distortions that occur in
• Communication
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55. Contd…
• The communication process in organization
should adopt the following strategies:
– Top management’s commitment to importance of
communication
– Commitment to two way communication
– Emphasis on face-to-face communication
– Dealing with;
• gossips
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56. Contd….
• Rumors
• Bad ness appropriately and in time
– Right selection and appropriate use of electronic
communication
– Develop a climate of trust and open
communication
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