This document discusses various aspects of communication including types, importance, barriers and effective communication techniques. It provides the following key points: 1. Communication is the exchange of information between a sender and receiver to convey a message as intended. There are various types including formal/informal and vertical/horizontal/diagonal flows. 2. Effective communication requires removing barriers, choosing the right medium, planning messages clearly and providing feedback. Listening is also an important skill. 3. Written communication requires brevity, simplicity, facts and structure while considering the audience. The writing should then be edited to ensure clarity and understanding.

2. Food for thought
When I have talked in anger,
And my cheeks were flaming red,
I have always uttered something,
Which I wish I had not said.

3. What we aim to learn
• To understand and appreciate the process of communication as
an important constituent of the professional effectiveness
• To understand oneself and improve interpersonal skills
• Exposure to communication concepts
• Diagnose and circumvent barriers to communication
• To gain confidence and honing presentation skills

5. Communication is a series of experience of
Hearing
Smell
Seeing
TouchTaste

6. What is Communication
• Communication is an exchange of information from
the sender to the receiver with the message being
understood as intended by the sender
Idea
Decode Idea
Listens
Reads
Observes
Speaks
Writes
Acts
Draws Words
Actions
Pictures
Numbers
Encode
Symbols
The receiver
Sender

7. Importance Of Communication
• Organizational / Functional:
greater information access and awareness
• Improves coordination:
reduces logical gaps
• Encourages cooperation:
helps bring everyone in the mainstream
• Gives a direction:
to tasks and activities
• Morale and empowerment

8. • Decision making aid
• Speeds up the organizational processes
• Better focus on customer requirements
• Generates a greater sense of organizational commitment
and involvement
• A problem solving tool:
by clarity, preciseness and feedback
….. Importance Of Communication

9. Types of Communication
 On the basis of organization relationship
 Formal
 Informal
 On the basis of Flow
 Vertical
 Crosswise/Diagonal
 Horizontal
 On the basis of Expression
 Oral
 Written
 Gesture

10. Barriers to Communication
• A barrier reduces or changes the quality of
the message being transmitted
 Semantic Barriers
 Emotional Or Psychological Barriers
 Organizational Barriers
 Barriers in Superiors

11. Semantic Barriers
Symbols with different meaning
Badly expressed message
Faulty translation
Unclarified assumption
Specialist’s language

12. Emotional Or Psychological Barriers
Premature evolution
Inattention
Loss of transmission & poor retention
Undue reliance on the written word
Distrust of communication
Failure to communicate

13. Organization Barriers
Organizational policy
Organization rules & regulation
Status relation
Complexity in organization

14. Personal Barriers
 Barriers in Superior
 Attitude of Superior
 Fear of challenge of authority
 Lack of time
 Lack of awareness
 Barriers in Subordinates
 Unwillingness to communicate
 Lack of proper incentive

15. How to overcome the barriers
For the sender
• Be clear about the message to be
sent
• Be precise and to the point
• Do not be verbose
• Use a language understandable
to the receiver
• Write the message if required
• Request a feedback to ensure
receipt of message
For the receiver
• Be attentive
• Concentrate on the message
• Ask for clarifications wherever
required
• Listen objectively
• ‘Listen’ for body
language
• Make notes if required

16. Flow of communication
At the workplace
* Upward
From employee to superior
* Downward
From superiors to the employee
* Lateral
From one employee to another

17. Medium of Communication
• Memos
• E-mails
• Notices
• Company circulars
• In-house magazines
• Oral instructions

18. EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
1. Plan your communication
• maintain clarity of purpose “why”,
• maintain clarity of idea, “what”.
2. Choose the medium
• language
• style
• semantics

19. …. Effective Communication
3. Remove barriers ……. build gateways
DO’s DON’Ts
seek first to understand Remove all prejudices
and then to be understood Overcome any distractions
empathize with other people Reduce length of
values, beliefs, needs & sentiments communication channel
use a common language
clarify ideas before communicating

20. ….. Effective Communication
4. Active Listening
• Listen with an open mind
• Make an effort to understand
• Empathize ……..reflect understanding
• Be aware of what is said and what is not said
• Don’t jump to conclusions……draw conclusions
5. Feedback
• Check for accurate receipt of message
• Check action/outcome in relation with the intent of the
message.
• Improve/alter message, if required.

22. Listening : A lost art
Why do we not listen?
• actions speak louder than words
• Seeing is easier than listening
• Visual medium is powerful
We hear but don’t listen
look but don’t see

23. The Art of Listening
Listening : an important human skill
• indispensable for superiors
• gets you respect, love and fame
• shows that you care for and respect others
• not listening could be psychologically upsetting for the
other person
• you can’t fake listening
• the higher you go, the more you have to listen
• it is a rare skill

24. What it takes to be a good listener
• Ability to concentrate
• genuine desire to understand the other persons point of
view
• Sensitivity to needs, emotions and body language
• Humility: “You might have a point of view and I respect
you”
• A belief that other people are important and worth
listening to.

25. How to be a good listener
• Know your power as a listener
• Ask questions
• Reflect feelings
• Let your body give reassuring messages
• Know your prejudices
• Avoid making snap judgments
• Avoid anger

26. The Art of Listening
Poor Listeners
• The fidget : “Why are you telling me ?”
• The aggressive listener : tries too hard and as a result scares
people.
• The pseudo - intellectual : hears only ideas and not the emotions
behind them
• The passive listener : :I agree with whatever you say”
• The inaccurate listener :”I can’t concentrate”

28. Official Communication
1. Flow : vertical/horizontal/cross
2. Content : top-down are in the form of orders or directives
bottom-up are in the form of feedback or
complaints
3. Through a proper channel : Who is the end audience? Who
should know first ? What should the network be ?
4. “Information is power”. One who has the authority to
communicate is considered powerful.

29. Communication Ethics
If intimation is power, and if we have information, then we must
respect and handle our communication with restraint.
Key Points:
• maintain confidentiality -
confidential information is trust reposed
Confidential information is trust betrayed
• certain information is `need to know’ - the job demands it,
certain information is `desire to know’ - it may help in my job,
and certain information is `desirable to know’, it may increase
my power, fame and status.
• Gossiping or bitching - is like `stabbing in the back’

30. …. Communication Ethics
• Ownership of information - Permission of the owner is a must
before using it.
• Knowledge of information vs. use of information - having
information does not mean you can use it.
• Communication must flow through a proper channel - cutting
across a channels causes heartburns, hurt and misunderstandings
• Timing and place - be careful and sensitive to it.

31. Written Communication
Written communication as compared to oral communication is at
a disadvantage because of the absence of non-verbal gestures,
voice variation and physical expressions. This as a result
increases the importance of clarity and accuracy of the content
of our written message. To have effective written
communication, certain steps and guidelines may help.

32. Plan
Keep it short and simple
Write it
Edit your writing
The steps
(Your communication)
(Brevity and precision)
(Commit it on paper)
(Check for corrections)

33. Steps
Step 1. Plan
Like nearly any activity, written communication too requires
a plan and a structure. Certain thins must be clearly ascertained, like,
Sender : From whom is the communication starting ?
Receiver : Who is the end receiver/audience of the written
communication?
Purpose : Why are we making the communication ?
What is the expected outcome I.e What do expect the receiver to do ?
These questions when answered and related will help us understand
and design the path, requirements and the construction of the message.

34. Step 2. Keep it Short & Simple (K.I.S.S.)
The Structure of the content of the message must be,
• Brief: Brevity and simplicity avoids any confusion in
understanding the message.
• Specific : Only the issue or matter in question must be
addressed. Other unrelated matters must not be included as
it might decrease the significance of the main topic.
• Sequence:The flow of or written communication must follow a
logical and stepwise format.

35. Step 2. Keep it Short & Simple (K.I.S.S.)
The Structure of the content of the message must be,
• Short Sentences : They facilitate easy and correct understanding
of the message.
• Simple usable words : Everyday used words maintain the
harmony and expression of our communication.
• Facts and Figures ; They help to give our communication
objectivity. Relying on unclear, subjective assumptions and
expectations blurs the message.

36. • Meaning of the facts
Supporting data and clarification of the facts would help in the
clarity of our communication.
• Suit it to the audience
One message may need different degrees of explanations.
This depends on the context, frame of reference and
understanding capability of the receiver in question. We must
explain and elaborate our message depending on the
receiver.

37. • Call for action
Our written communication should look for expected action to
be taken based on it.
• Request feedback
Our written communication must call for acknowledgment of
receipt of information.Supporting the acknowledgment must
be specific feedback on how the communication has been
understood.

38. Step 3. Write It
Once we have done the above, we could proceed to actually
writing our communication on paper, bearing a few things in
mind.
• Double spacing to improve readability,as used on this page.
• Use of paragraph to make the communication more logical
and understandable.
• Neat, uniform handwriting, in case it is not typed or printed.

39. Step 4. Edit your writing
Effective editing is another step towards good writing. The key
points to remember during editing are,
• Edit your draft as brutally as if it was someone else’s copy.
• Edit your draft from the readers point of view
• Be specially critical of the first few paragraphs

40. Step 4. Edit your writing (cont.)
• Look out for problems in any section you wrote when you were
bored or tired.
• Carefully study the content of your draft details, flow, forgotten
points, unrelated issues etc.
• Edit for brevity and clarity
• Read aloud for style and tone
• Edit again

41. Body Language
• Interpreting body language is vital in any communication process
• Observe the body movements and postures
• Match the other person’s language

42. Managerial requirements for
communication
A. Managerial communication skills are used for:
• Work facilitation
• To inform, instruct and guide
• Interpreting employee non verbal communication
• Motivating subordinates
• Breaking employee barriers and mindsets
• Developing better interpersonal relations
• As a ‘bridge’ between subordinates and superiors

43. Superior Manager Subordinate
Peers
B. What needs to be communicated
Information/ Attitudes
Data + Values
Moods
Emotions
C. The communication linkages

44. • Practice active listening, listen for facts and feelings, content and
intent.
• Identify barriers to good listening - and knock them down.
• Guide conversations with "open" and "closed" questions.
• Defuse difficult situations; encourage participation;
• Build empathy and check understanding.
• Read and use body language effectively.
• Speak effectively and persuasively.
Some final guidelines

45. • Concepts, importance, barriers and ways to
overcome them
• Types, medium, gateways to communication
• Effective Communication – how to achieve
• Listening – importance, effective listening
• Feedback – importance, how to receive
• Organizational communication, memos
• Communication Ethics
• Written Communication – steps
• Body Language - Types
Summarizing……