Communication

The essentials

Communication is the process of exchanging ideas, views, facts and feelings between two or more persons to create common understanding. The process involves a sender, the message, encoding (turning the message into words or symbols), the media or channel, decoding (interpreting the message), the receiver, feedback and noise (any disturbance in the process).

Key points

• Formal communication follows the official chain of command. It may be downward (superior to subordinate), upward (subordinate to superior) or horizontal (between equal-level employees of different departments). Formal networks include single chain, wheel, circular, free flow and inverted V.
• Informal communication (the grapevine) arises from social relations and does not follow official channels. Its networks include single strand, gossip, probability and cluster. It spreads fast but may carry rumours.
• Semantic barriers: badly expressed messages, words or symbols with different meanings, faulty translations, unclarified assumptions, technical jargon, and misread body language.
• Psychological barriers: premature evaluation, lack of attention, loss through transmission and poor retention, and distrust.
• Organisational barriers: organisational policy, rigid rules and regulations, status differences, complex structure with many levels, and lack of facilities.
• Personal barriers: superior's fear of challenge to authority, lack of confidence of the superior in subordinates, unwillingness to communicate, and lack of proper incentives.
• Overcoming barriers: clarify ideas before communicating, communicate according to the receiver's needs, consult others, be aware of language and tone, convey things of help and value, ensure proper feedback, communicate for the present as well as the future, follow up, and be a good listener.

Exam tips

• Technical jargon and faulty translations are semantic barriers; distrust and premature evaluation are psychological barriers.
• Long chains of command that distort messages show an organisational barrier.

Common mistakes

• Treating the grapevine as useless. It can be used by managers to spread information quickly and get feedback.
• Mixing up 'loss by transmission' (psychological) with 'complexity in structure' (organisational).