Communication: Purpose, Process & Practice What is the purpose of communicating? Why do we communicate? Simple purpose – to get our message across to other Important purpose: A good communicator builds a positive image of himself/herself A good communicator is likely to build more and better relationship A good communicator has a higher self-esteem Open communication reduces conflict in groups and organisation Communication is the process that involves two-parties (communicator who send and received the message). However, in many situations this process may leave room for error, with message often misunderstood or misinterpreted by one or more of the parties involved. This led to unnecessary confusion and counter productivity. When you are successful in getting your message across, you can convey your thoughts and ideas effectively. If you are unable to convey these thoughts and ideas effectively it will lead to a communication breakdown. Defining Communication Human communication is a dynamic process of creating meaning between two or more people. Although we associate communication with language, much of communication can be non-verbal. We use body language (such as gesture or facial expression), visuals (such as maps or slides), and extra cues (such as white space in document) to convey meaning Communication Process Following the Transactional Model of Communication (Tmoc) (Barnlund, 1970). There are 8 elements of communication: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Message Communicator Channel Noise Feedback Environment Communication Competence Ethic Adapted from Communication: Purpose, Process, Practice by Anil Pathak (2017) In this model, both communicators can initiate the communication process by creating message at the same time. The message is then sent and received through a communication channel (verbal, nonverbal, visual or written) and feedback will be given. Simultaneous Interaction – means that we send and received message at the same time. One person is talking/sending verbal/nonverbal message – whiles the other person is sending nonverbal feedback. Mutual Influence – occurs when nonverbal feedback produces changes in another person’s communication. Goals of Communication 1. Receiver (communicator) understanding. Communication is successful when at the end of the communication process, both communicator (sender & receiver) shares the same meaning or idea. Both communicators must be on a common platform of understanding where message leaves no doubt in the mind of the communicators of the intention of the message and expected outcome. 2. To obtain a constructive response from the receiver. A constructive response can be positive or negative and shows clearly that the one receiving the message has understood it content. The receiver’s response can be in terms of words, signal, or action. To achieve this goal of communication, the comminutor who send the message must help the communicator who is receiving it by clearly indicating when a response is required and what type of response is required. 3. Development and maintenance of good relationship. Whether you are communication with your friends, or your client, your communication skills will decide whether the relationship will prosper or sour. Effective communication that does not leave any doubt helps in fostering relationship, while negative or ineffective communication will generally damage relationship. Avoiding Communication Breakdown I. It is quite common to encounter a communication breakdown in a work situation due to the result of miscommunication or misunderstanding. A breakdown in communication means loss of time, energy, money and can also seriously damage a person’s relationship. To avoid a breakdown in communication, we should try to systematically analyses our communication. To do this, we need to identify and describe the different element of the communication process. Communicator (sender and receiver) Sender is the person who initiates the communication process. This may do this either by gesture, verbally, written or visually. The receiver is the listener, the reader or the observer in the communication process. They usually respond to the sender by; interpreting the message, responding to the message or listening/reading/observing carefully. Adapted from Communication: Purpose, Process, Practice by Anil Pathak (2017) Study the following example to understand the role of the sender and the receiver. In 1980, a Spanish air traffic controller at Tenerife gave a holding pattern clearance to a Dan Air flight by saying "turn to the left" when he should have said "turns to the left" - resulting in the aircraft making a single left turn rather than making circles using left turns. The jet hit a mountain killing 146 people. It is clear from the example that the problem lies with the sender. The traffic controller said ‘turn’ (singular) instead of ‘turns’ (plural). We can then attempt trouble shooting of this communication breakdown. Why did the traffic controller make the mistake? Was it because he does not know the difference between singular and plural? If yes, the controller needs to be given a refresher course in language and grammar. Or was it because the traffic controller lacks knowledge of aviation procedures? If yes, the person is not eligible for the job. In either case, the controller needs to be taken off duty immediately. It also needs to be investigated whether other controllers also suffer from similar lack of knowledge or training. The process described in this and the previous paragraph is called trouble-shooting to resolve a communication breakdown. II. The Message and the Channel The message is usually the thoughts, ideas, concepts that the sender wishes to communicate to the reader. Since thoughts or ideas do not have a physical form, they cannot be directly transmitted to the receiver. The sender therefore ‘encodes’ the message using an appropriate ‘code’. To understand the idea of code, study the example below. In 1990, Colombian Avianca pilots in a holding pattern over Kennedy Airport told controllers that their 707 was low on fuel. The crew should have stated they had a "fuel emergency," which would have given them immediate clearance to land. Instead, the crew declared a "minimum fuel" condition and the plane ran out of fuel, crashing and killing 72 people In the tragic example above, many lives were lost because an incorrect code was used. This may be because the sender saw no difference between the phrase ‘fuel emergency’ and ‘minimum fuel condition’. On the other hand, the receiver was trained in aviation procedures and did not give immediate clearance to land. This resulted in a massive tragedy. Code is important in all communication. This code is then transmitted using one or more of the available channels. Channels are classified as follows: Verbal and non-verbal Written and oral Face-to-face and electronic III. Choosing the right channel Various factors need to be considered when choosing the right channel. First factor is your receiver. No two receivers are alike, thus analyzing your receiver or audience is therefore the first Adapted from Communication: Purpose, Process, Practice by Anil Pathak (2017) step in choosing a channel. Analyses your receiver in four areas: knowledge, interest, attitude and emotional state. These areas will determine your receiver’s probable response to your message, and you should choose a channel where this response is likely to be as positive as possible. To understand the importance of channel, consider the following disastrous situation. On November 13, 1996, a Saudi Arabian airliner and a Kazakhstan plane collided in mid-air near New Delhi, India. While an investigation is still pending, early indications are that the Kazak pilot may not have been sufficiently fluent in English and was consequently unable to understand an Indian controller giving instructions in English. The fault may also lie with the heavy Indian accent of the controller. IV. Based on the example, it would have been better for the controller and pilot to use text messaging in addition to the instruction given through audio. In this situation, a combination of two or more media could had avoided the situation. Communication Barrier Most of the communication situation have barrier (also called noise or interference) It is impossible to completely eliminate barriers in the process of communication. Encoding barrier – related to sender Decoding barrier – related to receiver Transmitting barrier – related to channel Responding barrier – related to feedback. Barrier Example Receiver may find the message difficult to understand if the sender: Encoding Barrier Encodes the message using bad grammar or inappropriate language style Provides too much or too little information Is emotionally disturbed while formulating the message Communication may not be successful if the receiver Decoding Barrier Has inadequate language proficiency Is not in a proper mental state to receive the message The receiver may find the message difficult to understand if There are physical barriers such as noise in a restaurant, disturbance in sound wave, Transmitting Barrier or faulty communication equipment. A wrong choice of channel is made such as detailed instruction over telephone (lack of visual cues) or an apology tendered through e-mail (lack of non-verbal cues such as tone of voice). Communication is unsuccessful if no appropriate feedback is received Responding Barriers Student do not inform a lecturer that her lecture is difficult to understand. The lecturer therefore doe does not simplify her lecture. Result: Communication breakdown. Adapted from Communication: Purpose, Process, Practice by Anil Pathak (2017) Managers in office decided to bring some change in the office structure and inform the employees accordingly asking for their feedback. The employees, however, avoid offering ay feedback out of hesitation and fear. Result: Communication breakdown. *Barrier are damaging to effective communication and can lead to a breakdown in the communication process. It is therefore very important to minimize them or compensate for them. More significantly, if we are aware of various communication barriers, we can avoid misunderstanding and miscommunication* V. Choice of words Language is ambiguous. Meaning attached to words and sentences changes significantly from one user to another. Meaning is dependent on the situations, contexts, users, and their emotional state. Therefore, meaning resides in people rather that in words. Choosing simpler, appropriate and concrete expressions is essential for effective communication to avoid communication breakdown. It is essential to note that words have denotative and connotative meaning depending on the meaning that the receiver or sender attached to the message. Denotative is the dictionary meaning or definition of the given word. Connotation is the meaning suggested by the word to the receiver based on the context, the receiver’s frame of mind, his or her experiences, interests, attitude, opinions, and emotion. For example, when you hand in your report your boss, he might say; “That is certainly efficient work!” Different Interpretation depending on the context: a) Your boss is giving you a compliment b) Your boss really wants to say: “This is what I need. You have been a bit slow in your work lately. But this time it was efficient. Keep it up.” c) Your boss might be being sarcastic. He really means: “You are very late in handing this report.” *It is also useful to check the exact meaning of the words we often use in our communication* VI. Feedback Important function of the role of the receiver in the communication process is to provide feedback to the sender. The receiver of the message can indicate to the sender clearly whether the message was understood by him or her or whether there were any problems in the communication process. Although providing feedback is the receiver’s responsibility, the sender needs to make sure that appropriate feedback is received. If the sender observer that the receiver has difficulty in forming feedback, he or she should ask directly or indirectly for a response. Adapted from Communication: Purpose, Process, Practice by Anil Pathak (2017)
