Dr Saad Rehman
Communication is a process whereby information is
enclosed in a package and is channeled and imparted by a
sender to a receiver via some medium. The receiver then
decodes the message and gives the sender a feedback. All
forms of communication require a sender, a message, and
an intended recipient, however the receiver need not be
present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at
the time of communication in order for the act of
communication to occur. Communication requires that all
parties have an area of communicative commonality. There
are auditory means, such as speech, song, and tone of
voice, and there are nonverbal means, such as body
language, sign language, paralanguage, touch, eye
contact, through media, i.e., pictures, graphics and sound,
and writing.
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Context
Sender
Channel
Message
Receiver
Feedback
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Every message, whether oral or written,
begins with context. Context is a broad field
that includes country, culture, organization
and external and internal stimuli. Every
country, every culture and every company or
organization has its own conventions for
processing and communicating information.
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Sender is the person who communicates the
idea, information, material, etc. He acts in the
capacity of speaker, writer, or encoder.
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The message may be in the form of order,
opinion, advice, suggestion, instruction,
question answer or material. It is necessary
and important that idea or message received
be identical to the idea or message sent. It is
possible only when both communicators
sender and receiver are skillful in
communication and its language.
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Medium of communication includes letters
report telegrams fax mailgrams cables telefax
postals telephones charts pictures or any
other mechanical device. Medium may be a
person as a postman. It may be a device as a
telephone. It may also be an organization as
a post office or news agency.
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The receiver is the decoder. He when receives
decodes or interprets the message. Since
perfect communication is not possible, there
is deviation between the idea sent and the
idea received or interpreted. If the receiver is
skillful in communication then the deviation
will be small.
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Feedback can be an oral or a written
message, an action or simply silence.
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Business is a legal activity that is undertaken
by profit and has risk of loss
Legal
Profit
Risk of loss
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communication used to promote a product, service, or
organization; relay information within the business; or deal with
legal and similar issues. It is also a means of relaying between a
supply chain, for example the consumer and manufacturer.
Business Communication is known simply as "Communications."
It encompasses a variety of topics,
including Marketing, Branding, Customer relations, Consumer
behaviour, Advertising, Public relations,
Corporate communication, Community engagement, Research &
Measurement, Reputation management, Interpersonal
communication, Employee engagement, Online communication,
andEvent management. It is closely related to the fields
of professional communication and technical communication.
In business, the term communications encompasses various
channels of communication, including the Internet, Print
(Publications), Radio, Television, Ambient media, Outdoor,
and Word of mouth.
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The basis of communication is the interaction between people. Verbal
communication is one way for people to communicate face-toface. Some of the key components of verbal communication are sound,
words, speaking, and language.
At birth, most people have vocal cords, which produce sounds. As a
child grows it learns how to form these sounds into words. Some words
may be imitative of natural sounds, but others may come from
expressions of emotion, such as laughter or crying. Words alone have
no meaning. Only people can put meaning into words. As meaning is
assigned to words, language develops, which leads to the development
of speaking.
The actual origin of language is subject to considerable
speculation. Some theorists believe it is an outgrowth of group activities
such as working together or dancing. Others believe that language
developed from basic sounds and gestures.
Over 3,000 languages and major dialects are spoken in the world
today. The development of languages reflects class, gender, profession,
age group, and other social factors. The huge variety of languages
usually creates difficulties between different languages, but even within
a single language there can be many problems in understanding.
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Through speaking we try to eliminate this misunderstanding, but sometimes this
is a very hard thing to do. Just as we assume that our messages are clearly
received, so we assume that because something is important to us, it is important
to others. As time has proven this is not at all true. Many problems can arise is
speaking and the only way to solve these problems is through experience.
Speaking can be looked at in two major areas: interpersonal and public
speaking. Since the majority of speaking is an interpersonal process, to
communicate effectively we must not simply clean up our language, but learn to
relate to people.
In interpersonal speaking, etiquette is very important. To be an effective
communicator one must speak in a manner that is not offending to the
receiver. Etiquette also plays an important role in an area that has developed in
most all business settings: hierarchical communication. In business today,
hierarchical communication is of utmost importance to all members involved.
The other major area of speaking is public speaking. From the origin of time, it
has been obvious that some people are just better public speakers than
others. Because of this, today a good speaker can earn a living by speaking to
people in a public setting. Some of the major areas of public speaking are
speaking to persuade, speaking to inform, and speaking to inspire or motivate.
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Written Communication
Electronic Communication
Spoken Communication
Debate
Discussion
Dialogue
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Notes are brief communications of important information
in business and personal relationships. They may contain
reminders, requests or suggestions. Sometimes they are
left on small squares of paper for another member of the
office
or
household
to
see.
Letters are longer than notes and may cover several topics.
The topic of a letter could be a solicitation, complaint,
offer or request. A letter can be informative or
inspirational, business or personal. Personal letters usually
are written from one person to another person or group.
Letters of famous or influential people often become
important historical, political or religious documents.
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An email is a kind of note or letter that is sent
electronically through the Internet. It is a speedy form of
verbal communication that contains its own special set of
rules. Using all capital letters can be interpreted as
screaming at the person receiving the email, which can
lead to misunderstandings and problems in the workplace.
Text messaging, or texting, is another modern
technological form of verbal communication. Spelling rules
are often set aside, allowing forms like "u" instead of "you"
and "2" instead of "too" or "to." Text messages are very
short and are communicated through cell phones and
other
mobile
electronic
devices.
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Speeches are made by political candidates and other
public figures to persuade an audience to adopt their
points of view or take particular courses of action.
Speeches may be delivered with the use of notes,
teleprompters or cue cards--thus mixing written and oral
verbal
communication.
Sermons are a type of speech that occurs in religious
services. Religious leaders use sermons to instruct their
congregations regarding their lives and social issues.
Spoken communication occurs most basically in any
interpersonal conversation, whether face-to-face or over
the
telephone.
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Debate is what we see most of in
conventional conversation: ‘I put up my point
of view, you put up yours - and we try to
knock each other out’. This is an
inappropriate style if what you want is
meaningful
interaction.
Constructive
communication is productive dialogue and
skillful discussions where new insights can
emerge through healthy give and take.
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Discussion focuses on decisions and actions. I
may still want to see my view prevail, but there’s
some concession to listen to other’s viewpoints,
exchange facts and opinions and perhaps even
alter my position as a result. In terms of our
conversational continuum, polite discussion is
different to skillful discussion. Polite discussion
is really a veiled version of debate. It’s ‘polite’
only insofar as conflict, controversy and ‘hardto-handle’ issues are kept concealed under the
surface. Polite discussion is actually anything but.
It’s riddled with hidden agendas, ‘corridor talk’,
secret lobbying, dissembling, manipulation,
factionalism and thinly veiled competition.
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Dialogue is designed to promote a freeflowing interchange of ideas and create an
open, equal and collaborative conversational
climate. In dialogue:
◦ The ‘point’ of the conversation is to share
perspectives and understandings;
◦ People talk together to find meanings and develop
new ideas and concepts - feeding off each other’s
contributions;
◦ The purpose is to go past the understanding of
individual team members - to explore issues
creatively from many points of view.
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Verbal communication is at the core of what most of
us do - whether you’re building a business, leading
change, dealing with difficult situations, revitalising a
team, coping constructively with complaints or
creating an exceptional customer service climate.
The essential actions taken by managers and staff
happen
almost
entirely
through
verbal
communication. It sets the emotional tone and builds
relationships
that
ultimately
determine
the
performance culture of the workplace.
If verbal communication is not effective, coordination
breaks down, relationships suffer, mistakes multiply
and productivity plummets.
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Building verbal communication skills is a
basic business necessity considering the
essence of a manager’s work is mostly verbal.
There are capabilities that can assist a
manager to diagnose:
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What happens in my communication with others?
What kinds of conversations do I have?
How can I have more frank, open interchanges?
What new verbal communication skills do I need?
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Observation
Connecting
Self-Awareness
Mental Modeling
Balancing
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Accurately observing what’s going on in your
verbal communication with others, to
enhance your ability to use different tools and
strategies to improve outcomes.
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Relationship-building to help you understand
and
connect
with
others,
maintain
constructive, open and creative relationships
and
resolve
conflict,
complaints
and
differences of opinion.
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Knowing your perceptions, beliefs, triggers
and behaviours, and being aware of how you
apply this self-knowledge in terms of the
impact
your
thoughts,
feelings
and
behaviours have on others, and whether they
achieve good outcomes?
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How alert you are to your own beliefs and
world views and how they affect your
conversations. It also means being able to
find out about other’s mental models and
‘reframing’ or reinventing when you find they
no longer serve you very well.
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Involves both saying what you have to say (ie.
stating your position clearly) and being
equally able to really listen openly to what
others are saying – and inviting them to say
it.
Balancing
can
help
create
more
constructive conversational climates, reduce
defensiveness and increase openness and
creativity.