CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW OF COMMUNICATION

1. INTRODUCTION

Communication is involved in every part of our lives from the time we wake up until the time
we go back to sleep. When we are talking with families or friends, other students or our
teachers other employees or supervisors; or when we are listening to a radio or watching TV
when we are buying or selling products or services when we are speaking, listening, or “sizing
up” a situation – when we do any of these things we are involved in communication. Since a
communication has such a major effect on all our lives we will do so more effectively if we
understand the basics of communication.

As you have studied in the course, Introduction to Management, managers have three basic
jobs: to collect and convey information, to make decision and to promote interpersonal unity.
To put it in short, managers are expected to work together to achieve organizational goals. All
of these jobs happen through communication. Effective managers are able to use a wide
variety of media & strategies to communicate. This part gives you general overview of
communication from its definition and meaning to types of communication. The part will also
introduce you to the communication process and the major causes of communication error so
that you would improve your communication skill.

Communication is perhaps as old as the human civilization. Its origin can be traced to the growth
of the human society. In the primitive stage of human society, people satisfied their wants, which
were limited to the basic needs for food, clothing & shelter and by their own individual efforts.
At that time life was isolated and there was little communication. But while people hunted for
food, they too were hunted by other wild animals. They lived in constant danger. The common
need for protection and security led to group life. Then communication was evolved in the form
of sounds, indications, signals, and expressions. As group life developed, and human wants
continued to increase, forms of communication also developed. Gradually, with the increase in
population, emergence of division of labor and specialization, and birth of exchange economy
human beings had to be in constant communication.
At some stage, the signs and symbols created language. With the growth of business-industry
and commerce, ways of expressing ideas in languages developed. Gradually people were able to

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shape their attitudes, norms, values, culture, religion, etc through communication. Science
entered the field and new forms of oral, written and audio visual communication developed.
Thus the development of communication is inseparable from the development of human
civilization.
In the present day world of mass production, involving organizations with large number of
personnel with their social and cultural diversifications, and complex industrial operations and
influences, communication is of vital need at every step in industrial and commercial activities.
1.2. Meaning of Communication

Different writers define communication in different ways. Let’s look at various possible ways
of defining communication. When people are asked to define communication, some define
communication as “the process of transferring ideas from one person to another”. When you
see this definition on surface it seems sound. However, it is incorrect way of defining
communication. Why do you think it is so? Because the words transferring and from one
person to another inaccurately imply that communication is like pouring liquid from a pot to
another pot.
In other words, the definition implies a simple, one way action where person A takes
knowledge from his or her head and simply pours (transfers) it into the head of person B, the
same way the water poured to a pot. Person B may refuse to accept A’s ideas and may,
instead, wish to present his or her own ideas (give feedback) unlike the pot. The Latin root of
communicate is communicare, which means “to make common to many, share”. According to
this definition, when people communicate, they express their ideas and feelings in a way that
is understandable (common) to each of them. They share information with each other. So,
what is the correct way of defining Communication?
Hamilton and Parker (1987), define communication as” the process of people sharing
thoughts, ideas, and feelings with each other in commonly understandable ways.”
Bovee and Thill (2000) defined communication as the process of sending and receiving
messages. They distinguished communication and effective communication. According to
Bovee and Thill,, effective communication occurs when individuals achieve a shared
understanding, stimulate others to take actions, and encourage people to think in new ways.

Dear learner, now look back the definition you gave for communication earlier at the
beginning of this topic and revise it again in line with the definitions forwarded here. Because

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this module is concerned primarily with effective business communication, the discussions
and illustrations you will read focus mainly on business messages. However, you can apply
them also to other organizations, to other professions, and to your personal communication.

The term communication is derived from the Latin work “Communis”, which means common.

Literally, to communicate means to tell, show, spread and inform.

As communication is a much more complex factor in our present world, not surprisingly, the
problem of defining it as a subject of study has also become increasingly difficult.
For our purposes, however, we can define communication as:
The process by which people attempt to share meaning (ideas, feeling, thought, experience,
knowledge, skill, etc) for some purpose through the transmission of symbolic messages.
Our working definition of communication calls attention to the following five essential points.
1. Communication is a process
Communication refers to a series of activities to be accomplished in a sequence; it does not refer
to incidental events and transactions among people.
2. Communication is purposeful
When senders - receivers communicate the sender originally should have an objective to be
checked at the end of the communication process. Communication is not just the transfer of
messages but purposeful transfer of messages between senders and receivers. Thus it does not
refer to incidental transactions between people
3. Communication involves people
Communication shows the degree of understanding among senders-receivers and how they relate
to each other. Therefore, it refers to communication among people only and the exchange of
interpersonal behaviors among them.
4. Communication involves shared meaning
This suggests that in order for people to communicate, they must agree on the definitions of the
terms and symbols they are using. The symbols used by the sender should be similarly
interpreted by the receiver in order to ensure equal or similar understanding between them.
5. Communication is symbolic
In communication symbols such as, letters, numbers, words, gestures, sound, etc can only
represent or approximate the ideas they are meant to communicate. In other words symbols are

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not perfect representations of our ideas. Thus we have to take care in selecting symbols that best
approximate the sender’s ideas.
Communication is vital to human existence. It is how we pass on to others our thoughts and
feelings, tell them what we want them to do, ask them to help us, share with them our knowledge
and experience. Without communication we would each live as if alone in the world.
1.3 Nature/Characteristics of Communication
As articulated by Gerald Miller, communication has three basic characteristics: dynamism,
uniqueness and transactional nature.
Dynamism
Every communication event stems from a series of past events and triggers a series of new ones.
Communication is affected by prior attitudes, planned thoughts and people to whom the message
is addressed. It is thus a dynamic phenomenon without beginning, without end, continually
responding, and continually changing.
Uniqueness
Evolving naturally from the notion of dynamism is the concept of uniqueness. No two
communication events are a like because of the change in the sender, the audience, delivery, time
situation etc.
Transactional Nature
Communication scholars Wenberg and Wilmot mentioned that in communication all persons are
engaged in sending (encoding) and receiving (decoding) messages simultaneously. Each person
isaffecting the other. Each communication transaction involves reciprocal exchanges of feelings,

meanings, ideas and responses.

1.4 Role and Importance of Communication

In order to show the importance of communication to organization it is better to define what

organization is. An organization is a group of people associated for business, political,
professional, religious, athletic, social, or other purposes. Its activities require human beings
to interact, react- communicate. They exchange information, ideas, plans, make decisions,
rules, proposals, contracts and various agreements which all of them cannot happen without
communication. Communication is the life blood of every organization. Whether an
organization is large or small, the sharing of information among the parts of an organization,
as well as between the organization and the outside world, is the glue that binds the
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organization together. As a member of an organization, be it formal or informal organization,
you are a link in the communication chain. Whether you are a top manager or an entry level
employee, you have information that others need to perform their jobs. At the same time,
others have information that is crucial to you. Communication skills are important because it
is through communication that you gain the information you need to make successful
decisions at work. The success of an organization depends on communication skills of its
employees. Researches indicate that communication skills were rated “extremely important”
relative to other kinds of abilities by the surveyed organization. Researchers conducted on
business organizations also show that “inability to communicate” and “poor communication
skills” were the most frequently mentioned reasons for not hiring a job applicant. From this
you can see that communication affects even your personal life.

The ability to communicate with others is an essential attribute of human life and we are all of us
grappling with communication tasks most of the time we are awake. Only when we are alone and
also not reading or writing or listening, we stop receiving messages from the world of people
outside ourselves, stop trying to send out messages to the fellow human beings around us.
Communication plays, then, a vital part in our personal daily lives.
Furthermore, communication has been characterized as the “life-blood” of an organization.
Every organization depends for its daily functioning on an intricate communication network,
which has grown up during the years and has proved itself indispensable. “No person is an
Island”; today more than ever all the people of the world rely upon another for products,
services, ideas, etc.
The above two paragraphs show that the importance of communication be viewed from two
angles: individual angle and organizational angle.
Man conflicts with himself, with his environment and with his fellow creatures. He is capable of
emotions, ideas and reasoning. He must learn the art of adjusting to himself, to his work, and to
his associates even as that self, that work, and those associates change. A person must learn and
practice the art of human relations, an art that enhances the individual person and the society of
which he is a member.
Like all other people, you are a complex system of thoughts and feelings, of ideas and emotions.
Although similar to other human beings, you are a unique person. Yet you must live and work
with others. You are a human being not an island. Multiply this complicated being you by the

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millions of other complicated and unique people on this earth. Add the unpredictable influences
of society and nature. Recognize that today a person’s economically, is not an island; s/he cannot
isolate herself/himself from her/his fellow men. You will then discover that at the core of human
relations is modern man’s obligation to fulfill himself with in the requirements of nature and
society.
Even though all people including you are emotional-rational beings, still you are unique from
others in that you have geared your career to successful business management. Therefore you
have assumed the obligation of striving, ethically and efficiently, to use thoughts and feelings
ideas and emotions, actions and reactions in leading your life and conducting your work.
To be specific communication serves the following three purposes in personal or individual life.
A) Job Success
The two dimensions of management most often cited as the keys to individual and organizational
successes are technical ability and understanding of people. Effective communication skills to
listen, speak, and write complement these two dimensions. Therefore enhance ones job success,
a person learn the art of human relations to effectively communicate her/his ideas, experiences,
thoughts, skills and feelings.
b) Personal Satisfaction
Mastery on a certain area goes beyond vocational success or promotion, i.e. personal satisfaction.
Thus communication skill can be a source of personal satisfaction, particularly in the areas of art
such as writing, painting, etc.

C) Meeting Social and Ethical obligations

A person may be in conflict with him/herself, with other people, and/or with the community at
large.
With the help of communication people continue adjusting profitably to themselves, to other
people, to the environment in which they live and work. It is a means of winning respect and
confidence from other people or from the community at large.

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In addition communication will contribute to individuals in the following manner:
a) Helps in getting a desired job:-
Getting a desired job is not an easy task. It requires a person to be excellent, especially in terms of
communication abilities. Communication abilities can be classified into five categories that is
reading, writing, speaking, listening and observing. If a candidate is a good reader of not only text
books and reference books but also of newspapers and magazines, this would help him developing
confidence level at the time of interview. Writing skills are necessary for preparing an appropriate
Biodata and covering letter, so that a better initial impression could be created. No doubt,
conversational skill right at the time of interview is equally countable towards success of the
candidate. Listening abilities on the other could prove to be fruitful especially when the interviewer
is making a comment or asking a question. In short we can say that the presence of above mentioned
five communication skills could give a better chance of being selected during an interview.
b) Help in maintaining social relationships:-
We as human beings live in a cobweb of relationships rather social relationship. These social
relations compel us to act simultaneously in the capacity of father, child, husband, uncle, neighbor,
cousin, teacher, and nephew and so on. All these relationships especially near one’s could be
maintained properly if we can communicate well to all these relations, that we are here to take care of
them and our services are always there to help them in case of any needs.
c) Helps in getting on the job promotion:-
Perhaps finding a job would not be a big deal in case of if the candidate is well connected
and belongs to a well off family. But promotion on the job requires some extra skills on the part of
the candidate. Amongst those skills, communication abilities rank on the top. If a person can speak
well during interactive and presentation sessions, can reports properly, he will automatically be in the
eyes of the management and whenever a chance for promotion comes, he will be on the top of the
list.
d) Helps in solving other’s problems:-
It is commonly observed that around us there are so many people whom we like to meet, their
company is a source of enrichment for us. When we are with them we feel secured. The only reason
for such types of feelings is that such type of people are not only good listeners but they also know it
well that whenever they would speak, it would only be for the sake of encouraging, not discouraging
others, only for solving other’s problems and not for creating problems for others. Such people are no
doubt excellent communicators.

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As you attempt to fulfill yourself in business and in the private aspect of your life, your brain
enables you to identify, classify, relate and solve issues. But in responding to your environment,
you generate both emotions and ideas. You feel as well as think. Through such experiences you
continue adjusting profitably to yourself to other people, to the environment in which you and
they live, cooperate and compete. In brief, effective communication is a key to success in
personal life and in business career.
As a student or an employee, whatever you academic classification or job title may be, you
participate in the coordination of resources and objectives. In doing so you participate in
management, the continuing process of achieving order efficiently through intelligent decisions
that govern an organization. Simultaneously, you participate in communication, the reciprocal
process of sharing information through symbols, principally words. Communication is essential
to sound management; your success as a manager- a person who is in charge of coordinating the
human and non-human resources of an organization- greatly depends upon your ability to
communicate effectively Communication is essential to each of the five basic functions of
management. In order to plan, organize, staff, direct and control, managers must be able to
communicate with other persons- and communicate well. Information from others helps
formulate plans; information provided to others defines job assignments and helps organize
work; information on standards, progress and personal factors fulfills the directing function;
while information in the form of written and oral progress reports is a fundamental element in
controlling. Communication is a linking process that enables each of the basic functions of
management to be carried. Effective communication is therefore the “life blood” of every
organization.
We already have made the claim that communication is vital to the very existence of an
organization. To understand the validity of that claim, one must understand the role
communication plays in an organization’s life.

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1.5 Role of communication in an organization

Work done in the organization, the quantity of the work done, the personnel related costs
involved in getting the work done (such as turnover or absenteeism among employees), and the
no personnel related costs of getting work done (such as wasted materials, scrap, and so on).The
benefit of communication as life blood of the organization seen from both inside and outside of
the organization. How we consider communication as life blood of the organization?
Communication inside an Organization:
Different employees and officials in an organization need to communicate to each other.
This internal communication with its importance is shown in the following way:
1. Setting goals and Objectives:-
Mostly, the organizations have a variety of formal and informal objectives to accomplish.
These objectives may be financial results, product quality, market dominance, employees’
satisfaction, or service to customers. So the communication enables all the persons in an
organization to work towards a common purpose.
2. Making and Implementing decision:-
In order to achieve the objective, people in a business organization collect facts and evaluate
alternatives, and they do so by reading, asking questions, talking or by plain thinking. These
thoughts are put into a written form. Once a decision has been made, it has to be implemented
which requires communication
3.Appraisal:-
Having implemented the decision, management needs to determine whether the desired outcome
is being achieved. Statistics on such factors as cost, sales, market share, productivity and
inventory levels are compiled. This is done through computers, manual papers, memos or
reports.
4. Manufacturing the products:-
Getting an idea for a new product out of someone’s head, pushing it through the production
process and finally getting the product also require communication. Designing the plan regarding
product, introducing the workers, purchasing raw material, marketing and distributing the
product all require effective communication.

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5. Interaction between employer & employee:-
Employees are informed about policies and decisions of employers through circulars, reports,
notices etc. Employers also get in touch with employees through application, complaint etc.
So, communication plays a vital role in the interaction of employer and employee.
External Communication:
1. Hiring the employees:-
If a company wants to hire someone, it advertises the vacancy, receives applications, calls the
candidates, takes the interview and then offers job to the successful candidates. The whole
process requires communication.
2. Dealing with customers:-
Sales letters and brochures, advertisements, personal sales calls, and formal proposals are all
used to stimulate the customer’s interest. Communication also plays a part in such customer
related functions as credit checking, billing, and handling complaints and questions.
3. Negotiating with suppliers and financiers:-
To obtain necessary supplies and services, companies develop written specification that outlines
their requirement. Similarly, to arrange finance, they negotiate with lenders and fill out loan
applications.
4. Informing the investors:-
Balance sheet, income statement, and ratio analysis are used to inform the investors regarding
performance of business.
5. Interacting with Govt.:-
Government agencies make certain rules to regulate the economy. These rules are communicated
to organizations through various papers. These organizations try to fulfill, these requirement like
filling taxation form and other documents.
Naturally, organizations want to improve productivity by maximizing the quality and quantity of
work completed and minimizing the personnel and no personnel costs involved in work
performance.
Just to the left is the primary factor that determines productivity in organizations the employee’s
job performance. What employees do in the workplace determines how much work gets done

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and how well it is done, how costly their own behaviors are and to a large extent, how much is
spent on materials and equipment.
At the far left are the four major factors that ultimately shape an employee’s performance.
1. The employee’s motivation to do the job.
2. The directions the employee receives concerning what to do and how to do it.
3. The ability of the employee to do the job.
4. The resources with which the employee is provided to do the job.
What must occur then, is the translation of these four factors into employee job performance.
The key elements translating motivation, direction, ability and resources into job performance
are in the middle of the figure: perceptions and attitudes. In short what employees do at work id
determined largely by how they perceive the work environment and how they feel about work.
Often employees misunderstand instructions given to them, and errors in their job performance
are the predictable result. Just as often, the organization fails to communicate expectations
clearly to employees. Those employees in turn perform as they think the organization wants
them to relying on their perceptions (or just plain luck) to guide their efforts. Finally, employees
have attitudes toward all elements of their work lives their jobs, their working conditions, their
supervisors their coworkers, their promotional opportunities their pay and benefits, and so on.
Those attitudes influence their willingness to work effectively and their commitment to the
organization’s goals and objectives. For example, employees who feel they are not being paid a
competitive wage may not work very hard and employees who actively dislike their immediate
supervisors may even do things destructive to the company, such as sabotaging equipment or
stealing supplies. Employees’ job performances therefore stem directly from their attitudes and
perceptions.
Where do those attitudes and perceptions come from? Communication, in the form of the things
employees hear from management, supervisors and their coworkers, the things employees hear
about their organization from outside sources, the written and oral guidelines with which
employees are provided; the instructions that employees receive. All this and more comprises the
communication in which employees participate every day. By shaping employee’s attitudes and
perceptions communication serves to convert external communication from the work
environment into internal thoughts and feelings that in turn, control, employee’s behaviors.

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