What is Communication?

Communication is defined as 'the process of conveying intended

meanings from one entity or group to another through the use of
mutually understood signs and rules.'

it means to share

 Communication is the process of conveying intended meanings

from one entity or group to another through the use of mutually
understood signs and rules.
 Here the word intended means there is a purpose associated with
this activity i.e. the originator wishes to convey something specific
, implying a predefined purpose.
 The term meaning suggests the transfer of emotion, information,
concepts or ideas , this implies that the message contains much
more than mere data.
 Every transaction provides the recipient with not just the texts,
words or pictures but also the emotional, tonal, physical, logical,
contextual cues.
 Meta communication - The term which is used to refer to the
additional elements that make up the message in its entirety is
referred to as ‘meta communication’.
 There are multiple parties involved in communication.
 The parties can be single entities or groups.
 Effectiveness of a piece of communication is critically dependent
on the participants having something in common be it knowledge,
language ,prior experience ,culture, context.
 For ex- A says the word Benelux (it refers to the political economic
union of 3 neighboring states in western Europe i.e Belgium,
Netherlands, Luxembourg.) so when A use this word he assumes
that the audience knows as much geography or political science as
A knows or has enough knowledge or experience to figure out
what A is referring to and if they don’t then the audience will not
be able to make sense of what A said.

THE PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION

 The first step is encoding. The encoding step involves
synthesis or the selection of content message framing
 context establishment and selection of other parameters
such as channel ,language , medium ,timing.
 The skill the sender needs includes speaking, writing,
language proficiency, technology, ability to synthesize.
 Decoding is the process of turning communication into
thoughts. It involves activities such as seeing and recognition
, hearing and listening, analysis(process of sense making).
It involves skills such as reading and writing.
 The cycle of transmission and feedback causes the
process of communication to be referred to as a closed
loop feedback process in cybernetic terms.

There are 2 major components of meta

communication :-
1) Para language or how we say something – this could
include the choice of
words ,speed ,intonation ,pausing ,sighs and other
sounds and maybe even accent. Paralanguage
applies not only to speech but to writing and sign
language as well.
2) Kinesics or the physical and bodily elements – this is
also referred to as body language or non-verbal
communication gestures, eye contact, orientation,
touch , odor and other physical signals.
The totality of a message and the impact it creates
is governed by –
a)Linguistics
b)Paralanguage
c)Kinesics
The Mehrabian Model
To what extent do Paralanguage and Non-verbal
components impact the extent of transfer of
meaning? Read about Mehrabian’s research to
know more about this topic.

The Mehrabian Model and its (Mis) Interpretation

Studies on the topic of interpretation of meaning by

the receiver by Albert Mehrabian, an
AmericanArmenian professor of psychology and
scholar showed that three components were
involved in faceto-face communication on a
discussion or attitudes and liking, namely the actual
words used, the tonal or paralingual components
and the non-verbal factors that she or he receives.
His studies showed that the non-verbal and
paralingual components played a significantly
greater role in communicating the emotional and
attitudinal position of the speaker in this situation.

The Mehrabian model suggests that the relative

contributions of the verbal, tonal and non-verbal
components to the impact the communication
makes on the receiver in terms of liking the speaker
and his/her attitude is in the ratio of 7:38:55. These
finding are not indicative of the contribution of the
three components to a piece of communication per
se, as has been misinterpreted by many people.

One of the observations that Mehrabian makes is

that in order for the exchange of emotions and
attitude (such as honesty, sincerity, trust and such
like), the receiver will seek to establish congruence
between the three factors – not only should a
person say the words, the word should sound
appropriate, and both of these need to be
reinforced by the way the sender acts and behaves
while speaking. The greater the congruence
(sometimes also referred to as consistency), the
more likely that the receiver will accept the message
and the person sending it.

This study, however, is important because the

perception of the receiver is a composite of the
three verbal, tonal and non-verbal components of
the message. Any error in interpretation of the
metacommunication components could result in a
high probability that the meaning is lost. In non-face
to face conversations, though the participants
cannot see each other, and therefore gauge non-
verbal cues, the paralingual factors would still
contribute to their exchange of meaning.
Essential Communication Skills
Most business transactions are either written or
spoken; as a result, the two most important skills
that a manager needs to be effective on the job are:
a. Listening: Our ability to grasp and interpret total
meaning in oral or spoken transactions is a function
of how well we listen. Effective listening results in
clearer understanding, robust retention and
accurate recall. A much-neglected skill, there are
ways for you to become a better listener, and
therefore a more effective manager.
b. Reading becomes a key skill for managers as
much of the input they receive on a day-to-day basis
is written, be it e-mail, letters, reports, web content
and such like. An effective reader can save time (by
reading intelligently), improve retention and
enhance recall.

LISTENING TEST
 Apart from the ability to speak and write manager
needs 2 other skills to be effective on the job these
are Listening
Reading

Listening is more than just capturing sounds and

words.
To be effective one needs to listen , understand ,
remember and recall well what is being said.
Listening involves

 Essential traits of a active listener are empathy, open

and free of bids.They use their eyes to maintain
contact, provide feedback and encouragement and
also to read non verbal cues
Listen to understand and not to respond.
In a business scenario, communication includes
written letters, summaries, and emails. Clear
 communication skills are needed for impactful oral
presentations in front of an audience.
Competencies such as people management,
communication and problem-solving.
Leadership is about behaving and communicating like
a leader.
Reading is a process of image recognition.
Selective reading is a technique that improves
efficiency and saves time. It works on the principal of
reading less
 2 forms of selective reading
S
E
Skimming Scanning