Elements of the process of Communication:

            The communication is a two way process consisting of seven elements –

  1. Sender – Sender is the person who has an idea which he wants to share with others. Sender is the beginner of the communication process.
  2. Encoding – The sender must take the help of words or non verbal methods to shape his idea in a message. This is done by the process of encoding.
  3. Message – The idea transformed into a presentable form is the message. It can be Verbal (Written or Spoken) or Non – Verbal (Body language, Silence).
  4. Channel – The medium through which the message reaches to the receiver is the channel.
  5. Receiver – The person to whom the message is intended is called the receiver.
  6. Decoding – The receiver understands / misunderstands the message by the process called Decoding. It is the reverse action of encoding where the message is reconverted into idea.
  7. Feedback – The response of the receiver after decoding the message is called feedback. The process of communication ends when this feedback reaches back to the sender.

 

Formal & Informal communication:

           

Formal Communication

Informal Communication
The type of communication that follows a prescribed hierarchical order is called formal communication. Grapevine or Informal communication that is carried on by people in order to share their thought irrespective of organizational levels.
There can be many types of formal communication-

Upward, Downward, Horizontal or Lateral and Diagonal or Crosswise.

 Grapevine can be of following types –

Single Strand Chain, Cluster Chain, Probability Chain, Gossip Chain
Advantages

  1. Effective communication
  2. Better overall control
  3. Job satisfaction to managerial staff
  4. As written communication is preferred, it can be used for future reference
 Advantages

  1. Rapid transmission of information
  2. Acts as a supplementary / parallel communication channel
  3. Immense psychological satisfaction to workers
  4. Strengthens the bonding among workers
Disadvantages

  1. Time consuming
  2. Unsuitable for getting immediate feedback
  3. Lacks human touch
 Disadvantages

  1. Less reliable
  2. Incomplete & Distorted information

 

Barriers to Effective communication-

  1. Noise – Any interference that bars the listener from hearing the sounds properly
  2. Semantic Problem – Problem arising due to multiple meanings of words
  3. Cultural Barriers – The same category of words, phrases can mean different things to people of different cultural backgrounds
  4. Emotions – A message received when the receiver is emotionally charged will have a different meaning than when he is calm
  5. Poor retention – People tend to forget the messages reaching them
  6. Poor listening – Very few people are good empathic listeners
  7. Transmission loss – The message gets diluted when it passes from one person to other.