The success of the business organization depends on management and management and communication go together. In fact, if we define management as the art of getting things done through planning and using resources such as time, money, energy etc., in order to attain a specific set of objectives, then the ability to communicate well can have a significant impact on overall managerial performance.
As an employee, irrespective of your academic qualification or your job title, you participate in coordination of resources and objectives. Thereby you participate in management. You are involved in a never-ending process of decision making in order to expedite your work efficiently in the organisation. Simultaneously you participate in communication. You share information, you exchange ideas, and you share feelings. Before you can arrive at a sound decision, you need an awareness of ideas (decision alternatives), the outcomes and the constraints. You need to communicate to be able to let people know of what you expect from them and what you can offer them. In other words, effective communication is essential to management.
Effective communication skills are required to deal successfully with all the people with whom you interact, and they are the most important skills if you want to improve your ranks in the organization. It is through communication that the management gets its job done, and thus good managers are generally good communicators.
When we talk of communicating, we talk of transmission of information, ideas, opinions and feelings etc. in its widest sense. The communication process which facilitates this transmission of ideas, thus becomes the basis of all social interaction. It plays a dynamic role within the life of an organisation, and is not merely a tool of management.
Understanding Communication Process
It is quite difficult to arrive at a precise definition of a concept such as communication, if not impossible. Depending upon the perspective of the definer, there are a variety of definitions of communication. One perspective is that the communication process involves sharing of information about an object or event, through the use of words, letters, symbols or similar means. Accordingly, if the message sent is received, communication is deemed to have occurred between the sender and the receiver.
However, a better view point would be to look upon communication as a verbal or symbolic behavior by which a sender achieves an intended effect on the receiver. This essentially is a stimulus response relationship between the sender and the receiver. A specific response is desired by the sender of any message in an organization from the receiver.
As a first step towards developing our ability to communicate effectively, we must try to understand the basic human communication process. When two individuals communicate, whether they talk, read or write letters, emails, whatsapp messages or memorandums, they are passing through several elemental steps which together constitute the communication process. In our example, we assume that two individuals A and B are involved in some organisational relationship and individual A wants to communicate with B. The various steps that are likely to be involved in this communication process are given below:
Firstly, A (i.e., the source) chooses a piece of information to create an idea to communicate. This is ideation.
Secondly, A translates the information or ideas into words, signs or symbols which are intended to convey information or ideas to effect B. This is encoding. The outcome is the message.
Thirdly, A transmits the message as encoded to B, through the channel. The channel for oral or written communication could be face to face communication, telephones, electronic media, emails, podcast, video clips, memos and so on.
Fourthly, B receives the message, and interprets it. This is decoding. Understanding is the key to decoding. If A, say, the marketing vice president transmits an idea that a change in the product design must occur, but B, say the production vice president does not perceive the request for change, then the communication is ineffective. Understanding occurs only in the receiver’s mind. It is B and not A who decides what to receive and understand and how to respond.
Finally, the last step in communication is to procure the feedback, which enables A (the source) to know whether B (the destination) has received and responded as intended by the message. The feedback, that is, whether B ignores, stores or acts upon the message forms the basis for individuals to evaluate the effectiveness of their communication.
The Common Illusions
Quite unfortunately, many people have a usual tendency to assume that the message sent is the message received. This illusion poses many problems in achieving effective communication. If the message is not specific, clear and complete, it may not have the desired effect on the receiver.
Moreover, there exist a number of non-physical disturbances which interfere with the reception of the information and distort the message. These distortions are technically known as the noise. Among the non-physical noise, come human relationships, personal attitudes, emotions, feelings, group associations and the like, which may be more significant than mere physical noise.
Each of us has a unique cultural background. From such backgrounds we build habits of thought and patterns of judgement and ways of dealing with things. All of these do influence our perception of meaning. What is important for effective communication is to have a clear understanding of the common field of experience as well as the unique background of each individual involved.
In fact, we will tend to communicate more effectively with people who share our group loyalties and to have difficulty in communicating with people who do not. Our respective value systems also influence the encoding or decoding of the messages.
When an organization develops into a more complex structure, the communication difficulties increase more rapidly. As the organisational complexities grow, there is an inevitable disparity between the organisational and personal goals, and not only that, different groups and individuals who are part of the organisation also have divergent goals and value systems. As the messages go through a number of transmissions, there occurs some loss of meaning, leading to certain distortions in messages. The meaning undergoes systematic deformations in the passage. For example, certain details may be dropped added or altered when a message is transmitted from B to C and so on further through the organizational communication channels.
The Feedback is very important
In order to have an effective communication system, the executives must attempt the behavioural perspective, which I talked about earlier. The communication should be so developed that it stimulates the desired behaviours. This means that they should develop a strong system for not only transmitting the messages but also an equally effective programme for obtaining the feedback.
Feedback has an important place in communication process. When a sender transmits a message, he or she must get a confirming response as to verify that the receiver has had an adequate understanding of the intent of the message. It is only through an adequate system of feedback, that we can obtain a series of pertinent data on the effectiveness of the communication system.
Ensure a Two-way flow of Communication
Such a communication style would encourage free and open communication among members of the organisation. They should be given an opportunity of expressing their ideas, feelings and opinions in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. This would promote a mutual understanding and cooperation in most cases. This would facilitate sharing of vital information, which may be extremely useful in making sound management decisions. This style may foster creative thinking and draw greater commitment toward achievement of organizational goals.
Executives who are mainly interested in sending messages rather than sharing messages are one-way communicators. They typically avoid receiving feedback and try to make use of their power and authority to enforce their viewpoints upon others and seek immediate compliance of their orders. However, this style may have detrimental effect on overall goal achievement because it may demoralize energetic, creative and highly motivated individuals who are denied of fair opportunity to express themselves in such a restrictive environment. A one-way communicator imposes his whims and fancies on the fellow members of the organisation without giving them fair opportunities to participate in decisions that affect them or are to be executed by them.
A two-way communication, on the other hand, imbibes a built-in feedback system whereby the communicator seeks response from those who receive his message. The communicator allows the recipients of information a fair opportunity to express their concerns, seek clarifications and to contribute to even improving the quality of decision making. “Should you require any clarification, please feel free to get back to me” is an example of how you end your communication. Another example is, “If you have any suggestions, please let me know”. Yet another is “I have explained my viewpoint, if there are any issues, we may discuss them further”. Good communicators give space to the recipient of the message to act or respond so that the message is decoded exactly the same way as it was encoded.
Managing non-verbal messages
The tone of your speech, voice modulation, facial expressions and physical actions all are giving added meanings to what you speak out. The phrasing of sentences, the choice of words and the degree of assertiveness with which you speak is going to have a lasting influence on the persons on the other side of the table. Your actions talk more about you in the long run than your words.
The face is most reliable indicator of emotion, attitude, intention, orientation and feelings. Facial expressions may show the internal state of mind. Take a hypothetical instance. While talking to one of your responsible subordinate who has failed to perform the assigned task due to some genuine personal reasons, which has caused the organisation substantial loss of business (in fact he has put you in trouble too since you had the responsibility of getting that job done) you may be using a soft tone but your face if observed closely may exhibit that you are very angry from inside. You body movements can tell how you are dealing with your feelings at the moment. The clenched fist and tightened shoulders may talk about the control being exercised over your actual feelings.
Good communicators not only manipulate their own non-verbal actions to convey their feelings to the recipient in the intended manner, but also, they are extremely sensitive to notice and analyse the non-verbal feedback of their audience. We can win better cooperation from others if we recognise and respond appropriately to non-verbal cues while exchanging ideas or messages in the organization.
The executives should recognise the significance of a good communication system in maintaining and improving the health of the organization. It would provide a strong basis for coordinating the complex relationship between individuals to reach ultimate organisational goals effectively. And above all, it will open up tremendous opportunities for your personal growth in the organisation and the society to which it belongs.
References
- Lindauer Jacqueline S. “Communicating in Business”, W.B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia-1979
- Marting E Elizabeth, Finley E Robert and Ward Ann, Ed. Effective Communication on the Job, American Management Association, NewYork, 1963
- Myers, Michele T & Myers Gail E, Managing by Communication- an Organizational Approach, McGraw Hill International Book Co., Auckland 1982
- Wolt Morris Philip & Aurner Robert R, Effective Communication in Business, South-Western Publishing Co., Cincinnate, 1974
- Woolcot L.A. & Unwin W.R., Mastering Business Communication, McMillan Education Ltd., Houndmill, 1985