Write up by Asif Ali Syed Business Communication Session Plan Unit I Communication Process 1 Communication Process 2 Types of Communication

3 Interpersonal and organization communication 4 Communication Barriers Elements discussed in the class Ideation process, Filter content KSAIOE, Communication Process, Signs and Symbols Non verbal communication, Barriers to communication (2), Interpersonal communication, Organizational communication (Case study- Dashman company)(2), Types of communication -Process flow and systems of communication in different types of organization

Session 1
Objective: Why we communicate Why we misunderstand one another Role played by verbal and non verbal communication

Why of communication Internal environment of individuals- Filter content of individuals. Turbulence and Ideation process Filter content of individuals is composed of Knowledge Skill Attitude Interest Opinion Experience Pitching communication at the right level for it to be effective. This is Senders responsibility How people are different and communication a big challenge to cope with.

The meaning of the word does not rest in the word but in people and their interactions and experiences with that word per se

Session 2
The nun story depicting the message The meaning of the word does not rest in the word (how does one associate a word and its meaning on the basis of the understanding he or she wishes to understand while associating its understanding, linking with the signals he or she visualizes/ interprets. Coding and Decoding Momma can you make some roundies Momma=mother can you make=polite request roundies= jelebees A stranger cannot depict the codes for roundies Knowledge of codes Spy story Car broken down send mechanic-My assistance is killed send another spy Dropping a kerchief in a party or lighting a cigarette in a deal Noise as a distraction affecting understanding and misunderstanding Iron-ion Steel-steal Zip-sip Hide and Seek Game Roundabout way of communication Different meaning projected by a simple statement Ritu, the door is open. Please come in Please leave, Im not holding you back Lets go in Please dont do it (Someone might walk in anytime) Please close the door Why dont you close the door (How many times Ive asked you to?) The maid has be careless again What a stroke of luck! We dont need to break in Speak softly, someone might hear what you are saying

When we can clearly say what we intend to Like Ritu, please close the door Because We want our message to be clear but not so clear that nothing is left to imagination There must exist an escape route if we change our mind We are not clear about our own message We are quite used to vagueness and ambiguities in ourselves and others Our communicative behaviour ensures that there will always be suspense. Hence it is and inferential process Incorporating the communicator and the communicatee into account in the model It assumes that there exists no code that can capture our message faithfully and can be cracked by others, So we resort to displaying symbols and hope that the comunicatee will reconstruct or recreate a good enough model of our message from them

Signs and Symbols

Our countrys flag Smoke stand for Fire lighting a cigarette in a deal Symbols at work Teenager smoking at the dining table at a family dinner. What does it mean? Assertiveness, Declaration of independence, Disobedience, Defiance, Provocation, A Game, A plea for attention. A routine action does not raise eyebrows. The teenager may be sending different messages to different people at the same time. What differentiates sign codes from symbols is the degree of certainty and specificity of meanings presented by them. Signs have definite meanings, symbols dont.

Role play Imagine yourself in an Australian village inhabited by aborigines. Who have never been exposed to the rest of the world. You are hungry, scared and thirsty You want food water and of no trouble. How will you communicate this to them? How would you communicate ? Define the communication Class exercise for Session 3

Session 3

You cant coz there is no code or system of signs that you are with them. So youd use a variety of signs, gestures, facial expressions, and non- linguistic sounds. The hosts shall try to reconstruct your message from these symbols. They will never be fully successful, but hopefully there is enough common ground for you and them to carry on, after all both are humans. The message sent is never the message reconstructed. The greater the common grounds of experience, attitude and experience, ideas, the higher the chance of successful communication. Then many symbols shed there slipperiness and become common signs for the parties involved. The shallow end of our communication consists largely of signs where we are sure of one others message. The deeper we go the heavier our reliance on symbols and the less sure we are of one anothers message. The inferential model is similar to your struggling to communicate with a group of aborigines and no different in essence from the way you communicate in your daily life. It s the same process a detective uses to find a culprit in a crime without a witness.

Original Message / Reconstructed Message

Original Message -The message intended for sending is firstly not a well defined one. We are not sure what we wish to communicate. - When feelings and attitudes are added the message becomes vague, indeterminate and unpredictable The message when reconstructed has the same sense of distortion. It isnt like a marble statue coming out a box unlocked with a key (code) provided for. But like a lego pieces, you need to gather them and reconstruct the shape(s) the sender has in mind. The difference in the two messages are on three accounts a) loss of symbols, b) distortion of symbols and c) creation of new symbols. Loss of symbols The receiver sees fewer symbols than transmitted and reconstructs message on the basis of fewer symbols perceived. Statutory warning: Smoking is injurious to health against Smoking causes cancer. Distortion of symbol Someone might feel bored and would like a change of place and goes to meet someone at his cabin , without any significance purpose, but the other individual might thing it is for a favour, or for something personal to share with him. Perceiving sarcasm and humour requires a high level of abtraction, young children are unable to operate at that level of abstraction and hence miss the sarcasm or humour and made a reason for joke.

Session 4
Barriers to Communication Filtering Selective Perception Emotions Language Stimulus- Levels of abstraction details- abstract ideas, difficult to explain/ understand Filter System- Trying to express- grapping for words to express ideas, shades of meanings thesaurus, it also depends on the personality, introvert/ extrovert Encoding- Transmit information Channel- noise/ audibility/ disturbance Decoding- ascribes certain meanings Personal/ Psychological barriers- difference in level of knowledge / background. Accepts contradictory viewpoints, new experiences. Know all attitude (stops learning) Empathy- Feel other persons situation to overcome personal barrier. Awareness of difference in background. Accept viewpoint of others, understanding the psychology, self-analysis, and ability to develop effective interaction. Interpersonal barriers- Emotional Reactions- from elation to depression, always assess the mood for normal behavior to interact. Never promise in happiness. Postpone the message in case of extreme emotional reaction, because of a negative attitude to message or source. Coz at times we like or unlike to hear something. Accept a desirable message. So timing of message is very important. Here information overload is also a problem, so to remedy it, information containing only main ideas must be given. Management of Information is the remedy. Organizational barriers- ascribed to company or hierarchy. Test of Managerial judgment, Beaurecratic information under load and overload. Correction by reinforce / reconfirm multiple channels. Reducing information under load and overload.

Session 5
Personal Barrier Difference in Perspective Difference in Knowledge Levels Lack of common language Tendency to stereotype d jump to conclusion Strong emotions Self centeredness Plain Laziness

Get to know the people you wish to communicate with Timing attention span and curve Knowledge changes our perspective Learn to look at from others perspectives Seek and offer feedbacks Choose the right medium a channel Talk less listen more Mind your tone Plan your communication carefully, especially the difficult ones Emotional barriers like hate anger, defensiveness, love, jealousy, here the mental state and the feelings of the sender are the barriers. Read three times for any message for retention 1st time message is scanned, 2nd time symbols get reconstructed 3rd time meaning is attached to it and it become part of the filter system But sometime you have to do it umpteen time for some times competitive advertisers create noise factor to jam the message (Sometimes the use of surprising elements in message to create a noise not only to catch the readers unaware but to stand out too.) Interpersonal Barrier Associated with filter system Coz sensory environment is complex unique and changing and we ha limited filter content, sensory receptor are limited and they detect changes in signs and syms depending on mental attentiveness. Perception contributes to selecting, deselecting the signs and symbols on the basis of perceptual difference of the communicator and communicate. Difference in knowledge levels Difference in skill levelsDifference in attitudes- not born overnight but takes ages to form, crystallized by beliefs and very difficult to break or alter Barrier of distrust Redundancy- Irrelevant, undesirable, useless, in order to impress upon the receiver hato impress upon the message keep on repeating message- irritation form overloading the message Lalita ji surf advtz Organisational Barrier Channel Using the wrong channel for communication. Like an engineer explaining the other, the specifications of a product over telephone

Session 6 Organizational Communication

What is Communication? Communication is directly linked to the state of progress of human civilization. The need to communicate is a basic human need, as man cannot live all by himself. Since, the early inception man needed to communicate his ideas, thoughts and beliefs, but the language had not yet evolved. So, communication took place through signs, symbols or even smoke, fire and drums. Later on when some techniques of writing developed inscriptions were found on walls, coins etc. Hence, one can make out that communication is one of the basic necessities of human beings, in absence of which growth and development process would have been very slow or rather nil. In the modern times there are numerous channels of communication ranging from letters to e-mail and voice mail. Fire Drum Arrow Letters Telephone Television Satellite Satellite in use Evolution of Communication Channels The very first question that one may ask is, what is communication, anyway? Communication is transmission of understanding and information from one individual to another through words, symbols, letters or action. Effective communication has been defined by the American Society for Training and Development as the interchange of thought or information to bring about mutual understanding and confidence or good human relations. Communication is a central phenomenon in organisations and is especially important for management. Certainly, as an activity it occupies a vast majority of managers time, and thus any increase in a managers effectiveness or skill as a communicator should contribute directly or indirectly to improved organisational performance. - R. Klaus and B. Bass It has been shown that communication, especially oral skills, is a key component of success in the business world. THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS The communication process involves the sender, the transmission of message through a selected channel, the receiver and the feedback. Briefly, we will discuss about the communication process. Wall Inscription Voice Fax Machine Computer

Communication begins with the sender, who has a thought or an idea, which is encoded in a way that can be understood by both the sender and the receiver. The information is transmitted over a channel that links the sender with a receiver. The channel used can be verbal, written or non-verbal. The receiver decodes the message and attempts to interpret the senders meaning. The receiver may provide feedback to the sender by encoding a message in response to the senders message. To check the effectiveness of communication, a person must have feedback. One can never be sure whether or not a message has been effectively encoded, transmitted, decoded and understood in the way it was intended, until it is confined by feedback. Similarly the feedback indicates whether individual or organizational change has taken place as a result of communication. When the feedback comes the communication becomes two way or bi-directional. The communication process is often hampered by noise or barriers or interference in the system that blocks perfect understanding. The barrier can be anything and at any level. It can be noise, thoughts about other things or faulty encoding or decoding. A model is illustrated below to make the understanding about communication process easier (figure 1.) Communication Process Person A Sender 1. Intended Meaning 3. Communication 2. Encoding Meaning Channel 5. Perceived Person B Receiver 4. Decoding

Sender 10. Perceived Meaning Meaning 8. Communication Channel 9. Decoding Receiver Fig. 1 7. Encoding 6. Intended

IMPORTANCE AND PURPOSE OF COMMUNICATION Communication is an essential tool in the armoury of management. Information pertaining to knowledge about prices, competition, customers, financial atmosphere, business cycles must be communicated by the manager to the subordinates. Internal information regarding companys policies, objectives, strategies should be passed on within the organisation to unify organisation activities. Without communication capabilities, managerial directives, changed policies, and so on cannot be transmitted to affected persons. Chester I. Barnard, viewed communication as the means by which people are linked together in an organisation to achieve a common purpose. This is the fundamental function of communication. Group activity is impossible without communication because co-ordination and change cannot be effected. Effective communication can comprise conflicting values between the two; it can iron out differences and inject confidence. Communication affords an important means for increasing efficiency and workflow. When communication moves freely in both directions, greater exchange of ideas and concepts are won and the way is open for greater understanding. Communication helps managers effectively plan, organise, coordinate, control and motivate physical and human resources. It is vital for the very conduct of business. The communication that takes place in an organisation is an important influence in the success of that organisation. Effective communication being the mantra for success, in todays world of oft-treacherous competition, failure to communicate the whys, hows, whats and whens of communication becomes imperative for achievers. The purpose of communication has been illustrated below (figure 2) Function of Communication Internal Environment Planning Leading Organizing Communication External Environment Customers Suppliers Shareholders Government Community Others Staffing Controlling

Fig. 2

PURPOSE: 1. The purpose of communication is an enterprise is to effect change to influence action toward the welfare of the enterprise. Communication should change behaviour. 2. After receiving the communication, the employees should return to their jobs and perform better. Hence, it should improve performance. 3. To establish and disseminate the goals of an enterprise. 4. Develop plans for achievements. 5. Organise human and other resources in the most effective and efficient manner.

Purpose of Communication

Plans for Achievements Disseminate Goals of Performance Enterprise resource in Corporate Strategy

Effect Change Improve

Organize Efficient way Market Results Fig. 3 ORGANISATIONAL COMMUNICATION Organisational communication refers to the messages sent and received within the organisations formal and informal groups. As the organisation becomes larger and more complex, so do the communications. In todays enterprises, information must flow faster than ever before. Even a short stoppage on a fast-moving production line can be very costly in terms of lost output. It is therefore essential that a production problem be communicated quickly for corrective action. Only

relevant information should be communicated to avoid information overload. Organisational communication includes such varied activities as giving directions, counseling workers, interviewing prospective employees, evaluating personnel, analyzing problems, resolving conflicts and establishing and monitoring work groups. Organisational communication relies upon the skills of interpersonal, small group and public communication. Organisational communication may be both formal and informal. The formal communications are those that are sanctioned by the organisation itself and are organisationally oriented. Such communications are made through memos, policy statement, employee newsletter etc. The informal communications are socially sanctioned. They are oriented not to the organisation itself, but to individual members and may include discussion of family problems as well as feelings about organisation etc. Organisation also spends considerable time, energy and money on securing information from outside and on disseminating information to other organisation and to the general public. The purpose of organisational communication is shown below (figure 4)

Purpose of Organisational Communication Achieving Coordinated Action

Share information Organizational goals, Tasks, Directives, Results of efforts, Decision making Fig. 4

Express Feelings and Concerns

INTERNAL COMMUNICATION IN AN ORGANISATION Companies know that communication with their people is important. In an information age, internal communication is the core process, which enables business to engage their peoples intellectual and creative assets to produce value. Two changes have to be made simultaneously- identify what is the intended

business value in communicating and design a better process to deliver that value. The role of internal communication is to illuminate the connections between different pieces of information, to shine a light on the web of the interdependencies and to show the links between one area and another. Its job is to provide information to do the job, but to paint the bigger picture and to tell the fuller story that puts that information into context. Traditionally, internal communication has focussed on the announcement of management conclusions and packaging management thinking for mass distribution. However, its real place is at the leading edge of change. The value it can at is immense faster change, more flexibility and innovation, better quality decision, knowledge sharing and a more motivated work force. Internal communication is vital to success, but must be reinvented first so that it can used for strategic advantage through aligning attitude, sharing knowledge and managing information. The problem is that although success depends on a new approach to internal communication, organisations are spending all their time an effort on an outdated one. Failure to change in an organisation is due to the disconnect between the communication that the business needs and the communication it receives. It is trapped in a time warp. The real value of internal communication is to help deliver business ends by enabling employees to turn strategy into action. The job which internal communication has to do has change because organisations are facing unprecedented pressure to deliver in rapidly changing environment. Its job is to create deeper understanding of the brand promised among employees, and to help them translate it into specific action for customers. Given below are the role of internal communication in an organisation: (i) To create competitive differentiation. (ii) To develop new products and markets. (iii) To reduce cost and streamline processes. (iv) To gain peoples support for the business strategy. Communication Channels must be better managed to manage the flow of information, and reduce interruption by irrelevant messages. Internal communication needs to be treated as an end-to-end process, with reduced complexity, greater cooperation along the supply chain of information with clear roles and accountabilities. There is a strong link between the quality of internal communication and greater profitability, which can be seen, in the following diagram (figure 5).

Better Communication means Higher Profits

Better communications create better employee satisfaction

Better communication improve Perception of line managers

Higher satisfaction reduces Staff turnover

Higher retention of staff creates increased customer satisfaction

Higher customer retention means higher profitability Fig. 5 COMMUNICATION FLOW IN THE ORGANISATION In an effective organisation, communication flows in various directions: downward, upward and crosswise (including horizontal and diagonal flow), which will be discussed briefly one by one. Downward Communication: Downward communication flows from people at higher levels to those at lower levels in the organisational hierarchy. For instance, manager giving assignment to a secretary; supervisor making an announcement to his subordinate and company president delivering talk to his management team. It includes: Job instructions Job rationale Information about procedures and practices Feedback to subordinates Setting of goals

Media used:

(oral) speeches, meetings and telephone (Written) memorandum, letters, handbooks, pamphlets, policy statements etc. Problems: 1) Information is often lost or even distorted as it comes down the chain. 2) Language problems between the senior management and grass root level. Upward Communication: Upward communication refers to messages sent from the lower levels of the hierarchy to the upper levels. It travels from subordinates to supervisors and continues up the organisatioal hierarchy. Through this managers get a clear picture of subordinates, works, accomplishments, problems, plans and attitudes. Its vital for maintenance and growth of the organisation. It relates with: About him/herself, performance and problems About others and their problems About organisational practices and policies About what needs to be done and how it is to be done

Media used: Suggestion system, appeal and grievances procedures, counselling session, joint setting, hotmails etc. Problems: 1. Workers are reluctant to send up a negative message out of fear. 2. Often managers filter the messages and do not transmit all information especially unfavourable news. 3. Often messages that are sent up are not heard/responded by management because of its preoccupation with productivity and benefits. Crosswise Communication: Crosswise Communication includes the horizontal flow of information among people on the same organizational level-manager to manager, worker to worker and the diagonal flow among persons at different levels who have no direct reporting with one another. It is used to speed information flow, to improve understanding and coordinate efforts for the achievement of organisational objectives. Media: Informal meetings, talks, lunch hours, company newspapers/magazines, bulletin boards, letters and notices. Problems: 1. Linguistic problems.

2. Workers tend to view their area as most important and this prevents them from seeing value in the work of others and often preludes a meaningful exchange of ideas. 3. Competitiveness prevents horizontal communication and honest sharing and pooling of insights and resources. TYPES OF COMMUNICATION There are basically three types of communication: Verbal, Non-verbal, and Written. Verbal includes discussions, meetings, conversations etc. while nonverbal relates to facial expressions, body language, gestures, environmental elements etc. Written communication includes letter, notices, reports, manuals etc. Out of these three, verbal and written communication will be dealt with in details later. The various types of communication is shown in (figure 6) Types of Communication

Written
Letter, Reports Memos, Manuals Forms

Oral
Conversation Group Discussions Speeches

Non-Verbal
Human Element Facial Expressions, Body Language

Environmental Element Office Design, Building Architecture Fig. 6

1. Apart from these, which are categorised as formal communication, we also have some informal communication channels, which are concerned

with the flow of information outside of the authorised channels in the organisation. Any informal communication beyond the orbit of the official communication network pertaining to the company matters constitutes its grapevine. Thus, the grapevine refers to the informal man- to- man personal contacts characterised by spontaneous channels through which facts, half- truths, gossip and rumours flow. It is coloured by the inherent tendency of people in the organisation to interact and communicate with each other. Often it is highly accurate. The grapevine works with amazing and surprising speed and it offers the insight to managers into what their subordinates think, feel and act. It also has the demerit as it usually carries rumours, half -truths and distorts information. It can spring forth completely inaccurate information, which causes damage. Some of the characteristics of informal communication are listed below: Private, restricted audience. Information typically neither permanently stored nor retrievable. Information more likely to be up to date. Information primarily user selected. Much redundancy of information Considerable feedback to the originator.

IMPACT OF COMMUNICATION The most important impact of communication is that it helps in bringing change . If the communication is effective the employees should return to their jobs and perform better. It should help in changing behaviour and thus performance leading to output. The impact of communication should be seen at two levels - organisation as a whole and employees as individual. Effective communication system may take an organisation in a win-to-win position and oppositely if the communication system is not appropriate it can throw the organisation in an alarming situation. At individual level communication helps in bringing out the core competencies of the employees and their capabilities. The various changes which can be achieved by effective communication are summarized below: Changes at the organizational level: Mow down bureaucracy; become responsive/swift/market- savvy. The faster the organization in adopting the changes in the environment, better are the chances of its success. Rightsizing /flexibility/multi-skilling and clusters. Use automation: All executives to be PC- users. Use communication channels to be humming with two-way information.

Accurate and adequate information at the appropriate time to appropriate people is a must for the accountability of the people and the organization. Changes at the individual level: Organizational learning and empowerment across all levels. Taking risks- Taking calculated risk on some reasonable basis can always fetch results. Knowing that every contribution to value addition and cost reduction counts. Not feeling or behaving as if helpless because it can be a hindrance in the growth of the organization. Acting as an owner. If the employees consider themselves as the owner, they would be more responsible for whatever they do and also what others do in the organization, which increases their efficiency.

Effective communication is the responsibility of all persons in the organization, mangers as well as non-mangers, who work toward a common aim. Whether communication is effective can be evaluated by the intended results. Communication is inseparably linked to the organizational goals, which can be seen in the following flowchart

Primarily the three types of directional flow of communication in any organization 1. Top down 2. Bottom up 3. Lateral flow

The three types of organization 1. Open or flat type of organizations 2. Closed or tall order organizations 3. Hybrid ( a mix of both the above types) How the communication flows? What are the characteristics of communication (Function and dysfunctional)? What are the barriers that come into play and how can they best be avoided in each of these types?

 How communication facilitates and blocks decision making because of the architecture and nature. Discuss in detail. How to identify the type of organization on the basis of communication existing in organizations. To discuss on the basis of the above details