Communication Skills.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS Definition: To communicate means to impart heat, motion, feeling, news, and discovery. Communication is the means by which two or more human beings share one another’s thoughts, ideas, feelings, insights, and information. The transfer of meaning is always involved. Dictionaries define the process as “the giving and receiving of information or messages by talk, writing, gesture, and signals”. It’s a process It takes place within the context of systems It is symbolic It focuses on meanings History and Background. The word communication can be traced back to the Latin communes, which means when people communicate, they establish and share commonality. The ancient world both East and West depends merely on oral communication. For example the ancient Greece and Rome, it was necessary to communicate well on one’s feet when dealing with matters in government’s assemblies and the law courts. During the medieval and renaissance periods the oral tradition continued. As the writing become more important as permanent record of communication authors and book and written communication principals appeared. Communication principles originating in the East, particularly China are based on & connected with the importance of bureaucratic traditions. As the fourth century these theorists were advising rulers and government officials. Their advice stated that information should flow smoothly upward and downward. Types of communication •

Oral

•

Written

•

Verbal and non verbal.

or

Oral •

Written Immediate

•

Delayed

feed back • sentences / words • • interpersonal skill • • technical information •

Shorter

feedback •

Longer

Conventional Focus on

sentences / words • •

More formal Focus on

Prompt action Less detailed

content • •

Delayed action More detailed

More

technical information •

Useful fine

imperative interrogative and exclamatory.

permanent record possibility of review.

Importance of effective communication In our personal livesHow we see ourselves and perceive who we are is taught to us by others through communication Communication from others influences our self-perception and identity It influences our physical well-being; interaction and contact with others promotes health, but isolation and lack of contact with others has been linked to disease Communication is the foundation of relationships-from the everyday talk to the process of revealing who and what we truly are to those we care about Communication skills are critical in professional life Lifeblood of every organization People in organization typically 75 % of them are an interpersonal situation thus it is not to surprise to find that the root of a large number of organizational problems is poor communication. Effective communication is an essential component of organizational success. Whether it is at the interpersonal, inter group, organizational, or external level, hence it would not be wrong to say that communication is the lifeblood of every organization. Internal Communication A vital means of attending to company concerns is through effective internal communication downward, upward and horizontal. It helps increase job satisfaction, safety, productivity and profits and decrease absenteeism grievances, and turn over. When employees receive appropriate downward communication from management they can be better motivated and more efficient. Likewise many executives sincerely seek frank comments from employees. Effective horizontal communication between peers is also essential in order to perform job duties prepare for meetings and co-operate on important programs.

External communication. Messages to person outside the company can have a far reaching effect on its reputation and ultimate success. The right letter, proposals, reports, telephones call or personal conversation can win disgruntled customers create a desire for a firm product or services.

Benefits of Effective Communication Benefits include internal advantages, external advantages and job careers advantages. Typically benefits are. •

Job satisfaction

•

Job requirements

•

Essential for promotion

•

Productivity, safety, profits, reputation, market value.

Why Study Communication? We communicate continuously We don’t always succeed! Studying how and why we communicate will help us improve communication skills

Components of communication Communication is a process of transmitting receiving verbal and nonverbal messages. Communication is considered effective when it achieves the desired reaction or response from the receiver. Simply stated communication is a two way process of exchanging ideas or information. Communication includes the following six components. 1. Context

2. Sender-Encoder

3. Message

4. Medium

5. Receiver – Decoder

6. Feedback .

1. Context; Every message, whether oral or written begins with context. It is a broad field that included country, culture, organization and external and internal stimuli. Every country, every culture and every organization has its own conventions for processing and communicating information. Context is playing field on which you must plan, design and communicate your message successfully. 2. Sender-Encoder.

The sender of the message is encoder i.e the writer, the speaker through words graphics or gestures. 3.

Message Message, the core idea you wish to communicate, is the thought, coded in a language and format that

can be transmitted in verbal (written and spoken) and nonverbal (unspoken) symbols. 4.

Medium Medium includes electronic mail, the printed word or sound. Briefly you should write or speak depending upon the relationship.

5.

Receiver –Decoder The message receiver is your reader or listener also known as the decoder. Many of your messages

have more than one decoder. The receiver can understand the message only within the frame work of his own stock pile of experience and knowledge. A COMMUNICATION MODEL

CONTEXT Stimuli

Sender-Encoder Experience Attitude Skills Perceptions Idea Encoding Symbol decision Sending Mechanism

Messages

Medium

Verbal, non-verbal

Feed Back

Receiver-Encoder Experiences Attitudes Skills Receptor Mechanism Perception Decoding Idea Interpretation

Encoder Source

Source (One Person)

Decoder Signal

Destination

Message (Language)

Receiver (Another Person)

Barriers to Effective Communication There are a wide number of source of noise or interference that can enter into the communication process. This can occur when people know each other very well and should understand the sources of error. In work setting it is even more common since interaction involve people who not only don’t have years of experience with each other but communication is complicated by the complex and often conflictual relationships that exist at work. In a work setting the following suggests a number of sources of noise. Language: the choice of words or language in which a sender encodes a message will influence the quality of communication. Because language is a symbolic representation of a phenomenon, room for interpretation and distortion of the meaning exists. Denotations (car, desk, house, student) have meanings without indicating positive or negative qualities. Defensiveness, distorted perceptions (unclear views), guilt, project, transference, distortions from the past. Misreading of body language, tone and other non–verbal forms of communication. Noisy transmission (unreliable messages, inconsistency) Receiver distortion: selective hearing, ignoring non-verbal cues Self-fulfilling assumption (inference and fact) Language-different levels of meaning Bimonthly --------> twice a month or every two month Managers hesitation to be candid (frank) Assumptions-e.g assuming others see situation same as you, has same feeling as you Distrusted source, erroneous (incorrect) translation, value judgment, state of mind of two people Perceptual biases (unfairness): people attend to stimuli in the environment in very different ways. we each have shortcuts that we use to organize data. Invariably these shortcuts introduce some biases into communication. Some of these shortcuts include stereotyping (classify), projection and self-fulfilling prophecies. Stereotyping is one of the most common. This is when we assume that the other person has certain characteristics based on the group to which they belong without validating that they in fact have these characteristics.

Interpersonal relationships: how we perceive communication is affected by the past experience with the individual. Perception is also affected by the organizational relationships two people have for example communication from a superior may be perceived differently than that from a subordinate or peer Cultural Differences: Effective communication requires deciphering (decode, interpret) the basic values, motives, aspirations and assumptions that operate across geographical lines. Given some dramatic differences across cultures in approaches to such areas as time space and privacy the opportunities for mis-communication while we are in cross-cultural situation are plentiful. Reading Nonverbal communication Cues A large percentage (studies suggest over 90%) of the meaning we derive from communication we derive from the non-verbal cues that the other person gives often a person says one thing but communicates something totally different through vocal intonation and body language. These mixed signals force the receiver to choose between the verbal and non-verbal parts of the message. Most often the receiver choose the nonverbal aspect. Mixed messages create tension and distrust because the receiver senses that the communicator is hiding something or is being less than candid. Nonverbal communication is made up the following parts. 1

visual

2

tactile

3

vocal

4

Use of times space and image.

Visual: This often called body language and includes facial expression, eye movement, posture and gestures. The face is the biggest part of this. All of us read people faces for ways to interpret what they say and feel. This fact becomes very apparent when we deal with someone with dark sunglasses. Of course we can easily misread these cues especially when communicating across culture. for example in American culture agreement might be indicated by the head going up and down whereas in India , a side-to-side head movement might mean the same thing. We also look to posture to provide cues about the communicator; posture can indicate self-confidence, aggressiveness fear guilt, or anxiety. Similarly we look at gestures such as how we hold our hands, or a handshake. Many gestures are culture bound and susceptible to misinterpretation. Tactile: This involves the use of touch to impart meaning as in a handshake a pat on the back an arm around the shoulder, a kiss or a hug.

Vocal: The meaning of word can be altered significantly by changing the intonation of one voice. Think of how many ways you can say ‘no’ you could express mild doubt terror, amazement, anger among other emotions. Vocal meaning vary across cultures. Intonation in one culture can mean support another anger Use of times as Nonverbal communication: Use of times can communicate how we view our own status and power in relation to others. Think about how a subordinate and his\her boss would view arriving at a place for an agreed upon meeting. Physical space: For most of us some one standing very close to us uncomfortable. We feel our space has been invited people seek to extend their territory in many ways to attain and intimacy. We tend to mark our territory either with permanent walls or in a classroom with our coat, pen, paper etc. we like to protect and control our territory. for Americans the intimate zone is about two feet this can very from culture to culture . This zone is reserved for our closet friends. The personal zone from about 2-4 feet usually is reserved for family and friends. The social zone (4-12 feet) is where most business transaction take place. The public zone (over 12 feet) is used for lectures.