COMMUNICATION PROCESS
Introduction-
A process, by definition or simple explanation, is "a systematic series of actions or operation of a series of changes directed to some end." Communication is a two-way process in which there is an exchange and progression of ideas towards a mutually acceptable direction or goal.
The process of communication involves two or more persons participating through a medium that carries the information or message for a particular purpose that is mutually understood by both the sender and receiver.
Only when these conditions are fulfilled, a significant communicative situation will take shape and what transpires between the two parties, viz., the sender and the receiver, whether spoken or written, will be the communicative event. Any letter or report, interview or conference, memo, or, complaint is a communicative event that is the lifeline of an organization.
(i) Sender
The person who initiates the communication process is normally referred to as the sender.
The sender is the originator of the idea. The sender can be an individual or a group or an individual representing a group. The sender selects ideas from his personal data bank, encodes and finally transmits them to the receiver. It is also known as a source. The source in organisational communication is often the manager giving directions to employees.
Encoding
The process of communication can never occur in the absence of adequate encoding. The sender may prepare his message for transmission by converting it into a signal. The signal is composed of a systematic group of symbols. Each symbol has its own predetermined meaning and conventional usage and when taken as a whole the complete set of symbols is a type of code or language. If the sender uses defective or incorrect language, partial or total breakdown of communication is likely to occur. The receiver will be in a position to decode the message only if he is conversant with the symbols used by the sender.
(ii) Receiver
A receiver is a person who notices and attaches some meaning to a message.
A receiver is a person for whom the message is intended. If the sender and the receiver are operating on the same mental level, the receiver becomes more receptive. In such a case the decoding of the message is done in almost entirely the same terms as were intended by the sender.
Decoding
The decoding process is exactly reverse to that of the encoding process. The receiver receives the message and translates the symbols, and messages into ideas, this process is called decoding. At the receiving end of the channel, decoding is the transformation of the received signal back into a message using an appropriate systematic code.
(iii) Message
The message is information, written or spoken, which is to be sent from one person to another.
It is a kind of stimulus that a source transmits to the receiver. Messages are composed of symbols having a certain meaning to the receiver.
A message is like a coin. It has two sides. There is the message as seen by the sender and the message as seen by the receiver. A message is any signal that triggers the response of a receiver. The message could be verbal (written or spoken) or non-verbal (body language, silence, sounds etc.). The selection and interpretation of messages may differ dramatically because of differences in psychology and situation for the persons who are serving as sender or receiver.
(iv) Channel / Medium:
The communication channel is any medium that couples or joins the source to the receiver. There is a number of channels at the communicator's disposal. The communicator is often free to choose from among several channel types for a given situation. The channel choice decision is an important one. The entire process of encoding and decoding depends upon the proper selection of channels. The choice of channel or medium depends upon several factors. The choice of channel (written or oral ) or medium is influenced by the interrelationships between the sender and the receiver. It also depends upon the urgency of the message being sent. Besides, one may consider factors such as importance, numbers of receivers, cost and amount of information.
(v) Feedback
Feedback is the receiver's response to the message.
Feedback verifies the message by telling the sender/ source whether the receiver received and understood the message.
When the sender transmits a message, he expects a response. The sender is interested in knowing how his message has been received. The sender can judge the extent of success of his communication on the basis of observation of Receiver's behaviour. This return information is called feedback. The receiver communicates his reaction back to the sender either through words, symbols or gestures.
Feedback is in fact, the reversal of the communication process where the receiver becomes the sender and the sender becomes the receiver.
Feedback, in its simplest form, can be described as the provision for two-way communication.
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