Hello Readers,
In this blog, you will be able to understand the simple meaning of communication and its importance. Furthermore, this blog also provides a detailed understanding of oral communication and its advantages as well as disadvantages.
Communication is a social process. It allows individuals to interact. It generates the possibility of understanding and reciprocating the message. The process of communication involves two or more who participate through a medium that carries the information or message for a particular purpose with a condition that the message transferred should be understood by the sender and the receiver.
Here are some features of Communication-
It is meaning-based
It is conventional
It is interactional
It is always supposed to be appropriate
It must be structured
Now let us understand in brief “How Communication is Beneficial?”
- In this age of mega organisations, the large size of organisations where thousands of people work, communication helps a lot to the enterprise in growing the size of business with time.
- In modern times, no organisation can work satisfactorily without the mutual understanding and cooperation between management and trade unions. In this regard, communication plays a vital role.
- Additionally, Communication helps the HR manager in developing meaningful relationships, changing attitude, boosting morale, and soliciting cooperation. So, communication is very central to the organisation as a tool for maintaining human relations.
- More importantly, communication is a necessary part of the process of change. So is it of vital importance to an organisation both internally and externally.
Now let us discuss Oral Communication
Man is the only species gifted with language. And the use of language is primarily in speech. In any sector, be it education, corporate or industrial, etc. the need for communication is very vital. Without oral communication, any organization will become lifeless. It is really very important but it is equally important to think before we speak or communicate.
As Arnold Gaslow says,
“Speaking or Writing without thinking is like shooting without aiming”
Here are the advantages of Oral Communication
ADVANTAGES OF ORAL COMMUNICATION
Oral communication is the most frequently used means of sending messages because it has certain distinct advantages. Some of these advantages are given below-
(A)The greatest advantage of oral communication is that it provides immediate feedback and clarification. People listening to the speaker can ask questions, make comments, add to the information provided and so on. Both the speaker and the listener/listeners by turn can enter into a kind of short dialogue and make the whole communication event purposeful.
(B)Oral communication builds up a healthy climate in the organisation by bringing the superior and the subordinate together. This gives the subordinate a feeling of importance and the superior a better understanding of his mind. Informal or planned meetings can greatly contribute to the understanding of problems/issues in which they become partners.
(C)Oral communication is a time-saving device. While a letter. dictated and typed, entered in the diary. put in the envelope and carried to the person addressed will take a long time, oral transmission of the message makes the communication immediately effective. That is why many skilful managers cut down on paperwork and save time by calling up their juniors or walking up to their superiors.
(D) Oral communication is the most effective tool of persuasion as it lends a personal touch to the whole business. Resolving a conflict will not be possible in the absence of oral communication. Unless a manager/supervisor 'talks to the workers in a persuasive tone, the conflict will remain there. No exchange of letters can achieve what a meeting can.
(E) In continuation of the previous point we can see that oral communication is very effective in interacting with groups. The speaker can immediately understand the group's reaction and arrive at a satisfactory conclusion by putting his views across and exchanging points.
(F) Oral communication is also very economical, both in terms of money and time. It saves the money spent on stationery in organisations in which the managers insist on every instruction, every message in writing.
(G) Oral communication provides ample scope to the sender or the message to make himself clear by suitably changing his words, voice, tone, pitch, etc. On the other hand, the words that are once written cannot be changed. In other words, the message once transmitted in written form cannot be retracted. Oral communication, on the other hand, has the advantage of on-the-spot adaptation/withdrawal/improvement.
Now let us see some of the disadvantages or Limitations of Oral Communication
DISADVANTAGES OF ORAL COMMUNICATION
(A) Oral communication does not always save time and money. Quite often meetings go on without any results or agreements achieved. Such meetings can be very tiring and wasteful.
(B) Oral communication in itself is not always effective. Certain conditions must be necessarily fulfilled to make it effective. It depends mainly on the attitude of the sender and the receiver of the message.
(C) Human memory being what it is, oral messages cannot be retained for a long time. It enough means that they must be acted upon immediately. They cannot be found in record books and we cannot refer back to them. This is a serious limitation of oral communication.
(D) In the absence of a taped or written record, oral messages do not have any legal validity.
(E) Oral messages also can lead to misunderstanding if the speaker has not carefully organized their minds his thought or the listener misses the message on account of his inattentiveness.
(F) Much depends upon the length of the message. If it is long it is not suitable for oral transmission. There are chances of something vital getting dropped or misconstrued.
(G) It is difficult to assign responsibility for anything going amiss or any mistake by omission or commission in oral communication.
Here is the list of Barriers and some points as their Causes
BARRIERS TO ORAL COMMUNICATION
1. Linguistic
-ignorance of the nature of words
-Limited vocabulary
-Wrong choice of words
-Construction of long and complex sentences
-Improper word order
-Improper punctuation
2. Psychological
-Mental states such as preconceived notions, wrong assumptions, fixed ideas, one-track thinking
-Mental habits such as premature evaluation. jumping to conclusions, I-know-all presumption
-Factors such as differences in background, different levels of knowledge and education, lack of concentration while transmitting or receiving a message
3. Interpersonal
-Strong emotions and feelings
-Unshared perceptions and ideas
- Negative attitude
4. Cultural
-Difference in business practises
-Difference in social customs and etiquette
-Divergent perceptions of values
-Conceptual peculiarities
5. Physical
-Technical noise such as harsh or loud music, the din of machines, the creaking of doors or windows, etc.
-Physical noise such as improper seating arrangement, poor lighting, badly ventilated room, physical discomfort because of room temperature on uncomfortable seats
-Distractions such as gaudy dress, odd body movements, unsuitable gestures, fiddling with a bunch of keys or buttons, loud perfume, etc.
6. Organisational
-Too many sources of information
-Too many transfer stations
-Information overload
-Inappropriate media
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