Types of Communication

Types of Communication

Types of communication

Communication is a process that involves an exchange of information, thoughts, ideas and emotions. The components of a communication process are: a sender who encodes and sends the message, the channel through which the message is sent, and the receiver who decodes the message, processes the information and sends an appropriate reply via the same channel back to the sender. Communication can occur via various processes and methods, and depending on the channel used and the style, there can be various types. 

Communication Channels

Based on the channels used for communicating, the process of communication can be broadly classified as verbal and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication includes written and oral communication whereas non-verbal communication includes body language, facial expressions and visuals diagrams or pictures. 

Verbal
It is further divided into oral and written communication.

• Oral communication refers to the spoken words in the communication process. It can either be face-to-face or a conversation over the phone or on the voice chat over the Internet. Spoken conversations or dialogs are influenced by voice modulation, pitch, volume and even the speed and clarity of speaking.
• The other type of verbal communication is written communication. It can be either via snail mail, or email. The effectiveness of written communication depends on the style of writing, vocabulary used, grammar, clarity and precision of language.

Nonverbal
Non-verbal communication includes the overall body language of the person who is speaking, which will include the body posture, the hand gestures, and the overall body movements. Facial expressions also play a major role in communication. Even expressions on a person's face say a lot about his/her mood. Also, gestures like a handshake, a smile or a hug can independently convey emotions and do not need to be accompanied by words. Non verbal communication can also be in the form of pictorial representations, signboards, or even photographs, sketches and paintings.

Communication Based on Style and Purpose

Based on the style of communication, there can be two broad categories: formal and informal communication, that have their own set of characteristic features. 

Formal
It includes all the instances where communication has to occur in a set formal format. Typically this can include all sorts of business or corporate communication. The style of communication in this form is very formal and official. Official conferences, meetings and written memos and corporate letters are used for this form of communication. It can also occur between two strangers when they meet for the first time. Hence, formal communication is straightforward, official and always precise and has a stringent and rigid tone to it.

Informal
Informal communication includes instances of free and unrestrained conversation between people who share a casual rapport with each other. It requires two people to have a similar wavelength and hence occurs between friends and family. It does not have any rigid rules and guidelines. The conversations need not necessarily have boundaries of time, place or even subjects for that matter since we all know that friendly chats with our loved ones can simply go on and on.

Even though the whole process of communication may seem so simple, the effectiveness of each type depends to a great extent on certain internal and external environmental factors and also the communicator's ability to send, receive, decode and send a response. This is why the field of communication has been and continues to be widely studied and is given a place of importance in any walk of life.

Barriers to Communication

Barriers to Communication

The author, George Bernard Shaw wrote, “The greatest problem with communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished."  An activity as complex as communication is bound to suffer from setbacks if conditions contrary to the smooth functioning of the process emerge. They are referred to as barriers because they create impediments in the progress of the interaction. Identification of these barriers is extremely important.

Types of Barriers

Physical Noise

•      Physical noise occurs when the sender and receiver try to communicate in a situation that is noisy. For example, the bus stop. The noise produced by the passing buses create what is known as ‘physical noise’.

Semantic Problem

      These result in complete distortion of the message. Only when spoken language is easily comprehensible by the receiver, communication becomes possible. The speaker should be clear about his objectives and should deliver the message using simple language and using minimum necessary words. Verbosity simply complicates the message. The speaker should attempt to be brief, precise. Technical jargon, overlong and unclear sentences or flowery language confuses the recipient and the original intent of the message becomes indiscernible. The meaning of the words may be misinterpreted. 

Poor Transmission

If the message is not formulated properly, it proves detrimental to the flow of communication. It should be organized and executed keeping in mind the receiver’s mental level and then sent across using all the techniques essential for effective and efficient conversation

Difference in Interest and Attitude

Because communication is a two-way process it is essential that the speaker and the receiver be in a common frame of mental communion. They have to work at the same frequency and must have interest in each other’s point of view.

Transmission Channel

The channel for transmission of ideas should be very effective and should prove to be a facilitator to encode and decode messages effectively. An ineffective medium can create a lot of disturbance and the message will neither be sent nor received with the desired impact. It has been observed a number of times that a lot of extraneous sounds or noise interfere with the ability to hear what is being said. Psychological noise also causes a lot of disturbance in the transmission.

Information Load

The speaker must transmit only a limited amount of information, that is, only as much as the receiver is able to comprehend and absorb. When excess information is supplied it becomes confusing for the receiver and exhausts the capacity of his mind.

Biased Reception

The receiver, at times, has some prior conflicting information on the subject of the message. He has his own viewpoint. Because the information supplied by the speaker is different from his own, the receiver is left pondering over the reliability and validity of the ‘original’ and the ‘current’ piece of information. A discussion can lead to conflicts in the mind of the receiver. His own opinion thus acts as a barrier to sound reception.

Marginal Listening

The process of listening demands that full attention be paid to the spoken material. Partial listening or selective reception because of disturbance created by our thought-process, by the noise or other distractions from the world around badly affects the intent of communication. Research tells us that 45% of our day is spent listening and most people operate at only 25%-30% of their listening efficiency. This inefficiency can cause constant problems and the messages will only be partially comprehended.

Inappropriate Body Language

      Body language, that does not reflect the interest of what the receiver is saying, diminishes the receiver’s desire to communicate. The speaker’s body should be in tune with the words coming out of his mouth. The speaker’s actions and statements should be synchronized. The presence of these barriers while communicating can lead to miscommunication. It can at times lead to many problems in terms of efficiency, time and money. It can also lead to misunderstanding, misinterpretation, indiscipline and breaking up of relationships. Sufficient effort must be put in to overcome the barriers that hamper effective communication. The interactants must support and understand each other patiently in order to avoid hampering conversation.

Retention

      Poor retention on the receiver’s part results in his misunderstanding the message. He will not be able to retain the essence of the message and hence it will be extremely difficult for him to send back effective signals. It could be because of fatigue, stress or other personal problems.

I - Attitude

     The speaker should bear in mind the fact that the two-way process of communication will be successful only when he involves the receiver in the discussion. He has to have a ‘you-attitude’ or ‘we-attitude’ in order to bring about full participation from the receiver’s end.

  

Discrimination

      Discrimination arises when people make judgments about individuals or groups without thinking clearly. Behaviours such as stereotyping, bias and prejudice are forms of discrimination. When people discriminate, they make decisions without bothering to get all the necessary information about the people they are judging.

      Discrimination causes people to miss out on the value of difference, and the benefits that individuals and groups bring to any situation. Valuing people who are different allows you to draw on a broader range of insights, ideas, experience and knowledge.

      

      Each person’s uniqueness comes from personal characteristics such as:

·          race

·          gender

·          education

·          age

·          ability

·          lifestyle

·          experience.

Process of Communication

Process of Communication is dynamic, ongoing and ever changing. We also used some terms such as sender, message, channel, receiver, noise and feedback. These are known as Elements of Communication that makes it a continuous process. Now let us examine these elements in some detail and understand the type of interrelationship that exists among them.    

 

1) Sender

The Sender initiates the process of communication. The sender has to be clear

about the purpose (or goal or objective) of the communication and about the target

audience (or receiver) of the communication; that is, the sender decides why and to

whom to send a message. Conscious or intended communication has a purpose. We

communicate because we want to make someone do something or take some action, or think or feel in a certain way, that is, to influence the person.

Sender's functions make up half the process of communication. The functions

of the sender are:

1. Being clear about the goal/purpose of the communication

2. Finding out about the understanding and needs of the target audience

3. Encoding the required information and ideas with symbols to create the message to suit the receiver/ audience

4. Selecting the medium to send the message

5. Making efforts to get feedback, that is, finding out the response of the target audience.

2)  Message - Message is a key idea that the sender wants to communicate. It is a sign that elicits the response of recipient. Communication process begins with deciding about the message to be conveyed. It must be ensured that the main objective of the message is clear.

3) Encoding - The entire process starts with the sender of the communication having a thoughts in mind which needs to be communicated. This thought than is coded - that is converted in a form which can be sent or transmitted from sender of communication to the receiver, The process of coding typically involves representing the thoughts of information to be communicated in some form of language. This is first done mentally then represented in some physical form like written or spoken word or some other forms method physically representing and transmitting data. The coded data is then transmitted or sent to the receiver of the communication.

4) Medium - Medium is a means used to exchange / transmit the message. The sender must choose an appropriate medium for transmitting the message else the message might not be conveyed to the desired recipients. The choice of appropriate medium of communication is essential for making the message effective and correctly interpreted by the recipient. This choice of communication medium varies depending upon the features of communication. For instance - Written medium is chosen when a message has to be conveyed to a small group of people, while an oral medium is chosen when spontaneous feedback is required from the recipient as misunderstandings are cleared then and there. 

5) Noise /Barriers - All physical ,psychological , and cultural factors which mar the process of communication and relegate it to the level of meaningless exchange of sounds or signs , are termed as barriers to the process of communication

6) Decoding -  The Receiver receives the message through his senses. He must be aware of the code in which the message has been sent. This code can be in verbal or non-verbal form. If the receiver knows the relation between the symbols (words , signs ,gestures , postures etc) and the objects they represent,  he can easily decode the message and understand the meaning.

 7) Recipient / Decoder - Recipient / Decoder is a person for whom the message is intended / aimed / targeted. The degree to which the decoder understands the message is dependent upon various factors such as knowledge of recipient, their responsiveness to the message, and the reliance of encoder on decoder.

9) Feedback - Feedback is the main component of communication process as it permits the sender to analyze the efficacy of the message. It helps the sender in confirming the correct interpretation of message by the decoder. Feedback may be verbal (through words) or non-verbal (in form of smiles, sighs, etc.). It may take written form also in form of memos, reports, etc.