What does it mean to communicate? Everyone read and talk a lot about communication, but it means different things to different people. Someone may think of communication as casual conversation, the formal use of mass media, books, letters, friendly notes, or formal public speeches. Regardless of the many different meanings that people give to the word communication, everyone seems to agree that it is important.
Each elements in the sequence;
1-Senders and Receivers
Senders and receivers each have goals and objectives –things that they want to accomplish. The sender may want to change the receiver’s mind, or secure concessions toward a negotiated agreement. The receiver may not want to have his mind changed, and not want to make concessions; moreover, the receiver may have the identical objective in mind fo his opponent. The more diverse the goals of the sender and receiver, or the more antaonistics they are in their relationship, the greater likelihood of distortion and error in communication. Similarly, senders and receivers differ in their individual makeup –each is likely to have a different pattern of personel values, attitudes toward certain issues and objectives, previous experiences, life history, and personality characteristics. Each of these elements contributes to a different way of viewing the world.
2-Transmitters and Receptors
Tranmitters and receptors are simply the equipment by which information is sent. Information can be sent verbally and nonverbally. The choice of transmitters can affect outcomes, i.e., some messages may be better spoken, while others need to be written. Moreover, when presenting information face-to-face, congruence or incongruence between multiple transmission channels is often a problem. The old expression that “your lips tell me ‘no,no’ but there is ‘yes,yes’ in your eyes” highlights the incongruity of messages sent simultaneously by both verbal and nonverbal channels, and the possible error introduced by this dublicitous communication. On the receiver’s end, poor eyesight or faulty hearing may similarly diminish the ability to accurately receive a message.
3-Messages and Channels
Messages and channels are the vehicles by which information is communicated. As noted by many writers on communication, human beings are unique in their ability to use “symbolic” forms of communication –primarily the written or spoken language- to transmit information. Some messages are direct expressions of meaning –I lean over the table and grab the pencil that I want- while others are “symbolic representations” –I ask the person seated across the table, “Please pass me the pencil.” The more we are prone to use symbolic communication, the more likely that symbols may not accurately communicate the meaning we intend. In the simplest example, if the person does not understand English, or if there are several pencils on the table, there is increased likelihood that the communication will be less than effective.
Channels are the vehicles by which messages are carried. If we speak directly, it is the airwaves; if we write, it is the paper and pen or type-writer; if we talk over the telephone, it is the telephone circuitry and microwaves. Both messages and channels are prone to disortion from “noise,” which we will use as a broad descriptive category of various forms of interference in the communication process. Messages can be transmitted more clearly in a quiet room than in a loud, distracting hotel ballroom. The greater the sources of distraction and confusion in the communication environment, the more that “noise” will interfere with accurate and complete message transmission.
4-Decoding, Meaning, and Encoding
Decoding, meaning and encoding are the processes that the individual uses to interpret the messages of others, and to formulate messages themselves. Decoding is the process of translating messages from their symbolic form into interpretations that we can understand.
If the parties speak the same language, or use the same common nonverbal gestures to communicate messages, the process is reasonably simple and error-free; if they do not, decoding is prone to contribute a high degree of error. While “translators” may help to decode the other’s messages, full translation may not be possible, i.e., understanding the other’s meaning or tone, as well as the words –or may introduce additional error into the communication.
Meanings are the facts, ideas, feelings, reactions, or thoughts that exist whitin individuals, and act as a set of “filters” through which the decoded messages are interpreted. If a party has asked the other to “please pass me that pencil,” and the other party has said “no,” the encoded “no” back to us is likely to stimulate a variety of reactions in the search for “meaning.” Did the other hear the message? Was the “no” a direct refusal to the request? Why did the other say “no”? Does he need the pencil too? Is he being obstinate and intentionally blocking me? Answers to these questions will vary depending upon a variety of other aspects of the communication sequence and the relationship between the parties, and will lead to different ascriptions of “meaning” to the word “no.”
Finally, encoding is the process by which messages are put into symbolic form. The encoding process will be affected by varying degrees of skills in encoding, e.g., fluency in language, skill at expression in written and verbal form, etc. It will also be affected by the meaning attached to earlier communication- what we want to communicate, how we have reacted to earlier communications, etc. Senders are likely to choose to encode messages in a preffered form; this form may not be the same preffered by receivers. Two managers may need to distinguish a negotiated contract; while one may prefer to “get together and discuss it over lunch,” the other may prefer to have each one prepare a written draft that they can exchange and revise individually. How this contract will eventually be prepared may thus be the subject of the negotiation itself.
5-Feedback
Feedback is the process by which the receiver “reacts” to the sender’s message. Even in a one-way communication cycle, feedback is essential. It is necessary to let the sender know that the message was (a) actually received, (b)encoded, and (c) ascribed with the same meaning that the sender intended. The absense of feedback can contribute to significant distortions in communication, since senders never know whether their message is being received, much less understood. Anyone who has ever talked to a large audience may find himself directing his comments to the individual who is nonverbally shaking her haed “yes”, or similing, or in some other way acknowledging that the communication is being received and even appreciated. The sender is unlikely to direct comments to a receiver who is shaking his head “no”, or asleep, unless the comments are specifically designed to change the receiver’s disposition.