Transcript The Communication Process: An Introduction

Chapter 1—The Communication
Process: An Introduction
Communication Defined
• Communication is not
“the process of
transferring thoughts and
ideas from one person to
another.”
– Meanings are not
transferable, only
messages are
transmittable, and
meanings are not in the
message, they are in the
message-user.
• Communication is the
process of people
sharing thoughts,
ideas, and feelings
with each other in
commonly
understandable
ways.
Basic Model of Communication
• The sender is the source of the message; the
receiver is the interpreter of the message.
• Before a sender wants to send a message, they
must be stimulated (internal or external) which in
turn triggers the desire to communicate.
• A sender also has to have sufficient motivation
(benefit) to send a message.
Basic Model of Communication
• The process of putting a message into the form in which
it can be communicated is called encoding.
• The process the receiver goes through in trying to
interpret the exact meaning of a message is decoding.
• Inaccurate encoding and decoding can occur because
we use our own background and experience—our frame
of reference—to encode and decode messages.
– The message sender should ask receivers to paraphrase
(summarize in their own words) what the receiver thinks the
sender meant.
Basic Model of Communication
• The code is NOT the message, but the symbols
that carry the message; there are three basic
codes.
– Language (verbal code)—spoken or written words to
communicate through emotions.
– Paralanguage (vocal code)—the vocal elements that
go along with spoken language (tone, pitch, rate,
volume, and emphasis).
– Nonverbal cues (visual code)—all intentional and
unintentional means other than writing or speaking by
which a person sends a message, including facial
expressions, eye contact, gestures, appearance,
posture, size, and location of office, arrival times, etc.)
Basic Model of Communication
• A channel is the medium selected to carry the message.
Ex. face-to-face, email, IM, text messages, telephone
calls.
• The amount of information a channel can convey is
referred to as channel richness.
• In deciding which channel is appropriate, these factors
should be considered: 1) the importance of the message;
2) the needs and abilities of the receiver; 3) the amount
and speed of the feedback required; 4) the necessity of a
permanent record; 5) the cost of the channel; 6) the
formality or informality desired.
Basic Model of Communication
• Feedback is the verbal and visual response to a
message.
– Advantages of feedback include: improves the
accuracy and productivity of both individuals and
groups; increases employee satisfaction with the job.
– Disadvantages of feedback include: can cause people
to feel under attach psychologically; time-consuming;
can be difficult to elicit; past experience.
– Descriptive feedback is tactfully honest and objective;
evaluative feedback is judgmental and accusatory.
Basic Model of Communication
• The environment includes the time, place, physical, and
social surroundings in which you find yourself.
– Time, location, social environment (the relationships of the
people present).
• An organization’s social and work environment is often
referred to as its climate; the climate is determined by
the prevailing atmosphere and attitude of its members.
• Anything that interferes with communication by distorting
or blocking the message is noise. External noise
includes distractions in the environment; internal noise
refers to conditions of the communicators.
Communication and Ethics
• Ethics are the standards by which
behaviors are evaluated for their morality;
their rightness or wrongness.
• Ethics are moral principles that guide our
judgments about the good and bad, right
and wrong, of communication.
Four Ethical Rules
• The utilitarian rule. Ethical decisions create “the greatest
good for the greatest number of people.”
• The moral rights rule. Ethical decisions protect people’s
fundamental or unalienable rights; “do unto others as
you would have them do unto you.”
• The justice rule. Ethical decisions provide fair and equal
treatment for all individuals and groups involved.
• The practical rule. Ethical decisions are easy to
communicate because the typical person would find
them acceptable, thus you feel good as well.
Practical Reasons for Being Ethical
• If people lose faith in you, or in your
company, failure is inevitable.
• Not only do people enjoy dealing with
honest people, they prefer working for
ethical companies.
• Unethical behavior weighs heavily on your
conscience.