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Jagran Lakecity University, Bhopal
School of Law
TEACHING NOTES
Course: Communication, Client Interviewing Counseling and Advocacy Skills Programme: BBA/B.COM LL.B(H) Semester: III Compiled and Edited by: Disclaimer: This material is for academic purpose only. Any unauthorised review, use, disclosure, dissemination, forwarding,printing or copying of this study material or any action taken in reliance on this material is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. This material is provided to the
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The success of any business to a large extent depends on efficient and effective communication. It takes place among business entities, in market and market places, within organizations and between various group of employees, owners and employees, buyers and sellers, service providers and customers, sales persons and prospects and also between people within the organization and the press persons. All such communication impacts business. Done with care, such communication can promote business interests. Otherwise, it will portray the organization in poor light and may adversely affect the business interest. Communication is the life blood of any organization and its main purpose is to effect change to influence action. In any organization the main problem is of maintaining effective communication process. The management problem generally results in poor communication. Serious mistakes are made because orders are misunderstood. The basic problem in communication is that the meaning which is actually understood may not be what the other intended to send. It must be realised that the speaker and the listener are two separate individuals having their own limitations and number of things may happen to distort the message that pass between them. When people within the organization communicate with each other, it is internal communication. They do so to work as a team and realise the common goals. It could be official or unofficial. Modes of internal communication include face-to-face and written communication. Memos, reports, office order, circular, fax, video conferencing, meeting etc. are the examples of internal communication.
DEFINITIONS OF COMMUNICATION
Communication may be defined as interchange of thought or information between two or more persons to bring about mutual understanding and desired action. It is the information exchange by words or symbols. It is the exchange of facts, ideas and viewpoints which bring about commonness of interest, purpose and efforts. American Management Association defines, ‘Communication is any behaviour that results in an exchange of meaning’. Peter Little defines communication as, ‘Communication is the process by which information is transmitted between individuals and/or organizations so that an understanding response result’. Newman and Summer Jr. state that, ‘Communication is an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions or emotions by two or more persons’. According to Keith Davis, ‘The process of passing the information and understanding from one person to another. It is essentially a bridge of meaning between the people. By using the bridge a person can safely across the river of misunderstanding’.
lower level through the middle level. In turn, the lower level informs the top level the reaction through the middle level. Information can flow vertically, horizontally and diagonally across the organization. Becoming informed or inform others is the main purpose of communication.
4. For evaluation: Examination of activities to form an idea or judgement of the worth of task is achieved through communication. Communication is a tool to appraise the individual or team, their contribution to the organization. Evaluating one’s own inputs or other’s outputs or some ideological scheme demands an adequate and effective communication process. 5. For direction: Communication is necessary to issue directions by the top management or manager to the lower level. Employee can perform better when he is directed by his senior. Directing others may be communicated either orally or in writing. An order may be common order, request order or implied order. 6. For teaching: The importance of personal safety on the job has been greatly recognized. A complete communication process is required to teach and educate workers about personal safety on the jobs. This communication helps the workers to avert accidents, risk etc. and avoid cost, procedures etc. 7. For influencing: A complete communication process is necessary in influencing others or being influenced. The individual having potential to influence others can easily persuade others. It implies the provision of feedback which tells the effect of communication.
8. For image building: A business enterprise cannot isolate from the rest of the society. There is interrelationship and interdependence between the society and an enterprise operating in the society. Goodwill and confidence are necessarily created among the public. It can be done by the communication with the different media, which has to project the image of the firm in the society. Through an effective external communication system, an enterprise has to inform the society about its goals, activities, progress and social responsibility. THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS/CYCLE The transmission of sender’s ideas to the receiver and the receiver’s feedback or reaction to the sender constitute the communication cycle. The process of communication begins when one person (the sender) wants to transmit a fact, idea, opinion or other information to someone else (the receiver). This facts, idea or opinion has meaning to the sender. The next step is translating or converting the message into a language which reflects the idea. That is the message must be encoded. The encoding process is influenced by content of the message, the familiarity of sender and receiver and other situation of factors. After the message has been encoded, it is transmitted through the appropriate channel or medium. Common channel in organization includes meetings, reports, memorandums, letters, e-mail, fax and telephone calls. When the
6. Decoding: Decoding is the process of interpretation of an encoded message into the understandable meaning. Decoding helps the receiver to drive meaning from the message. 7. Feedback: Communication is an exchange process. For the exchange to be complete the information must go back to whom from where it started (or sender), so that he can know the reaction of the receiver. The reaction or response of the receiver is known as feedback. 8. Brain drain: On whole process there is a possibility of misunderstandings at any level and is called brain drain. It may arise on sender side if they do not choose the adequate medium for delivery of message, by using default channel and it may also arise when receiver does not properly decode the message. In other words, we can say that it is breakdown of cycle at any level. FORMS OF COMMUNICATION Communication is divided into external and internal communication. External communications are those communications which are occurring outside the organization like communication with other companies, with government, general public etc. Internal communications are those which are inside the organization. Internal communications are further divided into two parts, formal or official and informal.
- Formal: Formal communication flows along prescribed channels which all members desirous of communicating with one another are obliged to follow.
- Informal: Along with the formal channel of communication every organization has an equally effective channel of communication that is the
informal channel often called grapevine, because it runs in all directions— Horizontal, Vertical, Diagonal. It flows around water cooler, down hallways, through lunch rooms and wherever people get together in groups. BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION & CHALLENGES OF COMMUNICATION A thriving global marketplace requires effective communication across cultures. Learn about the cultural barriers to communication in the workplace and take a quiz to test your knowledge. Examples of Cultural Barriers to Communication Language - misunderstandings are common among people who speak the same language, so it's not surprising that people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds face communication barriers. Anything from the mispronunciation of a word to a lack of specificity can lead to misunderstandings. For example, if a sales director in New York asks a contractor in Brazil to do something soon, the two parties may have a different interpretation of the word 'soon.' Language is a reflection of culture, and different cultures have very different ways of assigning meanings to words. Behavior - cultural differences in body language and other behaviors can also cause miscommunications. For example, in the U.S., it is important to make eye contact with someone who is speaking to you or they may think you are distracted or uninterested. However, in many Asian countries, eye contact can be a sign of disrespect or a challenge to authority. There are many other cultural
There are many barriers to communication and these may occur at any stage in the communication process. Barriers may lead to your message becoming distorted and you therefore risk wasting both time and/or money by causing confusion and misunderstanding. Effective communication involves overcoming these barriers and conveying a clear and concise message. Communication is the key factor in the success of any organization. When it comes to effective communication, there are certain barriers that every organization faces. People often feel that communication is as easy and simple as it sounds. No doubt, but what makes it complex, difficult and frustrating are the barriers that come in its way. Here are a few of the most commonly-found barriers in communication in an organization: Perceptual Barriers: The most common problem faced these days is that of the difference in opinion between two people. The varied perceptions of every individual give rise to a need for effective communication. Emotional Barriers: Another main barrier is the fear and mistrust that form the roots of our emotional barrier which stop us from communicating effectively with our co-workers. Language Barriers: Language that describes what we would want to express and communicate to others, may at times, serve as a barrier to them. In today’s
global scenario, the greatest compliment we can pay to another person is by speaking and effectively communicating to them in their local language. We need to understand that the native language of employees can be different from anyone else’s. Cultural Barriers: The world is made up of diverse cultures. A cultural barrier arises when two individuals in an organization belong to different religions, states or countries. Physical Barriers: Research shows that one of the key factors in building strong and integrated teams is proximity. Most offices have closed doors and cabins for those at higher levels of the organizational ladder while the large working areas are physically placed far apart. This kind of barrier forbids team members from effective interaction with each another. The only way one can improve effective organizational communication is by changing one’s thoughts and feelings with one’s colleague. In this way, we don’t just break down communication barriers, but also build relationships that work successfully for long. Therefore, overcoming communication barriers in organizations is very important. Communication is much more than just trading words. It also encompasses the emotions and intentions of the people involved. Overcoming communication barriers can be achieved through proper training interventions. These include programs to improve listening and written skills, build
Meaning of Personality: The term ‘personality’ is derived from the Latin word ‘persona’ which means a mask. According to K. Young, “Personality is a …. patterned body of habits, traits, attitudes and ideas of an individual, as these are organised externally into roles and statuses, and as they relate internally to motivation, goals, and various aspects of selfhood.” G. W. Allport defined it as “a person’s pattern of habits, attitudes, and traits which determine his adjustment to his environment.” According to Robert E. Park and Earnest W. Burgess, personality is “the sum and organisation of those traits which determine the role of the individual in the group.” Herbert A. Bloch defined it as “the characteristic organisation of the individual’s habits, attitudes, values, emotional characteristics……. which imparts consistency to the behaviour of the individual.” According to Arnold W. Green, “personality is the sum of a person’s values (the objects of his striving, such as ideas, prestige, power and sex) plus his non- physical traits (his habitual ways of acting and reacting).” According to Linton, personality embraces the total “organised aggregate of psychological processes and status pertaining to the individual.” Personality, as we understand it, says MacIver, “is all that an individual is and has experienced so far as this “all” can be comprehended as unity.” According to Lundberg and others, “The term personality refers to the habits, attitudes,
and other social traits that are characteristic of a given individual’s behaviour.” By personality Ogburn means “the integration of the socio psychological behaviour of the human being, represented by habits of action and feeling, attitudes and opinions.” Davis regards personality “a psychic phenomenon which is neither organic nor social but an emergent from a combination of the two.” According to Anderson and Parker, “Personality is the totality of habits, attitudes, and traits that result from socialization and characterizes us in our relationships with others.” According to N.L. Munn, “Personality may be defined as the most characteristic integration of an individual’s structure modes of behaviour, interests, attitudes, capacities, abilities and aptitudes.” According to Morton Prince, “Personality is the sum total of all the biological innate dispositions, impulses tendencies and instincts of the individual, and the acquired disposition and tendencies acquired by experience.” According to Young, “Personality is the totality of behaviour of an individual with a given tendency system interacting with a sequence of situations.” Lawrence A. Pewin has given a working definition of personality in these words, “Personality represents those structural and dynamic properties of an individual or individuals as they reflect themselves in characteristic responses to situations.” On the basis of these definitions it may be said there are two main approaches to the study of personality:
These ideas, attitudes and values which an individual holds, comprise his personality. The personality of an individual denotes an adult’s inner construction of the outer world. It is the result of the inter-action processes by which standards of ethical judgment, belief and conduct are established in social groups and communities. To sum up: (i) Personality is not related to bodily structure alone. It includes both structure and dynamics (ii) Personality is an indivisible unit. (iii) Personality is neither good nor bad. (iv) Personality is not a mysterious phenomenon. (v) Every personality is unique. (vi) Personality refers to persistent qualities of the individual. It expresses consistency and regularly. (vii) Personality is acquired. (viii) Personality is influenced by social interaction. It is defined in terms of behaviour. The Types of Personality:
Some attempts have been made to classify personalities into types. In the 5th century B. C., the Greek physician Hippocrates divided human beings into four types: the sanguine, the melancholic, the choleric, and the phlegmatic. The Swiss psychoanalyst, Carl Gustac Jung, distinguished between two main types, the introvert and the extrovert. The introvert is preoccupied with his own self; the extrovert with things outside self. In these two types there is a third type—the ambiverts who are neither the one nor the other but vacillate between the two. The majority of people are ambiverts. According to Ernest Kretchmer the German psychiatrist, the extrovert personality is a stout person while the introvert one is a tall and slender person. The first type of persons he called “pykrnic” the second type he called “leptosome” W.I. Thomas and Florian Znaniecki distinguished among the Bohemian, the Philistine, and the Creative. II. Determinants of Personality: Personality is a result of the combination of four factors, i.e., physical environment, heredity, culture, and particular experiences. Here we discuss each factor determining personality separately. Personality and Environment: Above we described the influence of physical environment on culture and pointed out that geographical environment sometimes determines cultural
