The Communication Process

The process traces the movement of information from the sender to the receiver. The process has the following elements.

    1.    Sender

Any one who wants to communicate something to someone else. The sender has a thought or idea. The thought or idea must be put into a language understood by the receiver and the sender (this is called encoding).

    2.    Message

The information the sender wants to communicate.

    3.    Channel (vehicle/media)

The link between the sender and the receiver of the message. i.e. the mode of transmission of the message e.g. letter, telephone or gesture. Choice of the channel is affected by the following factors.

i.    Urgency —when the message is very urgent a telephone call may be the most appropriate.
ii.    Importance — mportant messages are better communicated face to face.
iii.    Need for documentation
iv.    Delicacy of the message
v.    Costs involvedIf sender is constrained by cost the mass media may be the most appropriate.
vi.    Future reference —Where future reference is required then written messages must be used.
vii.    Noise—Anything whether in the sender, channel or receiver that hinders communication e.g. a noisy or confined environment may affect thinking by clogging the mind. Ambiguous symbols and words may distort meaning.


 4.    Receiver

The person the sender wants to reach with the message. Once the receiver gets the message he/she must decode it. This is the process by which the receiver interprets the message and attaches meaning to it. If communication has to be complete (understood) the receiver and the sender must attach the same meaning to the message.

5.    Feedback

The action taken by the message receiver once the message has been conveyed. It is only through feedback that the sender can know whether the process was successful.

Note

be able to communicate effectively it is important that one gains and holds the attention of the receiver. This is difficult because the competition for attention is enormous. One receives too many messages at the same time and because naturally the attention span is limited, peoples minds keep wandering. Managers at the top face more noise than their subordinates. They must keep up to date with many institutions outside the organization and each institution keeps sending different messages to the manager which all require his attention.

For communication to be effective the message sender must have a good knowledge of the receiver. Managers using work manuals must establish whether the employees are capable of reading and understanding the manuals. Overestimation of the capability of the receiver e.g. his intelligence will lead to misunderstanding of the message. Income, social status, responsibilities and position of the receiver all affect and influence the way a message is perceived.

How well the receiver knows the sender may also influence perception of the message. People differ in many ways therefore they interpret messages differently. The message sender must therefore tailor each message to suit the receiver. The biggest problem of communicating within business firms in Kenya is that few people understand human behaviour and this is why messages are misunderstood leading to accidents and mistakes at the work place.