Tag: Communication

  • What is Face to Face communication and it’s Importance

    What is Face to Face communication and it’s Importance

    As more communication up and down the line at work is done electronically, face-to-face discussion can easily fall by the wayside. While the speed and volume of communication increases with e-mail, voicemail and instant messaging, some of the dialogue and personal touch can start to disappear.

    A global survey shows that 67 percent of senior executives and managers say their organization would be more productive if their superiors communicated more often by personal discussion. While they desire more personal discussion from their superiors, however, the top personal method of communicating for these same business leaders is e-mail, based on the survey by NFI Research.

    “Too many people take the easy way out and try and do everything via e-mail and in a lot of cases consume more time on both sides of the equation than they would have by simply picking up the phone or going to see the person,” said one survey respondent. “I often find that when I look the other person in the eyes and ask them something I get far more than I ever would over e-mail.”

    “Personal discussion is the foundation of communications,” said another respondent. “Once this foundation is established, it enables all of the other forms of communication. Having a personal connection builds trust and minimizes misinterpretation and misunderstanding.”

    Reasons to Communication Face to Face

    We all know how technology enables communication – email, voicemail, text message, instant message, Twitter . . . the list goes on. There are more than enough ways to communicate, and too often they add up to message overload for employees.

    That’s why when something is important, nothing compares to communicating face to face. When a leader needs to inspire people—or move them to action—the best way to do it is to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what they need to know.

    Communicating face-to-face sends a message before you say a word. People will not only hear what you are saying, they will perceive the greater meaning of your tone, voice inflection, emotion and body language.

    Six good reasons for leaders to make the time to communicate face to face

    1. Demonstrate importance

    Being there in person tells your audience they are important to you and the issue you are discussing is worth your time and theirs. Your focus will get people’s attention and increase the potential for your message to be heard.

    2. Interpret thoughts and feelings

    When you are face to face, you can see and respond to people’s reactions – like facial expressions and body language – as well as their tone of voice. Leaders have the chance to show they care by asking probing questions and actively listening to understand the audience’s perspective. This is especially critical when you need employees to adopt new behaviors to advance your goals, such as in times of change.

    3. Enhance credibility and trust

    Leaders need to build employee trust to be effective. Face-to-face situations allow you to share your strategy, explain it clearly, and answer questions honestly. Employees see how actions align with words, which enhances leaders’ credibility and trust.

    4. Build relationships

    Interacting directly with other leaders, managers and employees expands your network and establishes shared experience that can enhance future communication. It also helps create camaraderie that is the basis of cooperation and success across the organization.

    5. Gather feedback

    Meeting in person helps employees feel valued and gives them a chance to contribute input to organizational strategies and communication. It gives the leader a chance to confirm people’s understanding of key issues, identify gaps and encourage ongoing feedback and engagement.

    6. Address sensitive issues

    You demonstrate respect for employees and a commitment to a successful outcome when you deal with a sensitive issue face to face. Whether you are providing specific feedback to increase their success or delivering a tough message, focus on your desired outcome and prepare by understanding the employee’s mind-set and possible reactions. Ultimately your involvement means a lot and taking the time to meet can help turn a challenging conversation into a trust-building interaction.

  • What Is Communication? Definition, Components, and Model

    What Is Communication? Definition, Components, and Model

    Many theories have been proposed to describe, predict, and understand the behaviors and phenomena of which communication consists. When it comes to communicating in business, we are often less interested in theory than in making sure our communications generate the desired results. But in order to achieve results, it can be valuable to understand what communication is and how it works.

    Definitions of Communication

    Schramm defines communication as “a tool that makes societies possible and distinguish human from other societies”.

    Berelson and Steiner define communication as the transmission of information, ideas, emotions and skills through the use of symbols, words, pictures, figures, and graph.

    Rogers says, “Communication is the process of transmitting ideas, information, and attitudes from the source to a receiver for the purpose of influencing with intent”.

    Kar defines communication as “all those planned or unplanned processes through which one person influences behaviour of others.”

    A more comprehensive suggested definition to define communication would be: “a process of transmitting ideas, information, attitudes (images which we have formulated for ourselves) by the use of symbols, words, pictures, figures from the source (who is the originator of the message) to a receiver, for the purpose of influencing with intent”. So, communication is considered as a process through which senders and receivers of messages interact in a given social context. The concept of communication simply relies on four basic components.

    what is Communication ?
    Communication

    Communication Components

    Depending on the previous definitions, we can conclude that communication is a process used to timely and properly exchange information between a sender and a receiver to achieve a desired goal.

    Factors in the Definition

    1. Process: It suggests that the components of interaction are dynamic in nature. They cannot be regarded as unchanging elements in time and space. This simply means that no single aspect of communication can be meaningfully understood apart from the other elements.
    2. Interaction: It is the process of linking between senders and receivers of the message. The process specifies interaction or linkages between or among countless factors, so that the changes in any set of forces affect the operation of all other processes to produce a total effect. Communication is an attempt to bridge the gap between two individuals through producing and receiving messages which have meaning for both.
    3. Social Context: Human communication is, to a great extent, influenced by the social context in which it occurs. The context or the situation that consists of a set of rules which govern the origin, flow and effect of the messages.

    Communication Model

    It describes what is necessary for an act of communication to take place. A model represents the major features and eliminates the unnecessary details of communication.

    Functions of Communication Models

    • To clarify the scope of human interaction showing it to be a circular, complex, continuous, dynamic, or a coding process.
    • To point out where to book and under what conditions to analyse different responses.
    • To show the variables in human communication.
    • Used as a frame work in researches.

    Elements of communication model

    Communication is a process of exchanging verbal and non-verbal messages. It is a continuous process. Pre-requisite of communication is a message. This message must be conveyed through some medium to the recipient.

    It is essential that this message must be understood by the recipient in same terms as intended by the sender. He must respond within a time frame. Thus, communication is a two way process and is incomplete without a feedback from the recipient to the sender on how well the message is understood by him.