INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION

INTRODUCTION:

Look around and you will tind people involved in several activities, Whicn Nov informal Conversauions, Oiscussions, meetings, presentations, phone cals, teleconferencing, videoconrerencing. gossiping, net surfing, chatting, and so on. in short, need to communicate in order to interact. Communication is one of the essenual conditions O Socla interactiOn. without communication, social interaction may not be possible Decause numan interaction is essentially communicative interaction. It pervades the entire range or sOclal and protessional relationships, and plays a key role in Our lite. it
is the reciprocal stumuration and response between individuals, and makes sOcial as we as professional interaction possible.

What is Communication?

Now, let us try to understand what the term "communication means. The term has been defined at various levels. As it comes from the Latin Word communicare, meaning to share, to impart, or to commune', its literal meaning is "giving or sharing intormation. t is tnis sharing of intormation that makes the process of communication so important to us. vhether it Is an informal social situation or a formal academic or proressional situation, we need to share information, ideas and knowledge With others.HOwever, this process of sharing information is a symbolic interchange, which is both ynamic and interactive and results in an exchange of meaning and understanding. Let us oK more closely at the whole process of communication. rirstuy, communication is a dynamic interactive process that invoives the eective transmission of facts, ideas, thoughts, feelings, and values. It is not passive and does not just happen; we actively and consciously engage in communication in order  o develop the information and understanding required for effective group functioning. it is uynamic because it involves a variety of forces and activities interacting over a period of . Tne Word process' sugests that communication exIStS as a 1low thrOugh a equence or series of steps. The term 'process also indicates a condition of flux and
ange. The relationships of people engaged in communication continuousiy grow and develop. Communication is any behaviour that results in an exchange of meaning. American Management Association. ommunication is an exchange of meaning and understanding. Meaning is central to
cation, and transmission of meaning is the central objective of communication.
unication begins with the sender sending out message cues, which are perceived
receiver who assigns meaning to them and responds to them accordingly.
nication is not complete unless the message is decoded and understood by
Ceiver. Moreover, communication can be considered effective only when the
Sresponse is congruent with the meaning the sender wanted to convey.
ommunication is the process involving the transmission and reception of
ynDols eliciting meaning in the minds of the participants by making common their life experiences.

Baird Jr. E John.

Communication is symbolic because it involves not only words  aisosymools and gestures that accompany the spoken words. In fact, our ability to symbolise makes communication possible.Effective communication is purposive symbolic interchange resulting in workable understanding and agreement between the sender and the receiver.

George T Vardaman

Communication is the transfer of information and understanding from one person tO another person. it is a way of reaching others with Tacts, Ideas,thoughts and values.

(Keith Davis)

Communication is an interactive process. The two communication agents involved in the communication process are the sender (S) and the receiver (). other the communication agents exert a reciprocal infiluence on each other through interstimulaton and response. Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages Communication is a two-way process of exchanging ideas or intormation Detween numan-beings". To conclude, we can define communication as a multidimensional interactive process of sharing common sets of signs, symbols, and language from one person to anotner person so that we may get a suitable response.

Process OF COMMUNICATION

For sharing information, two parties are required the sender and the receiver without whom communication, which is an interactive process, cannot take place. At any given time, one is active and the other is passive. However, this is not sufficient; there should also be cooperation and understanding between them. Through what they have to communicate, the sender and receiver mutually influence each other. They should have a mutually accepted code of signals making up a common language. So, Communicaion can be defined as the exchange or intormation, 1deas, and knowledge between a Sender and a receiver through an accepted code of symbols. It is termed effective only when the receiver receives the message intended by the sender in the same perspective. Otherwise it becomes miscommunication.

Communication Cycle:

The communication cycle involves various elements, as discussed below
The first step is formulation, wherein the sender forms the content of the message
to be sent. This formulation depends on the level of experience, intelligence, knowledge,
and purpose of the sender. The content, once tormed, is called the message. IThe sender encodes the message using the basic tool. This tool is another but the language used words, actions, signs, objects, or a combination of these. Once encoded using proper language, the message is ready to be delivered. This delivery happens through channels or media of communication. It can be face to face, on paper, or through electronic or digital media such as the Internet. The receiver receives the message, decodes it, and
acts on it. if the message received is the same as the message sent, there wil be an appropridle espoSe, T hot, there will still be a response, but probabily an nia unexpected oe, diere has been a breakdown or interference in te This may nappen DEcause of nolse. Noise affects the decoding part of tne CO
process.
The transmission of the receiver's response to the sender is caled eu
FeedbacK IS essential, as it measures the effectiveness of communication.
message Set, ne communication cycle is complete only when thnere is a
from tne fecipient or the message. Otherwise, the message needs to be re-sent. Wnen a
response S recelived, the message has been successfully delivered to the otner parny. ro
example, you put up a notice asking the members of your student cou
meeting On a speCIIed date, at a particular time, at the location mentioned. On the cay o
the meeung. you ind that some of them have come while the others have nor turned p
In this case you have obtained both positive and negative responses to your mag
However, Since you nave got some feedback, the communication process s compiol
You also Know that it has been effective, at least from your side. Hence, to know netid
the communication has been successful or not, there must be some feedback, Wics
nothing Dut an observation of the recipient's response. The communication S Tuiy
effective only when there is a desired response fron the receiver
ETective communication takes place in a well-defined set-up. This is caned tne
communication environment. A classroom is the communication environment Wnen a
teacher delivers lectures to students. If such a communication is attempted without  proper environment, it will not have the desired effect. Similarly, a teacher's cubicle
0ecomes the communication environment when a student privately approaches the
edcner. nus, tne essentials of effective communication are as folows:-

A Well-defined communication environment

Cooperation between the sender and the receiver

Selection of an appropriate channel
Correct encoding and decoding of the message
Feedback