Process of Communication

Process of communication:-

Definition of the word ‘communication’:-

The word communication is derived from the Latin word ‘communis’ meaning ‘common’. It stands for a natural activity of all human beings to convey opinions, feelings, information and ideas to others through words, body language or signs.

The process of communication starts with the transmitter. The transmitter is described as Tx. The role of a transmitter is that of a sender. She/ he sends the message. The message may or may not be verbal always. To send the message properly, the transmitter changes her/ his ideas into words / actions. This process is known as ‘encoding’. The sender sends the message through proper ‘channel’ or medium. If the receiver or ‘Rx’ has to understand the message properly, she/ he has to again change words / actions into ideas. This process is known as ‘decoding’. If the message reaches properly, the receiver indicates to the sender whether the message has been properly understood or not. This return information is known as ‘feedback’. Getting proper feedback is vital for successful communication because communication can not be one way deal. Moreover, the roles of the transmitter and the receiver keep on changing.

Types of communication:-

Broadly speaking there are two major types of communication:- Verbal and Non-verbal. Generally when we communicate, we use words. Communication through written or spoken words is verbal communication. Here the skills of the transmitter are:- Speaking and writing; where as the skills of the receiver are:- Listening and reading. Communication without words is Non-Verbal communication. It may be done through facial expressions, gestures, eyes, posture, colours, clothes, pictures or signs. Other types of communication are:-

1. Intra personal communication

2. Inter personal communication

3. Group communication

4. Mass communication

5. Meta communication

When the person communicates with herself / himself then that communication is known as intra- personal communication. Examples are – dreams, reading aloud, talking to one self, writing our own ideas.

Communication between two/ more persons is known as inter personal communication. Here the Tx and the Rx depend on one another. They send and understand messages through direct channels (words) and indirect channels (body language).

Communication in a group of three to twelve people is known as group communication. All the members in a group should be working towards the same goal. If all the members in a group perform the same activity it is known as additive group, if all the members in a group work differently to achieve the same result it is known as conjunctive group and when members discuss the solution to a problem it is known as disjunctive group. There can be a social group also.

When the messages are communicated through mass media like television, radio, news papers etc., it is known as mass communication.

The word ‘meta’ is from Greek language. It means ‘higher’ or ‘more than’. For a lot of people the exchange of information is most important in a conversation. The fact is, however, that with every sentence we speak, we send a great deal of additional messages and in the end it is always the receiver who decides on their contents. According to the selected meaning, the reaction of the receiver will be different. In the case the selected meaning doesn’t match the sender’s intention (what is more rule than exception) conflicts are bound to happen.