Report on the Development of an Effective Strategy for Communication

Report on the Development of an Effective Strategy for Communication

The purpose of this report is to outline the various methods of communication available to organisations and the main problems encountered in the communications process and to detail how the members of an organisation can deal with them.

Introduction

Communication is the process by which ideas, information, opinions, attitudes and feelings are conveyed from one person to another (McClave, 1997: 2). The ability of the members to communicate effectively is fundamental to the success of the organisation and as Chester Beatty stated, “communication is the lifeblood of any organisation”.

The communications process encompasses a continuous two-way cycle of events (Figure 1) (McClave, 1997: 2, Stanton, 1996: 1). The process is initiated when the communicator encodes information and transmits it to the recipient using a communication medium. The recipient listens and decodes the information. The next stage of the cycle occurs when the recipient provides feedback to the communicator on the information received. The provision of feedback involves the recipient encoding information and transmitting it i.e. the process of communication is recommencing. At all stages of the cycle, noise may act as a contaminant and interfere with the efficacy of the process.

Figure 1. The communications process (adapted from Stanton, 1996: 1)

Noise

The objectives of effective communication are linked to each stage of the cycle. Regardless of the nature of the information being communicated, the objectives always remain constant (Stanton, 1996: 1):

i. Information is conveyed by the communicator and received by the recipient.

ii. The recipient understands the information.

iii. The recipient is persuaded to accept the information.

iv. Changes occur as a result of the communication of information.

The fulfillment of these objectives is dependent on a variety of interlinked components, such as purpose, perception, context and medium. Any change in one component will have a follow through effect on the other components within the process. For example, the purpose of the communication will affect the medium used. The medium used will influence the context in which the message is conveyed and this in turn will influence the way the recipient perceives the message and the feedback they give to the communicator.

To achieve these objectives there are four main forms of communication available to organisations (McClave, 1997: 6):

• Written e.g. letters, reports, memoranda.

• Verbal e.g. conversation, interview, meeting, presentation, oral briefing.

• Non-Verbal e.g. non-verbal, diagrams, charts, photographs, models.

• Electronic e.g. video, telephone, facsimile, email, internet.

The choice of medium will depend on the content of the message, the complexity of the message and the feeling that is to be conveyed in the message (McClave, 1997: 5). Additionally, it will depend on whether the communication is deliberate, spontaneous or unintentional (McClave, 1997: 3). Deliberate communication involves planning into the actual form of the communication, the target audience, the medium, for example. Spontaneous communication normally takes the form of conversation. Unplanned communication may often be a result of body language.

As with any process within an organisation, there are always obstacles that must be overcome in order to achieve its objectives. The range from socio cultural through psychological to organisational barriers (John Grehan, DBS, 2003)

i. Socio