Communication is the giving and receiving of information via talk, gestures, and writing. The purpose of communication is to persuade, inquire, and entertain.
Principles of Communication
- People are more likely to hear messages that are compatible with their expectations and are more likely to listen to messages on topics about which they have read.
- Effectiveness of various media differs with educational level.
- Majority opinion is more effective in changing attitude than expert opinions.
- People with low self-esteem are more easily influenced by persuasive communication than people with high self-esteem.
- The more trustworthy the speaker, the less manipulative he is perceived to be.
Steps in Communication
- Ideation. The sender decides to share a message with someone.
- Encoding. Putting meaning into symbolic forms.
- Transmission of message.
- Receiving.
- Decoding. The receiver defines words and interprets gestures during transmission of speech.
- Response or feedback.
Levels of Communication
- Intrapersonal. The communication occurs within the person.
- Interpersonal. Communication occurs between two persons.
- Transpersonal. Occurs within a person’s spiritual domain.
- Small-group communication. The communication occurs between a small-group of people.
- Public communication. Communication occurs in a large group of people.
Communication Systems
- Downward communication. Communication flows from the superiors to its subordinates.
- Upward communication. The communication flows from the subordinates to its superiors.
- Lateral communication. Communication flows from functional areas at a given level of the organization or hospital.
- Diagonal communication. The communication flows from a subordinate of a certain level to the superior of another level and vice versa.
- Grapevine. It stretches throughout the organization in all directions irrespective of authority.
