{"id":398,"date":"2019-04-08T19:59:24","date_gmt":"2019-04-08T19:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=398"},"modified":"2024-04-24T23:08:11","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T23:08:11","slug":"the-process-of-communication","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/chapter\/the-process-of-communication\/","title":{"raw":"The Process of Communication","rendered":"The Process of Communication"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Describe the communication process<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nWhat does communication look like? When you think about communication in its simplest form, the process is really quite linear. There\u2019s a sender of a message\u2014let\u2019s say you\u2014talking. You, the sender, have a thought. You put that thought into words, which is encoding the message.\r\n\r\nAnd then there\u2019s a recipient of a message\u2014in this case your coworker Nikola. The message comes out of your mouth, and then it is decoded, or processed, by the recipient, Nikola, who then decides on the meaning of your words as a result of that decoding process. She hears your words and considers their meaning\u2014put simply, she's listening. It looks something like this:\r\n\r\n<img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-409 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4052\/2019\/04\/08194049\/CommunicationProcessModel1.jpg\" alt=\"Flowchart of the communication process model: the sender encodes a message which is decoded by the receiver.\" width=\"1400\" height=\"229\" \/>\r\n\r\nBut what the sender says isn\u2019t always what the reciever hears. Encoding and decoding don\u2019t always happen seamlessly.\u00a0In this instance, Nikola might \u201ctune out\u201d and miss some of what you said, or she may hear your words correctly, but misunderstand their meaning. It may even be a concept that is doomed to be misunderstood before your words are even formed, due to existing difference between you and your coworker. When this happens, it\u2019s called noise.\r\n\r\n<img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-410 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4052\/2019\/04\/08194113\/CommunicationProcessModel2.jpg\" alt=\"A flowchart of the communication process model, this time with &quot;noise&quot; being introduced to the sender, message, and receiver.\" width=\"1400\" height=\"499\" \/>\r\n\r\nIf Nikola is not clear on your message, she may stop you and say, \u201cWait. You\u2019re saying this. Do I understand you correctly?\u201d This is called feedback.\r\n\r\n<img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-411 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4052\/2019\/04\/08194200\/CommunicationProcessModel3.jpg\" alt=\"A flowchart of the communication process model, this time with &quot;feedback&quot; flowing from the &quot;receiver&quot; to the &quot;sender&quot;.\" width=\"1400\" height=\"726\" \/>\r\n\r\nYour recipient has let you know that you\u2019ve been misunderstood by giving you feedback. At this point you can\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Repeat the message a second time<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask some clarifying questions to determine why your recipient didn\u2019t understand what you said, and then address those issues on your next attempt to communicate your idea.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nFeedback can come in a variety of forms, too. In this case, Nikola is repeating your statement and asking for confirmation that she heard it correctly. In another case, you may have told Nikola that to find the restroom she needs to head down a hall and turn right. When she heads down the hall and turns left, that, too, is feedback letting you know you've been misunderstood.\r\n\r\nOften that\u2019s the kind of feedback an organization has to navigate. Organizations issue a communication, perhaps in the form of a memo, and send it out to all their employees. Employees read it. If the message is understood and appropriate actions are taken, all is well. There may have been noise, but it did not get in the way of the message. If employees start firing emails back to the originator of the message, asking questions or clarifying points, they are engaging in feedback. If they take action that is not appropriate, that\u2019s also feedback. The message needs to be reiterated, framed differently, to clarify portions that were not communicated the first time.\r\n\r\nThis whole process, the steps between a source and receiver that result in the transference and understanding of meaning, is called the communication feedback loop. In an organizational communication feedback loop, we can also consider the channel of communication in the message. The channel is the medium by which the message travels. Newsletters, one-on-one meetings, town halls, video conferencing\u2014all of these are channels of communication.\r\n\r\n<img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-412\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4052\/2019\/04\/08194317\/CommunicationProcessModel4.jpg\" alt=\"A completed flowchart of the communication process model. A sender encodes a message, using a specific channel, and the receiver decodes the message. Noise can be introduced by the sender, message, channel, or receiver. The receiver sends feedback to the sender.\" width=\"1400\" height=\"720\" \/>\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/4a3dce27-b92d-44f7-aaa4-5381b421703d\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nThere are formal channels of communication in an organization. These are channels of communication established by an organization to transmit messages that impact the work-related activities of its employees. They can follow the authority chain in an organization, and would include things like messages from leadership, information from the human resources department about benefits, or even articles recognizing an employee for great work.\r\n\r\nThe informal channels of communication in an organization are personal and social. Your mind may automatically go to \u201cwater cooler gossip\u201d and, while that is definitely an informal channel of communication, there are plenty of ways informal communication channels do an organization good. For instance, a new process may be in the testing phase with a group of employees. Those employees can iron out the wrinkles of the process and become enthused about it, acting as ambassadors for the new method with other employees before it\u2019s even rolled out. The informal channel, in this example, is communication that will assist with change management.\r\n\r\nBy understanding the goals of communication and how communication operates, an organization can ensure their employees have the right information to do their jobs, and ultimately open the door to increased engagement and productivity.","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Describe the communication process<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>What does communication look like? When you think about communication in its simplest form, the process is really quite linear. There\u2019s a sender of a message\u2014let\u2019s say you\u2014talking. You, the sender, have a thought. You put that thought into words, which is encoding the message.<\/p>\n<p>And then there\u2019s a recipient of a message\u2014in this case your coworker Nikola. The message comes out of your mouth, and then it is decoded, or processed, by the recipient, Nikola, who then decides on the meaning of your words as a result of that decoding process. She hears your words and considers their meaning\u2014put simply, she&#8217;s listening. It looks something like this:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-409 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4052\/2019\/04\/08194049\/CommunicationProcessModel1.jpg\" alt=\"Flowchart of the communication process model: the sender encodes a message which is decoded by the receiver.\" width=\"1400\" height=\"229\" \/><\/p>\n<p>But what the sender says isn\u2019t always what the reciever hears. Encoding and decoding don\u2019t always happen seamlessly.\u00a0In this instance, Nikola might \u201ctune out\u201d and miss some of what you said, or she may hear your words correctly, but misunderstand their meaning. It may even be a concept that is doomed to be misunderstood before your words are even formed, due to existing difference between you and your coworker. When this happens, it\u2019s called noise.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-410 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4052\/2019\/04\/08194113\/CommunicationProcessModel2.jpg\" alt=\"A flowchart of the communication process model, this time with &quot;noise&quot; being introduced to the sender, message, and receiver.\" width=\"1400\" height=\"499\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If Nikola is not clear on your message, she may stop you and say, \u201cWait. You\u2019re saying this. Do I understand you correctly?\u201d This is called feedback.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-411 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4052\/2019\/04\/08194200\/CommunicationProcessModel3.jpg\" alt=\"A flowchart of the communication process model, this time with &quot;feedback&quot; flowing from the &quot;receiver&quot; to the &quot;sender&quot;.\" width=\"1400\" height=\"726\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Your recipient has let you know that you\u2019ve been misunderstood by giving you feedback. At this point you can<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Repeat the message a second time<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask some clarifying questions to determine why your recipient didn\u2019t understand what you said, and then address those issues on your next attempt to communicate your idea.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Feedback can come in a variety of forms, too. In this case, Nikola is repeating your statement and asking for confirmation that she heard it correctly. In another case, you may have told Nikola that to find the restroom she needs to head down a hall and turn right. When she heads down the hall and turns left, that, too, is feedback letting you know you&#8217;ve been misunderstood.<\/p>\n<p>Often that\u2019s the kind of feedback an organization has to navigate. Organizations issue a communication, perhaps in the form of a memo, and send it out to all their employees. Employees read it. If the message is understood and appropriate actions are taken, all is well. There may have been noise, but it did not get in the way of the message. If employees start firing emails back to the originator of the message, asking questions or clarifying points, they are engaging in feedback. If they take action that is not appropriate, that\u2019s also feedback. The message needs to be reiterated, framed differently, to clarify portions that were not communicated the first time.<\/p>\n<p>This whole process, the steps between a source and receiver that result in the transference and understanding of meaning, is called the communication feedback loop. In an organizational communication feedback loop, we can also consider the channel of communication in the message. The channel is the medium by which the message travels. Newsletters, one-on-one meetings, town halls, video conferencing\u2014all of these are channels of communication.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-412\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4052\/2019\/04\/08194317\/CommunicationProcessModel4.jpg\" alt=\"A completed flowchart of the communication process model. A sender encodes a message, using a specific channel, and the receiver decodes the message. Noise can be introduced by the sender, message, channel, or receiver. The receiver sends feedback to the sender.\" width=\"1400\" height=\"720\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_4a3dce27-b92d-44f7-aaa4-5381b421703d\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/4a3dce27-b92d-44f7-aaa4-5381b421703d?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_4a3dce27-b92d-44f7-aaa4-5381b421703d\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>There are formal channels of communication in an organization. These are channels of communication established by an organization to transmit messages that impact the work-related activities of its employees. They can follow the authority chain in an organization, and would include things like messages from leadership, information from the human resources department about benefits, or even articles recognizing an employee for great work.<\/p>\n<p>The informal channels of communication in an organization are personal and social. Your mind may automatically go to \u201cwater cooler gossip\u201d and, while that is definitely an informal channel of communication, there are plenty of ways informal communication channels do an organization good. For instance, a new process may be in the testing phase with a group of employees. Those employees can iron out the wrinkles of the process and become enthused about it, acting as ambassadors for the new method with other employees before it\u2019s even rolled out. The informal channel, in this example, is communication that will assist with change management.<\/p>\n<p>By understanding the goals of communication and how communication operates, an organization can ensure their employees have the right information to do their jobs, and ultimately open the door to increased engagement and productivity.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-398\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>The Process of Communication. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Freedom Learning Group. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Images: Communication Process. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Freedom Learning Group. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":17,"menu_order":4,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"The Process of Communication\",\"author\":\"Freedom Learning Group\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Images: Communication Process\",\"author\":\"Freedom Learning Group\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"db51180f-f032-4136-b82a-d50a9c142e90, 03d354fd-0d79-49cf-859d-3fdda68702ff","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-398","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":29,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2258,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/398\/revisions\/2258"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/29"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/398\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=398"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=398"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}