Communication is the process by which information is transmitted between individuals and organizations so that understanding response results.

Communication is an exchange of facts, idea, opinions or emotions by two or more persons.

Communication acts to control member behavior in several ways. Organizations have authority hierarchies and formal guidelines that employees are required to follow. Communication fosters motivation by clarifying to employees what is to be done, how well they are doing, and what can be done to improve performance if it’s subpar.

Communication provides a release for the emotional expression of feelings and for fulfillment of social needs in a group.

It provides the information that individuals and groups need to make decisions by transmitting the data to identify and evaluate alternate choices.

The source initiates a message by encoding a thought. The message is the actual physical product from the source encoding.

The channel is the medium through which the message travels. It is selected by the source, who must determine whether to use a formal or informal channels. Formal channels follow the authority chain within the organization. Personal or social, follow the information channels.

The receiver is the object to whom the message is directed. The symbol in it must be translated into a form that can be understood by the receiver. This step is the decoding of the message.

The final link in the communication process is a feedback loop. Feedback is the check on how successful we have been in transferring our messages as originally intended.

1. Downward Communication: - It’s used by group leaders and managers to assign goals, provide job instructions, inform employees of policies and procedures, point out problems that need attention, and offer feedback about performance.

2. Upward Communication: - Upward communication flows to a higher level in the group or organization. It’s used to provide feedback to higher-ups, inform them of progress towards, goals, and relay current problems.

3. Lateral Communication: - When communication takes place among members of the same work group, among members of work groups at the same level, among managers at the same level, or among any horizontally equivalent personnel, it is known as lateral communications.

The following techniques are used to promote upward communication in organizationsThe Grievance redressal procedure: The grievance procedure enables employees to appeal to management and seek redressal of their grievances Open door policy :- This is an organization policy that allows employees to approach manager at any time & discusses their problems with them. Counseling, attitude questionnaires and exit interviews :- The personnel department can conduct non-directive counseling programmes to help employees deal with their work related problems as well as work and family conflicts.

Participative Techniques :- Participative decision making techniques enable employers to obtain inputs from employees. This can be achieve through formal participation programmes like union management committees, suggestion boxes, junior boards & quality circles or through the informal involvement of employees.

The Ombudsperson :- The position of ombudsperson is created to receive and respond to inquiries, complaints, request for policy clarification, or allegation of injustice by employees.

1. Oral Communication: - The chief means of conveying messages is oral communication. Speeches, formal one-to-one and group discussions, and the informal rumor mill or grapevine are popular forms of oral communication.

The advantages of oral communication are speed and feedback. If the receiver is unsure of the message, rapid feedback allows for early detection by the sender and, hence, allows for early correction.

The major disadvantage of oral communication surfaces in organizations or whenever the message has to be passed through a number of people.

The message’s content, when it reaches its destination, is often very different from that of the original.

2. Written Communication: - The advantage of Written communication is that they are tangible and verifiable. One is forced to think more thoroughly about what he want to convey in a written message than in a spoken one. Thus written communications are more likely to be well thought out, logical, and clear. Its disadvantage is that they are time consuming. Written communication, does not have a built-in feedback mechanism.

Lateral Communication: - Lateral communication is also known as cross-communication. In lateral communication, managers communicate with people in other departments outside their own chain of command (across the chain of command).

Interactive communication: - Foyal suggested the gangplank concept. Horizontal communication is necessary to ensure that all the departments in an organization act in a coordinated manner to achieve organizational goals. Companies like General Electric, DuPont, Xerox, and Motorola have adopted horizontal communication a part of their organization structures.Organizations should emphasize interactive communication rather than vertical or horizontal communication. In interactive communication, there is no restriction on the flow of information unless it is against organizational interests. In organizations where interactive communication is allowed, the flow of information takes place spontaneously among people, irrespective of their levels, and does not follow a specified path.

The Interactive process has many behavioral implications. Communicating with peers provides social support for an employee

Benefits: -1. it is beneficial when communication is necessary between peers involved in tasks that require coordinated efforts.

Disadvantages1. Interactive communication between peers who are not involved in tasks requiring coordination among them only results in reducing the productivity of the personnel, thus harming the organizational interests.2. Interactive communication among peers may also affect vertical communication in a negative way. Employees at each level may communicate freely among themselves but fail to communicate upward and downward.

Tasks coordination: - The heads of various departments can meet at regular intervals to discuss how each department can contribute to organizational goals.

Problem solving: - The members of a department may get together to brainstorm and solve a common problem.

Information sharing: - Employees from different departments may interact with each other to share information.

Conflict Resolution: - Members of a department may meet to resolve differences within the department or with other departments.

Grapevine communication supplements the formal channel of communication and provides information which is not communicated through the latter. It provides information on the unwritten rules of the organization and important management decisions (well before they are implemented).

Formal small-Group Networks: - The chain, under the networks of chain, wheel, and all-channel, rigidly follows the formal chain of command.

The wheel relies on a central figure to act as the conduit for all of the group’s communication.

The all-channel networks permits all group members to actively communicate with each other. For example self-managed teams.

The effectiveness of each network depends on the dependent variable you’re concerned about. The structure of the wheel facilitates the emergence of a leader, the all-channel network is best if you are concerned with having high-member satisfaction, and the chain is best if accuracy is most important.

Cross-cultural factors clearly create the potential for increased communication problems.Cultural Barriers: - a) Barriers which are caused by semantics. The words mean different things to different people. The new capitalists in Russia may have difficulty communicating with their British or Canadian Counterparts because English terms such as Efficiency, Free Market, and Regulation are not directly translatable into Russian.b) There are barriers which are caused by word connotations.c) Barriers which are caused by tone differences. In some cultures, language is formal, in others it’s informal. In some cultures, the tone changes depending on the context: people speak differently at home, in social situations, and at work.d) there are barriers caused by differences among perceptions. Eskimos perceive snow differently because they have many words for it. Thais perceives “no” differently than do Americans because the former have mo such word in their vocabulary.

A better understanding of these cultural barriers and their implications for communicating across cultures can be achieved by considering the concepts of high-and low-context cultures.

High-context Culture: - They rely heavily on nonverbal and subtle situational cues when communicating with others. Communication implies considerably more trust by both parties. Oral agreements imply strong commitments in high-context cultures. And who you are-your age, seniority, rank in the organization

Low-context Culture: - they rely essentially on words to convey meaning. Body language or formal titles are secondary to spoken and written words.

Assume differences until similarity is proven : We are less likely to make an error, if we assume others are different from us rather than assuming similarity until difference is proven.

Emphasize description rather than interpretation or evaluation :- Interpreting or evaluating what someone has said or done, in contrast to description, is based more on the observers culture & background than on the observed situation

Practice empathy :- Before sending a message, put yourself in the recipient's shoes. What are his or her values experiences, and frames of reference about his or her education, upbringing and background that can give you added insight ?

Treat your interpretations as a working hypothesis :- Once you have developed an explanation for a new situation, treat your interpretation as a hypothesis that needs further testing rather than as a certainty.