Revision:Communication

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Communication is the process of transferring information between people.

Methods of communication

Oral

• Informal chat
• Interview
• Meeting
• Telephone
• Loudspeaker
• Video conferencing

Written

• Letter
• Memo
• Report
• Fax
• Email
• Notice board

Visual

• Picture
• Diagram
• Map
• Overhead projector
• Notice board
• Computer
• Video

Physical

• Tone of voice
• Facial expression
• Gesture
• Deliberate silence

Possible problems

• Oral – no record
• Written – time consuming, may be costly, allows for misinterpretation
• Visual – easy to misinterpret, time consuming to prepare
• Physical – different physical gestures may affect how a message is delivered

Relationship between motivation and morale

• Motivation is the driving force or process that compels people to take a particular course of action.

• Morale is the state of an individual or group of individual’s spirits of confidence.

How it links….

If a person’s morale is low he/ she may not be motivated to work to achieve organisational goals.

Effect of poor morale on communication

If the sender suffers low morale….

• May not take care over the message
• May choose inappropriate language (not think about who’s reading the info)
• May not choose an appropriate medium

If the receiver suffers low morale….

• May choose to ignore message
• Be easily distracted so not give the message the full attention
• Might not take the time to understand the message
• Deliberately misinterpret
• Fail to provide feedback to the sender

The importance of feedback

The most important part of communication is feedback. It tells the sender that the message has been received and understood. The senders need this for their own security needs. Without feedback, there may be significant problems for a business – incorrect orders / deliveries, delays in production, unhappy customers, lost sales.

BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION

Barriers to communication are factors that prevent a message from being received and or correctly understood or interpreted.

ATTITUDES

How employees perceive other people can affect how they interpret the messages that they are sent.

Dislike/ distrust

• May put little effort into understanding the message (receiver – sender)
• May make the message difficult to understand (Sender – receiver)
• Lack of trust in the message if they do not trust each other

Like/ trust

• More likely to trust the messages
• More receptive to the information in the message

INTERMEDIARIES

The people involved in helping to transmit a message from the sender to the receiver

The more intermediaries the more likely the following are:

• Long delays
• Original message distorted (like Chinese whispers)
• Message may never be passed on

Why might the message not be passed on?

• Power struggle
• Nervousness
• Uncertain of accuracy
• Lack of open mindedness
• Fear of the reaction
• Intermediaries don’t see the message as important

Lack of common language

• If the sender is an expert they may use jargon that makes it difficult to understand.
• Using simplistic language could offend the receiver
• Language/ culture differences may cause communication problems

Lack of common sense of purpose

• If the receiver feels alienated or is not committed to the business goals they may not want to listen to new ideas.

Environmental

• Lack of comfort – e.g., too hot or cold
• Noise
• Lack of privacy

Time

• The time of day – e.g. workers may be too tired so don’t listen
• Length of communication – too much information at once – points may be missed
• Amount of time to pass on the information – important points may be missed in a hurry.

Comments

These notes are aimed at people studying for A Level Business Studies (Unit 4), but will be suitable for other people too.

Originally submitted by rachd_22 on TSR Forums.