Communication Process Paper free essay sample

No individual, group, or organization can exist without communication: the transfer of meaning among its members. It is only through transmitting meaning from one person to another that information and ideas can be conveyed. Communication, however, is more than merely imparting meaning. It must also be understood. Before communication can take place, a purpose, expressed as a message to be conveyed, is needed. It passes between a sender and a receiver. The message is encoded (converted to a symbolic form) and passed by way of some medium (channel) to the receiver, who retranslates (decodes) the message initiated by the sender. The result is transfer of meaning from one person to another. In this paper I will be describing the communication climate in my organization as a whole. I will be explaining the strengths and weaknesses of my organization’s communication. I will be explaining the management approach of your organization’s supervisors, managers, and executives contribute to or detract from effective communication. I will also provide an example that supports my view. The key parts of the communication process consist of the sender, encoding, the message, the channel, decoding, the receiver, noise, and feedback. The sender initiates a message by encoding a thought. The message is the actual physical product from the sender’s encoding. When we speak, the speech is the message. When we write, the writing is the message. When we gesture, the movements of our arms and the expressions on our faces are the message. The channel is the medium through which the message travels. It is selected by the sender, who must determine whether to use a formal or informal channel. The receiver is the object to whom the message is directed. But before the message can be received, the symbols in it must be translated into a form that can be understood by the receiver. This step is the decoding of the message. Noise represents communication barriers that distort the clarity of the message. Examples of possible noise sources include perceptual problems, information overload, semantic difficulties, 3 or cultural differences. 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. It determines whether understanding has been achieved. The communication climate of my organization as a whole is an open, clear communication climate which I feel tends to increase productivity. Also of importance is a certain degree of openness in terms of workers being able to express their opinions and feelings without fear of retaliation. When the employees not only know exactly what is expected of them, but understand that they have the responsibility of meeting those needs, improvement in job performance is likely to be the result. If good job performance is then rewarded favorably, such as through feedback, raises, awards or promotions during scheduled reviews, employees are more likely to keep improving on their productive work behaviors. Communication is mostly done orally and in writing, the manager does this because she wants to make sure everyone understands what is being communicated. The best communication climates foster clarity. My company values and expectations can be communicated in many ways that work to strengthen communication. Managers are able to build a better communication climate by monitoring it and modeling clear communications in conversations, meetings and memos. They have an idea of a win-win situation between the employers and employees forms the strong basis of effective communication climates. The strengths of my organization’s communication are the constant oral meetings that are done to make sure everyone is on the same page. Everything is also done in writing even though the message was already done verbally. During open communication everyone is able to give feedback and voice their opinions. Another strength is that management shows employees that 4 they appreciate our hard work by given raises and feedback on a job well done. Communicating to workers through a system of expectations and rewards helps them own the responsibility to take the initiative in their work and workplace behaviors. Taking responsibility and being expected to take the initiative can also help reduce negative attitudes. The weakness of my organization’s communication is the negative attitudes such as defensiveness that some of the employees get when they feel that a policy doesn’t make since and the manager’s and the supervisor doesn’t show any concerns. Another weakness is if an employee is unclear on any part of his or her job expectations may respond that he or she wasnt told and thats why the needed work wasnt done. His or her attitude may even affect co-workers, which is likely to only create more negativity in the workplace climate. I feel that the management approach of my organization’s supervisors, managers, and executives contribute to effective communication. They do this by always communicating verbally and in writing. Also, if there is a conflict it is solved face-to-face, with the involved parties and management to resolve the conflict. For example, management had a meeting regarding a new policy they wanted to implement within the company. Management communicated that there was going to be a new policy and they had an employee’s meeting for feedback on the new policy and this feedback was going to help them decide to keep the policy or to come up with another police.