The other important feature is the feedback cycle. When two people interact, communication is rarely one‐way only. When a person receives a message, she responds to it by giving a reply. The feedback cycle is the same as the sender‐receiver feedback noted in Figure . Otherwise, the sender can't know whether the other parties properly interpreted the message or how they reacted to it. Feedback is especially significant in management because a supervisor has to know how subordinates respond to directives and plans. The manager also needs to know how work is progressing and how employees feel about the general work situation.
The critical factor in measuring the effectiveness of communication is common understanding. Understanding exists when all parties involved have a mutual agreement as to not only the information, but also the meaning of the information. Effective communication, therefore, occurs when the intended message of the sender and the interpreted message of the receiver are one and the same. Although this should be the goal in any communication, it is not always achieved.
The most efficient communication occurs at a minimum cost in terms of resources expended. Time, in particular, is an important resource in the communication process. For example, it would be virtually impossible for an instructor to take the time to communicate individually with each student in a class about every specific topic covered. Even if it were possible, it would be costly. This is why managers often leave voice mail messages and interact by e‐mail rather than visit their subordinates personally.
However, efficient time‐saving communications are not always effective. A low‐cost approach such as an e‐mail note to a distribution list may save time, but it does not always result in everyone getting the same meaning from the message. Without opportunities to ask questions and clarify the message, erroneous interpretations are possible. In addition to a poor choice of communication method, other barriers to effective communication include noise and other physical distractions, language problems, and failure to recognize nonverbal signals.
Sometimes communication is effective, but not efficient. A work team leader visiting each team member individually to explain a new change in procedures may guarantee that everyone truly understands the change, but this method may be very costly on the leader's time. A team meeting would be more efficient. In these and other ways, potential tradeoffs between effectiveness and efficiency occur.
Chapter 1: Professional Business Communication
The communication process can be broken down into a series of eight essential components, each of which serves an integral function in the overall process:
1. Source
2. Message
3. Channel
4. Receiver
5. Feedback
6. Environment
7. Context
8. Interference
Source
The source imagines, creates, and sends the message. The source encodes the message by choosing just the right order or the best words to convey the intended meaning, and presents or sends the information to the audience [receiver]. By watching for the audience’s reaction, the source perceives how well they received the message and responds with clarification or supporting information.
Message
“The message is the stimulus or meaning produced by the source for the receiver or audience” [McLean, 2005]. The message brings together words to convey meaning, but is also about how it’s conveyed — through nonverbal cues, organization, grammar, style, and other elements.
Channel
“The channel is the way in which a message or messages travel between source and receiver.” [McLean, 2005]. Spoken channels include face-to-face conversations, speeches, phone conversations and voicemail messages, radio, public address systems, and Skype. Written channels include letters, memorandums, purchase orders, invoices, newspaper and magazine articles, blogs, email, text messages, tweets, and so forth.
Receiver
“The receiver receives the message from the source, analyzing and interpreting the message in ways both intended and unintended by the source” [McLean, 2005].
Feedback
When you respond to the source, intentionally or unintentionally, you are giving feedback. Feedback is composed of messages the receiver sends back to the source. Verbal or nonverbal, all these feedback signals allow the source to see how well, how accurately [or how poorly and inaccurately] the message was received [Leavitt & Mueller, 1951].
Environment
“The environment is the atmosphere, physical and psychological, where you send and receive messages” [McLean, 2005]. Surroundings, people, animals, technology, can all influence your communication.
Context
“The context of the communication interaction involves the setting, scene, and expectations of the individuals involved” [McLean, 2005]. A professional communication context may involve business suits [environmental cues] that directly or indirectly influence expectations of language and behaviour among the participants.
Interference
Interference, also called noise, can come from any source. “Interference is anything that blocks or changes the source’s intended meaning of the message” [McLean, 2005]. This can be external or internal/psychological. Noise interferes with normal encoding and decoding of the message carried by the channel between source and receiver.