[AGE5 00] PRELIM: Unit I Lesson 1 Communication Processes, Principles, and Ethics

Importance of Communication

• It fosters coordination, enabling people to comprehend each other’s thoughts and ideas.

• Its role is crucial to the smooth functioning of each member within an organization

• It aids effective and efficient decision-making

• It boosts managerial efficiency and leadership potential in organizations

• It promotes peace and cooperation among all employees.

• It boosts morale and promotes a healthy work environment.

Elements of Communication

• Communication Contexts

• Sender

• Encoding

• Message

• Channel

• Noise

• Decoding

• Receiver

• Feedback

Communication Contexts

• Elements of Communication

• It pertains to personal, physical, social, psychological, and cultural circumstances, among others in which communication occurs.

• It refer to the setting in which communication takes place.

• It helps establish meaning and can influence what is said and how it is said.

5 Communication Contexts

• Personal Context

• Physical Context

• Social Context

• Psychological Context

• Cultural Context

Personal Context

• Communication Contexts

• It involves the background of both sender and the receiver of the message.

• It includes their education, religion, socioeconomic status, marital status and beliefs that greatly influence what and how they communicate.

Physical Context

• Communication Contexts

• It pertains to the environment where communication takes place.

• It involves tangible factors which can be perceived by the senses such as temperature, humidity, odor, lighting, and noise level among others.

• It includes proximity, how far or how close the participants are to each other, as well as the medium used in sending the message.

Social Context

• Communication Contexts

• It refers to the kind of relationship that exists between the sender and the receiver.

• It motivates one to communicate with people who are closer to him and as such he easily gains the respect and understanding.

Psychological Context

• Communication Contexts

• It includes the emotions and feelings of the participants in the communication process.

• It involves their opinions, judgments, prejudices, attitude and perception toward each other which can play a part in the transmission of messages.

Cultural Context

• Communication Contexts

• It is one of the vital considerations in communication.

• It includes sets of beliefs, value systems, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and religion with which communication happens.

Sender

• Elements of Communication

• The ___ is the source that starts communication

• They imagine the message and then considers how to transmit it to the receiver.

• A message is the final concept of the idea formulated by the sender.

Encoding

• Elements of Communication

• It is the process of translating information into a form that can be transmitted to another person or system.

• The sender must first ___ their message in a way that the receiver can understand.

• It is the part of transforming abstract opinions and ideas into symbols such as words, pictures, signs, and marks.

• A symbol might represent or indicate opinions, statements, and actions.

Message

• Elements of Communication

• It refers to the information, ideas, opinions, attitudes, and feelings the sender wants to convey.

• These may convey through verbal, written and non-verbal cues.

Channel

• Elements of Communication

• It is the medium or tool to transmit the message.

• The person who wants to communicate must choose a ___ to send information, ideas, requests, etc.

• In a face-to-face communication, the sender uses all five senses to transmit information.

Noise

• Elements of Communication

• It is also called as the barrier that affects the message from being sent, received, or understood.

• Classification of ___:

  • Physical

  • Physiological

  • Semantic

  • Psychological

  • Technical

  • Cultural

Physical

• Classification of Noise

• External environmental factors like loud conversations, static on a phone call, or visual distractions.

Physiological

• Classification of Noise

• Biological factors such as hearing or vision impairments, fatigue, or hunger.

Psychological

• Classification of Noise

• Mental distractions or emotional states that affect how a message is received.

Semantic

• Classification of Noise

• Misinterpretations due to language differences or ambiguous wording.

Technical

• Classification of Noise

• Issues with technology, such as poor internet connectivity or malfunctioning equipment.

Culture

• Classification of Noise

• Misinterpretations arising from cultural differences.

Decoding

• Elements of Communication

• It is the first stage in listening, the receiver converts symbols into thoughts rom the sender.

• It translates encoded symbols into understandable language

• Without understanding the message, the receiver will not be able to communicate or give a response; on the other hand, with understanding, the receiver will be able to easily react or give feedback.

Receiver

• Elements of Communication

• The recipient (___) is the person who received the message or to whom the message was sent; it is the ___ who will try to understand the message in the best possible way to achieve the desired goals.

• They can be one person or a group of people

Feedback

• Elements of Communication

• It is is the message sent by the receiver in response to a message he has received.

• When this happens, the receiver or recipient now acts as sender and the sender vice versa.

• It also refers to the receiver’s verbal and non-verbal response to the source’s message; response does not necessarily have to be verbal for it be considered a ___.

Communication Model

• The definition of communication and its elements can also be further understood in the light of a framework or model to see their interrelatedness.

• The common models of communication that have been utilized over the years are the:

  • Linear model

  • Interactive model

  • Transactional model

Linear Model

• It is also called the transmission model, is based on the assumption that communication is transmitted in a straightforward manner - from a sender to a receiver, this clearly reflects that communication is one-way process.

• Examples:

  • Television

  • Radio

  • Newspaper

  • Mass Communication

Interactive Model

• The interactive model of communication is a two- way process of exchanging ideas, messages and information.

• Between two or more sources.

• It involves an active exchange between two or more parties, where each party takes turns as the sender and receiver of the message.

• Examples:

  • Exchanges of email

  • Text message

  • Social Media Posts

  • Workplace

Transactional Model

• This is considered the most accurate representation of the communication process.

• Speakers here may be evaluated according to their credibility, self-concept or attitude towards self or others, knowledge of the subject, and intention or purpose of communication.

• Listeners are characterized by their purpose of listening, knowledge and interest about the topic, listening skills, and their attitudes towards self, the speaker and ideas or information presented.

• Feedback maybe intentional (angry, reply, retort, etc.) or unintentional (yawning), and verbal (oral or written) or nonverbal (waving of hand)

• The three aspects of a message include the content, the structure, and the style.

• Finally, the situation element refers to the physical environment and social context in which communication occurs.

Speakers

___ here may be evaluated according to their credibility, self-concept or attitude towards self or others, knowledge of the subject, and intention or purpose of communication.

Listeners

___ are characterized by their purpose of listening, knowledge and interest about the topic, listening skills, and their attitudes towards self, the speaker and ideas or information presented.

Principles of Communication

• Communication is transactional

• Communication is inevitable

• Communication is goal-oriented

• Communication has various levels

• Communication is complex

• Communication can be learned

• Communication is relational

• Communication is guided by culture

Communication is transactional

It is a two-way process; when a message is sent, a reply is expected.

Communication is inevitable

It is an indispensable part of the daily life.

Communication is goal-oriented

Its ultimate goal is to understand each other; when communicating either through speaking or writing, its purpose is either to persuade, to entertain, to inform, to express one’s feeling, ideas or emotions and to influence others.

Communication has various levels.

• Intrapersonal refers to the communication that occurs when we do “self talk” or engage in self-reflection

• Interpersonal involves two persons who interact with each other usually based on common communication goals

• Small group involves three to twenty people

• Public involves more than twenty people as in the case o f a public official delivering a speech to an audience.

Intrapersonal

It refers to the communication that occurs when we do “self talk” or engage in self-reflection

Interpersonal

It involves two persons who interact with each other usually based on common communication goals

Small group

It involves three to twenty people

Public

It involves more than twenty people as in the case o f a public official delivering a speech to an audience.

Communication is complex

• Communication is not simply sending a text message, talking over the phone, or using hand gestures.

• It is ___.

• It entails a lot of processes, which can occur simultaneously or successively.

• Part of the ___ lies in the recognition that communication is interactive, context-based, culturally loaded, circular and irreversible.

Communication can be learned

It can be learned– despite the complexity of communication, it is a skill which can be learned; the foundational knowledge in this chapter is your first step to learning and eventually improving your communication skills.

Communication is relational

• In any communication setting, aside from sharing meaning, the process how meaning is created also echoes two vital aspects of the relationships of the communicators:

  • Immediacy shows verbal expressions of friendliness

  • Control is the degree to which one participant shows dominance or power.

Communication is guided by culture

• Culture maybe defined as a system of knowledge shared by a relatively large group of people:

  • The system includes shared beliefs, values, symbols and behaviors.

  • How messages are created and processed in order to foster understanding is greatly influenced by the cultural background of communicators.

  • When one communicates with others whose cultural backgrounds differ from his or her own, he or she needs to look at himself or herself.

  • His or her sensitivity must always be given to communication behaviour as a way of practicing cultural sensitivity

  • Regardless of cultural identity and ethnicity, sensitivity must always be given to the sex, age, class and sexual orientation of the participants in the process of communication

Guidelines for Becoming an Ethical Communicator

• Ethical communicators are honest

• Ethical communicators are aware of the consequences of their thoughts and actions.

• Ethical communicators value diversity and respect other’s opinions

• Ethical communicators are just and fair, to be just and fair is to be impartial and objective.

Ethical communicators are honest

• Guidelines for Becoming an Ethical Communicator

• In communicating thoughts, ideas and feelings, be truthful.

• Good communicator never lie and deceive other people.

• To fully realize the end purpose of communication, thoughts, ideas and feelings should be expressed with the best intentions.

Ethical communicators are aware of the consequences of their thoughts and actions

• Guidelines for Becoming an Ethical Communicator

• The way we communicate can build or ruin one’s reputation.

• There is a need to take accountability in what we do and say.

• Communication is irreversible which means that once something is uttered or written, it cannot be taken back.

• Therefore, there is a need to be very cautious with the choice of words and be responsible with one’s thoughts and actions.

Ethical communicators value diversity and respect other’s opinions

• Guidelines for Becoming an Ethical Communicator

• Respect means showing regard or consideration for others and their ideas even if you do not agree with them.

  • People differ in terms of backgrounds, interests, beliefs, and value system.

  • They formulate different opinions and insights about various topics and issues.

  • Their ideas may be similar to or, more often than not, different from yours.

  • Whatever the case, you have to respect others by listening to their points of view and genuinely trying to understand them.

  • You may still disagree with other people without sounding rude or offensive.

  • This is an indication that you demonstrate respect amidst differences.

Ethical communicators are just and fair, to be just and fair is to be impartial and objective.

• Guidelines for Becoming an Ethical Communicator

• You do not hastily make decisions or judgments based on hearsays , gossips, prejudices and personal biases.

• Think about the judges who decide on cases filed in their respective jurisdiction.

• An ethical communicator exerts every effort to gather relevant facts or pertinent information related to a situation before making a decision.

• They are examples of people who should adhere to standards of fairness.