Managerial Communication

FORMS OF COMMUNICATION

Communication takes many forms according to the style of to expression, the occasion and situation, the symbols and medium used, the relationship between the persons involved and such other factors. Each form has its uses and functions. The categories are not water-tight separations; there is a good deal of overlap. Any particular message or communication event may fall into more than one category. The classification is only for the purpose of understanding how communication takes on different styles and has different impact on the situation. It is sometimes possible to make a different impact by consciously changing the form of a particular communication transaction.

ONE -WAY AND TOW WAY

1n one-way communication, information is always transferred in only one direction from the source to the target audience. With oneway communication there is no direct interaction between the persons involved. The receiver has no chance to get clarification or to question the information received. One-way communication follows the linear Source-Message-Channel-Receiver (S-M-C-R) model of communication. Since there is no feedback, the source cannot find out whether the receiver has understood the message. Examples of one-way communications systems are radio and television broadcasts, newspapers, advertisements and other mass media. Within an organisation, the notice board and public address system are one-way systems.

Two-way communication is interactive. It involves both persons fully. In a normal two-way conversation, the persons constantly alternate between being source and receiver. The receiver can ask for clarification or challenge the source or add one’s own ideas and views to the conversation. At the end of such a conversation, both gain information on the issue talked about as well as about each other.
Communication is much more complex than the simple model of source sending a message over a channel to a receiver. The sender and the receiver both actively play a role. They function within their respective frames of reference, such as then social situations, and their relationship to one another. What the receiver brings to the communication situation is as important as perhaps even more important