Chapter 1: Understanding Business Communication

Understanding the Communication Process

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Communication doesn't occur haphazardly. Nor does it happen all at once. It is more than a single act. Communication is a dynamic, transactional (two-way) process that can be broken into six phases (See Figure 1–6).

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Active Figure 1–6	The Communication Process

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1.	The sender has an idea. You conceive an idea and want to share it.

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The sender encodes the idea. When you put your idea into a message that your receiver will understand, you are encoding it, deciding on the message's form (word, facial expression, gesture), length, organization, tone, and style—all of which depend on your idea, your audience, and your personal style or mood.

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3.	The sender transmits the message. To physically transmit your message to your receiver, you select a medium (telephone, letter, memo, e-mail, report, face-to-face exchange). These choices depend on your message, your audience's location, your need for speed, and the formality required.

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4.	The receiver gets the message. For communication to occur, your receiver must first get the message. If you send a letter, your receiver has to read it before understanding it. If you're giving a speech, your listeners have to be able to hear you, and they have to be paying attention.

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The receiver decodes the message. Your receiver must decode (absorb and understand) your message. The decoded message must then be stored in the receiver's mind. If all goes well, the receiver interprets your message correctly; that is, the receiver assigns the same meaning to your words as you intended and responds in the desired way.

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The receiver sends feedback. Feedback is your receiver's response. After decoding your message, the receiver responds in some way and signals that response to you. Feedback enables you to evaluate the effectiveness of your message: If your audience doesn't understand what you mean, you can tell by the response and refine your message.

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As Figure 1–6 illustrates, the communication process is repeated until both parties have finished expressing themselves.²⁰

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	active concept check	1–2
Now let's take a moment to test your knowledge of the concepts you have studied in this section.

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