Understand and describe the communication process
Liberty University
AVIA 245 Aviation Leadership
Professor: Jim Molloy
2022
Understand and describe the communication process
Interpersonal communication is an important part of being an effective manager:
It influences the opinions, attitude, motivation, and behaviors of others.
It expresses our feelings, emotions, and intentions to others.
It is the vehicle for providing, receiving, and exchanging information regarding events or issues
that concern us.
It reinforces the formal structure of the organization by such means as making use of formal
channels of communication.
Interpersonal communication allows employees at all levels of an organization to interact with
others, to secure desired results, to request or extend assistance, and to make use of and reinforce the
formal design of the organization. These purposes serve not only the individuals involved, but the larger
goal of improving the quality of organizational effectiveness.
Encoding and Decoding
Two important aspects of this model are encoding and decoding. Encoding is the process by which
individuals initiating the communication translate their ideas into a systematic set of symbols
(language), either written or spoken. Encoding is influenced by the sender’s previous experiences with
the topic or issue, her emotional state at the time of the message, the importance of the message, and
the people involved. Decoding is the process by which the recipient of the message interprets it. The
receiver attaches meaning to the message and tries to uncover its underlying intent. Decoding is also
influenced by the receiver’s previous experiences and frame of reference at the time of receiving the
message.
Feedback
Several types of feedback can occur after a message is sent from the communicator to the
receiver. Feedback can be viewed as the last step in completing a communication episode and may take
several forms, such as a verbal response, a nod of the head, a response asking for more information, or
no response at all. As with the initial message, the response also involves encoding, medium, and
decoding.
There are three basic types of feedback that occur in communication.2 These are informational,
corrective, and reinforcing. In informational feedback, the receiver provides nonevaluative information
to the communicator. An example is the level of inventory at the end of the month. In corrective
feedback, the receiver responds by challenging the original message. The receiver might respond that it
is not their responsibility to monitor inventory. In reinforcing feedback, the receiver communicated that
they have clearly received the message and its intentions. For instance, the grade that you receive on a
term paper (either positive or negative) is reinforcing feedback on your term paper (your original
communication).
Noise
There is, however, a variety of ways that the intended message can get distorted. Factors that
distort message clarity are noise. Noise can occur at any point along the model shown in Exhibit 16.2,
including the decoding process. For example, a manager might be under pressure and issue a directive,
“I want this job completed today, and I don’t care what it costs,” when the manager does care what it
costs.
2. Know the types of communications that occur in organizations.
In the communication model described above, three types of communication can be used by
either the communicator in the initial transmission phase or the receiver in the feedback phase. These
three types are discussed next.
Oral Communication
This consists of all messages or exchanges of information that are spoken, and it’s the most
prevalent type of communication.
Written Communication
This includes e-mail, texts, letters, reports, manuals, and annotations on sticky notes. Although
managers prefer oral communication for its efficiency and immediacy, the increase in electronic
communication is undeniable. As well, some managers prefer written communication for important
messages, such as a change in a company policy, where precision of language and documentation of the
message are important.
Nonverbal Communication
There is also the transformation of information without speaking or writing. Some examples of
this are things such as traffic lights and sirens as well as things such as office size and placement, which
connote something or someone of importance. As well, things such as body language and facial
expression can convey either conscious or unconscious messages to others.
Major Influences on Interpersonal Communication
Regardless of the type of communication involved, the nature, direction, and quality of
interpersonal communication processes can be influenced by several factors.3
Social Influences
Communication is a social process, as it takes at least two people to have a communication
episode. There is a variety of social influences that can affect the accuracy of the intended message. For
examples, status barriers between employees at different levels of the organization can influence things
such as addressing a colleague as at a director level as “Ms. Jones” or a coworker at the same level as
“Mike.” Prevailing norms and roles can dictate who speaks to whom and how someone responds.
Perception
In addition, the communication process is heavily influenced by perceptual processes. The extent
to which an employee accurately receives job instructions from a manager may be influenced by her
perception of the manager, especially if the job instructions conflict with her interest in the job or if they
are controversial. If an employee has stereotyped the manager as incompetent, chances are that little
that the manager says will be taken seriously. If the boss is well regarded or seen as influential in the
company, everything that they say may be interpreted as important.
Interaction Involvement
Communication effectiveness can be influenced by the extent to which one or both parties are
involved in conversation. This attentiveness is called interaction attentiveness or interaction
involvement.4 If the intended receiver of the message is preoccupied with other issues, the effectiveness
of the message may be diminished. Interaction involvement consists of three interrelated dimensions:
responsiveness, perceptiveness, and attentiveness.
Organizational Design
The communication process can also be influenced by the design of the organization. It has often
been argued to decentralize an organization because that will lead to a more participative structure and
lead to improved communication in the organization. When messages must travel through multiple
levels of an organization, the possibility of distortion can also occur, which would be diminished with
more face-to-face communication.
