Communication is a vast and complex concept to understand. It is a process of mutual participation in a common structure of rhythmic patterns by all members of a culture. In today’s world it is an ever continuous process going on all the time, from simple conversations between friends to urgent business meetings among board members. Communication is used to convey information from one source to a receiver in order to get a desired response or action. In order for information to be received in the right way, it needs to be delivered and perceived the right way. This essay aims to show how effective communication is interdependent on the sender, receiver and the roles they play in executing effective communication by the use of the skills of encoding and decoding. This will be done by defining and describing key concepts. References will be made to credit the work in this essay through books, scholars and other valid sources of information. A summary of the whole essay will be made in conclusion with suggestions.
Communication has been defined differently by various scholars and organizations. William Rice Johnson stated that, “Communication takes place when an individual, a sender displays, transmits or otherwise directs a set of symbols to another individual, a receiver with the aim of changing something , either something the receiver is doing(or not doing) or changing his or her world view. This set of symbols is typically described as a message.” Another definition can be given by Krist-Ashman, who says communication is “The exchange of information.” The two definitions all show that for communication to take place there needs to be an exchange of information. For this essay, communication will be defined as the use of verbal and nonverbal messages to create an ongoing influence. For communication to become effective, the receiver has to understand the information given and act in the desired way of the sender. As stated above the exchange of information is a process that never ends. It separates us humans from the animal kingdom through the use of language, words signs and symbols that share meanings.
Effective communication is defined as a two way information sharing process which involves one party sending a message that is easily understood by the receiving party. Effective communication centers on well-defined objectives that support the sender’s mission. This means that communication is a process and it all begins with the sender. Various scholars showed the process of communication through models. Shannon and Weaver (1949) proposed a mathematical model of Communication (sometimes called the Linear Model) that serves as a basic model of communication. Creating and delivering an effective message requires a basic understanding of the communication process. The model consists of the sender who encodes a message, then uses a certain Channel (verbal/nonverbal communication) to send it to a receiver who decodes (interprets) the message. Noise is anything that interferes with, or changes, the original encoded message. Noise is also referred to as communication barriers. The problem with this process was that it is limited and shows communication to be a one way process. Barnlund (1970) adjusted the model to more fully represent what occurs in most human communication exchanges. The Transactional Model demonstrates that communication participants act as senders and receivers simultaneously. Communication is not a simple one-way transmission of a message. The personal filters and experiences of the participants impact each communication exchange. The Transactional Model demonstrates that we are simultaneously senders and receivers, and that noise and personal filters always influence the outcomes of every communication exchange. To understand the importance of the encoder and decoder, we will use the communication process to understand how significant they are in effective communication.
The source of information is the sender. The sender initiates the communication process and is defined as the person who encodes and sends a message to a receiver through a particular channel. The sender or encoder must be proactive in making the receiver understand the message. The sender has the skill of listening, speaking, writing, nonverbal communication, thinking and reasoning. Often the message that is conveyed is not always understood by the receiver and thus the sender has the skills to help communication be effective. The roles of the sender to ensure effective communication are basically to overcome the barriers to communication.
The sender plays various roles in ensuring that information is encoded properly. The skill of encoding is very important in delivering effective communication. The sender usually generates information through past experience, knowledge, clarity and distinct language that the receiver will understand. If the encoder does not possess these skills, the message will not be as effective as intended. Written and oral communication competencies and the ability to listen and analyze messages as essential skills of the sender.
The next step in the communication process is the message. The sender must create or encode the information he wants to convey using past experiences if any and his knowledge to create a message that will easily be understood by the receiver
The process of transferring information the way you want to communicate into a form that can be sent and correctly understood by the reciever is called encoding..