Communication seems so natural and one generally assumes that there is no need of working on it. It is so untrue. Most fights or arguments with spouses, children or friends are the result of bad communication. How much of an argument is caused by ineffective communication? How much of what is said is taken in the wrong context? How much of the meaning was changed or lost? How much was totally misunderstood or came out wrong? All of those are examples of broken communication.
Communication is a process and as such contains many elements susceptible of defect. Here are the elements of the communication process (see picture):
- A message: what need to be communicated
- A messenger: the person who has something to communicate
- A receiver: the person who will receive the message
- Encoding: verbal and non-verbal convention of communication
- Decoding: reading by the receiver of the encoding done by the messenger
- Channel: the means of communication
This process works as follows: The messenger has something to communicate, a message. This message has an intent. The messenger will encode his message with words, behaviour and body language that he senses will help him to best communicate this message according to his intent. The message will go through a channel, a means of communication such as e-mail, face to face or phone conversation, letter, presentation. The receiver will then decode the message using conventions, cultural or contextual background, and language skills. The message he receives might or might not meet the intent of the messenger.
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