Communication Process

Communication Process Paper Joseph Moeller Mgt 331 Thomas Melpolder February 16, 2004

Communication Process Abstract The communication process and how it relates to organizational behavior will be the primary focus of this paper. Information from a number of sources was researched in regards to the topic of communication. Key points from the research are noted and discussed. I will provide real world examples of both successful and unsuccessful communication from my current role within Coca Cola Enterprises, Inc. The efficiency,

effectiveness, and final outcome will be discussed with each example given. In addition, I will offer an alternative solution that would change the unsuccessful communication example into a successful one.

Communication Process Communication Process Paper There are several opportunities for a company to manage organizational behavior: workplace diversity, change management, emerging technology, and communication, to name a few. In my mind, efficient and effective communication is the most important. Managers spend approximately 80% of their time communicating (Anonymous, 2000). Therefore, managers, who promote continuous and positive communication, will achieve

success in dealing with other employees throughout the company. A manager will achieve even greater success if he/she encourages the use of the eight Cs of communication. The eight Cs of communication include; credibility, context, content, continuity, consistency, channels, capability of the audience, and clarity, (Anonymous, 2000). Effectively incorporating these eight characteristics in the communication process is not always an easy task. The communication process is quite simplistic in its basic form. The basic process consists of a source and a receiver. The source encodes a message and sends it to the receiver via a communication channel. Once received, the receiver decodes the message. Other factors such as feedback and noise play a significant role in the communication process. Theoretically, feedback is the communication process in reverse. The receiver takes the perceived message, that he received and sends a message of his own back to the sender. This in turn creates a role-reversal. The former receiver is now the sender and the former sender is now the receiver. Noise is any element that interferes with the message transfer (University of Phoenix, 2002). Noise may come in the form of a misunderstanding, loss of a data network, a language barrier, lack of feedback or even another phone call. (See Figure 1.)

Communication Process In my job at Coca Cola Enterprises, Inc., I am based out of a virtual office. I have the capability to work in any location that the company requests. Proper use of communication is vital if I wish to succeed in my role. My primary means of

communication is my laptop. With my laptop, I am able to host conference calls, send and receive e-mail, instruct and attend training, create and respond to voicemails, and make phone calls. The programs on my laptop that enable me to reach the outside world are the most successful examples of communication that I have encountered, since I have been in the workforce. It is evident that technology is the root behind these successful communication examples. Although I have attained success in working from a virtual office, interaction with people through the use of a computer can hosts a variety of problems. For instance, e-mail used improperly can turn into a disaster if the reader does not perceive the e-mail as the sender intended. Proper etiquette is frequently ignored when initiating or responding to e-mails. There are several rules of thumb that should be adhered to when writing e-mail. According to McDaniel (2000), the following are good practices in e-etiquette: get to the point, consider your audience, always address messages to a particular person, and increase your credibility and sincerity by including as much identification information as possible in a contact letter (2002, 10). These rules in eetiquette can be closely compared to the eight Cs of communication, discussed previously. Unsuccessful or miscommunication is largely in part due to poor planning; as is the case with my next example of communication. Each month, Microsoft Corporation publishes the latest patch for security and virus vulnerabilities for its products. Every so often, Microsoft notifies our company of a critical update that must be applied to the

Communication Process computer systems immediately. These patches ensure that the data on our network is properly safeguarded. On a Friday, at 3:00pm, Microsoft announced that a critical update must be performed on all computers before the weekend. My company has an employee

on-call list. This list is comprised of people who must be called in the event of a companywide disaster or as a means of prevention, such as in this case with the critical patch. The problem with the on-call list is that it has not been updated in over a year. Over a quarter of the numbers on the list were incorrect and some of the employees that were on the list were no longer with the company. A feeble attempt was made to contact the employees on the on-call list and recall much of the North American I.T. Departments, in order to apply the patch on all servers and workstations running Windows 2000 or greater. Needless to say, this communication effort was a huge failure. Luckily, our company was not affected by the vulnerability that Microsoft announced. On that following Monday, I ensured that the on-call list was updated and that every PC connected to our network, was updated. I also implemented random testing of the on-call list. Each month, we go through the list to update those names and numbers that are out of date. In closing, I have made a personal commitment to ensure that the poor communication does not occur again. Although the communication process itself is easy to follow; the many ways to communicate tend to complicate the process. I firmly believe that following the eight Cs in any aspect of communication and adhering to the proper forms of e-etiquette for any electronic communication will enable all of your communication transactions to be successful ones.

Figure 1

Communication Process

Source
Intended Encoded

Channel

Receiver
Decoded Perceived

Feedback

Noise

University of Phoenix, 2002.

References

Communication Process Anonymous, How to be an Effective Manager (2000). CMA Management, Vol. 74. [Issue 8], 14, 1. Retrieved February 3, 2004, from http://www.apollolibrary.com/ rp/ubm/mgt331.asp McDaniel, J. (2000, January/February). E-Etiquette. Link-Up, 17(1), 14. University of Phoenix (7th Ed.) (2002) Organizational Behavior. [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e-text]. John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved January 23, 2004, from University of Phoenix, Resource, MGT/331 Organizational Behavior Web site: https://mycampus.phoenix.edu/secure/resource/resource.asp