Business Communication

Introduction
Feedback is a process in which information about the past or the present influences the same phenomenon in the present or future. As part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop, the event is said to "feed back" into itself. Ramaprasad (1983) defines feedback generally as "information about the gap between the actual level and the reference level of a system parameter which is used to alter the gap in some way", emphasising that the information by itself is not feedback unless translated into action. Feedback is your audiences response; it enables you to evaluate the effectiveness of your message. If your audience doesnt understand what you mean, you can tell by the response and then refine the message accordingly. Giving your audience a chance to provide feedback is crucial for maintaining an open communication climate. The manager must create an environment that encourages feedback. "...'feedback' exists between two parts when each affects the other... Feedback is also a synonym for:

Feedback signal - the measurement of the actual level of the parameter of interest. Feedback mechanism - the action or means used to subsequently modify the gap. Feedback loop - the complete causal path that leads from the initial detection of the gap to the subsequent modification of the gap.

Overview
Self-regulating mechanisms have existed since antiquity, and the idea of feedback had started to enter economic theory in Britain by the eighteenth century, but it wasn't at that time recognized as a universal abstraction and so didn't have a name. The verb phrase "to feed back", in the sense of returning to an earlier position in a mechanical process, was in use in the US by the 1860s, and in 1909, Nobel laureate Karl Ferdinand Braun used the term "feed-back" as a noun to refer to (undesired) coupling between components of an electronic circuit. By the end of 1912, researchers using early electronic amplifiers (audions) had discovered that deliberately coupling part of the output signal back to the input circuit would boost the amplification (through regeneration), but would also cause the audion to howl or sing. This action of feeding back of the signal from output to input gave rise to the use of the term "feedback" as a distinct word by 1920. There has been over the years some dispute as to the best definition of feedback. According to Ashby, mathematicians and theorists interested in the principles of feedback mechanisms prefer

Page 1

Business Communication

the definition of "circularity of action", which keeps the theory simple and consistent. For those with more practical aims, feedback should be a deliberate effect via some more tangible connexion. "[Practical experimenters] object to the mathematician's definition, pointing out that this would force them to say that feedback was present in the ordinary pendulum ... between its position and its momentum - a 'feedback' that, from the practical point of view, is somewhat mystical. To this the mathematician retorts that if feedback is to be considered present only when there is an actual wire or nerve to represent it, then the theory becomes chaotic and riddled with irrelevancies."

Types of feedback
Main articles: negative feedback and positive feedback Feedback is commonly divided into two types - usually termed positive and negative. The terms can be applied in two contexts: 1. The context of the gap between reference and actual values of a parameter, based on whether the gap is widening (positive) or narrowing (negative). 2. The context of the action or effect that alters the gap, based on whether it involves reward (positive) or non-reward/punishment (negative). The two contexts may cause confusion, such as when an incentive (reward) is used to boost poor performance (narrow a gap). Referring to context 1, some authors use alternative terms, replacing 'positive/negative' with self-reinforcing/self-correcting, reinforcing/balancing, discrepancy-enhancing/discrepancy-reducing or regenerative/degenerative respectively. And within context 2, some authors advocate describing the action or effect as positive/negative reinforcement rather than feedback. Yet even within a single context an example of feedback can be called either positive or negative, depending on how values are measured or referenced. This confusion may arise because feedback can be used for either informational or motivational purposes, and often has both a qualitative and a quantitative component. As Connellan and Zemke (1993) put it: "Quantitative feedback tells us how much and how many. Qualitative feedback tells us how good, bad or indifferent." The terms "positive/negative" were first applied to feedback prior to WWII. The idea of positive feedback was already current in the 1920s with the introduction of the regenerative circuit.] Friis and Jensen (1924) described regeneration in a set of electronic amplifiers as a case where the "feed-back" action is positive in contrast to negative feed-back action, which they mention only in passing. Harold Stephen Black's classic 1934 paper first details the use of negative feedback in electronic amplifiers. According to Black: "Positive feed-back increases the gain of the amplifier, negative feed-back reduces it."

Page 2

Business Communication

According to Mindell (2002) confusion in the terms arose shortly after this: "...Friis and Jensen had made the same distinction Black used between 'positive feed-back' and 'negative feed-back', based not on the sign of the feedback itself but rather on its effect on the amplifiers gain. In contrast, Nyquist and Bode, when they built on Blacks work, referred to negative feedback as that with the sign reversed. Black had trouble convincing others of the utility of his invention in part because confusion existed over basic matters of definition. Even prior to the terms being applied, James Clerk Maxwell had described several kinds of "component motions" associated with the centrifugal governors used in steam engines, distinguishing between those that lead to a continual increase in a disturbance or the amplitude of an oscillation, and those which lead to a decrease of the same.

Feedback Communication

Receivers are not just passive absorbers of messages; they receive the message and respond to them. This response of a receiver to senders message is called Feedback. Sometimes a feedback could be a non-verbal smiles, sighs etc. Sometimes it is oral, as when you react to a colleagues ideas with questions or comments. Feedback can also be written like - replying to an e-mail, etc. Feedback is your audiences response; it enables you to evaluate the effectiveness of your message. If your audience doesnt understand what you mean, you can tell by the response and then refine the message accordingly. Giving your audience a chance to provide feedback is crucial for maintaining an open communication climate. The manager must create an environment that encourages feedback. For example after explaining the job to the subordinated he must ask them whether they have understood it or not. He should ask questions like Do you understand?, Do you have any doubts? etc. At the same time he must allow his subordinated to express their views also. Feedback is essential in communication so as to know whether the recipient has understood the message in the same terms as intended by the sender and whether he agrees to that message or not. There are lot of ways in which company takes feedback from their employees, such as : Employee surveys, memos, emails, open-door policies, company news letter etc. Employees are not always willing to provide feedback. The organization has to work a lot to get the accurate feedback. The managers encourage feedback by asking specific questions, allowing their employees to express general views, etc. The organization should be receptive to their employees feedback. A manger should ensure that a feedback should:

Page 3

Business Communication

Focus on a particular behaviour - It should be specific rather than being general. Impersonal - Feedback should be job related, the manager should not criticize anyone personally. Goal oriented - If we have something negative to say about the person, we should always direct it to the recipients goal.

Ensure understanding - For feedback to be effective, the manager should make sure that the recipients understands the feedback properly. . Observations:
"The term 'feedback' is taken from cybernetics, a branch of engineering concerned with self-regulating systems. In its simplest form, feedback is a self-stabilising control system such as the Watt steam governor, which regulates the speed of a steam engine or a thermostat that controls the temperature of a room or oven. In the communication process, feedback refers to a response from the receiver which gives the communicator an idea of how the message is being received and whether it needs to be modified. "Strictly speaking, negative feedback does not imply 'bad,' and positive feedback 'good.' Negative feedback indicates that you should do less of what you are doing or change to something else. Positive feedback encourages you to increase what you are doing, which can go out of control (over excitement at a party, fighting or having a row). If you are crying, feedback from those around may cause you to dry your eyes and put on a brave face (if feedback is negative) or weep unashamedly (if feedback is positive)."

Useful Feedback on Writing "The most useful feedback you can give someone (or receive yourself) is neither vague encouragement ('Good start! Keep at it!') nor scorching criticism ('Sloppy method!'), but rather an honest assessment of how the text reads. In other words, 'Rewrite your introduction because I don't like it' is not nearly as helpful as 'You start off saying you want to look at trends in functionalistic interior design, but you seem to spend most of your time talking about the use of color among the Bauhaus designers.' This gives the author not only insight into what is confusing the reader, but also several options for fixing it: She can rewrite the introduction either to focus

Page 4

Business Communication

on Bauhaus designers or to better explain the link between functionalistic interior design and Bauhaus designers, or she can restructure the paper to talk about other aspects of functionalistic . Feedback on Public Speaking: "Public speaking presents different opportunities for feedback, or listener response to a message, than does dyadic, small group, or mass communication.. Partners in conversation continually respond to one another in back-and-forth fashion; in small groups, participants expect interruptions for purposes of clarification or redirection. However, because the receiver of the message in mass communication is physically removed from the messenger, "Public speaking offers a middle ground between low and high levels of feedback. Public speaking does not permit the constant exchange of information between listener and speaker that happens in conversation, but audiences can and do provide ample verbal and noverbal cues to what they are thinking and feeling. Facial expressions, vocalizations (including laughter or disapproving noises), gestures, applause, and a range of body movements all signal the audience's response to the speaker.

Sender and Receiver:

"In the basic interpersonal communication model, the sender, also known as the source, is the

person who initiates the communication process. . . . In adyadic, or two-person, communication situation, thereceiver is the other person involved. In a public speaking or public communication situation, the audience is made up of receivers. The numbers can vary from a few to a few hundred. The speaker may use only his/her voice or may need a public address system. In mass communication, there could be literally hundreds, millions, or even billions of receivers. . . . "In dyadic communication or public speaking, the channel, or a means of sending or receiving information, is both verbal communication (the spoken word) and nonverbal communication

Interaction of Senders and Receivers "Because communication is interaction, participants take turns 'sending' and 'receiving.' Thisturntaking is even true for mass-mediated communication, for instance, the process whereby an entertainment program is created, programmed, and aired for an audience's enjoyment. If the audience watches and enjoys the program, it is likely to continue to be aired. "Interaction means that both parties--persons or entities--can affect the other. In this way, both parties are senders and receivers. They are also co-persuaders in that they may take turns trying to affect one another by sharing symbols."

Page 5

Business Communication

Context in the Communication Process: "Context refers to the idea that every act of communication must happen in some sort of surroundings. . . . Most obviously there is the physical context--whether we are talkiing to someone in our living room or on the terraces at a football match. But then there is thesocial context, which is to do with the occasion involved and the people in it. This might be a group of friends in a club or a family meal or a group of mourners at a funeral. And then there is the cultural context, which refers to an even broader set of circumstances and beliefs, which still may affect how we talk. For example, it would matter if the funeral was in a Hindu or an Anglican context. It is particularly important to see that the media are part of the cultural context in which we operate. How we talk, what we talk about, what music we listen to.

Feedback in the Communication Process: "Feedback is the final link in the chain of the communication process. After receiving a message, the receiver responds in some way and signals that response to the sender. The signal may take the form of a spoken comment, a long sigh, a written message, a smile or some other action. Even a lack of response, is in a sense, a form of response. Without feedback, the sender cannot confirm that the receiver has interpreted the message correctly. Feedback is a key component in the communication process because it allows the sender to evaluate the effectiveness of the message . . . [and] take corrective action to clarify a misunderstood message."

The Importance Of Feedback In Communication

Communication plays a very crucial role in an organization. In fact, communication is the reason for human existence. There are different forms of communication through which the intentions of people and animals and even plants alike can be passed across to another. Without communication, life will be very difficult and in fact, it will be full of chaos. Feedback makes communication meaningful. It is the end-result of an idea and makes communication continuous. In the process of communication, the originator first gets the idea to be passed across and then think of how to get it across via appropriate channel or medium. After the coding and dissemination, one expects the decoder after receiving the information or idea to

Page 6

Business Communication

give response. The response thus given is called the response which may be verbal or non-verbal, that is, in words or mere smile, glance, clap, etc. While feedback could be instantaneous as in the case of verbal conversation between two people standing or on telephone conversation or internet instant message, it could be delayed for sometime before the response is given to allow the receiver to think and take his time to consider what he is given. While the former is common to an informal communication, the latter goes with formal communication via letters, memo, etc. Feedback could also be in written form or in oral form or even both. It could be also in form of demonstration e.g. body movement, paralanguage, gesture, posture, etc. At one time or another, people are seen been frustrated as a result of the refusal of another person to give response to their message or letter. Some got so mad that delay in such could result to disciplinary measures or insubordination especially in a formal setting. To lovers, it means life itself. Refusal to communicate one's intentions may mal the whole relationship of a thing. All these explain the importance of feedback in communication. The following are some of the importance of feedback in communication either in a formal or informal setting:

1. It completes the whole process of communication and makes it continuous. 2. It sustains communication process 3. It makes one know if one is really communication or making sense 4. It is a basis for measuring the effectiveness of communication 5. It is a good basis for planning on what next to be done especially statistical report 6. Communication will be useless without feedback 7. Feedback paves way for new idea generation

Written Communication - Meaning, Advantages and Disadvantages

Written communication has great significance in todays business world. It is an innovative activity of the mind. Effective written communication is essential for preparing worthy promotional materials for business development. Speech came before writing. But writing is more unique and formal than speech. Effective writing involves careful choice of words, their

Page 7

Business Communication

organization in correct order in sentences formation as well as cohesive composition of sentences. Also, writing is more valid and reliable than speech. But while speech is spontaneous, writing causes delay and takes time as feedback is not immediate. Advantages of Written Communication
Written communication helps in laying down apparent principles, policies and rules for running of an organization. It is a permanent means of communication. Thus, it is useful where record maintenance is required

Written communication is more precise and explicit. Effective written communication develops and enhances an organizations image. It provides ready records and references. Legal defenses can depend upon written communication as it provides valid records Disadvantages of Written Communication

Written communication does not save upon the costs. It costs huge in terms of stationery and the manpower employed in writing/typing and delivering letters.

Also, if the receivers of the written message are separated by distance and if they need to clear their doubts, the response is not spontaneous. Written communication is time-consuming as the feedback is not immediate. The encoding and sending of message takes time.

Effective written communication requires great skills and competencies in language and vocabulary use. Poor writing skills and quality have a negative impact on organizations reputation.

Too much paper work and e-mails burden is involved.

Page 8