The Role of Communication

Notice that these example systems have communication in common. The nervous system carries messages from the nerve endings in our extremities to our brains and back. · The legal system includes thousands of individuals talking to one another, laws being read and interpreted, forms being filled out, and so on. · The highway system requires constant communication among drivers – turn signals, brake lights, and so on – and between drivers and their vehicles – as, for example, when you “tell” your car to turn left by pulling on the steering wheel.

In fact, it might be said that communication is the “glue” that holds a system together. This gives insight into the nature of communication itself, to wit:

The Communication Process

Although all of us have been communicating with others since our infancy, the process of transmitting information from an nindividual (or group) to another is a very complex process with many sources of potential error.

Consider the Simple Example

· Terry: “I won’t make it to work again tomorrow; this pregnancy keeps me nausious and my doctor says I should probably be reduced to part time.

· Boss: Terry, this is the third day you’ve missed and your appointments keep backing up; we have to cover for you and this is messing all of us up. In any communication at least some of the “meaning” lost in simple transmission of a message from the sender to the receiver. In many situations a lot of the true message is lost and the message that is heard is often far different than the one

intended. This is most obvious in cross-cultural situations where language is an issue. But it is also common among people of the same cuture.

Look at the example. Terry has what appears to be a simple message to convey-she won’t make it to work today because of nausia. But she had to translate the thoughts into words and this is the first potential source of error. Was she just trying to convey that she would be late; was she trying to convey anythingelse. It turns out she was. She was upset because she perceived that her co-workers weren’t as sympathetic to her situation as they should be. Her co-workers, however, were really being pressured by Terry’s continued absences, and her late calls. They wished she would just take a leave of absence, but Terry refuses

because she would have to take it without pay.

Thus what appears to be a simple communication is, in reality, quite complex. Terry is communicating far more than that she would miss work; she is conveying a number of complex emotions, complicated by her own complex feelings about pregnancy, work, and her future.

She sent a message but the message is more than the words; it includes the tone, the timing of the call, and the way she expressed herself.

Similarly, the boss goes through a complex communication process in “hearing” the message. The message that Terry sent had to be decoded and given meaning. There are many ways to decode the simple message that Terry gave and the way the message is heard will influence the response to Terry.

In this case the boss heard far more than a simple message that Terry won’t be at work today. The boss “heard” hostility from Terry, indifference, lack of consideration, among other emotions. Terry may not have meant this, but this is what the boss heard.

Communications is so difficult because at each step in the process there major potential for error. By the time a message gets from a sender to a receiver there are four basic places where transmission errors can take place and at each place, there are a multitude of potential sources of error. Thus it is no surprise that social psychologists estimate that there is usually a 40-60% loss of meaning in the transmission of messages from sender to receiver.

It is critical to understand this process, understand and be aware of the potential sources of errors and constantly counteract these tendencies by making a conscientious effort to make sure there is a minimal loss of meaning in your conversation.It is also very important to understand that major of our communication is non-verbal. This means that when we attribute meaning to what someone else is saying, the verbal part of the message actually means less than the non-verbal part. The non-verbal part includes such things as body language and tone.