Forms or Channels and Mediums of Communication Notes Study Material

Forms or Channels and Mediums of Communication Notes Study Material: We provide to all the students of Bachelor of Commerce. BCom 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Year Business Communication Notes Study material, Business Communication question answers, sample papers, mock test papers, and pdf. At gurujistudy.com you can easily get all these study material and notes for free. Here in this post, we are happy to provide you BCom Channels and Mediums of Communication Notes Study Material.

Forms or Channels and Mediums of Communication Notes Study Material

Every communication uses one or the other channel of communication. Here ‘channel refers to that path through which information passes or flows from one person to another. “Medium’ refers to the factor that is used to convey the information. The form of communication in an organisation may be formal or informal. Every organisation has to adopt two communication processes-internal and external. Internal communication refers to that information/order/suggestion/caution etc. which is communicated and received within a particular organisation. External communication refers to communication with the external agencies like banks/ government offices/ insurance agencies/ customers/ exporters etc. Thus, success of a business organisation depends on its effective communication system as it helps the organisation to achieve its goals and objectives.

Communication can be classified on the basis of business or organisational relationship as follows:

1. Formal, and 2. Informal

1. Formal communication. This communication is usually between functioning managers or other officers in the same organisation. It includes official decisions, memorandums, circulars etc. For example, manager ‘A’ who is a senior officer sends a command to his immediate subordinate. This subordinate communicates it to other employees ‘C’ working under him for necessary action. Thus, it is a formal channel.
2. Informal communication. A person does not stick to formal communication only, but involve himself in the informal communication also along with formal one. It does not follow any planned system or set rules. When a person comes on his work in an organisation he talks to his friends about his household, family matters, energy problems, world-cup competition, films, and matters related to other colleagues in the organisation. These are all personal talks. Thus, most of the communications are informal communications, which do not follow any established path or planned system. These are free from all formalities. This is also called rumours or grapevine. In today’s scientific age number of medias are available for communicating messages and information; but on the basis of language it may be classified in two groups:

I. Verbal, II. Non-verbal.

1. Verbal communication. It is through a language, which basically acts as a medium to convey the idea, thought or feeling of a person to the receiver or listener. Verbal communication is of two types:

(1) Oral communication, (2) Written communication.

2. Non-verbal communication. It includes the forms of body movements, facial expressions, gestures, signs etc. which are not directly related to any language. Yet, these are significant in their own way and they act as supplement to verbal communication.

1. Oral Communication

In this process of communication, sender and receiver exchange their ideas through oral words face to face. In other words, when communication is performed by words and sentences, it is called oral communication. It includes talk, dialogue, meetings, conference, interviews, lectures, announcements, radio talks, telephone talk, storytelling, mythological presentation, discussion, court-hearings, parliamentary discussions, etc.

Man is the only animal who can communicate orally by producing various audio and visual signs. All other animals have very limited capacity to produce audio signs or facial expressions. To make the oral communication successful and effective it is necessary that speaker should have knowledge of subject matter, conceptual clarity, appropriate words, gestures, clear pronunciations on proper fluctuations of sound, proper style, and the audience should have the quality of listening capacity, observation power and perception to understand the non-verbal images and to convert them into thoughts. The following qualities are necessary to make oral communication effective:

1. Proper and clear pronunciation
2. Words power
3. Conciseness
4. Proper way
5. Proper fluctuations of sound
6. Proper language and style

One must remember 7-Cs for successful and effective oral communication.

1. Candid, 2. Clear, 3. Complete, 4. Concise, 5. Concrete, 6. Correct, 7. Courteous.

The above qualities can make the oral communication interesting, soothing to listener and also make him spell bound.

Advantages. The advantages of oral communication are as follows:

1. It saves time and money.
2. Better control on subordinates is possible by oral communication.
3. Wastage of time, money and energy can be avoided.
4. This medium is more effective than other media of communication.
5. In this communication gestures, signs, indications, variations in the tone pitch and intensity of voice can be seen and felt, which is not possible in other media.
6. It is more clear. If listener fails to understand, he can immediately get it explained clearly

7. This communication is very useful in meetings, conferences and seminars.
8. It strengthens mutual relations.
9. Feedback is received instantly in this form of communication.
10. It helps in creating healthy atmosphere in an organisation.

Limitations or Disadvantages. Limitations or Disadvantages of oral communication are as follows:

1. Oral communication is not possible when sender and receiver are far away from each other or no mechanical devices are available to connect them orally.
2. It is difficult to fix or assign responsibility in oral communication.
3. It is suitable for small and simple messages. It is not suitable for lengthy and complicated messages.
4. It does not have legal validity unless there is some system of confirmation of the message.
5. In the absence of record, oral communication cannot be retained in mind for a long time.
6. It is not always possible to save time and money. Sometimes meetings, conferences and seminars do not give desired results and lot of time and money gets wasted.
7. This communication may not be effective in all situations. It depends on certain condition, and in their absence it becomes ineffective. It always depends on the speator’s way of communication and listener’s reception ability.
8. Misunderstanding and confusion is always possible in oral communication, particularly when speaker fails to convey his message tactfully and in well organized form or when the receiver does not listen to it carefully.

2. Written Communication

When the message or information is communicated through letters, circulars, memos, reports, minutes of meetings, agenda, bulletins, journals, official publications, gazette, schedules, questionnaires, project reports etc. then it is called written communication. This communication provides the facility of preparing well-thought draft of message or information before communicating it. Drafting of message is an art wherein sender shows his ability of understanding the concerned subject matter, his maturity, foresight, and his profound knowledge of the language. Advantages. The advantages of written communication are as follows:

1. This communication provides permanent record or documents, as the written message or information turns into documented record and can be preserved for reference in future.
2. This communication is a legal document, which explains the contractual understanding between two parties. It helps to resolve disputes in future.
3. This communication is clear and authentic. It compells the sender to draft a well-thought document
4. Written communication can be read again and again and can be repeated as and when needed.
5. It makes it possible to assign responsibility. There is a sense of responsibility in this communication
6. Distance between sender and receiver is not a problem. It is useful even when the sender and receiver are far away from each other.
7. This communication is extremely useful for operation and functioning of an organisation.
8. In this communication a message or information can reach to unlimited number of persons. While launching a new product in the market or when a bank wants to acquaint people of its investment/savings scheme, written communication is very useful as it can reach large number of people.
9. A nicely drafted and effective written communication can build a good image and bring fame to an organisation.
10. Written communication possesses the quality of developing the sense of responsibility among managers and employees of an organisation. Written communication can create the sense of responsibility more powerfully than the oral communication.

Limitations or Disadvantages. Written communication is not always without drawbacks. Inspite of possessing many qualities it has some limitations as well.

1. It is a costly system, as to keep records of communication an organisation has to spend a lot of money on filing, postage, printing and of course on the valuable time of all those who are involved in the process.
2. It is time consuming.
3. It takes much time in removing confusion or doubt, in case of any dispute or when the message is not very clear, it takes lot of time to make it clear.
4. This communication becomes ineffective when a person, who is honest and dutiful, but weak in expression.
5. In the case where prompt feedback is necessary, written communication becomes helpless. It takes time to encode, decode and communicate feedback and the time involved in its encoding/decoding. Thus, this communication process is time consuming.

Finally, it can be concluded that certain facilities that are provided in written communication are not present in oral. Drafting of message is an art and the communicator can prove his knowledge of the subject-matter; his tactfulness, maturity, foresight and insight; his mastery over the language in his written communication. Written Communication has the facility to maintain secrecy and communicate secret messages. To avoid or remove misunderstandings it is necessary to go for written communication. Particularly, all the business-related contracts and bonds are prepared in written form.