COMMUNICATION

 The word communication means sharing the same ideas.

 In other words, the transmission and interaction of facts, ideas, opinions, feelings or attitudes.
 Communication is the essence of management.
 The basic function of management (planning, planning, staffing, supervision and
management) cannot be done effectively without effective communication.
 It involves transferring of information or messages from one person or group to another.
 This process goes on and includes a minimum of one sender and receiver to pass on the
messages.
 These messages can either be any ideas, imagination, emotions, or thoughts.
Features:
 It is a two-way process.
 Communication is a social process as two or more people are involved in it and they
exchange ideas, information and knowledge.
 communication is a universal element in the management process.
 Communication is a continuous process.
Importance:
1. Acts as a basis of coordination: An organisation has many departments, divisions, sub-
divisions, etc., and in order to coordinate the activities of all the departments, communication
is essential. Communication helps in the coordination of various activities and provides for
the exchange of information, ideas, facts, etc.
2. Helps in smooth working of an enterprise : Communication is the basis of the existence of an
organisation from its birth. Communication is necessary for the smooth working of an
organisation. Any new change in the organisation can also be introduced easily with the help
of communication. All the organisational interactions are dependent on communication and if
communication stops, all the organised actions will come to an end.
3. Acts as a basis of decision making: Communication provides the managers with information
and ideas for sound planning and decision making. It enables a manager to analyse the
problems and gather information for making sound decisions. Through communication,
decisions can be passed to those who are involved in executing them.
4. Increases managerial efficiency: For quick and effective performance of managerial
functions, communication is essential. Managers convey goals, instructions, allocate jobs and
responsibilities and evaluate performances with the help of communication. Thus, because of
communication entire organisation is lubricated and works with full efficiency.
5. Promotes cooperation and industrial peace : Cooperation and industrial peace are promoted
because of communication by developing understanding between superiors and subordinates.
Any misunderstanding or misconception can be easily removed with communication. As
communication is a two-way process, an atmosphere of trust and understanding is maintained
in the organisation.
6. Establishes effective leadership: Effective communication is needed for guiding, inspiring and
motivating employees in an organisation. Leaders need to communicate their ideas, thoughts,
suggestions, etc., and this can be possible only when there is an effective communication
system in an organisation. Communication is also needed to know the feelings, responses,
problems, grievances and suggestions of the followers.
7. Boosts morale and provides motivation : Motivation and morale of the employees largely
depend on the effectiveness of the communication system. Communication helps in keeping
the employees informed about plans, policies, procedures, etc., and with such information,
 employees get a sense of belongingness. Good communication develops the confidence and
trust of workers and enables leaders to motivate, influence and satisfy their subordinates.
8. Helps in training and development: Communication plays a vital role in the training and
development of employees at every level of management. The degree of learning in a training
depends not only on the contents of the training and development programme but also on how
the knowledge and skills are being transmitted.
9. Helps to maintain public relations: An organisation has to deal with both the internal and
external world, which includes customers, investors, trade unions, government, etc.
Organisations are required to maintain healthy and cordial relations with everyone. It must
always strive to convince the public that its actions are in interests of society.
10. Boosts Morale of the Employees: Good communication helps the workers to adjust to the
physical and social aspects of work. It also improves good human relations in the industry. An
efficient system of communication enables the management to motivate, influence and satisfy
the subordinates which in turn boosts their morale and keeps them motivated.

Process:
1. Sender: The sender or the communicator generates the message and conveys it to the receiver.
He is the source and the one who starts the communication. The person who conveys his
thoughts, message or ideas to the receiver is known as the sender. He is at the starting point of
the communication system and represents the source of communication. E.g., In a classroom,
a teacher is a sender.
2. Message: It is the idea, information, view, fact, feeling, etc. that is generated by the sender
and is then intended to be communicated further. The subject matter of communication is
termed as messages. It includes ideas, feelings, suggestions, order, etc.,

3. Encoding: The message generated by the sender is encoded symbolically. before it is being
conveyed. The process of converting messages into communication symbols, which may be
understood by the receiver. It includes words, pictures, gestures, symbols, etc. Encoding
translates the internal thought of the sender into a language which can be understandable.
4. Media/ Medium/ Channel: It is the manner in which the encoded message is transmitted. The
message may be transmitted orally or in writing. The medium of communication includes
telephone, internet, post, fax, e-mail, etc. The choice of medium is decided by the sender .
 5. Decoding: It is the process of converting the symbols encoded by the sender. After decoding
the message is received by the receiver. The process of translating the encoded message into an
effective language, which can be understood by the receiver is known as decoding.
6. Receiver: He is the person who is last in the chain and for whom the message was sent by the
sender. Once the receiver receives the message and understands it in proper perspective and
acts according to the message, only then the purpose of communication is successful. E.g.,
Students are receivers in the classroom.
7. Feedback: Once the receiver confirms to the sender that he has received the message and
understood it, the process of communication is complete. In order to complete the process of
communication, feedback is essential. The process of reversal of communication in which the
receiver expresses his reaction to the sender of the message is known as feedback. Feedback
ensures that the receiver has received and understood the message.
8. Noise: It refers to any obstruction that is caused by the sender, message or receiver during
the process of communication. Any construction or hindrance which hampers the
communication process is known as noise. For example, bad telephone connection, faulty
encoding, faulty decoding, inattentive receiver, poor understanding of message due to
prejudice or inappropriate gestures, etc.
Barriers to Communication:

1. Semantic Barriers:
 The branch of science that deals with the meaning of words and sentences is known
as Semantic.
 The problems and obstructions in the process of encoding and decoding message into
words or impressions is known as Semantic barriers.
 This barrier arises because different words mean different things to different people.
 Some of the common forms of Semantic Barriers are as follows:
 Badly Expressed Message: When a message lacks clarity and precision, it is
said to be a badly expressed message. Communication becomes ineffective
when the language of the message is vague, imprecise, or there is the use of
wrong words or omission of needed words.
 Symbols with Different Meanings: The same words may carry different
meanings to different people, and can convey different meanings under
different situations. For example, words like effect and affect, ideal and idle,
advice and advice, bear and bare, etc., sounds similar, but they have different
meanings.
  Faulty Translations: Sometimes, people do not understand the language in
which a message is given by the sender. In such cases, it becomes necessary
to translate the message into a language, which is understandable by the
receiver. The translator should be proficient enough to translate the language,
otherwise, this can also be a barrier to communication.
 Unclarified Assumptions: The receiver may have different assumptions if the
sender does not clarify the assumptions about the message. For example, a
boss may say, ‘Complete the work’. Here, the boss has not mentioned the day
and date when the work has to be completed. He may mean to complete the
work by tomorrow, but subordinates may understand it as a week’s target.
 Technical Jargon: Technical Jargon or terminology are used by many experts
and specialists to communicate messages. Such jargon is not understood by
the common people, which leads to poor communication.
 Body Language and Gesture Decoding: Non-verbal or gestural
communication is also an effective means of communication. Facial
expressions, gestures, body language, etc., should correspond to the language.
The receiver may get confused and can misunderstand the message if verbal
language does not match the body language.
2. Psychological Barriers:
 Barriers which arise on the account of emotional and psychological status of the
sender and receiver of the message are known as Psychological Barriers.
 For example, a person who is under stress cannot communicate properly.
 Some of the common forms of Psychological Barriers are as follows:
 Premature Evaluation: The tendency of forming a judgement before listening
to the entire message is known as premature evaluation. This distorts
understanding and acts as a barrier to effective communication. This can also
lead to prejudices against communication.
 Lack of Attention: Communication can be less effective, and the message can
be misunderstood if proper attention is not given to it. This inattention may
arise due to the preoccupied mind of the receiver. For example, a superior
gave instructions to operate a new software, however, the subordinate was
preoccupied with other personal issues. Such lack of attention makes the
communication process one-way and ineffective.
 Loss by Transmission and Poor Retention: There is loss of or transmission of
inaccurate information when communication passes through various levels or
channels in the organisation. It is more common in the case of oral
communication. Poor retention also acts as a barrier when people are unable
to retain the information for a long time.
 Distrust: Lack of mutual trust between the sender and the receiver also acts as
a barrier to communication. Parties involved in communication cannot
understand the message in an original sense when they do not believe each
other.
3. Organisational Barriers:
 In an organisation, communication has to pass through various levels and channels,
hence it may not reach the same place as it was sent by the sender.
 Organisation structure, rules and regulations, authority relationships, etc., act as a
barrier to effective communication.
 Some of the Organisational Barriers are as follows:
 Organisational Policy: Effectiveness of communication is affected by
organisational policy. The communication process is hampered if the policy is
not supportive of the free flow of communication. For example, in a
 centralised organisation, free communication is not encouraged, and
communication has to follow through a proper channel only.
 Rules and Regulations: The process of communication is affected by rigid
and cumbersome rules and regulations. The channels and the subject matter
are already prescribed through, which the messages are to be communicated.
These prescribed rules, regulations, and channels are rigid and can act as
barriers.
 Status: Psychological distance is created between superior and subordinate
because of status. Such statuses stand in the way of true and accurate
communication. Subordinates are also not allowed to express their feeling
freely if the manager is status conscious.
 Complexity in Organisation Structure: Organisation structure can also act as a
barrier to communication. If there are many managerial levels in an
organisational structure, then communication gets delayed and distorted.
 Organisational Facilities: If facilities like frequent meetings, conferences,
suggestion boxes, complaint boxes, etc., are absent in an organisation, then
effective communication is hampered.
4. Personal Barriers:
 The effectiveness of communication is influenced by the personal factors of both
sender and the receiver.
 Some of the Personal Barriers are as follows:
 Fear of Challenge to Authority: If a superior fears that a particular
communication can hamper his authority, then he may withhold such
communication, as he always wants to maintain a higher position and
prestige in the organisation.
 Lack of Confidence of Superior on his Subordinates: When superiors do not
have faith or confidence on the competence of their subordinates, then
communication is said to be hampered. When there is a lack of trust and
confidence in subordinates, the superior may not take advice or suggestions
from the subordinates.
 Unwillingness to Communicate: Unwillingness to communicate can be
another reason for ineffective communication. Many times, subordinates do
not communicate with their superiors because they believe that if the
information is not correct or appropriate, it will adversely affect them.
 Lack of Proper Incentives: Subordinates also do not take initiative to
communicate, when there is no motivation or incentives for communication.
For example, if there is no reward for the suggestion given by the
subordinates, then they will not take initiative.
COORDINATION
 Coordination is the function of management which ensures that different departments and
groups work in sync.
 Coordination involves synchronizing, integrating, or unifying the actions of all groups in the
enterprise to achieve its goals.
 It is a process in which managers balance the activities of different individuals and individual
groups, reconcile their differences in interests or methods, to achieve a common goal,
achieving a harmonious group effort and unity of action.
 Defined by Mcfarland, “Coordination is the process whereby an executive develops an
orderly pattern of group efforts among his subordinates and secures the unity of actions in
pursuing a common purpose.”
Features:
1. Coordination focuses on integrating collective efforts, not the integration of individual
efforts.
2. Coordination is a concerted effort to give the necessary quality and quantity at the right time.
3. Coordination is a continuous and dynamic process.
4. Coordination has three important elements: balancing, timing and integrating.
5. Every manager is responsible for coordination.
6. Coordination can be internal or external.

Principles of Coordination:
Mary Parker Follett has laid out four principles for effective co-ordination;
a. Direct personal contact – according to this principle co-ordination is best achieved through
direct personal contact with people concerned. Direct face-to-face communication is the most
effective way to convey ideas and information and to remove misunderstanding.
b. Early beginning — co-ordination can be achieved more easily in early stages of planning and
policy-making. Therefore, plans should be based on mutual consultation or participation.
Integration of efforts becomes more difficult once the unco-ordinated plans are put into
operation. Early co-ordination also improves the quality of plans.
c. Reciprocity — this principle states that all factors in a given situation are interdependent and
interrelated. For instance, in a group every person influences all others and is in turn
influenced by others. When people appreciate the reciprocity of relations, they avoid
unilateral action and co-ordination becomes easier.
d. Continuity — co-ordination is an on-going or never-ending process rather than a once-for-all
activity. It cannot be left to chance, but management has to strive constantly. Sound co-
ordination is not fire-fighting, i.e., resolving conflicts as they arise.
CONTROLLING
 Controlling means comparing the actual performance of an organisation with the planned
performance and taking corrective actions if the actual performance does not match the
planned performance.
 Controlling also ensures that an organization’s resources are being used effectively &
efficiently for the achievement of predetermined goals.
 It ensuring that activities in an organization are performed as per the plans.
Features:
1. It is goal oriented.
2. It is a primary function of manager.
3. Controlling is a continuous process.
4. Controlling is all-pervasive. It means that the controlling function is exercised by the firms at
all levels of management.
5. Controlling process is both a forward-looking and backward-looking function. As a forward-
looking function, it aims at improving the future performance of an organisation on the basis
of its past experiences.
Importance of Controlling:
 A. Accomplishing Organizational Goals: The controlling function is an accomplishment of
measures that further makes progress towards the organizational goals & brings to light the
deviations, & indicates corrective action. Therefore it helps in guiding
the organizational goals which can be achieved by performing a controlling function.
B. Judging Accuracy of Standards: The efficient control system also helps in keeping careful and
progress check on the changes which help in taking the major place in the organization & in
the environment and also helps to review & revise the standards in light of such changes.
C. Making efficient use of resources: it ensures that the resources are used in the most effective
& efficient manner for the further availability of resources.
D. Improving employee motivation: it helps in motivating and increasing their potential so to
make them & helps them to give better performance.
E. Ensuring order and disciplines: It keeps a close check on the activities of employees and the
company can be able to track and find out the dishonest employees by using computer
monitoring as a part of their control system.
F. Facilitating coordination in action: controlling is that each department & employee is
governed by such pre-determined standards and goals which are well versed and coordinated
with one another. This ensures that overall organizational objectives are accomplished in an
overall manner.
Techniques of Controlling
Controlling is the systematic approach which is called as a process of checking actual performance
against the standards or plans with a view to ensure adequate progress and also recording such
experience as is gained as a contribution to future needs.
Types:
1) Traditional type of control:
a. Direct supervision and Observation: This is one of the oldest
techniques of controlling. As the name suggests, the supervisor
directly observes the worker at his workplace during the working
hours. This technique is very useful in small scale business or
industries. A lot of issues can be sorted as the supervisor gets first-
hand information about what's happening and what needs to be done.
The worker is also aware that he or she is being watched, hence
works with diligence and alertness.
b. Financial Statements: Maintaining a profit and loss account along
with the balance sheet makes it possible to control the issues that can
be the reason for the decline in losses. The management can compare
the profits and losses with the previous year’s accounts or with a
similar organization, and take necessary steps to increase the profits
of the organization.
c. Budgetary Control: A budget is a planning and controlling strategy.
Budgetary control is a process of planning and preparing estimated
figures for the organization for future needs and then comparing it
with actual performance. This comparison will draw variances
between the two and help the organization to take corrective actions
at the proper time. Hence, the budget is a means and budgetary
control is the result.
d. Break-Even Analysis: This process is a simple control tool where the
management analyzes their break-even point to take corrective
measures to improve their future performances. Break-even point is a
 point where there is no loss, no profit. For instance, if the business
sells 5000 products, it will be at a break-even point. So anything
below is loss and anything above this is a profit.
2) Modern type of control:
a. Return on investment: The reward of risk-taking is profit on
investment. If the return on investment is high, then the organization
is doing well and vice-versa. This tool of controlling helps the
management to compare the ROI with the previous year’s profit and
with other similar organizations and help them to take corrective
measures.
b. Management audit: Evaluating management and its performance is a
management audit. It meticulously and critically examines and
analyzes the complete management process starting from planning,
organization, directing, accounting, controlling, etc. Management
audit is conducted by a team of experts who collect data from
different departments, processes, and members of the organization.
The data is thoroughly analyzed and conclusions are drawn about the
management’s performance and efficiency.
c. PERT and CPM: The USA in the late 50s developed two important
methods that were Program evaluation and review technique(PERT)
and Critical path method(CPM). Under these techniques, the tasks or
jobs are divided into various parts. Then, critical tasks are identified.
Focus is given to the completion of these critical tasks. So,
controlling the time to complete these critical tasks will minimize the
total cost and total time taken to do the complete job.
d. Self control: Self-control is a tool best suited for entrepreneurs who
set their own targets, own deadlines, evaluate their performance and
quality, and then take correction steps to improve their performances.
This tool is required and exercised by the top-level managers too as
they do not like external control. This tool must be encouraged to be
exercised by everyone in the company. This will help the
management to control each and everything in a better manner. The
cost and time taken to control through other ways can be minimized
if self-control is conducted effectively by each member of the
organization.
e. Responsibility accounting: Various departments of an organization
are converted into responsibility centres. The head of each centre is
responsible for accomplishing the target of the centre.