3 Communication: Types, Process and Barriers

3.1 What is Communication?

Communication is the transfer and understanding of meaning (robbins2018?). The two italicised words matter equally. Transfer without understanding is just noise; understanding without transfer is private cognition. Stephen Robbins distinguishes communication from mere talking by insisting that the message must reach the receiver in a form the receiver can interpret.

Koontz and Weihrich treat communication as the blood-stream of an organisation — the medium through which planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling happen (koontz2010?). Chester Barnard went further, arguing in The Functions of the Executive that the first function of an executive is to develop and maintain a system of communication (barnard1938?).

Three Working Definitions

Author	Definition	What it foregrounds
Louis Allen	“The sum of all the things one person does when he wants to create understanding in the mind of another. It involves a systematic and continuous process of telling, listening and understanding.”	Two-way, continuous
Keith Davis	“The process of passing information and understanding from one person to another.”	Information + understanding
Newman & Summer	“An exchange of facts, ideas, opinions or emotions by two or more persons.”	Exchange

3.2 Process of Communication

The Shannon–Weaver model (1949) — borrowed from telecommunications — supplies the canonical seven-element schema (shannonweaver1949?). David Berlo’s S-M-C-R model (1960) tightened it for the social sciences (berlo1960?).

flowchart LR
  S[Sender / Source<br/>has an idea] --> E[Encoding<br/>idea → symbols]
  E --> M[Message]
  M --> CH[Channel<br/>medium]
  CH --> D[Decoding<br/>symbols → idea]
  D --> R[Receiver]
  R -. Feedback .-> S
  N[(Noise)] -. interferes .-> CH
  style S fill:#E3F2FD,stroke:#1565C0
  style R fill:#E8F5E9,stroke:#1B5E20
  style N fill:#FFEBEE,stroke:#C62828

Seven Elements of the Communication Process

Element	Role	Failure mode
Sender (Source)	Originates the idea	Unclear thinking, hidden agenda
Encoding	Converts idea into symbols (words, images, gestures)	Wrong vocabulary, jargon
Message	The encoded content	Ambiguous, too long, wrong order
Channel	The medium that carries it (voice, email, video)	Poor reach, wrong medium for the message
Decoding	Receiver re-converts symbols into meaning	Different frame of reference
Receiver	Person for whom the message is meant	Inattention, hostility, fatigue
Feedback	Receiver’s response to the sender	Absent, delayed, distorted

Noise — anything that interferes at any step — sits across the model rather than at one point. Without feedback, communication is one-way information but not yet a closed communication.

3.3 Types of Communication

3.3.1 By organisational direction

Four Directions of Organisational Communication

Direction	Flow	Typical content	Example
Downward	Top → bottom	Instructions, policies, performance feedback	CEO’s all-hands address
Upward	Bottom → top	Reports, suggestions, grievances	Daily production report
Horizontal / Lateral	Across same level	Coordination, problem-solving	Marketing speaks to operations
Diagonal / Crosswise	Across levels and departments	Speed, problem-solving	Junior engineer emails the VP–Sales directly

3.3.2 Formal vs informal

Formal communication follows the official lines of authority laid down in the organisation chart. Informal communication — the grapevine — runs along social rather than positional lines. Keith Davis (1953) identified four grapevine patterns:

Davis’s Four Grapevine Patterns

Pattern	How it spreads	Example
Single strand	A → B → C → D → … in a chain	One-to-one rumour relay
Gossip	One person tells everyone else	“Have you heard…” at the canteen
Probability	Random — anyone tells anyone	Casual leakage
Cluster	A few tell selected others, who in turn tell selected others	Most common in organisations

The grapevine is not all bad: research repeatedly shows it is fast and often accurate on routine matters; managers who try to suppress it usually fail. The textbook prescription is to understand and use the grapevine rather than fight it.

3.3.3 Verbal, Non-verbal and Written

Channels by Form

Form	Modes	Strengths	Weaknesses
Oral / Verbal	Face-to-face talk, telephone, video call	Speed, instant feedback, tone	No record, can be forgotten
Written	Letter, memo, e-mail, report, manual	Permanence, can be re-read, legal weight	Slow, lacks tone, misinterpretation
Non-verbal	Facial expression, gesture, posture, eye contact, silence, dress	Carries emotion, often involuntary	Easy to misread across cultures

Albert Mehrabian’s much-quoted 7–38–55 rule — that 7 per cent of meaning in feeling-and-attitude messages is in words, 38 per cent in tone of voice, 55 per cent in facial expression — is best treated as suggestive, not a universal law.

3.4 Barriers to Communication

Barriers are anything that distorts a message between sender and receiver. The textbook taxonomy groups them into four families.

Four Families of Communication Barriers

Family	Examples	Where it bites
Semantic	Different meanings for same word, jargon, ambiguous terms, poor vocabulary	Encoding / decoding
Physical	Distance, noise, faulty equipment, time-zone gap	Channel
Psychological / Personal	Premature evaluation, prejudice, distrust, fear, emotion	Sender or receiver
Organisational	Long scalar chain, status difference, information overload, rigid policies	Structure / culture

A common NTA distractor offers “language” and asks whether it is a semantic or physical barrier — language is semantic.

3.4.1 Filtering, selective perception, defensiveness

Three frequently-tested specific barriers from Robbins:

Filtering. A sender deliberately manipulates information so the receiver sees it more favourably. The classic case is a subordinate telling the boss what the boss wants to hear.
Selective perception. The receiver sees and hears based on their own needs, motivations, experience, background and other personal characteristics.
Defensiveness. Threatening communication triggers a self-protective response — the receiver attacks, withdraws, or hides from the message rather than processing it.

3.5 Overcoming Barriers — the 7 Cs

Francis J. Bergin’s 7 Cs of effective communication, popularised by Cutlip and Center (cutlipcenter2006?), are the standard checklist.

The 7 Cs of Effective Communication

C	What it asks
Clarity	Is the message simple, single-meaning, jargon-free?
Completeness	Does it answer who–what–when–where–why–how?
Conciseness	Is every word earning its place?
Concreteness	Are there specifics, figures, examples?
Consideration	Is it framed from the receiver’s point of view?
Courtesy	Is the tone respectful?
Correctness	Are facts, language and grammar accurate?

Other prescriptions: use multiple channels (oral + written for important messages); encourage feedback — ask the receiver to paraphrase; practise active listening (Carl Rogers’s empathic listening); manage information load — neither starve nor flood the receiver; be aware of non-verbal cues.

3.6 Special Models — for the postgraduate-level question

Three More Models Worth Knowing

Model	Originator	One-line idea
S-M-C-R	David Berlo (1960)	Source–Message–Channel–Receiver, with skill, attitude, knowledge, social system, culture as factors
Lasswell’s formula	Harold Lasswell (1948)	“Who says what, in which channel, to whom, with what effect?”
Two-step flow	Lazarsfeld & Katz (1955)	Mass communication reaches the audience indirectly through opinion leaders

3.7 Practice Questions

Q 01 Definition Easy

"Communication is the transfer and understanding of meaning." The definition is most commonly associated with:

AHenri Fayol
BPeter Drucker
CStephen Robbins
DChester Barnard

View solution

Correct Option: C

The phrase is the Robbins textbook definition. Both transfer and understanding are required — transfer alone is just noise.

Q 02 Process Order Medium

Arrange the following elements of the communication process in the correct order:

(i)	Encoding
(ii)	Channel
(iii)	Sender
(iv)	Decoding
(v)	Receiver

A(iii), (i), (ii), (iv), (v)
B(i), (iii), (iv), (v), (ii)
C(iii), (ii), (i), (v), (iv)
D(v), (iv), (ii), (i), (iii)

View solution

Correct Option: A

Sender → Encoding → Channel → Decoding → Receiver, with feedback closing the loop.

Q 03 Direction Easy

A daily production report sent from a foreman to the plant manager is an example of:

ADownward communication
BUpward communication
CDiagonal communication
DLateral communication

View solution

Correct Option: B

Subordinate-to-superior flow is upward. Reports, suggestions and grievances are typical content.

Q 04 Grapevine Easy

The grapevine is best described as:

AA formal communication channel
BAn informal communication channel
CA type of barrier to communication
DA model of mass communication

View solution

Correct Option: B

The grapevine runs along social lines rather than the official chain — informal, fast, often surprisingly accurate on routine matters.

Q 05 Barriers Medium

Which of the following is a semantic barrier to communication?

AFaulty microphone
BDistance between sender and receiver
CUse of jargon and ambiguous terms
DStatus difference between sender and receiver

View solution

Correct Option: C

Semantic = problems with meaning. Microphones and distance are physical; status is organisational.

Q 06 Davis's Patterns Medium

Match the grapevine pattern with its description (Keith Davis):

(i)	Single strand	(a)	One person tells everyone
(ii)	Gossip	(b)	A → B → C in a chain
(iii)	Probability	(c)	A few tell a selected few who tell another selected few
(iv)	Cluster	(d)	Information passes randomly

A(i)-(b), (ii)-(a), (iii)-(d), (iv)-(c)
B(i)-(a), (ii)-(b), (iii)-(c), (iv)-(d)
C(i)-(c), (ii)-(d), (iii)-(a), (iv)-(b)
D(i)-(d), (ii)-(c), (iii)-(b), (iv)-(a)

View solution

Correct Option: A

Single strand = chain; Gossip = one to all; Probability = random; Cluster = selective relay (most common in organisations).

Q 07 7 Cs Easy

Which of the following is not one of the 7 Cs of effective communication?

AClarity
BConciseness
CConfidentiality
DCourtesy

View solution

Correct Option: C

The 7 Cs are Clarity, Completeness, Conciseness, Concreteness, Consideration, Courtesy, Correctness. Confidentiality is not one of them.

Q 08 Lasswell Easy

"Who says what, in which channel, to whom, with what effect?" is the formula given by:

ADavid Berlo
BHarold Lasswell
CClaude Shannon
DWilbur Schramm

View solution

Correct Option: B

Harold Lasswell's 1948 formula is the most-quoted shorthand for the communication process in mass-communication studies.

Quick recall

Communication = transfer + understanding of meaning. Barnard: communication is the first function of an executive.
Seven elements: Sender → Encoding → Message → Channel → Decoding → Receiver → Feedback, with Noise across the loop.
Four directions: Downward, Upward, Horizontal, Diagonal. Formal vs Grapevine (Davis: single strand, gossip, probability, cluster).
Four barriers: Semantic, Physical, Psychological, Organisational. Robbins’s specifics: filtering, selective perception, defensiveness.
Remedies: 7 Cs — Clarity, Completeness, Conciseness, Concreteness, Consideration, Courtesy, Correctness; plus active listening and feedback.
Models: Shannon–Weaver, Berlo’s S-M-C-R, Lasswell’s “who-what-which-whom-effect”, Lazarsfeld’s two-step flow.