The success of any organisation depends on efficient and effective communications, it is important for building and maintaining personal and working relationships within the organisation and with service providers and customers.
The ability to express an idea is well-nigh as important as the idea itself. – American businessman, Bernard Baruch
Effective communications is essential to facilitate effective exchange of information, ideas and effective communication within the company and it is essential to facilitate improvements in the exchange of information between team members and clients. It resolves communication misunderstanding or conflict and creates harmony by bridging communication gaps that create conflict. It also reduces mistakes and results in improved client safety, improved quality of care and enhanced staff morale and job satisfaction.
In 1949 Shannon, who was a mathematician and Weaver who was a scientist created the Communications model that is used today as a model for effective communication. Although it is actually one of the simplest communication models it forms the basis of various more complex communication models. This model was actually created originally to improve Technical communications but later it was widely applied in the field of all Communications.
Shannon-Weaver Communication Cycle
The communication cycle process consists of:
Sender: This is the source of the message which is the information that needs to be conveyed. This can be a simple message like ‘the meeting starts at four pm’ or a lengthy technical specification, for example instructions for an electronically operated window or door. The sender should use the KISS approach (Keep it simple and straight forward) because the simpler the message the more impact it will have.
Encoding : This is the process of converting the information into a form that can be correctly decoded at the other end by