What is Communication ? How to Classify and State the personal Barriers in Communication

For communication to be effective, the communicator could choose from certain media i.e either written oral, visual, etc. With the advent of telephone early in this century it dramatically reduced face-to-face communication. Since the early 1980s there has been a wave of new electronic technologies and this has contributed to new and advanced means of communication in organizations These include pages, facsimile machines: e-mail: voice mail: postal mail, interoffice mail. cellular phones. and palm sized personal communicators.

Electronic communications does not require a person lo work from his work place or desk. Computer technology has dramatically changed the landscape of business communication today. It is fast annihilating the barriers of time and space and the concept of our world tuming into a small global village now appears to be a distinct and near possibility.

Networked computers (ie computers that are communicate each other)
allow employees to jump vertical levels within the organization, time home in someplace other than an organization and conduct ongoing communication with people  other organizations the world over

Organizational boundaries become less relevant as a result of electronic communications.

Electronic communications have revolutionized both the ability to have access to other people and to reach them almost instantaneously. It however, does have some disadvantages. It does not provide the nonverbal communication component that the face-to-face meeting does. Then there is the e-mail which conveys the messages, but does not convey the emotion that comes through from verbal intonations in telephone conversations. Another drawback is the virus malady and fear of undesirable leakage. over the long run these drawbacks may lead to lower job satisfaction. However, scientists are fully aware of
and a actively addressing themselves to eliminating them with of quick solutions.

SUMMARY
Communication is the process of exchanging information and understanding between people Communication plays a very important role in any organization big or small because it is only through communication that managers can discharge their duties and they can initiate, control and change employee attitude to the benefit of the organization.

The communication process consists of seven parts i.e sender, encoding. message: channel, decoding, receiver and feedback This process is used for inter communication. If the feedback not received it is called one-way communication and if the feedback is expected it is called two-way communication in inter personal communication there may be many barriers which can or disrupt the entire communication process like physical barriers, personal barriers and semantic bariers.

There is a distinction between verbal and non-verbal communication as well. verbal communication involves the use of words and symbols. Non-verbal communication is mostly gesture or written. In the context of an organization we have three as Communication flows is the direction in which communication can flow ie. upward downward: lateral: diagnol and external.

Communication networks include the wheel; chain: Y; and all channel types. Communication can be formal or informal communication. Communication can be formal communication is important, along side informal communication which is also called the grapevine is said to be 80% accurate. There is an undesirable part of grapevine called the rumor, which must be accepted and dealt with in a healthy manner in an organisation.

The modem communication system includes the advent of computers i.e. (e-mail), cellular phones; fax etc. which facilitate faster and much more effective communications.