Definition of communication by experts

Definition of communication - All organizations regard effective communication as essential for survival. Without communication a business would not exist. Businesses are concerned with a wide range of communication activities. First of all, communication within the company has to be as effective as possible. This involves a wide range of communication activities to ensure good upward, downward and lateral or sideways communication. Companies also have to communicate with other companies and suppliers, since good relationships with them are essential. The most important activity of all is communicating with customers; without them no company would exist.

Definition of communication

Through communication people are able to coordinate their activities. This coordination makes organized behaviour possible. Communication is very complex. Indeed, communication experts have difficulty agreeing on one definition to cover every situation. For the purposes of this article we may define communication as follows:

communication is a transaction whereby participants together create meaning through the exchange of symbols.

This definition stresses four major points:

• Communication as a transaction.
• People working together.
• The creation of meaning
• The exchange of symbols

Communication as a transaction

A transaction involves two or more people who construct meaning together. They have to take one another into account, and have to work together according to a set of rules.

People working together

This definition stresses the importance of people working together. People have to pay attention to each other at the same time. They have to learn to develop mutual expectations. If mutual awareness exists then mutual influence becomes possible.

Creation of Meaning

People need to ensure that others understand what they are saying. Words do not have meaning in themselves. People give meaning to words. The same words may therefore have different meanings for different people. Effective communication therefore demands that people work together to ensure that the meaning created is the same for all. There must be a sharing of meaning.

Exchange of Symbols

Exchanging symbols enables people to create meanings. Symbols may take many forms:

·         They may be verbal. Words are used when one speaks or writes to others in an organization.

·         They may be non-verbal. These may take the form of gestures, facial expressions, the way people stand, and the use of voice in different ways.

·         They may be graphic. Graphic communication takes the form of tables, line graphs, bar graphs and diagrams. - Definition of communication