Methods of communication

Communication is a process wherein there is a conversation between two or more persons. It is a two way process where the sender wants to convey some idea or message and the receiver acknowledges and sends a feedback to the sender. Communication is an important aspect of our daily lives as it helps bridging relations and forging strong bonds not only in our personal lives but also in professional lives.

While communicating it is necessary to be sympathetic to the feelings and needs of the listeners. The idea or the feelings of the other person should be restated using the own words of the receiver. A good way of sympathetically starting a sentence is ‘If I correctly understand you…’ This gives enough time to sense what needs to be said. Instead of showing any kind of anger or contempt help should be provided. Follow up on the problem and monitor it for other ongoing problems.

In our professional lives we use various methods like videotape, video conferencing, phone, meetings, one-to-one, radio, internet, e-mails, fax, printed materials and manuals for communication. Videotapes are commonly used for training in an organization. From the time of its discovery, the videotape has been one of the most popular means of communicating with colleagues. Phone lines and sound systems are used to have a video conference. Due to the use of special software and high bandwidth network, video conferencing is not too commonly used.

Phones are the universal means of communication and with the coming in of mobile phones, anyone can be reached anywhere anytime. Meetings between people are one of the most common forms of communicating with people where ideas are exchanged between more than two people. On the other hand one-on-one meeting is commonly a meeting between two people. Internet and e-mails are the newest forms of communicating within an organization.