Outline the main features of the communication process. Discuss the major barriers to effective communication and how they may be at least partially overcome.

Introduction

There is no overall agreement as to what communication is, what its elements are and its purpose. There are two general views of communication: the Transmissional and Constitutive Schools. These are not types of communication, but two different understandings of the same phenomenon. In this essay, I would talk more on the Transmissional view of communication since its model is more popular. Then I would compare the two views of communication, its barriers and techniques for improvement. Why building surveyors needs communication is the issue discussed in the last past of this essay.
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Communication process viewed by the Transmissional School

The Transmissional School uses the Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver (SMCR) Model to understand communication process: a sender encodes ideas into signs to create a message, sends it over one or more channels, then it is decoded by a receiver.

Sender is the transmitter of message whereas receiver is the one who attends to, interpret, and respond to the transmitted message. A sign is anything that stands for or represents something else (the word ‘apple?stands for the object we call an apple). The message is what the sender attempts to transmit to his specified receivers. Every message has at least two major aspects: content and treatment. The content of message includes the assertions, arguments, appeals, and themes which the sender transmits to the receivers and the treatment of message is the arrangement or ordering of the content by the sender.

A message is encoded by the sender when it enters the channel. Encoding is the process of putting ideas, perceptions and feelings into signs; decoding is the reversed process in which signs are interpreted by the receiver. A channel is the medium by which a sign is sent. It can be grouped in sensory channels (senses of sight, sound, touch, smell and taste) and institutionalized means (face-to-face conversation, printed materials and the electronic media).?

The goal of communication is reached when the receiver accepts the sender's message. Attention and comprehension are the means the receiver uses to attain the goal of acceptance of message. Attention is the process by which receiver tunes in on a message and listens to it, watches it, or reads it. Comprehension implies the understanding of message. Once the receiver has attended to the message and comprehended the content, his next task is to accept the message on at least one of three levels: the cognitive, that is, the receiver accepts the message content as true; the affective, the receiver believes the message is good; overt action, where the receiver takes the appropriate action.

There are five factors which influence both sender and receiver in any communication process: communication skills, attitude, knowledge, position in the social system and culture.

Communication skills consist of verbal and nonverbal skills. There are five verbal skills: speaking and writing (sending skills), listening and reading (receiving skills), and thought or reasoning. Nonverbal communications skills do not involve writing or conversation, e.g. facial expression, gesture, body language and eye contact.

Attitude, the second factor influencing the sender and receiver, is defined as a generalized tendency to feel one way or another about something. It influences communication in three ways. Attitude toward oneself determines how he conducts himself when he transmits messages to others. Attitude toward subject matteraffects communication by predetermining the way messages are worded about certain subjects. Attitude toward the receiver means that messages are likely to be very different when communicating the same content to someone we like and someone we dislike. They are also structured differently when talking to someone in a high position, the same position or a low position, regardless of whether we like them or not.

Knowledge level has a bearing on the ability to communicate effectively about a subject. People with similar knowledge level can have a more effective communication. The position of the sender and receiver in their respective social systems also affects the nature of the communicative act. We perceive those with whom we communicate as occupying a similar, higher, or lower position in their respective social systems. (This ties in with attitudes toward the receiver or sender.)

Culture is the fifth influence determining our communication effectiveness. Communication is more effective between persons with similar cultural backgrounds. Culture is relatively independent of social position.
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Comparison between the Transmissional and Constitutive Schools

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Major barriers to effective communication

There are ten major barriers to effective communication. These barriers may exist in the sender and receiver sides and through the process of encoding, decoding and channelling.

1. Believability: Ability of making the receiver to be cognitive.
2. Attitude: Generalized tendency to feel one way or another about something.
3. Emotion: Strong feeling of any kind.
4. Language: Method of communication by means of a system of sounds and sound symbols.
5. Nonverbal cues: Expressions by means of nonverbal communication skills.
6. Noise: Any undesirable disturbance in the transmittance of the message either internally or externally.
7. Filtering: Deliberate manipulation of information to make it appear more favourable to the receiver.
8. Word interpretation: Meaning of words by the receiver.
9. Preconception: Ideas or opinions formed in advance before getting knowledge.
10. Perception: Reception of messages selectively.

Techniques to improve communication and overcome the barriers

Although some barriers are inevitable, we can still improve communication by the following methods. The sender should:

1. Use feedback: It helps the sender determine the proximity meaning for the message, prevent miscommunication and measures the amount of influence the sender had on the receiver.
2. Use more channels: A combination of channels, whatever it is sensory or institutionalized, is generally more effective on the receiver's attention to the message.
3. Use face-to-face communication: It has the greatest potential for getting the receiver's attention since it contains more than one channel of communication.
4. Reduce the number of steps to reach receiver to minimize the effect of noise.
5. Choose appropriate media and language of communication for the receiver.
6. Use direct, short, simple messages and repeat main points and use examples.
7. Be sensitive to individual: consider the attitude, background and emotion of the receiver and choose the best content and treatment of messages.
8. Constrain self-emotions: rational thinking instead of emotional judgement.
9. Show his self-attitude and self-confidence, but they should not be too strong, otherwise he tends to become brash and overbearing, and his communication loses much of its effect with the receiver.
10. Should be credible, objective and knowledgeable.

1. Listen actively: Look for main points and analyze the speaker's purpose and language.
2. Watch nonverbal cues which reinforce the verbal ones.
3. Ask questions and clarification once you are uncertain.
4. Be open-minded. Try to stand on the sender’s side.
5. Listen rather than concentrate on what you are going to say.

Conclusion

Effective and efficient communication skills are often needed in the working area of building surveyors. Being a building surveyor, one would have many opportunities to communicate with contractors, developers, bosses, professionals, fellows, team members, clients and workers. Since they are come from different positions in the social system, who have different attitudes, knowledge, languages and culture, different communication skills should be used. For example, we cannot use technical terms in dealing with workers as misunderstanding may result. In addition, different communication channels are used if different purposes have to be achieved. For instance, if errors are found when a building is being checked, oral communication with workers is used. After the building has been checked, letters or reports are used to state the errors to the contractors. When the report is presented to the clients, pictures or even maps may be used for easy understanding. So, different communication skills should be used for different targets and different purposes in order to achieve effective and efficient communication.
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Reference:
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