Page 125 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

Project Name: Manual for Soft Skills
ACE Pro India Pvt. Ltd.
\\mtpdy01\Womat\Indesign\Bhatnagar-Manual for Soft skills\06-Pagination\06-A-Finals\06-AA-Appl\Bhatnagar_Chapter 05.indd

Models of Communication | 113

General coMMents on all Models

As all of the models point out communication consists of several different
elements in constant interaction with one another. The elements most
frequently mentioned are source, receiver encoder, decoder, feedback,
message, noise, context, effect, and channel. Each element, as both Lasswell
and Gerbner note, may be associated with a specific area of research. Each
element in communication may be further broken down into more specific
elements or components as Berlo’s in his SMCR model. Communication has
no clear observable beginning or end. Communication transactions do have
fixed boundaries. This is illustrated most clearly in the models of Dance and
Branlund.
Each communication act influences future transactions and is influenced
by past transactions- an assumption that is visualized most clearly in Dance’s
helical spiral. Noise in inevitable in any communication transactions—a
point made most vividly by Shannon and Weaver. As both Branlund and
Johnson note, communication is dynamic. Communication is not a static
event but rather one constant process. Communication is transactional, each
element influencing every other element, something that is most adequately
recognized by Dance and Branlund. Communication is complex. This is also
a point made by Branlund. Encoders and decoders are interchangeable. This
characteristic exists in any conception of communication, but is made most
forcefully by Branlund. Feedback messages come from the sources as well as
from the receiver and provide the source with information as to the relative
effectiveness of various messages.
Westley and Maclean made the role of feedback an essential part of their
model. Communication as Johnson notes makes sense only to the extent that
the message relates to the external world. Communication messages may be
verbal as well as nonverbal. Communication can take place when we squint
as well as when we speak. Berlo, Branlund, and Johnson make this explicit.
Communication takes place in a context—a point that has been made clear
in the models of Aristotle and Johnson. Communication is inevitable and all
behaviours communicate, as all the models propose. Each communication
event is unique. No two communication acts are ever identical or repetitive.
Communication takes place through the continual encoding and decoding
of signals which is most clearly visualized in Shannon and Weaver’s models.
All models are abstractions and are incomplete representations of the actual
communication act.
No model is flawless, nor is there much hope for a complete isomorphic
geometric model of something as complex as human communication.
However, although not perfect, models succeed in helping us visualize the
reality of human communication.

Bhatnagar_Chapter 05.indd 113 2011-06-23 7:56:14 PM
Modified Date: Thu, Jun 23, 2011 06:22:39 PM Output Date: Thu, Jun 23, 2011 07:56:03 PM
TEMPLATE Page Number: PB