Page 407 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

Model Question Papers | 395

The parties are not necessarily equally active—that is more likely in the case of interpersonal
communication, less so in the case of mass media and their audiences—but to both parties,
the transaction is in some way functional. It meets a need or provides a gratification. To a
greater or lesser degree information flows both ways. Like other transactions, this one is
likely to be guided by rules or agreement as we see when a teacher communicates with a
student, a parent with a child.
It is observed that most people who write about interpersonal communication appear to
insist that the more communication you have, the better off your relations will be. However,
more may not always be better. It is also seen by researchers that how people see each
other (‘interpersonal perceptions’) may have a significant effect on how those persons will
interact.
What happens in interpersonal communication involves so much more than words that we
must pay careful attention to people’s habits of relating to each other, if we are to be effective
in either studying about or participating in these transaction.

Group communication
Not all communication theorists agree on a definition of small group communication—how
many people make up a group, what differences there are between dyads and other num-
bers of people in communication, etc. The field of group dynamics, however, represents a
very interesting and special case of communication. It involves theories of leadership and
management, small group discussion, and decision-making. A number of the exercises and
activities involve group dynamics, group discussion, leadership and management princi-
ples are part and parcel of any academic setting. There is no way you can interact in your
class without applying or taking into account the principles of group interaction. A teacher
and an academic consultant play a vital role in enhancing group interaction and group
communication

Mass communication
One of the most popular areas of study in the recent times is that of the mass media – or
‘ communication’, as the term is used in some places—to indicate a broadened view of what
once was called simply ‘journalism’. At one time it was believed that audiences were a sort of
homogenous group, which could be reached through a media source. This very simplified view
of audiences was useful to some mass media practitioners but did not explain how complicated
are both the process of communicating and the character of audiences. While mass media study
is beyond the scope of our chapter, there are many ties between interpersonal and mass com-
munication. One-way transmission over mass media is no longer the only way to view infor-
mation. As the significance of two-way (or interactive) communication grows, people studying
and working in mass media will have to take into account many of the theories and principles
of interpersonal communication; and merging of such fields of study is not too far.
Each of the above detailed dimensions individually or collectively contributes to the
academic field in terms of understanding communication and sharpening communication.

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