Criteria for effective communication. Indicators and factors of communication effectiveness Assessing the effectiveness of business communications

Lecture 1. CONCEPT AND TYPES OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS

1. Concept, goals and objectives of the course

2. Criteria for the effectiveness of information

3. Scheme of a communicative act

4. Barriers to the transfer of information

5. Basic types of communication

Concept, goals and objectives of the course

Communication is the natural habitat of humans. This difficult process, in which people interact, exchange information, influence each other, and strive to understand each other. The tool of communication is speech.

Often the terms “communication” and “communication” are used as equivalent and synonymous. However, according to other researchers, Communication is a connection during which information is transferred through different channels. In this case, the object receiving information can be not only a person, but also a machine or an animal. Communication is always a two-way process based on the interaction of equal partners - subjects of communication.

The concept of communication is broader than communication, but we will accept the first point of view and will consider the terms “communication” and “communication” as synonyms, since in human communication communication in its pure form practically does not occur, because the transfer of information, as a rule, in society represents precisely a two-way process, speech interaction.

Business communications is the communication of people in the sphere of official relations, which is aimed at achieving a specific task or solving a specific problem.

Have the right technique business communications– an integral part of a person’s professional culture.

Business conversation– the most widespread type of communication between people in society. One cannot do without it in the sphere of economic, legal, diplomatic, commercial, and administrative relations.

The ability to successfully conduct business negotiations, competently and correctly draw up a business paper and much more has now become an integral part of the professional culture of a person: a manager, a leader at all levels, an assistant, an employee, a leader. public organization. To achieve high performance in almost any form management activities you must have a certain set of information, knowledge, ideas about the rules, forms and methods of communication, and the postulates of business communication.

Important feature of business communication– strict adherence by its participants to the status role: boss - subordinate, partners, colleagues, etc. If business people have to constantly communicate with people standing at different levels of the career ladder, they talk about vertical and horizontal relationships. Vertically- these are subordination relationships, they are conditioned social status, administrative and legal norms and are characterized by the subordination of the junior to the senior in rank. Horizontal relationships involve participation in joint activities on the principles of cooperation, mutual understanding, taking into account common interests.

Criteria for effective communication.

If as a result of communication we got what we wanted, that is, we achieved the realization of our own communicative intention (we received exactly the information we needed; we were told and were correctly understood, etc.), then the communication was successful. This kind of communication is called effective.

If the speaker’s intention is partially realized (for example, the addressee received information, but not complete), we can talk about communication blunder, if the communicative intention is not realized at all – o communication failure.

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF RUSSIA

Federal state budget educational institution higher professional education

"Chuvash State University named after I.N. Ulyanov"

Faculty of Economics

Department of State and Municipal Administration.

TEST

discipline: Business communications

on the topic: Communication effectiveness.

Is done by a student

Kamaev M.O.

Checked:

Grigoriev A.V.

Cheboksary 2015

INTRODUCTION

1. Basics of effective communication

1.1 Communications

2. Gestures of impatience

3. Communication channels

4. Principles of effective communication

CONCLUSION

LIST OF REFERENCES USED

INTRODUCTION

It is almost impossible to overstate the importance of communications in a business environment. If people cannot exchange information, it is clear that they will not be able to work together, formulate goals and achieve them.

However, communication is a complex process consisting of interdependent steps, each of these steps is necessary in order to make our thoughts understandable to another person.

Each step is a point at which, if we are careless and do not think about what we are doing, the meaning can be lost. That is why the techniques that we use in business communication and methods of effective communication are of great importance.

The object of study of this work is verbal and non-verbal communication systems. Subject of research: means and techniques of verbal and non-verbal communication systems.

The purpose of this essay: to study the techniques and methods of effective communication with a business communication partner.

Reveal the basics of effective communication

Reveal the essence of verbal and nonverbal communication systems

List the principles of effective communication.

1. Basics of Effective Communication

Communication (from the Latin Communico - making common) - in a broad sense - exchange of information.

Communication is a complex process of interaction between people, consisting of the exchange of information, as well as the perception and understanding of each other by partners. In principle, communication is characteristic of any living beings, but only at the human level does the process of communication become conscious, connected by verbal and non-verbal acts. The person transmitting information is called a communicator, and the person receiving it is called a recipient.

Lasswell's model of the communication process includes five elements:

WHO? (transmits message) - Communicator

WHAT? (transmitted) - Message

HOW? (transfer in progress) - Channel

TO WHOM? (message sent) - Audience

WITH WHAT EFFECT? - Efficiency.

Effective communication is more than just conveying information. In order for communication to be effective, it is important not only to be able to speak, but also to be able to listen, hear and understand what the interlocutor is saying. Unfortunately, we were not taught the art of communication at school. They explained to us how to write and read, but they did not teach us how to listen and speak. Everyone develops these abilities independently, learning from the people who surround us (parents, teachers, peers). The communication style you adopted as a child may not always be effective.

Each of us, while communicating, can simultaneously learn to communicate, acquire and improve practical skills and abilities in the field of communication. In fact, the first and most important principle of effective communication is to really try to be heard by the people to whom the information needs to be conveyed. Pay attention to the effectiveness of your attempts, do not repeat unsuccessful steps and come up with new ways.

Indeed, communication is a two-way activity where you cannot be understood and heard if the other party does not want or cannot understand you. However, this is not a reason to abdicate responsibility for the result of communication, asserting “they don’t understand...”, “he doesn’t want to listen...”, etc. If you want to convey any information, the effectiveness of communication becomes your responsibility.

Very often when communicating, for some reason we hear what we want to hear, and not what we are actually told. This applies to both you and the interlocutor. Therefore, there is a rule of three times repetition that is used when transmitting key information:

First, tell the other person exactly what you are going to say.

Then tell him what you were going to tell him.

Then tell him exactly what you told him.

Remember that even this does not guarantee that the meaning of what was said will reach the interlocutor.

1.1 Communication means

Means of communication are methods of encoding, transmitting, processing and decoding information that. Information between people can be transmitted using the senses, speech and other sign systems, writing, technical means recording and storing information. Usually there are verbal (using words, speech) and non-verbal (other) means of communication.

If a contradiction arises between two sources of information (verbal and nonverbal): a person says one thing, but his face says something completely different, then, obviously, nonverbal information deserves more trust. Australian specialist A. Pease claims that 7% of information is transmitted through words, sounds - 38%, facial expressions, gestures, postures - 55%. In other words, what is said is not so important, but how it is done.

Knowledge of sign language allows you to better understand the interlocutor and, if necessary, use non-verbal communication means in order to influence the interlocutor. It is important to pay attention not only to facial expressions - facial expressions, but also to gestures, since people control their facial expressions more than their posture and gestures. Below we will describe a number of the most typical gestures and ways to respond to them.

2. Gestures of impatience

Tapping objects or fingers, fidgeting in a chair, swinging a leg, looking at a watch, looking “past” you. If a person sits on the edge of a chair, his whole body seems to be directed forward, his hands rest on his knees - he is in a hurry, or he is so tired of the conversation that he wants to end it as soon as possible. Gestures of emotional discomfort: Collecting non-existent lint, shaking off clothes, scratching the neck, taking off and putting on a ring indicate that the partner is experiencing internal tension. He is not ready to make decisions and take responsibility. Try to calm him down. Keep the conversation “about nothing” for a while or switch to a less significant topic. Be sure to listen to the answers even to routine questions; people do not like to feel that they are being communicated with “formally”, without being truly interested in their opinion. Lying gestures: When a person wants to hide something, he unconsciously touches his face with his hand - as if “covering” the corner of his mouth with his palm, or rubbing his nose. You should not show a person that you doubt his words and catch him in a lie. Better, ask him again (“That is, if I understood you correctly, then:..”), so as to leave him a path to retreat, so that it is easier for him to return to a constructive direction. Gestures of superiority: Index finger pointed at you, chin raised high, figure in the shape of “arms on hips”. Playing along with such an “important” person, slouching, nodding obsequiously and agreeing with his every word, or repeating all his movements, straightening his shoulders, raising his chin will not be very effective. The best thing to do when meeting such a pompous person is to emphasize his importance while saving your face. For example, say “You were recommended to me as an experienced, knowledgeable specialist,” or “What would you do in my place?” When asking such a question, of course, you must listen carefully to the answer, no matter how paradoxical it may seem to you.

Naturally, the external reactions of each person are different, so you should not unconditionally follow these recommendations, but rather study your interlocutor and try to better understand his individual reactions.

3. Communication channels

It is necessary to determine the “communication channels” available in each specific communicative act. When talking on the phone, such a channel is the organs of speech and hearing. The form and content of the text, information about the clothing, posture and gestures of the interlocutor are perceived through the visual channel. Handshake: a way of conveying a friendly greeting through a tactile channel. For example, when talking on the phone, you cannot use the visual channel, and must pay more attention to the clarity of speech, intonation, and word order in sentences. Since verbal communication is, after all, the basis of human communication, you may find it helpful to know the techniques for good listening described in the book Understand Your Listening Habits. What are your strengths? What mistakes are you making? Maybe you judge people hastily? Do you often interrupt your interlocutor? What communication interference is most likely in your answers? Which ones do you use most often? Knowing your listening habits better is the first step in changing them. Don't shirk responsibility for communication. If it is not clear to you what the interlocutor is talking about, you must let him understand it. How can someone know that you don't understand them until you say so yourself?

Be physically alert. Make sure your posture and gestures indicate that you are listening. Remember that the speaker wants to communicate with an attentive, lively interlocutor, and not with a stone wall. Focus on what the other person is saying. Because focused attention can be short-lived (less than one minute), listening requires conscious concentration. Try to understand not only the meaning of the words, but also the feelings of the interlocutor. Remember that people convey their thoughts and feelings "coded" - in accordance with socially accepted norms. Listen not only to the information, but also to the feelings conveyed. Observe the speaker's nonverbal cues. Watch the speaker's facial expression, tone of voice, and speed of speech. Maintain an approving attitude towards your interlocutor. The more the speaker feels approved, the more accurately he will express what he wants to say. Any negative attitude on the part of the listener causes a defensive reaction, a feeling of uncertainty and wariness in communication. Try to express understanding. Use reflective listening techniques to understand how the other person is really feeling and what they are trying to say. Listen to yourself. Listening to yourself is especially important for developing the ability to listen to others. When you are preoccupied or emotionally agitated, you are least able to listen to what others are saying. If someone's message affects your feelings, express them to your interlocutor: this will clarify the situation and help you listen to others better. Respond to requests with appropriate action. Remember that often the interlocutor's goal is to get something tangible, for example, information, or change an opinion, or force someone to do something. In this case, adequate action is the best response to the interlocutor. The focus of improving your listening habits should be on positive advice, but it is also helpful to remember typical mistakes. When listening to your interlocutor, never mistake silence for attention. If the interlocutor is silent, this does not mean that he is listening. He may be lost in his own thoughts; don't pretend to listen. It's no use: no matter how much you pretend, lack of interest and boredom will inevitably show in your facial expression or gestures. It’s better to admit that you can’t listen at the moment, citing, for example, being busy; don't interrupt unnecessarily. If you need to interrupt someone in a serious conversation, then help restore the interlocutor's train of thought that you interrupted; Don't jump to conclusions. Remember, such assessments are a barrier to meaningful communication; Don’t let yourself be “caught” in an argument. When you mentally disagree with a speaker, you tend to stop listening and wait for your turn to speak. And when you start arguing, you get so carried away with justifying your point of view that sometimes you no longer hear your interlocutor; don't ask too many questions. It is useful to ask a question to clarify what has been said. Excessively a large number of questions to a certain extent suppresses the interlocutor, takes away his initiative and puts him in a defensive position; never tell your interlocutor: “I understand your feelings well.” In this case, you should let the interlocutor know that you are listening to him by asking, for example, the following empathic question: “Are you disappointed in something?” or “I feel like someone offended you,” or any other remark appropriate to the situation; Don't be overly sensitive to emotional words. When listening to a very excited interlocutor, be careful and do not be influenced by his feelings, otherwise you may miss the meaning of the message; Don't give advice unless asked. Unsolicited advice, as a rule, is given by someone who will not help himself; Don't use listening as a refuge. Don't be afraid of disapproval or criticism.

4. Principles of Effective Communication

In our opinion, good principles of effective communication are described in missyinchains’ book “Effective Communications: The Basis for a Successful Relationship” communication verbal non-verbal gesture

Two-way communication

Effective communication is a two-way street, in other words, you are both the communicator and the recipient of communication in one person. The person receiving the message must always confirm verbally, in writing, by gesture, or in some other way that he has accepted and understood the information. Without this component, communication cannot be considered effective. The responsibility to maintain effective communication lies with both parties. Excuses in the style of “I didn’t hear”, “I didn’t understand” are unacceptable - this is simply an attempt to relieve oneself of responsibility for a failure in communication.

Listen and hear

Listening is not enough. To understand and realize what is being said, you need to hear. How often we are told that they are listening to us, while we know that we are not being heard. This can be easily checked by asking the listener to repeat what was just said, or even better, to retell it in his own words.

Brevity and clarity

This means that you should not hide the meaning of the message behind irrelevant information. The more repetitions and explanations you add, the more you go into detail, the less effective your communication will be, because it is difficult for the listener to follow your thoughts and, therefore, understand you.

Be open and honest

This factor is closely related to trust and respect in relationships. Trying to hide something or lie to others, a person risks losing trust and respect. You should also not put off discussing important issues until later or try to avoid such a discussion. Of course, there are situations when, due to external circumstances, immediate conversation is impossible.

Trust and respect

Trust: a strong belief in honesty, integrity, reliability, fairness, etc. another man. Respect: high praise, recognition. Trust and respect - the most important characteristics any relationship. At first, a certain minimum level of them may exist as if automatically, by default. But for the most part, respect and trust must be earned, won, and this process is long.

Trust and respect that is damaged, including by ineffective communication, is very difficult to restore, no matter what the person then says or does.

Privacy or secrecy?

Everyone, to one degree or another, values privacy and the inviolability of their private life. But the line separating privacy from secrecy is thin. Secrecy begins when information about something that has a direct impact on another person or a relationship is not communicated. An effective communication system involves identifying the areas in which information needs to be communicated and the areas that are not so significant, taking into account what is important to the partner. One should not rely entirely on one's own ideas about privacy and secrecy, since each person is dealing with another person whose concepts and criteria may differ from his own.

Objectivity

It is sometimes very difficult to be objective in communications. Objectivity means the ability to look at things from another person's point of view. An objective approach can be hampered by many factors: emotions, ideas about life, a person’s own inclinations and paradigms, the ability to listen and hear, etc. better person can see this or that situation through the eyes of another person, the better, the more objective his communications will be.

Emotions can block objectivity, logic, and a sense of reality. Blinded by emotions, people risk saying things they didn't mean at all, or exaggerating the significance of events. Correcting what was said under the influence of anger, fear and similar feelings is difficult, sometimes impossible.

When dealing with a person overwhelmed by feelings, you should remember that the information he communicates is skewed and distorted. But it would be a mistake to write off what he says completely.

Assumptions and feelings

To do anything without full knowledge of the situation, motives, intentions, beliefs, needs, feelings of another person is to invite disaster.

About getting personal

The easiest way to kill effective communication is by attacking your partner’s self-esteem, reputation, and personal qualities. It is not always easy to understand whether a particular remark addressed to you was of a personal nature. Until you are absolutely convinced of this, do not react. When participating in discussions, avoid language that may call into question the competence of the interlocutor. When asserting something, accompany the phrase with introductory words such as “in my opinion,” “I heard,” “I came to a conclusion,” etc., and, accordingly, do not disparage the interlocutor’s opinion with assessments in the spirit of “complete nonsense.” or “it’s not like that at all.”

Another good way conducting a conversation without getting personal - formulate your statements in the form of questions: “please explain what is the reason for ...”, “what do you think about ...”, “have you ever read / seen ...”, “what is your opinion” etc. At the same time, keep in mind that sometimes the interlocutor may be offended by a series of questions if it seems to him similar to an interrogation, and then the rhetoric will need to be structured differently.

Patience and tolerance

Tolerance for another person's needs, desires, beliefs, and opinions is another key to effective communication. You may not agree with them, but you must recognize their right to exist and their importance to him at this point in time. Creating an environment that is hostile to them will not be beneficial, but it may cause pain or mental anguish. Patience and tolerance also imply that there is no need to make mountains out of molehills and inflate the importance of something that is actually insignificant. Separate what is worth “sorting things out” for from little things that are better left unnoticed. By concentrating too much on the little things, you may miss the main thing and not see the forest for the trees.

Forgive and forget

People are sometimes ready to “get into knots” over something very small and unimportant. Experiences, worries, nervous breakdown are associated with the expenditure of energy that could be directed to something positive, and not to the useless and repeated chewing of the created unpleasant situation. If you are wrong, apologize; if your partner says he was wrong and asks for forgiveness, forgive and move on. Alas, too often a feeling of resentment distorts the real subject of the conflict, inflates its importance, and a minor glitch in a relationship suddenly becomes very serious. Revenge, of course, is sweet, but is a momentary victory worth a significant defeat? Even when some problems are so deep that it is possible to completely eliminate them, you always choose between minimal and maximum damage. How a person manages a situation determines how it will be resolved.

The art of negotiation

This is the quintessential art of effective communication. The goal of negotiations is to find a solution in which all parties benefit. Going into negotiations with the mindset of not giving an inch, a person dooms himself to complete failure. The key to successful negotiations is the willingness to compromise, to give one thing and get something else in return.

Make a list of the issues being discussed, dividing them into those on which you hold a firm position, those on which you are willing to concede, and those on which the decision is not important to you. This way you will understand where you are not ready for any compromises, where you are willing to compromise and what you can completely leave to the discretion of your partner. But it is important to remain open and objective: who knows, maybe the interlocutor will put forward arguments that will force you to rethink and adjust your list of priorities.

Everyone is pleased when it is his point of view that prevails, this is such a sense of ownership in relation to ideas and decisions. But it is more important that the decision be acceptable to everyone.

CONCLUSION

We are all directly confronted with the exchange of information; communication is a complex process of interaction between people, as well as in the perception and understanding of each other by partners. There are various means of communication - these are methods of encoding, transmitting, processing and decoding information. Sources of information can be verbal and non-verbal. Verbal occurs through means of communication, and the transmission or influence on each other of non-verbal occurs through images, intonation, gestures, facial expressions, etc. Knowledge of sign language allows you to better understand the interlocutor and, if necessary, use non-verbal communication means in order to influence the interlocutor. Communication channels when talking on the phone, such a channel are the organs of speech and hearing. The form and content of the text, information about the clothing, posture and gestures of the interlocutor are perceived through the visual channel. For effective communication, you need to be able to hear, express it briefly and clearly, trust and respect your interlocutor.

LIST OF REFERENCES USED

1. Reva V.E. Business communication Penza 2003

2. Smirnov G.N. Ethics of business, business and public relations. Moscow 2001.

3. Kaimakova M.V. Communications in the organization. Ulyanovsk, 2008

4. Fundamentals of management [ Electronic resource] - https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficiency_of_communications

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What is communication?

Scientific definition: communication is effective synchronous or diachronic interaction, the purpose of which is to transfer information from one subject to another. For example, you are talking with a friend, or reading a letter from a colleague.

At the household level: communication is discussing a project with a colleague, sending email, your company’s website, packaging on the shelf, TV advertising and much more. In any case, in communication there is always a “source -> information -> person” structure.

The linear model of communication proposed by the American political sociologist Harold Lasswell:

Who reports?
What does it report?
On what channel?
Who does he report to?
With what effect?

Someone -> something -> informs someone -> through some channel -> and for a specific purpose. If it is not clear to whom and with what effect the information should be sent, then the communicative act will not take place, since no changes will occur as a result of this communication. As it says folk wisdom: It went in one ear, out the other.

Therefore there is such a thing as communicative effect- reducing the level of uncertainty by acquiring new knowledge, arousing emotions (anger, joy, sadness, fear), motivation to action, changing attitudes and behavior.

Examples of communication effects

Example 1: Teacher's lecture

Who reports: teacher.
What it says: Fermat's theorem.
Through what channel: auditory (the lecturer speaks, the student listens).
To whom it is reported: student.
With what effect:
- The goal of communication is achieved (communication is effective): the student listens carefully to the lecture and applies the theorem to solve problems.
- The goal of communication is not achieved (communication is ineffective): the student “beats the crap” at the lecture and does not apply the theorem.

Example 2: Product on the shelf

Who reports: manufacturer.
What it says: Buy my product.
Through what channel: packaging on the store shelf (distribution channel).
To whom it informs: the buyer making a decision near the shelf.
With what effect:
- The goal of communication has been achieved: the product has been purchased.
- The goal of communication has not been achieved: a neighboring product has been purchased.

You already see that there is such a thing as “communication effectiveness”. Let's figure out how you can influence it.

What determines the effectiveness of communication?

Structure of communication according to the Shannon-Weaver model

One of the most popular models was proposed by engineers and mathematicians Shannon and Weaver in the mid-20th century. Every communication is seen as encoding and sending a signal, which is then decoded by the recipient.

In the example of a lecturer and a student, the source of the signal is the lecturer, where the transmitter is his vocal apparatus. He tells the material and creates sound waves (signal) that reach the recipient's receiver through the air. The channel in this case is the air in the classroom between the lecturer and the student. The receiver is the student's ears.

In the example about a product, the source of the signal is the manufacturer, where the transmitter is the packaging (shape, weight, color, symbols, price, etc.). A channel is a shelf in a store. A signal is a complex image of a product at the moment of contact. The receiver is the buyer's eyes.

The communication structure in this model is as follows:

The communicator encodes the message: the lecturer formulates the thought in the mind, the logic of the statement, selects the right words, intonation, intensity.
The transmitter sends a signal: the lecturer’s vocal apparatus produces appropriate sounds, sound waves are transmitted through the air
Channel interference affects the signal: If the lecturer is far from the students and speaks quietly, then some of the information is lost. If one of the students is talking nearby, then some of the information from the lecturer is also lost, because another signal is mixed with the main one.
The receiver receives the transmitted signal: Sound waves enter the student's hearing aid and are converted into words and meanings.
The receiver decodes the signal (reconstructs the message): ideas and attitudes arise in the student’s mind related to the information received from the lecturer.

Stage 1. The concept of encoder and decoder in communication: how it happens

Telepathy has not yet been invented, so information encoding systems must be used to convey a message.

Coding- the process of transforming the ideal meaning of a message that arose in the mind of the communicator (lecturer) into the form necessary for this message to reach the recipient (student) through a given channel.

Decoding in a broad sense, the process of reconstructing the original meaning of a message from a received signal. What the student will understand from the teacher’s lecture is what he decodes.

In the Shannon-Weaver scheme, it is clear that the encoder is the source of the signal - the communicator encodes meanings and transmits them to the addressee. The signal reaches the recipient receiver and the decoding process occurs. The decoder is the destination.

In the lecturer example, the encoder is the lecturer and the decoder is the student. The encoder sends the signal in speech form, which is interpreted by the decoder, that is, the listener.

The example with the speech of the lecturer and students is quite clear. But you can look at more hidden coding examples.

Images in Coca-Cola advertising

Coded signal: Coca-Cola Lemonade is drunk during the New Year. Coca-Cola is a holiday. Holiday = Coca-Cola.

Key visual from Pepsi commercial

Coded signal: Pepsi-Cola Lemonade is drunk by young, energetic, athletic and popular people. Messi drinks it too. Be like Messi. Pepsi lemonade = youth, energy, sport.

Encoded signal: The owner of a Mercedes is the Lion King. Buy a Mercedes, you will feel like a King. Mercedes = be king.

Encoded signal: A giraffe is a small child (head to body ratio, eye size and proportions). We are just like your baby.

What do we see?

In essence, the encoder here is the author of this communication. The designer (director, cinematographer, creative, etc.) who packaged the information and sent the signal in the form of a television spot, poster or packaging. The decoder is the audience that receives this signal in one channel or another (TV, store shelf, street banners, etc.).

using the image of a “lion”, they create a connection with the concept of “king”
emphasizing the situation with Christmas, they form a stable connection: Coca-Cola is a holiday
showcasing Messi's energy and appeal creates a sense of status and energy within the Pepsi brand
broadcasting the image small child, the brand forms an emotional connection with the buyer

With the help of symbols and images, a holistic emotional image-metaphor (a certain gestalt) of the brand is formed in the human mind. Moreover, such formation occurs at an unconscious level, which is not controlled by the recipient.

However, not all communication is effective. Why do some messages achieve their goals while others fall flat?

Stage 2. The concept of “noise” in communication: why does communication have different effectiveness?

If you knew how rarely we are understood correctly, you would remain silent more often.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Everything is perfect only in fairy tales and annual media strategies. In the real world there are always losses. And in the Shannon-Weaver model there are key stages at which partial signal loss occurs. Losses are associated with noise.

Noise- any source of distortion of the volume and meaning of the message.

There are 2 types of noise:

Mechanical noise (channel noise, technical loss)- due to the imperfection of the channel through which the signal moves.
Semantic noise (semantic loss, source and receiver noise)- caused by semantic distortions during encoding and decoding.

Mechanical noise is interference in the channel itself, due to the fact that during signal transmission it loses its strength and dissipates. If you show a video on television only once, people will quickly forget what you were talking about. If you install only one outdoor shield in a large city, the signal will be too weak to be noticed. If your product ends up on the shelf in only one store out of a thousand, then you shouldn’t expect big sales.

Semantic noise is a lack of understanding of the meaning of the message. That is, the encoder sends a signal that cannot be decoded by the decoder.

We all know the children's toy sorter.

The child learns to select the appropriate shapes of objects so that they fit into the holes. If he selects the correct shape, then it easily and effortlessly fits into the corresponding hole. If not, it will exert force trying to push the wrong shape into the wrong cell.

The same thing happens in the mind of the consumer - if the brand communication corresponds to the codes target audience, then it passes easily and without resistance, achieving the desired effect. And if not, decoding does not occur, the audience does not understand the meaning and... sales fall. Money is spent on advertising, but the effect is negative.

Examples of noise

Example 1. Mechanical noise of the channel through which the signal travels

Imagine a lecturer reading in a classroom like this:

If there is no microphone in the room, then the students at the far end will not hear anything, since the sound will be absorbed by the air. The lecturer will not have enough strength to shout to them.

Another example of channel noise is interference caused by another signal source. For example, competitor packaging on a shelf next to your product:

Each brand on the shelf sends its own signal, which is blocked by its neighbor.

Example 2. Encoder and decoder semantic noise

Imagine that you were told the most important information about how to achieve success and find a treasure, but they did it in Swahili... If you know Swahili, all that remains is to congratulate you! But in most cases, this information will remain a meaningless set of sounds. The fact is that you do not have a signal decoding system, that is, knowledge of this language.

Without knowing your code system, the sender encoded the information in such a way that it could not be decrypted in principle.

Example of a semantic encoding error

Or, for example, a brand conveys values that are not acceptable in a particular sociocultural environment. For example, like this: in a tea advertisement, a father says to his daughter, “and there was Valera in my life.”

On the territory of the Russian Federation, such a statement by an adult man, especially in the presence of his child, will raise many questions. The message that the authors encoded will be decoded incorrectly in the vast majority of cases. I wonder how they were doing with sales.

Stage 3. So what influences the effectiveness of communication?

Brand communication will be effective if you achieve minimal semantic losses and can overcome channel noise. It is necessary to study consumer psychology and design communication that will be correctly interpreted because it uses familiar meanings and images.

Speak to your audience in the same language

To reduce semantic noise, you need to have a good understanding of your target audience. This means speaking in a language she understands.

By studying your consumer, find the answer to the question: what is his code system in which he operates? What are its sociocultural norms and attitudes?

This is exactly what the research stage is for:

By analyzing the market, you will understand trends at the societal level: consumer trends, consumption patterns, technological shifts that will affect the market in the future.
By studying the communication of successful competitors, you will learn what semantic fields they activate in the minds of target audiences, what they “encode” in their signals (products, packaging, advertising, etc.)
Using in-depth interviews, point-of-sale observations, and cognitive research, you can understand exactly what meanings can be used in relation to your brand and category. By studying your consumer, you can accurately identify what symbols, forms, verbal and non-verbal metaphors need to be used so that communication occurs without loss and achieves the desired business results.
By designing a customer journey map (consumer path), you will know exactly where, how, at what point and what the brand should convey to its customers in order to become the “only” top of mind in the category.
By conducting quantitative research, you can test hypotheses and insights received from people and create communication as accurate as a sniper shot.

By delving into the deep level of decision-making of your target audience, you can design the choice architecture and manage what competitors cannot copy - the consumer experience. By creating this level of communication, you open up the opportunity to build a brand that goes beyond economic relations with the consumer and will find the shortest path to a person’s heart.

Carefully study the features of the channel you work in

To effectively overcome channel noise, you need to know and be able to work in the following areas:

consumer journey: where he meets your product, at what points he makes decisions, how he uses the product, what happens along the entire path. This will give an understanding of the most effective channels of interaction
channel specifics: reach, relevance, audience type. You will know where to invest in order to get maximum ROI
possibilities of perception in the channel: format, availability of the signal through visual, auditory, kinesthetic channels of perception. You will learn how contact should be built in order to achieve goals.

Understanding the specifics of the channel helps reduce or minimize noise. Knowing how, for example, “a shelf works” helps to correctly build a system of shelf talkers and wobblers, select clearly distinguishable fonts, colors and images, achieve the correct placement and proportion on the shelf, etc.

Understanding how your audience uses a web service or online store (devices, time of day, typical scenarios, etc.) allows you to accurately design UX interaction, types of interfaces, colors, icons, etc. Knowledge of consumption patterns will help you build effective strategy mailings and activations for repeat purchases or upsells.

The choice of channel will influence the amount and volume of information: outdoor advertising on the highway must be understood in seconds (for passing drivers), and a promotional booklet about a product can contain a lot of information (it can be read in a quiet mode), etc.

By learning the specific channel in which the brand meets the consumer, you can maximize the return on every dollar invested in creating and delivering the product to your consumer.

The role of branding and marketing in communication

It is not enough to produce a product and deliver it to the consumer. After all, the moment he abandons it in favor of another, you will lose everything you invested in its creation and delivery.

To avoid this, you need to understand what your signal should be so that the consumer understands and fully understands it. Branding solves this problem.

The role of branding in modern communication— overcoming semantic noise. Branding is not “drawing”, but designing meanings. The semantics of your message is what branding is all about.

Delivering a product to the consumer, sending advertising messages, distribution - all this is working with the channel, that is, overcoming mechanical noise.

The Role of Marketing is the delivery of your message/signal/product.

Finally

The time we spend recognizing advertising messages is rapidly decreasing. Now a person is bombarded with a flow of approximately 34 gigabytes per day. Within 20 years, the amount of information consumed will increase by 100%. This suggests that the requirements for the availability and capacity of communication messages are growing rapidly. That is, any noise can become critical for your communication. Therefore, only those brands that rely on deep consumer understanding and scientific approaches to branding and marketing will be able to survive and achieve leadership positions in their categories and people's minds.

In the next article we will talk about the third basis of the Psychea model - the ontology of common sense.

EXAMINATION TICKET No. 3

Communication is the exchange of information on the basis of which the manager receives information. necessary for making effective decisions, and brings decisions made to the employees of the organization. If communications are poorly established, decisions may turn out to be erroneous, people may misunderstand what management wants from them, or, finally, interpersonal relationships may suffer from this. The effectiveness of communications often determines the quality of decisions. how they will actually be implemented.

This means that effective communication is essential for the success of individuals and organizations. Effective communication meets the following requirements:

Credibility,

Reality.

Objectivity.

Timeliness.

Addressing.

Feedback,

Dosage from the point of view of such criteria as “ important to achieve the organization's goals."

Availability (transparency).

Ineffective communications are one of the main areas where problems arise. By deeply understanding communications at the individual and organizational levels, we must learn to reduce the incidence of ineffective communications and become better, more effective managers. Effective leaders are those who are effective communicators. They represent soup, the Communication process, have well-developed oral and written communication skills, and understand how the environment influences the exchange of information.

Communication is carried out by conveying ideas, facts, opinions, sensations or perceptions, feelings and attitudes from one person to another, verbally or in some other form, with the aim of obtaining the desired reaction in return.

In order for communication to take place, there must be at least two people. Therefore, each of the participants must have all or some abilities: see, hear, touch, smell and taste. Effective communication requires certain skills and abilities from each party.

Communication functions:

Basic communication functions:

informative - transmission of true or false information;

interactive (incentive) - organization of interaction between people;

perceptual function - the perception of each other by communication partners and the establishment on this basis

mutual understanding;

expressive - excitement or change in the nature of emotional experiences.

Communication process:

The communication process is the exchange of information between two or more people. The main goal of the communication process is to ensure understanding of the information that is the subject of the exchange, i.e., the message. However, the very fact of information exchange does not guarantee the effectiveness of communication between the people participating in the exchange. To better understand the process of information exchange and its effectiveness, you should understand the stages of the process that involve two or more people.

In the process of information exchange, four basic elements can be distinguished:

1. Sender is a person who generates ideas or collects information and transmits it.

2.Message - actual information encoded using symbols.

3. Channel - a means of transmitting information. The transmission channel can be the medium itself, as well as technical devices and devices. Recipient - the person to whom the information is intended and who interprets it.

2. Problems of communication and ways to improve its effectiveness Communication barriers:

The manager must have an understanding of the process of perception, taking into account certain factors that influence perception in the process of exchanging information, which makes it possible to prevent a decrease in the effectiveness of communications by promptly eliminating obstacles caused by perception. A limitation to the effectiveness of interpersonal information exchange may be the lack of feedback regarding the message sent. Feedback is important because it makes it possible to determine whether your message, received by the recipient, is truly interpreted in the meaning that was originally given to it.

There are a number of ways to establish feedback. One of them? ask questions, [one way to create feedback is to evaluate the language of poses. gestures, intonations of a person, which seem to indicate confusion or misunderstanding. If you feel this way, you can resort to the method of asking questions. Feedback can also be established by monitoring the first results of work. The relevant information will allow us to assess the extent to which this is embodied. what it intended to communicate. Another way to give feedback? Carrying out an open door policy with subordinates, when the manager determines the day and hour during the day. to listen to employees on any issue that interests them.

As information moves up and down within an organization, the meaning of the messages becomes somewhat distorted. "Such distortion can be caused by a number of reasons. Messages can be distorted deliberately, due to difficulties in interpersonal contacts. Deliberate distortion of information can" occur when someone disagrees with the message.

Problems with information exchange due to message distortion can also arise due to filtering. The concept of filtering refers to the tendency for messages to become distorted as they move upward, inward, or from level to level in an organization or department. In an organization, there is a need to filter messages so that from one level to another level of the organization or department only those messages that concern it are received.

To speed up the flow of information or make the message more clear, information is summarized and simplified before sending the message to different segments of the organization. Possible barriers in interpersonal contacts may prompt us to eliminate some and emphasize others in the message. Such selection may result in important information not reaching another sector of the organization or information entering there with a significant distortion of the content.

According to studies, only 63% of the content of information sent by the board of directors reached vice presidents, 40%? to the heads of workshops. 20% ? to the workers. The effectiveness of messages sent to the top is only 10%. They may be distorted due to the mismatch between the statuses of the levels of the organization. Senior managers have a higher status, so there is a tendency to provide them only with positively perceived information. An additional reason for the deterioration of information coming to the top may be the increased attention of middle managers to messages from the upper levels of power compared to information from their subordinates. Among the reasons. preventing employees from transmitting information upward may be fear of punishment and a feeling of futility of this matter.

Obstacles to the exchange of information may also be a consequence of overload of communication channels. A manager, absorbed in processing incoming information and the need to maintain information exchange, may not be able to respond effectively to all information. He is forced to filter out less important information and leave only that which seems most important to him, and the same applies to the exchange of information.Unfortunately, a manager's understanding of the importance of information differs from that of other employees in the organization.

If the structure of the organization is poorly thought out, the manager’s ability to plan and achieve the goals set is narrowed. In an organization with numerous levels of management, the probability of information distortions is calculated, since each subsequent level of management can adjust and filter messages. Some of the most effectively managed

American campaigns moved to a structure with a small number of levels of management and channels of relatively direct information exchange.

Other aspects that can cause problems in communication include the poor composition and use of committees, working groups, personnel in general, as well as the way power is organized and tasks are distributed. Finally, conflicts between different groups or departments in an organization can create problems in the exchange of information. It is clear that it is poorly designed Information system may reduce the effectiveness of information sharing and decision making within an organization.

In communication barriers, interference that prevents contact between the switch and the recipient from adequate reception, understanding, and assimilation of messages, technical and psychophysical ones can be noted. social, cultural. Technical barriers arise when there are obstacles in the communication channel to the movement of signals from the source, or the channel itself produces signals that interfere with the perception of messages by the recipient.

Psychophysical barriers are associated with sensory characteristics of human perception of signals, as well as ^ limited ability human brain to remember and process information. Social barriers are explained by the fact that the switch and the recipient belong to different social groups, social restrictions on access to information and the possibilities of its use. Cultural barriers are primarily inherent in interethnic communication, where they can be caused by differences in national traditions of communication, in systems of norms and values, in the assessment of early forms of communication, in ways of reacting to perceived information.

Successful communication is also hampered by some personal characteristics of the recipient, for example, a low level of intellectual abilities, excessively high or excessively low self-esteem. Communication is often overly formalized. To avoid this, you need to take the following measures: expand the scope for business and personal communications (less instructions). Reduce the volume of written communications (less bureaucracy), introduce rules for conversations, meetings at work on a favorable attitude towards work. All this stimulates communication.