communication in Canadian businesses.^3 The survey found that 61 percent of senior exec-
utives believed they did a good job of communicating with employees. However, those
who worked below the senior executives did not share this feeling—only 33 percent
of the managers and department heads believed that senior executives were effective
communicators. Lower-level employees reported that communication was even worse:
Only 22 percent of hourly workers, 27 percent of cler-
ical employees, and 22 percent of professional staff
reported that senior executives did a good job of com-
municating with them. Moreover, a recent study found
that Canadians reported less favourable perceptions
about their companies’ communications than did
Americans.^4
Despite these communication problems, no group
can exist without communication, which is the trans-
fer and understanding of a message between two or
more people. Communication can be thought of as a
process, or flow, as shown in Exhibit 6-1. The model
indicates that communication is both an interactive
and iterative process. The sender has to keep in mind
the receiver (or audience) and in finalizing the com-
munication, may decide to revisit decisions about the
message, the encoding, and/or the feedback. For
instance, a manager may want to convey a message
face to face, and then may not be able to do so for
some reason. The message sent by email or voice mail
may need to be framed differently than the message
that would have been delivered face to face. Similarly,
you may decide on a message, and then realize the
medium that you have chosen will make the message
too complicated. Writing 10 emails to set up a sim-
ple lunch appointment may convince you midway
through the process to pick up the telephone to final-
ize the details.
We discussed perception in Chapter 2. The com-
munication process is significantly affected by the
sender’s perception of the receiver and the receiver’s
perception of the sender. For instance, if the receiver
does not trust the sender, he or she may interpret
intended positive statements in a negative manner.186 Part 3Interacting Effectively
communication The transfer and
understanding of a message
between two or more people.
Encodes the
messageChooses the
channelChooses a
messageProvides
feedbackDecodes the
messageSender ReceiverConsiders the receiverConsiders the senderEXHIBIT 6-1 The Communication Process ModelThe former Canadian Alliance learned in its early days that it’s easy to com-
municate unintended messages. The party’s first choice of name, Canadian
Conservative Reform Alliance Party, caused quite a stir for its acronym
(CCRAP). People across the country wondered what the new party was try-
ing to communicate about its objectives.