Communication is more than you might think

Whenever you communicate effectively with someone else, you and the other person follow the steps of the communication process shown below.



Here, the person who is the source of the communication encodes it into a message, and transmits it through a channel. The receiver decodes the message, and, in one way or another, feeds back understanding or a lack of understanding to the source.

Each element introduces a possible source of lack of clarity and also an opportunity to enhance. Do you try to enhance or do you leave it to chance?

By understanding the steps in the process, you can become more aware of your role in it, recognize what you need to do to communicate effectively, anticipate problems before they happen, and improve your overall ability to communicate effectively.

The sections below help you do this, and help you improve the way you communicate at each stage of the process.