The capacity to effectively communicate is a critical component of successful company planning, leadership, organization, and control. This is due to the importance of communication in management decision making as well as a company's overall profitability. According to Beebe and Masterson (2014), communication is the process by which information is conveyed from one person to another. According to Grunig (2013), a lack of effective information has a negative impact on organizational management. Steyn (2012) posts that some principles must be followed in order to have good communication. These principles are sometimes referred to as the 7C’s and include clarity, conciseness, completeness, consideration, concreteness, correction, and courtesy. Furthermore, any message should be relevant to the intended audience in order to be effective. Hence, the lack of insight in any of this principles will affect the effectiveness of a message. This report critically discusses the principles of communication management using the most relevant theories.
Communication Management Principles
According to the principle of clarity, communication should use easy language that can be understood by both parties. Beebe & Masterson (2014) argue that the medium of communication is language and, as such, it must be understandable and clear. For the message to be clearly understood by the receiver, the words must be unambiguous and simple. The importance of clarity, as per Grunig (2013), is to prevent the creation of confusion. Hence, the lack of clarity affects the effectiveness of a message. However, Goetsch & Davis (2014) argue that accomplishing the goal of clarity is not always ready because the experiences of each person are different as well as various words mean different things to all people. Thus, a message that lacks clarity is a failed one because it does not accomplish its purpose. In relation to this, Steyn (2012) suggests using familiar and short words in the communication process, for example, by using illustrations to relay a clear message.
Concerning the principle of completeness, Leathers & Eaves (2015) assert that every message must have a logical and clear conclusion. Every communication must be adequate and complete; in other words, it should be self-sufficient and should not need any support from other messages. A message is considered to be complete when it incorporates all aspects of the listener and reader needs to react to their desired outcome. Steyn (2012) identifies three reasons for completeness. First of all, complete messages have a high likelihood of bringing the desired results. Secondly, they help organizations to avoid costly lawsuits that can occur if vital information is missing. Lastly, complete messages build goodwill.
On the other hand, incomplete messages have the tendency of keeping the receiver guessing and delaying actions in most cases (Moore et al., 2010). For example, when a firm manager instructs workers to produce a product, the manager must specify the quality, shape, exact size, and cost. Further, Moore et al. (2010) posit that while striving for completeness, organizations should always answer all questions asked, check for all essentials, and even give more so that the reader is not left wondering if there is more to come.
Besides clarity and completeness, conciseness messages save resources in terms of both money and time for both the receiver and the sender. Conciseness, as per Pawlikowska et al. (2012), is the ability of a message to be brief and convey its purpose using fewest possible words. According to Richmond, McCroskey, and Powell (2012). conciseness enhances emphasis because the elimination of unnecessary words in a message makes the vital ideas stand out. In their research on management, Pawlikowska et al. (2012) argue that organizations can achieve conciseness by avoiding unnecessary repetition, using only relevant statements as well as avoiding wordy expressions. On the contrary, achieving conciseness does not imply losing completeness of the message. Instead, it means using brief and to the point sentences by only including the most relevant content. For example, a message like “We were not able to send the cartoons in time due to the fact that the truckers were on strike” can be replaced by a concise one like “We were unable to send the cartoons in time because of the truckers’ strikes.” As evident from this example, conciseness does not eliminate the completeness but ensures the message is brief and straight to the point to save time.
The principle of correctness posits that communication should involve the use of the right language with accurate facts and figures (Richmond, McCroskey & Powell, 2012). The sender is highly likely to lose credibility in a message that is not conveyed correctly. The message can be effective mechanically and grammatically but fail to achieve its purpose. This is because the correctness implies using correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar, the right level of language, selecting nondiscriminatory messages as well as accurate figures and facts. It is an important principle because if communicated, it helps to build confidence. Therefore, a person should not relay any messages unless they are completely sure that it is correct. Scarborough & Zellou (2013) confirm that a correct message greatly impacts on the reader and audience. This is because it checks for accurateness and precision of the figures and facts used in the message.
Consideration, as per Steyn (2012), implies developing every message with the recipient in mind and attempting to put oneself in their place. Effective communication must consider the education level, mindset, and background, as well as the audience’s viewpoints. It is, therefore, crucial to envisage the audience and their requirements, as well as their emotions and problems. Shockley-Zalabak (2011) suggest ensuring that self-respect of the audience is observed and not harming their emotions. It is only after visualizing these aspects of the audience that one can consider the human touch, empathy, and understand the human nature. In order to effectively use the principle of consideration in communication, it is vital to show the audience benefits, to focus on ‘you’ instead of ‘I’ and ‘we’ as well as to put more emphasis on pleasant facts applying ethics and integrity. The factors that play a role in the communication management principle are interests, age, the level of education, and professional knowledge (Goetsch & Davis, 2014).
Another principle of communication is concreteness. Concreteness implies being clear and particular, specific and definite instead of being general and vague in communication (Grunig, 2013). Moreover, concrete messages are characterized by the use of clear words that build the reputation and a communication that can be supported by specific figures and facts (Goetsch & Davis, 2014). Therefore, the sender of the message should choose vivid words, use specific figures and facts as well as put actions in the verbs. It has been argued by Leathers & Eaves (2015) that concreteness reinforces confidence because it makes the message more specific and vivid. Although it is vital to ensure that a message has vital details and facts, nothing should deter its focus. For example, when talking about the productivity of a company, one can use the production figures and facts to make the message more concrete. In such a scenario, the production manager can avoid using confusing words; in order to achieve success, the production manager should use proper words and regulate their voice to emphasize on crucial points.
In regards to courtesy, Moore et al. (2010) state that while the message should show the expression of the sender, it should also respect the receiver. It is imperative for the sender to be very polite, reflective, judicious, and enthusiastic. Thus, a courteous message should consider both the feelings and the viewpoints of the receiver. Moreover, the courteous message must be focused on the audience and be positive (Scarborough & Zellou, 2013). This is because the good leader should respect the receiver of the message by using a tone that reflects it towards the listeners. Pawlikowska et al. (2012) assert that a lot can be achieved by using gestures and polite words, being thoughtful, appreciative, and tactful. The importance of courtesy is seen in the fact that it builds goodwill. Furthermore, to ensure an effective communication, the sender should apologize kindly in the case of any inconveniences. Examples of phrases that can be used to express courtesy include ‘thank you’ and ‘please’.
Also, Grunig (2013) posits that every message must be relevant to the intended audience. In other words, any message must clearly relate to the intended audience. For example, the way one writes a cubicle report is not similar to a public speech. Therefore, in a case of addressing young children, one must use a language that they can understand with ease and not a language they would use when addressing campus students. The relevant message reflects education level, age as well as the aims and objectives of the audience.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are seven principles of communication management. First, the principle of completeness stresses the importance of communicating all the necessary facts so that the receiver is not left wondering whether there is more to come. Completeness is imperative in a case when the manager has to bring the desired response. Second, conciseness involves being straight to the point by writing briefly and using specific words. It is vital in communication process because it saves both time and money since the concise message is more comprehensible and appealing to the audience. While communicating, it is also necessary to put the human nature into consideration; by using the right words, the manager can prevent hurting people’s emotions. Consideration principle involves focusing on positive facts. Correctness, on the other hand, entails using the accurate affects and figures as well as builds the credibility of information. It is also important to be clear by conveying the message in a way that the receiver will understand best. Next, courtesy is grounded on a sincere attitude and involves apologizing and omitting hurtful statements. Lastly, clarity involves using words that can be understood by the receiver. Evidentially, the effective communication management must integrate all these principles.
References
Beebe, S. A., & Masterson, J. T. (2014). Communicating in small groups: Principles and practices. Pearson Higher Ed.
Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson.
Grunig, J. E. (2013). Excellence in public relations and communication management. Routledge.
Leathers, D. G., & Eaves, M. (2015). Successful nonverbal communication: Principles and applications. Routledge.
Moore, A., Butt, D., Ellis‐Clarke, J., & Cartmill, J. (2010). Linguistic analysis of verbal and non‐verbal communication in the operating room. ANZ journal of surgery, 80(12), 925-929.
Pawlikowska, T., Zhang, W., Griffiths, F., Van Dalen, J., & van der Vleuten, C. (2012). Verbal and non-verbal behavior of doctors and patients in primary care consultations–How this relates to patient enablement. Patient education and counseling, 86(1), 70-76.
Richmond, V. P., McCroskey, J. C., & Powell, L. (2012). Organizational communication for survival. Pearson Higher Ed.
Scarborough, R., & Zellou, G. (2013). Clarity in communication:“Clear” speech authenticity and lexical neighborhood density effects in speech production and perception. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 134(5), 3793-3807.
Shockley-Zalabak, P. (2011). Fundamentals of organizational communication. Allyn & Bacon.
Steyn, B. (2012). Strategic management roles of the corporate communication function (Doctoral dissertation).
