The Functions of communication

Regulation/Control
Communication controls member behavior in several ways.
a) Employees are required to follow authority hierarchies and formal guidelines.
b) Informal communication also controls behavior.
When work groups tease or harass a member who produces too much, they
are informally communicating with, and controlling, the members behavior.
Social Interaction
A social interaction is an exchange between two or more individuals and is a
building block of society.
Social interaction can be studied between groups of two (dyads), three
(triads) or larger social groups.
By interacting with one another, people design rules, institutions and systems
within which they seek to live.
Symbols are used to communicate the expectations of a given society to
those new to it.
Methods include symbolic interactionism and ethnomethodology as well as
later academic sub-divisions and studies such as psychosocial studies,
conversational analysis and human-computer interaction.
With symbolic interactionism, reality is seen as social, developed interaction
with others.
Motivation
Motivation is the process of stimulating an individual to take action that will
accomplish a desired goal.
Feedback is one factor that can influence motivation in the organizational
context.
Larson (1989) examined the relationship between employees' motivation to
perform particular behaviors in order to reduce the negative feedback from
their superior. When an employee is aware of his or her poor performance,
the employee is often motivated to behave in ways that will correct the poor
performance in order to get positive feedback and to maintain positive selfesteem. Thus, the pursuit of positive feedback, which can be identified as
immediacy, is pertinent in motivation within the organizational context.
Motivation plays a major role in every business.
The primary functions of communication are to persuade people, motivate
them to purchase certain products and to inform and educate them.
Information
The knowledge communicated or received concerning a particular fact or
circumstance. It is also the knowledge gained through study, communication,
research or instruction.
Information can be encoded into various forms
A.
Thought/ideas
B.
Emotions
Why do we need Information in Communication?
To Inquire
To Inform

To Persuade

Emotional Expression
Through communication we can express our emotions such as love, joy, and
anger and also when we are conveying a message or giving a feedback we
use our emotional expressions
Emotional expressions are necessary to enhance messages, to convey
authenticity and to develop trust. Examples of emotional expression are facial
movements such as smiling or scowling, or behaviors like crying or laughing.
A group is a primary source of our social interaction with other people. The
communication that takes place within the group is a fundamental
mechanism by which members show their frustration and feelings of
satisfaction.
There are circumstances that our emotion is not appropriate on what we are
conveying; these may lead to misinterpretation or confusion between two
parties. The proper use of communication in emotional expression is
important to prevent misunderstanding.
The Purpose of Speaking
Informative Speaking
Informative speaking seeks to inform. Its goal is that the listeners understand
something in the same way that the speaker understands that subject. In this
way, the speaker is sharing meaning and ways of understanding.
Invitational Speaking
Invitational speaking is often similar to informative speaking, but adds
judgment into the mix. The 'invitational' element is hence an invitation to
listeners in agreement or evaluation of some sort. This evaluation may be of
an idea, another person, an event, an object of some kind, an event or
anything else who which judgment may be applied.
Dispositional Speaking
Dispositional speaking is more persuasive in intent than invitational speaking
in that it seeks to gain agreement on an attitude, value or belief.
Actuation Speaking
Actuation speaking seeks to get people to act, to perform in some way. In
practice this can be easy for simple actions and hardest of all for actions that
the person may not normally undertake. In this way, actuation speaking can
be considered to be the ultimate in persuasive speaking.
Verbal and Non-Verbal Cues
Verbal Cues
A prompt that is conveyed in spoken language from one person to another or
a group of people.
Non-verbal Cues
Refers to the process of sending information through ways that do not require
the use of language

Verbal Communication and Nonverbal Communication

Verbal Communication
Refers to the words we use to communicate a message
Oral Communication
Written Communication

Oral Communication
In oral communication, spoken words are used. In oral communication,
communication is influence by pitch, volume, speed and clarity of speaking
Advantages of Oral Communication
It brings quick feedback
In a face to face conversation, by reading facial expression and body
language, one can guess whether he/she should trust whats being said or
not.
Disadvantage of Oral Communication
In face to face discussion, user is unable to deeply think about what he is
delivering
Written Communication
In written communication, written signs are used to communicate. A written
message may be printed or hand written.
Advantages of Written Communication
Messages can be edited and revised many time before it is actually sent.
Written communication provides record for every message sent and can be
save for later study.
Disadvantages of Written Communication
Unlike oral communication, written communication doesnt bring instant
feedback.
It takes more tie in composing a written message as compared to word of
mouth.
And no. of people struggles for writing ability
Nonverbal Communication
Refers to sending or receiving wordless messages. It is a communication
through body language, like gesture, posture, tone of voice or facial
expressions.
Other examples:
Kinesics - facial expression
Proxemics use of space
Chronemics use of time
Effects of Nonverbal Communication
Repeat the message your word are saying.
Contradict what your words are saying.
Be a substitution for your verbal message.
Accent or make the message stronger, like pounding your fist on a table.