The Importance of Context in Communication - Essay Example

Communication holds an important aspect for any work that is performed as it helps the other party to understand the things that has to be done. It gives a sense of direction and makes the person understand the manner in which he has to act. The importance of these increases in the business context as money is involved. This thereby requires special care and attention so that the context based on which communication takes place is clear. This makes context a crucial role in communication as context determines the things that has been communicated and the person acts accordingly. This paper thereby looks towards highlighting the importance of context in communication and the manner in which it has an effect on the communication process. This will help to understand the different underlying factors which have to be considered while communicating and will help to understand the manner in which communication process gets developed. Context in communication relates to the setting or situation in which the process of communication takes place. Circumstances have a role in communication as it determines the manner in which the person who is able to receive and send the message encodes and decodes the message. Context thereby determines the manner in which the person is able to encode and decode the message as based on it the person will act accordingly. The fact that the same message can be interpreted differently depending on the situation, emotions and reactions that the person has which thereby increases the role of context as it has to be ensured that the message that is communicated is interpreted in the same manner that the person sending the message wants it to be (Mehrabian and Susan, 2007). Context has a lot of relevance irrespective of the fact whether verbal or non verbal form of communication is used. Context thereby has lot relevance and looks towards including a lot of relevance like country, culture, organization and stimuli which includes both internal and external ones. The fact that communication process changes based on the culture and the economy it is being used which thereby results in a change in context. This thereby results in complete transformation and makes the entire message to be interpreted differently as the message is understood differently. The process of communication is completed only when the person receiving the message is able to decode the message completely and draw understanding from it. This makes it imperative that the context which includes language, emotions, symbols, signs, process and so on is used in such a manner that the person is able to understand the complete message clearly. This would otherwise result in creating a situation where the message which is passed on doesn’t gets interpreted clearly. This will thereby result in wastage of resources both in term of monetary, capital, human and other forms. Interpreting the message incorrectly due to lack of proper context will have a long term impact and will make the entire process of communication to be ineffective and will not yield the result with which it has been anticipated. This has thereby made context an important aspect of communication as it tends to include different things apart from the message and includes the different non verbal elements which are used in the process of communication. The different non verbal cues includes tone of voice, the manner in which the sender communicates the message through his eyes when there is direct contact or the tone of the letter in case of written communication, the manner in which hand gestures communicates different things and the different emotions which is being highlighted in the process of communication. This makes it imperative that the non verbal gestures are clearly understood as it would otherwise make the person react in a different manner. This will have an effect on the communication process as the gestures can be misunderstood as people look towards paying more attention to the gestures and sights which the person encounters than to the message which has been communicated which might thereby have an impact on the overall process of communication (Wood, 2002). Context thereby has a role in shaping up the entire communication process and requires development of the different fundamentals based on which proper communication can be achieved. Organization look towards ensuring that the process of non verbal cues is properly understood which would thereby have an impact on the overall business dealings (Mistry, Jaggers, Lodge, Alton, Mericle, Frush, Meliones, 2008). This will thereby have an impact on the manner the decisions are taken as it would result in the entire process to be incorrect. This would thereby also have an impact on the resources and might lead towards creating a sense of dissatisfaction within the organization. This will thereby lead towards wastage of resources. Context especially the non verbal cues also help the listener to understand the importance of the thing that has to be done and makes the person realize the manner in which the working has to be carried out. This thereby stresses on the important facts and provides the required direction based on which the employees have to act. This thereby facilitates the entire process through which communication takes place and if it is properly followed than it could lead towards positive results. This on the other hand can also be fatal and can make the organization take decisions which would otherwise not have been taken (Pinker, 2000). The interpreter in this situation misreads the entire non verbal cues and reacts in an incorrect manner. This has made organization lay special training so that employees are able to understand the non verbal cues and based on it interpret the message better. Thus, context has a lot of relevance for organization as it facilitates the entire process of communication. If the listener is able to interpret the context correctly it has a positive impact on the organization as it simplifies the process of decoding the message and thereby ensures that the message is acted correctly. This could otherwise provide a different result as incorrect interpretation could lead towards disaster. This thereby makes it important that organization understand the context and use it in the most positive manner. References Mistry K., Jaggers J., Lodge A., Alton M., Mericle J., Frush K., Meliones J. 2008. Using Six Sigma Methodology to Improve Handoff Communication in High Risk Patients. In: Advances in Patient Safety: New Directions and Alternative Approaches. Vol. 3. Performance and Tools. AHRQ Publication No. 08-0034-3. Rockville Mehrabian, A. and Susan, R. 2007. Inference of attitudes from nonverbal communication in two channels, Journal of Consulting Psychology 31:248-252 Pinker, S. 2000. The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language. Perennial Wood, J. T. 2002. Interpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning Read More