The Essential Steps of Your Communication Process

Almost every piece of career advancement advice that you'll ever receive will include some reference to improving communication skills – and for good reason. The ability to effectively communicate is a vital job skill that can benefit you at any level of employment and in nearly every aspect of life. 

To truly maximize those skills, however, it helps to understand how the communication process actually works.

In this post, we'll examine the process of communication and the various steps included in any effective communication effort. We'll also explore some tips and ideas that you can use to improve your own communication process and maximize your effectiveness as a communicator.

What is the communication process?

It’s important to recognize that there is a process that occurs whenever two or more people exchange information and ideas. This is true regardless of how you're communicating or which medium you're using to make that exchange. Because the communication process often occurs at rapid speed, however, it doesn’t always receive the attention that it deserves.

Simply put, the communication process is made up of a series of actionable steps that people engage in to communicate with one another. When two or more people effectively follow this series of steps, they can ensure that their messages are delivered, received, and understood by everyone involved.

Components of the communication process

This process includes several vital components that work in concert to create any successful exchange of information. They include:

• The sender, who originates an idea and determines both the message and its delivery method

• The message that is being transferred from one person to another

• The delivery channel, or medium, which can include verbal or nonverbal transmission, written words, video, email, and other forms of information exchange

• The receiver, who decodes the message and may provide feedback

Potential obstacles to the communication process

In addition, there are sometimes obstacles to the communication process. Many experts refer to these obstacles as “noise” and recognize them as a potential impediment to effective communication. These obstacles can prevent effective delivery or receipt of messages and should be minimized wherever possible.

Examples of potential obstacles can include anything that might disrupt the messaging at any stage of the process. For example:

• If random thoughts pop into your brain while you’re trying to listen to someone else, you may find yourself struggling to receive their message.

• Environmental distractions like traffic sounds can interfere with the messaging process if they prevent either the sender or receiver from properly focusing their attention.

• Finally, poorly constructed messaging can be disastrous. That’s why it’s so important to carefully craft any message to ensure it’s simple, clear, and easily understood by your intended audience.

7 steps of the communication process

The communication process typically includes seven key steps that guide any interaction between the sender of a message and the receiver. This is true whether you're communicating with one person or one hundred..

1.      Develop an idea to transmit

Every communication begins with the initial sender who generates an idea that needs to be shared. This is true whether the sender is an employee of a company, the manager, the owner, or a customer. Departments and organizations can send messages too. 

In every instance, the sender initiates the communication process by developing an idea that needs to be conveyed to others.

2.      Encode the message

Once the idea is created, the sender needs to properly encode that information in a compelling message. Ideas need to be properly formed before they can be effectively communicated to ensure they deliver the right message to the receiver or receivers. 

Depending on the nature of the idea, that message may be encoded using words, pictures, diagrams, or other communication methods.

Words are generally the most important part of communication. The words the sender chooses should be selected with one goal in mind: to convey an initial idea in a meaningful way to the message's recipients. 

In casual conversation, this message encoding often occurs without much thought at all – but in more structured settings like an office, it's usually necessary to take a little more time crafting the right message.

3.      Choose the right channel for delivery

Since reading minds isn’t a thing, effective message delivery requires the sender to choose the right medium or channel for delivery. When sending messages, it's important to select a delivery option that will maximize the impact of your communication effort

For example, if you're delivering a verbal message, you can choose from a variety of communication channels, including a one-on-one conversation, group meeting, or a telephone call. Written messages can be delivered via email, reports, memorandums, or phone text.

4.      Deliver the message

The next step in the communication process involves the actual process of sending the message. How you do this depends on the channel that you selected for delivery. If you choose the right message and deliver it using the best possible medium, you can boost your chances of effectively conveying that idea to your chosen audience.

5.      The recipient receives the message

Once the message is delivered, it is received by the recipient, who attempts to understand the idea that you have conveyed. If your message is never received and understood, the communication process is a failure. Understanding that basic principle is key to ensuring that your communication process becomes focused on the recipient rather than your own idea.

6.      The message is decoded

Decoding is just a technical way to describe the receiver's interpretation process. It's the way in which the recipient of your message interprets your words and understands the idea you're trying to deliver. As the sender, it's your job to do everything you can to convey ideas in ways that others can properly interpret.

Misinterpretations can lead to misunderstandings and potential conflicts that have a negative impact on the communication process. As the sender, it’s your job to carefully craft your message in a way that can be easily understood by your intended audience.

7.      The receiver provides feedback

Feedback from the receiver is the final step of any effective communication process. That response often helps the sender to determine the effectiveness of the idea, message, delivery channel, and delivery. Exceptions to this step of the process can occur in situations where no response is expected. Examples can include broad company policy directives and other types of one-way communication.

Feedback messages can be either positive or negative based on the success of the delivery and recipient interpretation. Once that feedback is provided, however, the communication process is technically complete.

Beyond a single message

It is important to recognize that this outline of the communication process simply explains how an idea is formulated, messaged, delivered, received, and interpreted between two parties. Most human communication extends beyond a single message, however.

This same process can be repeated as many times as necessary, from sender to receiver and back again, to share ideas and information between two or more people. Once you understand how these steps work to deliver ideas, it’s easy to repeat each step multiple times as you engage in longer communication exchanges.

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Tips to improve your own communication process

No matter how skilled you may be at communication, one hard truth remains: everyone can learn to communicate better. 

Focus on your audience

Get to know your audience and formulate your messages with them in mind. Think about how they receive and process information and use that knowledge to ensure that you encode your ideas into messages that they can easily interpret.

Keep things simple

When in doubt, always choose simple messaging over complex narratives. Use as much common language as possible, keep sentences short and simple, and focus on delivering information in easily digestible portions. Again, be receiver-focused if you want to ensure that you are fully understood by your target audience.

Practice active listening

Active listening is an underrated skill. Many of the best communicators are those who practice active listening in every area of their lives. Learn to listen to your audience, put yourself in their shoes, and ask questions that help you to gain more insight into what their messages actually mean.

Don't be afraid to clarify

No matter how hard you try to effectively deliver your ideas in message form, misinterpretations are all but certain to occur from time to time. Don't hesitate to offer clarification if there's any sign that your recipient has misunderstood you. A simple and timely clarification can help you to avoid a whole host of potential communication problems.

Think before you respond

Always pause for a moment before you respond to any message. This gives you a chance to fully digest what others are saying and ensure that your reply is based on the right interpretation of their words. Taking the time to consider your response can lead to more meaningful exchanges while minimizing the risk of any potential misunderstanding.

Remember that communication is not all verbal

Whenever you're engaged in any in-person conversation, don't forget to consider nonverbal cues as you deliver and receive messages. Maintain appropriate eye contact, pay attention to your own body language, and be mindful of others' nonverbal messages too. After all, many researchers believe that the majority of human communication occurs without words.

Improved use of the communication process can fuel your career success

Your ability to communicate effectively can be a major determining factor in the positive trajectory of your career. Fortunately, everyone can learn to be a more effective communicator. By learning how to use the communication process to deliver your ideas to others in a more effective way, you can improve those skills and boost your career advancement.

Ready to show off your communication process and skills in a new job but aren’t sure whether your resume is ready for prime time? Get your free resume review from our team of experts today!