Advantages and Disadvantages of Communication

Communication is the most precious thing for every aspect of life. Mostly we think that communication only has advantages but there also some disadvantages. First, know the introduction of communication.

There are some advantages and disadvantages of communication which are described below in detail:

Table of Contents

Advantages of communication

Civilization will cease to advance without communication. Over the years, the role of communication has increased tremendously thanks to the advent of various modern devices.

The following points bring out the advantages of communication in management.

1. Successful completion of works

The works of the subordinates depend to a great extent upon the communication they receive from their superiors.

Similarly, the successful completion of the task by the superior depends upon the nature and flow of communication from the subordinates to the superiors.

In that case, communication solves a lot of problems and thereby it ensures the smooth running of an enterprise.

2. Cost minimization

Communication helps in minimizing cost and cost and conflict among the employees and also ensures maximizing production.

3. Help to plan

Communication greatly helps in the planning and coordination of different activities in an organization.

4. Share ideas, suggestions, and complaints

When there is an effective system of communication, employees will have the opportunity to present their ideas, suggestions, and complaints to the superior who ultimately helps to build up as well as boost up their morale.

5. Democratic management

Democratic management is possible only when there is an effective communication system.

6. Implement decisions in time

Communication acts as a lubricant and keeps all the individuals working in line with the expectation of top management. It also helps management in making and implementing decisions in time.

Communication ensures the smooth running of an enterprise, helps in minimizing cost and conflict among employees, in planning and coordination, and to build up the morale of employees.

It also helps management to be democratic and also making and implementing decisions in time.

Disadvantages of Communication

As I said before there are some advantages and disadvantages of communication. Now we will discuss the disadvantages of communication.

Communication problems are often symptoms of more deeply rooted problems. Thus poor planning may be the cause of uncertainty about the direction of the firm.

Vague performance standards may leave managers uncertain about what is expected of them.

Similarly, a poorly designed organizational structure may not clearly communicate organizational relationships.

So, the perceptive manager will look for the causes of communication problems instead of dealing with the symptoms.

Causes can exist in the transmission of the message, in the sender, in the receiver, or in the feedback. Specific causes are discussed below:

The causes rather than the symptoms of communication problems need to be identified and dealt with.

1. Poor planning

Effective communication seldom happens by chance. Sometimes people start communicating without proper planning and stating the purpose of the message. This is wrong and wasteful.

Experience suggests that drafting the right message, selecting the appropriate channel, and closing proper timing through planning can greatly improve understanding and reduce resistance to change.

2. Poorly worded messages

The sender of communication may have a clear idea about the message but it may still be marked by the poorly chosen words poor organization, awkward sentence structure, lack of coherence, omissions unnecessary jargon, and a failure to clarify its implications.

This lack of clarity and precision which can be costly can be avoided through greater care in encoding the message.

3. Semantic problems

Another barrier to effective communication is a semantic problem, which can be deliberate or accidental. Semantic problems arise when words have different meanings for different people.

Words and phrases like ‘profit’, increased productivity’, return on investment’, or ‘retained earnings’ may have positive meanings for managers but less positive (or even negative) meanings for labor.

4. Status differences between sender and receiver

Communication problems may arise when people of different statuses try to communicate with each other.

The employer may not pay much attention to a suggestion from a worker, thinking something like, “how can someone at that level help men run any businesses”.

Conversely, when the employer goes out to inspect a new plant, workers may be reluctant to offer suggestions because of their lower status.

5. Perceptual differences between sender receivers

If people perceive a situation differently, they may also have difficulty communicating with one another.

6. Environmental factors

Environmental problems may also disrupt effective communication. For example, noise may affect communication in many ways.

Similarly, overload may be a problem when the receiver is being sent more information than he or she can effectively handle.

7. Unqualified assumptions

Unqualified assumptions that underlie messages may also create a problem. For example, a customer may send a note stating that he/she will visit a vendor’s plant.

Then the customer may assume that the vendor will meet him/her at the airport/railway station, reserve accommodation, arrange for transportation, and set up a full-scale review of the program at the plant.

But the vendor may assume that the customer is coming to the city mainly to meet friends and will make a routine call at the plant.

These unqualified assumptions in both instances may result in confusion and the loss of goodwill.

8. A loss by transmission and poor retention

In a series of transmissions from one person to the next, the message becomes less and less secure. Poor retention of information is another serious problem.

Thus, the necessity of repeating the message and using several channels is imperative indeed.

Consequently, companies often use more than one channel to communicate the same message.

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