Intro to Communication

Definition of Communication

Communication is the process of arriving at an understanding between ourselves and other people concerning mutual needs and goals. It is the process we go through to convey understanding from one person or group to another. Communication in the church is defined as the transmission and reception of ideas and feelings for the establishment of mutual understanding, agreement, and a favorable
response.

Communication exists at five levels:
1. Cliché
2. Facts and information
3. Opinions and judgments
4. Feelings
5. Rebuke and affirmation

Christian leaders have three decisions to make that pose problems with communication: deciding who to tell, deciding how much to tell, and deciding how to get the communication through to the hearer. It is important to communicate as much information as is feasible to the followers in an organization, but sometimes there is information that needs to be limited, at least for a period of time. Some leaders choose to reveal very little information about problems in an organization. I think this reflects a lack of confidence and trust in subordinates. There are always things that should not be shouted from the rooftops, or put in the newspaper, but they can be told to important members of an organization. The lines in an organization chart reflect lines of authority and of communication. When a youth pastor comes from a staff meeting, he needs a clear understanding of what information he is to pass on to his workers and what should be limited to just the professional church staff. One of the tough decisions in communication is to decide what information to pass on.

Knowing how communication is passed helps one to decide just how to inform others. Communication has a communicator attempting to send a message through one or more channels, past a number of barriers, to a receiver. The channels are one or more of the senses (taste, touch, sight, sound, or smell). The barriers can include age, education, experience, prejudice, interest, environment, emotions, sex, skill, and many others. Feedback can let the communicator know that the message has been received correctly. Jesus used feedback in Matthew 13:51 when he asked His disciples, “Have you understood all these things?”

A breakdown in communications is probably one of the chief causes of failure in leadership. Communication must flow clearly in an organization from the top to the bottom and also from the bottom to the top. Official communication always follows the chain of command as revealed on the organizational chart. There is always a lot of informal communication that goes on outside of the formal organizational structure. Some of this we call gossip and rumors. Well-informed followers are going to do the best job. Companies today are spending millions of dollars to communicate with their employees, and to train managers how to communicate.