The Key Elements of Effective Communication and Information Sharing

Communication is all about sharing information and acting based on the information received (Birks, Davis, & Chapman, 2015). Communication can be both verbal and non-verbal. It has to be noted that there are several factors that influence the sharing of information. Communication is a vital aspect of an organization and thus elements involved in communication needs to be addressed. In a communication cycle, there are seven important aspects namely; source, information, encoding, communication channel, recipient, decoding, and feedback. All of these elements are vital in ensuring that communication is effective. A communication that can be regarded as effective is one that it is well presented, on-time, well-understood, and right recipient (Lincoln, 2010). The source refers to the individual or party that has the information that needs to be shared. It is fundamental how information is encoded or packaged as this will influence how the recipient decodes the message. Therefore, it is important that the source understands the recipient so as to properly encode the message to eliminate ambiguity. The channel of communication refers to the medium used to share information. The medium selected depends on the nature of the message. For instance, a telephone can be considered if the matter is of urgent. Nowadays, emails are used as a communication channel for the purpose of keeping records. The recipient has the responsibility of decoding the message sent by the source. Communication cannot end at this stage as the recipient has to make a decision based on the information received. According to Goodman, & Hirsch, (2013), it is prudent that the feedback aspect also includes the recipient sharing with the source the interpretation of the message so that clarification can be done and the best course of action taken. Therefore, there is the need for the recipient to acknowledge the message has been delivered through feedback