TOPIC: CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION
Channel is the medium that carries the message from the source to the target
audience. All channels can be classified as written, face to face to face, electronic and
non-verbal.
CHOICE OF COMMUNICATION MEDIUM
You need to consider several aspects in choosing a medium for a particular message.
The main aspects are:
a) The type of audience you want to reach.
b) The speed with which the message should be conveyed: The pressure of time and
the distance between the sender and the receiver influence the choice of the medium.
Some media are faster and can travel distances rapidly, like the telephone, the fax and
the email; these media also have the advantage of being person to person.
c) Need for confidentiality of the message is an important consideration. The choice
will certainly be influenced by requirement of secrecy; all media do not ensure the
same secrecy of the message. Messages like warning memo, report on a customer's
credit standing, demand for overdue payment, and so on, are confidential. They
cannot be sent by media like telegram or telex or fax even if they are urgent.
d) Need for accuracy in transmission is not the same for all messages. If the content to
be transmitted is mainly data, you make the choice for accuracy and speed in
transmitting.
e) Need for reliability of the medium is an important factor. Sending a message by
hand delivery is more reliable than ordinary mail; registered post is more reliable than
ordinary mail.
f) Cost of the medium and its relative importance and urgency.
g) Availability of a particular medium to the sender and to the receiver is obviously an
affecting factor. You can use only those media which both you and the intended
receiver can access. You may have a fax machine but if the receiver does not have
one and has no arrangements for receiving a fax message, you cannot use that
medium.
h) Feedback capacity of the medium: For some messages, you need immediate
feedback;
you have to use a medium which will enable you to get it at once, like the telephone.
i) Availability of hard copy for record.
j) Formality of the medium must be suitable to content of the message. A letter of
congratulation is more formal and has a different effect from conveying the same
message orally.
k) Intensity and complexity of the message is a major factor. Many messages in an
organisation have an emotional content, which influences the choice considerably; the
emotional content is not carried equally by all media.