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What are the Different Channels of Communication?
Priya was ready to leave for home. As she was signing off, she got an email from her HR department. It was a reminder about the quarterly meeting with the company’s CEO that was slated for the next day. She assumed it was another video conference.
The next morning she was in for a surprise. The CEO was in for a face-to-face interaction with the employees. He discussed the company’s plans and praised the team’s performance. It was not the first time that he did so, but to see and hear him in person made the employees feel more connected and appreciated. In short, the channel of communication he chose to use made all the difference.
Implementing the right channels of communication in your professional as well as personal life is crucial. An idea shared through the right communication channel keeps the listeners engaged and they also tend to react in the way you expect them to.
Writing and speaking are effective ways of communication and Harappa Education’s courses, Speaking Effectively and Writing Proficiently help hone both these skills. Once you master these skills, the various channels of communication will become easier to deal with.
What Are The Different Types Of Communication Channels?
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Face-to-face or personal communication:
The speaker’s physical presence, tone of voice, and facial expressions help listeners interpret his true aims and intentions.
Talking to someone in person helps remove ambiguities and feels more genuine. For instance, in the case of Priya’s company, face-to-face communication with the CEO made the employees feel more involved and appreciated.
Through this type of communication, the speaker can also evaluate whether an audience has received his message and ask or answer follow-up questions.
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Written methods of communication
We all write emails, text messages, or even send a quick WhatsApp message to our friends, colleagues, and even managers. Written communication comes into the picture when a message requires formal interaction.
For example, a meeting reminder or task details that need to be communicated to an employee or group are best sent in writing. Policies, memos, manuals, letters, notices, and announcements are the other examples of messages that are used for this channel.
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Mobile communication channel
Remember the conference calls or one-to-one discussions over the phone that you have had with your colleagues or team leads? Among the different channels of communication, a mobile communication channel is used when a private or more complex message needs to be shared with an individual or small group.
A mobile channel allows interactive exchange.
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Electronic communication channel
Email, internet, intranet, and social media platforms all come under ‘Electronic Communication’. Conveying your message through these channels makes the interaction less personal yet more efficient.
So when you are writing an email, message, or comment on social media, you must take care of clarity and avoid sarcasm and innuendo unless the message specifically calls for it.
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Non-verbal communication
What you say is an important part of any communication. But did you know that what you don’t say can be important too?
Remember the auditions of the popular reality shows such as Indian Idol or Dance India Dance. The applicants could send video applications as well. Judges examining videotapes could assess the social skills of the candidates. They watch gestures, facial expressions, and camera-readiness to determine which candidates would be suitable to go to the next round.
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Customer communication
Various channels of communication such as emails, letters, catalogs, text messages, and telemarketing messages come under customer communication.
Now that you have learned about the different channels of communication, your next question might be how to choose the right channel. Once you have acquired the skills of speaking and writing efficiently through Harappa Education’s courses on the different approaches and frameworks of communication, it will be easy to work that out.
Explore blogs on topics such as what is the communication process, the elements of the communication process, the 7 C’s of effective communication, grapevine communication, and the levels of communication in our Harappa Diaries section and learn how to deliver information effectively.
