According to Escobar P. (1994), he refers to 4 levels of communication that determine the type of relationship such as, relationships of equality, respect, trust, among others.
Neutral Level
Constituted by secondary relationships, that is, superficial communications that allow the interrelation between people through appearances, simulation.
Roles Level
characterized by the roles or social roles played by people in their professional, work or family lives.
See Also: Elements of Communication
Example: In a company, different levels of communication coexist: vertical communication, between different levels of hierarchies and, horizontal communication, at the same level, between peers.
And these levels are developed in turn following formal channels (the organizational charts) through meetings, meetings, and interviews, and informal, through casual meetings, or not following formal hierarchical channels.
Level of Functions
The level of roles leads to levels of functions according to these roles, as well as their functions as a father within the family are differentiated from the functions performed by the children, etc.
Level of Personality
Includes both the level of the interior and the exterior of the personality, placing the first in relationships that occur in the social sphere and the second is referred to communications that involve manifestations of the intimacy of the subject in which they have involved the feelings and emotions.
When an adequate communication policy is developed, the integration of the different levels of the organization is promoted through the construction of a common code, and the participation of the staff is optimized through genuine motivation, at all levels.
What are the Levels of Communication
Descending Communication
Descending communication allows the members of an organization to be informed of all those aspects necessary for good development.
It provides people with information about what they should do, how and what is expected of them.
The possible pitfalls at this level are authoritarian management styles and the belief that clear communication can be taken as a sign of weakness.
Certain difficulties also occur in companies with very complex organization, or with different headquarters, some very far from others.
Upward Communication
It may be the most important since it lets you know what works and what does not.
It allows you to maintain direct contact with your collaborators, to know the opinions and needs of the people who work in your company, a very necessary tool for decision making.
See Also: The 7Cs of Communication with Examples
It allows knowing the mood and motivation of each collaborator, to perceive the magnitude of the problems. It promotes the participation and the contribution of ideas.
It generates an approach towards managers, which creates conditions so that decisions are better understood by the people at the base. You can check in what form the information issued descended.
The main trap at this level is not listening, most of the time due to lack of habit, another when at some point on the scale the communication is cut up by a shared belief.
When a subordinate transmits problems upwards it is because he is not adequately fulfilling its function. The only thing that is generated in this way is the ignorance of what happens.
Another very important difficulty at this point is the lack of clarity in relationships when the organizational charts are not clearly defined and people do not know who they depend on and whom they should address.
Horizontal Communication
It is interesting to encourage this type of communication since a good understanding at this level allows the operation of effective work teams.
A participative management style is a stimulus for communication at this level, which favors the coordination of different activities and knowledge of the activities that are developed.
Generates spirit of body and work climate in common. It facilitates the dissolution of rumors and misunderstandings.
It allows the creation of trust and companionship. Some pitfalls in communication arise at this level when there is a belief that one’s self or “my section” is more important than the others.
Also, by the use of specific languages or “jargons” that may leave some outside the understanding.
Example: Companies, with structures of different complexity, number of people working in it, in different areas, and of different functions within society, can benefit from paying adequate attention to Communication.
However, it is obtained that adequate communication favors a good understanding, which is a motivating factor and an inexhaustible source of energy.
Other Communication Levels in Business
The other levels of communication are stated as under;
Assertiveness
This interaction involves reciprocal actions in which the group members communicate with each other.
Here in this process of social interaction, assertiveness conditions the communication process, in which the language has a primarily social use.
See Also: Elements of Communication Process
Assertiveness is a style of behavior in human relationships, in interpersonal relationships, hence assertive communication is a communication based on the individual’s own personality, self-confidence, self-esteem.
Example: An assertive person is when he communicates openly in a proper and frank way, able to interact with people of all levels, accepts or rejects people in his emotional world and establishes who will be his friends and who will not.
Just as assertiveness is important in human and interpersonal relationships, so is persuasion, for many, it represents an art or a skill ability of a strong personality.
The Persuasion
It is the one that gets the receiver to draw conclusions for himself and that lead him to finally agree with the one from which he receives this information.
It constitutes a mechanism that appeals to the reflection of the person. A set of factors that favor Information, Anfor Fernandez G are:
- The prestige and training of the communicator.
- Emotional Control
- Authenticity
- Patience
- Trust in the other
- Self-esteem: Security, positive value of self.
- Credibility of the source of information: truthfulness, certainty, reliability.
Social Interaction
Social interaction, global communication behavior of related subjects.
The scope of Social Interaction includes activities linked to different contexts, ranging from the communities in which we have a permanent presence to municipalities and grassroots organizations that rely on the management of programs and integral community projects of self-sustainable development.
For example: Support for communities, inter-institutional cooperation and intercultural communication.
Through this area, the achievements and knowledge of the Sustainable Rural Development and Local Knowledge are socialized to other areas that go beyond the university classrooms, reaching the development managers (Municipalities and Grassroots Organizations) and the general public.
Through it, they agree on communication mechanisms with grassroots organizations and national and international institutions (working in sustainable development), based on dynamic interaction with other areas to contribute to the institutional objective and purpose.
See Also: What is the Process of Communication
Conclusion
For the reason that communication is a great need for society, we can manifest through the analysis performed as you should not apply inappropriate techniques to execute good communication.
Information must be issued and received, that is why individuals should know the rules of courtesy, such as the typical norm of listening to the speaker.
We must be tolerant with our neighbor and above all try to take it very well with people, no matter how much the words received from the receiver are charged.
The information that corresponds to us as issuers, must be precise, clear, explanatory and direct, if we abide by all communication guidelines, this will be effective, otherwise, the communication between people will be lost.
Because of the lack of ability to communicate with each other affects Human Relations.
On the other hand, good communication makes the administration of any organization more efficient, because the harmonious march of the groups is based on the information, they have about the motives that move it as such. Etymologically communication comes from Latin and means to share with.
Even in a computerized world, be it by E-mail, Internet, fax, telephone, around a desk, in front of a meeting table, in a corridor, communication (sharing with) between people is the heart of any company or organization.
Effective communication is a requirement of the first order to maintain excellence in a person or company. An adequate communication favors a good understanding.
However, communication is not static but dynamic, continuous and systematic. It consists of different parts, which must operate at least with a minimum of efficiency.
This process is the same one used by people in the internal sphere for the management of information and is what we commonly call thought.
They receive, transform and transmit information in a continuous and systematic way, whether they are aware of it or not.
