Theories of Communication free essay sample

Michael Argyle (1972) was sure that interpersonal communication was something that could be learned as it is a skill that everybody has but most people could develop their effectiveness in communicating. Argyle believed that interpersonal interactions was based on a cycle that needed to be decoded to be understood and the behaviour of everybody communicating needed to be adapted in order to communicate effectively. The communication cycle is very important when working in Health and Social Care as it helps build an understanding of active listening, reflective listening, and checking understanding. There are 6 stages of Argyles Communication Cycle: 1. Idea occurs- an idea comes into your head of what you want to communicate. 2. Message coded- you think about how you can communicate your idea to the other person. Whether this is by writing, sending a text message, or speaking verbally. 3. Message sent- you send your idea to the other person by pressing send on a text, writing down what you say, or send your message in some other way. 4. Message received- the other person receives your message, by receiving your text or noticing you have written something. 5. Message decoded- the other person has to decode your message, this means reading what you have written or listened to what you have said. This is the main stage when a barrier could occur. 6. Message understood- if there are no barriers throughout all the stages then the message is understood, but this does not always happen first time and you may have to start to cycle again. Tuckman (1965) This is about group communication and how a group goes through different stages and a process of group formation before communicating effectively. Tuckman’s theory was one of the best known theories to explain the stages in which a group goes through. Most groups go through a process of 4 stages: 1. Forming- this is the first stage on Tuckman’s theory when individuals choose their own groups or may get put into groups. This first stage is usually when everyone starts to get to know one another and starts to build their own opinion of the other people by first impressions. For most people this can be an intimidating and nervous stage as they are meeting new people that they may not feel comfortable with having to interact with people they have never met before. 2. Storming- this stage is when members of the group start to get a bit more confident and there is usually a lot of arguments going on in the group as people start to clash personalities. The group definitely goes through ups and downs and some people might even leave the group and find another group to join as they felt they did not belong there. 3. Norming- this stage is when the group finally starts to come together and act as a proper group. Individuals start to feel more comfortable and confident and start to build a trusting friendship with the other members. They are a lot more open about their thoughts and feelings and all start to agree on group values, sometimes without even realising. 4. Performing- this is the final of Tuckman’s theory. This stage is when the group are able to perform positively together. They are now a closely bonded group that have trust and honesty to enable them to communicate effectively together with a positive attitude. (M1) Argyles Communication Cycle explains the process of what happens when 2 or more people are communicating. This process does not always work first time and sometimes it has to be started all over again if there is a barrier in stage 5 that prevents the other person can not decode the message. This could happen if a doctore or nurse is having to tell a service users family member that they are seriously ill or have died. The message would not be coded properly because it is a sensitive subject and the family member may not be able to understand what has happened and why it has happened. Another barrier could be that a service user has a hearing impairment and did not hear the message with clarity so the message was decoded and understood. The cycle effects service users as a lot of the communication used will be very important information, if a service cannot communicate effectively with a member of staff, or a member of staff cannot communicate effectively with a service user then information may get muddled up which could then cause more serious problems further on, both to the service user and the member of staff. For example, if a service user was experiencing side effects from a medication they have just started taking and they explain what the side effects were to a member of staff, and the member of staff could not understand what the service user was saying then the member of staff could tell the service user that the side effects were normal but they could actually be worse than the member of staff understood which could cause more serious problems for the service user in the future. The Tuckman’s theory shows that in the process of a group forming there are 4 very important stages that apply to most group interactions. Communication is the biggest part of the Tuckman’s theory, even though all the stages are very different from one another, there is always people coming and going in every group like there would be in a health and social care environment as there is many people part of one group and all taking on different rolls in their group, but in the end they end up being a strong group that can communicate effectively and perform well together. Such as, when children first start school, they may not know any of the other children in their class. The child may choose a certain group of friends of be put into a group with some of the other children by their teacher. Once the children are in this group they will all start to get their own opinions of all the other children. They will then go on to ‘storming’. This usually means there may be arguments or fall outs within the group as the children who were a little quieter at the start, start to get more confident and express their feelings about the other children. This could sometimes end up with one or more children moving into another group that they feel more comfortable in. the next stage is ‘norming’, which is when the children we start to build more of a stronger friendship with the other children and start to have more trust in them and be more open about their thoughts and feelings. The children will then go on to start ‘performing’. This is when the group will come together and perform in a positive way, they have trust and honesty and a positive attitude.