Communication Interpersonal Communication Is One

Communication

Interpersonal communication is one of the most important aspects of human life. It creates relationships, employment opportunities, pleasant or unpleasant conditions. Hence it is important to take the appropriate approach to communication in order to optimize its beneficial effects and minimize possible misunderstanding.

Interpersonal communication has various characteristics. These include the fact that interpersonal communication generally occurs in face-to-face situations, without any mediating devices, apart from real-time communication devices such as the telephone. Such communication occurs in dialogic form; information and meaning are shared among the parties in the conversation. This is where the process approach becomes useful.

Interpersonal communication is transactional in nature, with parties negotiating content and meaning. The flow of this content and meaning is a process whereby participants influence each other. Although not all participants necessarily speak, the information is processed and contributes to the development of though and opinion in the group involved in communication.

Conversations are therefore reciprocal in their influence. Each participant in the conversation influences the others and is influenced by the others. In interpersonal conversation among equal parties, this process occurs in a symbiotic and simultaneous way.

Taking a process approach is then useful in a variety of situations. In a group situation, for example, parties may communicate regarding certain goals. These goals can be related to tangible objectives, action, social endeavors, emotional purposes, and so on. A process approach means that all parties in the conversation is open to the fact that communication is dynamic and influential. Each person is then open to being influenced, as well as being willing to influence the other parties.

When the conversation participants have divergent goals, the process of conversation is aimed at reaching consensus. Such situations may occur in negotiations among business partners, marriage partners, families, political parties, and so on. Negotiation is a process that occurs for the purpose of consensus.

When a process approach is taken to interpersonal communication, both or all parties enter the conversation with the purpose of influence or being influenced. It is also accepted that all parties have specific goals, aspirations, fears, expectations and so on, which are either related or unrelated to the negotiation at hand. The process approach is then useful in working towards a common goal for the benefit of both the group and the wider sphere of influence, where decisions or consensus reached has wider effects. Examples of this can be political, educational, or family settings.