The definition of Communication

What is a good definition of communication? Many books has been written on the subject. Basically, for me, communication is always about sender and receiver and their respective objectives and needs. I will dig in to different aspect of this here.

We will take a look at why communication is important and also some communication theory of course. I will then penetrate some other areas, and try to define them:

What is communication?

Communication comes from the Latin word “communicare”, which mean, “to share” or “doing together”. Well that’s odd. It doesn’t mean spreading information? In a modern society however, communication has got a much larger meaning. A definition of communication I like

Why is communication so important?

The reason why communication is important is simply because it influences everything you do and everything your company and its people does. Modern research show that managers spend between 60-95% of their days on communication tasks. It is such a big part of our lives that we don’t even see it. Why is communication important

All we want is behaviour!

Communication to drive behaviour! Why do we communicate? Really, why? My strong belief is that the reason we communicate is because we want to create a change. This can be in the form of a changed knowledge or understanding. Mostly we are looking to create a change in engagement or behaviour. To put it simple. We want other people to do something. All we want is behavior!

Balanced communication – a way to success

Balanced communication is a concept that we developed at the advertising agency SSR in Stockholm 2001-03. The idea behind this is that there needs to be a balance between the external communication and the internal communication. Balanced communication A+B=C

The external communication and marketing timeline.

The world today is very different compared to only 40 years ago. Then we made our weekly rounds to the local butcher, grocer, and other local speciality shops. Now it is global choice, global businesses, global communication, global culture, global brands, global everything. Global choice with local customers looking for an exact fit with what they want and not what the business wants to give them. The external communication and marketing timeline.

The internal communication timeline

This entire media is basically telling or informing internal customers, with little to no opportunity for feedback or dialogue. Journalism, for example, relies on newspapers to deliver messages, usually these are the type fondly referred to in the UK as 'hatches, matches and dispatches,' or more simply births, marriages and deaths. The internal communication timeline

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