Dimensions of Communication

The act of communicating consists of a number of fairly complex steps that sometimes occur in a matter of seconds. I am not talking about a full-blown public relations campaign where professionals put together a comprehensive outreach effort designed to promote an organization or a particular product. Rather, I am referring to the seemingly simple, day-to-day act of interaction that occurs between two individuals: initiator and recipient. It is one that contains multiple dimensions. I begin with the premise that all communication efforts are reactive. This includes so-called original thoughts or "brain storms" any of us might have. Our ideas or notions are inspired by external forces that include other ideas, information, an event, or a situation.

Any singular or combination of external forces serves as a stimulus that instills within us a message we wish to share or communicate with another. Unfortunately, this seed of a message does not always appear in our head neatly wrapped or packaged. The initiator must develop their own understanding of it before communicating it with others. Once this is done, then a series of decisions are necessary before it is ready to be shared. These include: deciding who to share the message with, deciding how best to share the message, and deciding when to share the message. Once these decisions are made, then what I call the "action"phase of the communication process is launched with the target being another person.

Interestingly, this other person - the recipient - goes through the same internal process as the initiator in deciphering the message that has just been communicated to them. The result, ideally, is an interaction or conversation between the two. Over the years scholars have dissected or examined the act of communicating in a similar fashion. Because it is act in which we all engage every day of our lives, I believe we tend to take it for granted and overlook the complexity of what, on the surface, seems to be a simple conversation. I see it as being similar to eating at a restaurant. The meal is brought to us and we eat it, giving very little thought to what goes on in the kitchen that makes that simple meal possible.