JAWAHARLAL NEHRU TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY HYDERABAD B.Pharmacy I Year COMMUNICATION SKILLS Previous Question Paper (September/October-2021 - R17)

Communication skills refer to the ability to convey information, ideas, feelings, and messages effectively and clearly to others, both verbally and non-verbally, while ensuring the receiver understands the intended meaning. It encompasses active listening, speaking, writing, and body language.

The importance of communication skills includes:

• Professional Success: Effective communication is essential for teamwork, leadership, and career advancement, as it allows individuals to articulate goals and resolve conflicts.
• Building Relationships: It fosters trust, empathy, and mutual understanding in both personal and professional environments.
• Decision Making: Clear information exchange ensures that all stakeholders are aligned, reducing errors and improving the quality of organizational decisions.
• Efficiency: It minimizes misunderstandings and saves time by ensuring instructions and expectations are communicated accurately the first time.

The communication process is a cyclical flow of information between a sender and a receiver, consisting of the following key stages:

1. Sender: The individual who initiates the communication by having an idea or information to share.
2. Encoding: The process of converting the sender's thoughts into a communicable format, such as words, symbols, or gestures.
3. Message: The actual content or information being transmitted.
4. Channel: The medium used to transmit the message (e.g., face-to-face, email, phone, or written documents).
5. Decoding: The process where the receiver interprets and translates the message back into understanding.
6. Receiver: The person or group for whom the message is intended.
7. Feedback: The response from the receiver that confirms whether the message was understood as intended, completing the loop.

Throughout this process, noise (any interference or barrier) may occur, which can distort the message and hinder effective communication.