THIS article, on the importance of communication, is a subject I least know but I am more than convinced of its importance.
Communication is essential in our everyday life. One needs to communicate with others in order to survive. In the days when the information and communication technology (ICT) was in its infancy, communicating between people and places must have been inefficient.
Our younger generation, born into the world when ICT was already quite advanced and when everyone has a mobile phone, would not be able to appreciate how this function was undertaken decades ago.
Having fixed line telephones was a privilege then. Other fast communication means at that time were the likes of the telex and telegram facilities, which are hardly used now when satellite facilities have conquered our life. I could not imagine what would be the communication facilities in the post-satellite era; perhaps, telepathy?
Communication is critical to business, economic and social development. It is more critical to efforts aimed at bringing about social changes, as changes are often seen as threats to culture and norms. That is why the concept of learning curve developed, showing that in the early parts of innovation, adopters were few, while laggards were plenty.
The importance of communication, especially of effective communication, was emphasised to shorten the learning curve and impactful changes were brought about soonest. Our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was right, when on taking over the government, changed the name of the Ministry of Information to Ministry of Communication and Multimedia.
He is fully aware of the importance of communication as an instrument of development. However, whether the ministry has completely assumed the role of a communicator of public policy, of development and transformation of our mind, is not for me to appraise. Let others, such as the professionals of organisational behaviour, or organisations like Mampu (Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit), make an assessment.
Communication may have several important roles. However, two are critical. These are the role to reach and communicate with people so as to bring about changes for the better.
How do we communicate to impact changes among traditional population, among educated people, and among large populations, such as China and India?
Communication is also a two-way process. How do we accommodate the views of the groups for whom changes are essential?
As opposed to private corporations, many government agencies carry out their jobs without incorporating the concern for communication with the public on what they do and have done.
Often their aspirations, activities and achievements do not leave beyond their office doors. Not many out there know what the departments are doing. Thus there may be much miscommunication leading to misunderstanding. Negative energy then takes over.
It is quite advisable to invest in communications function and to have a team to undertake corporate communication effectively.
For private sector companies this concern is a must. Many government departments do not do this, leaving the matter to ill-equipped press officers who are more press relations staff than communication specialists.
Our experience of the 1997/1998 financial crisis, when we embarked on non-popular measures, such as capital controls and currency pegging so as to come out of the malaise, drew negative remarks levelled against our country and our leadership then. The National Economic Action Council then invested much in corporate crisis communication to explain our side of the story.
Additionally, while communicating is important, ineffective communication is also bad. Poor communication may also lead to “noise and distortions” along the way, given people’s level of understanding, perception and interpretation.
These “noises and distractions” can be amplified along the way, the further the distance from the origin and the receiving parties. This leads to a situation that Muslims refer to as fitnah or social affliction. In such a case, truths can become half-truths, and half-truths become lies because of these distortions along the communication path.
Such distortions can be more serious in Malaysia with our multi-ethnicity and plurality in culture and religions. It thus becomes all the more important to ensure good and effective communication so as to minimise distortions and wrong interpretations of our public policies.
These, in turn, can be manipulated easily by elements who want to benefit from this miscommunication. The results will be mistrust among our various racial groups. The last thing we all want is mistrust among us, for it is a breeding ground for social discord.
It would, therefore, be very productive for our policymakers and implementors to design their programmes and carry out their activities with strong communication concern in mind and not to take it for granted. Lest “noise and distractions”, fuelled by rumours and exaggerations, get the better of us.
Let me end by apologising to communication specialists for encroaching in their field, for which I know but a little. Happy New Year.