Patterns of Communication

Communication means transferring messages from one to another and it has several forms such as intrapersonal, interpersonal, group and mass communication. While it comes to group communication it has a certain patterns in its own. Few patterns are popular in mainstream communication studies. Such as

• Circle
• Chain
• Y
• Wheel

All communication patterns are all have certain problems with each other. In circle, Chain and Y patterns all group members can’t directly communicate with the group leader. They can communicate to leader only through group members. In Wheel, all the group members can communicate directly with the group leader.

   – Leader

   – Group Members

Fig. A. Circle Pattern

In Circle pattern, the sender (Group Leader) can communicate with the receivers (group members) who presents next to him/her. No others group members can’t receive the sender’s message directly and they receive messages from the other group members who sharing the message from the sender. In this pattern of communication the sender messages travels all over the group through sharing by its members will take time to reach sender again.

Fig. B. Chain Pattern

In Chain pattern, the same problems were appearing as like a circle pattern. The worst part in the pattern is the last member receives the modified messages from the leader. In this case the leader can’t find whether the last member receives the correct information or not because there is no feedback to identify the message distortion.

Fig. C. Y Pattern

In Y pattern, it’s more complicated pattern and also has the communication problem which appears in both circle and chain pattern. The group is separated into three and the group members can communicate with the other members group through leader only.

Fig. D. Wheel Pattern

In Wheel pattern, one of the best pattern while compare to other three. The leader has direct contact with all the group members and there are no communication problems, time issue and feedback from the group members. But all the group members can’t connect with one another.