communication channels
Ways messages travel
Communication channels are the methods or pathways through which information travels between people or systems.
In organizations, channels may be formal (memos, official meetings, chain of command) or informal (hallway conversations, group chats).
The term extends to technical infrastructure: We need to establish secure communication channels before sharing sensitive data.
Marketing uses it for media platforms that reach audiences: television, social media, email campaigns.
- conversationsSpoken exchanges between people
- word of mouthInformation passed through conversation
- emailDigital written communication
- smoke signalsFlame-based distant messaging
- body languageUnspoken physical expression
online forums · public speaking · town hall meeting · telephone · carrier pigeons · flags · hand gestures · podcasts · walkie-talkies · ham radio · Morse code · megaphones · satellite · emojis · facial expressions · websites · storytelling · debates
- workplace communicationemail, emails, memo, memos, meeting
- communicationtelephone, conversation, inform, hand signal, messages
- bureaucracybureaucracy, bureaucrat, bureaucrats, red tape, civil service
- systems thinkingfeedback loops, rules, goals, structure, parameters
communication channelscommunication barriers
Factors hindering information exchange
isolation · disconnection · incommunicado · censorship · radio silence
communication channelsmessage
Transmitted communication
content · information · data · meaning · substance
communication channelssender
One who dispatches
receiver · source · destination · endpoints · transmitter