CS Foundation Level
Communication Skills and Records Management cheat sheet
Every chapter's key points, formulas and definitions on one page, for the last week before the exam. Each heading links to the chapter that explains it.
Introduction to communication
- Communication is the sharing of information, ideas or feelings between a sender and a receiver so that the meaning intended is the meaning understood.
- The sender conceives an idea, encodes it and transmits it through a channel; the receiver decodes it and responds with feedback, and noise can distort the message at any stage.
- An effective message meets the seven Cs: clarity, completeness, conciseness, correctness, courtesy, consideration and concreteness.
- Barriers are physical, semantic, psychological, organisational or cultural, and sorting them by where they arise (sender, channel, receiver or organisation) points to the remedy.
Key terms
- Sender
- The originator of the message.
- Message
- The information, idea or feeling being communicated.
- Encoding
- Converting the message into words, symbols or gestures the receiver can interpret.
- Channel
- The medium the message travels through, spoken, written, electronic.
- Receiver
- The person the message is intended for.
- Decoding
- The receiver interpreting the encoded message.
- Feedback
- The receiver's response, confirming whether the message was understood as intended.
- Noise
- Anything that distorts or interferes with the message at any stage.
- Physical barriers
- Distance, poor connectivity, environmental noise.
- Semantic (language) barriers
- Jargon, ambiguity, or words understood differently by sender and receiver.
- Psychological barriers
- Stress, prejudice, or a closed attitude toward the message.
- Organisational barriers
- Too many hierarchical layers, unclear reporting lines, or information overload.
- Cultural barriers
- Differing norms, values or communication styles across cultures (see cross-cultural communication in the chapter on types of communication).
The rest of the sheet covers
- Types of communication
- Written and visual communication
- Oral and non-verbal communication
- Public speaking and presentation
- Group and team communication
- Report and proposal writing
- Technology in communication
- Ethics in communication
- Records management systems
- The records lifecycle
- Exam technique and revision
- Glossary