Auditing communications means conducting a comprehensive review of communications in an organization or environment. Communication audits are necessary at various stages for most organizations. A new organization needs to establish communication channels with prospective clients and employees. A fast-growing organization needs to increase their communication and information handling capabilities at various levels to gear up for the future. Stagnant and bulky organizations need to dramatically increase their communication efficiency to cut down on further losses.

This study presents a general framework for carrying out a communications audit. Relevant key terms like information, communication, channels,systems," etc. are defined for uniform interpretation by readers. The proposed framework is woven around four attributes: physical or materials, tools, and equipment (the carriers of information); channels (the direction and flow of messages); noise levels or distortion (the quality of messages); and people (the sources and receivers of information). The framework basically deals with communication as a process of exchanging information. The content or coding of messages, perception, etc., which involves behavioral aspects of people, is an exhaustive subject by itself and beyond the scope of the proposal.

A communication audit could be conducted with specific objectives or within a limited scope and could be used as a basis for a brief to designers, a tool for management decisions, or a control mechanism for communication norms.

The proposed framework is illustrated with an existing situation in a small new organization: the CAD Center at IIT Bombay.