Communication

Communication

Communication Questions for Consideration  

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How can we improve communication? How does communication flow in organizations? Do men and women communicate differently?

Communication Problems  

People spend nearly 70 percent of their waking hours communicating—writing, reading, speaking, listening WorkCanada survey of 2039 Canadians in six industrial and service categories found  

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61 percent of senior executives believed that they did a good job of communicating with employees. Only 33 percent of the managers and department heads believed that senior executives were effective communicators. Only 22 percent of hourly workers, 27 percent of clerical employees, and 22 percent of professional staff reported that senior executives did a good job of communicating with them.

Canadians reported less favourable perceptions about their company’s communications than did Americans

Communication Terms 

Communication 

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Sender 

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The transfer of meaning among people Establishes a message, encodes the message, and chooses the channel to send it

Receiver 

Decodes the message and provides feedback to the sender

Exhibit 6-1 The Communication Process Model

Source

Receiver

Chooses a

Encodes the

Chooses the

message

message

channel

Decodes the

Provides

message

feedback

Communication Terms 

Message 

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Encoding 

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Converting a message to symbolic form.

Channel 

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What is communicated.

The medium through which a message travels

Decoding 

Retranslating a sender’s message.

Choosing Channels Channels differ in their capacity to convey information.  Rich channels have the ability to 

Handle multiple cues simultaneously  Facilitate rapid feedback  Be very personal 

Exhibit 6-2 Hierarchy of Channel Richness Channel richness

Type of message

Information medium

Richest

Nonroutine, ambiguous

Face to face talk Telephone Computer

Memos, letters

Leanest

Routine, clear

Flyers, bulletins general reports

Barriers to Effective Communication  Filtering 

Refers to a sender manipulating information so that it will be seen more favourably by the receiver.

 Selective 

Perception

Receivers in the communication process selectively see and hear based on their needs, motivations, experience, background, and other personal characteristics.

Barriers to Effective Communication  Defensiveness 

When individuals interpret another’s message as threatening, they often respond in ways that retard effective communication.

 Language 

Words mean different things to different people.

Communication Flows in Organizations 

Downward 

Communication that flows from one level of a group to a lower level 

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Upward 

Communication that flows to a higher level of a group 

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Managers to employees

Employees to manager

Lateral 

Communication among members of the same work group, or individuals at the same level

Networks 

Connections by which information flow 

Formal  Task-related

communications that follow the authority chain

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Informal  Communications

relational lines

that flow along social and

Exhibit 6-3 Networks and Their Effectiveness Chain

Speed Accuracy Emergence of a leader Member satisfaction

Wheel

All-Channel

Moderate

Fast

Fast

High

High

Moderate

Moderate

High

None

Moderate

Low

High

The Grapevine   

75 percent of employees hear about matters first through rumours on the grapevine Grapevine: the organization’s informal network Grapevine has three main characteristics  

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Not controlled by management Most employees perceive it as being more believable and reliable than formal communiqués issued by top management Largely used to serve the self-interests of those people within it

Purpose of Rumors To structure and reduce anxiety  To make sense of limited or fragmented information  To serve as a vehicle to organize group members, and possibly outsiders, into coalitions  To signal a sender’s status or power 

Exhibit 6-4 Reducing the Negative Consequences of Rumors 1. Announce timetables for making important decisions. 2. Explain decisions and behaviors that may appear inconsistent or secretive. 3. Emphasize the downside, as well as the upside, of current decisions and future plans. 4. Openly discuss worst case possibilities; it is almost never as anxiety provoking as the unspoken fantasy.

Creating Effective Mechanisms for Communication 

Mechanisms 

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The practices that bring what you stand for to life and stimulate change

They are intended to demonstrate how the communication should be accomplished

Nonverbal Communication 

Messages conveyed through body movements, facial expressions, and the physical distance between the sender and the receiver 

Kinesics 

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The study of body motions, such as gestures, facial configurations, and other movements of the body

Proxemics 

The study of physical space in interpersonal relationships

Communication Barriers Between Men and Women

Men use talk to emphasize status, women use it to create connection  Women and men tend to approach points of conflict differently 

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Communication Barriers Between Men and Women

Men and women view directness and indirectness differently

Women interpret male directness as an assertion of status and one-upmanship  Men interpret female indirectness as covert, sneaky, and weak 

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Men criticize women for apologizing, but women say “I’m sorry” to express empathy

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Cross-Cultural Communication Difficulties

Sources of barriers Semantics  Word connotations  Tonal differences 

Culture Contexts 

Cultures differ in how much the context makes a difference in communication 

High-context cultures  Cultures

that rely heavily on nonverbal and subtle situational cues in communication.

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 Low-context cultures  Cultures

that rely heavily on words to convey meaning in communication

Exhibit 6-5 High- vs. Low-Context Cultures

High context

Low context

Chinese Korean Japanese Vietnamese Arab Greek Spanish Italian English North American Scandinavian Swiss German

Cross-Cultural Communications: Helpful Rules Assume differences until similarity is proven.  Emphasize description rather than interpretation or evaluation.  Practice empathy.  Treat your interpretations as a working hypothesis. 

Tips for Writing and Sending E-mail Don’t send e-mails without a subject line  Be careful in your use of emoticons and acronyms for business communications  Write your message clearly and briefly  Copy e-mails to others only if they really need the information  Sleep on angry e-mails before sending to be sure you are sending the right message 

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Summary and Implications: Communication

A common theme regarding the relationship between communication and employee satisfaction  

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Less distortion in communication equals  

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The less uncertainty, the greater the satisfaction Distortions, ambiguities, and incongruities all increase uncertainty More goal attainment, and better feedback Reduction in ambiguity and distortion

Ambiguity between verbal and nonverbal communiqués increase uncertainty and reduce satisfaction The goal of perfect communication is unattainable The issue of communication is critical to motivation