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COMMUNICATION THEORY: LECTURE 2

Lines of communication in organizations




Volunteer 1: Top Management
Volunteers 2 &3: Middle Management
Volunteers 4, 5 &6: Lower Management







Each level indicates status and also line of communication
that one needs to follow in order to communicate between
those above and below you in the hierarchy.

6 volunteers please

Senior
engineer
Engineer
Technical Supervisor
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Lines of Communication can move vertically upwards or
vertically downwards






Vertical upwards: junior engineer communicates with senior engineer via
telephone, email, face-to-face
Vertical downwards: high positions communicate with employees at lower levels
e.g. junior engineer issue instructions to technicians. N.B: This line of
communication usually used to communicate instructions, information, and
decisions to employees.


Why do you think upward communication seems to take
place less frequently than downward communication?
Workers, in the past, felt intimidated by employers, afraid
to speak up, fear of loss of job.
Trade unions, give employees a voice, become more
assertive



Using the volunteers as your guide, illustrate
examples of the following:
Vertically upwards
Vertically downwards
What do you understand by
the word leapfrogging?
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Leapfrogging can be described as the action of skipping a
lower level of your immediate reporting line and
communicating directly with a higher level without
consulting the immediate reporting line.



Horizontal lines of Communication:
Employees who share same status or rank communicate with
each other
Junior engineer Junior Engineer
Apprentice Apprentice


The grapevine:

This is also a line of communication that exists in organizations
However, it is somewhat different to the other lines described
above.
Vertical and horizontal- official lines of communication
Grapevine- unofficial or informal line of communication e.g.
gossip, rumours

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People passing on what they overhear and what they see
N.B.: not hearing /seeing everything may lead to half-truths being
passed on as facts.
Rumours, gossip mainly spread via word of mouth and may cause
misunderstandings (as most of the time it is not true)
Fastest way of spreading information through an organisation
Informal line of communication has no direct lines to follow; any
member can speak to anyone else whenever they have the
opportunity e.g. staffroom chatter
Main disadvantage of the grapevine is that it may lead to
misunderstandings, but if sources are reliable, may lead to faster
distribution of message than via formal lines of communication.








So, how would the grapevine work in an
organisation/ office environment?
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Barriers to Communication

Anything that obstructs (or partially obstructs) or limits
entrance or access to something




A barrier to communication refers to anything that hinders
or impedes (prevents) the process of communication and
in doing so, causes messages to become distorted
This type of interference can occur at any point in the
communication process










What is a barrier?
So how would you define a
barrier to communication?
One volunteer to illustrate where one could
encounter barriers in the communication
process (draw communication process)
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There are five different types of barriers to communication:
1. Perceptual
2. Physiological
3. Psychological
4. Environmental
5. Semantic

1. Perceptual barrier (cultural differences)
Deals with how we see the world according to our religion, age,
gender etc.
Proxemics- distance between you and someone else; may cause
misunderstanding, create barrier
For example, in some cultures making not eye contact is a sign of
disrespect while in another culture it is a sign of respect not to
make eye contact.

2. Physiological barrier


Physiology: The science dealing with the functions of living
organisms
Physiological barriers have to do with the body and how what
happens to the body affects the communication process

What does the word
physiology mean?
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Pain (e.g. headaches, earaches, sore throats) may cause a
person to lose concentration
Poor eyesight, partial deafness, hunger- these are all
physiological barriers that may limit or obstruct the
communication process.

3. Psychological barriers
Psychology is the study of the mind
A psychological barrier, therefore has to do with what goes
on in ones mind and how it can become a barrier to
communication
For example: emotions (feelings) lead to psychological
barriers




Emotions such as love, excitement are not the only type
of psychological barriers that people may experience
What people think of themselves may also lead to
psychological barriers
Can you think of any physiological barriers
you may have experienced?
Mention some emotions that
may lead to psychological
barriers.
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For example: lack of self-esteem or confidence may
prevent you from communicating easily- not because
you unable to do so, but because this psychological
barrier prevents you from doing so
Nervousness is another example of a psychological
barrier

4. Environmental barriers (anything in physical environment)
Refers to barriers in our immediate (right here or there)
environment
For example: Noise, location of office, classroom etc.;
cluttered desk- could not think clearly; sharing a room with
friend/family (noisy); lack of space (small room/office)
This barrier can be overcome easier than the others- simply
move away from noise, stop communication until noise
stops





5. Semantic barriers
Refers to the study of the meaning of words
Semantic barriers have to do with the meaning of words we
use and how others make sense of them
Jargon and slang- among words that may lead to semantic
barriers
With a partner, discuss some
environmental barriers you may
have experienced before.
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Jargon- vocabulary that is peculiar to a certain group of
people in a profession or discipline e.g. medical personnel
Slang refers to very informal language



In groups of 5 present a 2minute role play incorporating any or
all of the communication barriers discussed above.

Feedback: Comments, Questions
What have I learned today? 2 volunteers
Can you think of some common
slang phrases?