COMMUNICATION

Describe:

'Communication' can be defined as the transmission of information from one

person or group, known as the 'sender', to another person or group, known as
the 'reciever', through some form of vehicle, known as the 'channel', whereby
some 'feedback' is given to acknowledge the message. Jargon is the special
language developed in connection with certain jobs which helps speed up the
communication flow.

Some factors that affect communication's effectiveness are; source factor,

channel factors & audience factors. 'Source factors' are the characteristics of
the sender, such as the status of the source (O'Reilly & Roberts, 1976),
'channel factors' are the characteristics of the vehicle of transmission of a
message, such as the selection of the proper channel, 'audience factors' are
the characteristics of the reciever, such as the person's attention span &
perceptual abilities.

Apart form verbal & written forms of communication, there is 'nonverbal

communication' such as, facial expressions, gesture, tone of voice, body
movements, posture, style of dress, touching & the physical distance
between the sender & the reciever (Patterson, 1983). There are three ways of
nonverbal communication for the sender; 'nonverbal cues', which can be in
place of verbal communication, used to convey certain impressions
(Giacalone & Rosenfeld, 1989) & also to convey underlying feelings
(Mehrabian, 1981), as well as to communicate the sender's expectations to
the workers, known as the 'pygmalion effect' (Rosenthal, 1994, Rosenthal &
Jacobson, 1968). For the reciever, they provide additional information,
although research has shown that there are often misinterpreted (Depaulo,
Stone & Lassiter, 1985; Kraut, 1980) & they help in person perception
(Schneider, Hastorf & Ellsworth, 1979).

There are three ways for formal communication flow; 'downward

communication' which flows down from the superiors to the subordinates,
such as messages of instruction, information & feedback (Katz & Kahn, 1966),
'upward communication' which flows upward from the subordinates to the
superiors, such as feedback (Smither, Wohlers & London, 1995) & the 'lateral
communication' which flows laterally from colleague to collaegue. The formal
lines of communication follow the organization's hierarchy, known as the
'organigram'. This is done through either the 'centralized network', where the
communication flow is directed through specific members, which is further
divided into three networks; the 'chain network', the 'Y network' & the 'wheel
network'. It can also be done through the 'decentralized' networks' where
messages can originate at any point & do not need to be directed through
specific group members. This is further divided into two networks; the 'circle
network' & the 'all channel/ common network'. Filtering, censoring &
exaggeration are the types of distortion that often disrupt communication
flow (Gaines, 1980).

The informal communication network in an organization is known as the

'grapevine'. This informal flow of communication among organizational
members, can be represented by the 'sociogram'. Three factors determine
the pattern of the sociogram; friendship, usage & efficiency. It can also be
seen as the transmission of rumors, that is information which is either true or
false (Davis, 1972).

Evaluate:

Communication is an extremely complex & can occur in a variety of ways, as

even silence is communication, making it extremely difficult to study. The
problems that can occur in the communication process vary greatly. For
example, the reciever could decode the message incorrectly & hence not get
the real meaning. Also, a poor choice of channel may result in a breakdown of
effective communication. Further, the work situation may provide a number
of distractions, as well as noise. It may also be due to a psychological belief
that the sender has 'nothing important to say'.

Research indicates that in effective upward communication, workers have

sense of self-efficacy & feel highly engaged in their jobs because they think
their suggestions will actually be considered (Axtell et al., 2000; Frese, Teng,
Wijnen, 1999). It has also been seen that insufficient downward
communiation is due to the overestimation of the amount of information that
workers' possess & underestimation of information that they desire (Likert,
1961). Lateral communication helps in the development & maintenance of
interpersonal relationships (Koehler, Anatol & Applbaum, 1981), which helps
in coordination between departments but may lead to oversocializing on the
job (Katz & Kahn, 1966). Also, it may lead to 'clusters' of workers leaving the
job together, termed as the 'snowball effect' (Krackhardt & Porter, 1986), as
too much unnecessary information may lead to impaired job performance.

Jargon can also create problems when a team is made up of workers of

different professions, each of whom use a different jargon. (Cooley, 1994).
The tyoe of channel used affects work outcomes such as job satisfaction,
where frequency & quality of face-to-face communication helps considerably
(Callan, 1993; Lee, 1998; Muchinsky, 1977; Jablin 1979). Also, those who
reported recieving more & better communication were the most productive
workers (Clampitt& Downs, 1993).

Extensive research on the formal communication networks show that

centralized networks are faster & make fewer errors with simple tasks
although there may an information overload resulting in inefficiency.
Decentralized networks on the other hand, are better at dealing with complex
tasks (Leavitt, 1951; Shaw, 1964). Generally, members in centralized
communication have lower levels of satisfaction due to the restrictions
(Shaw, 1964; Bavelas, 1950). Some of these researches have been critised
for adopting a reductionist approach (Burgess, 1968).

Informal communication relies on three factors; friendship, usage &

efficiency, with friendship being perhaps, the most important (Baird, 1977). It
is also known as rumors, which can be either true or false (Davis, 1972),
although research has proved that rumors via the grapevine are accurate,
atleast 75-80% (Langan-Fox, 2001; Baird, 1977).

A laboratory study found that goups with high-quality communication

outperformed those who did not have systematic circles of communication
(Tschan, 1995).

Application:

I would prefer using the computer-mediated meetings (Trevino & Webster,

1992; Weisband, 1992) as they are more convenient & also provides al
workers equal opportunities (Weisband, Shneider & Connolly, 1995).
However, this results in risky decisions & rude behavior (Kiesler & Sproull,
1992; Savicki & Kelley, 2000), as well as the fact that it is time-consuming
(Carey & Kacmar, 1997).

Further, there are culturally based communication differences (Kume, 1985).

Many organizations have developed multicultural awareness & training
programs (Ferdman, 1992; Kossek & Zonia, 1993), as well as training
programs that have been designed specifically for employees working in
other countries (Tung, 1997).

I would also try to improve the upward communication, as there are usually a
lot of restrictions where lower-level workers fear that feedback would reflect
poorly on their abilitites or that managers would not listen or appreciate
it,causing discontentment. Further, I think it improve upward communication
by involving employees in the decision-making process (Harrison, 1985).

Moreover, I think that rumors spread due to shortage of information

transmitted through the formal channels (Schachter & Burdick, 1955), so the
best way to deal with it, would be to be honest & open with the employees &
provide them with sufficient information throigh the formal lines of
communication (Difonzo, Bordia & Rosnow, 1994; Hersey, 1966, Zaremba,
1988).