CHAPTER COMMUNICATION

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
1. Understanding Communications
Differentiate between interpersonal and organizational communication. Contrast the advantages and disadvantages of oral versus written communication Discuss the functions of communication.

2. The Process of Interpersonal Communications

Explain all the components of the communication process. List the communication methods managers might use. Describe nonverbal communication and how it takes place.

Explain the barriers to effective interpersonal communication and how to overcome them.

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
3. Organizational Communication
Explain how communication can flow in an organization. Describe the three common communication networks. Discuss how managers should handle the grapevine. Identify the factors affecting the use of the grapevine

4. Understanding Information Technology

Describe how technology affects managerial communication. Define e-mail, instant messaging, blogs and wikis, voicemail, fax, EDI, teleconferencing, videoconferencing, web conferencing, intranet, and extranet. Explain how information technology affects organizations.

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

contd.

5. Communication Issues in Todays Organization

Discuss the challenges of managing communication in an Internet world.
Explain how organizations can manage knowledge. Explain why communicating with customers is an important managerial issue. Explain how political correctness is affecting communication.

What Is Communication?
Communication
The transfer and understanding of meaning
Transfer means the message was received in a form that can be interpreted by the receiver. Understanding the message is not the same as the receiver agreeing with the message.

Interpersonal Communication

Communication between two or more people All the patterns, network, and systems of communications within an organization

Organizational Communication

Four Functions of Communication

Formal and informal communications act to control individuals behaviors in organizations Control

Communications clarify for employees what is to done, how well they have done it, and what can be done to improve performance
Motivation

Individuals and work groups need information to make decisions or to do their work.
Information

Functions of Communication

Social interaction in the form of work group communications provides a way for employees to express themselves.

Emotional Expression

Exhibit 111 The Interpersonal Communication Process

Message Source: senders intended meaning Encoding The message converted to symbolic form Channel The medium through which the message travels Decoding The receivers retranslation of the message Noise Disturbances that interfere with communications

Distortions in Communications
Message Encoding
The effect of the skills, attitudes, and knowledge of the sender on the process of encoding the message The social-cultural system of the sender

The Message
Symbols used to convey the messages meaning
The content of the message itself The choice of message format Noise interfering with the message

Distortions in Communications (contd)

The Channel
The senders choice of the appropriate channel or multiple channels for conveying the message

Receiver
The effect of skills, attitudes, and knowledge of the receiver on the process of decoding the message The social-cultural system of the receiver

Feedback Loop
Communication channel distortions affecting the return message from receiver to sender

Interpersonal Communication Methods

Face-to-face Telephone Group meetings Formal presentations Memos Traditional Mail Fax machines Employee publications Bulletin boards Audio- and videotapes Hotlines E-mail Computer conferencing Voice mail Teleconferences Videoconferences

Interpersonal Communication
Oral Communication
Advantages: Speed and feedback. Disadvantage: Distortion of the message.

Written Communication
Advantages: Tangible and verifiable. Disadvantages: Time consuming and lacks feedback.

Nonverbal Communication
Advantages: Supports other communications and provides observable expression of emotions and feelings. Disadvantage: Misperception of body language or gestures can influence receivers interpretation of message.

Gender Communication Differences

Men
Report talk

Women
Rapport talk

Gives advice quickly and directly

Avoids asking for information Less sensitive to nonverbal cues

Gives advice indirectly and reluctantly

Frequently asks for information More sensitive to nonverbal cues

Evaluating Communication Methods

Feedback Complexity capacity Breadth potential Confidentiality Time-space constraint Cost Interpersonal warmth Formality

Encoding ease
Decoding ease

Scanability
Time consumption

Exhibit 112 Comparison of Communication Methods

Note: Ratings are on a 15 scale where 1 = high and 5 = low. Consumption time refers to who controls the reception of communication. S/R means the sender and receiver share control.

Interpersonal Communication (contd)

Nonverbal Communication
Communication that is transmitted without words.

Sounds with specific meanings or warnings

Images that control or encourage behaviors Situational behaviors that convey meanings Clothing and physical surroundings that imply status

Body language: gestures, facial expressions, and other body movements that convey meaning. Verbal intonation: emphasis that a speaker gives to certain words or phrases that conveys meaning.

Interpersonal Communication Barriers

Filtering Emotions

National Culture

Language

Interpersonal Communication

Information Overload

Defensiveness

Barriers to Effective Interpersonal Communication Filtering

The deliberate manipulation of information to make it appear more favorable to the receiver. When you read a story, if you read only certain parts and omit others, you are posing this barrier.

Emotions
Disregarding rational and objective thinking processes and substituting emotional judgments when interpreting messages.

Information Overload
Being confronted with a quantity of information that exceeds an individuals capacity to process it.

Barriers to Effective Interpersonal Communication (contd)

Defensiveness
When threatened, reacting in a way that reduces the ability to achieve mutual understanding.

Language
The different meanings of and specialized ways (jargon) in which senders use words can cause receivers to misinterpret their messages.

National Culture
Culture influences the form, formality, openness, patterns and use of information in communications.

Overcoming the Barriers to Effective Interpersonal Communications

Use Feedback Simplify Language Listen Actively Constrain Emotions Watch Nonverbal Cues

INTRA-PERSONAL BARRIER
WRONG ASSUMPTIONS: WRONG ASSUMPTIONS Many barriers stem from wrong assumptions. For example- your friend writes you a letter that he is reaching delhi by such train. By writing this he presumes that you will receive him at the station and make him stay at your house while you assume that he is coming to meet some of his relatives & will naturally stay there. Here different assumptions have caused barrier in communication.Wrong assumptions are generally made because the sender or the receiver does not have adequate knowledge about each others background. A skilled communicator keeps these issues in mind to prevent them from becoming barriers.
SELECTIVE PERCEPTION: SELECTIVE PERCEPTION Selective perception means that the receivers selectively see and hear depending upon their needs, motivation, background experience and other personal characteristics. While decoding the message they project their own interest and expectation in the process of communication further leading to a particular kind of feedback. DIFFERING BACKGROUND: DIFFERING BACKGROUND People vary in terms of their education, culture, language, environment, age, sex, financial status etc. Our background plays significant role in how we interpret the message. A computer company representative would not make much sense to a group of doctors if in his presentation goes into details.

WRONG INFERENCES: WRONG INFERENCES Communication quite often breaks down or becomes an embarrassing affair if we keep acting an assumption without caring to seek clarification. For examplea customer writes to us that he/ she would be visiting our office on a particular day without caring to write/ telephone that he/ she would like to be picked up assuming that we will do that as a routine, it would be regarded as a case of incomplete communication. It may lead to loss of goodwill.
CLOSED MIND: CLOSED MIND The expression closed mind refers to thinking tendency of the people that they know everything about the issue and therefore refuse to accept any further information on that topic. People who feel that they know it all are called pansophists .

SEMANTIC BARRIERS
NOISE: NOISE Noise can be defined as any unplanned interference in the communication environment, which causes hindrance in the transmission of message. Noise occurs primarily at the transmission level which distorts interpretation or the decoding part of the communication process. Noise can be classified as channel and semantic . SEMANTIC BARRIERS: SEMANTIC BARRIERS Semantic barriers arise due to problems in language. Language is the most important tool of communication but its careless use can be dangerous At the receivers level reception may be inaccurate because of inattention. Semantic noise are faulty grammar, mis -spellings and incorrect punctuation. One must aim at simplicity, clarity and brevity so as to minimize the chances of different interpretations. ORGANIZATIONAL BARRIERS: ORGANIZATIONAL BARRIERS Rigid, hierarchical structure usually restricts the flow of communication. This is because there are numerous transfer points and each of these points has the potential to distort, delay or lose the message. To obviate this, there should be a direct contact between sender and receiver with minimum transfer stations.

ORGANIZATIONAL BARRIERS
TOO MANY TARNSFER STATIONS: TOO MANY TARNSFER STATIONS When messages pass on from one person to another in a series of transmission they are likely to become less and less accurate. The message gets distorted at each level because of poor listening or lack of concentration. FEAR OF SUPERIORS: FEAR OF SUPERIORS In rigidly structured organization, fear or awe of the superiors prevents sub-ordinates from speaking frankly. To avoid speaking directly to their boss, some employees may either shun all communication with their superiors or they may present all the information that they have. FEAR OF SUPERIORS: FEAR OF SUPERIORS Sometimes out of fear employees do not communicate available information. It may result in sending partial information. Fear of full disclosure or non-disclosure misleads a superior. USE OF INAPPROPRIATE MEDIA: USE OF INAPPROPRIATE MEDIA Some of the common media used in organizations are graphs, charts, telephones, fax machines, computer presentations, e-mails, slides, teleconferencing and video-conferencing. While choosing the media you should therefore keep in mind the advantages, disadvantages and potential barriers to communication. INFORMATION OVERLOAD: INFORMATION OVERLOAD One of the major problems faced by organization today is the availability of huge amount of data which the receiver is unable to handle. Receiver should receive only that amount of facts and figures at one time that he/she can absorb. Major points should be highlighted, leaving out all irrelevant things. This kind of reducing can reduce the problem of information overload to a great extent. TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION: TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION Create an open communication environment. Always keep the receiver in mind Avoid having too many transfer stations Be aware of diversity in culture, language etc. Use appropriate non-verbal cues. Select the most suitable medium. Utilise feedback. Be specific.

Exhibit 113 Active Listening Behaviors

Types of Organizational Communication

Formal Communication
Communication that follows the official chain of command or is part of the communication required to do ones job.
Instructions and directives
PRESIDENT

Information

PRESIDENT

PRESIDENT

PRESIDENT

PRESIDENT

PRESIDENT

PRESIDENT

Efforts at coordination

Formal Media
Letters Flyers and bulletins Memos Faxes

All-employees mailings

 Informal Communication
Communication that is not defined by the organizations hierarchy.

Permits employees to satisfy their need for social interaction. Can improve an organizations performance by creating faster and more effective channels of communication.

Informal Media
Face-to-face discussions Telephone Voice messaging (voice mail) E-mail Instant messaging (chat) communications in offices more frequent than in public areas majority of roaming interactions self-initiated interruptability (importance of prior activity) interactions are very often terminated by a third party joining an existing conversation role of deixis documents involved in 53% of all Own Office interactions

Communication Flows

U p w a r d

Lateral

D o w n w a r d

Direction of Communication Flow

Downward
Communications that flow from managers to employees to inform, direct, coordinate, and evaluate employees.

Upward
Communications that flow from employees up to managers to keep them aware of employee needs and how things can be improved to create a climate of trust and respect.

Lateral (Horizontal) Communication Communication that takes place among employees on the same level in the organization to save time and facilitate coordination. Diagonal Communication Communication that cuts across both work areas and organizational levels in the interest of efficiency and speed.

Types of Communication Networks

Chain Network
Communication flows according to the formal chain of command, both upward and downward.

Wheel Network
All communication flows in and out through the group leader (hub) to others in the group.

All-Channel Network
Communications flow freely among all members of the work team.

Exhibit 114 Three Common Organizational Communication Networks and How They Rate on Effectiveness Criteria

The Grapevine
An informal organizational communication network that is active in almost every organization.
Provides a channel for issues not suitable for formal communication channels. The impact of information passed along the grapevine can be countered by open and honest communication with employees.

 Grapevine Characteristics
Informal, not controlled by management.

Perceived by most employees as being more believable and reliable than formal communications.
Largely used to serve the self-interests of those who use it. Results from:

Desire for information about important situations Ambiguous conditions Conditions that cause anxiety

Positive Aspects of the Grapevine

social function reduction of anxiety release mechanism for stress identification of pending problems early warning system for organizational change vehicle for creating a common organizational culture desired information can be circulated quickly to a large group of subordinates (inofficially!)

Understanding Information Technology

Benefits of Information Technology (IT)
Increased ability to monitor individual and team performance Better decision making based on more complete information More collaboration and sharing of information Greater accessibility to coworkers

Information Technology (contd)

Networked Computer Systems
Linking individual computers to create an organizational network for communication and information sharing.

E-mail Instant messaging (IM) Blogs Wikis Voice-mail Fax machines Electronic Data Exchange (EDI) Teleconferencing Videoconferencing Web conferencing

Information Technology (contd)

Types of Network Systems
Intranet

An internal network that uses Internet technology and is accessible only to employees.
An internal network that uses Internet technology and allows authorized users inside the organization to communicate with certain outsiders such as customers and vendors.

Extranet

Wireless (WIFI) capabilities

How IT Affects Organization

Removes the constraints of time and distance
Allows widely dispersed employees to work together.

Provides for the sharing of information

Increases effectiveness and efficiency.

Integrates decision making and work

Provides more complete information and participation for better decisions.

Creates problems of constant accessibility to employees

Blurs the line between work and personal lives.

Current Communication Issues

Managing Communication in an Internet World
Legal and security issues
Inappropriate use of company e-mail and instant messaging Loss of confidential and proprietary information due to inadvertent or deliberate dissemination or to hackers.

Lack of personal interaction

Being connected is not the same as face-to-face contact. Difficulties occur in achieving understanding and collaboration in virtual environements.

Current Communication Issues

Being connected versus being concerned
Managing Internet gripe sites as a valuable resource for unique insights into the organization.
Employee complaints (hot-button issues) Customer complaints

Responding to Internet gripe sites

Recognized them as a valuable source of information. Post messages that clarify misinformation. Take action to correct problems noted on the site. Set up an internal gripe site. Continue to monitor the public gripe site.

Current Communication Issues (contd)

Managing the Organizations Knowledge Resources
Build online information databases that employees can access. Create communities of practice for groups of people who share a concern, share expertise, and interact with each other.

Communication and Customer Service

Communicating Effectively with Customers
Recognize the three components of the customer service delivery process:
The customer The service organization The service provider

Develop a strong service culture focused on the personalization of service to each customer.
Listen and respond to the customer. Provide access to needed service information.

Politically Correct Communication

Do not use words or phrases that stereotype, intimidate, or offend individuals based on their differences. However, choose words carefully to maintain as much clarity as possible in communications.

Communication Skills for Managers as Senders

Send clear and complete messages. Encode messages in symbols the receiver understands. Select a medium appropriate for the message AND monitored by the receiver. Avoid filtering (holding back information) and distortion as the message passes through other workers. Ensure a feedback mechanism is included in the message. Provide accurate information to avoid rumors. Pay Attention to what is sent as a message. Be a good listener: dont interrupt. Ask questions to clarify your understanding. Be empathetic: try to understand what the sender feels. Understand linguistic styles: different people speak differently. Speed, tone, pausing all impact communication. This is particularly true across cultures. Managers should expect and plan for this.