Communication in Organizations

Historical Precedents on the Role of Communication Classical Perspective

Modern/Contemporary Perspective

Functions of Communication The Communication Process Barriers to Effective Communication Filtering

Selective Perception

Information Overload

Defensiveness

Language

Communication Anxiety

RE

PO

RT

OU

TLIN

E

Communication Fundamentals Direction of Communication

Formal vs. Informal Networks

Non-Verbal Communications

Current Issues in Communication Barrier between women and men

“Politically Correct” Communication

Cross-cultural Communication

Electronic Communication

RE

PO

RT

OU

TLIN

E

What is Communication?

The transfer and the understanding

of meaning

Photo Source : jpkc.ecnu.edu.cn

ACTIVITY HOW GOOD ARE YOU AS A LISTENER?

A well-liked college teacher had just completed making up the final examinations and had turned off the lights in the office. Just then a tall, dark, broad figure appeared and demanded the examination. The professor opened the drawer.

Everything in the drawer was picked up and the individual ran down the corridor. The Dean was notified immediately.

Based on the preceding story, identify if

the following statements are true or false.

1. The thief was tall, dark, and broad.

2. The professor turned off the lights.

3. A tall figure demanded the examination.

4. The examination was picked up by someone

5. The examination was picked up by the professor.

6. A tall, dark figure appeared after the professor

turned off the lights in the office.

7. The man who opened the drawer was the professor.

8. The professor ran down the corridor.

9. The drawer was never actually opened.

10. In this report three persons are referred to.

ANSWERS

1. T

2. T

3. T

4. T

5. F

• 6. F

• 7. T

• 8. F

• 9. F

• 10. T

INTERPRETATION OF SCORES

• 8PTS – 10 PTS - ACTIVE LISTENER

• 5 PTS- 7 PTS – AVERAGE

• BELOW 5 PTS – NEEDS TO BE MORE ATTENTIVE.

• 1 POINT PER CORRECT ANSWER

Historical Precedents on the Role of

Communication

Classical Perspective

Chester Barnard

“The Absence of a suitable technique of communication would eliminate the possibility of adopting some purposes as a basis of organization. Communication technique shapes the form and

the internal economy of organization”

Photo Source: eng.aphorism.ru

Historical Precedents on the Role of

Communication

Modern Perspective Managerial Communications Model

Communication Functions

1. Control member behavior.

2. Foster motivation for what is to be done.

3. Provide a release for emotional expression.

4. Provide information needed to make

decisions.

Functions of Communication

• Control • Motivation • Emotional Expression • Information

The Communication Process

SENDER

MESSAGE ENCODING MEDIUM DECODING BY RECEIVER

RECEIVER

MESSAGE ENCODING MEDIUM DECODING BY RECEIVER

SENDER RECEIVER

Barriers to Effective

Communication

Video Source : youtube

Barriers to Effective

Communication

• Filtering • Selective Perception • Information Overload • Defensiveness • Language • Communication Anxiety

Photo Source: http://advancedcommunicationsclassblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/non-verbal-communication-barriers.html

Barriers to Effective

Communication Filtering

A sender’s manipulation of information so that it will be seen more favorably by the receiver.

Selective Perception

People selectively interpret what they see on the basis of their interests, background, experience, and attitudes.

Information Overload

A condition in which information inflow exceeds an individual’s processing capacity.

Barriers to Effective

Communication (cont’d)

Defensiveness

A response pattern in which a person who follows this pattern sees a disagreement as a personal attack .

Language

Words have different meanings to different people.

Communication Apprehension

Undue tension and anxiety about oral communication, written communication, or both.

Communication

Fundamentals

• Direction of Communication • Formal vs. Informal Networks

• Non-Verbal Communications

Direction of Communication

• Upward Communication

occurs when messages flow from subordinates to managers or from

supervisors to executives.

• Downward Communication

occurs when a manager or supervisor sends a message to one or more

subordinates.

Formal vs. Informal

Networks

Formal Communication Networks

These are typically vertical, follow the authority chain and are related to task related communications (Robbins, 2001).

Informal Communication Network

Usually better known as grapevine is free to move in any direction, skip authority levels and is likely to satisfy group members’ social needs as it is to facilitate task accomplishments

Grapevine

• 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

Non-Verbal Communications

• Body language

“your lips tell me ‘no,no’ but there is ‘yes,yes’ in your eyes”

• Paralinguistic

describes the non-verbal aspects of communications that encompass tone of voice, pacing, pitch and similar aspects that go beyond the spoken word

Current Issues in

Communication

• Barrier between Women and Men

• “Politically Correct” Communication

• Cross-cultural Communication

• Electronic Communication

Communication Barriers Between

Men and Women

• Men talk to:

–Emphasize status, power, and independence.

–Complain that women talk on and on.

–Offer solutions.

–To boast about their accomplishments.

• Women talk to:

–Establish connection and intimacy.

–Criticize men for not listening.

–Speak of problems to promote closeness.

–Express regret and restore balance to a conversation.

“Politically Correct”

Communication • Certain words stereotype, intimidate, and insult

individuals.

• In an increasingly diverse workforce, we must be sensitive to how words might offend others. – Removed: handicapped, blind, and elderly

– Replaced with: physically challenged, visually impaired, and senior.

• Removing certain words from the vocabulary makes it harder to communicate accurately. – Removed: death, garbage, quotas, and women.

– Replaced with terms: negative patient outcome, postconsumer waste materials, educational equity, and people of gender.

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

Source: The Far Side by Gary Larson © 1994 Far Works, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

“Politically Correct”

Communication Other Examples:

A Crook morally (ethically) challenged

Alcoholic Anti-Sobriety Activist

Bald comb-free, folically independent, follicularly challenged

Blind photonically non-receptive, visually challenged

Body Odor nondiscretionary fragrance

Ignorant factually unencumbered, knowledge-based nonpossessor.

Clumsy uniquely coordinated

Incompetent Differently Qualified, Specially Skilled, Uniquely Proficient

Insane People Mental Explorers, Selectively Perceptive

Dirty Old Man sexually focused chronologically gifted individual

Drunk spacially perplexed

Homeless outdoor urban dwellers

Tone Deaf musically delayed

Video Source : Youtube.com

Cross-Cultural Communication

Cross-Cultural Communication

• Cultural Barriers

– Semantics

– Word connotations

– Tone differences

– Differences among perceptions

• Cultural Guide

– Assume differences until similarity is proven.

– Emphasize description rather than interpretation or evaluation.

– Practice empathy.

– Treat your interpretations as a working hypothesis.

deborahswallow.com

Hand Gestures Mean Different

Things in Different Countries

Hand Gestures Mean Different

Things in Different Countries (cont’d)

Electronic Communication

• E-mail

– Advantages: quickly written, sent, and stored; low cost for distribution.

– Disadvantages: information overload, lack of emotional content, cold and impersonal.

• Instant messaging

– Advantage: “real time” e-mail transmitted straight to the receiver’s desktop.

– Disadvantage: can be intrusive and distracting.

Electronic Communication

• Intranet

– A private organization-wide information network.

• Extranet

– An information network connecting employees with external suppliers, customers, and strategic partners.

• Videoconferencing

– An extension of an intranet or extranet that permits face-to-face virtual meetings via video links.

Electronic Communication

Emoticons: Showing Emotion Online Electronic mail needn’t be emotion free. Over the years, a set of symbols

(emoticons) has evolved that e-mail users have developed for expressing

emotions. For instance, the use of all caps (i.e., THIS PROJECT NEEDS YOUR

IMMEDIATE ATTENTION!) is the e-mail equivalent of shouting. The following

highlights some emoticons:

Summary and Implications

Getting the message across clearly and being understood is the basic goal of the communication process and organizations must identify and minimize the effects of barriers that hamper better communications and in turn create uncertainties in the organization.

Ultimately, the attainment of effective communications or at the very least minimization of misunderstanding in the organization lead to better job satisfaction and thus better work productivity. As cited by Robbins, distortions, ambiguities and incongruities all increase uncertainty, and hence they have negative effects on job satisfaction.

REFERENCES

K. W. Thomas and W. H. Schmidt, A Survey of Managerial Interests with Respect to conflict, Academy of Management Journal, June 1976, p317 Luthans, Fred. Organizational Behavior.8th Edition McGraw-Hill Series in Management. 1993 Newstrom, John W., and Davis, Keith.Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work.11th Edition.Mc-Graw Hill Education (Asia), 2002 Robbins, Stephen P, .Organizational Behavior.9th Edition. Pearson Education, Asia Pte Ltd., 2001 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_correctness, retrieved October 2012