MGMT1136 Week10 Communication SV

7/15/2019 MGMT1136 Week10 Communication SV

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Presentation prepared by

Lucy Miller

Macquarie University

Chapter 14

Communication and

interpersonal skills


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John Wiley and Sons Australia

Communication and interpersonal skills

Study questions:

What is the communication process?

How can communication be improved?

How does perception influence communication?

How can we deal positively with conflict?

How can we negotiate successful agreements?


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Communication and interpersonal skills

Without communication,

all I manage is my desk

(Quote Some Americanbigwig whose name I

forgot).


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Video: Monitoring employee communication

Dial-up Broadband
http://play.viostream.com/?play=2b667fbc-78fd-4914-a088-db8ddba39530&player=fv&speed=highhttp://play.viostream.com/?play=2b667fbc-78fd-4914-a088-db8ddba39530&player=fv&speed=low


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The communication process

Communication is an interpersonal process of

sending and receiving symbols with messages

attached to them.

The communication process can be viewed as aseries of questions:

Who? (sender)

says what? (message) in what way? (channel)

to whom? (receiver)

with what result? (interpreted meaning).


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The communication process


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Effective communication

Effective communication

When the intended message of the sender and

the interpreted meaning of the receiver are one

and the same. Efficient communication

Occurs at minimum cost in terms of resources

expended (for example time). Not always effective, but effective communication

may not always be efficient.



Barriers to effective communication

Effective communication is a two-way process thatrequires effort and skill on the part of both thesender and the receiver.

Noise: Anything that interferes with theeffectiveness of the communication process.

Communication channel: The medium throughwhich a message is conveyed from sender to

receiver. Written channels are best for simple messages

requiring extensive dissemination.

Oral channels are best for complex messages

where immediate feedback in valuable.




Semantic barriers occur as encoding and decoding

errors, and as mixed messages.

The use of jargon can be a barrier to effective

communication. Both written and oral communication require skill.




Non-verbal communication includes hand

movements, facial expressions, body posture, eye

contact and the use of interpersonal space.

A mixed message occurs when a persons words

communicate one message and body language

communicates something else.

Physical distractions to communication includetelephone interruptions and lack of privacy.

Filtering is the intentional distortion of information

to make it appear more favourable to the receiver.



Improving communication: Active listening

Active listening

The process of taking action to help the source ofa message say exactly what he or she really

means.1. Listen for message content.

2. Listen for feelings.

3. Respond to feelings.

4. Note all cues. Be sensitive to non-verbal andverbal messages; be alert for mixed messages

5. Paraphrase and restate. State back to thesource what you think you are hearing.



Improving communication: Body language

Effective body language is SO CLEAR:

S show you sit or stand or use space.

O openness of your movements and expression

C centre your attention on the other person

L lean towards the other person

E eye contact

A how appropriately you respond to the speaker

R how relaxed you appear during communication.



Improving communication:

Constructive feedback

Feedback

The process of telling someone else how you feel

about something that person did or said.

Constructive feedback is:

Given directly and with real feeling

Specific using clear, recent examples

Given at a time when the receiver is willing orable to accept it

Valid and limited to actionable tasks

Given in small doses.



Improving communication:

Use of channels



Improving communication: Proxemics

Proxemics

The use of interpersonal space.

The distance between people conveys varying

intentions in terms of intimacy, openness and status.

The proxemics or physical layout of an office is an

often-overlooked form of non-verbal

communication.



Improving communication: Technology

Technology use is encouraging fast and regular

communication, to provide up-to-date information

for problem solving and work implementation.

Recent developments include: Increasing use of intranets

Internet voice technology, e.g. Skype

Smartphones



Spotlight on Email

E-mail has revolutionised the workplace replacing

the hand or typewritten note and memo.

Note telephone call, chat in corridor are transitorybut an e-mail message is permanent.

Leads to legal and other problems. Avoid sendingpotentially damaging or harassing e-mails and

employees to use the net and e-mail for work only

(Refer office romance emails video).



Video: Utilising technology to overcome

barriers to communication

Dial-up Broadband

Simon Bottomley, General Manager, HaveStock Manufacturing
http://play.viostream.com/?play=3ec590fd-d87b-40ad-8a1b-83113115a51a&player=fv&speed=highhttp://play.viostream.com/?play=3ec590fd-d87b-40ad-8a1b-83113115a51a&player=fv&speed=low



Improving communication: Valuing culture

and diversity

Communicating under conditions of diversity, where

the sender and receiver are part of different cultures

is a significant challenge.

Ethnocentrism The tendency to consider your culture superior to

others. It may cause someone not to listen well,

to alienate others or use inappropriate

stereotypes.

Communications issues also arise because of gender

differences.


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Perception

Perception: The process through which people

receive, organise and interpret information from the

environment.


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Perceptual tendencies and distortions

Perceptual distortions can influence human

behaviour in the workplace.

Stereotype

When someone is identified with a group orcategory, and then oversimplified attributes

associated with the group or category are linked

to the individual.

Common stereotypes include those of young

people, old people, teachers, students, union

members, males and females.


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Perceptual tendencies and distortions

Halo effect

When one attribute is used to develop an overallimpression of a person or situation.

Selective perception The tendency to single out for attention those

aspects of a situation or person that reinforce orappear consistent with ones existing beliefs,

values or needs. Projection

The assignment of personal attributes to otherindividuals.


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Informal Communication

The grapevine: An informal communication networkamong people in an organisation.

The two most common patterns are:

The gossip chain (one person tells many). The cluster chain (many people tell a few).

The grapevine is quick.

It is almost impossible to control.

While it is often perceived as more reliable thanformal communication, research is mixed about itsaccuracy


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Management by wandering around: an

approach to communication that involves the

manager literally wandering around and

having spontaneous conversations withothers.

Related to this is communication received

outside of the normal work setting.


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Peters and Waterman famous book:

In Search of Excellencestates:

Successful companies:

are vast networks of informal, open

communications. The patterns and intensity

cultivate the right peoples getting in contact

with each other.


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Interpersonal skills

Active Listening

Conflict Management

Disciplining

Delegating


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Interpersonal skills Active Listening

SKILL % USED TRAINING

Writing 9% 8-12 years

Reading 16% 6-8 years

Speaking 35% 1-2 years

Listening 40% 0-6 months


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Interpersonal skills Active Listening

Most people listen, not with the intent to

understand, but with the intent to reply,

Stephen R. Covey

Active Listening is much more than just hearing.

It requires:

Empathy

Attention and InterestFeedback

Energy and Effort

Positive Attitude


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Communication and conflict management

Conflict

A disagreement over issues of substance and/or

an emotional antagonism.

Substantive conflicts involve disagreements overgoals, resources, rewards, policies, procedures and

job assignments.

Emotional conflicts result from feelings of anger,

distrust, dislike, fear and resentment as well as from

personality clashes.


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Consequences of conflict


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Causes of conflict

Conflicts in organisations may arise due to:

Role ambiguities

Resource scarcities

Competing objectives

Structural differentiation

Unresolved prior conflicts.

Unless a conflict is fully resolved, it may remainlatent in the situation as a lingering basis for future

conflicts over the same or related matters.


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How to deal with conflict

Conflict resolution

The removal of the substantial and/or emotional

reasons for a conflict.

Conflicts can either be resolved, in the sense thatthe sources are corrected, or be suppressed, in that

the sources remain but the conflict behaviours are

controlled.

True conflict resolution eliminates the underlying

causes of conflict and reduces the potential for

similar conflicts in the future.


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Conflict management styles

People respond to conflict through different

combinations of cooperative and assertive

behaviours.

Five interpersonal styles of conflict management:1. Avoidance

2. Accommodation or smoothing

3. Competition or authoritative command4. Compromise

5. Collaboration or problem solving


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Alternative conflict management styles


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Communication and conflict management

Loselose conflict: No-one achieves his or her true

desires and the underlying reasons for conflict

remain unaffected.

Win

lose conflict: One party achieves its desires

and the other party does not.

Winwin conflict: The conflict is resolved to

everyones benefit.


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Negotiation

Negotiation

The process of making joint decisions when the

parties involved have different preferences.

Distributive negotiation

Focuses on winlose claims made by each

party for certain preferred outcomes.

Principled/integrative negotiation Uses a winwin orientation to reach solutions

acceptable to each party.


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Avoiding negotiation pitfalls

By considering the frames of ourselves and others,

we may more easily achieve an acceptable outcome

to both sides of the negotiation.

Mediation A neutral party tries to help conflicting parties

improve communication to resolve their dispute.

Arbitration

A neutral third party issues a binding decision to

resolve a dispute.


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Cross-cultural negotiation

Negotiating in other countries can bring particular

challenges traced to cultural differences, e.g.:

Awareness of status differences

Communication differences

Relational differences

The importance of time

The effective manager is well prepared for suchdifferences.


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Ethical issues in negotiation

The motivation to behave unethically sometimes

arises from an undue emphasis on the profit motive

or a sense of competition.

High standards of ethical conduct should bemaintained in negotiations.


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Disciplining

Influencing behaviour through reprimand:

- Actions taken by a manager to enforce

the organisations standards and

regulations.

- Hot Stove Rule: Discipline should immediately

follow an infraction, provide ample warning, be

consistent, and impersonal.


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Delegating

Is the assignment to another person of authority and

responsibility to carry out specific activities.

What to delegate? Not all tasks can orshould bedelegated

EASILY DELEGATED

routine and non critical tasks

DELEGATE AS NEEDED

when there are higher priority tasks, during crisis etc

CANNOT DELEGATE

Your core job tasks


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Chapter 14 Communication and

interpersonal skills

Summary:

What is the communication process?

How can communication be improved?

How does perception influence communication?

How can we deal positively with conflict?

How can we negotiate successful agreements?

How can we discipline and delegate successfully?

Documents

MGMT1136 Week10 Communication SV