Communication

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Chapter Outline
The Communication Process Barriers to Effective Communication Communication Flows in Organizations Creating Effective Mechanisms for Communication Current Issues in Communication

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Communication Problems
People spend nearly 70 percent of their waking hours communicatingwriting, reading, speaking, listening WorkCanada survey of 2039 Canadians in six industrial and service categories found
61 percent of senior executives believed that they did a good job of communicating with employees. Only 33 percent of the managers and department heads believed that senior executives were effective communicators. Only 22 percent of hourly workers, 27 percent of clerical employees, and 22 percent of professional staff reported that senior executives did a good job of communicating with them.

Canadians reported less favourable perceptions about their companys communications than did Americans
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Communication Terms
Communication
The transfer of meaning among people

Sender
Establishes a message, encodes the message, and chooses the channel to send it

Receiver
Decodes the message and provides feedback to the sender
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Exhibit 6-1 The Communication Process Model

Source Receiver

Chooses a message

Encodes the message

Chooses the channel

Decodes the message

Provides feedback

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Communication Terms
Message
What is communicated.

Encoding
Converting a message to symbolic form.

Channel
The medium through which a message travels

Decoding
Retranslating a senders message.
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Choosing Channels
Channels differ in their capacity to convey information. Rich channels have the ability to
Handle multiple cues simultaneously Facilitate rapid feedback Be very personal

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Exhibit 6-2 Hierarchy of Channel Richness

Channel richness
Richest

Type of message
Nonroutine, ambiguous

Information medium
Face to face talk Telephone Computer

Memos, letters Flyers, bulletins general reports

Leanest

Routine, clear

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

 Filtering

Barriers to Effective Communication

Refers to a sender manipulating information so that it will be seen more favourably by the receiver.

Selective Perception
Receivers in the communication process selectively see and hear based on their needs, motivations, experience, background, and other personal characteristics.
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Barriers to Effective Communication

Defensiveness
When individuals interpret anothers message as threatening, they often respond in ways that retard effective communication.

Language
Words mean different things to different people.

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Communication Flows in Organizations

Downward
Communication that flows from one level of a group to a lower level
Managers to employees

Upward
Communication that flows to a higher level of a group
Employees to manager

Lateral
Communication among members of the same work group, or individuals at the same level
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Networks
Connections by which information flow
Formal
Task-related communications that follow the authority chain

Informal
Communications that flow along social and relational lines

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Exhibit 6-3 Networks and Their Effectiveness

Chain Wheel All-Channel

Speed Accuracy Emergence of a leader Member satisfaction

Moderate High Moderate Moderate

Fast High High Low

Fast Moderate None High

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

The Grapevine
75 percent of employees hear about matters first through rumours on the grapevine Grapevine: the organizations informal network Grapevine has three main characteristics
Not controlled by management Most employees perceive it as being more believable and reliable than formal communiqus issued by top management Largely used to serve the self-interests of those people within it
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Purpose of Rumours
To structure and reduce anxiety To make sense of limited or fragmented information To serve as a vehicle to organize group members, and possibly outsiders, into coalitions To signal a senders status or power
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Exhibit 6-4 Reducing the Negative Consequences of Rumours

1. Announce timetables for making important decisions. 2. Explain decisions and behaviours that may appear inconsistent or secretive. 3. Emphasize the downside, as well as the upside, of current decisions and future plans. 4. Openly discuss worst case possibilities; it is almost never as anxiety provoking as the unspoken fantasy.
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Creating Effective Mechanisms for Communication

Mechanisms
The practices that bring what you stand for to life and stimulate change

They are intended to demonstrate how the communication should be accomplished

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Nonverbal Communication
Messages conveyed through body movements, facial expressions, and the physical distance between the sender and the receiver
Kinesics
The study of body motions, such as gestures, facial configurations, and other movements of the body

Proxemics
The study of physical space in interpersonal relationships

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Cross-Cultural Communication Difficulties

Sources of barriers
Semantics Word connotations Tonal differences

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Culture Contexts
Cultures differ in how much the context makes a difference in communication
High-context cultures
Cultures that rely heavily on nonverbal and subtle situational cues in communication.

Low-context cultures
Cultures that rely heavily on words to convey meaning in communication
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Exhibit 6-5 High- vs. Low-Context Cultures

High context Chinese Korean Japanese Vietnamese Arab Greek Spanish Italian English North American Scandinavian Swiss German

Low context

Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

 Assume differences until similarity is proven. Emphasize description rather than interpretation or evaluation. Practise empathy. Treat your interpretations as a working hypothesis.
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Cross-Cultural Communications: Helpful Rules

Tips for Writing and Sending E-mail

Dont send e-mails without a subject line Be careful in your use of emoticons and acronyms for business communications Write your message clearly and briefly Copy e-mails to others only if they really need the information Sleep on angry e-mails before sending to be sure you are sending the right message
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Summary and Implications: Communication

A common theme regarding the relationship between communication and employee satisfaction
The less uncertainty, the greater the satisfaction Distortions, ambiguities, and incongruities all increase uncertainty

Less distortion in communication equals

More goal attainment, and better feedback Reduction in ambiguity and distortion

Ambiguity between verbal and nonverbal communiqus increase uncertainty and reduce satisfaction The goal of perfect communication is unattainable The issue of communication is critical to motivation
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.