MANAGERIAL

COMMUNICATIONS

4TH YEAR
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

MID-TERM REVISION
Part: Dr. Osama
Chapters: 1 & 2
&
Revision questions in last page
 Chapter (1)
Communicating successfully in an organization
Communication: Business, and you: !‫ وليك‬،‫أهمية أالتصاالت لألعمال‬

1. Organizations understand that their success depends on the ability to

communicate not only with employees and customers but also with investors and
with the surrounding community, the various demands which forcing today's
companies needs to communicate more effectively with employees and outsiders.
2. Companies need people to be aware of all communication possibilities, and this
demands strong communication skills.
3. Your ability to communicate increases productivity, both yours and your
organizations. it shapes the impressions you make on your colleagues, employees,
supervisors, investors, and customers. It allows you to perceive the needs of these
stockholders (the various groups you interact with), it helps you respond to these
needs.
4. Your communication skills determine your success. The person we seek must
have strong oral and written communication skills.
5. Every member of an organization is a link in the information chain. The flow of
information along that chain is a steady stream of messages, whether from inside
the organization (staff meeting, progress reports, project proposals, research
results, employee surveys, and persuasive interviews) or from outside the
organization (loan applications, purchasing agreements, distribution contracts,
product advertisements and calls).
6. Your ability to receive, evaluate, use and pass on information affects your
company's effectiveness, as well as your own.
7. The division of labor and delegation of authority depend on the constant flow of
information up, down, and across the organization.
8. An exchange of information within an organization is called internal
communication.

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The Internal Communication Network: ‫شبكة االتصاالت الداخلية‬
1. Each organization has its own approach to transmitting information throughout
the organization depending on its particular requirements.
2. Some companies are better at communicating than others.
3. Internal communication happens between managers and their employees.
4. To maintain a healthy flow of information, effective managers use both formal
and informal channels.
Formal Communication Channels: ‫قنوات االتصال الرسمية‬
The formal flow of information flow the official chain of command.
1. Information may travel down, up, and across an organization's formal hierarchy.
2. The communication climate suffers when management distorts or ignores
information form below or when management limits the flow of information to
employees.
3. One way to reduce distortion is to reduce the number of levels in the organization
structure. By increasing the number of people who report to each supervisor, the
company can reduce the number of levels in the organization and simplify the
communication chain.
4. The formal communication chain has another potential disadvantage: information
may become fragmented.
Upward Information Flow: ‫تدفق المعلومات التصاعدي‬
Messages directed upward provide managers with the information they need in
order to make intelligent decisions.
1. Executives depend on lower-level employees to furnish them with accurate,
timely reports on problems, emerging trends, opportunities for improvement,
grievances, and performance.
2. Many reports call attention to deviations from planned results.
3. In recent years, many companies have set up suggestion systems that encourage
employees to submit ideas for improving the business.

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Horizontal Information Flow: ‫تدفق المعلومات االفقي‬
1. Official channels also permit messages to flow from department to department.
2. It helps employees coordinate tasks, and it's especially useful for solving complex
and difficult problems.
3. For example: the plant manager might phone the director of advertising and
promotion to discuss changes in the production schedule.
Informal Communication Channels: ‫قنوات االتصال الغير رسمية‬
Every organization has an informal communication network – a grapevine that
supplements official channels.
1. As people go about their work, they have casual conversation with their friends in
the office, they joke and kid around and discuss many things: their apartments,
their families, movies, sports, etc. although many of these conversations deal with
personal matters, business of often discussed as well.
2. Some top executives are wary of the informal communication network, possibly
because it threatens their power to control the flow of information.

The External Communication Network: ‫شبكة االتصال الخارجية‬

1. Just as internal communication carriers information up, down, and across the
organization, external communication carrier's t in and out of the organization.
2. Companies exchange messages with customers, vendors distributors, competitors,
investors, and government and community representatives. Whether by phone.
Fax, video tape, or letter, much of this communication is carefully orchestrated,
and some occurs informally.
The Role of Marketing and Public Relations: ‫دور التسويق والعالقات العامة‬
1. In addition to advertising and selling products, the typical marketing department
is also responsible for product development, physical distribution, market
research, and customer service, all of which involve both the transmission and
reception of information.

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 2. Marketing has three basic responsibilities: to find out who customers are and
what they want, to develop products that satisfy those needs, and to get the
products into the customers' hands.
3. The public relations department (also called the corporate communication
department) manages the organization's reputation with various groups, including
employees, customers, investors, government agencies, and the general public
professional PR people may have a background in journalism, as opposed to
marketing. They view their role as disseminating news about the business to the
organization's various audiences.
4. The communication tools used by PR department include news releases, lobbying
programs, special events, booklets and brochures about the organization, letters,
annual reports, audiovisual materials, speeches and tours, and internal
publications for employees.
Crisis Communication: ‫عقبات االتصال‬
1. One of the most visible functions of the PR department is to help management
plan for and respond to crises.
2. Public relations nightmares created by sudden, violent accidents, plan crashes,
oil spills, chemical leaks and accidents defects all belong to this group.
3. The way a company handles a crisis can have a profound impact on the
organization's subsequent performance.
Characteristics of effective organizational communication: ‫خصائص االتصال الفعال‬
1) Fostering an open communication climate:
1. Any organization's communication climate is a reflection of its corporate culture
– the mixture of values; traditions, and habits that give a place its atmosphere or
personality.
2. Employees feel free to confess their mistakes, to disagree with the boss, and to
express their opinions.
3. Many factors influence an organization's communication climate including the
nature of the industry, the company's physical setup, the history of the company
and passing events.

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2) A commitment to ethical communication:
 Ethics plays a crucial role in communication. Language made up of words that

carry values and by saying things a certain way, you influence how others
perceive your message, and you shape expectations and behavior.
 When sending an ethical message, you are accurate and sincere.

a) Recognizing ethical choices:

1. Every company has responsibilities to various groups: customers, employees,
shareholders, suppliers, neighbors, the community, and the nation.
2. Moreover, as you attempt to satisfy the needs of one group, you may be presented
with an option that seems right on the surface but somehow feels wrong
conflicting priorities and the vast gray areas between right and wrong pose ethical
problems for an organization's communicators.
b) Making ethical choices:
1. Laws provide ethical guide lines for certain types of messages.
2. You might look at communication ethics in terms of stakeholders: (people
outside the company - customers, suppliers, investors, public officials,
representatives of the media, and numbers of the community. Your goal in
communicating with these outside stakeholders is to achieve mutual
understanding. The best policy is to tell the truth.
c) Motivating Ethical Choices: Organization can foster ethical behavior, by:
1. By helping top managers become more sensitive communicators.
2. By rewarding ethical actions.
3. By using ethical audits.
3) An understanding of intercultural communication:
1. Intercultural communication plays an important role both abroad an at home.
2. Companies which compete on a global scale must understand the laws, customs,
and business practices of their host countries, and they must deal with business
associates and employees who are native to those countries (perhaps speaking
another language and certainly more familiar with another culture).

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 3. Domestically, firms are also working with more and more employees whose
cultural backgrounds differ. So whether you work abroad or at home, you will be
encountering more and more cultural diversity in the workplace.
4. To compete successfully in today's multicultural environment, most business
people overcome the communication barriers not only of language but culture as
well.
4) A proficiency in communication technology:
1. The fourth factor contribution to effective organizational communication is the
ability to use and adapt to technology.
2. The increasing speed of communication and the growing amount of information
to be communicated are only two results of the ever-changing technology you
will encounter on the job.
3. To succeed, business people today make sure they can understand, use, and adapt
to the technological tools of communication.
4. Technology can improve the effectiveness of your business communication.
5) An audience-centered approach to communication:
1. Using an audience-centered approach means keeping your audience in mind at all
times when communicating.
2. Because you care about your audience, you might be able to gather research about
the needs and wants of your audience.
6) An efficient flow of communication messages:
1. Although organizations need to document their activities, they also need to
manage the flow of messages as efficiently as possible.
2. Organizations save time and money by sending only necessary messages.
3. By stream lining the preparation of messages, companies make sure that
information is transmitted in a timely manner.
4. Many companies train employees in communication skills, their skills improve
the more they speak and write.

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 Chapter (2)
Understanding Business Communication
The Basic forms of communication: ‫أشكال االتصال االساسية‬
There are two forms of communication:
1) Nonverbal Communication: ‫االتصال الغير لفظي‬
1. Nonverbal communication is the process of communicating without words.
2. We don't really know how people learn nonverbal behavior. No one teaches a
baby to cry or smile, yet these forms of self-expression are almost universal.
Other types of nonverbal communication such as the meaning of colors and
certain gestures vary culture to culture.
The Importance of Nonverbal Communication: ‫أهمية االتصال الغير لفظي‬
1. Nonverbal cues are especially important in conveying feelings.
2. One reason for the power of nonverbal communication is its reliability. Most
people deceive us much more easily with words than they can with their bodies.
We have more faith in nonverbal cues than we do in verbal messages.
3. People use nonverbal signals to support and clarify verbal communication. A
wave of the hand, a pat on the back – all is streamlined expressions of thought.
The Types of Nonverbal Communication: ‫انواع االتصال الغير لفظي‬
The forms of nonverbal communication can be grouped into general categories:
1. Facial expressions and eye behavior: The face and eyes command particular
attention as a source of nonverbal messages.
2. Gestures and postures: Many gestures – a wave of the hand, for example – have
a specific and international meaning, such as "hello" or good-bye".
3. Vocal characteristics: Body language and tone of voice reveal a lot about a
person's emotions and attitudes.
4. Personal appearance: out clothing, our accessories, our "style" – all modify our
appearance.
5. Touching behavior: touch is an important. Vehicle for conveying warmth,
comfort, & reassurance even the most casual contact can create positive feelings.

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 6. Use of time and space: time and space can be used to assert authority. In many
cultures, people demonstrate their importance by making other people wait.
People can also assert their status by occupying the best space.
2) Verbal Communication: ‫االتصال اللفظي‬
It is the process of communicating with words.
Speaking and writing:
Business people rely more heavily on oral than written communication channels
for sharing information on a day – to day basis, but they often put important messages
in writing.
Listening and Reading:
1. Effective business communication depends on skill in receiving messages as well
as skill in sending them. We spend years learning to express our ideas, but few of
us ever a course in listening.
2. If you're listening as opposed to reading, you have the advantage of being able to
ask questions and interact with the speaker.
The Process of Communication: ‫عمليات التواصل‬
The communication process consists of six phases linking sender and receiver:
1. The sender has an idea.
2. The sender transforms the idea into a message (you are then encoding).
3. The sender transmits (you select a communication channel: verbal, nonverbal,
spoken or written and medium (telephone you choose depend on your message,
the location of your audience, your need for speed, and the formality of the
situation.
4. The receiver gets the message.
5. The receiver interprets the message: your receiver must cooperate by decoding
your message, absorbing and understanding it.
6. The receiver reacts and sends feedback to the sender: feedback is your receiver's
response; it permits you to evaluate your message's effectiveness.

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Formulating a Message: ‫صياغة الرسالة‬
Several things can go wrong when you're formulating a message:
1. Indecision about content: Message must include only the information that is
useful to your receiver and organize it in in a way that encourages its acceptance.
2. Lack of familiarity with the situation or receiver: Ask why you are preparing
the message and for whom you are preparing it. Do not use technical terms that
might be unfamiliar to the receiver.
3. Difficulty expressing ideas: lack of experience in writing or speaking can also
prevent a person from developing from effective messages. (Limited education,
limited vocabulary).
Overcoming Communication barriers: ‫التغلب علي عواقب االتصال‬
Communication barriers can exist between: 1- People.
2- Within organizations.
Communication barriers between (People): ‫عواقب االتصال بين الناس‬
To understand one another, you and your receiver must share similar meanings
for words, gestures, tone of voice, and other symbols.
Differences in Perception:
1. Perception is our individual interpretation of the world around us.
2. Because your perceptions are unique, the ideas you want to express differ from
other people.
3. As receivers, we try to fit new details into our existing pattern. If a detail doesn't
quite fit, we are inclined to distort the information rather than rearrange the
pattern.
4. Overcoming perceptual barriers by trying to predict how tour message will be
received, anticipate your receiver's reactions, and shape the message accordingly-
constantly adjusting to correct any misunderstanding. Frame your message in
terms that have meaning for your audience and try to find something useful every
message you receive.

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Incorrect Filtering:
1. Filtering is screening out for abbreviating information before passing the message
on top someone else.
2. In business, the filters between you and your receiver are many: secretaries,
assistants, answering machines.
3. To overcome filtering barriers, try to establish more than one communication
channel to facilitate information flow through multiple sources, eliminates as
many intermediaries as possible and decrease distortion by considering message
information to the bare essentials.
Language Problems:
1. The nature of your code-your language and vocabulary-imposes its barriers on
your message for example, the language of a lawyer differs from that of an
accountant or a doctor, and the differences in their vocabularies affects their
ability to recognize and express ideas.
2. To overcome language barriers, use the most specific and accurate words
possible. Always try to use words your audience will understand.
Poor Listening:
1. Listening ability decreases when information is difficult to understand and when
it has little meaning for your audience.
2. To overcome listening barriers empathize with speakers, and resist jumping to
conclusion, clarify meaning by asking questions, and listen without interrupting.
Different Emotional States:
1. Communication can breakdown when the receiver reacts negatively to either of
these meanings. An upset person tends to ignore or distort what other person is
saying and is often unable to present feelings and ideas effectively.
2. To overcome emotional barriers, be aware of the feelings that arise in you and in
others as you communicate, and attempt to control them.

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Differing Backgrounds:
1. When your receiver's life experience differs substantially from yours,
communication becomes more difficult. Age, education, gender, cultural
background, health, beauty, religion, can all separate one person from another and
make understanding difficult (communication with someone from another
country).
2. To overcome the barriers associated with differing background try to understand
the-other person's point of view, and respect the inevitable differences in
background and nature.
Communication barriers within organizations: ‫عواقب االتصال في المنظمات‬
Business communication is particularly difficult. Both the sender and the receiver
may face distractions that divert their attention; the opportunities for feedback are
often limited, making it difficult to correct misunderstandings.
Information Overload:
1. Too much information is as bad too little because it reduces the audience's ability
to concentrate on the most important messages.
2. To overcome information overload, realize that some information is not
necessary, and make necessary information easily available.
Message Complexity:
1. Business messages may deal with subject matter that can be technical or difficult
to express.
2. To overcome the barriers of complex messages, keep them clear and easy to
understand, use concrete and specific language.
Message Competition:
1. Communication often faced with that compete for attention ( talking on the phone
while scanning a report).
2. To overcome competition barriers, avoid making demand on a receiver who
doesn't have the time to pay careful attention to your message, try to deliver
written messages when you receiver has time to read them.

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Differing Statues:
1. Employees of low status when sending messages to mangers may talk only about
subject they think the manager is interested in similarly, higher-status people may
distort messages by refusing to discuss anything that tend to undetermined their
authority in the organization.
2. To overcome status barriers, keep managers well informed.
Lack of Trust:
1. Building trust is a difficult problem, trusting can be risky, organizations must
create an atmosphere of fairness and trust.
2. To overcome trust barriers, communicate honest and include employees in
decision making.
Inadequate communication structures:
1. Designing too few channels blocks effective communication. Tall organizations
tend to provide too many vertical communication links, so messages become
distorted as they move through the organization's level.
2. To overcome structural barriers, offer opportunities for communicating upward,
downward, and horizontally (use surveys, open-door policies …) try to reduce
hierarchical levels, increase coordination between departments, and encourage
two-way communication.
Incorrect choice of medium:
If you choose appropriate communication medium, your message distorted so that
the intended meaning is blocked. Your choice of communication channel and medium
depends on:
1. Message.
2. Audience.
3. Need for speed.
4. Situation. (Face-to-face communication, telephones and other electronic media,
written media).
5. To overcome media barriers choose an appropriate communication medium.

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Closed communication climate:
1. Communication climate is influenced by management style, and a directive,
authoritarian style blocks the free and open exchange of information that
characterizes good communication.
2. To overcome climate barriers, spend more time listening than issuing orders,
encourage employees to offer suggestions, participate in solving problems, and
help make decisions.
Unethical Communication:
1. Relationships within and outside the organization depend on trust and fairness.
2. An organization cannot create illegal or unethical message and still be successful
in long-run.
3. To overcome ethics barriers, make sure your messages contain all information
that ought to be there, make sure your message is completely truthful.
Physical Distractions:
1. Communication barriers are often physical (poor acoustics, illegible copy). Your
receiver might also be distracted by an comfortable chair, poor lighting … and the
receiver's health (Hearing) headache … can interfere with reception of a message.
2. To overcome physical barriers choose a setting that permits the audience to see
and hear you without straining, learn to concentrate on the message rather than
the distractions.
How to improve communication: ‫تحسين االتصال‬
Effective communications overcome the main barriers to communication by:
1) Creating the message carefully:
1. The best way to create messages carefully is to focus on your audience so that
you can help them understand and accept your message (bring your audience
closer to your views).
2. Develop your idea by using examples, colors, sounds figures, percentages.

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 2) Minimizing noise in the transmission process:
1. Try to eliminate potential sources of interference. Choose the method that will
be most likely to attract your audience's attention and enable to concentrate on
the message.
2. Choose the appropriate paper and the quality of type. & Try to filter your
message.
3) Facilitating feedback:
1. When you plan a message, think about the amount of feedback you want to
encourage.
2. You need to know whether your message's is being understood and accept.
3. Think about how you want to obtain feedback and choose a form of
communication that suits your needs.
4. Encourage your audience to express general reactions.
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REVISION QUESTIONS
Explain each of the following:
1- The characteristics of effective organizational communication. Pg.5 (Mid.2016)
2- Importance of communications. Pg.2
3- Importance of Nonverbal communications. P.g.8
4- How can communicators overcome barriers of communication (people and within
organization). P.g.10
5- How to improve communication. P.g.14
Define each of the following:
1- The internal communication network. Pg.3
2- Formal communication channels. Pg.3
3- Upward information flow. Pg.3 (Mid.2016)
4- Informal communication channels. Pg.4
5- External communication network. Pg.4 (Mid.2016)

GOOD LUCK FOR ALL!

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