Managing Communications in Organizations - Edited1

GRIP- Advanced Management
Program
for
RBI
“Managing Communications in Organizations”
Sept- 30th & Oct 1st, 2015

1
 Listening can reduce stress, frustration, and conflict
in the workplace.
- Jennifer J Salopek
 E-mail and voice mail are efficient, but face-to-face contact

is still essential to true communication.
- Edward M Hallowell
2
Communication Fundamentals
 Communication is transfer of information and

understanding from one person to another person.
 Its goal is to have receiver understand message as it
was intended.
 Communication always involves at least two people -
 Senders tend to think that when their messages are
sent, they have communicated; but transmission of
message is only a beginning.
3
Communication Fundamentals …
 A manager may send a hundred messages, but there is

no communication until each one is received, read, and
understood. Communication is what receiver
understands, not what sender says.
 Organizations cannot exist without communication.
 Every act of communication influences organization in
some way.
 When communication is effective, it encourages better
performance and job satisfaction. People understand
their jobs better and feel more involved in them.
4
Communication Fundamentals …
 Open communication is generally better than restricted

communication.
 If employees know problems an organization is facing
and hear what managers are trying to do, they will
usually respond favorably.
5
The Two-Way Communication Process
 This is the method by which the sender reaches a

receiver with a message. The process always requires
eight steps, whether the two parties talk, use hand
signals, or employ some advanced-technology means of
communication.
 Develop an Idea Step 1 is to develop an idea that sender
wishes to transmit. “Be sure brain is engaged before
putting mouth in gear.”
 Encode Step 2 is to encode (convert) idea into suitable
words, charts, or other symbols for transmission.
6
The Two-Way Communication Process …
 Two-way communication process …

 Transmit When message is developed, step 3 is to
transmit it by method chosen, such as memo, phone call,
or personal visit.
 Receive- Step 4: Transmission allows another person to
receive a message. Here initiative transfers to receiver,
who tunes in to receive message.
 Decode Step 5 is to decode message so it can be
understood.
7
The Two-Way Communication Process …
 The two-way communication process …

 Accept Once the receiver has obtained and decoded a
message, that person has the opportunity to accept or
reject it.
 Use- Step 7 in communication process is for receiver to
use information.
 Provide Feedback When receiver acknowledges
message and responds to sender, feedback has
occurred.
 When 2-way communication occurs, both experience
greater satisfaction, frustration prevented and work
accuracy improved 8
Potential Problems
 Two-way communication can also cause difficulties!!

Two people may strongly disagree about some item
but not realize it until they establish two-way
communication. When they expose their different
viewpoints, they may become even more polarized,
taking even more extreme positions.
 When threatened with potential embarrassment of
losing an argument, people tend to abandon logic and
rationality, and engage in defensive reasoning.
9
Potential Problems …
 Another difficulty that may occur is cognitive

dissonance.
 Senders need to communicate with care because
communication is a potent form of self-revelation to
others as well as a source of possible evaluation.
 This aspect of communication creates pressure to
engage in face-saving – an attempt to preserve our
valued self-concept from attack.
10
Communication Barriers
 Even when receiver receives message and makes

genuine effort to decode it, several interferences may
limit receiver’s understanding.
 These obstacles act as noise, or barriers to
communication.
11
Communication Barriers …
 There are three types of barriers – personal, physical,

and semantic.
 a) Personal Barriers. Communication interferences that
arise from human emotions, values, and poor listening
habits.
 Personal barriers often involve a psychological
distance – a feeling of being emotionally separated –
similar to actual physical distance.
 Our emotions act as perpetual filters in nearly all our
communications.
12
 b) Physical Barriers. Communication interferences that

occur in environment in which communication takes
place.
 Important to maintain proper physical distance between
two parties as they communicate. Study of such
spatial separation is called proxemics; it involves
exploration of different practices and feelings about
interpersonal space within and across cultures.
 General practice allows intimate communications
between close friends to occur at very short range (e.g.,
6 to 18 inches).
13
 Conversations with acquaintances are often held at a 3-

or 4-foot personal distance.
 Work-related discussions between colleagues may
occur at a social distance of 4 to 12 feet, with more
impersonal and formal conversations in public
occurring at even greater distances.
14
 In some societies, sharply different practices prevail.

For example, Latin American and Asian cultures
generally favor closer distances for personal
conversations, and workers in Arab countries often
maintain extremely close contact.
 Therefore, sender should be aware of cultural norms
and receiver’s preferences, and make an effort to
understand and adapt to them.
15
 c) Semantic Barriers Semantics is science of meaning,

as contrasted with phonetics, science of sounds.
Nearly all communication is symbolic; ie., it is achieved
using symbols (words, pictures, and actions) that
suggest certain meanings.
 Arise from limitations in symbols with which we
communicate. Symbols usually have a variety of
meanings, and we have to choose one meaning from
many.
16
 Whenever we interpret a symbol on basis of our

assumptions instead of facts; we are making an
inference. Inferences are an essential part of most
communication.
17
Communication Symbols
 a) Words : Words are main communication symbol

used at work. Many employees spend more than 50
percent of their time in some form of verbal
communication.
 A major difficulty occurs, however, since nearly every
common word has several meanings.
 If words really have no single meaning, how can
managers make sense with them in communicating
with employees??
18
Communication Symbols …
 Effective communicators are idea- centred rather than
just word-centred.
 They know- words do not provide meaning, people do.
 Context provides meaning to words partially through
cues people receive from their social environment.
 Social cues -positive or negative bits of information
that influence how people react to a communication.
Examples- job titles, dress, historical use of words in
a region or ethnic group.
19
 Important to be aware of social cues. Use of language

with inadequate context creates semantic smog.
 Readability - process of making writing and speech
more understandable. So simplifying symbols and
using symbols receivers prefer is key….
 Rudolf Flesch and others, developed formulas
applied to magazines, bulletins, speeches, policy
manuals etc., to judge their level of readability.
20
 b) Pictures : Another symbol - used to clarify word

communication.
 To be most effective, however, pictures should be
combined with well-chosen words and actions to tell a
complete story.
 c) Action (Nonverbal Communication) : Third type of
communication symbol is action, also known as
nonverbal communication.
21
 Often we forget that what we do is a means of

communication because such action is open to
interpretation by others.
 For example, a handshake and a smile have meaning.
 Two significant points about action overlooked.
 One- failure to act is an important way of
communicating.
22
 We send messages by both action and inaction; we

communicate almost all the time, regardless of our
intentions.
 Second point is that actions speak louder than words,
at least in long run.
 Managers who say one thing but do another will soon
find that their employees “listen” mostly to what they
do. The manager’s behavior is stronger social cue.
23
 When there is a difference between what someone

says and does, a credibility gap exists.
 Communication credibility is based on three factors:
trustworthiness, expertise and dynamism.
 Body Language : When people communicate meaning
to others with their bodies in interpersonal interaction.
An important supplement to verbal communication in
most parts of the world.
24
 Facial expressions are especially important sources of

body language in work situations.
 Examples are eye contact, eye movement, smiles and
frowns, and a furrowed brow.
25
Downward Communication
 Downward Communication in an organization is flow

of information from higher to lower levels of authority.
 Almost one-half of managerial communications are
with subordinates.
 Some executives rely on colorful booklets, flashy
PowerPoint presentations, and elaborately planned
employee meetings.
26
Downward Communication …
 Prerequisites and Problems

 Part of management’s failure has been that it has not
prepared for effective communication.
 It has failed to lay a good foundation, so its
communication house has been built upon sand.
 A solid foundation has four cornerstones.
- First cornerstone- managers need to develop a
positive communication attitude.
27
 Prerequisites and Problems …

 A solid foundation has four …
- Second cornerstone- managers must continually work
to get informed. They need to seek out relevant
information of interest to employees, share it, and help
employees feel informed.
- Third cornerstone- managers need to consciously plan
for communication, and they must do this at beginning
of a course of action.
28
 Prerequisites and Problems …

 A solid foundation has four …
- Fourth cornerstone- managers must develop trust; as
mentioned earlier, trust between senders and receivers
is important in all communication.
 Communication Overload
 Managers sometimes operate with the philosophy that
more communication is better communication.
29
 Communication Overload …
 In Communication overload, employees receive more
communication inputs than they can process or more
than they need.
 The keys to better communication are timing and
quality not quantity. Possible to have better
understanding with less total communication if it is
high quality ad delivered at right time.
 Acceptance of a Communication
 Acceptance of a message by the receiver is critical.
30
 Acceptance of a Communication …
 Six conditions encourage acceptance of
communication :
- 1) Acknowledged legitimacy of sender to send
message.
- 2) Perceived competence of sender relative to issue
- 3) Trust in sender as a leader and as a person
- 4) Perceived credibility of message received
31
 Acceptance of a Communication …
 Six conditions …
- 5) Acceptance of tasks and goals that communication
is trying to accomplish
- 6) Power of sender to enforce sanctions on receiver
either directly or indirectly
32
 Communication Needs
 Employees at lower levels have a number of
communication needs. Managers think that they
understand employees’ needs, but often their
employees do not think so.
 There are four areas-
33
 a) Job Instruction
 One communication need of employees is proper instruction
regarding their work.
 An example : A manufacturer of small tools hired a new sales
representative, gave him a tour of plant and a copy of product
catalog, and assigned him to a territory. In a few weeks
representative jubilantly sent in an order for 100,000 units of a
multipurpose tool. Only then did company realize it had
neglected to tell him that that product was never promoted to
its customers because tool was priced well below company’s
cost of producing it (in order to match a competitor’s price).
Result was that company lost over $ 10,000 on this one order!
And motivation of employee…..
34
 a) Job Instruction …
 Need for objective information especially important
for employees in a new job or organization.
 When their high expectations conflict with reality, they
quickly become dissatisfied.
 To prevent such discontent, realistic job previews are
useful.
35
 a) Job Instruction …
 Managers must adjust their communications
according to task needs of receivers.
 Employee performing standardized, repetitive machine
task needs little communication input about task.
 On other hand, engineer working on a new product
may require substantial communication input in order
to perform successfully.
 Such varying task needs are reflected in just-in-time
training.
36
 b) Performance Feedback
 Generally, performance feedback leads to both
improved performance and improved attitudes.
 c) News
 Downward messages should reach employees as
fresh and timely news rather than as a stale
confirmation of what already has been learned from
other sources.
37
 d) Social Support
 Another communication need that employees have at
work is social support, which is the perception that
they are cared for, esteemed, and valued.
38
Upward Communication
 If two-way flow of information is broken by poor

upward communication, management loses touch
with employee needs and lacks sufficient information
to make sound decisions.
 Difficulties
 Several problems plague upward communication.
 First is delay, which is unnecessarily slow movement
of information up to higher levels.
39
Upward Communication …
 Difficulties …
 Second, and closely intertwined, factor is filtering.
 This partial screening out of information occurs
because of natural tendency for an employee to tell a
superior only what employee thinks superior wants to
hear.
 Third- Sometimes, to avoid filtering, people short-
circuit around their superior, which means that they
skip one or more steps in communication hierarchy.
40
Upward Communication …
 Difficulties …
 On positive side, short-circuiting reduces filtering and
delays; on negative side, since it upsets those who
are bypassed, employers usually discourage it.
 Fourth and final communication difficulty concerns
distortion.
 This is willful modification of a message so as to
achieve one’s personal objectives.
41
Upward Communication Practices
 Questioning Managers can encourage upward

communications by asking good questions.
 Open questions introduce a broad topic and give
others an opportunity to respond in many ways.
 By contrast, closed questions focus on a narrower
topic and invite receiver to provide a more specific
response.
42
Upward Communication Practices …
 Listening Active listening is more than hearing; it

requires use of ears and mind.
 Good listeners not only hear what person is saying
but also learn about feelings and emotions of that
person.
43
Upward Communication Practices …
 Employee Meetings One useful method of building

upward communications is to meet with small groups
of employees.
 In these “town hall” meetings employees are
encouraged to talk about job problems, needs, and
management practices that both help and interfere
with job performance.
 An Open-Door Policy A statement that encourages
employees to come to their supervisor or higher
management with any matter that concerns them.
44
Guidelines for Effective Listening-Ten Steps
 1) Stop talking!
 You cannot listen if you are talking.
 Polonius (Hamlet) : “Give every man thine ear, but few
thy voice.”
 2) Put talker at ease.
 Welcome person, and express your availability.
 Help person feel free to talk by making him or her
comfortable.
 Create a permissive atmosphere by establishing
rapport.
45
Guidelines for Effective Listening-Ten Steps..
 3) Show a talker that you want to listen.

 Look interested. Establish eye contact and give
nonverbal responses.
 Act interested. Do not read your mail while someone
talks.
 Listen to understand rather than to oppose.
 Listen first to understand and then to respond!!!
 4) Remove distractions.
 Don’t doodle, tap, or shuffle papers.
 Offer to shut door.
46
 5) Empathize with talker.

 Try to see other person’s point of view.
 Connect with person by sharing a similar experience.
 6) Be patient.
 Allow plenty of time. Do not interrupt. Wait out short
pauses. Don’t start for door or walk way.
 7) Hold your temper.
 Pause before you speak or respond.
 An angry person takes wrong meaning from words.
47
Guidelines for Effective Listening-Ten Steps…
 8) Go easy on argument and criticism.

 These approaches put a talker on defensive, and she
or he may clam up or become angry.
 Do not argue. Even if you win, you lose.
 9) Ask relevant questions.

 Asking questions encourages a talker and shows that
you are listening.
 It helps develop points further, and discloses relevant
emotions.
48
 10) Stop talking!

 This guideline is both first and last, because all others
depend on it.
 You cannot be an effective listener while you are
talking.
- Nature gave people two ears but only one tongue,
which is a gentle hint that they should listen more than
they talk.
- Listening requires two ears, one for meaning and one
for feeling.
- Decision makers who do not listen have less
information for making sound decisions.
49
Informal Communication
 Grapevine is an information communication system.

It coexists with management’s formal communication
system. Term “grapevine” arose during Civil War.
 Features of Grapevine
 Several aspects distinguish grapevine and help us to
understand it better.
 Pattern that grapevine information usually follows is
called a cluster chain.
 Only a few people are active communicators on
grapevine for any specific unit of information. Those
people are called liaison individuals.
50
Informal Communication …
 Grapevine often more a product of situation than it is

of person. This means that given proper situation and
motivation, anyone would tend to become active on
grapevine.
 Seven factors that encourage people to be active :
 1) Excitement and insecurity
 2) Involvement of friends and associates
 3) Recent information
 4) Procedure that brings people into contact
51
 Seven factors that encourage … :

 5) Work that allows conversation
 6) Job that provides information desired by others
 7) Personality of communicator
 Contrary to common perceptions, well over three-

fourths of grapevine information is accurate.
However, grapevine may also be incomplete; it
generally carries truth but not whole truth.
 In addition, grapevine is fast, flexible, and personal.
52
 In conclusion, evidence shows that grapevine is

influential, both favorably and unfavorably.
 Grapevine accomplishes so much positively and so
much negatively that it is difficult to determine
whether its net effects are positive or negative.
53
 Rumor
 Major problem with grapevine – and one that gives
grapevine its poor reputation – is rumor.
 Word “rumor” sometimes used as synonym for
“grapevine,” but technically, there is an important
difference between two terms.
 Rumor is grapevine information that is communicated
without secure standards of evidence being present.
 Unverified and untrue part of grapevine. It could by
chance be correct, but generally it is incorrect; thus it
is presumed to be undesirable.
54
 Rumor …
 Since rumor largely depends on ambiguity and
interest that each person has, it tends to change as it
passes from person to person.
 Its general theme usually can be maintained, but not
its details.
 It is subject to filtering, by which it is reduced to a few
basic details that can be remembered and passed on
to others.
 People also add new details, often making the story
worse, in order to include their own strong feelings
and reasoning; this process is called elaborating.
55
 Types of Rumors
 There are different kinds of rumors.
 Some are historical and explanatory; they attempt to
make meaning out of incomplete prior events.
 Others are more spontaneous and action-oriented;
they arise without much forethought and represent
attempts to change a current situation.
56
 Control of Rumor
 Since rumor generally is incorrect, a major outbreak
of it can be a devastating epidemic that sweeps
through an organization as fast as a summer tornado
– and usually with as much damage.
 Rumor should be dealt with firmly and consistently,
but how and what to attack must be known.
 It is a serious mistake to strike at whole grapevine
merely because it happens to be agent that carried
rumor.
 Best approach- prevent it by removing its causes.
57
 Guidelines for control of rumor

 Remove its causes in order to prevent it.
 Apply efforts primarily to serious rumors.
 Refute rumor with facts.
 Deal with rumor as soon as possible.
 Emphasize face-to-face supply of facts, confirmed in
writing if necessary.
58
 Guidelines for control of rumor …

 Provide facts from reliable sources.
 Refrain from repeating rumor while refuting it.
 Encourage assistance of informal and union leaders if
they are cooperative
 Listen to all rumors in order to understand what they
may mean.
59
Thank you
60

Managing Communications in Organizations - Edited1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Managing Communications in Organizations - Edited1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Managing Communications in Organizations - Edited1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

GRIP- Advanced Management

Sept- 30th & Oct 1st, 2015

 E-mail and voice mail are efficient, but face-to-face contact

 Communication is transfer of information and

 A manager may send a hundred messages, but there is

 Open communication is generally better than restricted

 This is the method by which the sender reaches a

 Two-way communication process …

 The two-way communication process …

 Two-way communication can also cause difficulties!!

 Another difficulty that may occur is cognitive

 Even when receiver receives message and makes

 There are three types of barriers – personal, physical,

 b) Physical Barriers. Communication interferences that

 Conversations with acquaintances are often held at a 3-

 In some societies, sharply different practices prevail.

 c) Semantic Barriers Semantics is science of meaning,

 Whenever we interpret a symbol on basis of our

 a) Words : Words are main communication symbol

 Important to be aware of social cues. Use of language

 b) Pictures : Another symbol - used to clarify word

 Often we forget that what we do is a means of

 We send messages by both action and inaction; we

 When there is a difference between what someone

 Facial expressions are especially important sources of

 Downward Communication in an organization is flow

 Prerequisites and Problems

 Prerequisites and Problems …

 Prerequisites and Problems …

 If two-way flow of information is broken by poor

 Questioning Managers can encourage upward

 Listening Active listening is more than hearing; it

 Employee Meetings One useful method of building

 3) Show a talker that you want to listen.

 5) Empathize with talker.

 8) Go easy on argument and criticism.

 9) Ask relevant questions.

 10) Stop talking!

 Grapevine is an information communication system.

 Grapevine often more a product of situation than it is

 Seven factors that encourage … :

 Contrary to common perceptions, well over three-

 In conclusion, evidence shows that grapevine is

 Guidelines for control of rumor

 Guidelines for control of rumor …

You might also like