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Supporting Plates of

BES107B
(ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT)

Plate No. 5

COMMUNICATING
(TITLE)

Due Date: 10/25/2024

Date Submitted: 10/25/2024

ALFEREZ, CRISMAR E.

(Student’s Name)
(5:30-6:30 PM) MWF

(Time/days)

DR./ENGR. OSCAR S. ABORDO

PH.D., D.M., DURP, CE
CHAPTER 6: COMMUNICATION

1. WHAT IS COMMUNICATION
2. FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION
3. TH COMMUNICATION PROCESS
4. FORMS OF COMMUNICATION
5. THE BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION
6. OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION
7. TECHNIQUES FOR COMMUNICATING IN ORGANIZATON
8. MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS)

WHAT IS COMMUNICATION

It is a process of sharing information through symbols, including

words and messages.

Communication may happen between superior and subordinate,

between peers, between a manager and a client or customer, between
an employee and a government representative, etc. It may be done face-
to-face, or through printed materials, or through an electronic device.

Communication must be made for a purpose and because it has a

cost attached to it, it must be used effectively.

FUNCTION OF COMMUNICATION
1. Information Function - An Information provided through
communication may be used for decision- making at various work levels
in the organization.

2. Motivation function - Communication is also oftentimes used to

motivate employees to commit themselves to the organization's
objectives.

3. Control function - When properly communicated, reports, policies, and

plans define roles; clarify duties, authorities and responsibilities.
Effective control is then facilitated.

4.Emotive function - When feelings are repressed in the organization,

employees are affected by anxiety, which, in turn, affects performance.

THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

1.Develop an Idea

The most important step in effective communication is developing

an idea. It is important that the idea to be conveyed must be useful or of
some value.

2. Encode

The next step is to encode the idea into words, illustrations,

figures, or other symbols suitable for transmission. The method of
transmission should be determined in advance so that the idea may be
encoded to conform with the specific requirements of the identified
method.
3.Transmit

After encoding, the message is now ready for transmission through

the use of an appropriate communication channel.

4.Receive

The next step in the communication process is the actual receiving

of the message by the Intended receiver. The requirement is for the
receiver to be ready to receive at the precise. moment the message is
relayed by the sender.

5.Decode

The next step, decoding, means translating the message from the
sender into a form that will have meaning to the recipient.

6. Accept

The next step is for the receiver to accept or reject the message.
Sometimes, acceptance (or rejection) is partial.

7. Use

If the message provides information of importance to a relevant

activity then the receiver could store it and retrieved it when required.

8. Provide Feedback

The receiver to provide feedback to the sender.

FORMS OF COMMUNICATION
Communication consists of two major forms:

1. Verbal

2. Nonverbal

Verbal Communication

Verbal communications are those transmitted through hearing or

sight. These modes of transmission categorize verbal communication
into two classes: oral and written.

Oral communication mostly involves hearing the words of the

sender, although sometimes, opportunities are provided for seeing the
sender's body movements, facial expression, gestures, and eye contact.
Sometimes, feeling, smelling, tasting, and touching are involved.

The written communication, however, has limitations and to

remedy these, some means are devised. Perfume advertisers, for
instance, lace their written messages with the smell of their products. In
the same light, the now popular musical cards are an attempt to enhance
effects of the written note.

Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication is a means of conveying message

through body language, as well as the use of time, space, touch,
clothing, appearance, and aesthetic elements. Body language consists
of gestures, bodily movements, posture, facial expression, and
mannerisms of all kinds.
 Nonverbal communications convey many shades of meaning and
it is to the advantage of the communicator to understand what messages
are relayed.

THE BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION

Various factors may impede the efficient flow of communication.

Any or all, of these factors may, at any point, derail the process. Even if
the message is transmitted by the channel, the timing and the meaning
of the message may be affected by the factors. These are:

1. Personal barriers

2. Physical barriers

3. Semantic barriers.

Personal Barriers

Personal barriers are hindrances to effective communication

arising from a communicator's characteristics as a person, sex, age,
race, socioeconomic status, religion, education, etc.

Physical Barriers

Physical barriers refer to interferences to effective communication

occurring in the environment where the communication is undertaken.

Physical barriers include the distances between people, walls, a

noisy jukebox near a telephone, etc. An office that is too tidy may
sometime inhibit a person from meeting the occupant of the office face-
to-face.

A communication channel that is overloaded may also prevent

important information to reach the intended user. Another physical
barrier to communication is wrong timing. For instance, how may one
expect a person who has lost a loved one to act on an inquiry from a
fellow employee?

Semantic Barriers

Semantics is the study of meaning as expressed in symbols.

Words, pictures, or actions are symbols that suggest certain meanings.
When the wrong meaning has been chosen by the receiver,
misunderstanding occurs. Such error constitutes a barrier to
communication.

A semantic barrier may be defined as an "interference with the

reception of a message that occurs when the message is misunderstood
even though it is received exactly as transmitted."

OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION

When communication barriers threaten effective performance,

certain measures must be instituted to eliminate them. To eliminate
problems due to noise, selective perception, and distraction, the
following are recommended:
1. Use feedback to facilitate understanding and increase the potential
for appropriate action,

2. Repeat messages in order to provide assurance that they are properly

received.

3. Use multiple channels so that the accuracy of the information may be

enhanced.

4. Use simplified language that is easily understandable and which

eliminates the possibility of people getting mixed-up with meanings.

TECHNIQUES FOR COMMUNICATING IN ORGANIZATIONS

Downward Communication

Downward Communication refers to message flows from higher

levels of authority to lower levels. Among the purposes of downward
communication are:

1. to give instructions

2. to provide information about policies and procedures

3. to give feedback about performance

4. to indoctrinate or motivate

Among techniques used in downward communication are as follows:

letters, meetings, telephones, manuals, handbooks, and newsletters.

Letters are appropriate when directives are complex and precise

actions are required. When orders are simple but the result depends
largely on employee morale, techniques that provide personal
interchange like meetings and the telephone, are appropriate.

Manuals are useful sources of information regarding company

policy, procedures, and organization.

Handbooks provide more specific information about the duties and

privileges of the individual worker. It has also the advantage of being
available whenever needed.

Newsletters provide a mixture of personal, social, and work-related

information. Articles about new hiring, promotions, birthdays of
employees, questions and answers about work related Issues are
presented.

UPWARD COMMUNICATION CONCERNS:

1. problems and exceptions

2. suggestions for improvement

3. performance reports

4. grievances and reports

5. financial and accounting information

DOWNWARD COMMUNICATION CONCERNS:

1. implementation of goals, strategies and objectives

2. job instructions and rationale

3. procedures and practices

4. performance feedback
 5. indoctrination

HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION CONCERNS:

1. interdepartmental coordination

2. intradepartmental problem-solving

3. staff advice to the departments

Upward Communication

There is a need for management to provide employees with all the

necessary material and non- material support it can give. The first
requirement, however, is for management to know specific needs of the
employees. This is the primary reason for upward communication.

Upward communication refers to messages from persons in lower-

level positions to persons to persons in lower-level positions to persons
in higher positions.

Among the techniques used in upward communication are: formal

grievance procedures, employee attitude and opinion surveys,
suggestion systems, open-door policy, informal gripe sessions, task
forces, and exit interviews.

Formal Grievance Procedures. Grievances are part of a normally

operating organization. To effectively deal with them, organizations
provide a system for employees to air their grievances.

Holley and Jennings define grievance as "any employee's concern

over a perceived violation of the labor agreement that is submitted to the
grievance procedure for eventual resolution."
 Depending on the size and nature of the company, the grievance
procedure may consist of a single step or a number of steps. Companies
with a collective bargaining agreement with its union must refer to the
grievance procedure spelled out in the law on labor relations."

Employee Attitude and Opinion Surveys. Finding out what the

employees think about the company is very important. The exercise,
however, requires expertise and the company may not be prepared to do
it.

Suggestions Systems. Suggestions from employees are important

sources of cost-saving and. production enhancing ideas. Even if majority
of the suggestions are not feasible, a simple means of acknowledging
them contributes to employee morale.

Open-Door Policy. An open-door policy, even on a limited basis,

provides the management with an opportunity to act on difficulties before
they become full-blown problems.

Informal Gripe Sessions. Informal gripe sessions can be used

positively if management knows how to handle them. When employees
feel free to talk and they are assured of not being penalized for doing so,
then management will be spared with lots of efforts.

Task Force. When a specific problem or issue arises, a task force may
be created and assigned to deal with the problem or issue. Since
membership of task forces consists of management and
nonmanagement personnel, integration and teamwork are fostered.

Exit interviews. When employees leave an organization for any reason,

it is to the advantage of management to know the real reason. If there
are negative developments in the organization that management is not
aware of, exit interviews may provide some of the answers.
Horizontal Communication

Horizontal communication refers to messages sent to individuals

or groups from another of the same organizational level or position.

The purposes of horizontal communications are:

1. to coordinate activities between departments

2. to persuade others at the same level of organization

3. to pass on information about activities or feelings.

Among the techniques appropriate for horizontal communications are:

memos, meetings, telephones, picnics, dinners, and other social affairs.

MANAGEMNT INFORMATION SYSTEM

It was mentioned at the beginning of this chapter that

communication may be used to serve the information function. This
means that a way must be devised to allow the organization to absorb
information necessary for effective decision-making. In this regard,
companies of various sizes have organized systems to gather
information that will be useful to management.

Management information systems (MIS) is defined by Boone and

Kurtz as "an organized method of providing past, present, and projected
information on internal operations and external intelligence for use in
decision-making.

The MIS currently used by corporate firms consists of "written and

electronically based systems for sending reports, memos, bulletins, and
the like." The system allows mangers of the different departments within
the firm to communicate each other.

The Purposes of MIS

The MIS is established for various reasons. Wheelen and Hunger

enumerate them as follows:

1. To provide a basis for the analysis of early warning signals that can
originate both externally and internally.

2. To automate routine clerical operations like payroll and inventory

reports.

3. To assist managers in making routine decisions like scheduling

orders, assigning orders to machines, and reordering supplies.

4. To provide the information necessary for management to make

strategies or nonprogrammed decisions.