Communication

Skills

Dr. Chetna Sinha

 Objective
• Define and understand Communication and the
Communication process at Workplace
• Importance of Communication
• Principles of Communication
• Forms of Communication
• List and overcome the filters/barriers in a Communication
process
• Practice active listening
• Tips to improve Communication skills
 What is Communication?
• Sending & Receiving of message
through a variety of mediums viz. written,
verbal, signals, behavior, etc.

• Effective Communication occurs only if

receivers understand the exact message the
sender intended to transmit & feel the
information at the end of the exchange is
clear.
Essence of Communication
Personal process
Occurs between people
Involves change in behavior
Means to influence others
Expression of thoughts and emotions through
words & actions.
Tools for controlling and motivating people.
It is a social and emotional process.
What are the most common ways
we communicate?

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 Need?
• Top skill sought by employers.
• Essential for effective job performance.
• Empowers to influence others.
• Indicator of ability & intelligence.
• Critical for promotion.
• More important now as a result of:
– Changing technology.
– Heightened global competition
– Flattened management hierarchies
– Expanded team-based management
– Increasingly diverse workforce
• 80% of problems in the workplace are communication
related Ch. 1, Slide 6
The Communication
Process
Medium

Barrier
SENDER RECEIVER
(encodes) Barrier (decodes)

Feedback/Response
 Components of Communication
• Sender
• Receiver
• Message
• Channel
• Noise
 Communication at Workplace
• WORKPLACE: A physical, concrete thing, that is tangible
& holds people, relationships & goals.

• WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION: Involves speaking,

listening, observing & the ability to understand verbal &
nonverbal meanings in the communication process.

• According to the National Communication

Association(NCA), 75% of a person’s day is spent
communicating in some way.
 Organizational Communication
• Functions • Forms
– Internal – Oral
– External – Written

• New emphasis • Delivery

• Interactive
• Mobile • Electronic
• Instant • Hard copy

Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process

and Product, 6e Ch. 1, Slide 10
 Organizational Communication Structure

• Network or system of pathways

through which messages flow
• Two types
–Formal
–Informal
• A FORMAL Communication Structure
utilizes specific authorized channels for
information to flow between positions
within the organization.
• The three categories in a formal
communication structure are:
» Downward
» Upward
» Horizontal/Lateral
 Information Flow in Organizations -
Formal Channels
Managers Supervisors

UPWARD FLOW
Coworkers

Coworkers
HORIZONTAL FLOW HORIZONTAL FLOW

DOWNWARD FLOW

Subordinates Supervisees
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process
and Product, 6e Ch. 1, Slide 13
DOWNWARD
Managers Supervisors

• Job plans
• Policies
• Instructions
• Procedures

Flows from
decision makers
to workers

Subordinates Supervisees
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process
and Product, 6e Ch. 1, Slide 14
 Downward Workplace Communication:
Enabling
• Downward forms of workplace communication:
– A manager explains a task to an employee
– A customer gives an order to a supplier
– Shareholders instruct management.
• When a manager instructs an employee, s/he
enables the employee to do his/her job, & makes
it possible for him to earn a living by doing
something that has value for the employer.
• At each stage people receive information to help them
do their jobs
• At each stage information become less abstract, more
specific & more detailed.

Make a Budget
report

Make a Budget report for the month

to include the following

Make sure the report includes the

exact amount and the qty.
 UPWARD
Managers Supervisors

• Feedback
• Progress
• Problems
• Suggestions
Flows from
employees to
decision makers
Subordinates Supervisees
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process
and Product, 6e Ch. 1, Slide 17
 Upward Communication:
Compliance
• From employee to supervisor, supervisor
to department head, department head to
vice president, and so on.
• Less detailed as it goes up the chain of
command
 HORIZONTAL / LATERAL

Shared information to coordinate

Coworkers
tasks, solve problems, resolve conflict
Coworkers

Flows among workers

at the same level

Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process

and Product, 6e Ch. 1, Slide 19
 Lateral communication:
Coordination
• Information that flows back & forth between
peers
• Voluntary & discretionary since two people with
roughly equal amounts of power & prestige are
involved
• Reciprocating: the quality and quantity of
information we provide to our peers generally
reflects what we get back from them.
 Team Communication
• Special form of lateral communication
• Communication for team building &
teamwork
• Members must communicate with each
other & with peers outside their immediate
group.
• Leaders will need to keep these
communication flows in mind that connect
them directly to their co-employees.
 Formal Channels Communication

Written Oral
• Memos
• Meetings
• Agenda
• Presentations
• Proceedings
• Telephone
• Letters
• Reports Electronic
• Newsletter • E-mail
• Instant messaging
• Voicemail
• Videoconferencing
• Intranet
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process
and Product, 6e Ch. 1, Slide 22
 Information Flows in Organizations -
Informal Channels

• The grapevine, gossip from the break room

to the water cooler
• Carries unofficial messages
• Flows haphazardly
• Can be remarkably accurate
• Thrives where official information is limited
• Disliked by management
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process
and Product, 6e Ch. 1, Slide 23
 Grapevine:
Filling the Gaps
• A place & function in all organizations.
• Fills in gaps left behind by conventional & official
communication
• Provides answers to unaddressed questions.
• Goes through multiple channels & versions
• No one owns
• No one controls
• We might complain about gossips & busybodies,
we all use it sooner or later.
 New tools of Grapevine
• Traditionally, grapevine revolved around mouth-to-mouth
communication
• New technologies mean change
• The Internet opened up all kinds of new opportunities for
unofficial communication
• Email, it's true, may be monitored, but that's easily circumvented
• Cell phones provide an alternate means of mouth-to-mouth
communication, even when you're at the office.
• While technologies enabling the grapevine may change, the same
human traits natural curiosity & our desire to influence the way
others think & behave continue to fuel this communication
channel.
 CHALLENGES IN COMMUNICATION
• ONE WAY COMMUNICATION – Not giving chance to other’s to
talk.
• PESTERED – Being pushy.
• DICTATED – Controlling.
• IMPOSED – Giving one-sided point of view.
• INSISTED – No choices.
• MANIPULATION– Salesmen, bad leaders
• Feeling only themselves to be right
• No ethics in discussion
• No good intentions
• Arguments just for fun –no objective, waste of time
• Provoke heated arguments, hurtful
THANK YOU
