Download Communication - Cengage Learning

© 2006 Thomson-Wadsworth
Learning Objectives
• Define communication.
• State why communication skills are
important ones for managers to
develop.
• Discuss the roles of the senders and the
receivers of messages.
• Differentiate between hearing and
listening.
• Describe the components of a message.
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Learning Objectives
• Explain how channels, settings, and
timing can influence the perception of
the message by the receiver.
• Discuss the role of noise and feedback
in communications.
• Differentiate between the verbal and
nonverbal components of interpersonal
communication.
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Learning Objectives
• Describe how the personal
characteristics of the sender may
contribute to the noise that distorts
messages.
• Differentiate between essential and
optional written communication.
• Discuss how organizational culture
affects communication.
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Learning Objectives
• Outline how computers and other
technologies are changing how we
communicate.
• Identify differences between
communicating with individuals
and with groups.
• State how to minimize barriers to
communication.
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Communication
• Communication
– The interaction between two or more
individuals.
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Communication
• Sending and receiving
– Sender - The person who creates and
transmits a message to another person or
people.
– Encode - Create a message and determine
how it is to be sent.
– Transmit - Send a message to one or more
people (for example, in person, in print, or
by using technologies like faxes, modems,
phones, and so on).
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Communication
• Sending and receiving
– Receiver - The person who gets the
message from the sender.
– Decode - Decipher the message that
was received.
– Interpret - Assign meaning to the
message based on personal
experiences.
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Communication
• Listening/hearing
– Hearing - A physical sense
that is involuntary and
passive and often done
automatically without paying
attention.
– Listening - An active
process that requires effort
or attention from the
listener; used to decode
messages.
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Communication
• Components of messages
– Message - The information that is
communicated by the sender to the
receiver.
– Packaging - How the message is
conveyed.
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Communication
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Communication
• Components of messages
– Content
– Language
– Symbols
– Delivery style
– Complexity
– Focus
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Communication
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Communication
• Packaging the message
– Channels
• Channel - A communication pathway
through which a message is transmitted.
• Direct Channel - A communication
pathway in which the message sent is
targeted to a specific group(s) or
person(s).
• Indirect Channel - A communication
pathway in which the receiver is not
specified.
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Communication
• Packaging the message
– Setting
• The physical environment in which
communication takes place.
• ex:
– A meeting room can be arranged in several
different ways, in order to best suit the
meeting’s purpose.
– Furniture in a manager’s office may be
arranged to communicate a message.
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• Transfer of information from
person in authority to subordinates
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• Openness to 2-way communication
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• Equality among group members
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• (a) Manager has power over employee
• (b) or (c) Willingness to work together
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• (d) or (e) All work together as equals
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Communication
• Packaging the message
– Timing
• A strategy for when communication will take
place in relation to the present situation and the
kind of message relayed.
– Noise
• Interference factors that can affect a message
and distort it (for example, physical environment,
external factors like illness, bad timing, and so
on).
– Feedback
• The process of responding to messages after
interpreting them.
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Communication
• Packaging the message
– Personal characteristics
• Verbal characteristics
– Accent
– Speed of natural conversation
– Tone
– Pitch
– Rhythm
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Communication
• Packaging the message
– Personal characteristics
• Nonverbal characteristics
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Communication
• Packaging the message
– Nonverbal characteristics
• Artifacts - Tangible items and their
placement, which are a part of
nonverbal communication that can
convey an unintended message.
• Proxemics - A component of
nonverbal communication that defines
the spatial relationship between the
sender and the receiver of a message.
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Communication
• Packaging the message
– Nonverbal characteristics
• Body Language - A personal characteristic of
nonverbal communication that includes the use
and extent of facial expressions and gestures, and
may have an impact on communication.
• Physical Characteristics - The physical
appearance and shape of an individual, which
may subtly affect communication.
• Grooming - The personal appearance, style, and
attire of an individual, which has an impact on
communication.
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Communication
• Packaging the message
– Nonverbal characteristics
• Dress for Success - The idea that
an appropriate appearance and
grooming style will create the desired
effect during communication.
• Touching Behavior - A
characteristic of nonverbal
communication that describes the
extent and ways an individual
extends physical contact to others
and the kind of message that contact
transmits.
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Written Communication
• Written communication
– A type of communication that uses
written, typed, or printed words to
convey the message (for example, emails, memos, letters, and so on).
– Supplementary Channel - A
secondary pathway used to transmit
a message in another way to
reinforce the message.
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Written Communication
• Written communication
– Websites - An Internet-based
medium that uses a type of
electronic, written communication to
convey information to many people.
– Legal Document - A written record
that is required to serve as verifiable
evidence that something has
occurred.
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Written Communication
• Essential communications
documents
– Types of written communication that
are necessary (fundamental) to
carrying out the business of an
organization.
– Longevity of Documents - The
length of time a specific type of
written document must be kept.
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Written Communication
• Essential communications documents
– Employee Handbooks - Written or online
documents produced by organizations to
provide information to employees relating
to the organization’s mission, policies, rules,
benefits, and so on.
– Human Resource Policy and Procedure
Manuals - Written or online documents
used as a management tool to direct the
actions of management relative to
employee relations.
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Written Communication
• Essential communications
documents
– Departmental Policy and
Procedure Manuals - Written or
online documents specific to a
department that guide the activities
and work processes of that
department.
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Written Communication
• Optional communications
documents
– Any type of written document that is
not considered essential to the
functioning of an organization.
– Newsletters - A type of optional
communications document that
relates useful information about or to
employees.
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Written Communication
• Optional communications documents
– Networking
• An optional and informal type of communication
that can be either oral or written.
• It includes information exchange among
colleagues and peers in related fields of interest.
– Listserv - An electronic mailing list that is
used as a means of communication among
a group of colleagues wishing to interact
with one another in areas of mutual
interest.
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Written Communication
• Organizational culture and written
communication
– Proprietary Information - Knowledge
about an organization that must be
restricted to certain individuals within the
organization or to members of that
organization only
– For health care: Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
– Amount of information shared, and direction
of flow
– Preferred channel(s)
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Written Communication
• Using computers to communicate
– E-mail, e-mail, e-mail...
– Proliferation of e-mail may interfere
with timely completion of work
– “Junk e-mail” may waste time
– E-mail has the potential to replace
interpersonal communication
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Communication to Groups
• More impersonal
– Less tolerance for errors
– Greater chance for distortion
• Larger audience = more
sophisticated packaging
• Important to test technology,
proofread printed materials, etc.
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Other Communication
Barriers
• Regional language
• Cultural variations:
– Language
– Proxemics
– Body language
– Touching behavior
– Customs
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Other Communication
Barriers
• Gender
• Generational differences
– Traditionalists
– Baby Boomers
– Generation Xers
– Generation Yers
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Other Communication
Barriers
• Politically correct terminology
– Politically Correct - A designation
for terminology that is non-offensive
or neutral to replace words or
phrases in common usage that are
disparaging, offensive, or insensitive.
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Conclusion
• The message sender encodes and
packages the information to be
communicated.
• The receiver is responsible for decoding
the message.
• Listening is an activity that requires
concentration and skill; hearing is
passive.
• The message and its packaging should
be consistent with each other and
geared toward the intended receiver.
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Conclusion
• Feedback and noise are an inevitable
part of interpersonal communication.
• Written communication is tangible,
permanent, and verifiable.
• Communicating with groups requires
significant attention to detail.
• It is important to avoid or minimize
barriers to communication.
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Planned Ambiguity
• Precision is usually necessary for
successful communication
• Ambiguity is part of the message
in a purposefully-imprecise form of
communication
• ex: ambiguous class assignment to
write a report analyzing an herbal
supplement
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