Download Management 3e - Gary Dessler

Principles and Practices for Tomorrow’s Leaders
Gary Dessler
CHAPTER
12
Improving Communication
Skills
The Environment of Managing
PowerPoint Presentation by Charlie Cook
Copyright © 2004 Prentice Hall, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Objectives
After studying this chapter and the case exercises at
the end, you should be able to:
1. Identify the communications barriers the
managers seem to be ignoring.
2. List and explain what the manager can do to
improve interpersonal communications.
3. Conduct an effective appraisal interview using
the facts and roles in a scenario.
4. Persuade a colleague to carry out a task.
5. Explain why a manager is not getting good
results in trying to encourage upward feedback.
Copyright © 2004 Prentice Hall. All rights reserved.
12–2
Communication Simple
• Communication
 The exchange of information and the
transmission of meaning.
 Exchanging information in a way that creates a
common basis of understanding and feeling.
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12–3
Components of the Communication Process
• Information Source
 The message, idea,
thought, or fact that is to be
communicated
• Signal
 The stream of words,
images, or gestures used to
actually express the
message
• Transmission
 The act of actually sending,
delivering, or transferring
the message
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• Channel or Medium.
 A report, image, speech, or
nonverbal behavior
• Destination or receiver
 The listener, audience,
viewer, or reader
• Noise
 Anything that blocks,
distorts, or in any way
changes the information
source as it makes its way
to the destination/receiver
12–4
The Communication
Process
Source: © Gary Dessler, Ph.D.
Copyright © 2004 Prentice Hall. All rights reserved.
FIGURE 12–1
12–5
Barriers to Effective Communication
• Ambiguous, Muddled Messages
• Semantics
• Physical Barriers
• Loss of Transmission
• Failing to Communicate
• Competition Barriers
• Cultural, Linguistic, and Diversity Barriers
• Not Listening
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12–6
Nonverbal Communication
• Nonverbal Communication
 The nonspoken aspects of communication, such as
a person’s manner of speaking, facial expressions,
or body posture, that express meaning to others.
 Nonverbal communication can complicate the task
of communicating internationally.
 The
nonverbal part of communicating is more
important in some societies than in others.
 In many societies, the context (or setting) in which a
message is delivered, with its nonverbal cues, has far
more meaning than the words of the message itself.
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12–7
Psychological Barriers
• Perception
 Selectivity/exposure filtering out of unpleasant things
and focusing on or recalling things not heard.
 Retention filtering of things that feel good, and the
tendency to forget those things that are painful.
• Experiential Barriers
 The difficulty in understanding things not personally
experienced.
• Emotions
 Emotions influence both what is said and what is
heard.
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12–8
Psychological Barriers (cont’d)
• Defensiveness
 Adjustments people make to avoid acknowledging
personal inadequacies that might reduce their selfesteem.
Copyright © 2004 Prentice Hall. All rights reserved.
12–9
Interpersonal Communications
• Interpersonal communication
 Communication that occurs between two individuals.
• Methods for Improving Interpersonal
Communications
 Pay attention
 Make yourself clear
 Be an active listener
 Don’t attack the person’s defenses
 Get feedback
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12–10
Checklist 12.1
Active Listening





Listen for total meaning.
Reflect feelings.
Note all cues.
Give the person your full attention.
Show that you are listening with an
open mind.
 Encourage the speaker to give
complete information.
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12–11
Checklist 12.2
How to be More Persuasive






Establish your credibility.
Frame for common ground.
Connect emotionally.
Provide evidence.
Use peer power whenever it’s available.
Have the person make the commitment
active, public, and voluntary.
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12–12
How to Improve Your Negotiating Skills
• Mistakes to avoid when negotiating:
 Neglecting the other side’s problems.
 Letting price overwhelm other interests.
 Searching too hard for common ground.
 Failing to consider BANTRAs (best alternative to a
negotiated agreement).
• Negotiating Tactics (Using Leverage)
 Necessity
 Desire
 Competition
 Time
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12–13
Organizational Communication
• Organizational Communication
 Communication that occurs among several
individuals or groups.
 Downward
communications go from superior to
subordinate.
 Lateral (horizontal) communications move
between departments or between people in the
same department.
 Upward communications move from subordinates
to superiors.
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12–14
Special Barriers to Organizational
Communication
• Interpersonal Barriers
• Authority
Free
• Task
Speech?
• Political
• Identity
• Organizational Culture
• Organization Structures
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12–15
Getting Upward Feedback
• Request feedback from people whom you trust and who will
be honest with you.
• If the feedback is too general, ask for examples of specific,
recent behavior.
• Don’t be defensive, make excuses, or blame others when
you hear criticism.
• Do not overreact or underreact to feedback.
• Once the feedback is complete, summarize what the speaker
said to make sure that you understand.
• Explain what you are going to do in response to the
feedback, do it, evaluate the consequences on performance,
and then let the feedback-giver know of the outcome.
• Thank the person for his or her concern and advice.
Source: Adapted from Paula J. Caproni, The Practical Coach (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001), p. 21.
Copyright © 2004 Prentice Hall. All rights reserved.
FIGURE 12–2
12–16
Fostering Upward Organizational
Communication
• Social gatherings
• Union publications
• Regular meetings
• Performance
appraisal meetings
• Grievances
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• Attitude surveys
• A suggestion
system
• An open door policy
• Indirect measures
• E-Mail
12–17
Sample Suggestion Program Procedures:
LearnInMotion.com
806 Suggestion Program Effective Date: 4/23/02
As employees of LIM, you have the opportunity to contribute to our future success and
growth by submitting suggestions for practical work-improvement or cost-savings ideas.
All regular employees are eligible to participate in the suggestion program.
A suggestion is an idea that will benefit LIM by solving a problem, reducing costs, improving
operations or procedures, enhancing customer service, eliminating waste or spoilage, or
making LIM a better or safer place to work. Statements of problems without accompanying
solutions, or recommendations concerning coworkers and management are not appropriate
suggestions.
All suggestions must be submitted on a suggestion form and should contain a description
of the problem or condition to be improved, a detailed explanation of the solution or
improvement, and the reasons why it should be implemented. If you have questions or need
advice about your idea, contact your supervisor for help.
Submit suggestions to the Human Resources Director and, after review, they will be
forwarded to the Suggestion Committee. As soon as possible, you will be notified of the
adoption or rejection of your suggestion.
Special recognition will be given to employees who submit a suggestion that is
implemented.
Source: Business Plan Pro, Palo Alto Software, Palo Alto, CA.
Copyright © 2004 Prentice Hall. All rights reserved.
FIGURE 12–2
12–18
Improving Downward Communication
• Open-Book Management
 A management style in which a company opens its
books to the employees, sharing financial data,
explaining numbers, and rewarding workers for
improvement.
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12–19
Improving Horizontal Communication
Appoint Liaison
Personnel
Organize Committees
and Task Forces
Horizontal
Communications
Use Independent
Integrators
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12–20
Improving Informal Communications
Maintain
Communication
Intensity
Emphasize
Informality
Informal
Communications
Provide Physical
Support
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12–21
Group Decision-Support Systems
Decision Support System (DSS)
An interactive computer-based communications
system that facilitates the solution of unstructured
problems by a team of decision makers.
Source:
Copyright © 2004 Prentice Hall. All rights reserved.
FIGURE 0–4
12–22
Other Work Group Support Systems
• Collaborative Writing Systems
 A computerized support system that lets group
members work simultaneously on a single document
from a number of interconnected or network
computers.
• Group Scheduling System
 A computerized support system that allows each
group member to put his or her daily schedule into a
shared database so that each can identify the most
suitable times to schedule meetings or to attend
currently scheduled meetings.
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12–23
Other Work Group Support Systems
(cont’d)
• Workflow Automation System
 An e-mail type of system that automates the flow of
paperwork from person to person.
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12–24
Hierarchy of Media Richness and Application
for Managerial Applications
Source: Adapted from Richard L. Daft and Robert H. Lengel, “Information Richness: A New Approach to
Managerial Information Processing and Organization Design,” in Barry Staw and Larry L. Cummings, eds.,
Research in Organizational Behavior, vol. 6 (Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1984), pp. 191–233. Reprinted from
R. Daft and R. Steers, Organizations: A Micro/Macro Approach (Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman, 1986) p. 532.
Copyright © 2004 Prentice Hall. All rights reserved.
FIGURE 12–5
12–25