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Communicating in Organisations
Dr. Berna Bridge
İYTE Leadership and Management
Communication
 It isn’t always easy when workers or customers confront top
managers with difficult questions or challenge them regarding
management failings, but getting candid feedback from employees
or customers helps executives spot problems or recognise
opportunities that might otherwise be missed.
 There is a lot of energy put into communication by successful
executives.
How important is communication?
 Managers spend at least 80% of their day communicating with
others.
 This means 48 minutes of every hour in meetings, phone calls or
talking informally while walking around.
 The other 20 % is reading or writing, desk work, which is also
communication.
 Managers gather important information from both inside and
outside the organisation and then distribute appropriate information
to others who need it.
 When managers perform the planning function: They gather
information, write letters, memos and reports, and then meet with
other managers to explain the plan
 When managers lead: The communicate to share a vision of what
the organisation can be and motivate employees to help achieve it.
 When managers organise: They gather information about the state
of the organisation and communicate a new structure to others.
 Communication skills are a fundamental part of every managerial
activity.
What is communication?
 It is the process by which information is exchanged and understood
by two or more people, usually with the intent to motivate or
influence behaviour.
 It is not just sending information.
 Management communication is a two way street that includes
listening and other forms of feedback.
 By visiting employees at the shop floor or having breakfast with
them, managers learn from direct communication and shape their
understanding of the corporation.
The communication process
 Many people think communication is simple because they
communicate without conscious thought or effort.
 However, communication is usually complex and opportunities for
sending or receiving the wrong messages are innumerable.
 The sender encodes the idea by selecting symbols with which to
compose a message. The message is tangible formulation of the
idea that is sent to the receiver. The message is sent through a
channel, which is the communication carrier. The channel can be a
formal report, a phone call or a meeting. The receiver decodes the
symbols to understand the message.
 Encoding and decoding are potential sources for communication
errors, because knowledge, attitudes and background act as filters
and and create ‘noise’ when translating from symbols to meaning.
 Finally, feedback occurs when the receiver responds to the senders
communication with a return message.
 Without feedback, the communication is one-way, with feedback it
is two-way.
 Feedback is a powerful way to communication effectiveness.
Communication channels
High channel richness:
Advantages: Personal, two way, fast feedback
Disadvantages: No record, spontaneous, dissemination hard
 Face to face
 Telephone
 Electronic message
 Memo
 Letter
 Formal reports
 Bulletin
Low channel richness
Advantages : Provides record, premeditated
Disadvantages: Impersonal, one-way, slow feedback
 Channel richness is the amount of information that can be
transmitted during a communication episode.
 It is important for managers to understand that each
communication channel has advantages and disadvantages, and
that each can be an effective means of communication in the
appropriate circumstances.
 Channel selection depends on whether the message is routine or
non-routine.
 Non-routine messages typically are ambiguous, concern novel
events and impose great potential for misunderstanding.
 They are often characterised by time pressure and surprise.
 Under these circumstances, rich channels are needed.
 Routine messages can effectively be communicated with less rich
channels.
Nonverbal communication
 Nonverbal communication refers to messages sent through human
actions and behaviours rather than words.
 Managers are watched, and their behaviour, appearance, actions
and attitudes are symbolic of what they value and expect of others.
 Facial expression, posture, voice, mannerism and dress are very
important.
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The relative impact of each have been found to be:
Verbal impact: 7%
Vocal impact : 38 %
Facial impact : 55 %
 So, it is not what you say but how you say it, which is important.
 Nonverbal messages convey thoughts and feelings with greater
force than do our most carefully selected words.
 Body language often communicates our feelings more clearly.
 When vebal and nonverbal communication are contradictory, the
receiver can be confused and usually will give more weight to the
actions than the words.
 A manager’s office also sends poweful nonverbal clues:
 She stays behind the desk, and you sit in a straight chair on the
opposite side. ( The message is ‘I’m the boss here’)
 The two of you sit in straight chairs at a table. ( The message is
‘this is serious bussiness’)
 The two of you sit on a sofa or easy chairs. ( The message is,
casual and friendly ‘Let’s get to know each other)
 Nonverbal messages can be a powerful to communication if they
complement and support verbal messages.
Persuasion and Influence
 Communication is used not only to convey information but to
persuade and influence people.
 Managers use communication to sell employees on the vision for
the organisation and influence them to behave in such a way as to
accomplish the vision.
 The command and control mindset of managers telling workers
what to do and how to do it, is gone.
 Managers can enrich their communication encounters by paying
attention to the language they use as well as the communication
channels they use to convey their messages.
 To persuade and influence, managers connect with others on an
emotional level by using symbols, metaphors, and stories to express
their messages.
 The power of story telling to keep people unified and focused on
shared goals is very great.
 Patrick Kelly (PSS World Medical Inc.) says: ‘In the early days of
founding PSS I spent much of my time visiting various company
locations and telling stories about my own life, as well as discussing
challenges facing the company.’
 Even when people heard the same story many times, their
attentions perked up.
 It was found that people loved to hear stories and that this can be
used to enhance management and communication skills.
 Stories can even be used to replace rules and regulations.
 Managers can help inspire desirable behaviours for change by
tapping into the imagination of their subordinates.
 If we think back to our early school years, we may remember that
the most effective lessons were often taught by stories.
 Presenting hard facts and figures rarely has the same power as
telling vivid stories.
Listening
 One of the most important tools of manager communication is
listening.
 Most managers now recognise that important information flows
from the bottom up, not the top down.
 Listening involves the skill of both grasping facts and feelings to
interpret a message’s genuine meaning.
 Never pass up the opportunity to remain silent.
 Many people instead of listening effectively, concentrate on
formulating what they are going to say next.
Good Listener
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Asks questions, paraphrases what is said
Looks for new learning opportunities
Fights or avoids distractions
Knows how to concentrate
Challenges, anticipates, summarises, weighs the evidence, listens
between the lines to tone of voice
Nods, shows interest, give and take, positive feedback
Does not judge until comprehension is complete
Listens to central themes
Works hard, exhibits body state, eye contact
Uses difficult material as exercise for the mind, instead of light
material
Formal Communication Channels
Downward communication:
 Implementation of goals and strategies
 Job instructions and rationale
 Procedures and practices
 Performance feedback
 Indoctrination
Upward communication:
 Problems
 Suggestions for improvement
 Performance reports
 Grievances and disputes
 Financial and accounting information
Horizontal communication:
(Coordination)
 Intra-departmental problem solving
 Inter-departmental coordination
 Change initiatives and improvements
 Horizontal communication is particularly important in learning
organisations, where teams of workers are continuously solving
problems and searching for new ways of doing things.
Informal Communication Channels
Management by wandering around: A communication technique in
which managers interact directly with workers to exchange
information.
Grapevine: An informal, person-to-person communication network of
employees that is not officially sanctioned by the organisation. The
information it provides helps make sense of an unclear or uncertain
situation. Employees use grapevine rumours to fill in information
gaps and clarify management decisions.
 Research suggests that a few people are primarily responsible for
the grape vine’s success.
 Gossip chain: One tells many
 Cluster chain: A few tell selected others
 Surprising aspects of the grapevine are its accuracy and relevance
to the organisation.
 About 80 % of grapevine communications pertain to the bussiness
related topics rather than personal, vicious gossip.
 Moreover, from 70 to 90 % of the details are accurate.
 Managers should be aware that almost five out of every six
important messages are carried to some extent by the grapevine
rather than through official channels.
 Experts recommend that managers accept and use the grapevine to
their advantage.
 Smart managers understand the company’s grapevine.
 They recognise who is connected to whom and which employees
are key players in the informal spread of information.
Communicating in Teams
 In a highly competitive global environment, organisations use
teams to deal with complex problems.
 When team activities are complex and difficult, all members should
share information in a decentralised structure to solve problems.
 Decentralised network: Individuals can communicate freely with
other members of the team and arrive at decisions.
 Centralised network: A team communication structure in which
team members communicate through a single individual to solve
problems or to make decision.
 In laboratory experiments, centralised communication networks
achieve faster solutions. Members could simply pass relevant
information to a central person for a decision.
 Open communication: Sharing all types of information throughout
the company across functional and hierarchical levels.
 This is an emphasis on empowering employees and enhancing team
production.
 Dialogue: A group communication process aimed at creating a
culture based on collaboration, fluidity, trust and commitment to
shared goals.
 People may start at polar opposites but by talking openly with each
other, they discover common ground, common issues and shared
goals on which they can build a better future.
Barriers to Communication
 Barriers to communication can exist within the individual or as part
of the organisation.
Individual barriers:
 Interpersonal barriers: Problems with emotions and perceptions
held by the employees.
 Channels and media: Selecting the correct channel for
communication. When a message is emotional, it is better to have a
face to face talk. Writing works best for routine messages.
 Semantics: The meaning of words and the way they are used.
A word such as effectiveness may mean achieving high production
to a factory superintendent, and employees satisfaction to a human
resource manager.
Many common words have an average of 28 definitions so
knowledge of other’s perspective is important.
 Inconsistent cues: Between verbal and nonverbal communications.
(If one’s words do not match the facial expressions)
Organisational Barriers:
 Status and power differences: Low power people may be reluctant
to pass bad news up, high power people may not pay attention to
low power people. Climate of trust should be created.
 Departmental need and goals: These may interfere with
communications. Each dept. perceives problems in its own terms.
The production dept. is concerned with production efficiency, and
may not fully understand the marketing dept.’s need to get the
product to the customer in a hurry. Development and use of formal
channels is important.
 Communication network unsuited to task: Communication flow may
not fit the organisation’s task. Changing organisation or group
structure to fit communication needs is the answer.
 Lack of formal channels: Absence of formal channels reduces
communication effectiveness. Upward, downward, horizontal,
employee surveys, open door policies, newsletters, memos, all
should be used.
Overcoming communication Barriers
 Managers can design the organisation so as to encourage positive,
effective communication.
 Designing involves both individual and organisational action.
Individual Skills
Most important individual skill is active listening:
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Asking questions
Showing interest
Paraphrasing what was said
Providing feedback to the sender to complete the communication
loop.
Other points are:
 Choosing the right channel
 To make a special effort to undrstand the other’s perspective
 Wandering around
Organisational Actions
 Create a climate of trust and openness to encourage people to
communicate honestly with each other
 Use all channels in all directions
 The structure should fit the communication needs