CH-15 Communicating – Management: Leading and Collaborating in a Competitive World : Chapter Notes

Chapter 15 Communicating LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1 Discuss important advantages of two-way communication. 2 Identify communication problems to avoid. 3 Describe when and how to use the various communication channels. 4 Summarize ways to become a better sender and receiver of information. 5 Explain how to improve downward, upward, and horizontal communication. 6 Summarize how to work with the company grapevine. 7 Describe the boundaryless organization and its advantages. CHAPTER OUTLINE Interpersonal Communication One-Way versus Two-Way Communication Communication Pitfalls Mixed Signals and Misperception Oral and Written Channels Digital Communication and Social Media Media Richness Improving Communication Skills Improving Sender Skills Improving Receiver Skills Organizational Communication Downward Communication Upward Communication Horizontal Communication Informal Communication Boundarylessness CHAPTER RESOURCES Experiential Exercises 1. Interpreting Nonverbal Communication 2. Listening Skills Survey 3. Active Listening Cases Best Trust Bank Leading and Motivating When Disaster Strikes: Magna Exteriors and Interiors Social Enterprise When the Message Is a Story Lecturettes 1. Barriers to Communication 2. Readability and Corporate Communication KEY STUDENT QUESTIONS Students want to know how they can communicate more effectively, and why communications often break down (especially communications between employees and their managers.) Frequently asked questions include: 1. “How can I reduce the potential of sending messages that get misinterpreted?” 2. “Why do some people misread nonverbal communication?” 3. “What is the best way for me to communicate with my manager?” 4. “With more people doing business with foreign countries, what is the best way to overcome barriers in communication, when their customs, language, and ways of doing business are different from yours?” Answers to Student Questions 1. To reduce the potential of sending messages that will be misinterpreted, the sender has to be aware of the receiver before, during, and after the transmission of the message. As the textbook points out, there are four key steps to reducing misinterpretation: 1) Ensure that the receivers attend to the message they are sending; 2) Consider the other party’s frame of reference and attempt to convey the message from that perceptual viewpoint; 3) Take concrete steps to minimize perceptual errors and improper signals in both sending and receiving; and 4) Send consistent messages. 2. People misread nonverbal communication because it is often part of a mixed message — the non-verbal communication may be saying one thing, but the verbal communication is saying something else entirely. Also, people misread non-verbal communication because they don’t pay close attention to it — for example, they may look and see that someone is smiling, but not notice that the smile is only on the mouth — not in the eyes. Finally, ‘display rules’ for emotional expression vary by culture , so that while people from different cultures may express emotion in the same way physically (e.g., by smiling), cultures vary about the amount of expression they will display in public. 3. The best way to communicate with your boss is the way he or she prefers. Some bosses like to get information verbally — others would prefer written communications. Find out what your boss likes, and communicate that way. In addition, most bosses prefer regular updates to spur of the moment conversations. So take the time to prepare a brief update every week or two, to keep the boss current on your activities and projects. 4. While it is important to understand cultural differences, it is equally important to understand that labeling a problem as ‘cultural’ can mask the real issue. Consider, for example, the American marketing executive who was having trouble with an Indian engineer. She lived in New York, and he lived in the Silicon Valley. Finally, things got bad enough that the marketing executive flew to San Jose, to thrash out her differences with the engineer face-to-face. Within an hour they were laughing and talking, and the marketing executive admitted, “It has nothing to do with his being from Indian — he’s an engineer, and I’m in marketing!” CLASS ROADMAP POWERPOINTS Slide 1 Communication Slide 2 Chapter Introduction Quote Slide 3 Learning Objectives MANAGEMENT IN ACTION Soundcloud Prioritizes Information Flow SoundCloud is a start-up music- and audio-sharing platform that Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss founded in a Berlin nightclub in 2008. In a few short years, their company has grown into a highly valued resource, not only for established and aspiring musicians but also for their fans, who can connect with them on the site, and for those who enjoy listening to university lectures, comedy acts, radio shows, and arts reviews. SoundCloud currently hosts more than 135 million high-quality tracks accessed by more than 175 million users, and it employs 300 people in four different locations: Berlin (still the headquarters), London, New York, and San Francisco. Ljung and Wahforss built the company culture as a collaborative and entrepreneurial environment that minimizes hierarchy and top-down management. Product teams are responsible for creating their own workflows and communication flows, and product managers are charged with communicating their vision of the product to team members and ensuring that everyone takes ownership of it. SoundCloud’s flat organization and hands-off management style depend on a healthy flow of communication within and between the company’s functional groups, as well as across four different time zones. That flow is supported by a company intranet and chat platform, and by regular “All Hands” meetings that everyone is expected to attend (remotely or in person in Berlin). I. INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION POWERPOINTS Slide 4 Exhibit 15.1 A General Model of Communication Slide 5 One-Way and Two-Way Communication Slide 6 Communication Pitfalls Slide 7 Oral and Written Channels Slide 8 Oral Communication Slide 9 Written Communication Slide 10 Digital Media Slide 11 Advantages of Digital Communication Slide 12 Disadvantages of Digital Communication Slide 13 The Virtual Office Slide 14 Media Richness Slide 15 Social Enterprise Communication is the transmission of information and meaning from one party to another through the use of shared symbols. (Exhibit 15.1) •The Sender initiates the process by conveying information to the receiver. •The Receiver is the person for whom the message is intended. •The receiver decodes the message and attempts to interpret the sender’s meaning. •The receiver may provide feedback to the sender by encoding a message in response to the sender’s message. •The communication process is often hampered by noise or interference in the system that blocks perfect understanding. Example 15.1 – Sending and receiving: Ask the class to draw a picture of a flower. Don’t give any instruction except “Draw a flower,” even if the class pressures you to do so. You will get many different types of drawings — walk around the room and hand chalk to five or six people so they can put their drawings on the chalkboard. Now show the class a picture or drawing of the flower you had in mind when you gave the instruction, and ask them why their drawings don’t match that picture. The class will quickly inform you that there is something wrong with the communication process. Use this as a starting point to describe the model — you, the sender, encoded a picture of a flower and transmitted it to your class — the receivers. They, in turn, decoded what you said and gave you feedback (their drawings.) However, the communication process was likely to be hindered by noise (the class might have been hungry, sleepy or distracted, and people from different places have different ideas of what flowers look like.) Talk about how using a different communication medium (such as showing the class a picture, and saying ‘draw this’) might have changed the outcome of the process. LO 1: Discuss important advantages of two-way communication. A. One-way versus two-way communication 1. One-way communication is a process in which information flows in only one direction—from the sender to the receiver, with no feedback loop. 2. Two-way communication is a process in which information flows in two directions – the receiver provides feedback, and the sender is receptive to the feedback. LO 2: Identify communication problems to avoid. B. Communication Pitfalls 1. Errors can occur in all stages of the communication process. a. Encoding stage – words can be misused, decimal points typed in the wrong, facts left out, or ambiguous phrases inserted. b. Transmission stage – memos get lost, words on overhead are too small to read from far away, or words are spoken with ambiguous inflections. c. Decoding problems arise when the receiver doesn’t listen carefully or reads too quickly and overlooks a key point. i. Receivers can misinterpret the message. 2. Problems caused by perceptual and filtering processes. a. Perception is the process of receiving and interpreting information. b. Filtering is the process of withholding, ignoring, or distorting information C. Mixed Signals and Misperception 1. People don’t pay attention to everything going on around them. 2. People inadvertently send mixed signals. 3. Communication between people from different cultures presents communication breakdowns. Example 15.2 – Misinterpreting messages: Albert Fernandez, a State Department official, was interviewed on Al-Jazeera television late in 2006. In that interview, he said, in Arabic, “"History will decide what role the United States played. And God willing, we tried to do our best in Iraq. But I think there is a big possibility (inaudible) for extreme criticism and because undoubtedly there was arrogance and stupidity from the United States in Iraq." The statement caused an uproar in U.S. government circles, where it was perceived as being critical of U.S. foreign policy. However, a CNN interview with Fernandez offered a different interpretation. “Fernandez told CNN he was replying to a question about how people will assess the United States in the future, and he said he thought that was how the country would be judged. He was defending U.S. policy in a region where everyone dislikes the United States, he said, and was doing so in an aggressive way that was faithful to U.S. policy, and trying to put it in the best light. Fernandez said he was "not dissing U.S. policy." "I know what the policy is and what the red lines are, and nothing I said hasn't been said before by senior officials," the diplomat told CNN. "Nothing I said during this interview broke new ground." What went wrong in this communication process? CONNECT Manager’s Hot Seat Video Case: Listening Skills, Whatever SUMMARY Perception is the process of receiving and interpreting information. People often assume that others share their views, and naturally, pay more attention to their own views than to those of others. But perceptual differences get in the way of shared consensus. To remedy this situation, it helps to remember that others’ viewpoints are legitimate and to incorporate others’ perspectives into your interpretation of issues. The video presents discussions between Miguel and his supervisor Pilar regarding a project going over budget. Miguel did not act on Pilar’s direction in the first meeting, but Pilar believes Miguel was “jolted” into understanding during their second conversation. ACTIVITY This activity presents a nine-minute video and then offers multiple-choice questions focused on listening. CLASS DISCUSSION IDEAS Ask students to debrief Pilar on her initial conversation with Miguel. While Miguel exhibited obvious listening flaws, could Pilar have acted differently in the meeting to avoid the eventual client action? Teaching Tip Have your students enter the word “misspoke” into Google or another search engine. What kinds of stories and examples come up? Ask them to pick three and bring them to class. Then put them in groups and ask them to classify the problems in the stories and, as a group, discuss what could have been done to avoid the communication problems they see. LO 3: Describe when and how to use the various communication channels. D. Oral and Written Channels 1. Oral communication includes: a. Face-to-face discussion b. Telephone conversations c. Formal presentations and speeches. 2. Written communication includes: a. Memos b. Letters c. Reports d. Computer files E. Digital Communication and Social Media 1. Teleconferencing is used to interact with people in different locations over the telephone, and video conferencing occurs using television monitors. 2. Advantages: a. Sharing more information b. Speed and efficiency in delivering routine messages to large numbers of people across vast geographic areas. c. Inexpensive 3. Disadvantages: a. Difficulty of solving complex problems b. Inability to pick up subtle, nonverbal, or inflectional clues about what the communicator is thinking or conveying. c. Issues related to confidentiality or negative messages. d. Generational groups might prefer different mediums. 4. Managing the digital load is important, as employees might become overwhelmed with communication. The following suggestions can help: a. Respond to emails immediately b. Organize information in folders c. Don’t overburden others by unnecessarily copying them on emails 5. The virtual office is a mobile office in which people can work anywhere, as long as they have the tools to communicate with customers and colleagues. a. The long-term impact on productivity may be mixed: i. Positives a.) Saving money on rent and utilities b.) Access to whatever information is needed, wherever the employee is working c.) Most people like the flexibility which helps with selection and retention ii. Negatives a.) Loss of “human moments.” b.) Some people hate being forced to work at home c.) Long hours can cause burnout d.) Direct supervision may be necessary to maintain the quality of work. CONNECT ISeeIt! Animated Video: Communication SUMMARY This activity emphasizes the importance of communication skills, both verbal and written, as well as the obstacles that can create problems. The video discusses elements of the communication model and modes of communication. ACTIVITY Students view a three-minute lecture-type video and answer questions applying the elements of the communication mode. CLASS DISCUSSION IDEAS The instructor may wish to expand on student understanding by extending the conversation on what else may be considered “noise” in the communications process and how it may be minimized Example 15.3 – Electronic communications: Dan Brown, author of the bestselling novel, wrote an earlier book titled The Digital Fortress. On his website, www.danbrown.com, he lists several surprising lawsuits involving privacy in the workplace, especially as it applies to electronic communications. Lawsuits include “Shoars vs. Epson” where an employee was fired for not agreeing to monitor employee e-mail; “Bourke vs. Nissan Motors Corp.” where an employee was fired for sending personal messages on company e-mail; and “Smythe vs. The Pillsbury Co.” where an employee was fired after making inappropriate comments to his supervisor in an e-mail. In all three of the above cases, courts ruled that employees do not have a right to privacy when using corporate electronic communications. Multiple Generations at Work Bring Your Own Device to Work (BYOD) Many employees view their mobile devices as indispensable tools for both fun and work activities. According to Cheryl Tang, a senior manager for Symantec: “Today, work is no longer a place I go to, it’s something I do.” Organizations are adjusting to the changing times: nearly two‐thirds of firms currently allow employees to use personal smartphones and tablets for work‐related activities. There are several advantages and disadvantages of allowing employees to use their own devices for work, and these are discussed in the text box. F. Media Richness 1. Media richness is the amount of information a medium conveys. 2. The richest media is face-to-face because it is: a. More personal b. Provides quick feedback c. Allows lots of descriptive language d. Sends different types of cues Management in Action – Progress Report Soundcloud Uses Multiple Channels SoundCloud takes the quality of its internal communications so seriously that it has put a top manager directly in charge of them. It’s David Noël’s job to help the company’s 300 employees keep effortlessly in touch even though they work in four different cities and time zones. SoundCloud’s flat structure and minimal organizational hierarchy mean employees carry a great deal of responsibility for communicating with each other, fortunately, the company has many communication channels to rely on. SoundCloud’s regular All Hands meeting takes place a few times each quarter and focuses on a theme, such as new products, quarterly objectives, and strategy. All employees are expected to attend, whether remotely in real time or via recorded video or, in Berlin, in person. Other kinds of meetings that occur throughout the company are Town Halls and Open Houses. SoundCloud’s new intranet was adopted as the company grew and people began to encounter difficulties sharing information with each other. Called Opus, it has many more features than the wiki it replaced and always features new content from the internal communications team, which encourages users to visit regularly. For real-time communications, SoundCloud relies on Slack, the collaborative messaging platform, as well as Skype to connect the company’s four far-flung offices •What benefits does SoundCloud enjoy from implementing so many different communication channels? Students may present how the multiple platforms not only allow but encourage communication across multiple locations. The All Hands meeting allows for all employees to hear the same message and the Town Halls and Open Houses allow for more intimate communications within groups. •How well do you think the company is supporting its employees’ need to communicate across four different locations? What additional communication channels or tools could it add? Student answers will vary; however, the various presences of various platforms may indicate that the company is being effective. Students may point out that systems to manage communications among people in different time zones is not discussed. Suggested technologies will vary by class. II. IMPROVING COMMUNICATION SKILLS POWERPOINTS Slide 16 Improving Formal Presentations Slide 17 Nonverbal Skills Slide 18 Listening Slide 19 Keys to Effective Listening Slide 20 Observing LO 4: Summarize ways to become a better “sender” and “receiver” of information. A. Improving Sender Skills 1. Presentation and persuasion skills (Exhibit 15.3) 2. Writing skills 3. Language 4. Nonverbal Skills a. Use time appropriately b. Office arrangement should be conducive to open communication c. Body language d. Nonverbal signals in different countries B. Improving Receiver Skills 1. Listening (Exhibit 15.4) a. Reflection is a process by which a person states what he or she believes the other person is saying. 2. Reading 3. Observing III. ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION POWERPOINTS Slide 21 Downward Communication Slide 22 Exhibit 15.5 Organizational Communication Slide 23 Coaching and Open-Book Management Slide 24 Upward and Horizontal Communication Slide 25 Informal Communication Slide 26 Managing Informal Communication Slide 27 Boundarylessness Slide 28 Management in Action Slide 29 In Review LO 5: Explain how to improve downward, upward, and horizontal communication. A. Downward Communication refers to the flow of information from higher to lower levels of an organization’s hierarchy 1. Information overload 2. Information loss (Exhibit 15.5) 3. Lack of openness 4. Filtering 5. Coaching is dialogue with a goal of helping another be more effective and achieve his or her full potential on the job. 6. Downward communication in difficult times. 7. Open-book management is the practice of sharing with employees at all levels of the organization vital information previously meant for management’s eyes-only. Example 15.4 – Open book management: Transportation companies invest millions of dollars in the purchase and maintenance of their equipment; they may not be making the necessary investment in employees states Chuck Udell of Essential Action Design Group. To address this problem, Mr. Udell feels every company should communicate three clarities to employees: company’s direction focus on goals, where the company is headed, and the company’s gross profit goal. In this way, employees will know how they contribute to profitability, understand their responsibilities and have a clear measurement of expectations and quantitative analysis. To promote open communication, companies must practice open-book management. B. Upward communication travels from lower to higher ranks in the hierarchy. 1. Managing upward communication. a. Managers should facilitate upward communication. b. Managers should motivate people to provide valid information C. Horizontal communication is information shared among people on the same hierarchical level. 1. It allows sharing of information, coordination, and problem-solving among units. 2. It helps solve conflicts. 3. It provides social and emotional support to people, by allowing interaction among peers a. The need for Managing Horizontal Communication is similar to the need for integration discussed in Chapter 8 LO 6: Summarize how to work with the company grapevine. D. Informal Communication 1. Formal communications a. Official, organization-sanctioned episodes of information transmission. 2. Informal communication is a. More unofficial. b. Gossip c. Rumors d. Grapevine is an informal communication network 3. Managing informal communication a. Managers should talk to the key people involved to get the facts and their perspectives. b. Suggestions for preventing rumors from starting include: i. Explaining things that are important but have not been explained ii. Dispel uncertainties by providing facts iii. Work to establish open communications and trust over time. c. Neutralize rumors once they have started Example 15.5 – Preventing rumors: Trust in management is created through day-to-day interactions, but if employees don’t see senior leaders on a regular basis, their perceptions of trust are based on what they read or see about the leader on company videos or what they hear through the grapevine. In a recent study of trust and communication, employees rated the following five topics as being most important to them and deserving more open communication: 1) compensation; 2) incentives/bonuses; 3) career advancement opportunities; 4) health coverage/retirement benefits; 5) training/career advancement. LO 7: Describe the boundaryless organization and its advantages. E. Boundarylessness 1. Boundaryless organizations have no barriers to information flow. a. As a result, information gets where it’s needed quickly 2. Four kinds of boundaries a. Floors and ceilings— separate organizational levels b. Walls that separate rooms— separate different units and departments c. External walls— separate the organization from external stakeholders d. Global boundaries— separate domestic from global operations 3. Techniques for breaking boundaries at GE a. Workout program— meetings across multiple hierarchical levels b. Benchmarking competitors c. Placing different functions together physically d. Sharing services across different units e. Sharing physical locations with customers Example 15.6 – Boundaryless Organization: In their book The Boundaryless Organization, Noel Tichy and his coauthors describe several different boundaryless organizations, including General Re, a large reinsurer which uses marketers as “customer advocates”, and SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, which involved over one hundred people in a discussion about how its support system for worldwide sales should be reorganized. Management in Action Onward Boundaryless Communication at SoundCloud SoundCloud has grown rapidly since its founding in 2008. When the company consisted of only a few dozen employees, it was easy for everyone to keep informed and connected. But although SoundCloud has managed to retain its flat organization and lack of hierarchy as it’s grown, it did experience some communications challenges as the number of employees rose to about 300 people, and operations expanded from Berlin headquarters to additional offices in London, San Francisco, and New York. To address those challenges, the format of SoundCloud’s regular company-wide and team meetings has been honed over time to better serve the now larger employee community. The company’s new intranet also helps keep employees in touch, as do Skype and Slack, the commercial messaging platform. And SoundCloud has one more innovative tool for bringing people together and encouraging the free flow of information—a program it calls Cameos. Cameos lets any SoundCloud employee request the opportunity to sit in on any other team’s meeting or offsite event. For instance, David Noël, the company’s director of internal communications, once attended an offsite meeting of engineering managers that was called to discuss the results of a workplace happiness survey. The only requirement for those using Cameos is that they must share at least one interesting fact about their own team and take one new idea back from the meeting to share with their team in turn. Even senior management’s quarterly offsite meetings have been opened to Cameo appearances. Three employees, chosen at random from a pool of nominees, spend half a day each at a recent top-level meeting held offsite over a day and a half. Noël found that these employees’ experiences, which they wrote about on the company blog, created a sense of transparency that helped everyone better understand management’s plans for the future and their potential impact. •In what other ways besides Cameos do you think SoundCloud could encourage internal communication that moves in all directions? Student answers will vary. Students may mention the need for training and feedback on communications effectiveness. •David Noël calls effective internal communications the “glue” that holds a thriving workplace together. What does this analogy mean? Do you agree or disagree with the idea? Noël may be saying that without communication, work cannot be coordinated and shared purpose is unlikely. Communication will also allow for greater cohesion and connections within the organization. CONNECT Click and Drag: Communication at Cupcake Kingdom (Keyboard navigable alternate version available.) SUMMARY The goal of this activity is to consider patterns of communication and their impact on effective teams. The activity presents a short case discussing Cupcake Kingdom. The firm has a strong culture where open communication is encouraged. Colleen Jenkins, the founder, and CEO has always practiced open-book management, believing that the success of her company is and always has been a team effort. In this exercise, students review some of the communication between individuals working at Cupcake Kingdom and match the pattern of communication with the employee demonstrating that pattern. ACTIVITY After a brief concept review, students are read the Cupcake Kingdom case and complete an exercise matching eight communications examples to the appropriate communication type. CLASS DISCUSSION IDEAS The instructor may wish to ask students for examples from the school or other known organization of the communication types from the exercise. Alternatively, the types could be expanded upon by asking students for advantages and disadvantages of each type. CONNECT Click and Drag: Organizational Communication (Keyboard navigable alternate version available.) SUMMARY Information is constantly transmitted throughout the organization. Organizational patterns of communication may include communication traveling upward, downward, horizontally, and informally. ACTIVITY Students match six communications to the specific type of communication they represent. CLASS DISCUSSION IDEAS To expand student understanding, ask students for examples from the school of the communication forms presented in the exercise. Alternatively, the types could be expanded upon by asking students for advantages and disadvantages of each type. BOTTOM LINE How can two-way communication with your supervisor help you deliver results as an employee? Employees need to hear and understand what the supervisor expects them to accomplish. They need to verify their understanding and request any needed resources they do not already have. They also need to be sure the supervisor recognizes what they are doing, so that performance can be corrected or reinforced. The supervisor and employees alike need feedback to clarify whether their communication is effective. What forms of electronic communication do you use (on the job or for personal use)? Answers will vary. Most likely, today’s students use at least one or two forms of electronic communication, whether or not they currently have a job. Examples might include cell phones (for voice or text), instant messaging, e-mail, social networking, video conferencing, file-sharing sites, blogs, microblogging (Twitter), and Internet phone services such as Skype. For employees to be motivated by open-book management, what kinds of information would they need besides sales and profit numbers? Employees need information about what those numbers mean and how their own activities shape the results being measured by those numbers. They also should have information (verbal and nonverbal) that their ideas for improvement are heard and applied as appropriate so that employees are motivated as well as informed. SOCIAL ENTERPRISES When the Message Is a Story When the Message is a story, everyone loves a good story, but for social enterprises, storytelling also serves a critical function. More than mere facts, analysis, or numerical data, a well-told story informs stakeholders about the work of the organization, builds their commitment and advocacy, spreads the word about the organization’s impact, and can even help secure funding that contributes to its survival. From grant and funding applications to case studies, blogs, press releases, social media pages, reports for stakeholders, documentary films, and online photo essays, social enterprises can tell their stories in many creative ways. The goal of the message is to engage the receivers’ emotions and imaginations and motivate them to act. From grant and funding applications to case studies, blogs, press releases, social media pages, reports for stakeholders, documentary films, and online photo essays, social enterprises can tell their stories in many creative ways. The goal of the message is to engage the receivers’ emotions and imaginations and motivate them to act. 1. Why is storytelling a more powerful tool for change than a list of results or facts? A well-told story informs stakeholders about the work of the organization, builds their commitment and advocacy, spreads the word about the organization’s impact, and can even help secure funding that contributes to its survival. Stories can establish a shared vision with readers or listeners and motivate them to join the social enterprise’s campaign or become part of its community. 2. What do social enterprises need to know about their audiences in order to successfully communicate their stories? Why? While story elements will be the substantially the same, the target of the communication will call for different elements of the story to be emphasized. Ideally, the story will be customized to target the particular interest of the audience. LECTURETTES LECTURETTE 15.1: Barriers to Communication THE NATURE OF COMMUNICATION 1. Communication is the critical key for all facets of human endeavor. Man’s ability to think and to transmit those thoughts through a process of communication is the binding element for all social interaction. 2. The relative success or failure of all human endeavors depends, to a large degree, upon the effectiveness of man’s communication processes. 3. The word communication comes from the Latin word communis, which means common. Thus, when a person communicates, there is an effort to establish a degree of commonness with someone else. 4. Therefore, communication is a two-way process by which people communicate with people, not to people. 5. People communicate by what they say and by what they don’t say. 6. People communicate by what they do and by what they don’t do. 7. Organizational communication has two purposes. (1) to provide information required for decision-making and control and (2) to influence and motivate people for the achievement of organizational goals. THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS 1. Communication is a process initiated when the source or sender has an idea or emotion to share with a receiver. 2. Through a set of encoding skills, the sender translates the idea or emotion into a transmittable message, which is transmitted through one or more communication channels. 3. The receiver, using a set of decoding skills, translates the transmittal into an idea, emotion, or another message form. 4. Using encoding skills, the receiver provides the sender with message feedback, and the process begins again. THE MAJOR BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION 1. Communication effectiveness is determined by the ability of the communicators to deal with a number of barriers to the communication process. The major barriers to communication are outlined briefly below: Physical Noise – communication often fails simply because of physical noise, such as that found in some factory environments. Similar communication problems arise when one party has impaired hearing. When verbal communication is obstructed, written communication may have to be used, although written communication can be ineffective due to poor lighting, glare, and so on. The Sender or Source of Communication – communication is often distorted by the receiver’s perception of or attitudes toward the sender or source of the communication. People tend to hear what they want to hear. If we like the sender, we are apt to like what we hear. If we don’t like the sender, we are apt to not like what we hear. In effect, the content of the message is influenced by attitudes toward the source of that message. Organizational Distance – miscommunication is common between people who hold positions at different levels in an organization. For instance, a conversation between the CEO of an aerospace firm and a forklift operator may fail to achieve a mutual understanding of a work situation. Physical Distance and Time – the most accurate communication results from face-to-face communication. The further apart the communicators, the more miscommunication occurs. For field managers, there is also a psychological barrier against bureaucratic directives received from a distant corporate headquarters office. Time can also be a serious barrier to communication. Many managers experience problems with communication difficulties between workers from different shifts. Physical Arrangements – good communication is facilitated by face-to-face situations with good eye contact and close interpersonal relations. Therefore, the arrangement of desks, workstations, and other fixtures can impact communication. Other spatial arrangement problems arise from such difficulties as those experienced by American males who are uncomfortable when required to work too close together. Lack of Common knowledge – when two people do not share common knowledge, miscommunication is almost certain to result, especially in this age of high-tech working environments. This problem is worsened by the use of technical jargon or “gobbledygook,” that is too often used in an attempt to impress others, not communicate with them. Perception – this is the way a person experiences and understands the universe. People do not respond to the reality of their environment but to their unique perception of it. Each of us has our own unique perceptual values and processes that make it difficult for us to agree on situations that surround our lives. Perceptual readiness is the tendency to perceive what we expect to receive, which is usually based on first impressions. For example, parents tend to see their daughter as their “little girl” long after she has become a grown woman. We are also plagued with the problem of selective perception, by which we select from the millions of communication stimuli around us only a few messages to consciously receive and process. Lack of Concentration and Distractions – many communication problems result from the failure of people to concentrate on the communication process. Most commonly, failure to listen carefully results in poor communication. Similarly, some form of distraction often breaks concentration. That is, a listener may fail to concentrate on the speaker’s words because the listener is distracted by some mannerism of the sender that is annoying or fascinating. Semantics – the meaning of the word, is the source of many communication problems. If we agree that people are unique and have unique perceptual processes, it is not surprising that words mean different things to different people. Some words (drugs, gangs, gays, capitalists, terrorists, and so on) are “loaded” with different and conflicting meanings. Communication Style – each person has a personalized and unique style of communication – a predisposition to use certain words, gestures, communication channels, and so on. Some communication styles may be effective in certain situations and not in others. With concentrated effort, communication styles can be changed and made more adaptive. LECTURETTE 15.2: Readability and Corporate Communication ILLITERACY IN THE UNITED STATES A 1986 study by the U.S. Census Bureau found that 27 million adult Americans couldn’t read. Still another 35 million are functionally illiterate, meaning that they read so poorly that they find it difficult to cope with daily activities. Each year, another 2.3 million Americans join the population of functional illiterates. Of the functionally illiterates, more than 1 million attend high school, and many graduated from high school. By the year 2000, 70 percent of the U.S. adult population will be functionally illiterate. READABILITY DEFINED Readability is concerned with the degree to which the reader can share meaning with the writer. The classic definition of readability treats three principal aspects of the reading process: (1) comprehension; (2) fluency; and (3) interest. Comprehension is concerned with the reader’s understanding of words and phrases and to the reader’s ability to relate the written ideas to one’s personal experience. Fluency is concerned with the degree to which the person can read a given passage at optimum speed. Fluency emphasizes the perceptual processes and their impact on reading. Interest is concerned with the motivational aspects of the printed material that affect interest. In determining the readability of written materials, research has applied a wide range of measurement criteria, including: (1) reader’s interest; (2) reader’s prior knowledge; (3) familiarly; (4) document design; (5) length of the material; (6) number of words per sentence; (7) the number of syllables per word; (8) paragraph length; (9) syntax, or the complexity of sentence structure; (10) concept complexity; (11) concept density; (12) abstractness; (13) organization; (14) idea coherence; (15) idea sequence; (16) page format; (17) punctuation; (18) illustrations; and (19) the use of color. U.S. READABILITY LEVELS Even though the mean level of education for American adults is 12.3 years, the average readability level is far below that. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 30 million adult Americans read below the fifth-grade level. Another 50 million American adults read between the fifth and eighth-grade levels. Thus, some 100 million American adults read at or above the eighth-grade level. Putting it another way, more than one-third of American adults read below the eighth-grade level. PLAIN LANGUAGE LAWS In 1566 A.D., a plaintiff stretched a normal 16-page court pleading to 120 pages, and the angry judge ordered that, in addition to a ten-pound fine and imprisonment, the “warden shall: (1) cut a hole through the pleading; (2) put the plaintiff’s head through the hole; and (3) lead him around about Westminster Hall while the courts are sitting.” (Milward v. Weldon, 1566). Then, for four centuries, the judicial system has continued to struggle with the problem of readability. Beginning with New York in 1975, seven states have passed Plain Language Laws that are dedicated to simplifying consumer-oriented documents such as loan contracts, rental agreements, and mortgages. The New Jersey law, for example, states, “A consumer contract shall be simple, clear, and understandable, and easily readable.” In practice, “easily readable” usually means about the eighth-grade level. Consumer frustration with the inability to decipher complicated written documents is widespread in the United States. READABILITY PROBLEMS IN THE UNITED STATES 1. The following are examples of readability problems with consumer-oriented documentation: A mother with an eighth-grade reading level cannot read the antidote information on a can of Draino. Over half of the buyers of over-the-counter drugs need help I comprehending enclosed cautions and dosage instructions. Three out of four patients at family planning clinics cannot comprehend the printed information in the patient package insert (PPI) for the oral contraceptive being issued by the clinics. J.C. Penney Company provides consumer guides on such subjects as drapery fabrics, microwave ovens, and home insulation. These are written at the eighth-grade level. Forty-three percent of life insurance buyers cannot read their policies. Most life insurance application forms require twelfth-grade comprehension. Telephone bill information can be understood only by those who read at or above the ninth grade level. Twenty-five million American adults cannot read the menus posted at fast-food restaurants. The editorial content of the average daily newspaper cannot be read by a person with an eighth-grade reading level. More than one-third of American adults cannot read the U.S. Constitution. 2. As the number of functionally illiterate Americans is increasing at the rate of 2.3 million a year, it is imperative that corporate America do a better job of lowering the readability levels of its documents in order to overcome the above examples of readability barriers that alienate their consumers. Instructor Manual for Management: Leading and Collaborating in a Competitive World Thomas S. Bateman, Scott A. Snell, Robert Konopaske 9781259927645, 9781259546945