Management a practical introduction 3rd kinicky chapter 15

Kinicki/Williams, Management: A Practical Introduction 3e ©2008, McGraw-Hill/Irwin How Managers Fit into the Process  Communication in the Information Age  Improving Communication Eff

Kinicki/Williams, Management: A Practical Introduction 3e ©2008, McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 How Managers Fit into the Process

 Communication in the Information Age

 Improving Communication Effectiveness

15.1 The Communication Process:

What It Is, How It Works

WHY DO WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE

COMMUNICATION PROCESS?

 Communication is the transfer of information and understanding from one person to another

 Good communication skills, both written and oral,

are essential to success

 One study found that managers spend over 80 percent of their day communicating

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15.1 The Communication Process:

What It Is, How It Works

Communication is a process

The sender is the person wanting to share information,

called a message, and the receiver is the person for whom the message is intended

Messages have to be encoded (translated into

understandable symbols or language)

Then, messages have to be decoded (interpreted and made sense of)

The pathway by which a message travels is the medium

Feedback is the receiver’s reaction to the sender’s message

Any disturbance that interferes with the transmission of a

message is noise

The Communication Process

Basic Model

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15.1 The Communication Process:

What It Is, How It Works

Figure 15.1: The Communication Process

The Communication Process

Expanded Model

Kinicki/Williams, Management: A Practical Introduction 3e ©2008, McGraw-Hill/Irwin

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Noise!

Noise!

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The Communication Process

Did you finish

your assignment?

What assignment do you mean?

15.1 The Communication Process:

What It Is, How It Works

HOW DO MANAGERS KNOW WHICH TYPE OF COMMUNICATION TOOL TO USE?

Managers need to know how to use the right type of

communication tool for a given situation

How well a particular medium conveys information and

promotes learning is referred to as media richness

Media are positioned along a continuum ranging from high media richness (face-to-face communication) to low media richness (impersonal written media like newsletters)

In nonroutine situations, a rich medium works best

In routine situations, a lean medium works better

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The Selecting the Right Media

Face-to-face

presence

conferencing

Video-Telephone Personal written

media (e-mail, memos, letters)

Impersonal written media (newsletters, fliers, general reports)

High Media Richness

(Best for nonroutine,

ambiguous situations)

Low Media Richness

(Best for routine, clear situations)

Chapter 15: Interpersonal &

Organizational Communication

CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE SYSTEM

The pathway by which a message travels is called

A) encoding

B) decoding

C) the medium

D) feedback

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15.2 Barriers To Communication

WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS TO

COMMUNICATION?

 Communication barriers are anything that

interferes with accurate communication between two people

 There are three types of barriers:

1 Physical barriers include things like time-zone

differences, office walls, and crashed computers

15.2 Barriers To Communication

2 Semantic barriers occur when words can be

interpreted in different ways

 Does “right away” mean today, tomorrow, in the

next hour?

 The problem is intensified when jargon

(terminology specific to a particular profession or

group) is used

3 There are nine personal barriers that contribute to miscommunication:

Kinicki/Williams, Management: A Practical Introduction 3e ©2008, McGraw-Hill/Irwin

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15.2 Barriers To Communication

 -variable skills in communicating effectively

 Some people are naturally better communicators than others

 -variations in how information is processed &

interpreted

 People use different frames of reference and

experiences to interpret information

 -variations in trustworthiness & credibility

 Communication is often flawed when there is a lack

of trust between the sender and receiver

15.2 Barriers To Communication

 -oversized egos

 Egos influence how we treat each other and how receptive we are to be influenced by others

 -faulty listening skills

 Sometimes, people simply fail to listen properly

 -tendency to judge others’ messages

 People judge others’ statements from their own point of view

 -inability to listen with understanding

 It can be hard to put yourself in someone’s else’s shoes and really listen

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15.2 Barriers To Communication

 -stereotypes & prejudices

 Stereotypes consist of oversimplified beliefs about

a certain group of people and can influence

communication

 -nonverbal communication

 Gestures and facial expressions are an important part of communication

15.2 Barriers To Communication

WHAT IS NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION?

Messages sent outside of the written or spoken word is

nonverbal communication

Nonverbal communication can be expressed through:

1 Interpersonal space (how close or far away one should be when communicating) is a source of misunderstandings

Some cultures stand much closer than others

2 Interpretations of facial expressions like smiling can differ across cultures

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15.2 Barriers To Communication

3 Eye contact signals the beginning and end of

conversations, expresses emotions, monitors feedback, and can express the type of relationship between the people

communicating

4 Body movements and gestures are culture specific, so

interpreting them can be difficult

5 Norms for touching vary significantly by country

6 Setting

The setting in which the communication takes place

influences how it is received

7 Time

Keeping people waiting, not providing adequate time for tasks, and so on are all ways that time becomes a form of nonverbal communication

 Men tend to be more direct and blunt, women have

a softer approach, for example

 Similarly, men tend to be stingy with praise while women hand out lots of compliments

Kinicki/Williams, Management: A Practical Introduction 3e ©2008, McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 There are three types of formal communications:

vertical , horizontal , and external

15.3 How Managers Ft Into The

Communications Process

1 Vertical communication flows up and down the

organizational hierarchy

Downward communication flows from a higher level to a

lower level while upward communication flows from a lower level to a high level

2 Horizontal communication flows within and between work

units - its main purpose is coordination

Horizontal communication is encouraged through the use of committees, task forces, and matrix structures

3 External communication flows between people inside and

outside the organization

It involves people like customers, suppliers, and

shareholders

Kinicki/Williams, Management: A Practical Introduction 3e ©2008, McGraw-Hill/Irwin

 Two informal channels are the grapevine (the

unofficial communication system of the informal

organization) and management-by-wandering around

(a manager literally walking around and talking with people across all lines of authority)

15.4 Communication In The Information Age

HOW CAN MANAGERS USE INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY TO COMMUNICATE?

Information technology can allow managers to communicate

more effectively

There are several types of information technology including:

1 The internet, intranets, & extranets

The Internet is a network of computer networks

Two private uses of the Internet are intranets (an

organization’s private Internet) and extranets (an extended

intranet that connects internal employees with selected

customers, suppliers, and other strategic partners)

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15.4 Communication In The Information Age

2 E-mail

E-mail (electronic mail that is sent via the Internet) reduces the cost of distributing information, increases teamwork,

reduces paper costs, and increases flexibility

However, it can also lead to wasted time dealing with spam

(unsolicited jokes and junk mail), information overload, and

neglect of other media

15.4 Communication In The Information Age

4 Group Support Systems

 Group support systems use state-of-the-art

computer software and hardware to help people work better together

 They allow people to share information without time

or space constraints

 Companies with these systems can create virtual teams

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15.4 Communication In The Information Age

5 Telecommuting

 Telecommuting involves doing work that is usually

done at the office away from the office

 Telecommuters use phone, fax, and the Internet to communicate

 Telecommuting can: reduce capital costs, increase flexibility and autonomy for workers, provide a

competitive advantage when recruiting, increase job satisfaction, increase productivity, and allow

companies to tap nontraditional workers

15.4 Communication In The Information Age

6 Handheld Devices

Handheld devices like PDAs and smartphones allow

workers to work from anywhere

7 Blogs

A blog is an online journal in which people write whatever they want about any topic

Blogs give people an informal means of discussing issues

However, they’re not always accurate, they can be used to say unflattering things about the company, and there aren’t any guidelines about what is acceptable to post

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15.4 Communication In The Information Age

WHAT PROBLEMS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH

15.5 Improving Communication

Effectiveness

HOW CAN YOU BE A BETTER LISTENER?

 To be a better listener, managers should:

 -judge content, not the delivery

 -ask questions and summarize remarks

 -listen for ideas

 -resist distractions and show interest

 -give a fair hearing and correct for personal biases

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15.5 Improving Communication

Effectiveness

HOW CAN YOU BE A BETTER READER?

To streamline reading, managers should

-be savvy about periodicals and books - focus on the

important stuff

-transfer their reading load - get employees to write up

summaries of important books

-make internal memos and e-mail more efficient

-use the five steps of the top down reading system: rate

reasons to read, question and predict answers, survey the big picture, skim for main ideas, and summarize

Effective Reading

Top-Down Reading – RQ3S

 R ate reasons to read

 Q uestion and predict answers

 S urvey the big picture – get overview

 S kim for main ideas

 S ummarize as you skim

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15.5 Improving Communication

Effectiveness

HOW CAN YOU BE A BETTER WRITER?

Don’t show your ignorance - be sure to proofread and use spelling and grammar checks before sending e-mails

Understand your strategy before you write - when writing, lay out ideas: most important to least important, least

controversial to most controversial, and negative to positive

Start with your purpose - state your purpose and what you expect of the reader

Write simply, concisely, and directly - be direct and use an active voice

Telegraph your writing with a powerful layout - make your writing easy to read by using highlighting and white space

15.5 Improving Communication

Effectiveness

HOW CAN YOU BE A BETTER SPEAKER?

1 Tell them what you’re going to say - the introduction of your speech should prepare listeners for the rest of the speech

It should take about 5-15 percent of your time

2 Say it - this part of the speech should take 75-90 percent of your time

Be succinct

3 Tell them what you said - the conclusion can be as

important as the introduction

It should take about 5-10 percent of your time