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Transcript of Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition....
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Communication
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
• The Communication Process• Barriers to Effective Communication• Communication Flows in Organizations• Creating Effective Mechanisms for
Communication• Current Issues in Communication
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Communication
• How can we improve communication?• How does communication flow in
organizations?• Do men and women communicate differently?
Questions for ConsiderationQuestions for Consideration
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Communication Problems
• People spend nearly 70 percent of their waking hours communicating—writing, reading, speaking, listening
• WorkCanada survey of 2039 Canadians in six industrial and service categories found – 61 percent of senior executives believed that they did a good job of
communicating with employees. – Only 33 percent of the managers and department heads believed
that senior executives were effective communicators. – Only 22 percent of hourly workers, 27 percent of clerical employees,
and 22 percent of professional staff reported that senior executives did a good job of communicating with them.
• Canadians reported less favourable perceptions about their company’s communications than did Americans
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Communication Terms
• Communication– The transfer of meaning among people
• Sender – Establishes a message, encodes the message,
and chooses the channel to send it
• Receiver – Decodes the message and provides feedback
to the sender
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Exhibit 1 -- The Communication Process
Model
Providesfeedback
Receiver
Chooses thechannel
Source
Decodes themessage
Chooses amessage
Encodes themessage
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Communication Terms
• Message– What is communicated.
• Encoding– Converting a message to symbolic form.
• Channel– The medium through which a message travels
• Decoding– Retranslating a sender’s message.
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Choosing Channels
• Channels differ in their capacity to convey information.
• Rich channels have the ability to – Handle multiple cues simultaneously– Facilitate rapid feedback– Be very personal
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Channelrichness
Type ofmessage
Informationmedium
Leanest
Richest Nonroutine,ambiguous
Routine,clear
Face to facetalk
Telephone
Computer
Memos,letters
Flyers, bulletinsgeneral reports
Exhibit 2Hierarchy of Channel
Richness
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Barriers to Effective Communication
• Filtering– Refers to a sender manipulating
information so that it will be seen more favourably by the receiver.
• Selective Perception– Receivers in the communication process
selectively see and hear based on their needs, motivations, experience, background, and other personal characteristics.
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Barriers to Effective Communication
• Defensiveness– When individuals interpret another’s
message as threatening, they often respond in ways that retard effective communication.
• Language– Words mean different things to different
people.
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Communication Flows in Organizations
• Downward– Communication that flows from one level of a group
to a lower level• Managers to employees
• Upward– Communication that flows to a higher level of a group
• Employees to manager
• Lateral– Communication among members of the same work
group, or individuals at the same level
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Networks
• Connections by which information flow– Formal
•Task-related communications that follow the authority chain
– Informal•Communications that flow along
social and relational lines
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Exhibit 3 Networks and Their Effectiveness
All-ChannelWheelChain
ModerateHighModerateModerate
SpeedAccuracy
Emergence of a leaderMember satisfaction
FastHighHighLow
FastModerateNoneHigh
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
The Grapevine
• 75 percent of employees hear about matters first through rumours on the grapevine
• Grapevine: the organization’s informal network• Grapevine has three main characteristics
– Not controlled by management– Most employees perceive it as being more believable
and reliable than formal communiqués issued by top management
– Largely used to serve the self-interests of those people within it
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Purpose of Rumours
• To structure and reduce anxiety
• To make sense of limited or fragmented information
• To serve as a vehicle to organize group members, and possibly outsiders, into coalitions
• To signal a sender’s status or power
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Exhibit 4 Reducing the Negative Consequences of
Rumours1. Announce timetables for making important
decisions.2. Explain decisions and behaviours that may
appear inconsistent or secretive.3. Emphasize the downside, as well as the upside,
of current decisions and future plans.4. Openly discuss worst case possibilities; it is
almost never as anxiety provoking as the unspoken fantasy.
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Creating Effective Mechanisms for Communication
• Mechanisms– The practices that bring what you stand for
to life and stimulate change
• They are intended to demonstrate how the communication should be accomplished
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Nonverbal Communication
• Messages conveyed through body movements, facial expressions, and the physical distance between the sender and the receiver– Kinesics
• The study of body motions, such as gestures, facial configurations, and other movements of the body
– Proxemics• The study of physical space in interpersonal
relationships
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Communication Barriers Between Men and Women
• Men use talk to emphasize status, women use it to create connection
• Women and men tend to approach points of conflict differently
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Communication Barriers Between Men and Women
• Men and women view directness and indirectness differently– Women interpret male directness as an
assertion of status and one-upmanship– Men interpret female indirectness as covert,
sneaky, and weak
• Men criticize women for apologizing, but women say “I’m sorry” to express empathy
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Cross-Cultural Communication Difficulties• Sources of barriers
– Semantics – Word connotations– Tonal differences
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Culture Contexts
• Cultures differ in how much the context makes a difference in communication– High-context cultures
•Cultures that rely heavily on nonverbal and subtle situational cues in communication.
– Low-context cultures•Cultures that rely heavily on words to
convey meaning in communication
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Exhibit 5 High- vs. Low-Context
CulturesHigh
context
Lowcontext
Chinese
Korean
Japanese
Vietnamese
Arab
Greek
Spanish
Italian
English
North American
Scandinavian
Swiss
German
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Cross-Cultural Communications: Helpful
Rules• Assume differences until similarity is
proven.
• Emphasize description rather than interpretation or evaluation.
• Practise empathy.
• Treat your interpretations as a working hypothesis.
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Tips for Writing and Sending E-mail
• Don’t send e-mails without a subject line• Be careful in your use of emoticons and
acronyms for business communications • Write your message clearly and briefly• Copy e-mails to others only if they really
need the information• Sleep on angry e-mails before sending to
be sure you are sending the right message
Chapter 6, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.
Summary and Implications:
Communication• A common theme regarding the relationship between
communication and employee satisfaction– The less uncertainty, the greater the satisfaction– Distortions, ambiguities, and incongruities all increase
uncertainty
• Less distortion in communication equals– More goal attainment, and better feedback– Reduction in ambiguity and distortion
• Ambiguity between verbal and nonverbal communiqués increase uncertainty and reduce satisfaction
• The goal of perfect communication is unattainable• The issue of communication is critical to motivation