1. Communicating in the Internet Age
Chapter Twelve
Communicating in the Internet Age

2. Chapter Objectives
Identify each major link in the communication process.
Explain the concept of media richness and the Lengel-Daft contingency model of media selection.
Identify the five communication strategies and specify guidelines for using them.
Discuss why it is important for managers to know about grapevine and nonverbal communication.
Explain ways in which management can encourage upward communication.

3. Chapter Objectives (cont’d)
Identify and describe four barriers to communication.
List two practical tips for each of the three modern communication technologies ( , cell phones, and videoconferences) and summarize the pros and cons of telecommuting.
List at least three practical tips for improving each of the following communication skills: listening, writing, and running a meeting.

4. The Communication Process
The interpersonal transfer of information and understanding from one person to another
A linked social process of sender, encoding, medium, decoding, receiver, and feedback

5. Figure 12.1: The Basic Communication Process

6. Encoding
Translating internal thought patterns into a language or code the intended receiver of the message will likely understand and/or pay attention to
Choice of words, gestures, or other symbols for encoding depends on the nature of the message.
Technical or nontechnical
Emotional or factual
Visual or auditory
Cultural diversity can create encoding challenges.

7. Selecting a Medium Face-to-face conversations Telephone calls E-mails
Memorandums
Letters
Computer reports
Photographs
Bulletin boards
Meetings
Organizational publications
News releases
Press conferences
Advertising

8. Selecting a Medium (cont’d)
Moving between low- and high-context cultures can create appropriate media selection problems.
In low-context cultures, the verbal content of the message is more important than the medium through which it is delivered.
In high-context cultures, the context (setting) in which the message is delivered is more important than the literal words of the message.

9. A Contingency Approach (Lengel and Daft)
Media richness: A given medium’s capacity to convey information and promote learning
Characteristics of rich mediums
Provide simultaneous multiple information cues
Facilitate immediate feedback
Have a personal focus
Characteristics of lean mediums
Convey limited information (few cues)
Provide no immediate feedback
Impersonal by nature

10. Figure 12.2: The Lengel-Daft Contingency Model of Media Selection
Source: Robert H. Lengel and Richard L. Daft, “The Selection of Communication Media as an Executive Skill,” Academy of Management Executive, 2 (August 1988): 226, 227, exhibits 1 and 2. Reprinted by permission.

11. Decoding Successful decoding depends on the receiver having:
A willingness to receive the message
Knowledge of the language and terminology used in the message
An understanding of the sender’s purpose and background situation

12. Feedback
The choice factors for the form to provide feedback are the same factors governing the encoding process.
Feedback affects the form and content of follow-up communication.
Effective feedback is timely, relevant, and personal.

13. Noise Noise is any interference with the normal flow of communication.
Understanding decreases as noise increases.
To deal with noise:
Make messages more understandable.
Minimize and neutralize sources of interference.

14. Figure 12.3: Clampitt’s Communication Process
Source: Philip G. Clampitt, Robert J. DeKoch, and Thomas Cashman, "A Strategy for Communicating about Uncertainty," ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT EXECUTIVE, 14 (November 2000): 48. Copyright 2000 by Academy of Management. Reproduced with permission of Academy of Management in the format Textbook via Copyright Clearance Center.

15. Communication Strategies
Spray & Pray
Impersonal and one-way communications (lectures)
Tell & Sell
A restricted set of messages with explanations for their importance and relevance
Underscore & Explore
Information and issues that are keys to organizational success are discussed and explained.

16. Communication Strategies (cont’d)
Identify & Reply
Responding to employee concerns about prior organizational communications
Withhold & Uphold
Telling employees only what they need to know when you think they need to know it

17. Communication Strategies (cont’d)
Seeking a Middle-Ground Communication Strategy
Avoid Spray & Pray and Withhold & Uphold.
Use Tell & Sell and Identify & Reply sparingly.
Use Underscore & Explore as much as possible.
Merging Communication Strategies and Media Richness
Managers need to select the richest medium possible when employing Tell & Sell, Identify & Reply, and Underscore & Explore strategies.

18. The Grapevine
The grapevine is the unofficial and informal communication system in an organization.
Words of Caution About the E-Grapevine and “Blogs”
Web logs (“blogs,” or online diaries) vastly and instantly extend the reach of the grapevine.
Writers of blogs and senders of e-gossip leave electronic trails that may prove embarrassing or worse at a later date.

19. The Grapevine (cont’d)
Managerial Attitudes Toward the Grapevine
Managers have predominately negative feelings about the grapevine.
The grapevine is more prevalent at lower levels of the managerial hierarchy.
The grapevine is likely to be more influential in larger organizations.
The grapevine can help managers learn how employees truly feel about policies and programs.

20. The Grapevine (cont’d)
Coping with the Grapevine
The grapevine cannot be extinguished.
Attempts to stifle the grapevine are likely to stimulate it instead.
Monitoring and officially correcting grapevine information is perhaps the best strategy for coping with the grapevine.

21. Nonverbal Communication
Body Language
Nonverbal communication based on facial expressions, posture, and appearance
Types of Body Language
Facial
Gestural
Postural
Receiving Nonverbal Communication
Awareness of nonverbal cues can give insight into deep-seated emotions.

23. Nonverbal Communication (cont’d)
Giving Nonverbal Feedback
Nonverbal feedback from authority figures significantly affects employee behavior.
Positive feedback builds good interpersonal relations.
Sensitivity and cross-cultural training can reduce nonverbal errors when working with individuals from other cultures.

24. Upward Communication Upward Communication
The process of encouraging employees to share their feelings and ideas with management.
Options for improving upward communication:
Formal grievance procedures
Employee attitude and opinion surveys
Suggestion systems
Open-door policy
Informal meetings
Internet chat rooms
Exit interviews

25. Barriers to Communication
Process Barriers
Sender barrier
Encoding barrier
Medium barrier
Decoding barrier
Receiver barrier
Feedback barrier
Physical Barriers
Devices and distance

26. Barriers to Communication (cont’d)
Semantic Barriers
Misinterpretation of the meaning of words and phrases by individuals
Specialized occupational languages can create communication problems with outsiders.
Psychosocial Barriers
Differing backgrounds, perceptions, values, biases, needs, and expectations of individuals can block communications.

27. Barriers to Communication (cont’d)
Sexist and Racist Communication
Progressive and ethical managers are weeding sexist and racist language out of their vocabularies and correspondence to eliminate the demeaning of women and racial minorities.

28. Communicating in the Online Workplace
Getting a Handle on and Instant Messaging
Put short messages in the subject line.
Be sparse with graphics and attachments.
Hello! Can We Talk Cell Phone Etiquette?
Advantages = mobility and convenience
Disadvantages = distracted drivers and disturbing calls in public places, with the risk of disclosing private information

31. Communicating in the Online Workplace (cont’d)
Videoconferences
A live television exchange between people in different locations
Can reduce costly and possibly dangerous travel time
Telecommuting
Sending work to and from one’s office via a computer modem while working at home

33. Becoming a Better Communicator
Effective Listening
Tolerate silence; keep listening.
Ask stimulating, open-ended questions.
Encourage the speaker with attentive eye contact, alert posture, and verbal encouragers.
Paraphrase what you have just heard.
Show emotion to show your sympathy with the speaker.
Know your biases and prejudices.
Avoid premature judgments.
Summarize by reiterating what the speaker said.

34. Becoming a Better Communicator (cont’d)
Effective Writing
Keep words simple.
Don’t sacrifice communication to rules of composition.
Write concisely.
Be specific.

35. Becoming a Better Communicator (cont’d)
Purposes of Meetings
Find facts.
Solve problems.
Pass along information.
Categories of Meetings
Daily check-in
Weekly tactical
Monthly strategic
Quarterly off-site

36. Becoming a Better Communicator (cont’d)
Conducting Meetings
Meet for a specific purpose.
Distribute the agenda in advance of the meeting.
Communicate preparation expectations to attendees.
Limit attendance to essential personnel.
Open with a brief overview; review important items first.
Encourage participation but keep to the agenda.
Limit use of visual aids.
Clarify after-meeting action items.
Follow a specific start and end time and follow up.

37. Terms to Understand Communication Media richness Noise Grapevine
Body language
Upward communication
Exit interview
Semantics
Videoconference
Telecommuting