INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

COMMUNICATION PROCESS  Transferring and understanding of meaning  Why?

COMMUNICATION PROCESS  Transferring and understanding of meaning Person A Encodes Information Person B Senses Decodes Information Medium Noise

/Electronic Media Tradeoffs ä Too Casual ä Grammar; Heat of the moment ä Richness—Often misunderstood ä Emoticons? ä Informational Overload ä Blurred Boundaries ä Relationships ä Conflict Spiral ä Human Moment

COMMUNICATION BARRIERS  Language  Different 1 st languages  Jargon/semantics (Northern exposure; sexual relations)  Literal?  Filtering  Selective perception  Beliefs, values and expectations influence how we interpret meaning  4 th of July; Noah vs. Moses

COMMUNICATION BARRIERS  Physical location and distractions  Emotions  Poor listening  Defensive/Evaluative  Partial  Assumptive  (remember closure)

OVERCOMING THE BARRIERS 

ACTIVE LISTENING IS... ...The MOST effective way to overcome the barriers to effective communication. ...NOT hearing. ...ESSENTIAL to managerial success.  40% of workday  Most important skill in becoming an effective manager ...a skill we typically do not perform well.

ACTIVE LISTENING INTERNAL  Empathy  Suspend judgment  Resist distractions  Search for themes  Meta-talk  Symbolic  Body language  Paralinguistics EXTERNAL  Paraphrase the message  Ask questions  Make eye contact  Take Notes  Avoid distracting/interrupting  Use nods & appropriate facial expressions

Cross Gender & Cultural Communication  Cross gender  Women say 22-25,000 words a day  Men?  Direct vs. Indirect communication  Status/independence vs. connection/intimacy  Apologies  Language  Physical Space  Greeting  Cultural differences  Gender differences  Eye contact

Cross Cultural Communication  Time  Leisurely vs. impatient  Task vs. Relationship  Monochronic vs. Polychronic  Gender and Cultural  Direct/Indirect  Gender and Cultural  High Context

Cross-Cultural Dialogs ä Only later do you realize there has been a misunderstanding ä Know the cultural norms and styles of interaction/communication of key players ä Don’t assume you understand ä Verify that what you understood was what was intended ä Verify that what you intended is what was understood ä Listen to what’s not said ä Avoid Yes/No questions