Chapter Communication

16-2 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin The Team Project Skills Performance Review Total share of course grade is 25% Grade composed of three elements: > Your personal presentation substance and style > Your team mates’ assessment of your team skills > The team grade

16-3 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Team Skills Peer Review Pick up a Peer Review Package (six copies in each package) after class today. Complete the reviews and return them to me no later than Thursday, November 10.

16-4 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Overview How does effective communication affect competitive advantage? How is communication affected by perception? How is communication affected by technology? What skills do senders and receivers need? How to give an effective presentation.

16-5 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Communication and Management Communication  Sharing information to forge shared understanding Good communication can:  Improve the quality of products and services  Increase responsiveness to customers  Increase efficiency and effectiveness  Enhance innovation  All of these build competitive advantage

16-6 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin The Communication Process Sender transmits (shares) information Receiver translates Receiver provides feedback Both reach shared understanding It’s a loop

16-7 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin The Communication Process The process starts with a sender (individual or group) who wants to share information Senders decide what information to share and use symbols or language to “encode” it into a message Then they choose the most effective medium over which to send the message

16-8 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin The Communication Process Medium: the pathway over which a message is transmitted (e.g., telephone, written note, ). Receiver: the person getting the message. The receiver decodes (interprets) the message in order to understand it. Failure to properly decode the message can lead to misunderstanding. Feedback from receiver to sender confirms that the message has been received and understood or must be clarified and re-sent.

16-9 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin You’re always communicating Verbal Communication  The encoding of messages into words, either written or spoken Nonverbal  The communication of messages through facial expressions, body language and style of dress. Research shows that about 40% of communication is non-verbal.

16-10 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin The Role of Perception in Communication Perception: how people select, organize and interpret sensory input to give meaning and order to the world around them

16-11 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin The Role of Perception in Communication Biases – systematic tendencies to use information about others in ways that can create inaccurate perceptions Stereotypes – often inaccurate beliefs about the characteristics of particular groups of people Both can hinder clear communication; beware your “filters” can block you from connecting with the unique person behind the stereotype

16-12 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Perception…. Concentrate on what JOINS you and the person you are trying to CONNECT and COMMUNICATE with, not what DIVIDES you from them.

16-13 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin The Dangers of Ineffective Communication Managers and their subordinates can become effective communicators by:  Selecting the appropriate medium for each message; there is no one “best” medium.  Considering information richness; a medium with high richness can carry much more information to aid understanding.

16-14 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Information Richness The amount of information a communication medium can carry The extent to which the medium enables sender and receiver to forge common understanding Three primary ways to communicate: (1) expressions/gestures/posture (2) voice tone and volume (3) words

16-15 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Communication Media Face-to-Face  Highest information richness  Takes advantage of verbal and nonverbal signals  Provides opportunity for instant feedback Management by “shoe leather” takes advantage of this via informal talks with colleagues Video conferences can provide much of this richness while reducing travel costs and meeting time

16-16 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Communication Media Spoken Communication Electronically Transmitted  Second highest information richness. Telephone conversations are information-rich with tone of voice, sender’s emphasis, and quick feedback, but provide no visual nonverbal cues.

16-17 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Communication Media Personally Addressed Written Communication  Has a lower richness than verbal forms of communication, but still is directed at a given person. Personal addressing helps ensure receiver actually reads the message—personal letters and are common forms. Does not provide instant feedback to the sender although sender may get feedback later. Excellent medium for complex messages requesting follow-up actions by receiver (use to summarize meeting results)

16-18 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Do’s and Don’ts allows telecommuting employees to work from home and keep in contact. The use of is huge making etiquette important and expected:  Typing messages in all CAPITALS is seen as “screaming.” Cool down before hitting the “send” button.  Punctuate your messages for easy reading and don’t ramble.  Treat as you would a written letter. Re-read and edit before sending.  Who needs to know? Don’t copy too many people; “see-how-smart- I-am” s do you more harm than good.  People judge your competence by how well you write. Don’t treat e- mail casually.  s live forever; be very careful what you write in an

16-19 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Communication Media Impersonal Written Communication  Has the lowest information richness. Good for one-way messages to many receivers where little or no feedback is expected (e.g., newsletters, reports)

16-20 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Communication Networks The pathways along which information flows in groups, teams and throughout the organization Choice of communication network depends on: The nature of the group’s tasks The extent to which group members need to communicate with each other to achieve group goals.

16-21 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Organization Communication Networks Organization Chart Summarizes the formal reporting channels in an organization Communication flows through formal and informal pathways Vertical communication flows up and down the corporate hierarchy Horizontal communications flow between employees at the same level Informal communications can span levels and departments; the grapevine is an informal network carrying unofficial information throughout the firm Communication audits usually reveal that a lot of communication does not flow along the visible organization chart; like hidden leaders, there also are hidden communicators in an organization

16-22 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Barriers to Effective Communication Messages that:  are unclear, incomplete or difficult to understand (filters)  are sent over an inappropriate medium  are misunderstood or ignored  contain no provision for feedback

16-23 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Communication Skills for Senders  Send clear, complete and accurate messages  Encode messages in symbols the receiver understands; for example, don’t use American slang when talking to a foreigner  Select an appropriate medium monitored by the receiver  Avoid filtering (holding back information) and distortion as the message passes through other workers  Include a feedback mechanism in order to assure that shared understanding is reached

16-24 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Communication Skills For Receivers  Pay attention and be a good listener; your ears and eyes are far more important than your mouth  Try to understand what the sender feels  Adopt an encouraging posture (lean in)  Understand linguistic styles; different people/cultures speak differently  Ask questions to clarify your understanding

16-25 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin What I Will Be Looking For In Your Presentation Audible (Can the back row hear you?) Use gestures (interest and animation) Familiar with material Eyes front to maximize audience contact Confident and persuasive Like a one-at-a-time conversation

16-26 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin What’s Your Goal Connect, Communicate, Convince > Use stories > What’s the take away? Are they whistling the tune as they leave? > Build a bridge from you to them (What do you share?)