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 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 Provides feedback Receiver Chooses the channel Source Decodes the message Chooses a message Encodes the message

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. Channel richness Type of message Information medium Leanest RichestNonroutine, ambiguous Routine, clear Face to face talk Telephone Computer Memos, letters Flyers, bulletins general reports Exhibit 2 Hierarchy 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 Moderate High Moderate Speed Accuracy Emergence of a leader Member satisfaction Fast High Low Fast Moderate None High

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 Rumours 1. 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 Cultures High context Low context 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 Don’t send s without a subject line Be careful in your use of emoticons and acronyms for business communications Write your message clearly and briefly Copy s to others only if they really need the information Sleep on angry s 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