Chapter 16

Managing Communication

©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited

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 What Would You Do?
 Buckman Labs is facing
communication problems
 Answers to customer questions
took too long
 People were unwilling to share
information
 How can sales reps be matched
with the right technical experts?
©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited
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 Learning Objectives:
Communication
After reading the next two sections,
you should be able to:

1. explain the role that perception plays

in communication and communication
problems
2. describe the communication process
and the various kinds of communication
in organizations

©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited

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 Perception and
Communication
Problems
 Basic perception process
 Perception problems
 Perceptions of others
 Self-perception

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 Basic Perception
Process
 Perception is the process by which
individuals attend to, organize,
interpret, and retain information
about their environments
 Perceptual filters
 how people experience stimuli
 personality-, psychology-, or
experienced-based differences
©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited
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 Basic Perception
Process

Exhibit 16.1

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 Perception Problems
 Selective perception
 tendency to notice and accept
information consistent with our values
and beliefs
 ignore inconsistent information
 Closure
 tendency to fill in the gaps when
information is missing
 we assume that what we don’t know
is consistent with what we do know
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 Perceptions of Others
 Attribution theory
 we have a basic need to understand
and explain the causes of other
people’s behaviour
 causes can be internal or external

internal causes are voluntary or under
the individual’s control

external causes are involuntary and
outside the individual’s control
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 Attribution Error
and Bias
 Defensive bias
 tendency for people to perceive
themselves as personally and
situationally similar to someone who
is in trouble
 Fundamental attribution error
 Tendency to ignore external causes of
behaviour and attribute behaviour to
internal causes
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 Self-Perception

 People generally want to maintain

a positive self-image and anything
that threatens that can create
defensiveness
 Self-serving bias
 tendency of people to attribute
success to internal causes and failure
to external causes
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 Kinds of
Communication

 The communication process

 Formal communications channels
 Informal communication channels
 Coaching and counseling: One-on-
one communication
 Nonverbal communication
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 The Interpersonal
Communication Process

Exhibit 16.2

©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited

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 Noise
Noise occurs if:

1. the sender isn’t sure about what message to

communicate
2. the message is not clearly encoded
3. the wrong communication channel is chosen
4. the message is not received or decoded
properly
5. the receiver doesn’t have the experience or
time to understand the message

©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited

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 Meanings of the
Word “Fine”
1. If you exceed the 100-kph speed limit, you
may have to pay a fine (penalty)
2. Mario Lemieux turned in a fine performance
(excellent)
3. The machine runs at a slow speed, because
the tolerance is fine (delicate)
4. The puzzle is difficult to put together
because the pieces are so fine (small)
5. Recent experiments have tried to produce
drugs that are fine (pure)
6. The pages of that antique book are
extremely fine (flimsy)
Adapted from Exhibit 16.3

©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited

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 Formal Communication
Channels
The system of official channels
carrying organizationally approved
information
 Downward communication
 from higher to lower levels
 Upward communication
 from lower to higher levels
 Horizontal communication
 among people at the same level
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 Improving Formal
Communication

 Decrease reliance on downward

communication
 Increase chances for upward
communication
 Encourage greater use of
horizontal communication
©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited
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 Informal
Communication
Channels
Transmission of messages outside
the formal communication
channels
 The “grapevine”
 arises out of informal networks
 carries highly accurate information
 information is interesting and timely
 senders can seek feedback
 accuracy can be verified
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 Managing the
Grapevine
 Don’t withhold information from it
 Feed information to it to keep
employees informed
 Use it as a source of information

©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited

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 Coaching and Counselling:
One-on-One
Communication

 Coaching
 communicating with someone for the direct
purpose of improving the person’s
performance
 Counselling
 communicating with someone about non-
job-related issues that may be affecting
performance
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 Nonverbal
Communication

Any communication that doesn’t

involve words.
 Kinesics
 movements of the body and face
 Paralanguage

the pitch, rate, tone, volume, and
speaking pattern of one’s voice

©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited

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 Learning Objectives:
Improving
Communication
After reading the next two
sections, you should be able to:

3. explain how managers can

manage effective one-on-one
communication
4. describe how managers can
manage effective organization-wide
communication
©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited
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 Managing One-on-One
Communication

 Choosing the right communication

medium
 Listening
 Giving feedback
 Improving cross-cultural
communication
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 Choosing the Right
Communication Medium
The method used to deliver an oral
or written message
 Oral communication

 spoken messages such as face-to-

face and group meetings and
telephone calls
 Written communication
 includes letters, e-mails and memos
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 Listening
 Hearing versus listening

 Active listening

 Empathetic listening

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 Becoming an
Active Listener
 Clarify responses
 ask speaker to explain confusing
statements
 Paraphrase responses
 restate what has been said in your
own words
 Summarize responses
 review the speaker’s main points

©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited

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 Becoming an
Empathetic Listener

 Show your desire to

understand
 listen first
 talk about what’s important to the
other
 Reflecting feelings
 focus on the affective part of the
message
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 Clarifying, Paraphrasing, and
Summarizing Responses
for Active Listeners
 Clarifying
 Could you explain that again?
 I don’t understand what you mean
 Paraphrasing
 What you’re really saying is …
 If I understand you correctly …
 Summarizing
 Let me summarize …
 Okay, your main concerns are …
Adapted from Exhibit 16.5

©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited

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 Giving Feedback

 Destructive feedback
 disapproves without any intention of
being helpful and almost always
causes a negative or defensive
reaction
 Constructive feedback
 intended to be helpful, corrective,
and/or encouraging
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 Making Feedback
Effective
 Provide immediate feedback
 don’t delay, give feedback while memories
are strong
 Provide specific feedback
 focus on particular behaviours under the
person’s control
 Provide problem — oriented
feedback
 focus on behaviour not personality
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 Improving Cross-
Cultural Communication

 Familiarize yourself with cultural

work norms
 Know the address terms
 Understand cultural attitudes
toward time

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 Cross-Cultural
Temporal Concepts
 Appointment time
 how punctual you must be
 Schedule time
 time when projects should be completed
 Discussion time
 how much time should be spent in
discussion with others
 Acquaintance time
 how much time you must spend with
someone before getting down to business

©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited

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 Managing Organization
—Wide Communication
 Improving transmission: getting
the message out
 Improving reception: hearing what
others feel and think

©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited

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 Improving
Transmission: Getting
the Message Out
 E-mail
 Online discussion forums
 Televised/videotaped speeches
and conferences
 Corporate talk shows
 Broadcast voice-mail

©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited

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 Establishing Online
Discussion Forums
1. Perform a “knowledge” audit — identify
intellectual assets and spread that
information throughout the organization
2. Create an online directory — detail workers’
expertise and make it available to all
employees
3. Set up discussion groups on the net —
people can collaborate on problem solving
4. Reward information sharing — make
knowledge sharing part of performance
ratings
©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited
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 Improving Reception:
Hearing What Others Feel
and Think
 Company hotlines
 people can call and leave anonymous
comments
 Survey feedback
 information gathered from questionnaires
 Informal meetings
 hear directly what people think
 Surprise visits
 opportunity to talk with people who have
little chance to talk with upper management
©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited
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 What Really Happened?
 Differences of perception existed
between sales reps and technical
experts
 Online discussion forums were created
 K’Netix system appealed to experts,
sales reps and customers
 K’Netix encouraged open and
unrestricted communication and has
helped people develop innovative
solutions

©2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited

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