Communication

Communication: levels, flow, types and contextsMs. April J. Rivera

Communication Levels

• Phatic• Factual• Evaluative• Gut-level• Peak Communication

Directions of Communication

Influence the methods used to communicate ideas to a specific audience

Upward CommunicationIt occurs between supervisors and subordinates

Purposes

• Provide managers with information to make decisions

• Identify problem areas• Collect data for performance assessments• Determine staff morale• Reveal employee thoughts and feelings about the

organization

Principles of Upward Communication• Upward communication must be planned

(methods identified). • Upward communication must operate continuously. • Upward communication must use routine channels (steps). • Upward communication must stress sensitivity and

genuine reception of ideas from lower levels. • Upward communication must involve objective listening. • Upward communication must be responded to by action. • Upward communication must use a variety of media and

methods to promote the flow of information.

To increase the effectiveness of upward communication (Luthans, 1984)

• GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE• OPEN DOOR POLICY• COUNSELING• EMPLOYEE QUESTIONNAIRE• EXIT INTERVIEWS• PARTICIPATIVE DECISION-MAKING

TECHNIQUES• USE OF AN OMBUDSMAN

Downward Communication

• It involves passing information from supervisors to subordinates

• It includes verbal and non-verbal communication such as instructions for completing tasks as well as communications on a one-to-one basis

• meeting with employees, written memos, newsletters, bulletin boards, procedural manuals, and clinical and administration information systems.

Media Rich (Success)Face to FaceInteractive TV-high speed connections (two way)Video-Voice / Data Channel (one way)TelephoneE-mailPersonal written correspondenceFormal written messagePublic speakingData ReportsBroadcast e-mails / reports

Horizontal Communication

• Also known as lateral communication• From manager to manager or co-worker to co-

worker• Sharing information among peers at similar levels

to keep organizational staff informed of all current practices, policies and procedures (Spillan, 2002)

• Examples: coordinating the continuum of patient care ---committees, task forces and cross-functional project teams

Cross-sectional communication• refers to the flow across levels and

groups of an organization. It occurs when members of one set, for example, the engineering section, need to gain or disseminate information to one or more other sets, for example, the budget section and the training section.

Cluster communication (grapevine)• The grapevine involves a more personal flow of

information than the other flow paths. Information flowing on the grapevine is 70 to 95 per cent accurate. The grapevine serves to co-orient immediate participants predominantly on a one to one relationship. Each participant is a tentacle of the grapevine passing information to someone else.

Diagonal Communication

• It occurs between different levels of different departments

• Example: director of nursing asks the data analyst in the medical records department to generate a medical records report for the month on all patients in the intensive care unit

• Cross sectional communication

Flows and Channels

• Simultaneous• Serial• Cliques or barriers

Simultaneous communication flow

• Occurs both in a one to one situation and when many people receive information simultaneously from one source

• Examples: meeting, broadcast, memo, announcement

• Simultaneous communication ensures that the information being imparted is accurate and not subject to distortion by those who might otherwise spread it.

• This is sometimes achieved by formatting information in a manner acceptable to the receiver (eg. comic book style for low literacy recipients, graphs and charts for reinforcement, multi-media presentation for sustained interest, etc.).

Serial Communication Flow

• Communication is delivered by a chain of command

• Messages received are integrated into a body of information to be transmitted to the next level. Information is molded or tailored to suit the needs of the next person or group in the serial chain.

• includes interpretation, reconciling conflicting reports, discarding information, and applying weights to information from different sources (Farace, 1980:166). This can mean groups or teams only deal with information relevant to them, not the whole organisation.

• The patterns of serial communication define the communication flow in terms of blockages, dams and diversions. The very nature of a corporate culture may impose limitations on who can talk to whom. Communication then becomes a source of authority and power when it is distributed serially. Persons in central positions can limit the flow of information if they choose. They can also build networks to disseminate information which builds power by including or excluding others from the communication flow. In such situations, meaning and/or purpose may be enhanced or eroded. To be included in the serial chain may build meaning for some; while excluding others may erode the effectiveness of the communication.

• Serial communication can give rise to a 'comfort zone' predicated upon understanding by team members that the information they receive through serial communication channels is all they need to access (ie. through e-mails, bulletins, newsletters etc.).

Cliques and rhetorical communities

Cliques

• groups of people who tend to work in close proximity and communicate more than fifty per cent of their communications with each other

• They frequently consist of individuals who have both formal and positional reasons for making contacts as well as interpersonal and informal reasons (Pace & Faules, 1983:138).

• This can cause barriers to participation in normal communication channels or predispose the group to develop into a 'parallel' community.

Parallel community/rhetorical• Rhetorical communities parallel the

language and meaning in the wider organization (or group) but believe their own identity and communication channels are more important (Falk, 1997

Six typical roles in an organizational communication• Isolates

BridgeLiaisonGatekeeperOpinion LeaderCosmopolite

Isolates

• insecure in self-concepts • less motivated to achieve • less willing to interact with others • young and inexperienced within the system • not in a position of power • more inclined to withhold information • dissatisfied with the system (Goldhaber, 1979).

Bridge

The bridge forms inter-clique or inter-group contacts. Farace contends that when contact between cliques is handled by bridges, distortion of messages increases because a bridge is susceptible to message decay and distortion (Farace, Monge & Russell, 1977).

• The bridge is inevitably a serial receiver of information but may be a simultaneous transmitter. The role of the bridge as observed by Farace helps explain why units or sections within a corporation respond differently to identical information.

Liaison

• The liaison is not a member of a clique but is the transmitter of communication between cliques. Most research suggests that the liaison is important for the effective functioning of an organization being in a position to expedite communication flow (or hinder it). A liaison might commonly be referred to as a 'networker': that is, a person who networks widely but is not a member of a particular clique

Gatekeeper

• A gatekeeper controls a strategic point in the communication flow, choosing to open or close the gate to facilitate or hinder the passage of information. In serial communication, every link in the chain represents a gatekeeper . The gatekeeper can be a manager able to communicate information to enhance communication flow across teams and in order to enhance the corporate culture. A gatekeeper opposed to management may communicate a distorted message.

Opinion Leader

• An opinion leader guides opinion and influences people in their decisions. Opinion leaders are mostly invisible: that is, they covertly guide opinion and their position of power is unquestioned. They usually exert influence and are in the mainstream norm of the majority of other organisational members. They can be detrimental to communication flow if their opinion is inappropriate to the well-being of the organisation (possibly behind the times), and beneficial to the organisation especially influencing change because they provide a reference point with which the mainstream of people can identify. The opinion leader will play a real role in defining purpose.

Cosmopolite

• A cosmopolite is not linked to any one clique but belongs to everyone. The cosmopolite forms contacts outside the organization (government agencies, clubs, associations) and tends to travel. The cosmopolite channels new information into the organization from outside.

Basic Types of Communication

Communication forms

• Verbal Communication• Non-Verbal Communication

Verbal Communication

• is any form of communication that uses words in order to convey meaning or transmit messages. Essentially, verbal communication is either speech or writing. There are four main skills that human beings put into practice when engaging in verbal communication: reading, writing, speaking and listening. Any verbal communication involves at least two of these skills.

• Language is the one thing that all four verbal communication skills have in common; it is a specifically human form of communication that uses symbols to represent ideas and concepts. Later on in the course, we will look more closely at the concept of language, its uses and variations.

Non-Verbal Communication

• is the form of communication that does not involve the use of speech or writing. In effect, non-verbal communication is the use of voice, space, objects, movement, time and the five senses to convey meanings that without using words. Because the types of non-verbal communication focus on physical actions and manipulations to convey meaning, they are often referred to as communicative behaviours.

…the context of communication is its environment

Importance of the context

• A doctor does not wear short pants and slippers at the clinic; this would be inappropriate. A lawyer may choose to speak in simple language to a client while using more complex language to a colleague. A hip-hop star covers himself in “bling” and speaks a version of English that is not standard when addressing his fans. All of these are examples how communication context influences form of communication.

• * When deciding on which form of communication to use, always ask yourself this:* Who am I communicating with?* What is the attitude of my audience?* Where is this communication act taking place?

Context

• FORMAL• INFORMAL

Formal Context

• formal situation is one where behaviour is dictated by social norms and patterns

• require certain types of communication and communicative behaviours

Informal Context

• there are no constraints on behaviour and communication.

Context

particular combinations of people comprising a communication situation

Interpersonal Communication

address the communication between dyads (two people)

Group Communication

deals with groups

Organizational Communication

addresses organization communication

Mass Communication

encompasses messages broadcast usually electronically to mass audiences

Interpersonalcultural Communication

looks at communication among people of different cultures

Gender Communication

focuses on communication issues of women and between the sexes

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