Romanian American UniversityFall Semester 2014

Lecture 2:Lecture 3:

Communication:Types, Barriers, Patterns, Strategy

Communication:

Types based on sender-receiver relations

Communication patterns in an organization

Direction of communication

Barriers and filters

Ethics and communication

Based on the relationship between sender &

receiver-Intrapersonal-Interpersonal-Mediated

Each type requires effective skills to the form

of communication used to send the message.

Intrapersonal communication: communicating

with ourselves, self-consultation.

-Part of a self-monitoring mechanism allowing us

to evaluate and correct our behavior both before

and after our actual performance.

-Potential to change negative attitudes into

positive ones and affect (enhance) feelings of

self-worth.

The exchange of information between two or

more senders and receivers in a casual context.

Neither always personal nor always private

Julia Wood: interpersonal communication exist

on a continuum from extremely personal to

extremely impersonal (Wood, 2000).

Likely to be affected by: closeness of the parties,

context (business or personal), length of contact

(momentary or extended), friendly or adversarial

tone, etc.

The mass media developed their own communication

models.

Wilbur Schramm & Charles E. Osgood created the

circular model: the sender becomes the encoder and

the receiver is the decoder.

Concerns with: delayed feedback; why individuals

receiving the same message interpret it differently;

specific issues, barriers & theories for every mass

communication means.

Somewhere in the middle of the communication

continuum.

The transfer of messages that pertain to the world of

business (from personal email, office memos, sales

presentation and conferences to daily greetings,

departmental meetings and corporate branding

strategies).

Integrated business communication: the process of

planning, executing and evaluating unified messages

that create stakeholder relationship and build brand

recognition. (TOM DUNCAN, Advertising & IMC, 2005)

Structured or unstructured patterns

I. Structured communication:

1. Recorded or documented in some form

2. Less subject to change than unstructured

communication

3. More widely known and more easily accessed.

Examples: the company newsletter, the weekly

meeting for midlevel managers, the annual

stockholders meeting

II Unstructured communication

1. Dependent upon personal emotional factors

2. More flexible and open-ended than structured communication

3. More personalized than structured communication. Most

memos, newsletters, reports, and speeches for a general

audience are necessarily couched in general terms. However,

unstructured communication can change the message to suit

individual interests and attitudes.

Examples: grapevine by which rumors spread through the

workforce, the after-hour chat between employees, the water-

cooler/coffee-machine conversation.

Barriers to Communication

One of the chief barriers to open free communications isthe emotional barrier. It is comprised mainly of fear,mistrust and suspicion. The roots of our emotionalmistrust of others lie in our childhood and infancy whenwe were taught to be careful what we said to others.

"Don't speak until you're spoken to"; "Children should beseen and not heard". As a result many people hold backfrom communicating their thoughts and feelings toothers.

They feel vulnerable. While some caution may be wise incertain relationships, excessive fear of what others mightthink of us can stunt our development as effectivecommunicators and our ability to form meaningfulrelationships.

When we join a group and wish to remain in it, sooner or later we need to adopt the behaviour patterns of the

group. These are the behaviours that the group accept

as signs of belonging.

The group rewards such behaviour through acts of recognition, approval and inclusion. In groups which are

happy to accept you, and where you are happy to

conform, there is a mutuality of interest and a high level

of win-win contact.

Where, however, there are barriers to your membership of a group, a high level of game-playing replaces good

communication.

Culture comes in many shapes and sizes. It includes

areas such as politics, history, faith, mentality, behaviour

and lifestyle.

The following examples demonstrate how a lack of

cultural sensitivity led to failure:

a. When colouring in 800,000 pixels on a map of India,Microsoft coloured eight of them a different shade of

green to represent the disputed Kashmiri territory. The

difference in greens meant Kashmir was shown as non-

Indian, and the product was promptly banned in India.

Microsoft was left to recall all 200,000 copies of the

offending Windows 95 operating system software to try

and heal the diplomatic wounds. It cost them millions.

b. The fast food giant McDonald's spentthousands on a new TV ad to target the Chinese

consumer. The ad showed a Chinese man

kneeling before a McDonald's vendor and

begging him to accept his expired discount

coupon. The ad was pulled due to a lack of

cultural sensitivity on McDonald's behalf. The ad

caused uproar over the fact that begging is

considered a shameful act in Chinese culture.

c. When the US firm Gerber started selling baby food inAfrica they used the same packaging as in the US, i.e.with a picture of a baby on the label. Sales flopped andthey soon realised that in Africa companies typicallyplace pictures of contents on their labels.

d. The film Hollywood Buddha showed a complete lack ofcultural sensitivity by causing outrage and protest on thestreets of Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Burma when thedesigner of the film's poster decided to show the leadactor sitting on the Buddha's head, an act of cleardegradation against something holy.

e. The concept of Big Brother was somehow taken to theMiddle East. The show was pulled of the air after its first

few episodes due to public protests and pressure from

religious bodies stating the show's mixed gender format

was against Islamic principles.

f. A golf ball manufacturing company packaged golf balls

in packs of four for convenient purchase in Japan.

Unfortunately, the number 4 is equivalent to the number

13 due it sounding like the word "death". The company

had to repackage the product.

If businesses want to succeed internationally,cultural sensitivity must be at the heart of

everything they do; from their personal

interaction and relationships with clients to the

products/services they develop.

All international communication is influenced bycultural differences. Even the choice of medium

used to communicate may have cultural

overtones.

There are distinct differences between the speech patterns in a manand those in a woman. A woman speaks between 22,000 and25,000 words a day whereas a man speaks between 7,000 and10,000.

To a woman, good listening skills include making eye contact andreacting visually to the speaker. To a man, listening can take placewith a minimum of eye contact and almost no nonverbal feedback.(Women often cite a lack of eye contact as evidence that their maleboss "doesn't value my input.")

Men are more comfortable when approached from the side. Womenprefer approaches from the front. Likewise, two men speaking willangle their bodies slightly, while two women will stand in a more"squared up" position - a stance that most men perceive asconfrontational.

When a man nods, it means he agrees. When a woman nods, itmeans she is listening.

Female superiority in reading nonverbal signals duringbusiness meetings allows women to accurately assesscoalitions and alliances just by tracking who is makingeye contact with whom at certain critical points.

Men are judged to be better at monologue - women atdialogue.

A man's ability to hold his emotions in check and to "keepa poker face" is viewed as an advantage in businesssituations. A woman's tendency to show her feelingsmore outwardly in gestures and facial expressions isperceived as a weakness.

When a woman can't read the person she's talking to, itmakes her anxious. Men's ability to mask their facialexpressions causes uneasiness in women, who oftenperceive this as negative feedback.

As women make decisions, they tend to process and think of options out loud. Men process internally until they come up with a solution. This can lead to problems if a male thinks that the female's verbal brainstorming means that she's looking for approval rather than just thinking aloud.

Men's discomfort dealing with emotion leads them to believe that there needs to be a solution, rather than understanding that sometimes people just need to be heard.

Because they access the full message (words and body language), women are better at watching and listening for reactions. This allows them to ensure that they are being understood, and adjust accordingly.

In negotiations, men talk more than women and interrupt more frequently. One perspective on the value of speaking up comes from former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who - when asked what advice she had for up-and-coming professional women - replied, "Learn to interrupt."

Men make direct accusations (You didn't do it!) while women use an indirect method (Why didn't you do it?)

Women are viewed as less professional when they resort to girlish behaviors (twirling hair, playing with jewelry, etc.) or flirtatious body language (tossing hair back, crossing and uncrossing legs, etc.).

Men who don't know each other well tend to keep a greater distance between them than women who have just met.

1.Inadequate knowledge or vocabulary

-complete all necessary research;

-know your audience well enough to realize their familiarity

with the concepts & terminology.

2.Differences in interpretation

-Denotation

-Connotation

3.Language differences

-Buy in your native tongue but you can only sell in the local

language.

4. Inappropriate use of expressions

-Slang (Barbie, brain burp, my bad)

-Jargon (technical terminology used by specialized groups of

pros)

-Euphemisms (inoffensive expression standing in lieu of

something potentially offensive or unpleasant)

5.Over-abstraction and ambiguity

-The higher the level of abstraction, the more difficult it is for

the receiver to visualize what the sender has in mind;

-Ambiguous expressions (a few, several, far too many) too

broad a meaning

6.Polarization

Dichotomies: all or nothing

1.Inappropriate or conflicting signals-Verbal & nonverbal messages should be consistent and

appropriate for the context;-Conflict: receivers tend to place more faith on nonverbal ones harder to manipulate

-Nonverbal messages: cross-cultural variations2. Differences in perception-mental filter ones unique knowledge, experience, background,

viewpoints different opinions3. Inappropriate emotions-Moderate level of emotional involvement intensifies &

personalizes comm.;-NO: overdoing, prejudice, stereotyping, boredom rejection,

dismissal4.Distractions - NOISE

The problem with communicating with others is that we all see the world differently. If we didn't, we would have no need to communicate: something like extrasensory perception would take its place.

The following anecdote is a reminder of how our thoughts, assumptions and perceptions shape our own realities:

A traveller was walking down a road when he met a man from the next town. "Excuse me," he said. "I am hoping to stay in the next town tonight. Can you tell me what the townspeople are like?"

"Well," said the townsman, "how did you find the people in the last town you visited?"

"Oh, they were an irascible bunch. Kept to themselves. Took me for a fool. Over-charged me for what I got. Gave me very poor service."

"Well, then," said the townsman, "you'll find them pretty much the same here."

Causes of communication barriers:o Inappropriate choise of wordso Inappropriate channelo Receiver inattentiono Lack of courtesy by the sender or the receivero Nonverbal communication that does not support the

wordso Different cultural backgroundso Poor layout and presentationo Inappropriate timingo Inadequate feedback

Ethics: rules of conduct (include legal regulations, company policy, moral issues)

1.Defamation:any false & malicious statement communicated to others & that injures a persons good name or reputation-Temporary ( in oral communication) : slander-Permanent(writing, videotaping):libel

2.Invasion of privacy: any unreasonable intrusion into a persons

private life a denial of that persons right to be left alone

-Concerns: vast amounts of customer & employee databases;

proliferation of microcomputers, networks, e-mail

3.Fraud and misrepresentation

-Deliberate misrepresentation of the truth for the purpose of

inducing someone to give up something of value.

-Concerns: identity theft, credit card fraud, internet-mediated

comm.

Working on improving your communications is a broad-brush activity. You have to change your

thoughts, your feelings, and your physical

connections.

That way, you can break down the barriers that get in your way and start building relationships

that really work.

THANK YOU!