MODULE 17

COMMUNICATION

“Listening can be the key to understanding”

• What is communication and when is it effective?

• How can we improve communication with people at work?

COMMUNICATION

Effective CommunicationsMODULE GUIDE 17.1

Communication is a process of sending and receiving messages with meanings attached.

Communication is effective when the receiver understands the sender’s message.

Communication is persuasive when the receiver acts as the sender intends.

Poor use of communication channels makes it hard to communicate effectively.

Information filtering can bias communication between lower and higher levels.

COMMUNICATION

Effective Communications

Communication is the process of sending and receiving symbols

with meanings attached.

COMMUNICATION

Effective Communications

Effective Communication occurs when the receiver fully understands the sender’s

intended message Efficient Communications

occurs at minimum costs Persuasion

Presenting a message in a manner that causes others to support it

Noise Anything that interferes with the communication process

Communication Channel The medium used to carry a message

COMMUNICATION

Effective Communications

COMMUNICATION

Effective Communications

Nonverbal Communications Takes place through gestures and body language

Mixed Message Results when words communicate one message

while actions, body language or appearance communicate another.

Filtering Is the intentional distortion of information to make it

more favorable to the recipient.

COMMUNICATION

Improving Communications At Work

MODULE GUIDE 17.2

Active listening helps people say what they really mean.

Constructive feedback is specific, timely, and relevant.

Open communication channels build trust and improve upward communication.

Office spaces can be designed to encourage interaction and communication.

Appropriate technology can facilitate more and better communication.

Sensitivity and etiquette can improve cross-cultural communication.

COMMUNICATION

Improving Communications At Work

Active Listening is the process of taking action to help someone say what he or she

really means.

Carl Rogers’s five rules for active listening 1. Listen for message content

—Try to hear exactly what content the message is conveying. 2. Listen for feelings

—Try to identify how the source feels about the content in the message.

3. Respond to feelings—Let the source know that you recognize her or his feelings.

4. Note all cues—Be sensitive to nonverbal and verbal messages; be alert for mixed messages.

5. Paraphrase and restate—State back to the source what you think you are hearing.

COMMUNICATION

Improving Communications At Work

Feedback is the process of telling someone else how you feel about

something that person did or said.

Criteria for Giving Constructive Feedback Specific

Be precise, use good, clear, and recent examples to make your points.

Timely Choose a time when the receiver seems most willing or able to

accept it. Valid

Limit feedback to things the receiver can do something about. Small doses

Never give more than the receiver can handle at one time.

COMMUNICATION

Improving Communications At Work

Management By Walking Around Managers spend time out of office meeting employees at all

levels Channel Richness

The quantity and quality of the communication channel

COMMUNICATION

Improving Communications At Work

ProxemicsThe study of the way we use space

COMMUNICATION

Improving Communications At Work

Electronic CommunicationsElectronic monitoring by employers (as

reported by American Management Association):

• 39% track telephone calls.

• 27% store and review e-mail.

• 21% store and review computer files.

• 11% record and review telephone conversations.

• 6% store and review voice mail.

MANAGEMENT TIPS

How to manage your e-mail

• Read items only once. • Take action immediately to answer, move to folders, or

delete. • Purge folders regularly of useless messages. • Send group mail and use “Reply to all” only when really

necessary. • Get off distribution lists without value to your work. • Send short messages in subject line, avoiding a full-text

message. • Put large files on websites, instead of sending as

attachments. • Use Instant Messaging as an e-mail alternative. • Double-check everything before hitting the “Send”

button. • Don’t hit the “Send” button when angry; wait, take time

to revise and rethink. • Remember the iron rule of e-mail privacy: There isn’t any.

COMMUNICATION

Improving Communications At Work

Cross-Cultural CommunicationEthnocentrism

The tendency to consider one’s culture superior to any and all others

Cultural Etiquette the use of appropriate manners and behaviors in

cross-cultural situations.