2.6 Communication Flashcards
1
Q
Who do businesses communicate?
A
They communicate internally with people or groups within the organisation or externally with customers, suppliers and shareholders,
etc.
2
Q
What are the benefits of effective communication? [4]
A
Effective
communication improves staff motivation, ensures faster response to customer needs, reduces probability of errors and ensures effective coordination between
departments.
3
Q
How do effective communication with external groups help with the business?
A
Effective communication with external groups also allows the business
to be in touch with the demands of the market, identify areas for improvement and
detect market gaps to fill.
4
Q
What is communication?
A
Communication is the process of transmitting information, ideas or thoughts from
one person to another for the purpose of exchanging common meanings.
5
Q
What is information?
A
Information
refers to the data presented in verbal or nonverbal form.
6
Q
When is communication effective?
A
Communication is only
effective if the message has been received and understood by the receiver and the
sender knows, through feedback, that it has been understood.
7
Q
How do communication process begin?
A
The communication process begins with the sender who
selects the message to be communicated and medium to be used.
8
Q
What do the sender send?
A
He/she gives form
to the idea or thought which will be encoded into some symbols (e.g. language, colour or signal) and transmit the symbols through a choice medium or channel (e.g. oral or written form), which is essentially the vehicle which carries the message.
8
Q
What do receiver receive?
A
The receiver, upon receiving the message, will decode the message, by translating the symbols into an interpreted message.
8
Q
What do the receiver respond?
A
The receiver may respond to the message
through feedback, which allows the sender to determine the effectiveness of his
communication, eliminate distortion and correct misinterpretation.
9
Q
What can affect the whole communication process?
A
The whole
communication process may be affected by noise, which are barriers to effective
communication.
10
Q
What is formal communication?
A
Formal communication refers to communication that follows paths or routes
specified by the official hierarchical organization structure whether within the
organisation or with external stakeholders.
10
Q
What are communication channels?
A
Communication channels refers to the route through which communication occurs.
Communication channels can be formal or informal.
10
Q
What are the types of formal communication channels? [3]
A
- Vertical communication
- Horizontal communication
- External communication
11
Q
Who approves of formal communication?
A
Senior management
12
Q
What is informal communication channels?
A
Informal communication channels refers to the passing of information outside the official channels.
13
Q
Where do informal communication channels exist? [3]
A
- They are unofficial channels of communication that exist between
members within an organisation. - Informal communication channels are often
initiated by employees on their own. - The contents of the communication are usually unrelated to work and centre around hobbies, families, gossips etc.
14
Q
What are some characteristics of informal communication channels? [3]
A
- Members share common interest
- Do not have a formally defined structure of relationship between group members
- Members can be made up of people from the different hierarchical levels in the organisation.
15
Q
What are examples of informal communication channels?
A
- Grapevine
- Management by walking around
16
Q
What is vertical communication?
A
It refers to communication that flows both upwards and/or downwards along the
formal reporting lines within the organisation.
17
Q
What do vertical communication follows?
A
It follows the authority-responsibility
relationship of superiors and subordinates in the organisation chart.
18
Q
Where do vertical communication consists?
A
More established and traditional organisations.
19
Q
What are types of vertical communication? [2]
A
- Downward communication
- Upward communication
20
Q
What is downward communication?
A
Downward communication, which flows from a higher level to lower levels in the organisation, usually takes the form of staff meetings, announcement of company policies, distribution of newsletters or informational memos.
21
What are the contents of the message in downward communication? [3]
* Job instructions related to specific tasks, giving directions and assigning duties
* Information on procedures and practices of the organisation, as well as changes
to work processes
* Feedback on the subordinates’ individual performance.
22
What are some advantages of downward communication? [2]
1. Promote sense of security
2. Setting expectations
23
What is promote sense of security?
Minimises fears and suspicion as information would
give subordinates a sense of security and better idea of the big picture.
24
What is setting expectations?
Work expectations are defined, and subordinates are
better able to work towards the expected performance.
25
What are some disadvantages of vertical downward communication? [2]
1. Filtering
2. Lack of motivation
26
What is lack of motivation? [2]
- Some organisations predominantly use the top-down
communication whereby employees are discouraged from giving opinions.
- This causes the employees to be demotivated as they feel that unappreciated by management.
26
What is filtering? [2]
- Messages are likely to be filtered and modified.
- Managers may not pass down sufficient information to subordinates, leading to confusion and inability
to complete tasks.
27
What are the contents of the message for upward communication? [4]
* Progress report of current work projects
* Serious unresolved problems which require help from superiors
* Feedback or suggestion for improvement or innovation
* Airing of grievances or complaints
27
What is upward communication?
Upward communication, which flows from a lower level to one or more higher levels in the organisation, usually takes the form of progress reporting, providing feedback
or suggestions, airing of grievances, responding to management memos or requesting for help from superiors.
28
What are some advantages of vertical upward communication?
1. Management awareness
2. Improved motivation
29
What is management awareness?
Superiors are kept informed about lower-level activities and understands employees’ views, concerns, values and attitudes.
30
What is improved motivation?
Employees may feel a sense of belonging to the organisation as there are avenues for them to give feedback to the management
31
What is filtering by management?
Messages, such as unfavourable information, are likely
to be filtered by middle management.
31
What are the disadvantages of vertical upward communication? [2]
1. Filtering by management
2. Status effect
31
What is status effect?
- Employees may feel that they are of ‘lower statuses’ as compared
to the management.
- They view management as having higher qualification, have better knowledge and hence make better decision.
- This perception will prevent subordinates from speaking up.
32
What is horizontal communication?
Horizontal communication refers to communication among people at about the same level in the hierarchy of authority.
33
What is horizontal communication occurring?
It occurs along an organisational chart,
between those who have approximately the same status, but different areas of
responsibility.
34
What does horizontal communication involve?
It may involve peers within the same work unit or department who
report to the same supervisor, or across departments to involve individuals who
report to different supervisors.
35
What are some examples of horizontal communication?
Examples of horizontal communication include a brainstorming session among all the Operation Executives, or a meeting among all managers from different departments to coordinate a new company policy.
36
What is the setting for horizontal communication? [3]
The setting for horizontal
communication includes sharing of information, resolving conflicts or solving
operational issues.
37
What is some common industry that use horizontal communication and how?
For businesses such as IT start-ups, information tends to flow horizontally where employees are actively sharing information or ideas or participating decision-making to respond to market changes.
37
What are the advantages of horizontal communication? [2]
1. Improved coordination
2. Overcome status effect
38
What is improved coordination?
- Horizontal communication brings about coordination
among different departments or work units to meet business objectives.
- For example, frequent exchange of information between sales department and
production department brings about better coordination as production
department will be able to meet the quality and quantity as required by the sales department.
39
What are the disadvantages of horizontal communication?
1. Differences
2. Mishandling of sensitive information
3. Conflict of objectives
4. Slower decision making
39
What is overcome status effect?
As subordinates view each other as being ‘equal’, they
are more comfortable in sharing their opinions as compared to being in the
presence of their management.
40
What is mishandling of sensitive information?
Sensitive information like individual
compensation packages or performance bonuses may be unintentionally made
known to colleagues.
40
What are differences bad for horizontal communication?
Different cultures, working style, objectives, etc. in different
departments which may lead to conflicting ideas and departments may not
empathise with each other’s differences.
41
What is slow decision making?
Slower decision making as much time is spent on ideas generation among colleagues.
42
What is conflict of objectives?
The outlook and objectives of different departments could
conflict, for example spending money on an advertising campaign the finance
department feels is unnecessary.
43
What is external communication?
External communication refers to the communication between the organisation and
external parties in the normal course of business activities.
44
What does the external parties include?
The external parties
include customers, suppliers, bankers, shareholders, government agencies, trade unions, etc.
45
What do business communicate with customers?
New product launches, promotional campaign, customer service,
handling customer complaints, educating customers on the use of the products,
etc.
46
What are the most common forms of medium of external communication?
The most common forms of medium used for communicating with external parties are letters, phone calls, faxes or emails.
47
What do business communicate with suppliers?
Negotiation for better credit terms, asking for quotations, clarification
of statement of accounts, goods returns due to defects and not meeting specifications, etc.
48
What do business communicate with shareholders?
Annual General Meeting, Extraordinary General Meeting,
circulars, annual financial reports, interim results, etc.
48
What do business communicate with banks?
Loan application, opening of bank accounts, negotiating repayment schedule, etc.
49
What do business communicate with government agencies?
Filing of annual returns, tax returns, application for government assistance schemes, etc.
50
What do business communicate with trade unions?
Human resource matters, workers’ grievances, wage freeze issues, etc.
51
What is grapevine?
The grapevine is an informal communication network that carries gossips and
information or misinformation throughout the organisation.
52
What information does grapevine carries?
The information it
carries may not necessarily relate directly to work matter.
53
What can grapevine take place?
Grapevine takes place
usually during meetings with friends/colleagues in the canteen or at break times, or
it could even take place during work itself.
54
Why grapevine increases the speed of communication? [2]
- The message within the grapevine can
travel faster and with greater impact, as compared to the same message passed
along using formal channels.
- The management could tap on this advantage to
supplement the official communication channels to spread an urgent and important message to all employees.
54
What are the advantages of grapevine? [5]
1. Increases the speed of communication
2. Improved sense of security
3. Sense of belonging
4. Source of job-related information
5. Counter monotony at work
54
Why grapevine improves sense of security?
Grapevine gives employees a sense of security by keeping employees in the know concerning important matters that may impact them, such as possible change in immediate superior or potential change in
company benefits.
55
Why can grapevine form a sense of belonging? [2]
- Through grapevine, employees are able to share concerns
and personal issues with colleagues, which they may feel uncomfortable sharing
with their immediate superiors.
- This provides a form of social support and satisfy personal needs and create, in the employees, a sense of belonging to the
organisation.
56
Why grapevine is a source of job-related information? [2]
- Grapevine could become a channel to provide job-related information employees could not get hold of through formal channels.
- For example, through the grapevine, employees may come to know the reshuffle that could be taking place at management level.
57
What are the disadvantages of grapevine? [2]
1. Transmission of inaccurate information
2. Loss of control
57
Why can grapevine counter monotony at work? [2]
- Being able to hear the ‘latest’ happenings in the organisation or discussing hobbies during breaks will allow employees to take
their mind off their work for a while.
- This could help the staff to counter
monotony in the workplace and may help improve their productivity.
57
Why grapevine can cause transmission of inaccurate information? [3]
- Through the grapevine, rumours, if not countered through official channels, could spread like wildfire.
- This could undermine morale of workers.
- Furthermore, speculations and premature release of information can harm the organisation and cause investors to lose
confidence in the organisation.
58
Why can grapevine cause loss of control? [3]
- Management has little control over the grapevine as it is outside of the formal hierarchy of the organisation.
- Rumours, gossips or grossly inaccurate company-related information will only reach the ears of the top management later. - As such, management usually have to come into the picture
to rectify the error.
- This reactive remedy could be too late as damage might have
already be done, such as workers becoming demotivated.
59
What are some ways the management of grapevine? [4]
1. Acceptance of grapevine
2. Openness with employees
3. Supplement formal channels
4. Testing response
60
Why should management have openness with employees? [2]
- Managers should be more open with employees in
the formal channels of communication.
- This is because any deficiency in the
formal channels of communication will lead to an increase in the activities of the
grapevine.
60
Why should management accept grapevine?
Managers should accept the existence of grapevine as it is unrealistic for them to think they can eliminate grapevines.
61
Why should management supplement formal channels? [2]
- Management could use grapevine to supplement the formal channels by identifying the active grapevine members (informal
leaders) and ensure they receive accurate information.
- They could exploit the
grapevine to reinforce important information sent through the formal channel.
62
Why should management have testing response?
- Management could selectively leak information of new ideas to test the reactions of members of grapevine and obtain feedback before the
proposal becomes official.
- If the general feel of the response is negative, management may rework, refine and launch the new ideas later.
63
What is management by walking around (MBWA)?
MBWA is about management taking the time to meet with employees to have an
informal discussion about their work, hobbies or any matters that crop up.
64
What can MBWA help with?
This helps to break the invisible barrier between top management and staff where top management are perceived to be ‘unapproachable’.
65
What are some advantages of MBWA? [3]
1. Open communication
2. Improved motivation
3. Creates unity
66
Why is open communication an advantage of MBWA? [2]
- Staff will become more comfortable speaking with the top
management and may bring up work related or personal issues which impact
their work.
- MBWA will result in better and open communication between staff
and management.
67
Why is improved motivation an advantage of MBWA?
MBWA will also lead to better motivation as the
subordinates will have more opportunity to clarify tasks with the management
face-to-face.
68
Why is creating unity an advantage of MBWA?
- MBWA creates an opportunity for the management to explain the big picture to the staff who are usually more concern with their own area of work.
- By showing them the big picture, the staff will be more aware of the
contribution of their area of work to the company goal.
- Thus, MBWA will create a sense of belonging among staff and will unite the staff as a team to meet
company objectives.
69
What are some disadvantages of MBWA? [2]
1. Negative reaction
2. Not giving genuine feedback
70
Why is negative reaction a disadvantage of MBWA? [2]
- Not all employees will respond positively to the presence of
management in their work area.
- Some may suffer from status effect and tongue-tied on how to respond to questions from the management
71
Why is not giving genuine feedback a disadvantage of MBWA?
Some employees may feel uncomfortable giving genuine feedback to the management as it may reflect badly on them or their own superiors.
71
What should the management be aware of and the result of it?
- In view of the limitations of MBWA, the management needs to be aware of the
different personalities of their employees and takes time to genuinely get to know the employees.
- In time to come, the management will be able reap the benefits of this informal communication channel.
72
What is noise?
Any factor that prevents a message from being received or correctly understood is a
barrier to communication.
73
Why is the barriers a problem?
These barriers are much more of a problem for large businesses with operations in more than one location and with several levels of hierarchy.
74
What is physical barrier?
Physical barrier is the environmental and natural condition that acts as a barrier in
communication, when the message is sent from sender to receiver.
74
What are the three types of barriers to effective communication?
1. Physical barriers
2. Semantic barriers
3. Personal barriers
75
What are examples of physical barriers? [5]
1. Physical distance
2. Time-zone distances
3. Workspace design
4. Physical noise
5. Long communication channel
76
Why can physical distance cause a barrier to effective communication? [3]
- Physical or geographical distance can adversely impact effective communication,
especially so for interpersonal communication.
- Distance adds more requirements
and barriers to communication as the greater the distance, the more technical
channels are needed.
- The sender and receiver would need to use technologies as
mediums, to encode and decode messages. In addition, remote areas may have
limited communication access, such as mobile phone reception or internet
availability.
77
How can physical distance be overcome? [2]
- To overcome physical distance as a barrier, new technologies and modern electronic
methods, such as video conferencing, are being designed and made.
- Improved
technologies may also be able to overcome the reception issues faced in remote
areas.
78
Why are time zone differences a barrier of effective communication? [3]
- Different time zones can also inhibit effective communication especially for MNCs.
- Emails sent from overseas branches may not be attended to in a timely manner.
- Finding a common time to hold video conferencing for all branches in different parts of the world may be challenging, as it may be wee hours in the morning for some
regional managers.
79
How can we overcome time zone differences?
To overcome time zone differences, the management would need to find a common
time slot where all regional managers agreed to be actively engaged in the meeting
across the different time zones.
80
Why is workspace design a barrier for effective communication? [3]
- Workspace design also has an effect in the communication in an office setting, typically in the form of office walls.
- If the subordinates’ workspaces are far away from the room of management’s, they will not be able to communicate with the
managers, take proper orders, make plans, get feedbacks and suggest new ideas.
- Communication would take place through phones or emails, which have more noise
and other technical problems than face to face communication.
81
Why is physical noise a barrier for effective communication?
Physical noise are the disturbances that occur due to outside or background
disturbances. This type of noise occurs in mostly all kinds of communication,
including face to face and written communication. Written noise could be in the form
of bad handwriting.
Physical noise is prevalent in factories, which is not the ideal environment for
communication. When production supervisors try to give instructions to the
production workers in a noisy factory, vital instructions might be misunderstood, and
the result could be disastrous.
82
How can workspace design be overcome?
To overcome this, more and more businesses are adopting new concepts such as
open workspace design. An example of open workspace design is hot-desking.
82
Why is long communication channel a barrier for effective communication? [3]
- In a tall organisational structure, any upwards or downwards communication would
need to go through multiple levels before it reaches the intended audience.
- Any new suggestions from lower ranked workers would have to clear the levels of hierarchy before it reaches top management.
- Thus, messages will be slow to reach their intended receiver, or they may become distorted, filtered or their meaning changed on the way.
83
How can physical noise be overcome?
To overcome physical noise, communication should be moved to a quieter location
that is more appropriate for the messages to be heard or received.
84
What is semantics?
Semantics refers to the study of the meaning of words, signs and symbols used for
communication.
85
What are the results of semantic barriers to communication?
Semantic barriers to communication distort the sent message in
some other way than intended, making the message difficult to understand.
86
What are some examples of semantic barriers? [4]
1. Use of jargons
2. Misleading or vague messages
3. Cultural or background differences
4. Use of harsh language
86
What is the use of jargon? [2]
- Jargons refer to technical terms specific to a certain profession or group of
employees.
- When there is excessive use of technical terms, the receiver will not be
able to comprehend the intended message.
86
What misleading or vague messages result as a barrier?
Misleading or vague messages may also result in breakdown in communication.
87
How can the management resolve the issue of usage of jargons?
To resolve the issue of usage of jargons, the management should constantly emphasise to subordinates to use a common language or terms, and avoid using
jargons where possible in order to prevent miscommunication.
88
What are the effects of misleading or vague messages? [2]
- This may create situation where subordinates may be
penalized wrongly for not completing the task on time since the deadline is not
defined clearly.
- This may adversely affect their morale and motivation.
89
How can we overcome misleading or vague messages?
To overcome misleading or vague messages, managers should ensure clarity in their communication with their subordinates by asking for their feedback.
90
Why cultural or background differences is a barrier of effective communication?
In some situation, the same words may mean different things to different people.
This is due to different culture or background.
91
What are the consequences of cultural or background differences?
As such, work may
not be completed as expected and misunderstanding would arise if the managers began to penalise the subordinates for not meeting deadline.
92
Why is the use of harsh language a barrier of effective communication? [2]
- The use of poor or harsh language whether communicated verbally or in written
form may trigger negative emotions or resistance on the part of the receiver.
- When such negative emotions are aroused, communication will be broken down and
ineffective.
92
How can we overcome cultural or background differences?
To over cultural or background differences, managers, especially regional managers
and those in MNCs, would need to understand the culture of subordinates of
different nationalities to avoid miscommunication.
93
How can we prevent the use of language? [2]
- To prevent the use of harsh language, managers must use polite and dignified
language so as not to touch the sentiments of the subordinates, wherever possible.
- Managers must also be sensitive to the feelings of their subordinates.
93
What are personal barriers? [2]
- Personal barriers are individual attributes that hinder communication.
- It is influenced by one’s personal values, experiences or background.
93
What are examples of personal barriers? [6]
1. Egoism
2. Poor listening skills
3. Stereotyping
4. Prejudice
5. Information overload
6. Lack of trust
94
What is egoism?
Egoism is being excessively conceited or absorbed in oneself, it is the self-perceived
superiority over others.
94
What are the characteristics of egoistic managers?
Managers who are egoistic would see themselves as
superior, have higher status and of higher rank, hence they should be ‘telling’ subordinates what to do instead of ‘listening’ to feedback.
95
How can managers overcome egoism?
It is important for managers to create such an atmosphere
where inferiority complex in subordinates is not present and a free flow of upward
communication is allowed.
95
What are the effects of egoistic managers to subordinates?
Subordinates may not dare to speak up out of fear or inferiority complex.
95
What are poor listening skills? [2]
- Poor listening skills usually occurs due to lack of control over the speed of the
speaker, inability to stay focus, problem of interpretation, etc.
- This is especially so in
a fast-paced work environment where management and staff are faced with much
distractions which lead to poor listening.
95
What will poor listening skills lead to? [3]
- Poor listening skills will lead to inability to
evaluate ideas, unable to differentiate between fact and opinion, unable to use
questioning and feedback to clarify communication.
- As such, much time will be wasted in rectifying errors caused by poor listening skills.
-This is especially crucial in customer relationships management.
96
How to overcome poor listening skills? [3]
- To overcome poor listening skills, the managements need to make a conscious effort
to model themselves as skillful listeners for their staff.
- In addition, the management
could send both managers and staff for training in skillful listening.
- This will help in reducing communication breakdown due to poor listening skills.
97
What is stereotyping?
Stereotyping refers to a tendency to judge an individual on the basis of the characteristics of the group which he belongs.
98
What are the consequences of stereotyping?
Such stereotyping may result in lost opportunity for new ideas from the subordinates.
98
What is prejudice?
Prejudice refers to the tendency to establish unreasonable feelings and opinions
towards an individual or group due to past experiences.
98
How to overcome stereotyping?
To overcome stereotyping, managers need to be objective in relating to their staff
and refrain from stereotyping their staff.
99
How can we overcome prejudice? [2]
- To overcome prejudice, top management needsto ensure good working relationship
between department managers by holding management retreat periodically to work
out their differences and improve working relationships.
- This will ensure managers
align their personal objective with the business objective.
99
What is information overload? [2]
- If the manager has the habit of packing too much information, more than what is
actually necessary for the receiver to respond in the right way, then there is a threat
of information overload.
- This prevents the receiver from grasping the key elements
of the message and leads to poor productivity as employees have to sieve through
the unnecessary information.
99
What can prejudice impact the organisation?
This barrier can adversely impact the organisation as an entire segment of the workforce may be left out on important information.
100
How can we overcome information overload?
To overcome information overload, managers could be trained to be more succinct in their instruction, prioritize and only highlight the important information.
100
What is the lack of trust? [3]
- If the sender is not trusted, perhaps due to a previous misleading message or
unpopular decisions, then the receiver may be unwilling to listen to or to read the
message carefully.
- In addition, unmotivated or alienated workers make poor receivers.
- If workers have never been consulted on important issues before, then they may become very suspicious if the management style seems to be changing
towards a more participative one.
101
What is the way of overcoming lack of trust? [2]
- A way to overcome lack of trust would be to establish trust between senders and
receivers (usually managers and subordinates).
- This could be most easily achieved in
a business where all staff are considered as ‘partners’ rather than just managers-subordinates
