8 communication Flashcards
Communication serves five major functions of communication:
Management
Feedback
Emotional sharing
Persuasion
Information exchange
Communication process
SENDER
Message to be sent ->
Encoding message ->
Channel (noise; feedback) ->
RECEIVER
Message received ->
Message decoding ->
feedback to the sender (how successful the transference of the message was, if they got it correctly, etc).
Informal communication channels
Personal and social messages
Formal communication channels
Follow the authority chain
Different forms of noise:
Perceptual problems
Information overload
Semantic difficulties
Cultural differences
Downward communication
From one level to a Lowe level
Assigns goals, instructions
managers to employees
upward communication
provide feedback, inform of progress, request suggestions
lateral communication
members of the same level
Saves time, eases com coordination;
it can create dysfunctional conflicts.
Three Common small group networks:
- Chain network
Rigid formal chain of command; trad bureaucratic
Grapevine:
informal communication network in an organisation.
Gives managers a feel for the morale of their organisation.
Identifies issues that employees consider relevant.
Choice of channel; routine messages:
tend to be straightforward and have a minimum of ambiguity.
Choice of channel; non-routine messages:
likely to be complicated and have potential for misunderstanding; choose oral comm.
Need for cognition
personality trait of individuals who are most likely to be persuaded by evidence and facts.
Ways people contract meaning: automatic processing;
relatively superficial consideration of evidence and intonation using heuristics (mental shortcuts to reach a thought), which fundamentally is the mental shortcut that allows people to solve problems and make judgements quickly and efficiently.
Little time and low effort; easily fooled.
Ways people contract meaning: controlled processing;
Detailed consideration of evidence and information relying on facts, figures, and logic
Requires effort, energy; harder to be fooled.
Rules determining the choice of processing:
- Interest level
- Prior knowledge
- Personality
- Message characteristics
Typical communication barriers:
- Filtering
Sender intentionally manipulates information - Selective perception
- Information overload
- Emotions
- Language
- Silence
- Communication apprehension
- Lying
Individualistic cultures are more comfortable with…
…confrontations, and more willing to reveal the basis of their differences.
They prefer explicit statements affecting responsibility for conflicts, and public apologies to restore relationships.
Collectivistic cultures are more comfortable with…
acknowledging conflict implicitly, and avoid emotionally charged disputes.
They may attribute conflicts to the situation more than to the individuals,
may not require explicit apologies to repair relationships.
High v low context cultures;
HIGH - people rely heavily on non verbal and subtle situational cues.
(China, Korea, Japan)
LOW - rely on spoken and written words.
(Germany, Swiss)
Implications for managers:
obtain feedback from your employees to make certain messages are understood.
Remember written communication creates more misunderstanding than oral communication, thus why they should communicate with employees through in person meetings when available.
Make sure they are using communication strategies appropriate to your audience and the type of message you are sending.
Keep in mind communication barriers.
