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CHAPTER 3
Improving Communication Skills
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Define communication.
2. Describe the interpersonal communication process.
3. Describe problems that could arise from conflicting or inappropriate assumptions made in
interpersonal communication.
4. Define semantics, and explain its role in interpersonal communication.
5. Define perception.
6. Discuss the three factors that affect perception.
7. Outline the obstacles to accurate perception.
8. Explain how emotions may affect communication.
9. Explain active listening.
10. Explain the concept of feedback in communication.
11. Describe the grapevine.
12. Define and briefly discuss the e-mail process.
13. Define Internet and intranet.
14. Explain the importance of social media.
15. Discuss two factors that complicate communications in international business activities.
SUGGESTIONS FOR PRESENTATION
Demonstrate problems with one-way and two-way communications.
Using index cards, prepare several simple illustrations of geometric shapes. The ones that have
been used for years are reproduced below, but any simple illustrations will do fine.
Compare time and accuracy. Usually the first one takes longer, but tends to be more accurate.
The communicator is learning the language his or her classmates “understand” by their
questions. For example, if he says “trapezoid”, and no one draws anything, they are
Chapter 03 – Improving Communication Skills
communicating to him that they don‘t understand that term. The second one, without the benefit
of feedback, is usually faster but inaccurate. This demonstrates the value of feedback, even when
everyone knows the language.
Have people discuss how it could have been described better. One may also want to let others try
describing different pictures, if time permits. (Not all groups will finish simultaneously, of
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instruct, assess, influence, and persuade other people.
I. Communication as a Supervisory Skill
• Communicating effectively is an important supervisory skill for several reasons:
o Supervisors must give direction to the people who work for them.
o Supervisors must be able to motivate people.
o Supervisors must be able to absorb the ideas of others.
o Supervisors must be able to persuade other people.
II. Interpersonal Communication
• Interpersonal communication is an interactive process between individuals that involves
sending and receiving verbal and nonverbal messages. A model of the interpersonal
communication process is illustrated in Figure 3.2.
• Factors that interfere and cause the process to fail include:
o Conflicting or inappropriate assumptions
o Different interpretations of the meanings of words (semantics)
o Differences in perception
o Emotions either preceding or during communication
o Poor listening habits
o Inadequate communication skills
o Insufficient feedback
o Differences in the interpretations of nonverbal communications
Noise is a term often used in the communication process. Noise refers to anything introduced
into the message that is not included in the message.
A. Conflicting or Inappropriate Assumptions
• If one assumes that communication is flowing as intended, one tends to move on
with the dialog without allowing feedback to indicate whether clarity of expression
and communication has been achieved.
o Good supervisors always seek verbal or nonverbal feedback before continuing
the communication process.
• Interpretation of meaning can always be a problem when assumptions are involved.
o Sound communication usually flows from ensuring that the sender and the
receiver see and understand assumptions in the same way.
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B. Semantics
• Semantics is the science or study of the meanings of words and symbols.
• Words themselves have no real meaning.
o They have meaning only in terms of people’s reactions to them.
o A word may mean very different things to different people, depending on how
it is used.
o A word may be interpreted differently based on the facial expressions, hand
C. Perception
• Perception deals with the mental and sensory processes an individual uses in
selecting, organizing, interpreting, and responding to information she or he receives.
o This information is received through our vision, hearing, touch, smell, or taste.
o Since each individual’s perception is unique, people often perceive the same
situation in different ways.
o A manager should never assume that his or her actions and words will be
perceived exactly as they were intended.
o Feedback is the most effective method for reducing differences in perception.
• The following three factors influence and may even alter perception:
o The perceiver
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D. Obstacles to Accurate Perception
• Six obstacles to accurate perception are:
o Stereotyping—an oversimplified and often inaccurate generalization about the
typical characteristics of a particular group.
E. Emotions Either Preceding or during Communication
• Just as perception affects our cognitive processes during communication, emotions
affect our disposition to send and receive the communication.
o Anger, joy, fear, sorrow, disgust, or panic (to mention only a few emotions)
can all affect the way we send or receive messages.
• Communications during periods of high emotion usually have difficulty succeeding.
o Therefore, supervisors with good communication skills strive to manage the
emotional as well as the physical communication environment.
III. Learning to Communicate
• Supervisors communicate in writing and verbally. Before they can master either form of
communication, they must be able to identify the audience, develop good listening skills,
and understand the importance of feedback and nonverbal communication.
A. Understanding the Audience
• Supervisors communicate with many different kinds of people.
• To communicate effectively, supervisors need to determine their audience by
answering the following questions:
o What does the audience already know?
o What does it want to know?
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o What is its capacity for absorbing information?
o What does it hope to gain by listening? Is it hoping to be motivated? Informed?
Convinced?
o Is the audience friendly or hostile?
B. Developing Good Listening Skills
• Good listening skills enable supervisors to absorb important information, identify
problems, and understand viewpoints of others.
• Active listening involves absorbing information and responding effectively (Figure
3.6). Learning this skill involves steps such as:
o Identify the speaker’s purpose.
C. Feedback
D. Understanding the Importance of Nonverbal Communication
• Paralanguage, one form of nonverbal communication, includes the pitch, tempo,
loudness, and hesitations in the verbal communication.
o Gestures are also a part of nonverbal communication.
o People also communicate nonverbally by how close they stand to each other.
o Body posture and eye contact also communicate messages.
• Nonverbal communication is an important supplement to verbal communication
and sometimes can even change the meaning of verbal communication.
o It is an effective way to communicate emotions.
o When combined with verbal communication, it gives managers powerful tools
for transmitting information to employees.
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IV. Written Communication
• Supervisors must be able to write clearly, concisely and persuasively.
• Before actually writing a business document, supervisors need to think about what they
want to achieve. Refer to Figure 3.8 to understand how to identify the purpose, audience,
and main point of a document.
A. Principles of Good Writing
• Write as simply and clearly as possible.
V. Oral Communication
• Most business communication is done orally.
A. The Importance of Oral Communication
• Successful supervisors use their oral communication skills to give clear instructions,
motivate employees, and persuade other people.
• It can set the tone within a department or company
B. Developing Oral Communication Skills
• Make emotional contact with listeners by addressing them by name where possible.
• Avoid speaking in a monotone.
• Be enthusiastic and project a positive outlook.
VI. Choosing the Best Method of Communication
• Supervisors need to master both written and verbal communication skills.
o They also need to understand when to use each kind of skill.
o Choosing the best method of communication will helps relay information in an
appropriate and professional manner (Figure 3.11).
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VII. Communicating within the Organization
A. The Grapevine
• Many informal paths of communication also exist in organizations. These informal
channels are generally referred to as the grapevine.
• Management must recognize that the grapevine:
o Is often accurate
o Information travels faster than information in the formal channels of
communication
o Is resilient
B. E-Mail
C. The Internet
• The Internet is a global collection of independently operating, but interconnected,
computers; often referred to as the information superhighway.
• Social media include web-based and mobile technologies used to turn
communication into interactive dialogue.
D. Intranets
• An intranet is a private, corporate, computer network that uses Internet products and
technologies to provide multimedia applications within organizations.
VIII. Communication in International Business Activities
• Communication in international business activities becomes more complicated in both the
verbal and nonverbal communication processes.
o In verbal communication, the obvious problem of dealing with different languages
exists.
o Cultural differences play a significant role in nonverbal communication.
o There are two things the manager should do:
▪ Learn the culture.
▪ Write and speak clearly and simply.
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Solution to the Supervision Dilemma
Eva’s interpretation of the message from John led her to miss the deadline.
SUPERVISION ILLUSTRATIONS
3-1: How Not to Apologize
3-3: What Can You Do About the Grapevine?
3-4: Guidelines for Communicating through E-Mail
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is communication?
2. Define interpersonal communication and noise.
3. Give an illustration of a conflicting assumption.
Students’ answers will vary. They should remember that if one assumes that
communication is flowing as intended, one tends to move on with the dialog without
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4. What is semantics?
5. What is perception, and what role does it play in communication?
Perception refers to how a person views a situation. Perception deals with the mental and
sensory processes an individual uses in selecting, organizing, interpreting, and responding
6. What are the three factors that influence perception?
The three factors that influence perception are:
• The perceiver
7. Explain the obstacles to perception.
The obstacles to accurate perception are:
• Stereotyping—an oversimplified and often inaccurate generalization about the
typical characteristics of a particular group.
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8. How should one deal with emotions in communication?
9. What is active listening?
10. What is feedback, and how does it affect the communication process?
11. Explain the importance of nonverbal communication in interpersonal communication.
Nonverbal communication is an important supplement to verbal communication and
12. Describe the following organizational communication systems:
a. E-mail communication system
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13. Define the Internet and intranet.
The Internet is a global collection of independently operating, but interconnected,
14. Explain the importance of social media.
Social media include web-based and mobile technologies used to turn communication into
15. Describe two factors that complicate communications in international business.
The two factors that complicate communications in international business are:
1. Describe some ways the grapevine can be used effectively in organizations.
Because the grapevine is inevitable, management should use it to complement formal
2. Explain why many managers frequently raise the following question: “Why didn’t you do
what I told you to do?”
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3. Discuss the following statement: Meanings are in people, not words.
“Meanings are in people, not words” means that perception is different for everyone. Since
4. “Watch what we do, not what we say.” Is this a good practice in organizations? Explain.
5. Poor communication of the organization’s objectives is often given as the reason for low
organizational performance. Do you think this is usually a valid explanation? Why or why
not?
ADDITIONAL READINGS
SKILL BUILDING APPLICATIONS
Incident 3-1: Who Calls the Shots?
This incident illustrates the importance of interpersonal communication. The importance of
feedback in the communication process is also stressed.
1. How did this problem begin, and how could it have been avoided?
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2. Describe the communication failures that occurred in this case.
There were many communication failures that occurred in this case. Joe did not take his
3. Is Bill really responsible? Who else, if anyone, is responsible?
4. Comment on Joe Scott’s talk with Bill at the end of the case.
Incident 3-2: “I Told You…”
This incident illustrates the interpretation of communication by an individual and the importance
of two-way communication process.
1. What went wrong?
2. How could the situation have been handled differently?
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3. What do you think of Bruce’s solution?
Exercise 3-1: Perception Test
Students may have encountered this test or a similar one before. It could be done individually or
in small groups. The answers and rationale are as follows:
2. The match.
4. One hour (NOT 1 1/2 hours).
6. A half dollar and a nickel. (The half dollar is the one which is NOT a nickel.)
8. Two. That’s what you took.
10. None. NOAH, however, took two.
Exercise 3-2: Word Differences
This exercise is to help students understand the usage of different words and help them work on
interpretation of such words used in a communication process.
q—chemist cc—half five m—porter
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bb—it’s mommy’s go b—pillar box
Exercise 3-3: What’s Your Communication Style?
Exercise 3-4: The Listening Quiz
Exercise 3–5: Giving and Receiving Information
Exercise 3–6: Interpreting Facial Expressions and Gestures
Exercise 3–7: Writing a Letter Seeking a Position
SUPERVISORY ANECDOTES
Because of landowner opposition to a flood control plan in Mississippi’s Yazoo River Basin in
1988, the Army Corps of Engineers really learned to strike a balance and exercise flexibility. In
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RELATED VIDEOS
1. Verbal Communication: The Power of Words, CRM Films, 22 mins. (Revised) This video
depicts how nonverbal signals convey up to 93% of the message. This video takes an
interesting look at a subject often ignored.