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a.
II. Barriers to Effective Communication
A. Filtering
1. Filtering refers to a sender’s purposely manipulating information so it will be
he/she wants to hear.
2. The more levels in an organization’s structure, the more opportunities there
are for filtering. Being reluctant to give bad news, or trying to please one’s
boss distorts upward communications.
B. Selective Perception
1. Receivers in their communication process selectively see and hear based on
characteristics.
2. Receivers project their interests and expectations into communications as they
decode them.
C. Information Overload
the result is information overload.
2. The result is they tend to select out, ignore, pass over, or forget information.
information and less effective communication.
3. Employees must balance the need for constant communication with their own
24 hours a day.
D. Emotions
1. How a receiver feels at the time a message is received will influence how he
communication.
2. During those times, we are most likely to disregard objective thinking and
substitute emotions for judgments.
E. Language
1. Words mean different things to different people.
F. Silence
1. It’s easy to ignore silence or lack of communication, precisely because it is
defined by the absence of information.
and problematic.
G. Communication Apprehension
apprehension, or social anxiety.
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H. Lying
1. The final barrier to effective communication is outright misrepresentation of
information, or lying.
3. Evidence also shows that people are more comfortable lying over the phone
to write with pen and paper.
4. Research generally suggests most people are not very good at detecting
deception in others.
III. Cultural Factors
A. Introduction
communication problems.
b. A gesture that is well-understood and acceptable in one culture can be
meaningless or lewd in another.
2. Only 18 percent of companies have documented strategies for communicating
with employees across cultures, and only 31 percent require that corporate
B. Cultural Barriers:
1. First, there are barriers caused by semantics. Words mean different things to
different people. Some words do not translate between cultures.
2. Second, there are barriers caused by word connotations. Words imply
different things in different languages.
the context.
4. Fourth, there are differences in tolerance for conflict and methods for
resolving conflicts.
C. Cultural Context (Exhibit 11-8)
1. Cultures tend to differ in the importance to which context influences meaning.
others.
3. People from Europe and North America reflect their low-context cultures.
4. Communication in high-context cultures implies considerably more trust by
both parties.
5. Oral agreements imply strong commitments in high-text cultures.
valued and heavily influence your credibility.
7. In low-context cultures, enforceable contracts will tend to be in writing,
precisely worded, and highly legalistic. Similarly, low-context cultures value
directness.
D. A Cultural Guide
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1. Know yourself.
2. Foster a climate of mutual respect, fairness, and democracy.
3. State facts, not your interpretation.
4. Consider the other person’s viewpoint.
5. Proactively maintain the identity of the group.
IV. Summary and Implications for Managers
A. You’ve probably discovered the link between communication and employee
satisfaction in this chapter: the less uncertainty, the greater the satisfaction.
B. Distortions, ambiguities, and incongruities between verbal and nonverbal
messages all increase uncertainty and reduce satisfaction. Careful attention to the
methods and modes for each communication better ensures that the message is
properly interpreted by the receiver. Specific implications for managers are
below:
1. Remember that your communication mode will partly determine your
communication effectiveness.
2. Obtain feedback from your employees to make certain your messages—
however they are communicated—are understood.
3. Remember that written communication creates more misunderstandings than
oral communication; communicate with employees through in-person
meetings when possible.
4. Make sure you use communication strategies appropriate to your audience and
the type of message you’re sending.
5. Keep in mind communication barriers such as gender and culture.
EXPANDED CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Functions of Communication
A. Communication serves five major functions within a group or organization:
management, feedback, emotional sharing, persuasion, and information exchange.
B. Communication acts to manage member behavior in several ways.
1. Organizations have authority hierarchies and formal guidelines employees are
required to follow.
2. When employees follow their job descriptions or comply with company
policies, communication performs a management function.
3. Informal communication controls behavior too. When workgroups tease or
harass a member who produces too much (and makes the rest of the members
look bad), they are informally communicating and managing the member’s
behavior.
C. Communication creates feedback by clarifying to employees what they must do,
how well they are doing it, and how they can improve their performance.
1. Formation of goals, feedback on progress, and reward for desired behavior all
require communication and stimulate motivation.
D. Communication within the group is a fundamental mechanism by which members
show satisfaction and frustration.
E. Communication, therefore, provides for the emotional sharing of feelings and
fulfillment of social needs.
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Starbucks pulled the campaign—but Jones and others have forged solid
relationships from their emotional sharing.
F. Like emotional sharing, persuasion can be good or bad depending on if, say, a
leader is trying to persuade a workgroup to believe in the organization’s
decision making.
1. Communication provides the information individuals and groups need to
make decisions by transmitting the data needed to identify and evaluate
choices.
H. Almost every communication interaction that takes place in a group or
important than the others.
1. To perform effectively, groups need to maintain some control over members,
provide feedback to stimulate members to perform, allow emotional
expression, monitor the persuasive efforts of individuals, and encourage
information exchange.
II. The Communication Process (Exhibit 11-1)
conveyed is needed.
1. It passes between a source (the sender) and a receiver.
B. The message is encoded (converted to symbolic form) and is passed by way of
some medium (channel) to the receiver, who retranslates (decodes) the message
initiated by the sender.
1. The sender selects it, determining whether to use a formal or informal
channel.
2. Formal channels are established by the organization and transmit messages
related to the professional activities of members.
choices.
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F. The receiver is the person(s) to whom the message is directed, who must first
translate the symbols into understandable form.
cultural differences.
H. The final link in the communication process is a feedback loop.
1. Feedback is the check on how successful we have been in transferring our
messages as originally intended.
2. It determines whether understanding has been achieved.
III. Direction of Communication
A. Downward Communication
level is downward communication.
a. This is typically what we think of when managers communicate with
workers.
2. Its purpose is to assign goals, provide instructions, communicate policies and
procedures, provide feedback, etc.
reasons why a decision was made.
a. Evidence indicates that explanations increase employee commitment and
support of decisions.
4. Another problem in downward communication is its one-way nature;
generally, managers inform employees but rarely solicit their advice or
opinions.
supervise.
B. Upward Communication
1. Upward communication flows to a higher level in the group or organization.
2. It is used to provide feedback to higher-ups, inform them of progress, and
relay current problems.
improved.
a. It is also important for subordinates to give honest, authentic feedback
because, if managers are not given reasonable negative feedback about
allocating resources, they are more likely to make self-interested decisions
at the expense of their subordinates.
C. Lateral Communication
1. When communication takes place among members of the same work group,
among members of work groups at the same level, among managers at the
same level, or among any horizontally equivalent personnel, it is called
lateral communication.
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coordination.
3. In some cases, these lateral relationships are formally sanctioned.
4. Often, they are informally created to short-circuit the vertical hierarchy and
expedite action.
5. They can create dysfunctional conflicts when the formal vertical channels are
without their knowledge.
D. Formal Small-Group Networks
1. Formal organizational networks can be complicated, including hundreds of
people and a half-dozen or more hierarchical levels.
2. To simplify, we’ve condensed these networks into three common small groups
three-level organization.
b. The wheel relies on a central figure to act as the conduit for all group
communication; it simulates the communication network you would find
on a team with a strong leader.
c. The all-channel network permits group members to actively communicate
takes on a leadership role.
3. As Exhibit 11-3 demonstrates, the effectiveness of each network depends on
the dependent variable that concerns you.
4. The structure of the wheel facilitates the emergence of a leader, the
all-channel network is best if you desire high member satisfaction, and the
all occasions.
E. The Grapevine
1. The informal communication network in a group or organization is called the
grapevine.
2. The grapevine is an important part of any group or organization
communication network.
anxieties.
3. The grapevine also serves employees’ needs: small talk creates a sense of
closeness and friendship among those who share information, although
research suggests it often does so at the expense of those in the “out” group.
4. There is also evidence that gossip is driven largely by employee social
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a. While some consider gossiping to be deviant behavior, not all gossip is
malicious.
their range and impact. (Exhibit 11-4)
IV. Modes of Communication
A. Oral Communication
1. Oral communication is the primary means of conveying messages. Speeches,
formal one-on-one and group discussions, and the informal rumor mill or
grapevine are popular forms of oral communication.
a. Advantages are speed and feedback.
place in almost any venue.
3. Videoconferencing and Conference Calling—permits employees and clients
to conduct real-time meetings with people at different locations.
4. Telephone—offers many of the benefits of meetings (formal and informal),
and can prompt immediate response.
B. Written Communication
complex ideas.
4. E-mail—has become so persuasive it’s hard to imagine life without it.
a. Many managers report that they spend too much time on e-mail.
(Exhibit 11-5) One study also indicated that people focus longer on tasks
and are less stressed when they are cut off from checking e-mail, though
their workload is already heavy.
5. Instant Messaging—a synchronous technology, meaning that you need to be
there to receive the message.
6. Text Messaging—usually done via cell phone and often as a real-time
alternative to phone calls.
7. Social Media Websites—transformed communication.
applications, known as enterprise social software.
8. Apps—One study also indicated that people focus longer on tasks and are less
already heavy.
9. Blogs—short for web log—a website about a single person or company.
10. Others—Flickr, Pinterest, Google+, and so on.
C. Nonverbal Communication
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3. We could argue that every body movement has meaning, and no movement is
accidental (though some are unconscious).
a. We act out our state of being with nonverbal body language.
b. A body position or movement can communicate something of the emotion
could see the meeting on video.
ii. There is no record of nonverbal communication.
iii. The emphasis given to words or phrases is missing.
iv. Exhibit 11-6 illustrates how intonations can change the meaning of a
message.
v. Facial expressions also convey meaning.
4. Physical distance also has meaning.
cultural norms?
b. A businesslike distance in some European countries feels intimate in many
parts of North America.
c. If someone stands closer to you than is considered appropriate, it may
indicate aggressiveness or sexual interest; if farther away, it may signal
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