Managing

Communications
 Chapter Objectives
To understand
● The Two-Way Communication Process
● Barriers to Communication
● Factors Leading to Effective Communication
● Downward and Upward Communications Problems
● The Roles of Questioning and Listening
● The Impact of Electronic Communications
● Organizational Grapevines and Rumors
 Communication Fundamentals
• Communication is the transfer of information and understanding from one person
to another person. It is a way of reaching others by transmitting ideas, facts,
thoughts, feelings and values. Its goal is to have the receiver understand the
message as it was intended.

• Communication always involves at least people ꟷ a sender and a receiver. One

person alone cannot communicate. Only one or more receivers can complete the
communication act.
 The Importance of Communication
• Organizations cannot exist without communication. If
there is no communication, employees cannot know
what their coworkers are doing, management cannot
receive information inputs, and supervisors and team
leaders cannot give instructions.
Two-Way Communication Process

- is the method which a sender reaches a receiver

with a message.
 STEPS IN TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION

Barriers
R
S Bridge of E
E meaning C
N Develop Encode Transmit Receive Decode Accept Use E
D an idea I
E Steps 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 V
R E
R
Potential Problems

• Defensive reasoning is designed to avoid risk and appearance of

incompetence, but it typically results in a drive toward control and winning.

• Cognitive dissonance is the internal conflict and anxiety that occur

when people receive information incompatible with their value system,
prior decisions or other information they may have.

• Face-saving an attempt to preserved our value self-concept from attact.

 Communication
Barriers
TYPES OF BARRIERS:
Personal Barriers
Physical Barriers
Semantic Barriers
 Communication Barriers
• Types of Barriers

 Personal Barriers
- Are communication
interferences that arise
from human emotions,
values, race sex,
socioeconomic status and
other factors.
 Communication Barriers
• Types of Barriers

 Personal Barriers
Psychological Distance
A feeling of being
emotionally separated
between people that is
similar to actual physical
distance
 Communication Barriers
• Types of Barriers

 Physical Barriers
- Are communication
interferences that occur in
the environment in which
communication takes
place.
 Communication Barriers
• Types of Barriers

 Semantic Barriers
- Arise from limitations in the
symbols with which we
communicate.
 Communication Barriers
• Types of Barriers

 Semantic Barriers
Inference
Interpreting a symbol on the
basis of our assumptions
instead of facts.
Factors Leading to Effective
Communication
 Being able to communicate effectively is an essential
skill. Whether it’s in our business life or our personal
relationships, effective communication is the key to our
success.
 1. Listening
• One of the most important aspects of effective communication is
being a good listener.
 
• People do not like communicating with others who are only
interested in telling you what they want to tell you, and don’t listen
to what you have to say.  Effective communication requires active
listening, so practice active listening until it becomes second nature
to you.
 2. Non-Verbal Communication
• The words we choose make up just 7% of the message
being conveyed, which makes non-verbal
communication all the more important. Body language
is an important communication tool. Your body language
should help convey your words.  Other factors you
should consider are things like the tone of your voice,
your hand gestures, and ensuring eye contact.
 3. Be Clear and Be Concise
• Convey your message using as few words as possible.
 Whether in person, via telephone, or email, convey
your message clearly, concise and direct. If you are
excessive with your words, the listener will either lose
focus or just be unsure as to what it is that you want. 
 4. Be Personable
• When communicating face to face with someone, use a
friendly tone with a simple smile, and ask a personal
question. These things encourage the other person to
engage in honest, open communication. When using
written communication (e.g. email), you can achieve
this by adding a simple personal message, for example,
“How was your weekend?”.
 5. Be Confident
• Confidence underpins all effective communication.
Other people will believe you will do as you say if you
sound confident. Making eye contact, using a firm but
friendly tone (never aggressive), are all ways you can
exude confidence. Remember to always be listening to
the other person and looking out for those nonverbal
clues. 
 6. Empathy
• Empathy is the skill of being able to understand and share the
feelings of another person.

• Even if don’t agree with the person you’re communicating with, it’s
very important that you understand and respect their view. Simply
saying to that person “I understand what you’re saying”, will let
them know that you have been listening to them, and that you
respect their point of view.
 7. Always Have An Open Mind
• Being an effective communicator requires that every
conversation is approached with a flexible, open mind. This isn’t
always easy to achieve, but is very important to communicating
effectively. Always engage in active listening, and be sure to
demonstrate empathy by acknowledging you understand what
the other person’s point of view is. Adopting this approach will
always ensure honest, productive communication.
 8. Convey Respect
• Other people will be more likely to engage in communication
with you if you respect them and their ideas. Simply addressing
another person using their name, will make them feel
appreciated. If communicating via telephone, always keep
focused on the conversation and avoid being distracted in any
way. When communicating through email, take time to
construct and edit your message, taking care to address the
recipient by name.
 9. Give and Receive Feedback
• Giving and receiving appropriate feedback is an
essential communication skill, particularly for those
of us whose roles include managing other people.
Providing constructive feedback, as well as giving
someone praise, can greatly increase motivation and
build morale.
 10. Consider The Best Medium for The Job!
• The final item is knowing what the best form of communication
is to use. Being mindful of using the best form of communication
will result in your response being a positive one. Consider things
such as, who it is you’re trying to communicate with, how
important the topic is, and how busy that person might be. For
example, asking your boss for a raise is never going to be taken
seriously if you do it by text – so consider what’s appropriate!
Downward Communication

In an organization is the flow of information

from higher to lower levels of authority.
 Downward Communication

• In an organization is the flow of information from

higher to lower levels of authority.
Prerequisites and
Problems
 Four Prerequisites
• Managers need to develop a positive communication attitude.

• Managers must continually work to get informed.

• Managers need to consciously plan for communication.

• Managers must develop trust as mention earlier.

 Communication Overload
• The keys to better communication are timing and
quality, not quantity. It is possible to have better
understanding with less total communication if it is of
high quality and delivered at the appropriate moment.
 Acceptance of a Communication
• Acknowledged legitimacy of the sender to send a message.
• Perceived competence of the sender relative to the issue.
• Trust in the sender as a leader and as a person.
• Perceived credibility of the message received.
• Acceptance of the tasks and goals that the communication is trying to
accomplish.
• Power of the sender to enforce sanctions on the receiver either directly
or indirectly.
 Communication Needs
• Job Instruction

• Performance Feedback

• News

• Social Support
 The Roles of
Questioning and
Listening
 QUESTIONING
• Managers can encourage upward communications by asking good
questions. This practice shows employees that management takes an,
interest in their opinions desires additional information, and values their
input.

• OPEN QUESTIONS
• CLOSED QUESTIONS
 LISTENING: Active Listening

• Is more than hearing, it requires use of the ears and the mind. Effective
listening works on two levels – it helps receives understand both the
factual idea and the emotional message the sender intended.
 Employee Meetings

• One useful method of building upward communications is to meet with

small groups of employees. In these “town hall” meetings employees are
encouraged to talk about job problems, needs, and management practices
that both help and interfere with job performance.
 An Open – Door Policy

• An open – door policy is a statement that encourages employees to come

to their supervisor or higher management with any matter that concerns
them.
Guidelines for Effective Listening
• Stop Talking!
• Put the talker at ease.
• Show a talker that you want to Listen.
• Remove Distractions!
• Emphatize with a talker.
• Be patient.
• Hold your temper.
• Go easy on argument and criticism.
• Ask relevant questions.
• Stop Talking!
 7 c’s of Effective Communication
1. Control
2. Conversational
3. Confident
4. Competent
5. Calm
6. Clear
7. Concise
MBWA (Management By Walking Around

• An even more effective “open - door” is for managers to walk through

their own doors and get out among their people.
• This approach reinforces the open – door policy with a powerful social
cue.
 Participation in Social Groups

• Informal, casual recreational events furnish superb opportunities for

unplanned upward communication.
• This spontaneous information sharing reveals true conditions better than
most formal communications.
The Impact of Electronic Communication
 Electronic Communication

• Is a computer – based communications system that allows you to send a message to someone – or to hundred
people – almost instantaneously.

-primary advantages of electronic mail systems are their dramatic speed and convenience;

- the major disadvantages include the loss of face-to-face contact, the temptation to send flaming
( spontaneous, emotion-laden) messages, the risk of using acronyms and emotions ( keyboard versions of
various psychological states) that will be misunderstood, and the associated difficulty of accurately conveying
and interpreting emotions and subtleties in brief and somewhat sterile printed messages.
Telecommuting
• Also called remote work, future of work, telework, teleworking, working from home (WFH), mobile work,
remote job, and flexible workplace, is a work arrangement in which employees do not commute or travel
(e.g. by bus, bicycle or car, etc.) to a central place of work, such as an office building, warehouse, or store.

Virtual Offices
• Is a broad team that refers to work environments that are delivered and accessed through Web-based
communication and computing technologies

• A virtual office replaces the workspace with cyberspace. It works off of Web-based IT services that are
used for the initiation, execution and operation of typical office processes.
Other forms of communication

Lateral Communication or Cross-Communication

• Is “the exchange, imparting or sharing of information, ideas or feelings between people within a
community, peer groups, departments or units of an organization who are at or about the same
hierarchical level as each other for the purpose of coordinating activities, efforts of fulfilling a common
purpose or goal”.

- It also is done because people prefer the informality of lateral communication rather than the up
and down process of the official chain of command.
Boundary Spanners
• Is a term to describe individuals within an innovation system who have, or adopt, the role of linking the
organization’s internal networks with external sources of information.

- these connections with other units allows boundary spanners to gather large amounts of
information, which they may filter or transfer to others. This gives them a source of status and potential
power.
Networks
• Is a group of people who develop and maintain contact to exchange information informally, usually about
a shared interest.

Ombudsperson
• This position is created to receive and respond to inquiries, complaints request for policy clarifications,
or allegations of wrongdoing from employees who does not feel comfortable going through normal
channels.
Suggestion for developing and using a personal network

1. Inventory your personal resources so that you know what you have to offer others

2. Clarify your purpose for establishing or joining a network

3. Join significant community organizations and contribute to them

4. Initiate contacts with people whenever you can find (or create) a reason

5. Share news, information, and ideas with others, thereby creating an obligation for them to reciprocate

6. Seek out responsibilities that will bring you into contact with key people

7. Demonstrate to other networkers that you can be trusted with confidential information

8. Identify the key members of your networker – those who have the most influence, connection and willingness to help.

9. Don’t hesitate to tap into members of your network for general advice, career contacts. And other useful information

10. Find various ways to help your network colleagues satisfy their need
Sample guidelines for e-mail netiquette

1. Provide your recipient with an informative subject for your message

2. Indicate the degree of urgency with which you need a response

3. Limit the use of acronyms and emoticons unless the receiver is thoroughly familiar with and receptive to them

4. Be cautious about forwarding messages and replying to them; ensure that the message is going only to the right person

5. Don’t assume that everyone is equally comfortable with e-mail or checks their messages as frequently as you do

6. Scan your inbox several times a day to assess which messages have the highest priority and respond to them first. Nevertheless, try

to get back to all messages requiring your response within 24 hours

7. Be brief

8. Exercise as much care in spelling and punctuation as you would with a printed messages; recipients often judge you on the basis of

your care and attention to devil

 INFORMAL
COMMUNICATION
GRAPEVINE
The grapevine consists of a complex
network of informal contacts between the
workers at all levels, wherever there are
human beings, there are grapevines.

It is the natural activity of workers

and denotes a basic human
weakness
 Grapevine communication existed from the American
Civil War to the First World War. It was coined this
because of its nature of networking and reaching
several at once; it causes the transformation of
information between one individual and another.

Today the term applies to all informal

communications including company information
that is communicated informally between
employees and people in the community

Grapevine informations can be sent orally but it can

be written too. Handwritten or typed notes are
sometimes used but in modern settings these are
usually flased on screen. These are called Electronic
Grapevine
ELECTRONIC GRAPEVINE
This system can speed up the transmission of more
units of information within a very short-time.

However :

1. Not every employee has access to a network of

personal computers at work

2. Many workers enjoy the more personal social

interaction gained through traditional grapevine
TYPES OF GRAPEVINE
The Wheel

The Chain

The Cluster

Free Form
 There is one person in the
The Wheel middle of the circulating
grapevine

Liaison individuals are the most active

communicators in a grapevine for a specific
unit of information
The Chain
Informations are shared from person to
another person
The Cluster
Informations are shared from wheels to wheels
Free Form
The informations just comes from anyone,
anywhere.
CAUSES OF GRAPEVINES
Excitement and Insecurity Work that allows conversation

Involvement of friends and Job that provides information

associates shared by others

Recent Information Personality of Communicator

Procedure that bring

peoplen into contact
RUMOR
Rumor is grapevine information that is communicated
without secure standards of evidence being present. It
is the unverified and untrue part of the grapevine. It
could by chance be correct, but generally it is
incorrect; thus it is presumed to be undesirable.

Rumor is primarily is a result of both interest and

ambiguity in a situation. If a subject is unimportant or
has no interest to a person, then that person has no
cause to pass along a rumor about it.
TYPES OF RUMORS
Historical and Explanatory
Spontaneous and Action-
Oriented
Negative
Positive
CONTROL OF RUMOR Emphasize face-to-face supply of
facts, confirmed in writing if necessary

Remove its causes in order to Provide facts from reliable sources

prevent it Refrain from repeating rumor while
Apply efforts primarily to refuting it
serious rumors Encourage assistance of informal and
Refute rumor with facts union leaders if they are cooperative

Deal with rumor as soon as Listen to all the rumors in order to

possible understand what they mean
The art of communication is the
language of leadership
- James Humes

Sometimes people listen to

reply not to understand;

Comunication is only effective when we

communicate in a way that is meaningful
to the recipient not to ourselves
-Rich Simmons