Kh chapter 1

Chapter 1: Role of Communication in Groups and Teams

CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN COMMUNICATIONCommunication as a transactional process

– Communication: can be defined as the process by which individuals create and transmit messages that are simultaneously received and interpreted by group members, who then create and transmit messages in response to the sender.

– Communication as a transactional process: emphasizes the reciprocal, multidirectional interaction in the communication environment and the responsiveness of communicative members.

– Complex and dynamic: transactions are contextual and therefore irreversible, unique, and unrepeatable.


CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN COMMUNICATIONCommunication as shared meaning

– Symbolic reality: is the interpretation of physical reality. Language is the way we share meanings and interpretations .

– Symbolic universe: we do not deal with an actual object, we deal with our perception of it.

– Concepts: are shared meanings amongst communicators.– Conception: our private or personal understanding of a concept.– Communication theorist David Berlo and the nature of meaning.


VERBAL COMMUNICATION- Denotative meaning, also known as referential meaning, refers to the

literal meaning of a word, the “dictionary definition.” - Connotative meaning refers to the associations that are connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that word.- Berlo’s five verbal communication skills:

encoding: speaking and writing decoding: listening and readingreasoning

Chapter 1: Role of Communication in Groups and TeamsNONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

- Nonverbal communication defined: as any instance in which a stimulus other than words creates meaning in either a sender’s or a

receiver’s mind. - Facial displays: express our emotions and our thoughts. - Eye behavior: have a tendency to reflect our thoughts and responses. - Eye brows: reflect intentional and unintentional thought & behavior- Paralanguage: is how we say something.-Body language: consists of body movements such as gestures, posture,

head, trunk, and limb movements.


VERBAL AND NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION INTERCONNECTEDNESS

Communication as a regulatory function- Language allows us to express and control emotion.- Language can reveal or camouflage our thoughts and motives. - Language permits us to make and avoid contact. - Language enables us to assert individual and social identity. - Language may be used to give or seek information. - Language allows us to control and be controlled. It is power. - Language can be used to monitor the process of communication.


INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE - Interpersonal communication: is also known as dyadic communication,

communication between two people, generally in face-to-face interaction.

- Competence: means having the know-how, ability, skill, capability, or expertise to be able to accomplish something well

- Interpersonal communication competence: controlling your verbal and nonverbal messages to create messages that best represent your thoughts.


DIALECTIC vs. DIALOGUE- Plato’s dialectics: was a way to search for significant issues, identify alternatives, generate standards or criteria for selection, all to be used to test proposals. - Contemporary dialectics: is often referred to as a social dialogue in which people seek to come to understanding by opening themselves to the thinking of others with an interest in learning and changing. - Dialectics: a way to understand the relationship of propositions (an idea, offer, or plan put forward for consideration or discussion) to one another. - Dialogue process: a conversation or discussion between group members

in which they exchange ideas and opinions.


CULTURE AND COMMUNICATIONCultural Differences

- Culture defined: as the dominant set of learned behaviors, values, beliefs, and thinking patterns we learn as we grow and develop in our social groups.- Cultural effectiveness: the ability to recognize cultural attributes and use

related information to effectively interact with members of a given culture. - Cultural norms: refer to the collective expectations of what constitutes

proper or improper behavior in a given interaction situation.


CULTURE AND COMMUNICATIONWhat influences thinking in cultures?

- Cognitive style: refers to thought patterns, or the way we process information.- Cognitive process: is the relationship between thinking and language. - Open-mindedness: is the extent to which the person can receive, evaluate, and act on relevant information received from the outside on its own intrinsic merits, unencumbered by irrelevant factors in the situation, within the person, or from the outside.- Close-mindedness: the extent to which people see only a narrow range

of data and ignore everything else when they make decisions. Continued:


CULTURE AND COMMUNICATIONWhat influences thinking in cultures?

- Associative information process: a person who filters new data, or sensory input, through the screen of personal experience. - Abstract information process: a person who is able to extrapolate data

and consider hypothetical situations.- Particular thinker: feels that a personal relationship is more important

than obeying rules or laws. - Universal thinker: tends to abide by rules and laws, while relationships

are less important than one’s duty to the company, society, and authority in general.


CULTURE AND COMMUNICATIONWhat influences behavior in cultures?

- Value systems: are the basis for behavior. - Values: are our central, core ideals about how to live or conduct our lives.- Terminal values: are values that we try to live life by and the ones we

pass on from generation to generation. - Instrumental values: are the values we try to live life by on a daily basis.- Values play an integral part in small group communication.


CULTURE AND COMMUNICATIONOvercoming language barriers

- Use concrete language: words that best describe or are most specific to tangible objects—people, places, and things.

- Use abstract words: which refer to general ideas, attributes or qualities.- Self-monitoring: thinking about what we will say and how we will say it,

and considering how our behavior will be perceived. - Nonverbal cues: the meanings assigned to body language and eye contact.


CULTURAL PROPOSITIONSConflict management differences

- Cultural assumptions: are a cluster of beliefs that govern behavior and are viewed as fundamental by those who hold them. - Collectivist cultures:

Members use a greater degree of avoidance-oriented conflict style.Members tend to use more obliging or smoothing strategies to

manage conflict.Members tend to use a greater degree of approval-seeking strategies

in managing conflict.

Continued:



- Individualist cultures: Members use a greater degree of solution-oriented conflict style.Members tend to use more dominating or controlling strategies

to manage conflict.Members tend to use more autonomy- preserving strategies in

managing conflict.

Continued:



- Independent-self conflict lens: a person often views conflict from a content conflict goal lens, which emphasizes tangible conflict

issues above and beyond relationship issues.a clear win-lose conflict approach, in which one person comes

out as a winner and the other person comes out as a loser.a “doing’ angle, in which something tangible in the conflict is

broken and needs fixing.an outcome-driven mode, in which a clear action plan or

resolution is needed. Continued:



- Interdependent-self conflict lens: a person often perceives conflict from a relational process lens, which emphasizes relationship and

feeling issues.a win-win relational approach, in which feelings and “faces” can

both be saved.a “being” angle, in which relational trust needs to be repaired

and loyalty needs amended to preserve relational harmony.a long-term compromising negotiation mode that has n clear

winner or loser in the ongoing conflict.


ELEMENTS OF COMPETENCECommunication knowledge

- Spoken language – consists of cultural dialects, words with special meaning and definition to the culture, often with blends of the native language with the dominant language.- Tone/inflection of voice – both the denotative and connotative meanings of words change by raising or lowering the pitch of the voice on various key syllables or words in a sentence.- Eye contact/facial expression – make a mental note about the duration

of eye contact, how emotions are expressed, and feelings that are displayed through the face.

Continued:


ELEMENTS OF COMPETENCECommunication knowledge

- Body language/gestures : observe the person’s general body posture, his or her proximity to others, use of arms and hands to emphasize or illustrate the meaning of the words being spoken.- Touch: frequency, force, and location of touching between individuals.


ELEMENTS OF COMPETENCESkills for bridging barriers

- Listen effectively: • Being more concerned with what we want to say than what is

being said.• Hearing only what we want to hear.

• Preconceived notions about what the others are saying or are going to say.

• Assumptions and values that alter the meaning of the words between you and the speaker.

Continued:



- Resisting judgmental reactions:• We should listen without subjecting the information to our own cultural biases.• When we communicate a value judgment, the speaker is put on the

defensive.- Monitoring perception:

• Our perceptions are shaped by our cultural assumptions and values. We tend to filter communication and behavior through these lenses. You should be aware of this.

• We should suspend our own assumptions and values we normally attach to what we see or hear.

• To do this we should make a conscious effort to minimize cultural bias.

Continued:



- Seek feedback:• Ask those with who you are speaking if you are being

understood.• Clarify meanings that might be otherwise altered by cultural

differences.- Cultivate self-awareness:

• Monitoring perceptions requires self-awareness.• Be especially aware of your behavior patterns, communication

style, and thinking patterns.



- Take risks:• Be the first to open channels of communication• Make yourself open to establishing initial trust.• Sufficient trust must be developed to permit some level of

mutual exposure before communication can occur.


Gender and Communication- Gender differences in communication: when we use the terms feminine

and masculine, we are referring to gender, a type of personality orientation.

- Differences between feminine and masculine communication: we refer to gender differences as feminine talk and masculine talk.

- Gendered standpoints: promote differences in feminine and masculine styles of creating and expressing intimacy.

- From a feminine standpoint : relationships are ongoing processes that are always evolving in ways that need to be talked through.

- From a masculine standpoint: the emphasis on outcomes inclines men to see commitment as an event that is fixed at one time and

doesn’t require constant attention.


ETHICS- Ethics defined: is a code of conduct based on moral philosophy.- A culture’s code of ethics defines that culture: The ethical guidelines that an individual or group holds are closely linked to their culture.

A culture can be defined by its ethical code of conduct.- Normative ethics: involves arriving at moral standards that regulate right

and wrong conduct. It is the yardstick for determining proper behavior.

- Applied ethics: involves examining specific controversial issues.

Continued:


ETHICSNormative principles in applied ethics

- Personal benefit: acknowledge the extent to which an action produces beneficial consequences for the individual in question.

- Principle of harm: do not harm others.- Principle of honesty: do not deceive others. - Principle of autonomy: acknowledge a person’s freedom over his/her

actions or physical body.


GUIDELINES FOR GROUP DISCUSSION- Effective discussion is goal-directed: individuals come together as a group to problem-solve, make decisions, declare policy, evaluate programs, gather facts, and so forth. - Effective discussion is regulated by an agenda: In order for group discussion to be effective, there must exist some method or procedure that all members can follow; there must be in place rules of order that are meant to prevent or resolve conflict. - Effective discussion requires that every member be responsible for the group’s effectiveness: All members must be committed to listen, to think through, to reason, and to share results of their reasoning with the group.

Continued:


GUIDELINES FOR GROUP DISCUSSION- Effective discussion presumes cooperative efforts and attitudes: discussion is an inherently cooperative endeavor in which the success or failure of the entire group depends on the labors and attitudes of each individual. - Effective discussion requires leadership: Group discussion is more effective with a discussion leader than without one.

Kh chapter 1

Education

Transcript of Kh chapter 1