MODULE 17
COMMUNICATION
“Listening can be the key to understanding”
• What is communication and when is it effective?
• How can we improve communication with people at work?
COMMUNICATION
Effective CommunicationsMODULE GUIDE 17.1
Communication is a process of sending and receiving messages with meanings attached.
Communication is effective when the receiver understands the sender’s message.
Communication is persuasive when the receiver acts as the sender intends.
Poor use of communication channels makes it hard to communicate effectively.
Information filtering can bias communication between lower and higher levels.
COMMUNICATION
Effective Communications
Communication is the process of sending and receiving symbols
with meanings attached.
COMMUNICATION
Effective Communications
Effective Communication occurs when the receiver fully understands the sender’s
intended message Efficient Communications
occurs at minimum costs Persuasion
Presenting a message in a manner that causes others to support it
Noise Anything that interferes with the communication process
Communication Channel The medium used to carry a message
COMMUNICATION
Effective Communications
COMMUNICATION
Effective Communications
Nonverbal Communications Takes place through gestures and body language
Mixed Message Results when words communicate one message
while actions, body language or appearance communicate another.
Filtering Is the intentional distortion of information to make it
more favorable to the recipient.
COMMUNICATION
Improving Communications At Work
MODULE GUIDE 17.2
Active listening helps people say what they really mean.
Constructive feedback is specific, timely, and relevant.
Open communication channels build trust and improve upward communication.
Office spaces can be designed to encourage interaction and communication.
Appropriate technology can facilitate more and better communication.
Sensitivity and etiquette can improve cross-cultural communication.
COMMUNICATION
Improving Communications At Work
Active Listening is the process of taking action to help someone say what he or she
really means.
Carl Rogers’s five rules for active listening 1. Listen for message content
—Try to hear exactly what content the message is conveying. 2. Listen for feelings
—Try to identify how the source feels about the content in the message.
3. Respond to feelings—Let the source know that you recognize her or his feelings.
4. Note all cues—Be sensitive to nonverbal and verbal messages; be alert for mixed messages.
5. Paraphrase and restate—State back to the source what you think you are hearing.
COMMUNICATION
Improving Communications At Work
Feedback is the process of telling someone else how you feel about
something that person did or said.
Criteria for Giving Constructive Feedback Specific
Be precise, use good, clear, and recent examples to make your points.
Timely Choose a time when the receiver seems most willing or able to
accept it. Valid
Limit feedback to things the receiver can do something about. Small doses
Never give more than the receiver can handle at one time.
COMMUNICATION
Improving Communications At Work
Management By Walking Around Managers spend time out of office meeting employees at all
levels Channel Richness
The quantity and quality of the communication channel
COMMUNICATION
Improving Communications At Work
ProxemicsThe study of the way we use space
COMMUNICATION
Improving Communications At Work
Electronic CommunicationsElectronic monitoring by employers (as
reported by American Management Association):
• 39% track telephone calls.
• 27% store and review e-mail.
• 21% store and review computer files.
• 11% record and review telephone conversations.
• 6% store and review voice mail.
MANAGEMENT TIPS
How to manage your e-mail
• Read items only once. • Take action immediately to answer, move to folders, or
delete. • Purge folders regularly of useless messages. • Send group mail and use “Reply to all” only when really
necessary. • Get off distribution lists without value to your work. • Send short messages in subject line, avoiding a full-text
message. • Put large files on websites, instead of sending as
attachments. • Use Instant Messaging as an e-mail alternative. • Double-check everything before hitting the “Send”
button. • Don’t hit the “Send” button when angry; wait, take time
to revise and rethink. • Remember the iron rule of e-mail privacy: There isn’t any.
COMMUNICATION
Improving Communications At Work
Cross-Cultural CommunicationEthnocentrism
The tendency to consider one’s culture superior to any and all others
Cultural Etiquette the use of appropriate manners and behaviors in
cross-cultural situations.
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