Chapter 9
Communication

 

Chapter Learning Objectives

• Describe the perceptual process model of communication.
• Demonstrate your familiarity with four antecedents of communication distortion between managers and employees.
• Contrast the communication styles of assertiveness, aggressiveness, and non-assertiveness.
• Discuss the primary sources of nonverbal communication and 10 keys to effective listening.
• Explain the information technology of Internet/Intranet/Extranet, E-mail, videoconferencing, and collaborative computing, and explain the related use of telecommuting.
• Describe the process, personal, physical, and semantic barriers to effective communication.

 

Opening Case

Top Employers Take Employee Communication Seriously

This case profiles several of ‘Canada’s Top 100 Employers’ and their approach to upward communication from employees. At AIT Corp., employee committees provide input on workplace issues. The Zenon Parliament is a vehicle for employees to communicate their views to the company, as are the quarterly meetings for all staff at Exfo Electro-Optical Engineering Inc. Employee surveys are use at Ernst & Young, as well as an advisory group of employees that meets quarterly with top management. These examples clarify how seriously top employers take the issue of employee communication.

 

Chapter Summary

Basic Dimensions of the Communication Process

 

Effective communication is critical for employee motivation and job satisfaction. The chapter is designed to help the students better understand how managers can both improve their communication skills and design more effective communication programs. Communication is defined as ‘the exchange of information between a sender and a receiver, and the inference (perception) of meaning between the individual involved’. What does this actually communicate? Can the students put into everyday words? Communication is a two-way process as shown in Figure 9-1.

A Perceptual Process Model of Communication. Communication is often fraught with miscommunication and distortion. So researchers have started to look at communication as a form of social information processing. There are various parts to this process.

Sender. The sender is an individual, group, or organization that desires or attempts to communicate with a particular receiver.

Encoding. Communication begins when a sender encodes an idea or thought. Encoding translates mental thoughts into a code or language that can be understood by others. What is the language of the field of business? What about your college?

The Message. The output of the encoding is a message. Messages may contain more than meets the eye and messages need to match the medium used to transmit them.

Selecting a medium. There are a variety of mediums available ranging from voice mail to computer output.  Media richness refers to the potential information-carrying capacity of a communication medium. Managers choose communication media for situations that range in complexity. Figure 9-2 presents a contingency model for selection media based on the complexity of the situation.

Decoding. Decoding is the receiver’s version of encoding.

Creating Meaning. The perceptual model of communication is based on the belief that a receiver creates the meaning of a message in his or her head.

Feedback. The receiver’s response to a message is the crux of the feedback loop.

Noise. Noise represents anything that interferes with the transmission and understanding of a message. You could have one student make up a message and then pass it along through the whole class and see how the communication is heard and understood or not.

Organizational Communication Patterns

 

Hierarchical communication is the exchange of information between managers and employees. Employees often do not receive enough information from their immediate supervisors, so they use the grapevine, the unofficial communication system of the informal organization. Communication distortion occurs when an employee purposely modifies the content of a message, thereby reducing the accuracy of communication between managers and employees. The Ethics at Work box provides an example of how employees distort information on their resumes.

Because managers generally do not want to reduce their upward influence or curb their subordinates’ desire for upward mobility, they can reduce distortion in several ways:

• Managers can de-emphasize power differences between themselves and their subordinates.
• They can enhance trust through a meaningful performance review process that rewards actual performance.           
• Managers can encourage staff feedback by conducting smaller, more informal meetings.
• They can establish performance goals that encourage employees to focus on problems rather than personalities.
• Distortion can be limited by encouraging dialogue between those with opposing viewpoints.

 

Interpersonal Communication

 

The quality of interpersonal communication within an organization is very important. This section is to help the students with their interpersonal communication skills.

Assertiveness, Aggressiveness, and Nonassertiveness. An assertive style is expressive and self-enhancing, but does not take advantage of others. The aggressive style is expressive and self-enhancing, but takes unfair advantage of others. The nonassertive style is timid and self-denying behaviour. Managers may improve their communication competence by trying to be more assertive and less aggressive or nonassertive, by using the appropriate communication behaviours listed in Table 9-1.

Sources of Nonverbal Communication. Nonverbal communication is messages sent outside the written or spoken word such as facial expressions or body language. It also includes such factors as use of time and space, distance between persons, when conversing (think regions of the country or cultural differences in this area), use of colour, dress, walking behaviour, standing, positioning, seating arrangements, office locations and furnishings. You might want your students to play act out each of these styles each person doing each style in a round robin fashion. You could assign participant observers to record what happens and the body language and facial expressions used by each style.

Body movements and gestures. Body movements, such as leaning forward or backward, and gestures, such as pointing, provide additional nonverbal information that can either enhance or detract from the communication process.

Touch. Touching is another powerful nonverbal cue. People tend to touch those they like. The International OB box illustrates how norms regarding touching vary across different countries.

Facial expressions. Facial expressions convey a wealth of information. As with touch, associations between facial expressions and emotions varies across cultures.

Eye contact. Eye contact is a strong nonverbal cue that varies across cultures.

Practical tips. It is important to have good nonverbal communication skills in light of the fact that they are related to the development of positive interpersonal relationships. This would be a good place to have a discussion of how national culture impacts all of the nonverbal communication factors. If you have students from other lands in your class or from other parts of this nation, have them share their stories of nonverbal communication.

Active Listening

 

Listening is the process of activelydecoding and interpreting verbal messages. It requires cognitive attention and information processing while hearing does not.

Listening styles. Three listening styles are identified:

• Results-style listeners are interested in hearing the bottom line or result of a message. Is this a national trait in comparison to other nations such as Mexico or Spain where you get to know a person prior to doing business?
•  Reason-style listeners are interested in hearing the rationale behind the message so they weigh and balance information and process it in a logical manner; and
• Process-style listeners who like to discuss issues in detail. They are concerned with relationships.

 

            Becoming a more effective listener. Listening skills can be enhanced by using the keys to effective listening provided in Table 9-2.

Women and Men Communicate Differently. Linguistic style refers to a person’s characteristic speaking pattern, which includes such features as directness or indirectness, pacing and pausing, word choice and the use of such elements as jokes, figures of speech, stories, questions and apologies. Linguistic style not only helps explain communication differences between women and men, it also influences our perceptions of others’ confidence, competence and abilities.

Why linguistic styles vary between women and men. We do not know but the well-worn debate is between nurture ie. learned, and nature ie. inherent. You might have your students concentrate on this section and then have them break up into groups of men and women and discuss the research. Then have them go into balanced mixed groups for a discussion and then as a whole class.

Gender differences in communication. Women and men communicate differently in a number of ways. For example, women are more likely to share credit for success, to ask questions for clarification, to tactfully give feedback while men seem to do the opposite. The Focus on Diversity box provides some fascinating early research on cross-gender communication in cyberspace.

Improving communication between the sexes. Deborah Tannen is an expert and best selling author on communication between the sexes. She argues that we need to become more knowledgeable and aware about how linguistic styles work and how they influence our perceptions and judgments. What do your students think? What will happen as more and more women become CEOs and have power to influence how we communicate?

 

Communication in the Computerized Information Age

Organizations are increasingly using information technology as a lever to improve productivity and customer and employee satisfaction and in turn, communication patterns at work are radically changing. How?  We are all being influenced by the computerized information age.

Internet/Intranet/Extranet. These are three forms of powerful communication technology. The Internet is a global network of computer networks. An Intranet is an organization’s private internet; and an extranet connects internal employees with selected customers, suppliers and strategic partners. The primary benefit of these three is that they can enhance the ability of employees to find, create, manage, and distribute information. You might ask your students how these three have changed their world and what they think will happen in the future in communication technology.

Electronic Mail. E-Mail uses the Internet/Intranet to send computer-generated text and documents between people. The use of E-mail is on the rise around the world. What might happen to traditional mail and Canada Post in the future? What if we have power failures on a regular basis? What happens once we are so dependent on electronic technology? There are four key benefits to E-mail:

• reduced costs,
• as a tool for increasing teamwork,
• E-mail reduces the costs and time associated with print duplication and paper distribution, and
• E-mail fosters flexibility.

There are also three key drawbacks:

• sending and receiving E-mail can lead to wasted time and effort,
• E-mail can create information overload, and
• people use E-mail when they should be using other media.

 

What about the record that E-mail keeps? Again, think the investigation of Enron and other companies.

Videoconferencing. This is also known as teleconferencing and it used video and audio links with computers to enable people located at different locations to see, hear, and talk to each other.

Collaborative Computing. Collaborative computing means using computer software and hardware to help people work better together because in a collaborative style they can share information without the constraints of time and space.

Telecommuting. Telecommuting is doing work that is generally performed in the office away from the office using different information technologies. Proposed benefits include: reduction of capital costs; increased flexibility and autonomy for workers; competitive edge recruitment; increased job satisfaction and lower turnover; increased productivity; and tapping nontraditional labour pools such as persons with disabilities.

Barriers to Effective Communication

 

There are four key barriers to effective communication: process; personal; physical; and semantic.

Process barriers. These happen anywhere in the communication process model. A complete list of barriers in each step of the model is provided in the text.

Personal barriers. There are many personal barriers to communication, beginning with our ability to communicate, how we process information, trust levels, stereotypes and prejudice, and our egos and our tendency to evaluate or judge a sender’s message and the inability to listen with understanding.

Physical barriers. Thesecan be distance, time barriers, and quality of communication equipment.

Semantic barriers. Thesedeal with words and the study of words.  It can deal with the use and understanding of word usage. Have your students watch a BBC program and then compare English and American.

Internet Exercises

 

1. A Free Self Assessment Questionnaire for Assertiveness

            This exercise provides students with feedback on the extent to which they use an assertive communication style. They are directed to go to the Website for Body-Mind Queen-Dom, www.queendom.com. Once there, they select the “Assertiveness Test.” Then they complete 32-item test and then the test is automatically scored. The questions asked are:

1. Possible scores on the self-assessment questionnaire range from 0-100. How did you score? Are you surprised with the results? Do you agree with the interpretation of your score? Personal opinion. Some students may have a different perception of the extent to which they use an assertive communication style than the test shows.

 

2. Review the questionnaire item by item. Can you find aspects of communication in which you are either nonassertive or possibly too assertive? Do you think that your communication style can be improved by making adjustments within these areas of communication? Personal opinion.

2. Gender Games

            This exercise is designed to assist students in understanding and adapting to gender differences in communication. They are instructed to go to the Website of a communications consultant (www.tymson.au), review articles on strategies for dealing with people of the opposite gender in business situations. Then they are to try to use these tips at a subsequent work or school meeting.  This exercise should generate a lively class discussion. The questions asked are:

• Were there any strategies that you immediately sensed would be helpful? What past experiences have that led to this perception? Personal opinion.

 

• Which strategy did you find most useful? What happened when you used it? Personal opinion.

• Which strategy or strategies seemed to be most effective in making cross-gender communication easier? Why? Personal opinion.

 

Experiential Exercises

1. Practicing Different Styles of Communication

 

            This role-playing exercise is designed to demonstrate the relative effectiveness of communicating assertively, aggressively, and non-assertively, and to give students hands-on experience with different styles of communication. Divide students into groups of three, One will play the role of the poor performer; one will be the store manager; and the third will act as an observer (role descriptions are provided in the text). There are three rounds to the exercise. In the first round, the manager uses aggressive communication first (using the guidelines in Table 9-1), and then the observer provides feedback. Next, the manager uses a non-assertive style (using the guidelines in Table 9-1) and the observer provides feedback. Then the manager uses an assertive style (using the guidelines in Table 9-1) and the observer provides feedback. Rounds two and three repeat the process with the participants rotating the roles so that each has an opportunity to play the manager. The questions asked are:

1. What drawbacks of the aggressive and nonassertive styles did you observe? Personal opinion, but the aggressive style probably led to a confrontational situation that did not help reach a resolution to the issue at hand, and the nonassertive style probably led to no significant dialogue regarding the problem and no resolution.

 

2. What were major advantages of the assertive style? Personal opinion, but it probably made the discussion run more smoothly and helped to reach a resolution to the disciplinary issue at hand.

3. What were the most difficult aspects of trying to use an assertive style? Personal opinion.

 

4. How important was nonverbal communication during the various role plays? Explain with examples. This is likely to have been quite important, and you may need to probe for complete reports in this area (refer to Table 9-1).

2. A Not-So-Trivial Cross-Cultural Communication Game

 

This exercise is designed to develop and test students’ knowledge of cross-cultural differences in communication and etiquette. First, divide the class into an even number of teams of 2-4 students. Each team is then matched with another team of equal size. Then hand out a stack of cards to each team with the multiple choice questions face down. See the next six pages in this manual for the cards. These cards have questions and multiple-choice answers about cross-cultural differences in communication and etiquette. Remind students that the textbook provides very little information pertain to the questions in this exercise.  Rather, they must rely on past experience, logic, and luck to win.

The exercise begins with one team picking up a card and providing the question and multiple-choice answers to their partner team, who then chooses an answer and finds out if it is correct. Then the other team picks a card and this procedure is repeated until all the cards have been read or until the time has elapsed. The team with the most correct answers wins. Group discussion is not required, but a brief summary of how easy it is to inadvertently offend people in other cultures can be used to wrap up the exercise.

 

In Japan, who should arrive first at a meeting? the most senior employees the most junior employees employees who missed the previous meeting the oldest employee no particular order is expected	A polite way to give your business card to a Japanese business person is: casually, after several hours of getting to know the person when first meeting, presenting your card with both hands at the very end of the meeting casually during the meeting, with the information shown face down to show humility never; it is considered rude in Japan to give business cards
In Saudi Arabia, someone extends his hand out at you, palm down, fingers splayed outward, and middle finger facing straight down. What does this mean? “Let’s stop here to rest.” “Kiss my hand to show respect!” “I do not want to be disturbed.” “F--- You!” “I’m glad to see you again.”	When trying to point to an object, Japanese people tend to: raise their nose in the direction of the object point with their thumb point with their index finger (as in Canada) point with their right elbow point with an open hand
Japanese clients visit you at your office for a major meeting. In the meeting, where should the top Japanese official be seated? closest to the door as close to the middle of the room as is possible anywhere in the room; seating location isn’t important to Japanese business people somewhere away from the door with a piece of artwork behind him/her always beside rather than facing the host	Your car breaks down in Saudi Arabia and needs repair. What is the best approach to getting the job done most quickly? stop by every 30 minutes to ask the mechanic how much is done compliment the mechanic on his good reputation, then don’t return for several hours ask the mechanic when the car will be ready and return only at that time tell the mechanic that you will move the car to another repair shop if the work isn’t done when he promises tell the mechanic where you can be reached, then leave for several hours
In which if the following countries are office arrangements NOT usually an indicator of the person’s status United Kingdom Germany Saudi Arabia China Canada	In which of the following countries are two male business associates most likely to hold hands or be arm-in-arm in public? Saudi Arabia United Kingdom Australia India Scandinavia
A German colleague makes two fists with thumbs tucked inside and makes a slight up-and-down or pounding motion. This says: “I’m angry with you.” “Good luck!” “Let’s get down to business.” “Up yours!” “Hurry up!”	In Saudi Arabia, you are asked to pass a dish of food to someone. Which of the following should you do? pass the dish using your left hand pass the dish using your right hand pass the dish using both hands ask a servant/waiter to pass the dish any of these actions is acceptable
While visiting a German client, you make a compliment about the client’s beautiful pen set. What will probably happen? The client will insist very strongly that you take it. The client will tell you where to buy such a pen set at a good price. The client will accept the compliment, then get on with business. The client will probably get upset that you aren’t paying attention to the business at hand. The client will totally ignore the comment.	In which country is it wise to mention (and indicate on your business card) that your organization has been in business for many years? United States Peru Germany Nigeria Mexico

 

People (particularly men) from which of these countries tend to shake hands the most? Japan France Scotland Chile Finland	In many parts of India, when people rock their head slowly back and forth side-to-side, it usually means: “Yes, I agree with you.” “No, I disagree with you.” “Yes, I’m listening.” “You’re crazy!” none of the above
In Canada, patting your stomach with your hand usually means, “I’m full”. What does this gesture mean in Brazil? “You are my friend for life.” “You think with your stomach!” “I’m full.” “Bring me more food, please!” “You’ve got a deal!”	Male guests in many Latin American countries often give their visitors an abrazzo when greeting them. An abrazzo is: a light kiss on the nose a special gift, usually food or wine clapping hands in the air as the visitor approaches a strong embrace, or kiss with hand on shoulder a firm two-handed handshake, lasting almost one minute
While visiting Southern France, you are asked by the concierge whether the meeting room is satisfactory. You give the OK signal of thumb and forefinger touching. To the concierge, this probably means: “Screw you!” “How much does it cost?” “It’s worthless!” “It’s okay, just fine, thanks.” this gesture has no meaning in Southern France.	In which country is grasping one’s ear a sign of apology? India Taiwan Mexico Australia Portugal

 

 

One of the most universal gestures is: a pat on the back (congratulations) a smile (happiness or politeness) scratching your chin (thinking) closing your eyes (boredom) arm up, shaking back and forth (waving)	In many Oriental cultures, a direct order such as “Get me the Amex report” is most likely to be given by: senior management to most subordinates a junior employee to a peer senior management only to very junior employees junior employees to outsiders none of the above
Most Canadians interpret the finger touching thumb in an “O” shape as “OK”. In which country is this gesture very rude? Russia Greece Brazil all of the above none of the above	Which of the following gestures have the same meaning in almost every part of the world? shaking your fist (anger) making a circular motion with the hand over the stomach (hunger) yawning (showing tiredness) all of the above none of the above
In which countries does holding your nose with thumb and forefinger mean “It smells bad!” Jamaica Canada Japan Russia all of the above	In which of these countries is it important to show respect to guest by bowing when greeting them? Taiwan Italy Venezuela Hong Kong none of the above

 

While visiting West Africa, you decline another drink by putting your hand out, palm up and facing out with fingers spread – like a police officer’s signal to stop. To the West African, this might mean: “I don’t want any more to drink.” “Bring me just half a glass of that drink.” “You could have any one of five fathers (ie. you are a bastard) “Bring me five more glasses to drink, please!” “No more, I’ve already had five glasses to drink.”	How do most people in Holland interpret the “fig” gesture (a clenched fist with thumb coming through between the knuckle of the index and middle fingers)? it means “good luck!” it shows anger it is a subtle way of pointing to something it symbolizes sexual behavior between a man and woman it means, “I’m not telling the truth.”
Nodding your head up and down tends to mean “No” in which country? Bulgaria Australia Brazil China Pakistan	In Canada, having one’s arm extended, palm up, with fingers bending back and forth is usually interpreted as “come here.” In which country does a similar gesture mean “good-bye”? France China Brazil Hong Kong Italy
Inuit people are well known for rubbing noses as a sign of personal closeness. What other group rubs noses as a sign of friendliness? Latvians French Maori Nicaraguans Japanese	In which country is it usually not necessary to spend several hours discussing nonwork-related topics before turning to business issues? Brazil China Japan Hong Kong None of the above

 

You want to do business with a Greek company, but the representative insists on examining every detail of your proposal for several hours. This time consuming detail means that the Greek representative: doesn’t trust the accuracy of your proposal is being polite, and really doesn’t want to go ahead with the deal is signaling you to consider a more reasonable offer, but doesn’t want to ask directly is uncomfortable with detailed proposals and would prefer a simple handshake is showing good manners and respect to you and your proposal	For most Canadians, sticking your thumb up with a closed fist means “Everything is OK”. In Australia, it means: get me one of those (ie. signaling one) “Look up, mate!” the person is about to shake your hand “Up yours!” “Everything is OK!”
Managers from which country are least likely to tolerate someone being five minutes late for an appointment? Canada Australia Brazil Sweden Saudi Arabia	You visit a Tibetan tribesman, who sticks out his tongue at you. The tribesman is signaling that: you are not welcome here he has prepared a delicious meal for you you wear ugly clothes you are welcome here this is not an opportune time to visit
In Chile, the fist slap (slapping the closed fist of one hand with the open palm of the other) means: “Up yours!” “What a good idea” “I think we can reach agreement” “You’re crazy!” “Congratulations!”	In Canada, scratching your head usually means that the person is confused or skeptical. In Russia, it means: “you’re crazy!” “I am listening carefully” “I want to get to know you better” “I’m confused or skeptical” none of the above

 

Personal Awareness and Growth Exercises

 

1. Assessing Your Listening Skills

This exercise provides students with the opportunity to assess the effectiveness of their listening skills. After completing the 17-item questionnaire using the 5-point scale provided, the item scores are added to calculate a total score. The total score can be interpreted using the norms provided (17-34 = good listening skills; 35-53 = moderately good listening skills; 54-85 = poor listening skills). The question asked is:

1. How would you evaluate your listening skills?  Students may find that their score matches their own perception of their listening skills, or they may not. If not, the discussion may proceed to having students explain what they perceive their own listening strengths and weaknesses to be.

 

2. Monkey Say, Monkey See, Monkey Do: A Lesson in Interpersonal Communication

This powerful exercise focuses on non-verbal communication and is carried out in pairs. Each partner takes turns making a statement. Then the listening partner repeats the statement mimicking the speaker’s tone of voice, rate of speech, body position, gestures, and facial expression. This process is repeated until each partner speaks twice and listens twice. The questions asked are:

1. Discuss the speaker’s reaction to the listener’s perception of his or her communication style in each case. What aspect of mirroring was most surprising for you when you were the speaker? Personal opinion.

 

2. What aspects of the speaker’s communication style were most striking? Personal opinion.

3. Did you and your partner both react in a similar manner? Explain.

 

4. What aspects of nonverbal communication did you find most surprising in your speaker-listener activities? Personal opinion.

Video Case

 

Pitching a Dream

This video focuses on a high-pressure communication exercise required of young Canadian new-economy entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley who are looking for venture capital funding. They must deliver a 30-second ‘pitch’ in an elevator ride, following which they may be selected to make a 10-minute presentation to venture capitalists. The questions asked are:

1. What “noise” arises in the “elevator ride” communication scenario? In the contest? The confined space, the sound of the elevator, and the close physical proximity to the audience all create noise.

 

2. What were the most effective nonverbal aspects of the presentations shown in the video? The presentation that was sung was particularly memorable. 

3. How could the presentations have been made more effective? Personal opinion.