Organizational

Behaviour

Module No. 010

Communication

By
Muhammad Shahid Iqbal
 Communication
 Communication: Communication is the Transfer and the
Understanding of meaning. Perfect communication would occur
when a thought or idea was transmitted so the receiver perceived
exactly the same mental picture as the sender
 Poor communication is probably the most frequently cited source
of interpersonal conflict. Because individuals spend nearly 70
percent of their waking hours communicating - writing, reading,
speaking, listening - it seems reasonable that one of the biggest
inhibitors of group performance is lack of effective
communication.
 Good communication skills are critical to career success. Polls of
recruiters nearly always show communication skills among the
most desired characteristics.
 Functions of Communication
 Communication Functions: Communication serves four major
functions within a group or organization:
 Control: Organizations have authority hierarchies and formal
guidelines employees are required to follow. When employees
must communicate any job-related grievance to their immediate
boss, follow the job description, comply with company policies.
 Motivation: Communication motivates by clarifying what needs
to be done, how well they are doing, and how to improve
performance if it is below par. The formation of specific goals,
feedback on progress toward the goals, and reward for desired
behavior all stimulate motivation and require communication.
 Functions of Communication
 Emotional expression: Their work group is a primary source of
social interaction for many employees. Communication within
the group is a fundamental mechanism by which members show
their satisfaction and frustrations. It provides for the emotional
expression of feelings and fulfillment of social needs.
 Information: Communication provides the information
individuals and groups need to make decisions by transmitting
the data needed to identify and evaluate choices.
 Elements of the Communication Process
 Communication Process: The steps between a source and a
receiver that result in the transference and understanding of
meaning: The key parts of this model are:
 (1) the sender, (2) encoding, (3) the message, (4) the channel, (5)
decoding, (6) the receiver, (7) noise, and (8) feedback.
 The sender initiates a message by encoding a thought. The
message is the actual physical product of the sender’s encoding.
(speech, writing, gesture).
 The channel is the medium through which the message travels.
The sender selects it, determining whether to use a formal or
informal channel.
 The Communication Process
 Formal Channels: established by the organization and transmit
messages that are related to the professional activities.
 Informal Channels: Used to transmit personal or social
messages in the organization. These informal channels are
spontaneous and emerge as a response to individual choices.
 The receiver is the person(s) to whom the message is directed,
who must first translate the symbols into understandable form.
This step is the decoding of the message.
 Noise represents communication barriers that distort the clarity
of the message, such as perceptual problems, information
overload, semantic difficulties, or cultural differences.
 The final link in the communication process is a feedback loop.
Feedback is the check on how successful we have been in
transferring our messages as originally intended. It determines
whether understanding has been achieved.
 Direction of Communication
 Downward communication: Used by group leaders and
managers communicating with employees to assign goals,
provide job instructions, explain policies and procedures, point
out problems that need attention and offer feedback about
performance. As managers, one must explain why a decision was
made. Employees are twice as likely to be committed to changes
when the reasons behind them are fully explained.
 Upward communication: flows to a higher level in the group or
organization. It’s used to provide feedback to higher-ups, inform
them of progress toward goals, and relay current problems.
Upward communication keeps managers aware of how
employees feel about their jobs, co-workers, and the organization
in general. Managers also rely on upward communication for
ideas on how conditions can be improved.
 Direction of Communication
 Lateral communication: Communication taking place among
members of the same work group, members of work groups at
the same level, managers at the same level, or any horizontally
equivalent workers.
 Lateral communication saves time and facilitates coordination.
 Some lateral relationships are formal, most are informal.
 lateral communication occurring with management’s knowledge
and support can be beneficial But it can create dysfunctional
conflicts when the formal vertical channels are breached
 Interpersonal communication
 Oral communication: The chief means of conveying messages is
oral communication. Speeches, formal one-on-one and group
discussions and the grapevine.
 Advantages: (Speed, feedback) We can convey a verbal message
and receive a response in minimal time. Rapid feedback allows
sender to quickly detect and correct it.
 Disadvantage: The more people the message has to pass through,
the greater the distortion.
 Written communication: include memos, letters, fax
transmissions, e-mail, instant messaging, organizational
periodicals, notices placed on bulletin boards. tangible and
verifiable. Both the sender and receiver have a record of the
communication; physically available for later reference.
Particularly relevant for lengthy communication.
 Interpersonal communication
 Nonverbal Communication: The 2 most important messages
body language conveys are:
 The extent to which we like another and are interested in his or
her views. – We are more likely to position ourselves closer to
people we like.
 The perceived status between a sender and receiver. – If you feel
you are of a higher status than another, you are more likely to
adopt a casual approach- sit slouched or with crossed legs.
 Facial expressions, intonations, physical distance.
 Advantages: Supports other communications and provides
observable expression of emotions and feelings
 Disadvantage: Misperception of body language or gestures
can influence receiver’s interpretation of message
 Intonations: It’s the Way You Say It!
Change your tone and you change your meaning:
Placement of the Emphasis What It Means
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? I was going to take someone
else.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Instead of the guy you were
going with.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? I’m trying to find a reason why
I shouldn’t take you.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Do you have a problem with
me?
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Instead of going on your own.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Instead of lunch tomorrow.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Not tomorrow night.
 Organizational communication
 Formal small group networks: Formal organizational networks
can be very complicated, including hundreds of people and a
half-dozen or more hierarchical levels. These networks can be
condensed into three common small groups of five people each
 Chain: rigidly follows the formal chain of command; this
network approximates the communication channels you might
find in a rigid three-level organization.
 Wheel: relies on a central figure to act as the conduit for all the
group’s communication; it simulates the communication
network you would find on a team with a strong leader.
 All-channel: all group members to actively communicate with
each other; it’s most often characterized in practice by self-
managed teams, in which all group members are free to
contribute and no one person takes on a leadership role.
Organizational communication
 Grapevine
 The Grapevine: The informal communication network in a
group or organization is called the grapevine.
 Perceived by most employees as being more believable and
reliable than formal communications
 Largely used to serve the self-interests of those who use it
 Rumors emerge as a response to situations that are important,
and there is ambiguity, and under conditions that arouse anxiety.
Suggestions for Reducing the Negative Consequences of Rumors
 Computer-Aided Communication
 E-mail: E-mail uses the Internet to transmit and receive
computer-generated text and documents. Its growth has been
spectacular, and its use is now so pervasive it’s hard to imagine
life without it. E-mail messages can be quickly written, edited,
and stored. They can be distributed to one person or thousands
with a click of a mouse at a very nominal cost.
 Instant Messaging: instant messaging (IM) and text messaging
(TM) use electronic media. IM is sent via computer, whereas
TM is transmitted via cellphones, BlackBerrys and iPhones.
 Intranet: A private organization-wide information network.
 Extranet: An information network connecting employees with
external suppliers, customers, and strategic partners.
 Videoconferencing: An extension of an intranet or extranet that
permits face-to-face virtual meetings via video links.
 Knowledge Management (KM)
Knowledge Management: A process of organizing and
distributing an organization’s collective wisdom so the right
information gets to the right people at the right time

Why KM is important:
Intellectual assets are as important as physical assets.
When individuals leave, their knowledge and
experience goes with them.
A KM system reduces redundancy and makes the
organization more efficient.
 Choice of Communication Channel
o Why do people choose one channel of communication over
another—say, a phone call instead of a face-to-face talk?
o Channel Richness: Channels differ in their capacity to convey
information. Some are rich in that they can (1) handle multiple
cues simultaneously, (2) facilitate rapid feedback, and (3) be
very personal. Others are lean
 Information Richness of Communication
Channels
 Face-to-face conversation scores highest in channel richness
because it transmits the most information per communication
episode—multiple information cues (words, postures, facial
expressions, gestures, intonations), immediate feedback (both
verbal and nonverbal), and the personal touch of being present.
Impersonal written media such as formal reports and bulletins
rate lowest in richness.
 The choice of channel depends on whether the message is
routine. Routine messages tend to be straightforward and have
minimal ambiguity; channels low in richness can carry them
efficiently. Non-routine communications are likely to be
complicated and have the potential for misunderstanding.
Managers can communicate them effectively only by selecting
rich channel.
 Barriers to Effective Communication
 Filtering: A sender’s manipulation of information so that it will
be seen more favorably by the receiver. A manager who tells his
boss what he feels the boss wants to hear is filtering information
 Selective Perception: People selectively interpret what they see
on the basis of their interests, background, experience, and
attitudes. Receivers also project their interests and expectations
into communications as they decode them.
 Information Overload: A condition in which information
inflow exceeds an individual’s processing capacity.
 Emotions: How a receiver feels at the time a message is
received will influence how the message is interpreted. You may
interpret the same message differently when you’re angry than
when you’re happy.
 Barriers to Effective Communication
 Language: Even when we’re communicating in the same
language, words mean different things to different people. Age
and context are two of the biggest factors that influence such
differences.
 Communication Apprehension: Undue tension and anxiety
about oral communication, written communication, or both.
 Silence: It’s easy to ignore silence or lack of communication,
precisely because it is defined by the absence of information.