Communicating in Teams and Organizations

8/3/2019 Communicating in Teams and Organizations

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C H A P T E R:C H A P T E R: E L E V E NE L E V E N

Communicating

in Teams andOrganizations

Communicating



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Ian Smith/Vancouver Sun

Blogging as Org Communication

[Blogging] is a fantastically effective listening device,

says Tim Bray, the Vancouver-based director of Web

technologies at Sun Microsystems. There's an

immediacy of interaction you can get with your audience

through blogging that's hard to get any other way, except

by face-to-face communication.


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Definition of Communication

The process by which information is transmitted and

understood between two or more people

Transmitting the senders intended meaning (not just

symbols) is the essence of good communication


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FourFunctions of Communication

Coordinating work activities

Fulfilling drive to bond

Knowledge management

Decision making


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ReceiverReceiver

DecodeDecode

messagemessage

EncodeEncodefeedbackfeedback

FormFormfeedbackfeedback

SenderSender

FormForm

messagemessage

EncodeEncode

messagemessage

DecodeDecodefeedbackfeedback

TransmitMessage

TransmitFeedback

Noise

Communication Process Model

ReceiveReceive

encodedencoded

messagemessage

ReceiveReceivefeedbackfeedback


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City of LiverpoolBans E-mail

Civic leaders at Liverpool

City Council have

banned e-mail one day

each week because theyfear that the electronic

medium is undermining

face-to-face

communication amongemployees.

UKOut Epa-Photo/PA Files/Phil Nobl.


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Benefits of Email

1.Preferred medium forcoordinating work

2.Tends to increasecommunication volume

3.Significantly alterscommunication flow

Less face-to-face/telephone

More upward communication

4.Reduces some selectiveattention biasesUKOut Epa-Photo/PA Files/Phil Nobl.


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UKOut Epa-Photo/PA Files/Phil Nobl.

Problems with Email

1.Communicates emotions

poorly

2.Impersonal medium

reduces politeness andrespect (flaming)

3.Inefficient for ambiguous,

complex, novel situations

4.Increases information

overload


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Other Electronic Communication

Instant messaging More efficient than email

Allows simultaneous communication events

Real-time communities through clusteredcommunication

Blogging (web logs) Seem more personal than large meetings

Empower employees to share informationAbility to archive information


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Nonverbal Communication

Actions, facial gestures, voice intonation,silence, etc.

Transmits most info in face-to-face meetings

Influences meaning of verbal and writtensymbols

Less rule bound than verbal communication

Important part of emotional labour

Automatic and unconscious


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Emotional Contagion

The automatic process of catching or sharing

another persons emotions by mimicking their facial

expressions and other nonverbal behaviour

Emotional contagion serves three purposes: Provides continuous feedback to speaker

Increases emotional understanding of the other persons

experience

Communicates a collective sentiment -- sharing the

experience


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Oversimplified

Zone

Overloaded

Zone

Nonroutine/

Ambiguous

Rich

Media

Richness

Situation

Hierarchy of Media Richness

Lean

Routine/clear


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Contingencies of Media Richness

For electronic media, richness is alsoinfluenced by communicators previousexperience:

With the medium Experience enables user to push amount of

message through that medium

With the receiver With experience, both parties have similarcodebooks


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Communication Barriers

Perceptions

Filtering

Language Jargon

Ambiguity

Information Overload


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Information Overload

Episodes of

information

overload

Employees

information

processing

capacity

Time

Information Load


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Managing Information Overload

Solution 1: Increase information processing capacity

Learn to read faster

Scan through documents more efficiently

Remove distractions

Time management

Temporarily work longer hours

Solution 2: Reduce information load

Buffering

Omitting

Summarizing


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Thumbs Up to the Boss!

In Australia, a co-worker asked

Patricia Oliveira why she

laughed when he gave the

thumbs up that everything is OK.

She explained that this gesture

means something not very nice

in her home country of Brazil.

After hearing this, several co-

workers gave the boss a lotmore thumbs up signs!

MarkM. Lawrence/Corbis


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Cross-Cultural Communication

Verbal differences

Language

Nonverbal differences Voice intonation

Interpreting nonverbal

meaning

Importance of verbal versus

nonverbal

Silence and conversational

overlapsMarkM. Lawrence/Corbis


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MenMen WomenWomen

Gives adviceGives advicequickly and directlyquickly and directly Gives advice indirectlyGives advice indirectlyand reluctantlyand reluctantly

Report talkReport talk Rapport talkRapport talk

Conversations areConversations arenegotiations of statusnegotiations of status

Conversations areConversations arebonding eventsbonding events

Less sensitive toLess sensitive tononverbal cuesnonverbal cues

More sensitive toMore sensitive tononverbal cuesnonverbal cues

Gender Communication Differences


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Getting Your Message Across

Empathize

Repeat the message

Use timing effectively

Be descriptive

Photodisc. With permission.


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ActiveActive

ListeningListening

SensingSensing Postpone evaluation Postpone evaluation

Avoid interruptions Avoid interruptions

Maintain interest Maintain interest

EvaluationEvaluation

Empathize Empathize

Organize information Organize information

RespondingResponding

Show interest Show interest

Clarify the message Clarify the message

Active Listening Process & Strategies


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MBWA at Hiram Walker

Ian Gourlay, CEO of Hiram

Walker, values management

by walking around (MBWA)

because face-to-face

communication helps him to

understand what is really

happening in the company.

Windsor Star Group


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Communicating in Hierarchies

1. Work space design

2. E-zines, blogs, wikis

3. Employee surveys

4. Direct communication

with management

Windsor Star Group


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Organizational Grapevine

Early Research Findings

Transmits information rapidly in all directions

Follows a cluster chain pattern

More active in homogeneous groups

Transmits some degree of truth

Changes Due to Internet

Email becoming the main grapevine medium

Social networks are now global

Public blogs and forums extends gossip to everyone


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Grapevine Benefits/Limitations

Benefits Supplements information

Strengthens corporate culture

Relieves anxiety

Signals that problems exist

Limitations Distortions might escalate anxiety

Perceived lack of concern for employees whencompany info is slower than grapevine


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C H A P T E R:C H A P T E R: E L E V E NE L E V E N

Communicating


Communicating



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Communicating in Teams and Organizations

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