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ORGANIZATIONAL
COMMUNICATION
Module 3
System of pathways through which messages flow.
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Interpersonal Dynamics 1
Functions of Communication
Communication Functions
1. Control member behavior.
2. Foster motivation for what is to be done.
3. Provide a release for emotional expression.4. Provide information needed to make
decisions.
Communication
The transference and the understanding of meaning.
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The Communication Process Model
Communication ProcessThe steps between a source and a receiver that result
in the transference and understanding of meaning.
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The Communication Process
Channel The medium selected by the sender through
which the message travels to the receiver.
Types of Channels
Formal Channels� Are established by the organization and transmit
messages that are related to the professional activities of
members.
Informal Channels
� Used to transmit personal or social messages in theorganization. These informal channels are spontaneous
and emerge as a response to individual choices.
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Direction of Communication
Upward
Downward
Lateral
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Interpersonal Communication
Oral Communication Advantages: Speed and feedback.
Disadvantage: Distortion of the message.
Written Communication
A
dvantages: Tangible and verifiable. Disadvantages: Time consuming and lacks
feedback.
Nonverbal Communication
Advantages: Supports other communications
and provides observable expression of emotionsand feelings.
Disadvantage: Misperception of body languageor gestures can influence receiversinterpretation of message.
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Three Common Formal Small-Group Networks
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Small-Group Networks and Effectiveness
Criteria
NETWORKS
Criteria Chain Wheel All Channel
Speed Moderate Fast Fast
Accuracy High High Moderate
Emergence of a leader Moderate High None
Member satisfaction Moderate Low High
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Grapevine
Grapevine Characteristics
Informal, not controlled by management.
Perceived by most employees as being morebelievable and reliable than formal
communications. Largely used to serve the self-interests of
those who use it.
Results from:
� Desire for information about important situations� Ambiguous conditions
� Conditions that cause anxiety
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Suggestions for Reducing the Negative
Consequences of Rumors
1. Announce timetables for making important decisions.
2. Explain decisions and behaviors that may appear
inconsistent or secretive.
3. Emphasize the downside, as well as the upside, of current
decisions and future plans.
4. Openly discuss worst-case possibilities²it is almost never
as anxiety-provoking as the unspoken fantasy.
Source: Adapted from L. Hirschhorn, ³Managing Rumors,´ in L. Hirschhorn (ed.), Cutting Back (San Francisco:Jossey-Bass, 1983), pp. 54±56.
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Interpersonal Dynamics 10
Computer-Aided Communication
Advantages: quickly written, sent, and stored;low cost for distribution.
Disadvantages: information overload, lack of
emotional content, cold and impersonal.
Instant messaging
Advantage: real time e-mail transmittedstraight to the receivers desktop.
Disadvantage: can be intrusive and distracting.
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Interpersonal Dynamics 11
Computer-Aided Communication (cont¶d)
Intranet
A private organization-wide informationnetwork.
Extranet
An information network connecting employeeswith external suppliers, customers, andstrategic partners.
Videoconferencing
An extension of an intranet or extranet thatpermits face-to-face virtual meetings via videolinks.
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Choice of Communication Channel
Characteristics of Rich Channels
1. Handle multiple cues simultaneously.
2. Facilitate rapid feedback.
3. Are ver y personal in context.
Channel Richness
The amount of information that can be transmittedduring a communication episode.
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Information Richness of Communication
Channels
Low channel richness High channel richness
Routine Nonroutine
Source: Based on R.H. Lengel and D.L. Daft, ³The Selection of Communication Media as an Executive Skill,´ Academy of Management Executive, August
1988, pp. 225±32; and R.L. Daft and R.H. Lengel, ³Organizational Information Requirements, Media Richness, and Structural Design,´ Managerial S cience,
May 1996, pp. 554±72. Reproduced from R.L. Daft and R. A. Noe, Organizati onal Behavi or (Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt, 2001), p. 311.
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Barriers to Effective Communication
Filtering
A senders manipulation of information so that it willbe seen more favorably by the receiver.
Selective Perception
People selectively interpret what they see on thebasis of their interests, background, experience, andattitudes.
Information Overload
A condition in which information inflow exceeds anindividuals processing capacity.
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Barriers to Effective Communication (cont¶d)
Emotions
How a receiver feels at the time a message is receivedwill influence how the message is interpreted.
Language
Words have different meanings to different people.
Communication Apprehension
Undue tension and anxiety about oralcommunication, written communication, or both.
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³Politically Correct´ Communication
Certain words stereotype, intimidate, and insultindividuals.
In an increasingly diverse workforce, we must be
sensitive to how words might offend others.
Removed: handicapped, blind, and elderly Replaced with: physically challenged, visually
impaired, and senior.
Removing certain words from the vocabular y
makes it harder to communicate accurately.
Removed: death, garbage, quotas, and women.
Replaced with terms: negative patient outcome,postconsumer waste materials, educationalequity, and people of gender.
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Cross-Cultural Communication
Cultural Barriers
Semantics
Tone differences
Differences among
perceptions
Cultural Guide
Assume differencesuntil similarity isproven.
Emphasize descriptionrather thaninterpretation orevaluation.
Practice empathy.
Treat yourinterpretations as aworking hypothesis.
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Communication Barriers and Cultural Context
³High context" and ³Low context" (Edward Hall)
High context refers to societies or groups where people have
close connections over a long period of time. Many aspects of
cultural behavior are not made explicit because most membersknow what to do and what to think from years of interaction with
each other.
Low context refers to societies where people tend to have many
connections but of shorter duration or for some specific reason. Inthese societies, cultural behavior and beliefs may need to be
spelled out explicitly so that those coming into the cultural
environment know how to behave.
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High context cultures ± features
Less verbally explicit communication, less written/formalinformation
More internalized understandings of what is communicated
Multiple cross-cutting ties and intersections with others
Long term relationships
Strong boundaries- who is accepted as belonging vs who isconsidered an "outsider"
Knowledge is situational, relational.
Decisions and activities focus around personal face-to-face
relationships, often around a central person who has authority.
Examples: Small religious congregations, a party with friends,family gatherings, expensive gourmet restaurants and
neighborhood restaurants with a regular clientele, hosting a
friend in your home overnight.
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Interpersonal Dynamics 20
Low context cultures ± features
Rule oriented, people play by external rules More knowledge is codified, public, external, and
accessible.
Sequencing, separation--of time, of space, of
activities, of relationships More interpersonal connections of shorter duration
Knowledge is more often transferable
Task-centered. Decisions and activities focus around
what needs to be done, division of responsibilities.Examples: large airports, a chain supermarket, a
cafeteria, a convenience store, sports where rules
are clearly laid out, a motel.
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High-
vs.
Low-Context
Cultures
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Sharing Knowledge is Power?!
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COMMUNICATION AND CONNECTEDNESS
³Six Degrees of Separation´ Small World Experiment ± Stanley Milgram & Jeffrey
Travers
± A single ³target´ in Boston
± 300 initial ³senders´ in Boston and Omaha
± Each sender asked to forward a packet to a friend who was
³closer´ to the target
± The friends got the same instructions
± Travers and Milgram¶s protocol generated 300 ³letter chains´
of which 64 reached the target.
± Found that typical chain length was 6
± Led to the famous phrase
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NETWORKS
Network is a system comprising many individualsbetween which some relation can be defined can
be mapped.
How do the networks affect behavior ? Collective Problem Solving
Collective Decision Making
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The Hidden Power of Social Networks (Cross, 2004)
Networks of informal relationships have a criticalinfluence on work and innovation
Research shows that appropriate connectivity in
well-managed networks within organizations canhave a substantial impact on performance,learning, and innovation
Actors/nodes (individuals/units) and links/arcs
(relationships/ties)
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Conducting a Social Network Analysis
Step 1: Identif y a Strategically Important Group
Typically limit to 250 people (upper bound)
Ask each person to rate his/her interactions with other members of
the group
Step 2: Assess Meaningful and ActionableRelationships
Relationships that reveal collaboration in a network (e.g.,Communication, Information, Problem solving, Innovation)
Relationships that reveal the information sharing potential of a
network (e.g., access) Relationships that reveal rigidity in a network (e.g., decision
making, influence)
Relationships that reveal well-being and supportiveness in anetwork (e.g., liking, friendship, trust)
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SURVEY
Confidentiality Full disclosure of the results via an all-employee
debriefing or other communication
A llow only one person or a select group to see the fullresults so that helpful action can be taken
Disclose no names whatsoever
Step 3: Visually Analyze the Results
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EXAMPLE : general advice in a formal group
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Junior-Senior Staff Relationships
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Network Diagram: Subject Matter Expertise
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Step 4: Quantitatively Analyze the Results
(Individual Network Measures)
In-degree centrality (the number of incoming ties a person has for a
given relationship (such as communication or trust)
Out-degree centrality (the number of outgoing ties a person has for
a given relationship)
Betweenness centrality (the extent to which a particular person lies
³between´ the various other people in the network²networks that
contain individuals with high betweenness are vulnerable to having
info flows disrupted by power plays or key individuals leaving)
Closeness centrality (the extent to which a person lies at short
distances to many other people in the network. Persons highly
central with respect to closeness tend to hear info sooner than others)
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Group Measures in a network
Coordinators (people who broker connections within the same group)
Gatekeepers (people who broker connections between their own
group and another)
Liaisons (those who broker connections between 2 different groups)
Density (the number of individuals who have a given type of tie with
each other, expressed as a % of the maximum possible²if each
person were connected to every other person in the network, the
density would be 100%)
Cohesion (the average of the shortest paths between every pair of
people in the network)
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Identif ying Types of Individuals in the Network
Central Connectors
Unsung Hero: ³Invisible´ work but critical to the network and can
consume many hours each day (may be completely
unrecognized by senior management)
The Bottleneck: some people become so central to the
organization that they end up holding the group back
Boundar y Spanners
Provide critical links between 2 groups of people that are defined
by functional affiliation, physical location, or hierarchical level
Can play important roles in large-scale change efforts
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Types cont«
Information Brokers
Indirect connectors between people who don¶t know each other
Peripheral Specialists
Have one connection each and are not linked to each other
Some people are ³stuck´ (e.g., newcomers) on the periphery
and others may ³choose´ (e.g., experts) to be on the periphery
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Usefulness of networks
Social groups and positions in groups can be visualized by considering the strength of connections betweenindividuals (proximity data)
Realizing 9/11 Al- QaedaNetwork.
Build a grass roots political campaign.Determine influential journalists and other experts in different
fields
Map executive's personal network based on email flows.
Discover the network of Innovators in a regional economy.
Analyze book selling patterns to position a new book andmany more««