Chapter 7. Communication
Social intelligence = the ability to understand the thoughts and feelings of others and to
manage our relationships accordingly.
• Social awareness = what we sense about others.
• Social facility = how we act on that awareness.
Social intelligence is crucial in a culturally diverse world. We often find ourselves working
with people from other cultures. Cultures have different norms concerning how
conversations are handled, appropriate greetings, degree of formality, eye contact, suitable
topics for discussion, physical distance between speakers, and the interpretation of gestures.
Allen Curve = Thomas J. Allen demonstrated in the 1970s that the frequency with which we
communication depends on distance. We are four times more likely to communicate
regularly with someone who is two metres away from us than with someone who is 20
metres away, and we rarely communicate with colleagues on separate floors or in other
buildings.
→ Allen Curve still valid!
Proximity has become more important as technology has developed. Engineers sharing an
office were 20 per cent more likely to communicate digitally than those who worked at
other locations.
Conversation = a competitive sport in which the first person to draw breath is declared the
listener = a social imperative in which silences are discouraged.
‘No gap, no overlap’ = as soon as one person stops talking, another takes their turn.
Communication process = the transmission of information, and the exchange of meaning
between at least two people.
Coding = the stage in the interpersonal communication process in which the transmitter
chooses how to express a message for transmission to someone else.
Decoding = the stage in the interpersonal communication process in which the recipient
interprets a message transmitted to them by someone else.
Figure 7.2 Model of the communication process
Perceptual filters = individual characteristics, predispositions and preoccupations that
interfere with the effective transmission and receipt of messages.
Noise = factors outside the communication process which interfere with or distract attention
from the transmission and reception of the intended meaning.
Feedback = processes through which the transmitter of a message detects whether and how
that message has been received and decoded.
Barriers to effective organizational communication:
- Power differences
- Gender differences
- Physical surroundings
- Language
- Cultural diversity
,Questioning techniques
Closed Did you enjoy the movie?
Open What did you think of that movie?
Probe Can you tell me more about that?
Reflective You thought the acting was poor?
Multiple What did you think of the movie, and wasn’t the star excellent in
that role, and didn’t you think that the ending was predictable?
Leading You didn’t see anyone leave the house?
Hypothetical What would happen if…?
Probe = another type of open question, showing that the listener is interested.
Reflective statement = a technique for maintaining rapport and getting information,
particularly about feelings and emotions.
Non-verbal behaviour = the process of coding meaning through behaviours such as facial
expressions, limb gestures and body postures.
Functions of non-verbal behaviour:
1) To reveal your personal attributes.
2) To exercise social control and establish hierarchy.
3) To promote social functioning.
4) To develop good relationships.
5) For emotional displays.
Kinesics = body movements
Appearance = the way you look
Oculesics = with your eyes
Haptics = through touch
Paralanguage = voice qualities
Olfactics = smell
Proxemics = physical space
Chronemics = through the use of time
Environment and artefacts = through objects
Power tells = non-verbal signals that indicate to others how important and dominant
someone is, or how powerful they would like us to think they are.
High-context culture = a culture whose members rely heavily on a range of social and non-
verbal clues when communicating with others and interpreting their messages.
Low-context culture = a culture whose members focus on the written and spoken word
when communicating with others and interpreting their messages.
You can reduce misunderstandings, through:
- Assume that others are different.
- Use description and avoid evaluation.
- Practise empathy.
- Treat interpretations as working hypotheses.
,Impression management = the processes through which we control the image or impression
that others have of us.
Three steps to help women become more comfortable and effective in what are still male-
dominated settings:
• Groundwork = ideas are tested, and decisions are taken in informal meetings that
happen before the main meeting. That is why men often arrive for meetings early
and leave late, to sound people out, and build alliances. Women need to ‘master the
pre-meeting’.
• Preparation = women prefer formal presentations, which men avoid. However, key
points, relevant comments, and interesting questions can be written down in
advance, and ‘off-the-cuff’ remarks can be rehearsed. Women should prepare to
speak spontaneously.
• Emotion control = passion can be persuasive, but when women felt passionate about
an idea, men saw too much emotion. Women must appear to be in command, speak
with an even tone, accept that confrontation is not personal, and avoid signalling
frustration.
Emotional intelligence = the ability to identify, integrate, understand and reflectively
manage one’s own and other people’s feelings.
Five dimensions of emotional intelligence:
1) Self-awareness
2) Regulating feelings
3) Motivation
4) Empathy
5) Social skills
Communication escalator (Quirke, 2008)
Awareness
Understanding
Support
Involvement
Commitment
Figure 7.3 The communication escalator
Communication climate = the prevailing atmosphere in an organization – open or closed – in
which ideas and information are exchanged.
Table 7.6 Open and closed communication climates
Open, supportive communication climate Closed, defensive communication climate
• Descriptive • Judgemental
• Solution-oriented • Controlling
• Open and honest • Deceptive
• Caring • Non-caring
• Egalitarian • Superior
• Forgiving • Dogmatic
, • Feedback • Hostile
Traditional organizational communication → One-way, top-down, closed
Social media communication → Two-way, bottom-up, more open
Employee voice = the ability of employees to express their views, opinions, concerns and
suggestions, and for these to influence decisions at work.
Organizational social media use benefits:
- Increasing employee engagement
- Promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing
- Speeding up decisions
- Developing innovative ideas for products and services
- Establishing relationships between employees in different locations
- Avoiding the duplication of work
Social intelligence = the ability to understand the thoughts and feelings of others and to
manage our relationships accordingly.
• Social awareness = what we sense about others.
• Social facility = how we act on that awareness.
Social intelligence is crucial in a culturally diverse world. We often find ourselves working
with people from other cultures. Cultures have different norms concerning how
conversations are handled, appropriate greetings, degree of formality, eye contact, suitable
topics for discussion, physical distance between speakers, and the interpretation of gestures.
Allen Curve = Thomas J. Allen demonstrated in the 1970s that the frequency with which we
communication depends on distance. We are four times more likely to communicate
regularly with someone who is two metres away from us than with someone who is 20
metres away, and we rarely communicate with colleagues on separate floors or in other
buildings.
→ Allen Curve still valid!
Proximity has become more important as technology has developed. Engineers sharing an
office were 20 per cent more likely to communicate digitally than those who worked at
other locations.
Conversation = a competitive sport in which the first person to draw breath is declared the
listener = a social imperative in which silences are discouraged.
‘No gap, no overlap’ = as soon as one person stops talking, another takes their turn.
Communication process = the transmission of information, and the exchange of meaning
between at least two people.
Coding = the stage in the interpersonal communication process in which the transmitter
chooses how to express a message for transmission to someone else.
Decoding = the stage in the interpersonal communication process in which the recipient
interprets a message transmitted to them by someone else.
Figure 7.2 Model of the communication process
Perceptual filters = individual characteristics, predispositions and preoccupations that
interfere with the effective transmission and receipt of messages.
Noise = factors outside the communication process which interfere with or distract attention
from the transmission and reception of the intended meaning.
Feedback = processes through which the transmitter of a message detects whether and how
that message has been received and decoded.
Barriers to effective organizational communication:
- Power differences
- Gender differences
- Physical surroundings
- Language
- Cultural diversity
,Questioning techniques
Closed Did you enjoy the movie?
Open What did you think of that movie?
Probe Can you tell me more about that?
Reflective You thought the acting was poor?
Multiple What did you think of the movie, and wasn’t the star excellent in
that role, and didn’t you think that the ending was predictable?
Leading You didn’t see anyone leave the house?
Hypothetical What would happen if…?
Probe = another type of open question, showing that the listener is interested.
Reflective statement = a technique for maintaining rapport and getting information,
particularly about feelings and emotions.
Non-verbal behaviour = the process of coding meaning through behaviours such as facial
expressions, limb gestures and body postures.
Functions of non-verbal behaviour:
1) To reveal your personal attributes.
2) To exercise social control and establish hierarchy.
3) To promote social functioning.
4) To develop good relationships.
5) For emotional displays.
Kinesics = body movements
Appearance = the way you look
Oculesics = with your eyes
Haptics = through touch
Paralanguage = voice qualities
Olfactics = smell
Proxemics = physical space
Chronemics = through the use of time
Environment and artefacts = through objects
Power tells = non-verbal signals that indicate to others how important and dominant
someone is, or how powerful they would like us to think they are.
High-context culture = a culture whose members rely heavily on a range of social and non-
verbal clues when communicating with others and interpreting their messages.
Low-context culture = a culture whose members focus on the written and spoken word
when communicating with others and interpreting their messages.
You can reduce misunderstandings, through:
- Assume that others are different.
- Use description and avoid evaluation.
- Practise empathy.
- Treat interpretations as working hypotheses.
,Impression management = the processes through which we control the image or impression
that others have of us.
Three steps to help women become more comfortable and effective in what are still male-
dominated settings:
• Groundwork = ideas are tested, and decisions are taken in informal meetings that
happen before the main meeting. That is why men often arrive for meetings early
and leave late, to sound people out, and build alliances. Women need to ‘master the
pre-meeting’.
• Preparation = women prefer formal presentations, which men avoid. However, key
points, relevant comments, and interesting questions can be written down in
advance, and ‘off-the-cuff’ remarks can be rehearsed. Women should prepare to
speak spontaneously.
• Emotion control = passion can be persuasive, but when women felt passionate about
an idea, men saw too much emotion. Women must appear to be in command, speak
with an even tone, accept that confrontation is not personal, and avoid signalling
frustration.
Emotional intelligence = the ability to identify, integrate, understand and reflectively
manage one’s own and other people’s feelings.
Five dimensions of emotional intelligence:
1) Self-awareness
2) Regulating feelings
3) Motivation
4) Empathy
5) Social skills
Communication escalator (Quirke, 2008)
Awareness
Understanding
Support
Involvement
Commitment
Figure 7.3 The communication escalator
Communication climate = the prevailing atmosphere in an organization – open or closed – in
which ideas and information are exchanged.
Table 7.6 Open and closed communication climates
Open, supportive communication climate Closed, defensive communication climate
• Descriptive • Judgemental
• Solution-oriented • Controlling
• Open and honest • Deceptive
• Caring • Non-caring
• Egalitarian • Superior
• Forgiving • Dogmatic
, • Feedback • Hostile
Traditional organizational communication → One-way, top-down, closed
Social media communication → Two-way, bottom-up, more open
Employee voice = the ability of employees to express their views, opinions, concerns and
suggestions, and for these to influence decisions at work.
Organizational social media use benefits:
- Increasing employee engagement
- Promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing
- Speeding up decisions
- Developing innovative ideas for products and services
- Establishing relationships between employees in different locations
- Avoiding the duplication of work
