Week 8 Notes
March 14, 2023 12:08 PM
Chapter 12 - Managers and communication
The nature and function of communication
What is communication?
• Communication
○ The transfer and understanding of meaning
• Interpersonal communication
○ Communication between two or more people
• Organizational communication
○ All the patterns, network and systems of communications within an organization
Functions of communication?
• Control
• Motivation
• Emotional expression
• Information
Methods and challenges of interpersonal communication
• Message
○ A purpose to be conveyed
• Encoding
○ Converting a message into symbols
• Channel
○ The medium a message travels along
• Decoding
○ A receivers translation of a senders message
• Interpersonal communication process
○ The seven elements involved in transferring meaning from one person to another
• Noise
○ Disturbances that interfere with the transmission, receipt, or feedback of a message
The interpersonal communication process
Channels for interpersonal communication techniques
, 12 Questions to help evaluate communication methods
1. Feedback
a. How quickly can the receiver respond to the message
2. Complexity capacity
a. Can the method effectively process complex messages
3. Breadth potential
a. How many different messages can be transmitted using this method.
4. Confidentiality
a. Can communicators be reasonably sure their messages are received only by those for whom
their intended
5. Encoding ease
a. Can the sender easily and quickly use this channel
6. Decoding ease
a. Can the receiver easily and quickly decode messages
7. Time space constraint
a. Do senders and receiver need to communicate at the same time and in the same place
8. Cost
a. How much does it cost to use this method
9. Interpersonal warmth
a. How well does this method convey interpersonal warmth
10. Formality
a. Does this method have the needed amount of formality
11. Scanability
a. Does this method allow the message to be easily browsed or scanned for relevant
information
12. Time of consumption
a. Does the sender or receiver exercise the most control over when the message is dealt with
Nonverbal communication
Nonverbal communication : communication transmitted without words
• Body language
○ Gestures, facial expressions and other body movements that convey meaning
• Verbal intonation (paralinguistics)
○ An emphasis given to words or phrases that conveys meaning
Effective interpersonal communication
Barriers
Cognitive : managers should be familiar with two cognitive barriers to communications
• Information overload
○ When information exceeds our processing capacity
• Filtering
○ Deliberate manipulation of information to make it appear more favorable to the receiver
Emotions
Disregarding rational and objective thinking processes and substituting emotional judgements when
interpreting messages
Jargon
Specialized terminology or technical language that members of a group use to communicate among
themselves
Overcoming the barriers
Use feedback
• Many communication problems, directly attributable to misunderstanding and inaccuracies , are
less likely to occur in the manager gets feedback, both verbal and nonverbal
Simplify language
• Effective communication is achieved when a message is both received and understood
Listen actively - active listening
March 14, 2023 12:08 PM
Chapter 12 - Managers and communication
The nature and function of communication
What is communication?
• Communication
○ The transfer and understanding of meaning
• Interpersonal communication
○ Communication between two or more people
• Organizational communication
○ All the patterns, network and systems of communications within an organization
Functions of communication?
• Control
• Motivation
• Emotional expression
• Information
Methods and challenges of interpersonal communication
• Message
○ A purpose to be conveyed
• Encoding
○ Converting a message into symbols
• Channel
○ The medium a message travels along
• Decoding
○ A receivers translation of a senders message
• Interpersonal communication process
○ The seven elements involved in transferring meaning from one person to another
• Noise
○ Disturbances that interfere with the transmission, receipt, or feedback of a message
The interpersonal communication process
Channels for interpersonal communication techniques
, 12 Questions to help evaluate communication methods
1. Feedback
a. How quickly can the receiver respond to the message
2. Complexity capacity
a. Can the method effectively process complex messages
3. Breadth potential
a. How many different messages can be transmitted using this method.
4. Confidentiality
a. Can communicators be reasonably sure their messages are received only by those for whom
their intended
5. Encoding ease
a. Can the sender easily and quickly use this channel
6. Decoding ease
a. Can the receiver easily and quickly decode messages
7. Time space constraint
a. Do senders and receiver need to communicate at the same time and in the same place
8. Cost
a. How much does it cost to use this method
9. Interpersonal warmth
a. How well does this method convey interpersonal warmth
10. Formality
a. Does this method have the needed amount of formality
11. Scanability
a. Does this method allow the message to be easily browsed or scanned for relevant
information
12. Time of consumption
a. Does the sender or receiver exercise the most control over when the message is dealt with
Nonverbal communication
Nonverbal communication : communication transmitted without words
• Body language
○ Gestures, facial expressions and other body movements that convey meaning
• Verbal intonation (paralinguistics)
○ An emphasis given to words or phrases that conveys meaning
Effective interpersonal communication
Barriers
Cognitive : managers should be familiar with two cognitive barriers to communications
• Information overload
○ When information exceeds our processing capacity
• Filtering
○ Deliberate manipulation of information to make it appear more favorable to the receiver
Emotions
Disregarding rational and objective thinking processes and substituting emotional judgements when
interpreting messages
Jargon
Specialized terminology or technical language that members of a group use to communicate among
themselves
Overcoming the barriers
Use feedback
• Many communication problems, directly attributable to misunderstanding and inaccuracies , are
less likely to occur in the manager gets feedback, both verbal and nonverbal
Simplify language
• Effective communication is achieved when a message is both received and understood
Listen actively - active listening
