Communications in organizations
Summary
Basic communication skills
Sender = the person who sends out a message
Receiver = the person who receives a message
Sender skills:
- Regulating skills = those with which one influences the structure and direction of the
conversation
- Assertive skills = those whose purpose is to reveal as clearly as possible what one thinks and
wants
Chapter 1: Regulating skills
The purpose is to protect and order the clarity of the conversation
Opening conversation, setting goals
It is important for a efficient continuation of the conversation that you supply your conversation
partner with you intentions fairly soon.
You could start the conversation with discussing generalities:
- It creates a relaxed atmosphere
- Some people find feel uneasy
o Time not efficiently used
o One does not know how to end the generalities
A clear conversational structure on which both parties agreed upon, promotes efficiency.
Goal evaluation
Ask goal evaluating questions from time to time to make sure you are still busy with the goals you set
in the beginning. E.g. “What was it exactly that we wanted to achieve?”
At the end of an conversation, it is often useful to summarize the arrangements.
Closing the conversation
It is wiser to make arrangements about the length of the conversation at the beginning of the
conversation.
If such an agreement is made, it is wise to keep an eye on the time too. When the time is about to
expire, you start rounding off and summarizing.
After the summary you can discuss how you will continue. Therefore, it is easier if the summary
contains concrete arrangements.
,Chapter 2: Listening skills
It is important to let your partner know he is being listened to:
- It is stimulating for the partner
- Avoids problems that occur when one does not listen well
As a listener you have only limited influence on the conversation. You give other people all the time
to talk and explain their story and you only respond by giving attention. These skills are necessary to
stimulate the conversation partner into talking.
Selective skills = are used by the listener to find out and select certain aspects of the conversation
that he finds important
Non-selective skills = when you do not choose what you find important and what not. This is hardly
ever used alone because unconsciously you will make distinctions about what you find important and
what not.
Non-selective listening skills, minimal encourages
Approximately half of our communication is composed of non-verbal behaviour
Nonverbal behaviour
Facial expression: it is often directly related to your feelings, sometimes even more than you
actually imagine
Eye contact: stimulating eye contact means that your eyes should meet the speaker’s eye
once in a while
Body posture: the interest you both have in the other person can also be shown by a
relaxed and friendly body posture
Encouraging gestures: by nodding and making supportive gestures with the hands and by avoiding
nervous and distracting movements, you can show attention, which will
stimulate the speaker to continue talking
Verbal following
Verbal following = the comments you make should be in line with what the speaker is saying and
that you do not start new subjects
To understand the speaker fully, you must put aside your own opinions and thoughts about the
subject
Minimal encourages = short verbal reactions intended to stimulate the speaker to talk by showing
him that he is being listened to
People who consider themselves as good listeners are often not as good as they think they are:
- Start questioning too fast
- Start reciting their own experiences before the speaker has finished talking
, Selective listening skills
In your reaction you give certain aspects of the speaker’s conversation more attention than others.
- Could be on purpose to find out more about certain topics of the get more involved in the
feelings expressed
Selectivity determines your immediate reactions to the conversation and the choice of subthemes
being discussed.
Asking questions
Open ended questions: These questions leave speakers much freedom in formulating
answers to them. They can respond in their own words in
accordance with their wishes or opinions.
You could also make a distinction is questions related to the
topic and questions not related to the topic. The type should
only be asked when the previous subject had been
thoroughly explored.
Why-questions: Often a suitable open-ended question. In particular because
people always have reasons for acting in a certain manner.
Can be regarded as threatening when placed at the beginning
of a conversation
Special attention needs to be paid to the tone of the why-
question.
Closed (directing) questions: These questions can be answered with a single word (yes/no)
Speaker is restricted to answer the question and they are
often suggested because these questions stem from
preconceived ideas.
The degree of suggestiveness depends heavily on the tone in
which the question is asked.
Useful to ask those questions when you need factual and
specific information, or when open ended question to do not
result in much information.
Paraphrasing of content
Paraphrasing of content = briefly stating in your own words what the speaker has said.
It is based on factual information.
Two functions:
1. Listeners can check that they have understood everything correctly
2. The speaker experiences understanding and it might be stimulating to hear their thoughts
expressed in other words.
Summary
Basic communication skills
Sender = the person who sends out a message
Receiver = the person who receives a message
Sender skills:
- Regulating skills = those with which one influences the structure and direction of the
conversation
- Assertive skills = those whose purpose is to reveal as clearly as possible what one thinks and
wants
Chapter 1: Regulating skills
The purpose is to protect and order the clarity of the conversation
Opening conversation, setting goals
It is important for a efficient continuation of the conversation that you supply your conversation
partner with you intentions fairly soon.
You could start the conversation with discussing generalities:
- It creates a relaxed atmosphere
- Some people find feel uneasy
o Time not efficiently used
o One does not know how to end the generalities
A clear conversational structure on which both parties agreed upon, promotes efficiency.
Goal evaluation
Ask goal evaluating questions from time to time to make sure you are still busy with the goals you set
in the beginning. E.g. “What was it exactly that we wanted to achieve?”
At the end of an conversation, it is often useful to summarize the arrangements.
Closing the conversation
It is wiser to make arrangements about the length of the conversation at the beginning of the
conversation.
If such an agreement is made, it is wise to keep an eye on the time too. When the time is about to
expire, you start rounding off and summarizing.
After the summary you can discuss how you will continue. Therefore, it is easier if the summary
contains concrete arrangements.
,Chapter 2: Listening skills
It is important to let your partner know he is being listened to:
- It is stimulating for the partner
- Avoids problems that occur when one does not listen well
As a listener you have only limited influence on the conversation. You give other people all the time
to talk and explain their story and you only respond by giving attention. These skills are necessary to
stimulate the conversation partner into talking.
Selective skills = are used by the listener to find out and select certain aspects of the conversation
that he finds important
Non-selective skills = when you do not choose what you find important and what not. This is hardly
ever used alone because unconsciously you will make distinctions about what you find important and
what not.
Non-selective listening skills, minimal encourages
Approximately half of our communication is composed of non-verbal behaviour
Nonverbal behaviour
Facial expression: it is often directly related to your feelings, sometimes even more than you
actually imagine
Eye contact: stimulating eye contact means that your eyes should meet the speaker’s eye
once in a while
Body posture: the interest you both have in the other person can also be shown by a
relaxed and friendly body posture
Encouraging gestures: by nodding and making supportive gestures with the hands and by avoiding
nervous and distracting movements, you can show attention, which will
stimulate the speaker to continue talking
Verbal following
Verbal following = the comments you make should be in line with what the speaker is saying and
that you do not start new subjects
To understand the speaker fully, you must put aside your own opinions and thoughts about the
subject
Minimal encourages = short verbal reactions intended to stimulate the speaker to talk by showing
him that he is being listened to
People who consider themselves as good listeners are often not as good as they think they are:
- Start questioning too fast
- Start reciting their own experiences before the speaker has finished talking
, Selective listening skills
In your reaction you give certain aspects of the speaker’s conversation more attention than others.
- Could be on purpose to find out more about certain topics of the get more involved in the
feelings expressed
Selectivity determines your immediate reactions to the conversation and the choice of subthemes
being discussed.
Asking questions
Open ended questions: These questions leave speakers much freedom in formulating
answers to them. They can respond in their own words in
accordance with their wishes or opinions.
You could also make a distinction is questions related to the
topic and questions not related to the topic. The type should
only be asked when the previous subject had been
thoroughly explored.
Why-questions: Often a suitable open-ended question. In particular because
people always have reasons for acting in a certain manner.
Can be regarded as threatening when placed at the beginning
of a conversation
Special attention needs to be paid to the tone of the why-
question.
Closed (directing) questions: These questions can be answered with a single word (yes/no)
Speaker is restricted to answer the question and they are
often suggested because these questions stem from
preconceived ideas.
The degree of suggestiveness depends heavily on the tone in
which the question is asked.
Useful to ask those questions when you need factual and
specific information, or when open ended question to do not
result in much information.
Paraphrasing of content
Paraphrasing of content = briefly stating in your own words what the speaker has said.
It is based on factual information.
Two functions:
1. Listeners can check that they have understood everything correctly
2. The speaker experiences understanding and it might be stimulating to hear their thoughts
expressed in other words.
