Chapter 17

How can the grapevine be an asset?

Manager can get valuable information from the grapevine and use it to improve decision making

predispositions about the subject

May already have their minds made up, firmly set in a certain way

informal communication

May cross different levels and different departments or work units, and may or may not have anything to do with official organizational business. Water cooler talk

reluctance to communicate

May occur to not hurt people's feelings or they are too scared to

____ is anything that interferes with the communication process.

Noise

Informal interchange

Not set agenda, and the key topics of discussion very from group to group and day to day

Vertical downward communication

Occurs when information flows down the hierarchy from superiors to subordinates

cluster chain

One person passes the information to a selected few individuals

develop good listening skills

Person be prepared to listen, not interrupt the speaker, concentrate on both the words and the meaning being conveyed, be patient, and ask questions as appropriate

conflict or inconsistent signals

Says how things should be done one day and the next day prescribes an entirely different procedure on Wednesday

Barriers to effective communication

Several factors may disrupt the communication process or serve as barriers to effective communication

Management by wandering around

The basic idea is that some managers keep in touch with what is going on by wandering around and talking with people - immediate subordinates, subordinates far down the organizational hierarchy, delivery people, customers, or anyone else who is involved with the company in some way

understand the richness of media

A face-to-face channel of communication gives the manager an opportunity to explain the situation and answer questions

Grapevine

An informal communication network that can permeate an entire organization

semantics

Arise when words have different meanings for different people

language differences

As business become more and more global, different languages can create problems

poor listening skills

Because they are not concentrating on what is being said, they may not comprehend part or all of the message

status or power differences

Company president may discount a suggestion from an operating employee, or workers may be reluctant to offer suggestions to the company president because of their lower status

What are the Individual barriers?

Conflicting or inconsistent signals, credibility about the subject, reluctance to communicate, poor listening skills, and predispositions about the subject

credibility about the subject

Credibility problems arise when the sender is not considered a reliable source of information

encourage two-way communication

Feedback - Allows the receiver to ask questions, request clarification, and express opinions that let the sender know whether he or she has been understood

vertical communication

Flows up and down the organization, usually along formal reporting lines

noise

If a manager's smartphone loses power or connectivity, communication may be disrupted

different perspectives

If people perceive a situation differently, they may have difficulty communicating with one another

What are the three kinds of nonverbal communication?

Images, settings, and body language

follow up

Involves checking at a later time to be sure that a message has been received and understood

horizontal communication

Involves colleagues and peers at the same level of the organization.

What are the two purposes of horizontal communication?

To facilitate coordination among interdependent units and joint problem solving

gossip chain

When on person spreads the message to many other people

overload

When the receiver is being sent more information than he or she can effectively handle

The two most commonly occurring grapevines are

cluster and gossip

The process of sending and receiving information from one person to another is called

communication

Individual skills to overcoming barriers to communication

develop good listening skills, encourage two-way communication, be aware of language and meaning, maintain credibility, and be sensitive to receiver's and sender's perspective

Mark asked Sandra, "Are you using your 529, 401K, IRA, or savings to pay for that?" Sandra had a blank expression. In terms of the communication process, Mark's use of jargon was part of his

encoding

Managers should do whatever it takes to eliminate the informal communication system in the organization.

false

Oral communication is usually best when the message is more impersonal, routine, and longer

false

organizational skills to overcoming barriers to communication

follow up, regulate information flows, and understand the richness of media

What are the two kinds of grapevines?

gossip chain and cluster chain

The best time to use written communication is when you have to exchange

important details

The two approaches organizations can take to create a formal information system are

managerial and operational

The order of the communication process is

meaning, encoding, transmission, decoding, feedback

On the television show Mad Men, the characters drink liquor like water. This is an example of

nonverbal communication

Nonverbal communication

o A communication exchange that does not use words or uses words to carry more meaning than the strict definition of the words themselves

Which of the following techniques for improving communication is most important to the sender?

providing channels for feedback

What are the organizational barriers?

semantics, status or power differences, different perspectives, noise, overload, and language differences

Which of the following is an example of downward communication?

standard operating procedure

Which of the following is characterized as a barrier to communication resulting from interpersonal dynamics rather than from a characteristic of the sender or the receiver?

status differences

upward vertical communication

subordinates to superiors

The greater the degree of difference in status between superior and subordinate and the greater the degree of distrust...

the more likely the subordinate is to suppress or distort information

Recent research has shown that the information carried in the organizational grapevine is fairly accurate.

true

regulate information flows

§ Sender or receiver takes steps to ensure that overload does not occur § For sender, this could mean not passing too much information through the system at one time § For receiver, it might mean calling attention to the fact that he is being asked to do too many things at once