Chapter 8 and 9Communication

Team Performance

What constitutes good team performance? What if a team member tries hard but does not seem to be producing quality work? How will poor attendance/work quality be dealt with?

Verbal Communication

effective in helping to build relationships at work.[] In addition, oral communication has a special place at work including the role of storytelling and crucial conversations.

Types of Communication

(1) verbal communication, in which you listen to a person to understand their meaning; (2) written communication, in which you read their meaning; and (3) nonverbal communication, in which you observe a person and infer meaning.

Information Overload and the Illusion of Multitasking

- Information overload can be defined as "occurring when the information processing demands on an individual's time to perform interactions and internal calculations exceed the supply or capacity of time available for such processing - Multitasking refers to performing multiple tasks at the same time. However, paying attention to multiple communications media at the same time, such as texting while listening to a colleague, may best be characterized as the "illusion of multitasking." -trying to communicate through multiple media usually does not result in positive outcomes, because the individual is switching attention from one task to another in quick succession

criteria that individuals may use when deciding whether to filter a message or pass it on

- Past experience: Were previous senders rewarded for passing along news of this kind in the past, or were they criticized? -Emotional state, involvement with the topic, and level of attention: Does the sender's fear of failure or criticism prevent the message from being conveyed? Is the topic within the sender's realm of expertise, increasing confidence in the ability to decode the message, or is the sender out of a personal comfort zone when it comes to evaluating the message's significance? Are personal concerns impacting the sender's ability to judge the message's value?

During the Meeting

-Start the meeting on time. -Follow the meeting agenda -Manage group dynamics for full participation -Summarize the meeting with action items:here should be clear notes from the meeting regarding who is responsible for each action item and the time frames associated with next steps. -End the meeting on time. This is vitally important, as it shows that you respect everyone's time and are organized

active listening.

1) giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as needed, and not interrupting at inappropriate times creates a real-time relationship between the sender and receiver by acknowledging the content and receipt of a message.

WRITTEN QUESTION: Barriers to Effective Teams

1)Challenges of Knowing Where to Begin

Before the Meeting

1)Is a meeting needed? 2)Decide who should be at the meeting, and only invite those. The more people attend the meeting, the less each person will participate 3)Decide how long the meeting should be, and keep it short. The longer the meeting, the more distractions there will be 4)Create and distribute an agenda. An agenda is important in helping to inform those invited about the purpose of the meeting 5)Send a reminder prior to the meeting 6)Decide if you need chairs

Written Question: How to Be An Active Listener

1)Start by stopping. Take a moment to inhale and exhale quietly before you begin to listen. Your job as a listener is to receive information openly and accurately 2)Don't worry about what you'll say when the time comes. Silence can be a beautiful thing 3)Paraphrase. When the sender pauses, summarize what you believe has been said. "What I'm hearing is that we need to focus on marketing as well as sales. Is that correct?" 4)Don't multitask while listening. Listening is a full-time job. 5)Try to empathize with the sender's point of view. You don't have to agree, but can you find common ground? 6)Ask questions. There's nothing wrong with admitting you haven't understood the sender's point. 7)Establish eye contact. Making eye contact with the speaker 8)What is the goal of this communication? Ask yourself this question at different points during the communication to keep the information flow on track 9)'s great to be surprised. Listen with an open mind, not just for what you want to hear. 10)Pay attention to what is not said. Does the sender's body language seem to contradict the message? If so, clarification may be in order.

What is the difference between a group and a team?

A collection of people is not a team, though they may learn to function in that way. A team is a cohesive coalition of people working together to achieve mutual goals. does require a commitment to the vision and involves each individual working toward accomplishing the team's objective. Teams differ from other types of groups in that members are focused on a joint goal or product, such as a presentation, discussing a topic, writing a report, creating a new design or prototype, or winning a team Olympic medal. teams also tend to be defined by their relatively smaller size. The purpose of assembling a team is to accomplish larger, more complex goals than what would be possible for an individual working alone or even the simple sum of several individuals' working independently.

Challenges of Knowing Where to Begin

At the start of a project, team members may be at a loss as to how to begin. Also, they may have reached the end of a task but are unable to move on to the next step or put the task to rest. Floundering often results from a lack of clear goals, so the remedy is to go back to the team's mission or plan and make sure that it is clear to everyone 1)Does anyone feel that we've missed something important?" 2)What is holding us up

Web Pages

A Web page's external communication can combine elements of public relations, advertising, and editorial content, reaching receivers on multiple levels and in multiple ways. Banner ads, blogs, and advertiser-driven "click-through" areas are just a few of the elements that allow a business to deliver a message to a receiver online

Body Language

A simple rule of thumb is that simplicity, directness, and warmth conveys sincerity. Sincerity is vital for effective communication

Norms

Norms are shared expectations about how things operate within a group or team. his understanding helps teams be more cohesive and perform better. Norms are a powerful way of ensuring coordination within a team.

Ads

Advertising places external business messages before target receivers through media buys. A media buy is a fee that is paid to a television network, Web site, magazine, and so on by an advertiser to insert an advertisement.

Designing Effective Teams

Designing an effective team means making decisions about team composition (who should be on the team), team size (the optimal number of people on the team), and team diversity (should team members be of similar background, such as all engineers, or of different backgrounds).

Customer Communications

Customer communications can include letters, catalogs, direct mail, e-mails, text messages, and telemarketing messages. The key to a successful external communication to customers is to convey a business message in a personally compelling way—dramatic news, a money-saving coupon, and so forth.

Poorly Managed Team Conflict

Disagreements among team members are normal and should be expected. Healthy teams raise issues and discuss differing points of view, because that will ultimately help the team reach stronger, more well-reasoned decisions. sometimes disagreements arise owing to personality issues or feuds that predated a team's formation not possible, the next best solution is to have adversaries discuss their issues privately, so the team's progress is not disrupted. form a behavioral contract between the two parties. That is, if one party agrees to do X, then the other will agree to do Y.[] Research suggests that an important factor of how teams deal with conflict is how safe that team's members feel in expressing their concerns.[]

Emotional Disconnects

Emotional disconnects happen when the sender or the receiver is upset, An effective communication requires a sender and a receiver who are open to speaking and listening to one another, despite possible differences in opinion or personality. One or both parties may have to put their emotions aside to achieve the goal of communicating clearly. A receiver who is emotionally upset tends to ignore or distort what the sender is saying. A sender who is emotionally upset may be unable to present ideas or feelings effectively

External Communications

External communications deliver specific business messages to individuals outside an organization

After the Meeting

Follow up on action items.

The Communication Process

Fulfills three main functions within an organization: coordination transmission of information sharing emotions and feelings

Performing

Galvanized by a sense of shared vision and a feeling of unity, the group is ready to go into high gear. Members are more interdependent, individuality and differences are respected, and group members feel themselves to be part of a greater entity. At the performing stage, participants are not only getting the work done, but they also pay greater attention to how they are doing it By now, the group has matured, becoming more competent, autonomous, and insightful. Group leaders can finally move into coaching roles and help members grow in skill and leadership

Groupthink

Groupthink is a group pressure phenomenon that increases the risk of the group making flawed decisions by allowing reductions in mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment. Groupthink is most common in highly cohesive groups

Team Decision Making

How are minor decisions made? How are major decisions made?

sequential interdependence

If one person's output becomes another person's input, the team would be experiencing

Poor Performance of Team Members

In situations in which the poor performer is perceived as lacking in ability, teams are more likely to train the member. When members perceive the individual as simply being low on motivation, they are more likely to try to motivate or reject the poor performer. Be sure that poor performers are dealt with in a way that is deemed fair by all the team members.

Direction of Communication Within Organizations

Information can move horizontally, from a sender to a receiver, as we've seen. It can also move vertically, down from top management, or up from the front line. Information can also move diagonally between and among levels of an organization

Informal work groups

Made up of two or more individuals who are associated with one another in ways not prescribed by the formal organization. For example, a few people in the company who get together to play tennis on the weekend would be considered an informal group.

Adjourning

Many groups or teams formed in a business context are project oriented and therefore are temporary in nature Group leaders and members alike should be sensitive to handling these endings respectfully and compassionately Conducting a meeting at the end of a project or an event may turn the project into a learning opportunity.

Facial Expressions

Our faces convey basic information to the outside world. Happiness is associated with an upturned mouth and slightly closed eyes; fear with an open mouth and wide-eyed stare. Shifty eyes and pursed lips convey a lack of trustworthiness. The impact of facial expressions in conversation is instantaneous

Storming

Participants focus less on keeping their guard up as they shed social facades, becoming more authentic and more argumentative. Group members begin to explore their power and influence, and they often stake out their territory by differentiating themselves from the other group members rather than seeking common ground. . Discussions can become heated as participants raise contending points of view and values, or argue over how tasks should be done and who is assigned to them. may even take sides or begin to form cliques within the group. Questioning and resisting direction from the leader is also quite common. group members are becoming more authentic as they express their deeper thoughts and feelings

three types of task interdependence.

Pooled interdependence

Production tasks

Production tasks include actually making something, such as a building, product, or a marketing plan

Press Releases

Public relations: create external communications about a client's product, services, or practices for specific receivers. These receivers, it is hoped, will share the message with others. In time, as the message is passed along, it should appear to be independent of the sender, creating the illusion of an independently generated consumer trend, public opinion, and so on Public relations campaigns create messages over time through contests, special events, trade shows, and media interviews in addition to press releases.

Lack of Source Familiarity or Credibility

Sarcasm and irony are subtle, and have a high potential to be misunderstood. Similarly, if the sender lacks credibility or is untrustworthy, the message will not get through if the sender has communicated erroneous information in the past or has created false emergencies, his current message may be filtered. cognize that who communicates the message is often as important as what is being communicated.

Dominating Team Members

Some team members may have a dominating personality that encroaches on the participation or air time of others. This overbearing behavior may hurt the team morale or the momentum of the team design a team evaluation to include a "balance of participation" in meetings Knowing that fair and equitable participation by all will affect the team's performance evaluation will help team members limit domination by one member and encourage participation from all member

fundamental factors

Similarity. The more similar group members are in terms of age, sex, education, skills, attitudes, values, and beliefs, the more likely the group will bond. Stability. The longer a group stays together, the more cohesive it becomes. Size. Smaller groups tend to have higher levels of cohesion. Support. When group members receive coaching and are encouraged to support their fellow team members, group identity strengthens. Satisfaction. Cohesion is correlated with how pleased group members are with each other's performance, behavior, and conformity to group norms. cohesion is more strongly related to performance behaviors rather than outcomes. In other words, cohesive teams do the right things, but of course doing the right things may not always have positive results due to environmental constraints.[ One advantage of cohesive groups is their tendency to share information and knowledge

Storytelling

Stories can help clarify key values and can help demonstrate how things are done within an organization, and story frequency, strength, and tone are related to higher organizational commitment.

How Diverse Should My Team Be?

Team composition and team diversity often go hand in hand. Teams whose members have complementary skills are often more successful. Teams whose members have complementary skills are often more successful, because members can see each other's blind spots Diversity in team composition can help teams come up with more creative and effective solutions. Research shows that teams that believe in the value of diversity performed better than teams that do not. The more diverse a team is in terms of expertise, gender, age, and background, the more ability the group has to avoid the problems of groupthink. individual value orientations is related to conflict within the group and lower levels of cohesion. This means that teams with diversity will need to learn to manage the resulting conflict in order to reap the benefits of diversity

Team

Team members not only benefit from each other's diverse experiences and perspectives but also stimulate each other's creativity.

Traditional manager-led teams

Teams in which the manager serves as the team leader. The manager assigns work to other team member

Written Questions: Communication Channels

The channel, or medium, used to communicate a message affects how accurately the message will be received. Channels vary in their "information-richness." Information-rich channels convey more nonverbal information. The key to effective communication is to match the communication channel with the goal of the message

Boundary-Spanning Roles

The consul role includes gathering information from the larger organization and informing those within the organization about team activities, goals, and successes. Often the consul role is filled by team managers or leaders. The coordinator role includes interfacing with others within the organization so that the team's efforts are in line with other individuals and teams within the organization.

Task Roles

The contractor role includes behaviors that serve to organize the team's work, including creating team timelines, production schedules, and task sequencing. he creator role deals more with changes in the team's task process structure. The contributor role is important, because it brings information and expertise to the team.This role is characterized by sharing knowledge and training with those who have less expertise to strengthen the team The completer role is also important, as it transforms ideas into action.

Team Values and Goals

What are our shared team values? What is our team goal?

Nonverbal Communication

What you say is a vital part of any communication. But what you don't say can be equally or even more important 55% of in-person communication comes from nonverbal cues such as facial expressions, body stance, and tone of voice To be effective communicators, body language, appearance, and tone need to be aligned with the words one is trying to communicate Research shows that when individuals are lying, they are more likely to blink more frequently, shift their weight, and shrug. A different tone can change the perceived meaning of a message

How Large Should My Team Be

When deciding team size, a good rule of thumb is a size of two to twenty members. The majority of teams have ten members or less, because the larger the team, the harder it is to coordinate and interact as a team. With fewer individuals, team members are more able to work through differences and agree on a common plan of action. They have a clearer understanding of others' roles and greater accountability to fulfill their roles The relationship between team size and performance seems to greatly depend on the level of task interdependence he bottom line is that team size should be matched to the goals of the team.

Team Communication

Who do you contact if you cannot make a meeting? Who communicates with whom? How often will the team meet?

Team Roles and Leadership

Who does what within this team? (Who takes notes at the meeting? Who sets the agenda? Who assigns tasks? Who runs the meetings?) Does the team have a formal leader? If so, what are his or her roles?

Semantics

Words can mean different things to different people, or they might not mean anything to another person. For example, companies often have their own acronyms and buzzwords (called business jargon) that are clear to them but impenetrable to outsiders. In business, this code is known as jargon. Jargon is the language of specialized terms used by a group or profession consists of unfamiliar terms, abstract words, nonexistent words, acronyms, and abbreviations, with an occasional euphemism thrown in for good measure. benefits to using jargon—a quicker way to send an effective communication

Workplace Gossip

Workplace gossip, also known as the grapevine, is a lifeline for many employees seeking information about their company Its grassroots structure gives it greater credibility in the minds of employees than information delivered through official channels, even when that information is false

group

a collection of individuals who interact with each other such that one person's actions have an impact on the others

Cohesion

can be thought of as a kind of social glue. It refers to the degree of camaraderie within the group. Cohesive groups are those in which members are attached to each other and act as one unit Members of cohesive groups tend to have the following characteristics: They have a collective identity; they experience a moral bond and a desire to remain part of the group; they share a sense of purpose, working together on a meaningful task or cause; and they establish a structured pattern of communication.

Poor Listening and Active Listening

effective listening has a behavioral and an emotional component. Behaviors such as paraphrasing (repeating) what was heard, asking probing questions to clarify a point, and answering questions when asked are behavioral aspects of listening. Emotional aspects include showing that you care about the speaker, trying to actively understand the speaker, trying to relate to the speaker, and showing concern about what is being said and what is being left unsaid Effective communication relies on another kind of listening: active listening.

Pooled interdependence

exists when team members may work independently and simply combine their efforts to create the team's output

Barriers to Effective Communication

filtering selective perception information overload emotional disconnects lack of source familiarity or credibility semantics differences in meaning between the sender and the receiver poor listening, and biased language.

Selective Perception

filtering information to suit our own needs Over time, however, we begin to make assumptions about the way things are on the basis of our past experience. Often, much of this process is unconscious. communicating with others, we have a tendency to hear what we want to hear, or see what we want to see.

Gersick's model

groups can repeatedly cycle through the storming and performing stages, with revolutionary change taking place during short transitional windows.

coordination

helps people work toward the same goals.

Crucial Conversations

high-stakes communications require more planning, reflection, and skill than normal day-to-day interactions at work. Examples of high-stakes communication events include asking for a raise or presenting a business plan to a venture capitalist High-stakes communication requires a lot of preparation, even when it looks as if it is spontaneous

Communication

how we coordinate actions and achieve goals communication ability is related to a manager's performance.[] In most work environments, a miscommunication is an annoyance—it can interrupt workflow by causing delays and interpersonal strife. he relationship between miscommunication and negative outcomes is very strong. In business, poor communication costs money and wastes time. good communication can help a company retain its star employees. Good communication increases a company's market value.

Tuckman model (forming-storming-norming-performing model) and adjourning phase

in order to successfully facilitate a group, the leader needs to move through various leadership styles over time. Generally, this is accomplished by first being more directive, eventually serving as a coach, and later, once the group is able to assume more power and responsibility for itself, shifting to a delegator

Team Roles

individuals who are more aware of team roles and the behavior required for each role perform better than individuals who do not

Biased Language

offend or stereotype others on the basis of their personal or group affiliation Words and actions that stereotype others on the basis of personal or group affiliation are examples of bias. Effective communication is clear, factual, and goal-oriented. It is also respectful.

Filtering

is the distortion or withholding of information to manage a person's reactions tendency of receivers to vent their negative response to unwanted messages to the sender Filtering prevents members of an organization from getting a complete picture of reality "a manager's keeping a division's negative sales figures from a superior"

Who Are the Best Individuals for the Team?

key consideration when forming a team is to ensure that all the team members are qualified for the roles they will fill for the team. This process often entails understanding the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) of team members as well as the personality traits needed before starting the selection process

Idea-generation task

l with creative tasks, such as brainstorming a new direction or creating a new process

formal work group

made up of managers, subordinates, or both with close associations among group members that influence the behavior of individuals in the group

Norming

participants find it easy to establish their own ground rules (or norms) and define their operating procedures and goals. The group tends to make big decisions, while subgroups or individuals handle the smaller decisions members ask each other for both help and feedback. They may even begin to form friendships and share more personal information with each other. At this point, the leader should become more of a facilitator by stepping back and letting the group assume more responsibility for its goal

Team Tasks

production tasks, idea-generation tasks, and problem-solving tasks

Problem-solving tasks

refer to coming up with plans for actions and making decisions.

Collective Efficacy

refers to a group's perception of its ability to successfully perform well including watching others ("that group did it and we're better than them"), verbal persuasion ("we can do this"), and how a person feels ("this is a good group"). relationship is higher when task interdependence (the degree an individual's task is linked to someone else's work) is high rather than low

self-directed teams ]

self-directed teams to make improvements in work processes.[] Teams were allowed to set their own goals in conjunction with managers and other teams.

The Communication Process

sender manager, coworker, or customer, originates the message with a thought. sender encodes the message, translating the idea into words medium of this encoded message may be spoken words, written words, or signs receiver is the person who receives the message receiver decodes the message by assigning meaning to the words. Noise is anything that interferes with or distorts the message being transformed can be external in the environment (such as distractions) or it can be within the receiver

Team Meetings

serve an important function in terms of information sharing and decision making. They also serve an important social function and can help to build team cohesion and a task function in terms of coordination

reciprocal interdependence.

should work together on each phase of the research paper so that their best ideas would be captured at each stage

Social Roles

social roles serve to keep the team operating effectively. When the social roles are filled, team members feel more cohesive, and the group is less prone to suffer process losses or biases such as social loafing, groupthink, or a lack of participation from all member

Types of Teams

task force that is asked to address a specific issue or problem until it is resolved. product development teams: team in charge of designing anew product cross-functional teams: individuals from different parts of the organization staff the team, which may be temporary or long-standing in nature. Virtual teams: teams in which members are not located in the same physical place. The top team often includes representatives from functional areas, such as finance, human resources, and marketing, or key geographic areas. Companies have top teams to help set the company's vision and strategic direction. Top teams make decisions on new markets, expansions, acquisitions, or divestitures.

Sharing emotions

teams and unites people in times of celebration and crisis

WRITTEN QUESTION: Team Contracts

teams that are able to articulate and agree on established ground rules, goals, and roles and develop a team contract around these standards are better equipped to face challenges that may arise within the team Keys to address in a team contract are team values and goals, team roles and leadership, team decision making, team communication expectations, and how team performance is characterized.

Task interdependence

the degree that team members are dependent on one another to get information, support, or materials from other team members to be effective

forming stage

the group comes together for the first time. The members may already know each other or they may be total strangers. Because of the large amount of uncertainty, members tend to be polite, conflict avoidant, and observant. They are trying to figure out the "rules of the game" without being too vulnerable. Often this can be accomplished by finding some common ground. Members also begin to explore group boundaries to determine what will be considered acceptable behavior. discovering how the group will work in terms of what needs to be done and who will be responsible for each task.

Written Communication

the sender can write a message that the receiver can read at any time, unlike a conversation that is carried on in real time A written communication can also be read by many people (such as all employees in a department or all customers). It's a "one-to-many" communication, as opposed to a one-to-one conversation. Verbal communications are a better way to convey feelings. Written communications do a better job of conveying facts.

Eye Contact

the style and duration of eye contact varies greatly across cultures. Establishing and maintaining eye contact is often the first step in building a connection with someone else.

Keep in mind that groups can have too much cohesion.

there is a superficial sense of harmony and less diversity of thought. The more strongly members identify with the group, the easier it is to see outsiders as inferior, or enemies in extreme cases, which can lead to increased insularity. Denial increases as problems are ignored and failures are blamed on external factors.

Self-managed teams

these teams manage themselves and do not report directly to a supervisor. Instead, team members select their own leader employees in self-managed teams have higher job satisfaction, increased self-esteem, and grow more on the job. Self-managed teams are empowered teams, which means that they have the responsibility as well as the authority to achieve their goals. Team members have the power to control tasks and processes and to make decisions.

Social Loafing

to the tendency of individuals to put in less effort when working in a group context. The social loafing tendency is less a matter of being lazy and more a matter of perceiving that one will receive neither one's fair share of rewards if the group is successful nor blame if the group fails teams that are deemed as more fair should also see less social loafing. The likelihood of social loafing increases as group size increases (

Gender Differences in Communication

women are less likely to be dominant or assertive in communications. Increasing gender balance may be helpful, as will proactively ensuring that all attendees at a meeting have an opportunity to have their voices heard. Asking direct questions to the quieter members may go a long way in achieving inclusiveness