OB Exam 3 Chapter 8

True or false?One limitation of email is that both sender and receiver need to coordinate the communication session

False Email is asynchronous (messages are sent and received at different times), so there is no need to coordinate a communication session

True or false?A communication channel with high media richness is most appropriate in routine situations where the sender and receiver have common understanding and expectations

False Media richness refers to the volume and variety of information that can be transmitted during a specific time using a specific communication channel. When the sender and receiver have common understanding and expectations, high media richness is not necessary, and a leaner communication channel can be used

Can distribute company news rapidly but employees skepticism is still increasing regarding information that has been screened and packaged by management

E-zines

True or false?When communicating with another person, you should avoid repeating your message

False Because communication requires that the message not only be received, but understood, rephrasing key points a couple of times may help the receiver to better understand the message

True or false?Men are more likely than women to view conversations as negotiations of relative status and power

True

True or false?Research has found that women are generally more sensitive than men to nonverbal cues in face-to-face meetings

True

True or false?Nonverbal communication is typically conscious, whereas most verbal communication is automatic, reactive, and unconscious

false Verbal communication is typically conscious, whereas most nonverbal communication is automatic and unconscious

How to Reduce information load?

1) Buffering - others screen person's messages 2) Omitting - overlook some information 3) Summarizing - read summaries rather than full reports

How to increase information processing capacity?

1) Learn to read faster 2) Scan through documents more efficiently 3) Remove distractions 4) Time management 5) Temporarily work longer hours

Two types of Ambiguity?

1) Symbol has multiple meanings and receiver takes wrong interpretation 2) May be used deliberately by sender to obscure bad news

What are the three factors that override or blur the medium's richness

1. Ability to multi-communicate - Ex though face to face has a higher media richness than cellphone & email, you could get more done with both than talking) 2. When there's more varied proficiency levels - some people can "push" more information than others pushing information (Although face to face has a higher media richness than an cellphone, You could use a blackberry to send/look up information quicker rather than meeting with someone to receive immediate feedback) 3. When social distractions of rich channels - status and other social factors may distract people from efficiently processing the message content (ex although face to face has a higher media richness than a cellphone, we could get information more effectively texting than talking because when we talk we get distracted by peoples status, race, gender,etc.)

How can we improve workspace design?

1. Clustering people in teams 2. Open office arrangements 3. Increases communication 4. Potentially increases employee stress due to the loss of privacy and personal space 5. Challenge is to balance privacy with opportunities for social interaction

What are the characteristics of Grapvine?

1. Transmits information rapidly in all directions 2. Follows a cluster chain pattern 3. More active in homogeneous groups 4. Transmits some degree of truth 5. Distorts information by deleting fine details and exaggerating key points 6. Has changed due to internet

How can we improve direct Communication with Top Management?

1. managers walking around and meet directly with employees(MBWA) 2. Managers create Town hall meetings - Have conversations with large groups of employees 3. Roundtable forums - managers hear opinions from small representation of staff

How can we Improve Communication through Coding and Decoding?

1.) Carry the same "codebook" (dictionary of symbols, language, gestures, idioms, etc) 2.) Have Similar mental models (internal representations of the external word) about the context of the information - requires less communication 3.) (Practice)Become more familiar with message topic - develop the most efficient scripts to describe the subject 4. Proficiency with the communication channel - Ex: use email if you know the person responds well to it

How does communication influence Employee's well-beings?

1.) Fulfills the drive to bond 2.) Validates the individual's worth and identity 3.) Communicating with others is partially the means through which individuals define themselves (maintains their social identity)

How does communication influence organizational learning and decision making?

1.) It acquires information from external environment and experimentation 2.) It shares that information with people who can best use it to perform their jobs 3.) Minimizing "silos of knowledge" (withholding important information)

The process of how should we manage the grapevine?

1.) Listen to it as a signal of employee anxiety 2.) Then correct the cause of this anxiety

How has Email Altered Communication?

1.) Now preferred medium for coordinating work and sending well-defined info for decision making 2). Information can be appended and easily conveyed to many people 3.) Asynchronous (messages are sent/recieved different times) so no need to coordinate a communication session 4.) Allows users to filter, store, sort, and search messages more quickly than paper-based 5.) Increases communication volume and significantly alters communication flow 6.) Reduces face-to-face and telephone communication 7.) Increases communication with people further up the hierarchy 8.) Hides age, race, and other features, thus reducing stereotyping biases, BUT stereotypes tend to increase when we are aware of personal characteristics

The types of Social influences?

1.) Organization and team norms about preferred communication channel 2.) Individual preferences for specific communication channels 3.) Symbolic meaning of the communication channel

What are the different types of communication barriers that inhibit us from having an effective exchange?

1.) Perceptions - we have difficulty empathizing with receiver (ex: Selective attention) 2.) Filtering - May involve deleting or delaying negative information 3. Language - languages can have a.) ambigulity or b.) Jargon - words with speicalized meaning to specific people( ex:their, there, or AAA drinking rehab or car repair)

What is the Communication process model? (process of people communicating)

1.) Sender forms a message and encodes it into words, gestures, voice intonations, and other symbols or signs 2.) Encoded message is transmitted to the intended receiver through one or more communication channels (media) 3.) Receiver senses the incoming message and decodes it into something meaningful 4.) Sender looks for evidence that the other person received and understood the transmitted message 5.) Feedback repeats the communication process

What is the active listening process?

1.) Use Sensing - the process of receiving signals from the sender and paying attention to them 2.) Then Evaluate - Empathize(see from their perspective) with receiver & organize talking points 3.) Then respond - show interest by using eye contact/other channel signals & rephrase speakers ideas

How does nonverbal communication differ from verbal communication?

1.) its Less rule bound 2.) More ambiguous and susceptible to misinterpretation 3.) BUT it is also more reliable means of communication across cultures (ex- smiling means happy everywhere) 4.) less conscious of our actions when using nonverbal communication (ex - we plan what we say rather than plan when we blink)

How do we determne which communication channel is appropriate in certain situations?

1.) use social influence and media Richness hierachy

What are ways we get our message across more efficiently?

1.)Empathize - think about how receiver will decode message 2.) Repeat the message & try stating message in a different way 3.) Use timing effectively - find a time when receiver not distracted 4.) Be descriptive

How can we improve Interpersonal Communication with reciever?

A. Getting Your Message Across more efficiently B. Use active Listening

How can we Improving Communication throughout the Hierarchy?

A. Improve Workspace Design B. Use Wikis, blogs, and E-Zines C. Have Direct Communication with Top Management

How do women tend to communicate with men?

A. Less likely to assert status B) They make indirect requests C) They apologize more often D) They seek advice from others more quickly than men E.) More sensitive to nonverbal cues

what are the different types of cross cultural communcations?

A. Verbal differences - language B. Nonverbal differences - Voice intonation, Silence, conversational overlaps (interrupting), & Gestures C. Gender Communication Differences - Male vs. Female communication

Why do we communicate?

A.) Clarify expectations and coordinate work activities B.) Influences Organizational learning and decision making C.) Influences Employee's well-being

Collaborative web spaces in which anyone can write, edit, or remove material. What are the advantages of wikis?

A.) They are democratic, collaborative social networking spaces that rapidly document new knowledge B.) Good for project management, to-do's, status reports, issues log C.) No need to collate reports from everyone for an update D.) Accuracy depends on quality of participants

What are the types of communication channels?

A.) Verbal Communication - transmits meaning through WORDS B.) Computer-mediated Communication - transmits information through technology

What type of communication are these?

Actions, facial gestures, voice intonation, physical distance, silence, etc:Nonverbal communication NOTE Voice intonation REMEMBER the "I never told her that" example of the tone changing the communication whether thats emphasizing on a word more.

Encourages employees to write any news they see fit and will be reviewed only by employees' eyes only

Blogs

The process by which information is transmitted and understood between two or more people

Communication

The process by which information is transmitted and understood between two or more people. Transmitting the sender's intended meaning (not just symbols) is the essence of good communication

Communication NOTE understood is very important. The person must understood in order for it to be communication

What are things that inhibit the effective exchange of information?

Communication Barriers (Noise)

Is Communication a free-flowing conduit and why?

Communication is NOT because the transmission of meaning from one person to another is hampered by noise

stress, lost information, poorer decisions

Consequences of overload

The ability to communicate from different backgrounds

Cross-cultural communication

What type of communication is the lowest lean media-rich communication medium?

Data only reports like Financial statements

What type of communication is the most media-rich communication medium and why?

Face-to-face communication Because it allows us to communicate verbally/nonverbally at same time, receive feedback immediately,ability to quickly adjust our message/style, and use complex language (metaphors, idioms,etc.)

True or false?Communication exists whenever someone sends a message to someone else, even when the person receiving the message does not understand it

False Communication is the process by which information is transmitted and understood between two or more people

An unstructured and informal network founded on social relationships rather than organizational charts or job descriptions

Grapevine

occurs when the volume of information received exceeds the person's capacity to get through it

Information Overload

amount of info that must be processed per unit of time

Information load

amount of info a person is capable of processing in a fixed time

Information processing capacity

Real-time communities through clustered communication

Instant messaging

What are the benefits of Jargon?

It increases communication efficiency, improves team dynamics, shapes organizational culture

What does the Media richness theory says is the better communication? Rich media or lean media when the communication situation is non-routine?

It says Rich Media Because individuals don't know each other or the routine, they need immediate feedback to see if their meeting expectations

Words with specialized meaning to specific people

Jargon

What does the Media richness theory says is the better communication? Rich media or lean media when the situation is clear?

Lean media Because it saves you time of not having to meet with the person for immediate feedback

What does the Media richness theory says is the better communication? Rich media or lean media when the situation is a routine?

Lean media Because the senders and reciever have common expectations through shared mental models (expierence)

The medium's data-carrying capacity; the volume (how much info) and complexity (level of difficulty) of information that can be transmitted during a specific time

Media richness

the medium's data-carrying capacity; the volume and variety of information that can be transmitted during a specific time

Media richness

Is the media richness theory 100% correct?

No, because there are factors that override or blur the medium's richness

the psychological, social, and structural barriers that distort and obscure the sender's intended message

Noise

Any part of communication that does NOT use words

Nonverbal Communication

What type of communication transmits the most information in face-to-face meetings?

Nonverbal communication

communicate with intentions to build relationships

Rapport talk

What are the problem with Jargon?

Receiver might not understand jargon

What does the Media richness theory says is the better communication? Rich media or lean media when the situation is ambiguous?

Rich media Because the senders and reciever need to communicate large amounts of information with quick feedback to resolve conflicting interpretations

Form of communication that clusters people around themes or events using a virtual second life platform (avatars)

Social Network Communication

What form of communication uses wikis or instant messaging?

Social Networking communications

What is the relationship between grapevines and corporate leaders?

The grapevine is a competitor to corporate leaders, who should attempt to win the challenge to inform employees before they receive the news through the grapevine

True or false?One challenge in workspace design is how to balance employees' privacy with opportunities for social interaction

True People do communicate more with fewer walls in the workspace, but research suggests that open office design potentially increases employee stress due to the loss of privacy and personal space. Balance is needed

True or false?The grapevine is an important social process that bonds employees together and fulfills their need for affiliation

True The grapevine is associated with the drive to bond; being a recipient of gossip is a sign of inclusion. Trying to quash the grapevine is, in some respects, an attempt to undermine the natural human drive for social interaction

True or false?When sending a message, the choice of medium also communicates information from the sender to receiver

True There may be a symbolic meaning associated with a particular communication medium. Some communication channels are viewed as more personal/impersonal, or more professional/casual, than others, and may therefore be considered inappropriate for transmission of a particular piece of information (e.g. firing an employee via email)

transmits information through WORDS

Verbal Communication

What type of communication is american sign language considered?

Verbal communication because the person communicating is signing words.

When does filtering occur the most?

When our Intent may be to create a good impression to superiors

When is writing communication most appropriate and why?

When recording and presenting technical details because it makes it easier to understand conversation

Collaborative web spaces that allow co-authoring and editing

Wikis

As globalization and culturla diversity increases, what will happen to communication?

Will increase Cross-Cultural Communication problems

What are Limitations of Grapevines

a. Distortions might escalate anxiety b. Perceived lack of concern for employees when company info is slower than grapevine

How has the internet changed Grapevines?

a. Email becoming the main grapevine medium b. Social networks are now global c. Public blogs and forums extends gossip to everyone

What are benefits of Grapevines

a. Fills in missing information when it is not available through formal channels b. Main conduit through which org stories and other symbols of culture are communicated c. Relieves anxiety d. Associated with drive to bond (quashing the grapevine undermines natural drive for social interaction)

How to manage Information Overload?

a. Increase information processing capacity b. Reduce information load

How do men tend to communicate in general?

a. Men tend to view conversations as negotiations of relative status and power b. Assert power by directly giving advice to others and using combative language c.) "Report talk" - primary function of conversation is impersonal & efficient information exchange

How do women to communicate in general?

a. More "rapport talk" - communicate for relationship building (although may use "report talk" as well, especially when conversing with men)

Benefits of communicating with top management?

a. Potentially minimize filtering b. Help executives acquire a deeper meaning and quicker understanding of internal problems c. Employees might have more empathy for decisions made further up the hierarchy

What does it mean when a communication channel has high richness?

a.) Able to convey multiple cues (such as both verbal and nonverbal information) b.) Allows timely feedback from receiver to sender c.) Allows the sender to customize the message to the receiver (adjust message and style) d.) Makes use of complex symbols (e.g. words and phrases with multiple meanings)

How can we be descriptive to get our message across efficiently?

a.) Focus on the problem, not on the person b.) Suggest things the listener can do to improve

What are the Problems with Email?

a.) Poor at communicating emotions (limited media richness) b.) Reduces politeness and respect - e.g. sending messages before emotions subside (flaming) c.) Poor communication tool for ambiguous, complex, novel situations d.) Contributes to information overload

What are the types of ways to improve sensing?

a.) Postpone evaluation -- avoids screening out information b.) Avoid interruptions -- give speaker opportunity to complete the message c.) Maintain interest -- assume something of value in conversation

How do men tend to communicate with women?

a.) Tend to dominate the talk time in conversations with women b. Tend to interrupt more and adjust their speaking style less than women

primary function of conversation is impersonal & efficient information exchange

c.Report talk

What is usually better for transmitting emotions and persuading the reciever?

face-to face interaction because 1.) nonverbal cues like tone in voice accompany oral communication 2.) provides sender feedback quicker

A communication practice in which executives get out of their offices and learn from others in the organization through face-to-face dialogue

management by walking around (MBWA)

a situation in which knowledge is cloistered(withheld) rather than distributed to those who require the information to make better decisions and perform their job more effectively

silos of knowledge

collaborative web spaces in which anyone in a group can write, edit, or remove material from the Web site

wikis