Business Communication Mid-term

Communication Channel

A channel is the medium selected to carry the message.

Competing/Forcing Strategy

A win-lose strategy where an individual uses aggressive behavior to satisfy one's own needs at the expense of the other person.

Types of leadership Style

1. Authoritarian 2. Democratic 3. Laissez-Faire

Communication Styles

1. Downward 2. Upward 3. Horizontal

Barriers to good Listening

1. Physical Barriers 2. Personal 3. Gender 4. Age/Generational 5. Semantic 6. Technology

4 Communication Styles

1. Private Style 2. Dominant Style 3. Sociable Style 4. The Open Style

Types of Organizations

1. Traditional Organization 2. Human Relations Organization 3. Human Resource Organization 4. Systems/Contingency Organization 5. Transformational Organization

LOaded question

: Are questions that have no correct answers but are designed to get an emotional response. "Have you stopped drinking yet?"

Leading Question

: Implies the correct answer. "You want the kind of car that gets good gas mileage, don't you?"

Closed Questions

: limit the interviewee's choice of answering to one of the answers supplied in the question :How would you rate the president's handling of terrorists? A. Superior B. Excellent...."

Criteria

Are guidelines that a group agrees to follow to reach a solution

Sociable Style

Are interested in people, are good listeners, and are generally well liked. Important that everyone gets long and avoids conflict. Rarely discloses and seeks excessive feedback. Only disclose impersonal, safe topics, and don't disagree with others. Most successful when a social environment is expected. Less successful when the climate is more work-oriented than social, team problem solving.

Collectivist Culture

Asian cultures are more collectivist because they put more value on group membership, group obligations, and group goals than on the individual. Are more relationship oriented.

Accommodating Strategy

Believes that surface harmony is important to maintain good relationships and receive personal acceptance. Tries to smooth over or ignore conflicts in attempt to keep everyone happy.

Kinesics

Body movements, posture, and gestures.

Third person question

Embarrassing or personal questions may be phrased in a less threatening way by involving a third person. "What does your group think about th latest merger proposal"

When listening what is the most important part of your body?

Eyes

Upward Communication

Formal messages that flow upward from subordinates to supervisors and managers.

Downward Communication

Formal messages the flow from the managers and supervisors down to subordinates.

collaborating/problem solving Strategy

Guides groups through the basic problem-solving procedure. Attempts to reach a consensus; willing to spend a great deal of time and effort to achieve consensus.

Transformational Organization

Information technology and flexibility of decentralized structures. View of Communication: All communication important. Horizontal communicant and relationships essential. What to Expect: Use of electronic technology (online networks and social media), may not meet in person but communication and interpersonal skills important, need to be self-motivator, teamwork

Laissez-faire

Is best characterized by leaders who are not involved with the team's decision making. Hands off approach

A (Affective) type of conflict

Is relationship conflict and sidetracks the team from the issues and creates defensiveness and anger.

Trait Anxiety

Is the internal anxiety an individual brings to the communication situation, such as feelings or fear of looking like a fool in front of others

Democratic

Leader and followers make decisions togther and jointly determine courses of action. Slow at decision making but support decisions.

authoritarian

Leader are central authority figure who retain a high degree of control and power over their followers. Quick decisions

The Human Resource Organization

Main Focus: Equal emphasis on workers and management- a team-based orientation. View of Communication: Openness and trust in upward, downward, and horizontal communication; informal communication encouraged. What to Expect: Plenty of communication and teamwork; decision making, self-motivation required.

Human Relations Organization

Main Focus: Social and psychological needs of employees. View of Communication: mainly downward but supportive; informal communication acknowledged. Sample Organizations: Southwest Airlines, The Container Store, mom-and-pop stores. What to Expect: Friendly/fun/caring environment, happy employees and customers, first-name basis, plenty of chitchat.

Systems/Contingency Organization

Main Focus: The organization as a whole. View of Communication: All types of communication and feedback essential-even one person can affect the entire organization; used to build and maintain corporate culture. What to Expect: Flexibility able to work in several different types of organizations, aware that all actions affect the organization enjoy working within a shared culture.

Horizontal Communication

Messages flow laterally between people of the same rank.

Difference between Human Relations and Human Resources: Human Resoucces

People desire a sense of accomplishment. Most employees have untapped resources and are capable of more the most jobs allow. Managers should tap and guide each employee's hidden talents and creativity to harmonize with organizational goals. Managers should allow (and encourage) employee participation in routine and important decision-making situations. Employee satisfaction is a by-product of improved performance.

Difference between Human Relations and Human Resources: Human Relations

People wish to be liked and respected. If their needs are met, employees will produce for the organization. Managers should convince workers that they are valuable team members. Managers should allow employee participation in routine decision making. Sharing information with employees will increase their satisfaction, which will improve morale and reduce resistance to authority, thus improving productivity

What is business communication about?

Persuasion

Avoiding Conflict

Removes self either physically or mentally from groups experiencing any types of conflict; stay's away from any situation that might possibly produce conflict,

Traditional Organization

Scientific selection of employees and standardized tasks. Bureaucratic structure and control. View of Communication: Mainly downward, work related, formal, and written. Sample Organizations: United Parcel Service, IRS, In-N-Out Burger

Nonverbal Probes

Silence, raising the eyebrows, frowning and nodding are examples

Encoding

The process of putting a message into the form in which it will be communicated. Senders encode messages before communicating them. Sender=Encoder

Open-ended Questions

These are board questions that allow the interviewee maximum freedom in deciding how much and what type of information to give. "In your words...."

Direct Questions

These are short questions requiring a short answer or simple "yes" or "no".

Hypothetical Questions

These questions allow the respondent maximum freedom deciding how to respond to an invented, but, possible, situation. "On your first day of work, you arrive an hour late. How would you explain this and to whom?"

Verbal Probes

To urge the respondent to add more information to a pervious response. "Really?"

Compromising Strategy

Tries to find a solution that everyone can live with, although all parties must sacrifice something important to reach compromise. Viewed as a 2nd choice.

Being able to persuse are based on what two variables?

Trust: Does your audience trust what you are saying. Audience: What works with them.

Individualistic Culture

USA is more individualistic because the individual rights are valued more highly than group identify or group ideas. More problem oriented. Plus: Proactive. Negative: Not a lot of coordinating efforts.

Face-to-Face Channel

Use when immediate feedback is needed. Permanent record not needed. Message emotional, confusing, or complex; discussion or questions expected. Message sensitive, confidential or personal. Message important and new; group cohesion or consensus needed. Confidence and trust need developing. Convenient and economical to assemble audience.

Electronic Message

Use when immediate feedback not needed, but speed important. Permanent record not needed but wish to overcome time-zone barrier. Message explicit, little interpretation needed, transferred quickly. Message not confidential Security or safety issues, agenda or policy topics. Information for support or to add excitement or multimedia appeal. Speed, cost, or convenience crucial. Audience large and geographically dispersed, but speedy back-and-forth messages important.

Written Message

Use when immediate feedback not needed. Permanent, verifiable record needed. Exact wording important public relations message straightforward. Follow-up to face-to-face meeting needed. Content more important than feelings. Audience large and geographical dispersed.

Bypass

Which happens when we assume that a word has the same meaning for other people that does for us

Nonverbal Communication

all intentional and unintentional messages that are not written, spoken, or sounded.

Private Style

· Simply feel more comfortable working with things than with people. Is most successful when little interpersonal interaction is required for the job, when going by the book is preferred company stance, little supervision. Rarely discloses and rarely seeks feedback.

Open Style

· The Open Style: tend to use both disclosure and feedback and are equally interested in people's needs and company productivity. Seeks excessive feedback and Discloses excessively.

Dominant Style

· Thrive in situations in which they can demonstrate their expertise and experience. Rarely seeks feedback and Discloses excessively. Most successful when untrained subordinates need their experience, during crisis or time of organizational change, or when the organization has many personal problems, when subordinates are professional people who expect to make their own decisions, or when creativity and risk taking are critical to the organizations success Neurotic Dominant Communicators: Hide their insecurities behind authoritarian mask

Situational Anxiety

is anxiety caused by factors in a specific situation, such as speaking before a new audience , or being interviewed for a new job.

C (Cognitive) Type of Conflict.

is task conflict and improves team productivity and relationships and creates a feeling of satisfaction.

Decoding

is the process the receiver goes through in trying to interpret the exact meaning of a message. Receivers=Decoder