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