COMM 3160 Ch. 1

Code of Ethics

established by companies, an explicit policy to help employees determine what is acceptable.

Encoding

expressing the message in words or images.

Stakeholders

groups affected in some way by the company's actions: customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers, neighbors, and the community.

Formal Communication Network

ideas and info flow along the lines of command (hierarchical levels) in the company's organization structure. Info flows in 3 directions - downward, upward, and horizontal.

Information Technology Paradox

in which info tools can waste as much times as they save.

Information Overload

in which people receive more info than they can effectively process. Making it difficult to discriminate between useful and useless information, lowers productivity, and amplifies employee stress both on the job and at home, even to the point of causing health and relationship problems. An important step in reducing info overload is to avoid sending unnecessary messages.

Telepresence

in which video images of meeting participants are life-sized and extremely realistic.

Mobile-first approach

in which websites are designed for optimum viewing on smartphones and tablets.

Ethical Communication

includes all relevant info, is true in every sense, and is not deceptive in any way.

Intellectual Property (IP)

includes patents, copyrighted materials, trade secrets, and even internet domain names.

Social Communication Model

interactive, conversational, and usually open to all who wish to participate. Can increase the speed of communication, lower cost, improve access to expertise, and boost employee satisfaction.

Crowdsourcing

inviting input from groups of people inside or outside the org. can give companies access to a much wider range of ideas, solutions to problems, and insights into market trends.

Ethical Dilemma

involves choosing among alternatives that aren't clear-cut.

Audience-centered Approach Also known as the "You" attitude

involves understanding and respecting the members of your audience and making every effort to get your message across in a way that is meaningful to them. Learn about the biases, education, age, status, style and personal and professional concerns of your receivers.

Effective Messages are...

practical, factual, concise, clear, and persuasive.

Plagiarizing

presenting someone else's words or other creative product as your own.

Ethics

the accepted principles of conduct that govern behavior within society.

Etiquette

the expected norms of behavior in any particular situation. Can have a profound influence on your company's success and your career.

Communication Medium

the form a message takes (such as a twitter update)

Perception

the human brain organizes incoming sensations into a mental "map" that presents the person's individual reality.

Communication

the process of transferring information and meaning between senders and receivers.

Professionalism

the quality of performing at a high level and conducting oneself with purpose and pride. Means more than putting in the hours and collecting a paycheck. It goes beyond minimum expectations and commit to making meaningful contributions.

Communication Channel

the system used to deliver the message (such as a mobile phone)

Radical Connectivity

ability to send vast amounts of data instantly, constantly, and globally.

Feedback

can be verbal (written or spoken words) nonverbal (using gestures, facial expressions, or signals) or both.

Noise and distraction

can either be internal or external; example is multitasking - attempting more than one task at a time.

Elements of Professionalism

1. Be the best 2. Be dependable 3. Be a team player 4. Be respectful 5. Be clear 6. Be ethical

The basic communication process

1. The sender has an idea 2. Sender encodes the idea as a message 3. Sender produces that message in a medium 4. Sender transmits the message through a channel 5. Audience receives the message 6. Audience decodes the message 7. Audience responds to the message 8. Audience might also provide feedback to the sender

How audiences receive messages

1. receiver has to sense the presence of a message 2. select it from all the other messages clamoring for attention 3. perceive it as an actual message

Ethical Lapse

a clearly unethical choice.

Copyright

a form of legal protection for the expression of creative ideas.

Filters

any human or technological interventions between the sender and the receiver. Can be intentional or unintentional.

How audiences respond to messages

audiences will likely respond to a message if they remember it, if they're able to respond, and if they're properly motivated to respond.

Contract

legally binding promise between two parties in which one party makes a specified offer and the other party accepts.

Ethics Audits

monitor ethical progress and point out any weaknesses that need to be addressed.

Defamation

negative comments about another party; the intentional communication of false statements that damage character or reputation. Libel - written Slander - spoken

How audiences decode messages

receivers often extract different meanings from messages than senders attempt to encode in their messages.

Digital Information Fluency

recognizing information needs, using efficient search techniques to locate sources, and using gathered info ethically.

Informal Communication Network

referred to as the grapevine; which encompasses all communication that occurs outside the formal network. Some of this communications forms naturally and some is a result of the formal network not providing info employees want.

Transparency

refers to a sense of openness, of giving all participants in a conversation access to the information they need in order to accurately process the messages they are receiving.

Message

the "container" for an idea.

Critical Thinking

the ability to evaluate evidence completely and objectively in order to form logical conclusions and make sound recommendations.

Emotional Intelligence

the ability to relate to the needs of others; widely considered to be a vital characteristic of successful managers/leaders.

Communication Barriers

what can disrupt a message that includes - noise/distractions, competing messages, filters, and channel breakdowns.

Selective Perception

when an incoming detail doesn't fit into the individual's perception, a message recipient may simply distort the information to make it fit rather than rearrange his or her mental map.

Stealth Marketing

when companies recruit people to promote products to friends or contacts in exchange for free samples, or other rewards, without requiring them to disclose the true nature of the communication.

Decoding

when the receiver extracts the idea from the message