Principles of Management; Chapter 15: Managing Communication

Mark Allen, a Clinical Information Systems Manager at Intermountain Healthcare, must work with others to coordinate communication processes across 22 hospitals and over 300 clinics. A current communication system allows general practitioners, specialists, nurses, physical therapy specialists and other providers to share information about patients with each other. This helps to coordinate the patient's care. This is an example of what communication concept? a: Encoding b: Channel c: Decoding d: Feedback

a: Encoding

An employee proposes a new customer service process. The manager thanks the employee for their idea, and suggests that the process may be implemented in the New Year depending on the budget. The employee tells coworkers that a new process will be implemented in January. What is influencing the employee's understanding of their conversation with the manager? a: Selective perception b: Retention c: Attribution theory d: Defensive bias

a: Selective perception The employee is selectively perceiving that the manager will implement the proposed customer service process in the New Year, and is not considering the budget limitation. This is because the employee wants to believe that their proposal is worthy of implementation. Selective perception is the tendency to notice and accept ideas consistent with our beliefs while ignoring information that does not align with those beliefs.

Mark Allen, the Clinical Information Systems Manager for Intermountain Healthcare, must work with others to coordinate communication processes across 22 hospitals and over 300 clinics. If Mark creates an online survey to collect information from nurses that will be used by doctors and executives to find areas where they can work to improve employee satisfaction, this is an example of what communication concept? a: Upward communication b: Horizontal communication c: Downward communication d: Informal communication

a: Upward communication

Real-time broadcasting

allows announcements, speeches and meetings made to smaller in-person audiences to be livestreamed to broader company audiences and stored on demand for subsequent viewing and interactive discussion.

The Communication Process: Noise

anything that interferes with the transmission of the intended message.

Active listening is

assuming half the responsibility for successful communication by actively giving the speaker nonjudgmental feedback that shows you've accurately heard what he or she said.

A production employee notices that the staffing is too low to complete the day's tasks. The employee says nothing, assuming that the manager will recognize the issue and call in other employees to work. What is influencing the employee's decision not to bring the staffing to the manager's attention? a: Chat rooms b: Bystander effect c: Company hotline d: Survey feedback

b: Bystander effect The production employee decides not to bring the staffing issue to the manager's attention because they are influenced by the bystander effect. This theory indicates that an individual ignores organizational problems assuming that someone else will resolve them. Here the manager is assumed to be the one that will resolve the staffing problem.

Suppose that Fritz Kron was worried about organizational silence. He is concerned that senior executives aren't hearing about workplace issues because people believe that others are already working on fixing the problem, or because people are afraid of giving managers information they don't want to hear. Which of the following tools could Fritz use to help overcome organizational silence? Check all that apply. a: Formal meetings b: Survey feedback c: Surprise visits d: Mandatory investigations e: Company hotlines

b: Survey feedback c: Surprise visits e: Company hotlines

This diagram represents __________ communications. Which of the following are examples of this type of communication? a: downward b: horizontal c: vertical d: upward Check all that apply. e: A team of doctors, nurses, technicians, and managers get together at Highland Hospital to discuss ways to save money. They agree to swap a lab kit that costs $96.50 for one that costs $0.29. f: Anya Kamenetz, a reporter for The Village Voice, presents her editor with the first draft of a story in a yearlong series titled "Generation Debt: The New Economics of Being Young." g: Engineers Shawn Fanning and Dustin Mierau discuss possible features for Path, the personal networking program they created together. h: Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman announces to employees that HP will cut its workforce by up to 30,000 people.

b: horizontal Check all that apply. e: A team of doctors, nurses, technicians, and managers get together at Highland Hospital to discuss ways to save money. They agree to swap a lab kit that costs $96.50 for one that costs $0.29. g: Engineers Shawn Fanning and Dustin Mierau discuss possible features for Path, the personal networking program they created together. Horizontal communication occurs when people at the same level of the organization communicate with one another, often outside of a formal chain of command. In this case, the team at Highland Hospital is using horizontal communication, as are the engineers Fanning and Mierau. Kamenetz, on the other hand, is reporting upward to her editor, and Whitman is sending information downward to her employees.

This diagram represents ______________ communications. Which of the following are examples of this type of communication? Check all that apply. a: horizontal b: upward c: upward d: diagonal Check all that apply. e: The CEO of Nokia, Stephen Elop, meets with 2,000 employees to tell them why he is recommending that they abandon Nokia software to use less popular software from Microsoft. f: Cargill's director of high-intensity sweeteners, Zanna McFerson, tells her boss, Marcelo Montero, the president of Cargill's Health and Nutrition division, that a glycoside called Rebiana can be used to create a new artificial sweetener to be called Truvia. g: Engineers Shawn Fanning and Dustin Mierau discuss possible features for Path, the personal networking program they created together. h: Anya Kamenetz, a reporter for The Village Voice, presents her editor with the first draft of a story in a yearlong series titled "Generation Debt: The New Economics of Being Young."

b: upward Check all that apply. f: Cargill's director of high-intensity sweeteners, Zanna McFerson, tells her boss, Marcelo Montero, the president of Cargill's Health and Nutrition division, that a glycoside called Rebiana can be used to create a new artificial sweetener to be called Truvia. h: Anya Kamenetz, a reporter for The Village Voice, presents her editor with the first draft of a story in a yearlong series titled "Generation Debt: The New Economics of Being Young." Upward communication occurs when an employee gives information to his or her manager (or to a senior manager who supervises his or her manager). In this case, McFerson and Kamenetz are giving information to their managers; these are both examples of upward communication. Elop, on the other hand, is giving information to his employees (downward communication), and Fanning and Mierau are exchanging information (they are at the same level in the organization and thus are using horizontal communication).

Mark Allen, a Clinical Information Systems Manager at Intermountain Healthcare, must work with others to coordinate communication processes across 22 hospitals and over 300 clinics. If the senior executives at Intermountain Healthcare create weekly podcasts that are distributed to all employees, then this is an example of what communication concept? a: Encoding b: Channel c: Decoding d: Feedback

c: Decoding When the message receiver sees, reads, or hears the message, it gets decoded. Decoding is the interpretation and translation of the message back into something understood by the receiver. The decoded information is hopefully the same as the information the sender intended to communicate, but this is not always the case. In this case, the physician has incorrectly decoded the information.

Mark Allen, a Clinical Information Systems Manager at Intermountain Healthcare, must work with others to coordinate communication processes across 22 hospitals and over 300 clinics. If the senior executives at Intermountain Healthcare create weekly podcasts that are distributed to all employees, then this is an example of what communication concept? a: Informal communication b: Upward communication c: Downward communication d: Horizontal communication

c: Downward communication

Coaching and Counseling; One-on-One Communication: Counseling is

communicating with someone about non-job-related issues that may be affecting or interfering with the person's performance.

Coaching and Counseling; One-on-One Communication: Coaching is

communicating with someone for the direct purpose of improving the person's on-the-job performance or behavior.

Formal Communication Channels: Horizontal Communication

communication that flows among managers and workers who are at the same organizational level.

Formal Communication Channels: Downward Communication

communication that flows from higher to lower levels in an organization.

A firm was recently acquired by a holding company that takes a very hands-off approach to managing its operations. The firm's managers believe that engaging the directors of the holding company in discussions will not resolve any issues, and they choose not to have any conversations with the holding company when financial issues arise. What is influencing the managers' decisions not to share concerns with the directors? a: Survey feedback b: Bystander effect c: Company hotline d: Organizational silence

d: Organizational silence The firm managers believe that discussing operational issues with the holding company directors will not resolve the issues, and choose to remain silent. Organizational silence occurs when employees withhold information because they believe that it will not do any good or resolve the issues they are facing. The firm managers are participating in organizational silence with the directors.

Suppose that Marc Harrison, the president and CEO of Intermountain Healthcare asked Fritz Kron about the best way to get out a company-wide announcement about hospital and clinic changes due to COVID-19. According to your text, what should Fritz tell Marc to use? a: Slack b: In-person meetings c: Email d: Yammer

d: Yammer According to the text, Yammer is the best software to use when making companywide announcements, while Slack is better for project and team communication. People are so overloaded with email today that is best to avoid email messages, and in-person meetings would not be feasible given the size of Intermountain Health.

The Communication Process: Encoding

putting a message into a written, verbal, or symbolic form that can be recognized and understood by the receiver.

Perceptions of Others: fundamental attribution error

the tendency to ignore external causes of behavior and to attribute other people's actions to internal causes.

Selective perception is

the tendency to notice and accept objects and information consistent with our values, beliefs, and expectations, while ignoring or screening inconsistent information.

Self-Perception: self-serving bias

the tendency to overestimate our value by attributing successes to ourselves (internal causes) and attributing failures to others or the environment (external causes).

Perceptions of Others: Attribution theory

the theory that we all have a basic need to understand and explain the causes of other people's behavior. Internal Attribution: behavior is thought to be voluntary or under the control of the individual. External Attribution: behavior is thought to be involuntary and outside the control of the individual.

Informal Communication Channels (sometimes called the "grapevine")

the transmission of messages from employee to employee outside of formal communication channels.

Discussion channels and chat rooms use

the web- or app-based communication tools to hold department-based, topic/project/client-based, team, or private discussions.

Formal Communication Channels: Upward Communication

communication that flows from lower to higher levels in an organization.

Communication Medium

the method used to deliver an oral or written message. Oral Communication is face-to-face interactions and group meetings through telephone calls, videoconferencing, or any other means of sending and receiving spoken messages.

Perceptual filters are

the personality-, psychology-, or experience-based differences that influence people to ignore or pay attention to particular stimuli

Nonverbal Communication: Paralanguage is

the pitch, rate, tone, volume, and speaking pattern (i.e., use of silences, pauses, or hesitations) of one's voice.

Perception is

the process by which individuals attend to, organize, interpret, and retain information from their environments.

The Communication Process: Decoding

the process by which the receiver translates the written, verbal, or symbolic form of a message into an understood message.

Organization is

the process of incorporating new information (from the stimuli that you notice) into your existing knowledge.

Attention is

the process of noticing, or becoming aware of, particular stimuli.

Retention is

the process of remembering interpreted information.

Communication is

the process of transmitting information from one person or place to another.

Formal Communication Channels are

the system of official channels that carry organizationally approved messages and information.

Perceptions of Others: Defensive Bias

the tendency for people to perceive themselves as personally and situationally similar to someone who is having difficulty or trouble.

Closure is

the tendency to fill in gaps of missing information by assuming that what we don't know is consistent with what we already know.

Identify whether each of the following examples is characteristic of a good listener or a poor listener. 1: Tends to daydream 2: Does not judge until comprehension is complete. 3: Tunes out dry subjects. 4: Summarizes what is said.

1: Poor listener 2: Good listener 3: Poor listener 4: Good listener

In listening to Mark Allen and Fritz Kron, it sounds like they believe that having a good communication system is the key to effectively treating patients. This is an _____________ explanation for communication behavior. Suppose that a manager at Intermountain Healthcare had an employee who wasn't performing very well on the job. Instead of checking to see if the communication system was working properly, the manager just assumed that that the employee didn't have the ability to do medical work. This is an example of ____________________________________. Blank 1 a: internal b: external Blank 2 c: the defensive bias d: the fundamental attribution error

Blank 1 b: external Blank 2 d: the fundamental attribution error

The difference between "hearing" and "listening."

Hearing is the act or process of perceiving sounds. Listening is making a conscious effort to hear.

Fritz Kron explains that Intermountain Healthcare makes their communication effective by telling employees what they need to know through talking points, meetings, flyers, and care process guidelines. Receiving the same information through multiple channels affects the perceptual issue of: a: Attention b: Interpretation c: Organization d: Retention

a: Attention

You have been working in an entry-level position in Raytheon's Environmental Health and Safety division for the last six months. You spend your time reviewing safety reports, entering them into the database, and compiling statistical analyses of the results for your boss, Jack Blum. Lately, Mr. Blum has been asking you when each report will be finished. Following this query, Mr. Blum often compliments you on the results of your past analyses. What is the most important message Mr. Blum is trying to convey? a: He wants to know when the report will be ready. b: He is worried about the results of your analysis. c: You are ready for a promotion.

a: He wants to know when the report will be ready. Mr. Blum seems pleased with your progress and may even feel you're ready to take on greater challenges in the field-reporting unit. His main reason for the conversation, however, is to ask when the new report will be ready. Superiors often sandwich requests for action between motivational comments to build employee morale.

Nonverbal communication is

any communication that doesn't involve words.

A public relations manager asks a subordinate to coordinate a fundraising event. The subordinate has organized such an event previously, and assumes that the upcoming event should be similarly designed. What is influencing the subordinate's understanding of what the manager expects? a: Defensive bias b: Perceptual filter c: Attribution theory d: Selective perception

b: Perceptual filter The subordinate is considering the public relations manager's expectations through a perceptual filter based on their previous experience with a fundraising event. A perceptual filter is the lens through which an individual is influenced, and is based on their personality, psychology, or experiences.

Mark Allen, the Clinical Information Systems Manager for Intermountain Healthcare, must work with others to coordinate communication processes across 22 hospitals and over 300 clinics. If Mark creates an online survey to collect information from nurses that will be used by doctors and executives to find areas where they can work to improve employee satisfaction, this is an example of what communication concept? a: Encoding b: Channel c: Decoding d: Feedback

d: Feedback

Oral Communication is

face-to-face interactions and group meetings through telephone calls, videoconferencing, or any other means of sending and receiving spoken messages.

Constructive Feedback

feedback intended to be helpful, corrective, and/or encouraging.

The bystander effect is

ignoring widely known organizational problems under the assumption that someone else will fix them.

The Communication Process: Feedback to Sender

in the communication process, a return message to the sender that indicates the receiver's understanding of the message.

Survey feedback is

information that is collected by surveys from organizational members and then compiled, disseminated, and used to develop action plans for improvement.

Written Communication includes

letters, email, and messaging (including discussion channels and chat rooms).

Nonverbal Communication: Kinesics

movements of the body and face.

Company hotlines are

phone numbers that anyone in the company can call anonymously to leave information for upper management.

Empathetic listening means

understanding the speaker's perspective and personal frame of reference and giving feedback that conveys that understanding to the speaker.

The Communication Process: Jargon

vocabulary particular to a profession or group that interferes with communication in the workplace.

organizational silence is

when employees withhold information about organizational problems or issues.

Destructive feedback is (feedsmack)

feedback that disapproves without any intention of being helpful and almost always causes a negative or defensive reaction in the recipient.

Formal Communication Channels: How to Improve

1: decrease reliance on downward communication 2: increase chances for upward communication by increasing personal contact with lower-level managers and workers. 3: encourage much better use of horizontal communication.