Chapter 15

Explain the role that perception plays in communication and communication problems.

Main content Managing Communication Learning Outcomes 15-1Explain the role that perception plays in communication and communication problems. Perception is the process by which people attend to, organize, interpret, and retain information from their environments. Perception is not a straightforward process. Because of perceptual filters such as selective perception and closure, people exposed to the same information or stimuli often end up with very different perceptions and understandings. Perception-based differences can also lead to differences in the attributions (internal or external) that managers and workers make when explaining workplace behavior. In general, workers are more likely to explain behavior from a defensive bias, in which they attribute problems to external causes (that is, the situation). Managers, on the other hand, tend to commit the fundamental attribution error, attributing problems to internal causes (that is, the worker made a mistake or error). Consequently, when things go wrong, it's common for managers to blame workers and for workers to blame the situation or context in which they do their jobs. Finally, this problem is compounded by a self-serving bias that leads people to attribute successes to internal causes and failures to external causes. So, when workers receive negative feedback from managers, they may become defensive and emotional and not hear what their managers have to say. In short, perceptions and attributions represent a significant challenge to effective communication and understanding in organizations.

Describe how managers can manage effective organization-wide communication.

Managers need methods for managing organization-wide communication and for making themselves accessible so that they can hear what employees throughout their organizations are feeling and thinking. Email, collaborative discussion sites, streamed/videotaped speeches and conferences, and broadcast voice mail make it much easier for managers to improve message transmission and get the message out. By contrast, anonymous company hotlines, survey feedback, frequent informal meetings, town halls and surprise visits help managers avoid organizational silence and improve reception by giving them the opportunity to hear what others in the organization think and feel. Monitoring internal and external blogs is another way to find out what people are saying and thinking about your organization.

Explain how managers can manage effective one-on-one communication.

One-on-one communication can be managed by choosing the right communication medium, being a good listener, and giving effective feedback. Managers generally prefer oral communication because it provides the opportunity to ask questions and assess nonverbal communication. Oral communication is best suited to complex, ambiguous, or emotionally laden topics. Written communication is best suited for delivering straightforward messages and information. Listening is important for managerial success, but most people are terrible listeners. To improve your listening skills, choose to be an active listener (clarify responses, paraphrase, and summarize) and an empathetic listener (show your desire to understand, reflect feelings). Feedback can be constructive or destructive. To be constructive, feedback must be immediate, focused on specific behaviors, and problem oriented.

Describe the communication process and the various kinds of communication in organizations.

Organizational communication depends on the communication process, formal and informal communication channels, one-on-one communication, and nonverbal communication. The major components of the communication process are the sender, the receiver, noise, and feedback. Senders often mistakenly assume that they can pipe their intended messages directly into receivers' heads with perfect clarity. Formal communication channels such as downward, upward, and horizontal communication carry organizationally approved messages and information. By contrast, the informal communication channel, called the grapevine, arises out of curiosity and is carried out through gossip or cluster chains. There are two kinds of one-on-one communication. Coaching is used to improve on-the-job performance, while counseling is used to communicate about nonjob-related issues affecting job performance. Nonverbal communication, such as kinesics and paralanguage, accounts for as much as 93 percent of the transmission of a message's content.

Blog

a personal website that provides personal opinions or recommendations, news summaries, and reader comments

Nonverbal communication

any communication that doesn't involve words

Noise

anything that interferes with the transmission of the intended message

Active listening

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

Counseling

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

Coaching

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

Horizontal communication

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

Downward communication

communication that flows from higher to lower levels in an organization

Upward communication

communication that flows from lower to higher levels in an organization

Constructive feedback

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

Destructive feedback

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

Feedback to sender

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

Survey feedback

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

Listening

making a conscious effort to hear

Kinesics

movements of the body and face

Company hotlines

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

Encoding

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

Streamed/videotaped speeches and meetings

speeches and meetings originally made to a smaller audience that are either simultaneously streamed to other locations in the company or recorded for subsequent distribution and viewing

Hearing

the act or process of perceiving sounds

Communication medium

the method used to deliver an oral or written message

Perceptual filters

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

Paralanguage

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

Perception

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

Decoding

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

Communication

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

Formal communication channel

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

Defensive bias

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

Closure

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

Fundamental attribution error

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

Selective perception

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

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)

Attribution theory

the theory that we all have a basic need to understand and explain the causes of other people's behavior

Informal communication channel (grapevine)

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

Discussion channels and chat rooms

the use of web- or app-based communication tools to hold company-wide, department-based, topic-based, team, or private discussions

Empathetic listening

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

Jargon

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

Organizational silence

when employees withhold information about organizational problems or issues