Communicatingin Teams and Organizations

McGraw-Hill/IrwinMcShane/Von Glinow OB 5e Copyright © 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Social Networking Communicationat IBM

Standing in front of Beijing’s

Forbidden City, IBM chief

executive Sam Palmisano

communicates through his

Second Life avatar to several

thousand employees worldwide.

9-2

Communication Defined

The process by which information is transmitted and understood between two or more people

Effective communication• Transmitting intended meaning

(not just symbols)

9-3

Importance of Communication

1. Coordinating work activities

2. Organizational learning and decision making

3. Employee well-being

9-4

Receiver

EncodeEncodefeedbackfeedback

FormFormfeedbackfeedback

Sender

FormFormmessagemessage

EncodeEncodemessagemessage

TransmitMessage

TransmitFeedback

Noise

Communication Process Model

DecodeDecodemessagemessage

ReceiveReceiveencodedencodedmessagemessage

DecodeDecodefeedbackfeedback

ReceiveReceivefeedbackfeedback

9-5

Improving Communication Coding/Decoding

1. Both parties have motivation and ability to communicate through the channel

2. Both parties carry the same “codebook”

3. Both parties share similar mental models of the communication context

4. Sender is experienced at communicating the message topic

9-6

About Face on Workplace E-Mail

HiWired executives introduced “Home Week” each month, in which they must not travel. This initiative has helped them rediscover the benefits of face-to-face rather than e-mail communication.

9-7

How E-Mail has Altered Communication

Now preferred medium for coordinating work

Tends to increase communication volume

Significantly alters communication flow

Reduces some selective attention biases

9-8

Problems with E-Mail

Communicates emotions poorly Reduces politeness and respect Inefficient for ambiguous, complex, novel situations Increases information overload

9-9

Social Networking Communication

Social network communication clusters people around interests/expertise

Several types of social network communication• Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn• Online discussion forums• Avatar sites (e.g. Second Life)• Instant messaging• Wikis

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Nonverbal Communication

Actions, facial gestures, etc.

Influences meaning of verbal symbols

Less rule bound than verbal communication

Important part of emotional labor

Most is automatic and nonconscious

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Emotional Contagion

The automatic process of sharing another person’s emotions by mimicking their facial expressions and other nonverbal behavior

Serves three purposes:1. Provides continuous feedback to speaker

2. Increases emotional understanding of the other person’s experience

3. Communicates a collective sentiment -- sharing the experience

9-12

I Love Rewards Gets Media-Rich Quickly

Every day at 11:15 am,

employees at I Love Rewards

Inc. meet face-to-face for 10

minutes to communicate

priorities and coordinate their

efforts. These quick meetings

provide a personal connection

and highly interactive feedback.

9-13

Choosing the Best Communication Channel: Social Acceptance

How well the communication channel is approved and supported by the organization, team, and individual:

1. Communication channel norms

2. Individual communication channel preferences

3. Symbolic meaning of the communication channel

9-14

Choosing the Best Communication Channel: Media Richness

The channel’s data-carrying capacity needs to be aligned with the communication activity

High richness when channel:

1. conveys multiple cues

2. allows timely feedback

3. allows customized message

4. permits complex symbols

Use rich communication media when the situation is nonroutine and ambiguous

9-15

OversimplifiedZone

OverloadedZone

Nonroutine/Ambiguous

Rich

MediaRichness

Situation

Hierarchy of Media Richness

Lean

Routine/clear

9-16

Factors that Override Media Richness

Ability to multi-communicate with lean channels

More varied proficiency levels

Social distractions of rich channels

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Persuasive Communication

Changing another person’s beliefs and attitudes. Spoken communication is more persuasive because:

1. accompanied by nonverbal communication, adding emotional punch to the message.

2. has high quality immediate feedback whether message is understood and accepted.

3. has high social presence, so receiver is more sensitive to message content and more motivated to accept the message.

9-18

Communication Barriers

Perceptions

Filtering

Language• Jargon• Ambiguity

Information Overload

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Information Overload

Information Load

Episodes of information overload

Employee’s information processing

capacity

Time9-20

Managing Information Overload Solution 1: Increase info processing capacity

• Learn to read faster• Scan through documents more efficiently• Remove distractions • Time management • Temporarily work longer hours

Solution 2: Reduce information load• Buffering• Omitting• Summarizing

9-21

Thumbs Up to the Boss!

In Australia, a co-worker asked Patricia Oliveira why she laughed when he gave the thumbs up that everything is OK. She explained that this gesture “means something not very nice” in her home country of Brazil. After hearing this, several co-workers gave the boss a lot more thumbs up signs!

©Mark M. Lawrence/Corbis

9-22

Cross-Cultural Communication

Verbal differences• Language• Voice intonation• Silence/conversational overlaps

Nonverbal differences• Interpreting nonverbal meaning• Importance of verbal versus

nonverbal

©Mark M. Lawrence/Corbis

9-23

Men Women

Gives advice quickly and directly

Gives advice indirectly and reluctantly

Report talk Rapport talk

Conversations are negotiations of status

Conversations are bonding events

Less sensitive to nonverbal cues

More sensitive to nonverbal cues

Gender Communication Differences

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Getting Your Message Across

1. Empathize

2. Repeat the message

3. Use timing effectively

4. Be descriptive

Courtesy of Microsoft.

9-25

ActiveActiveListeningListening

Active Listening Process & Strategies

SensingSensing• Postpone evaluation• Avoid interruptions• Maintain interest

EvaluatingEvaluating• Empathize• Organize information

RespondingResponding• Show interest• Clarify the message

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Communicating in Hierarchies Workspace design

• Clustering people in teams• Open office arrangements

Web-based organizational communication• Wikis -- collaborative document creation• Blogs -- personal news/opinion for sharing• E-zines -- rapid distribution of company news

Direct communication with management• Management by walking around (MBWA)• Town hall meetings

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Organizational Grapevine

Early research findings• Transmits information rapidly in all directions• Follows a cluster chain pattern• More active in homogeneous groups• Transmits some degree of truth

Changes due to internet• Email becoming the main grapevine medium• Social networks are now global• Public blogs and forums extends gossip to everyone

9-28

Grapevine Benefits/Limitations

Benefits• Fills in missing information from formal sources• Strengthens corporate culture• Relieves anxiety• Signals that problems exist

Limitations• Distortions might escalate anxiety• Perceived lack of concern for employees when

company info is slower than grapevine

9-29

Communicatingin Teams and Organizations

9-30McGraw-Hill/IrwinMcShane/Von Glinow OB 5e

Copyright © 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.