11 Communicating in Teams and Organizations McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Blogging as Org Communication Sun Microsystems president Jonathan Schwartz says that blogs have a lot to offer as a communication medium in organizations Courtesy of Sun Microsystems McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-2 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Definition of Communication • The process by which information is transmitted and understood between two or more people • Transmitting the sender’s intended meaning (not just symbols) is the essence of good communication Courtesy of Sun Microsystems McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-3 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Four Functions of Communication  Coordinating work activities  Fulfilling the drive to bond  Knowledge management  Decision making Courtesy of Sun Microsystems McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-4 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Communication Process Model Sender Form message Transmit Message Encode message Receiver Receive encoded message Decode message Encode feedback Form feedback Noise Decode feedback Receive feedback Transmit Feedback McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-5 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Admiral Warns Staff of E-mail Faults Courtesy of Admiral Insurance Executives at Admiral Insurance are concerned that e-mail is making staff at the Welsh company less polite Along with reminding employees of e-mail’s limitations, Admiral holds 'no email days’, encouraging employees to increase face-to-face communication McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-6 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Benefits of Email 1.Preferred medium for coordinating work 2.Tends to increase communication volume 3.Significantly alters communication flow – Less face-to-face/telephone – More upward communication 4.Reduces some selective attention biases Courtesy of Admiral Insurance McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-7 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Problems with Email 1.Communicates emotions poorly 2.Impersonal medium – reduces politeness and respect (flaming) 3.Inefficient for ambiguous, complex, novel situations 4.Increases information overload Courtesy of Admiral Insurance McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-8 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Other Electronic Communication • Instant messaging – More efficient than email – Allows simultaneous communication events – Real-time communities through clustered communication • Blogging (web logs) – Seem more personal than large meetings – Empower employees to share information – Ability to archive information McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-9 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Nonverbal Communication  Actions, facial gestures, voice intonation, silence, etc  Transmits most info in face-to-face meetings  Influences meaning of verbal and written symbols  Less rule bound than verbal communication  Important part of emotional labor  Automatic and unconscious McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-10 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Experience Affects Media Richness • For electronic media, the communicator’s experience with the medium and receiver increases media richness: • Experience with the medium – Enables user to “push” amount of message through that medium • Experience with the receiver – Both parties have similar “codebooks” when familiar with each other McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-13 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Communication Barriers • Perceptions • Filtering • Language – Jargon – Ambiguity • Information Overload McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-14 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Information Overload Episodes of information overload Employee’s information processing capacity Information Load Time McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-15 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Managing Information Overload • Solution 1: Increase information 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 McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-16 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved 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 coworkers gave the boss a lot more thumbs up signs! ©Mark M Lawrence/Corbis McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-17 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Cross-Cultural Communication • Verbal differences – Language • Nonverbal differences – Voice intonation – Interpreting nonverbal meaning – Importance of verbal versus nonverbal – Silence and conversational overlaps ©Mark M Lawrence/Corbis McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-18 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Gender Communication Differences Men Women Report talk Rapport talk Gives advice quickly and directly Gives advice indirectly and reluctantly Conversations are negotiations of status Conversations are bonding events Less sensitive to nonverbal cues McShane/Von Glinow OB4e More sensitive to nonverbal cues Slide 11-19 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Getting Your Message Across • Empathize • Repeat the message • Use timing effectively • Be descriptive © Photodisc With permission McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-20 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Active Listening Process & Strategies Sensing • Postpone evaluation • Avoid interruptions • Maintain interest Active Listening Responding Evaluation • Show interest • Clarify the message • Empathize • Organize information McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-21 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Communicating in Hierarchies Work space design E-zines, blogs, wikis Employee surveys Direct communication with management McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-22 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved 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 McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-23 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved 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 McShane/Von Glinow OB4e Slide 11-24 © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved 11 Communicating in Teams and Organizations McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved 11 Chapter Eleven Extras McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Guessing E-Mail Emoticons :-) :-}