Communicating in Teams and Organizations McGraw-Hill/Irwin McShane/Von Glinow OB 5e Copyright © 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Social Networking Communication at 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 Coordinating work activities Organizational learning and decision making Employee well-being 9-4

Communication Process Model Sender Receiver Transmit Message Form message Encode message Decode message Receive encoded Noise Form feedback Decode feedback Receive Encode feedback Transmit Feedback 9-5

Improving Communication Coding/Decoding Both parties have motivation and ability to communicate through the channel Both parties carry the same “codebook” Both parties share similar mental models of the communication context 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 9-10

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 9-11

Emotional Contagion The automatic process of sharing another person’s emotions by mimicking their facial expressions and other nonverbal behavior Serves three purposes: Provides continuous feedback to speaker Increases emotional understanding of the other person’s experience 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: Communication channel norms Individual communication channel preferences 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: conveys multiple cues allows timely feedback allows customized message permits complex symbols Use rich communication media when the situation is nonroutine and ambiguous 9-15

Hierarchy of Media Richness Overloaded Zone Media Richness Oversimplified Zone Lean Nonroutine/ Ambiguous Routine/clear Situation 9-16

Factors that Override Media Richness Ability to multi-communicate with lean channels More varied proficiency levels Social distractions of rich channels 9-17

Persuasive Communication Changing another person’s beliefs and attitudes. Spoken communication is more persuasive because: accompanied by nonverbal communication, adding emotional punch to the message. has high quality immediate feedback whether message is understood and accepted. 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 9-19

Information Load Information Overload Time Episodes of information overload Information Load Employee’s information processing capacity Time 9-20

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

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 More sensitive to nonverbal cues 9-24

Getting Your Message Across Empathize Repeat the message Use timing effectively Be descriptive Courtesy of Microsoft. 9-25

Active Listening Process & Strategies Sensing • Postpone evaluation • Avoid interruptions • Maintain interest Active Listening Responding • Show interest • Clarify the message Evaluating • Empathize • Organize information 9-26

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 9-27

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 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

Communicating in Teams and Organizations McGraw-Hill/Irwin McShane/Von Glinow OB 5e Copyright © 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9-30