1. COMMUNICATION

2. Introduction
Research indicates that poor communication is probably the most frequently cited source of interpersonal conflict.
Individuals spend nearly 70 percent of their waking hours communicating—writing, reading, speaking, listening—which means that they have many opportunities in which to engage in poor communication.
A Work Canada survey of 2039 Canadians in six industrial and service categories explored the state of communication in Canadian businesses.

3. Introduction
The survey found that 61 percent of senior executives believed they did a good job of communicating with employees.
However, those who worked below the senior executives did not share this feeling—only 33 percent of the managers and department heads believed that senior executives were effective communicators.
Lower-level employees reported that communication was even worse:
Only 22 percent of hourly workers, 27 percent of clerical employees, and 22 percent of professional staff reported that senior executives did a good job of communicating with them.
Moreover, a recent study found that Canadians reported less favourable perceptions about their companies’ communications than did Americans.

4. Definition
Communication, is the transfer and understanding of a message between two or more people.
Communication can be thought of as a process, or flow.
Communication is both an interactive and iterative process.

5. Communication Process
Communication can be thought of as a process, or flow.
The sender has to keep in mind the receiver (or audience) and in finalizing the communication, may decide to revisit decisions about the message, the encoding, and/or the feedback.
For instance, a manager may want to convey a message face to face, and then may not be able to do so for some reason.
The message sent by or voice mail may need to be framed differently than the message that would have been delivered face to face.

6. Communication Process Model

7. Encoding and Decoding
Messages are encoded (converting a message to symbolic form) by a sender and decoded (interpreting a sender’s message) by a receiver.
Four factors have been described that affect message encoding and decoding: skill, attitudes, knowledge, and the socio-cultural system.
Interactions with others are affected by our attitudes, values, and beliefs.
Thus, the attitudes of the sender and receiver toward each other will affect how the message is transmitted.
Clearly, the amount of knowledge the source and receiver hold about a subject will affect the clarity of the message that is transferred.

8. The Message
The message is the actual physical product from the source encoding. “When we speak, the speech is the message.
When we write, the writing is the message.
When we paint, the picture is the message.
When we gesture, the movements of our arms, the expressions on our face are the message.”
Our message is affected by the code, or group of symbols, that we use to transfer meaning; the content of the message itself; and the decisions that we make in selecting and arranging both codes and content.
A poor choice of symbols, and confusion in the content of the message, can cause problems.

9. The Channel The channel is the medium through which a message travels.
It is selected by the source, who must determine which channel is formal and which one is informal.
Formal channels are established by organizations to transmit messages about the job-related activities of members.
Traditionally, they follow the authority network within the organization.
Other forms of messages, such as personal or social messages, follow the informal channels in the organization.
Examples of channels include formal memos, voice mail, , and meetings.
Choosing a poor channel, or one with a high noise level, can distort
Communication.

10. Communication Apprehension
The Channel
Communication Apprehension
An estimated 5 to 20 percent of the population suffers from debilitating communication apprehension, or anxiety, which is undue tension and anxiety about oral communication, written communication, or both.
We all know people who dread speaking in front of a group, but some people may find it extremely difficult to talk with others face to face or become extremely anxious when they have to use the telephone.
As a result, they may rely on memos, letters, or to convey messages when a phone call would not only be faster but also more appropriate.

11. The Channel Channel Richness
Research has found that channels differ in their capacity to convey information.
Some are rich in that they have the ability to..
(1)Handle multiple cues at the same time,
(2)Allow rapid feedback, and
(3)Be very personal.
Others are lean in that they score low on these three factors.

12. The Channel
Channel Richness

13. The Channel Channel Richness
The choice of one channel over another depends on whether the message is routine or non routine.
Routine messages tend to be straightforward and have a minimum of
ambiguity.
Non routine messages are likely to be complicated and have the potential for misunderstanding.
Individuals can communicate routine messages efficiently through channels that are lower in richness.
However, they can communicate non routine messages more effectively by selecting rich channels.
Evidence indicates that high-performing managers tend to be more media-sensitive than low-performing managers.
In other words, they are better able to match appropriate media richness with the ambiguity involved in the communication.

14. Feedback Loop
The final link in the communication process is the feedback loop.
Feedback lets us know whether understanding has been achieved.
If the feedback loop is to succeed in preventing miscommunication, the receiver needs to give feedback and the sender needs to check for it.
One of the greatest difficulties managers have is providing performance feedback.

15. The Context
All communication takes place within a context, and violations of that context may create additional problems in sending and receiving messages.
For instance, the context of a workplace presents different expectations about how to interact with people than does the context of a bus stop.
The workplace may demand more formal interaction, while communication at a bus stop is generally expected to be informal.
Thus, it is important to consider context in both encoding the message and choosing the channel.

16. BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION
A number of factors have been identified as barriers to communication.
The more prominent ones are:
Filtering
Selective perception
Defensiveness
Information overload
Language.

17. Filtering
Filtering occurs when a sender manipulates information so that the receiver will view it more favourably.
For example, when a manager tells a senior executive what the manager thinks the executive wants to hear, the manager is filtering information.
The major determinant of filtering is the number of levels in an organization’s structure.
The more levels in an organization’s hierarchy, the more opportunities there are for filtering information.

18. Selective Perception
Receivers in the communication process selectively see and hear based on their needs, motivations, experience, background, and other personal characteristics.
Receivers also project their interests and expectations into communications as they decode them.

19. Defensiveness
When people feel that they are being threatened, they tend to react in ways that reduce their ability to achieve mutual understanding.
That is, they become defensive—engaging in behaviours such as:
Verbally attacking others
Making sarcastic remarks
Being overly judgmental
Questioning others’ motives

20. Information Overload
Individuals have a finite capacity for processing data.
When the information we have to work with exceeds our ability to process it, the result is information overload.
With s, phone calls, faxes, meetings, and the need to keep current in one’s field, more and more managers and professionals are complaining that they are suffering from too much information.

21. Language Words mean different things to different people.
“The meanings of words are not in the words; they are in us.”
Age, education, and cultural background are three of the more obvious variables that influence the language a person uses and the definition he or she gives to words.

22. Current Issues In Communication
These include:
Electronic Communications
Non Verbal Communication
Silence as Communication
Communication barriers between men and women
Cross-Cultural Communication

23. Current Issues in Communication
Electronic Communications
Since the early 1980s, we have been subjected to an onslaught of new electronic ways to communicate.
Electronic communications (including pagers, fax machines, videoconferencing, electronic meetings, , cell phones, voice mail, and BlackBerrys) make it possible for you to work even if you are away from your workstation.
These technologies are largely reshaping the way we communicate in organizations.

24. Current Issues in Communication
Non Verbal Communication
This includes body movements, facial expressions, and
the physical distance between the sender and the receiver.
The academic study of body motions has been labelled kinesics.
It refers to gestures, facial configurations, and other movements of the body.
Because it is a relatively new field, there is not complete agreement on findings.
Still, body movement is an important segment of the study of communication

25. Current Issues in Communication
Silence as Communication
In terms of organizational behaviour, we can see several links between silence and work-related behaviour.
For instance, silence is a critical element of groupthink because it implies agreement with the majority.
It can be a way for employees to express dissatisfaction, as when they “suffer in silence.”
It can be a sign that someone is upset, as when a typically talkative person suddenly says nothing

26. Current Issues in Communication
Communication Barriers between Men and Women
According to Tannen, women speak and hear a language of connection and intimacy, while men speak and hear a language of status and independence.
So, for many men, conversations are primarily a way to preserve independence, and maintain status in a hierarchical social order.
For many women, however, conversations are negotiations for closeness in which people try to seek and give confirmation and support.

27. Current Issues in Communication
Cross-Cultural Communication
Cross-cultural factors clearly create the potential for increased communication problems.
These problems include:
Semantics
Word Connotations
Tone Differences
Perceptions

28. The End