1. Chapter 11: Organizational Communication

2. Agenda Communication process and noise Leadership and communication
Electronic communication
Communicating across cultures
Nonverbal communication and silence
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

3. “Thin-Slicing” a Conversation
Can the first few minutes of communication define the course of the conversation and the benefits or costs derived from it?
These first few minutes are referred to as “thin slices” of behavior.
A thin slice of behavior predicted professional competence as rated by a person conducting an employment interview.
Based on both verbal and nonverbal behaviors.
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

4. What is Organizational Communication?
The process by which individuals stimulate meaning in the minds of other individuals by means of verbal or nonverbal messages in the context of a formal organization
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

5. The Communication Process
Figure 11.1 on page 285. This framework describes the communication process, including the sender, encoding the message, the selection of the channel, the receiver and how they decode the message. Feedback from the receiver is needed to ensure the message was interpreted correctly. Noise is any communication barrier that may affect how a person interprets a message.
Source: Weaver, W. (1949). Recent contributions to the mathematical theory of communication. The mathematical theory of communication, 1, 1–12.
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

6. Barriers to Effective Communication
May distort communication
Communication apprehension
Language
Communication apprehension – an individual’s level of fear or anxiety with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons
Language – words may have different meanings to different people even if they are communicating in the same language. Example what does the word scale mean?
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

7. NOISE REDUCTION: Active Listening
Three components:
Demonstrating moderate to high nonverbal involvement
Reflecting the speaker’s message using verbal paraphrasing
Asking questions that encourage speakers to elaborate on their experiences
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

8. Communication Networks
Chain gives best accuracy
Wheel facilitates leadership development
All-channel provides member satisfaction
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

9. Communication Networks
Communication flows in organizations
External
Internal
Downward
Lateral
Upward
External – information shared with the public through marketing and public relations
Internal – communication inside the organization
Downward – from leaders to their followers
Lateral – from peer to peer
Upward – from followers to their leaders
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

10. COMMUNICATION FLOWS IN ORGANIZATIONS
Manager
Executive
Employee
Lateral
Upward
Downward
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

11. The Grapevine Emerges when the situation: Is important Is ambiguous
Causes anxiety
The grapevine is a common network that has been shown to be an effective mode of communication. Typically the grapevine is not controlled by management nor do they feed it information. However, employees see it as a very believable and reliable form of communication. The grapevine has no formal purpose, but is mainly there to serve the self-interests of those who use it, developing from a need for these individuals to get more information about an important, but ambiguous situations. The grapevine can be a way to receive information about the situation and reduce anxiety as well as fill a social need to connect.
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

12. The Grapevine Three characteristics Not controlled by management
Perceived as being more believable and reliable (and often is)
Largely used to serve self-interest of those willing to communicate
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

13. Electronic Communication
Text messages
Social networking
Video conferencing (e.g., Skype)
-- See Table 11.2 – Netiquette Rules
Text messages – more commonly used for organizational communication
Social networking – e.g. Instragram, Facebook, Twitter
Video conferencing (e.g., Skype)
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

14. LIMITATIONS OF E-MAIL Easy to misinterpret
Should not be used for negative messages
Overused and overwhelms
People are emotionally uninhibited
Privacy concerns
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

15. TEXt MESSAGES (AND INSTANT MESSAGING)
Essentially real-time
Inexpensive
Good for short messages
Some find it intrusive and distracting
May be inappropriate for formal business messages
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

16. CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION BARRIERS
Semantics—words mean different things to different people
Word connotations—words imply different things in different languages
Tone differences—in some cultures tone changes depending on context
Differences in perception—different worldviews
Communication, as we have seen, can be difficult to do effectively. Cross-cultural factors can increase that difficulty. So it is important for managers to understand the culture in which they are working. They should be careful of the words they use to make sure they are translatable and don’t hold double meanings. They need to understand how their tone, body language or perceptions will differ based on culture. The context is so important to understanding what is being communicated. In low-context cultures people tend to rely more on words, where high-context cultures will rely more on the whole situation.
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

17. CULTURAL CONTEXT
High-context cultures—rely on nonverbals and subtle situational cues (e.g., China, Korea, Japan)
Low-context cultures—rely on spoken and written words (e.g., Europe, North America)
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

18. Cultural COMMUNICATION Guide
Assume differences until similarity is proved
Emphasize description rather than interpretation or evaluation
Practice empathy
Treat your interpretation as a working hypothesis
Being aware that differences exist can go a long ways toward helping you avoid an awkward situation in another cultural context. Be sure to work on emphasizing description of events and tasks rather than interpretation or evaluation. Practice empathy when you are communicating with others and watch your own interpretations to make sure you are not drawing conclusions prematurely.
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

19. Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal communication includes facial expressions, posture, gestures, and tone of voice.
About 55% of understanding a verbal message is attributed to facial expressions
38% of meaning is attributed to verbal tone
Leaders are always being watched by followers for cues
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

20. ORGANIZATIONAL Silence
Intentionally withholding meaningful information from management
Includes not asking questions, expressing concerns, and/or offering suggestions
See Table 11.3 – Types of incidents to which respondents reported remaining silent in a research study. Most common incidents: Experience unfair treatment, someone else behaving unethically, concerns about a coworker’s competence or performance, and operation process concern and/or idea for improvement.
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

21. EFFECTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL SILENCE
Lowers job satisfaction and organizational commitment
Stifles organizational change
Impairs decision making
Enables corruption
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

22. Leadership Implications: The Management of Meaning
Leaders influence followers through effective communication that helps them make sense of organizational events.
They also use effective communication to give followers a sense of meaning in their work which motivates them.
They use framing as a tool.
Framing – managing meaning by using talk to get followers to act by using metaphors, jargon, and stories in their communications.
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.

23. Open-access student resources
Checklist action plan
Learning objective summaries
Mobile-friendly quizzes
Mobile-friendly eFlashcards
Video and multimedia resources
SAGE journal articles
edge.sagepub.com/scandura
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior. © 2016, SAGE Publications.