Managers and Communication Define the nature and function of communication, page 404 ‘Compare and ‘contrast methods of interpersonal ‘communication. page 406 Identity barriers to effective interpersonal communication ‘and how to ‘overcome them, page 409 Explain how ‘communication can flow most effectively in organizations. page 412 Describe how | Discuss technology —_| contemporary affects issues in managerial | communication, communication | page 417 and organizations, page 415 ‘Something | would like to change about my job is how we manage relationships. Often because of the size of a given territory itis not possible to see dental professionals on regular basis. This makes it hard to build up a trust and comfort level with those | am advising. Every day | seek to find ways to better foster these client relationships. It is the key to long-term success. You are only as strong as your weakest link. This really resonated with me because no matter how successful you or your organization becomes, it is always vulnerable if strength is not developed through and through. If one ‘employee or aspect of your organization is not strong enough because of inadequate training, disillusionment, or other negative practices, it can cause a domino effect that leads to more and more problems and failures. In this respect, individuals and organizations should seek continuous improvement to shore up weak points and to foster continued success and longevity.AMNVIAnagers Den) Cael ee ec) eee mrs Dee eee ee eae) Sei ee BR eos via the Web, cell phones, and other Cece ee ee Ce aCe Ca) messaging service, a customor econ eee eens Pe on) See an Define the nature and function of communication, 404 Dilemma) CO oa eee ad instance, Les Miles, head football Coe fet cooing Cee eri Pee en er ee ac Ce eee aeons See ees Dee od Se rend CN ee a eet ee eee el es pe ee er ee eee ce Welcome to the new world of communication! In this “world” managers are going to have ‘to understand both the importance and the drawbacks of communication—all forms of com- ‘munication. Communication between managers and employees is important because it pro- ‘vides the information necessary to get work done in organizations. Thus, there's no doubt that communication is fundamentally linked to managerial performance” ‘Ona recent summer day, Chevrolet employees at General Motors” Detroit headquarters got ‘an internal memo requesting that they stop using the word "Chevy" when referring to their ‘car brand.* Despite the fact that “Chevy” has been one of the world's best-known, longest- lived product nicknames for a best-selling line of cars and trucks and was immortalized in ‘asong about Miss American Pie driving tothe levee, the memo was signed by two top cor- porate Chevrolet division executives who cited the need for brand consistency. After the memo made its way into the media and invoked a strong public reaction, GM backtracked. Itposted a video interview with one of the executives who lad signed the memo on Chevro- let's YouTube channel. During the video, the executive used the word Chevy no fewer than six times in less than two minutes, He also called the memo a “rough draft” and “a bit of fun” and explained that “there would be no massive change of direction.” This example shows why its important for managers to understand the impact of communication, “The importance of effective communication for managers can’t be overemphasized for ‘one specific reason: Everything a manager does involves communicating. Not some things, ‘but everything! A manager can't make a decision without information. That information has to ‘be communicated. Once a decision is made, communication must again take place. Otherwise, no one would know that a decision was made. The best idea, the most creative suggestion, the ‘best plan, or the most effective job redesign can't take shape without communication, What Is Communication? ‘Communication i the transfer and understanding of meaning. Note the emphasis on the transfer of meaning: If information or ideas have not been conveyed, communication hhasn't taken place. The speaker who isn’t heard or the writer whose materials aren't readCHAPTER 15 | MANAGERS AND COMMUNICATION 405 Mento Innovations sa nosy high-energy workplace whore ‘communication pews he informaton employess raed to ‘eccompih ner werk and he matwation Fo mpove ther ‘performance. Al employees atts software design frm werk 149 by 0 f pols ard share © computer hone lage work room. Are ena of each week tne pais suten partes. When ‘evoleran employee ane intom work lagotne: ne voteran con [pos ang experiance and knowlsage and ma nfm con share what's new n eologe computer comes Men\o's CEO Richer Sharan oaleves tar continua nfomationsnarng ‘omong employeat resis In Nigher quay wok ond greater prouctvty ane alo Docats emoyes moras. hasn't communicated. More importantly, however, communication involves the understanding ‘of meaning. For communication to be successful, the meaning must be imparted and under- stood. A letter written in Spanish addressed 0 a person who doesn’t read Spanish can’t be considered communication unt it's translated into a language the person does read and under- stand. Perfect communication, ifsuch a thing existed, would be when a transmitted thought or idea was received and understood by the receiver exactly as it was envisioned by the sender. Another point to keep in mind is that good communication is often erroneously defined by the communicator as agreement with the message instead of clear understanding of the message. Ifsomeone disagrees with us, we assume that the person just didn’t fully under- stand our position. In other words, many of us define good communication as having some- ‘one accept our views. But I can clearly understand what you mean and just not agree with ‘what you say. The final point we want to make about communication is that it encompasses both Interpersonal communication—communication between two or more people—and ‘organizational communication, which is all the patterns, networks, and systems of ‘communication within an organization. Both types are important to managers. Functions of Communication Kevin M. Warren, chairman of the board, president, and CEO of Xerox Canada, Lid. was awarded the 2010 Excellence in Communication Leadership (EXCEL) Award by the lter- national Association of Business Communicators. This award recognizes leaders who fos- ter excellence in communication and contribute to the development and support of ‘organizational communication, His award nomination stated, “Kevin has been an advocate ‘of communication from the start. He is its biggest supporter and a role model for others. Kevin clearly understands the relationship of employee communication and engagement, and ultimately business success. The positive impact of his commitment is far-reaching, and extends beyond employees to all his constituencies."® ‘Throughout Xerox Canada and many other organizations, communication serves four ‘major functions: control, motivation, emotional expression, and information.® Each function is equally important, ‘Communication acts to control employee behavior in several ways. As we know from ‘Chapter 10, organizations have authority hierarchies and formal guidelines that employees are expected to follow. For instance, when employees are required to communicate any job- related grievance to their immediate manager, to follow their job description, or to comply ‘with company policies, communication is being used to control. Informal communication also controls behavior. When a work group teases a member who's ignoring the norms by ‘working too hard, they're informally controlling the member's behavior. ey Daa Cy406 PART FIVE | LEADING ‘OUTCOME Compare and contrast methods of interpersonal ‘communication, Let's Get Real spear The Interpersonal Communication Process Next, communication acts to motivate by clarifying to employees what is to be done, how well they're doing, and what can be done to improve performance if i's not up to par. ‘As employees set specific goals, wark toward those goals, and receive feedback on progress toward goals, communication is required. For many employees, their work group is a primary source of social interaction. The ‘communication that takes place within the group is @ fundamental mechanism by which ‘members share frustrations and feelings of satisfaction. Communication, therefore, pro- vides a release for emotional expression of feelings and for fulfillment of social needs. Finally, individuals and groups need information to get things done in organizations. ‘Communication provides that information Methods of Interpersonal Communication Before communication can take place, a purpose, expressed as a message to be conveyed, ‘must exist. Ttpasses between a source (the sender) and a receiver. The message is converted to symbolic form (called encoding) and passed by way of some medium (channel) to the receiver, who retranslates the sender's message (called decoding). The result is the trans- fer of meaning from one person to another.” Exhibit 15-1 illustrates the elements of the communication process. Note that the entire process is susceptible to noise—disturbunces that interfere with the transmission, receipt, or feedback of a message, Typical examples of noise include illegible print, phone slatic, inattention by the receiver, or background sounds of machinery or coworkers, How- ‘ever, anything that interferes with understanding ean be noise, and noise ean create distor tion at any point in the communication process, A personal written letter from @ US. Army commander in Afghanistan to his troops assured them that they are “contributing to the overall success ofthe mission” here, Colonel David Haight, ofthe 10th Mountain Division's 3rd Brigade Combat team, sent the letter to each ‘ofthe 3,500 men and women alter two of their fellow soldiers were killed in combat and his chaplains reported that many were disillusioned about the war. Haight said, “Tcan tell a sol- diet to do anything, and he may or may notin his mind question why. But if you explain the why very, very clearly, he will not only accomplish the mission, but he will do the mission to ‘armuch higher standard.” Here's a manager who understands the role of communication and how best to communicate to his subordinates, ‘You need to communicate to your employees the organization's new policy on sexual ‘harassment; you want to compliment one of your workers on the extra hours she's put in to help your team complete a customer’ order; you must tell one of your employees about ‘changes to his job; or you would like to get employees" feedback on your proposed budget for next year, in each of these instances, how would you communicate? Managers have a wide variety of communication methods from which to choose and can use 12 questions 10 help them evaluate these methods.* 1, Feedback: How quickly can the receiver respond to the message?” 2. Complexity capacity: Can the method effectively process complex messages? 3. Breadth potential: How many different messages can be transmitted using this method? a Encoding ~ to Decoding Noise “ym FeedbackCHAPTER 15 | MANAGERS AND COMMUNICATION 407 4. Confidentiality: Can communicators be reasonably sure their messages are received only by those intended? 5. Encoding ease: Can sender easily and quickly use this channel? 6. Decoding ease: Can receiver easily and quickly decode messages? 7. Time-space constraint: Do senders and receivers need to communicate at the same time and in the same space? 8 Cost: How much does it cost to use this method? 9. Interpersonal warmth: How well does this method convey interpersonal warmth? 10, Formality: Does this method have the needed amount of formality? LL. Scanability: Does tis method allow the message to be easily browsed or scanned for relevant information? 12, Time of consumption: Does the sender or receiver exercise the most control aver when the message is dealt with? Exhibit 15-2 provides a comparison of various communication methods. Which method a manager ultimately chooses should reflect the needs of the sender, the attributes of the ‘message, the attributes of the channel, and the needs of the receiver, For instance, if you need to communicate to an employee about the changes being made in her job, face-to-face com- ‘munication would be a better choice than a memo because you want to be able to address immediately any questions and concerns she might have. ‘An important part of interpersonal communication is nonverbal communication —that is, communication transmitted without words, Some of the most meaningful communications are neither spoken nor written. When a college instructor is teaching aclass, she doesn’t need words to ell her that students Steve Jobs is known as the trims owen ny bginto ead newspaper he wi HAND UE cnr ion an pune dle of cass. Similarly, when students stat putting their book, URN WDA U CGEM Has the situation been defined fairly and accurately? Why is the message being communicated? > How will the people who may be affected by the message or who receive the message be impacted? » Does the message help achieve the greatest possible good while minimizing possible harm? Will this decision that appears to be ethical now seem so in the future? > How comfortable are you with your communication effort? What would a person you admire think of it? Remember that as a manager, you have a responsibilty to think through your commu- nication choices and the consequences of those choices. If you always operate with these two things in mind, you're likely to have ethical communication. vy Namie OOM en yoga Wee) Sa Ou Cn BR ea individuals and organizations to foster connections and an intimacy with others on a scale that would have not been possible just a few Ree CN ek arog mee ee Mice gs UM ca ce eee User cate cra ia) eee ae ese es eae Cee eect re uname eu eee te erent ee eee sd however, these kinds of technologies can be a double-edged sword. In eee eee ete a ee ene este ieee tech nec Maso De ee ee RRs) the possibility that incorrect or potentially detrimental information will be shared, causing negative repercussions for an organization. In the eed ee een cuenta ake recruiting violations if his “tweets” are not adequately censored. Pec ae ke eet cai Tee eee eee ke een a Nec ee eMcn el enue Tne ea Eee este ean ie Ase Pome acm ae rckurecneun Reon ene its fans and recruits increased access while insulating the organization Se cn en uo acme ee Rca) Glenn A. 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