Six Dimensions:
1. Expressiveness - the amount and vividness of a person's communication. Descriptors include verboseness, conversational dominance, humor, and unpretentiousness
2. Preciseness - the care that is put into communication. Descriptors include thoughtfulness, substantiveness, structuredness, and conciseness
3. Verbal aggressiveness - the degree to which personal opinions and positions are advocated. Descriptors include
authoritarianism, derogatoriness, angriness, and unsupportiveness
4. Questioning orientation - the degree to which curiosity is emphasized. Descriptors include inquisitiveness, unconventionality, argumentativeness, and philosophicalness
5. Emotionality - the reflection of stress or sadness in communication. Descriptors include worrisomeness, tension, sentimentality, and defensiveness
6. Impression management - the degree to which calculated guardedness dominates a person's
communication. Descriptors include charm, inscrutableness, ingratiation, and concealment
An individual's style should be appropriate to the type of work that he or she is doing
richness describes the amount of information a medium can convey
Richness depends on
(1) the potential for immediate feedback
(2) the use of multiple cues
(3) the use of natural language (as opposed to numbers)
(4) the extent to which the communication has a
personal focus
Face-to-face verbal communication is the richest medium
If your friend does not understand the message or interprets it inaccurately, she can let you know either verbally or nonverbally
In the interaction, you use multiple cues, including tone of voice, semantics (the words that are used), facial expressions, and body language
it is easy to create a personal focus in the message
Communication Media: (most rich to least rich)
1. Face-to-face communication
2.
Video conferencing (such as Skyping)
3. Phone or radio communication
4. Electronic messaging (such as e-mail and instant messaging)
5. Personally written text (such as letters, notes, and memos)
6. Formal written text (such as reports, documents, bulletins, and notices)
7. Formal numerical text (such as statistical reports, graphs, and computer printouts)
Tradeoff between cost and richness
equivocal vs unequivocal
important and when they feel the need to present a
positive self-image
extraverted vs introverted
deceive
organizational norms
facial expressions, tone of voice, personal appearance (dress), contact or touch, and various mannerisms
Three Categories:
Body Language - kinesics - facial expressions, the use of hands, arms, and legs, posture
Paralanguage - how something is said, such as how tone of voice, pitch of voice, and silence are used
Gestures - convey specific meanings (such as
making a circle with your fingers to indicate "okay" or shrugging your shoulders to indicate "I don't know")
leaky behavior- those that we cannot control - people may be more likely to express their true feelings through nonverbal means rather than through verbal means, which are easy to control
it provides information about the person's attitudes and emotional or mental state, useful form of feedback, whether a person is lying, cultural differences ( different norms), but facial expressions mean the same
managers and associates are frequently burdened with more information than they can process
Organizations face higher levels of uncertainty because of escalating change and turbulence in the external environment, so they obtain more information to reduce the uncertainty
The increasing complexity of tasks and organizational structures creates a need for more information (specialists)
Ongoing developments in technology
increase the amount of information available to associates and managers
In order to focus on a specific conversation, you need to tune out everything else. Selecting only a portion of the available information for use, however, can result in inaccurate or incomplete communication in the organizational context
In recent years, the development and widespread use of cell phones, e-mail, and instant messaging have further increased the information overload problem—anyone can contact anyone
anywhere- facing two overload problems that were not so common only a few years ago: forwarding frenzies and spamming
Forwarding frenzies occur because electronic communication makes it very easy to pass on information to everyone. One common behavior is to forward messages to anyone who might have even the remotest interest
Spam is unsolicited electronic junk mail
Deal:
by adopting newer, web-based interactive technologies for internal communications. These include blogs, wiki sites,
and social networking sites. With this technology, messages are all posted in one place, avoiding redundancy
Know your audience - "me to me to me" -assumes that others share your frame of reference and, in the absence of feedback, that people interpret the message as you intend it
To communicate effectively, an individual must know her audience, including the audience's experience, frames of references, and motivations
Select an Appropriate Communication Medium - When messages are complex and/or important, use of rich media, such as face-to-face communication, should be considered and use several media
Regulate Information Flow and Timing - Regulating flow involves discarding information of marginal importance and conveying only significant information
People are more likely to be receptive to a message and to perceive it accurately at certain times and not at other times
Encourage Feedback Related to Understanding -
To ensure that the received message is interpreted as intended, feedback from the recipient is necessary
•Ask recipients to repeat what they have heard
•Promote and cultivate feedback, but don't try to force it.
•Reward those who provide feedback and use the feedback received. For example, thank people for providing feedback
•Respond to feedback, indicating whether it is correct. In other words, obtain feedback, use it, and then feed it back to recipients.
Listen Actively -
People must actively and consciously listen to others in order to be effective communicators
- Stop talking, Pay attention, Listen empathetically, Hear before evaluating, Listen to the whole message, Send feedback