Yousef AlMulla

This is a complete research on Effective Communication with

more emphasis on workplace.
2008 YAM

Table of Contents
What is Communication?
Importance of Effective Communication
Communication Process
Non Verbal Communication
Positive Feedback
Active Listening
Barriers to Effective Communication
Recommendations on How to Improve
Communication
References

Communication is an
exchange of feelings, ideas,
and information, whether by
speaking, writing, signals, or
behaviors.

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Definition of Communication from

Merriam-Webster Dictionary
to convey knowledge of or information
to reveal by clear signs
to transmit information, thought, or
feeling so that it is satisfactorily
received or understood
to open into each other

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Definition of Communication from

The American Heritage Dictionary
The exchange of thoughts, messages,
or information, as by speech, signals,
writing, or behavior.
The art and technique of using words
effectively to impart information or
ideas.

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When does it happen?

When a person sends or receives
information, ideas and feelings with
others not only using spoken or
written communication but also
nonverbal communication.

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Communication is more than information!

Communication is more
than merely keeping the
employees updated as to
what may be going on in
your organization or in the
company at large. To do
that, all you need is an email message and a
computer.
Real communication is far more than a few words
strung together and delivered to your employees.
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What level of communication?

The concept that communication is
the effective exchange of meaning or
understanding applies to both formal
and informal communication. It
applies to communication up, down
and across the organization.

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Whos accountable?
Everyone in the organization is
accountable for the effectiveness of
their own communication. This
especially applies to those who
manage others.

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Communication is not one way

it is important to remember that
communication with an employee is
not a matter of one sender and one
receiver, but rather an exchange in
which you and your employee are
both sender and receiver.
This means that for real communication to take place,
there must be interaction, with each player
participating.

Boss
Boss

Employe
Employe
ee

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Is it possible to NOT
communicate???

NO
That's because communication does not
involve just words, but it also is related to
behavior, and unless one is dead, one always
"behaves". Even staying still is a behavior.
Silence communicates. Our bodies
communicate non-verbally. So, so long as
there is life there is communication, even if
the person is intentionally trying to cease all
communication.

Why do we communicate?
We communicate with ourselves and other
people to fill current inner tensions, or needs.
The six current needs we each try to fill are...
to feel respected by Self and others; and...
to give or get credible information; and/or ...
to cause or prevent inner and/or interpersonal change including changing or maintaining the emotional distance
between us and others; and/or...
to vent - i.e. to feel deeply understood and accepted (vs.
to get "fixed"); and/or...
to create excitement (reduce numbness or boredom);
and/or...
to avoid something uncomfortable, like silence or a
confrontation

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People in organizations typically spend over 75% of

their time communicating.

Effective communication is an essential component of

organizational success at all levels.

Numerous employee surveys have found that many

problems in any organization can be traced back to one
primary cause: poor communication.
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Poor communication results

in poor performance

When there is poor communication in an

organization, there can be any number of
negative outcomes, including errors,
productivity declines, distrust, lower morale,
confusion, absenteeism, and general
dissatisfaction.
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Important skill for bosses

As a boss, you are constantly
advising, informing, explaining,
discussing, reviewing,
counseling, guiding, suggesting,
persuading, convincing, coaching,
humoring, and responding.

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Employees seek and deserve a

boss who is open, accessible,
and responsive
By having frequent direct contact with your
employees, listening to what they say, and
having honest two-way communication with
them, you are far more likely to be the boss
they deserve, respect, and trust. And you are
far more likely to identify issues before they
become problems, and solve problems
before they become crises.

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Noise

Sender
Sender
Start
Startwith
withaa
meaning/
meaning/
message
messageto
to
send
send

message

Communication
Communication
Channels
Channels
Report/Phone/
Report/Phone/
Meeting/Computer
Meeting/Computer

Encode
Encode(verbal
(verbal
and
nonverbal)
and nonverbal)
Send
Sendmessage
message
Interact
Interactwith
with
feedback
feedback

Feedbac
Feedbac
kk

Receiver
Receiver
Receive
Receive
message
message
Decode
Decodeand
and
Convert
Convertto
to
Meaning
Meaning
Respond
Respond

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Continuous process of
encoding and decoding

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Elements of Communication Process

Input. The sender has an
intention to communicate
with another person. This
intention makes up the
content of the message.

Channel. The message is

sent via a channel, which
can be made of a variety
of materials. In acoustic
communication it consists
of air, in written
communication of paper
or other writing materials.

Noise. The channel is

subjected to various sources
of noise. One example is
telephone communication,
where numerous secondary
sounds are audible.

Receiver. The receiver

Sender. The sender
decodes the incoming
encodes the message,
message, or expression.
e.g. the idea of "piece
Fields of Response. In the process, theHe
relevance
of aitcode
"translates"
and thus
of furniture to sit on."becomes obvious: The codes of the sender
andthe
receiver
receives
outputmust
Thus he gives
have at least a certain set in common in order to make
expression to the communication work. That frame of reference is the sum of
content.
experiences in the form of each person's knowledge, beliefs
and values. Our frame of reference is also greatly influenced
by the culture to which we belong. On the basis of that body of
personal knowledge, each member of the audience decodes
the message. As members of the audience differ, so will their
interpretations of what they hear.

Output. This is
the content
decoded by the
receiver.

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Elements of
Communication Process

Sender: Initiate meaning, encode, send, interacts with

feedback.
Message: the meaning that sender transmits (words, ideas,
body language, )
Encoding: put the meaning in codes including words, voice and
body language.

Noise or Interference: Things which change the meaning

intended.
Physical: external noise such as the car horns or the high
sound of radio. It also includes unpleasant smell, the annoying
weather, strong perfume smell or distracting behavior of the
speaker.
Mental: In the human mind, mental models impact or block the
meaning of the message.
Linguistic: the different interpretations of words.
Technical: noise in communication channels such as telephone
or GSM.
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Elements of
Communication Process

Channel: The medium by which the message is

transmitted. Normal channels include sound and light
waves. Other channels include books, newspapers,
magazines, movies, radio and TV broadcast,
cassettes, photos, phones and computers.
Receiver: Analyzes and translates it to meaning. He
basically receives message, decodes and responds.
Decoding: Since the message contains codes (verbal
and nonverbal), every receiver will interprets and
translates it based on his background and previous
experiences.

Feedback: The response that receiver sends to the

sender. It shows if the message has been received
and understood as intended to be.

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Communication Channels
(Media)

Written/paper-based (books, newspapers, letters.)

Verbal/spoken (radio, satellite, )

Electronic (e-mail,)

Image/visual (TV, Cinema,)

Communication Types

Intrapersonal Communication: It is the thinking that precedes the

communication or the communication with self. It includes the
internal voice, retrieval and storage of information, and problem
solving.

Interpersonal Communication: It happens when two people or

more communicate in an informal way to exchange information or
build relationships.

Public Communication: In group communication, the message is

sent from one person (speaker) to a group of people (listeners).
This type is called lectures.

Mass Media Communication: It happens through electronic means

such as radio, TV, Internet and books. (little or no feedback or
interaction)

Intercultural Communication: Culture is the collection of values,

habits and verbal & nonverbal coding that a group of people have in
common. This communication happens when one person or more
communicates with another from different culture.
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Communication
Characteristics
Continuous process.
Complete system.
Interactive, timely and everchanging.
Mostly irreversible.
Intentional or unintentional.
Multi-directional.
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Communication
Misconceptions
Communication will solve all problems: It may
result in creating new problems.

More communication is better: more negative

communication will result in more negative results.
Quality is more important than quantity.

Communication is always positive: It may be

positive or negative.

Words carry meanings: nonverbal communication

will carry most of the meanings.

Communication is natural ability: You can

develop and sharpen communication skills.

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How Meaning is Conveyed?

7%

spoken or
written words

A "majority" of the meaning we attribute to

55%
words comes not from the words
38%
Face and body:
themselves, but from nonverbal factors such
voice dynamics:
non-verbal
tone as
+ inflection
+
gestures,
facial expressions, tone, body
communication or
volume + accent
face and body
language, etc.
+ non-word
sounds; and...

language.

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Non-verbal communication or face

and body language constitutes
93% of message

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Non-verbal communication is
two-way communication

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Reading Nonverbal
Communication Cues
A large percentage of the
meaning we derive from the nonverbal cues that the other person
gives. Often a person says one
thing but communicates
something totally different
through vocal intonation and
body language.
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Reading Nonverbal
Communication Cues
These mixed signals force
the receiver to choose
between the verbal and
nonverbal parts of the
message. Most often, the
receiver chooses the
nonverbal aspects.
Mixed messages create
tension and distrust because
the receiver senses that the
communicator is hiding
something or is being less
than candid.
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Nonverbal communication
is made up of the
following parts:
Visual

Vocal

Tactile
(Physical)

Use of space
and image

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Visual
This often called body
language and includes
facial expression, eye
movement, posture,
and gestures. The face
is the biggest part of
this. All of us "read"
people's faces for ways
to interpret what they
say and feel.
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Visual
Of course we can easily misread these
cues especially when communicating
across cultures where gestures can
mean something very different in
another culture. For example, in
American culture agreement might be
indicated by the head going up and
down whereas in India, a side-to-side
head movement might mean the same
thing.
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Visual
We also look to posture to
provide cues about the
communicator; posture can
indicate self-confidence,
aggressiveness, fear, guilt, or
anxiety. Similarly, we look at
gestures such as how we hold
our hands, or a handshake.
Many gestures are culture
bound and susceptible to
misinterpretation

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Tactile (Physical)
This involves the use of touch to
impart meaning as in a
handshake, a pat on the back or
an arm around the shoulder.

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Vocal
The meaning of words can
be altered significantly by
changing the intonation of
one's voice.
Think of how many ways
you can say "no
you could express mild
doubt, terror, amazement,
anger among other
emotions. Vocal meanings
vary across cultures.
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Example
You are doing a good job
say
sayit itinina away
waythat
thatclearly
indicates
indicates
that the
that
employee
the employee
is doing
is adoing
rathera average
great job.job.
Have you noticed the difference?
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Physical Space
For most of us, someone standing
very close to us makes us
uncomfortable. We feel our "space"
has been invaded. People seek to
extend their territory in many ways to
attain power and intimacy. We tend to
mark our territory either with
permanent walls, or in a classroom
with our coat, pen, paper, etc. We like
to protect and control our territory.
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Physical Space
The "intimate zone" is about
two feet. This zone is
reserved for our closest
friends.
The "personal zone" from
about 2-4 feet usually is
reserved for family and
friends.
The social zone (4-12 feet)
is where most business
transactions take place.
The "public zone" (over 12
feet) is used for lectures.

Intimate Zone
Personal Zone
Social Zone

Public Zone
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Physical Space
At the risk of stereotyping, we will
generalize and state that Americans
and Northern Europeans typify the
non-contact group with small amounts
of touching and relatively large spaces
between them during transactions.
Arabs and Latin normally stand closer
together and do a lot of touching during
communication.
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Image
We use "things" to
communicate. This can
involve expensive things,
neat or messy things,
photographs, plants, etc.
We use clothing and
other dimensions of
physical appearance to
communicate our values
and expectations.

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The use of gestures, movements, material

things and space can clarify or confuse the
meaning of verbal communication.

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Nonverbal cues can play five roles:

Repetition: they can repeat the message the person is
making verbally
Contradiction: they can contradict a message the
individual is trying to convey
Substitution: they can substitute for a verbal message.
For example, a person's eyes can often convey a far more
vivid message than words and often do
Complementing: they may add to or complement a verbal
message. A boss who pats a person on the back in
addition to giving praise can increase the impact of the
message
Accenting: non-verbal communication may accept or
underline a verbal message. Pounding the table, for
example, can underline a message.

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Skillful communicators understand

the importance of nonverbal
communication and use it to increase
their effectiveness, as well as use it to
understand more clearly what
someone else is really saying.

A word of warning: Nonverbal cues can differ

dramatically from culture to culture.
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"I don't know how to turn his

performance around; he never
used to have these attendance
problems and his work used to be
so good; I don't know why this is
happening and what to do."

This supervisor is struggling with

one of the most important yet
trickiest and most difficult
management tasks: providing
constructive and useful feedback
to others.
Effective feedback is absolutely essential to organizational
effectiveness; people must know where they are and where
to go next in terms of expectations and goals-yours, their
own, and the organization.

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Lack of constructive feedback is like

sending people out on a dangerous
hike without a compass.
This is especially true in today's fast
changing and demanding workplace

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How to do it?

Maintain a high degree of

feedback throughout the
communication process.
Feedback is a constant
barometer to let you know if the
message you are sending is the
same one that your employees
are receiving.

To get feedback, It is far more

effective to ask open-ended
questions, such as, How would
you approach this? or What
questions do you have?
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How to do it?
positive question-and-answer approach

helps create an atmosphere in which asking

questions is entirely acceptable. In addition,
your behavior demonstrates some productive
feedback techniques, and this can help your
employees learn and apply them.
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Develop your skills in

constructive feedback
Feedback taps basic human needs-to
improve, to compete, to be accurate;
people want to be competent.
Feedback can be reinforcing; if given
properly, feedback is almost always
appreciated and motivates people to
improve.

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Develop your skills in

constructive feedback
Be aware of the many reasons why
people are hesitant to give feedback.
It is crucial that we realize how critical
feedback can be and overcome our
difficulties; it is very important and can
be very rewarding but it requires skill,
understanding, courage, and respect
for yourself and others.
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Why supervisors are often

reluctant to provide feedback
fear of the other person's reaction; people
can get very defensive and emotional when
confronted with feedback and many
supervisors are very fearful of the reaction
the feedback may be based on subjective
feeling and the supervisor may be unable to
give concrete information if the other person
questions the basis for the feedback
the information on which the feedback is
based (eg. performance appraisal) may be a
very flawed process and the supervisor may
not totally trust the information
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Other factors may get in the way

of effective feedback sessions:
defensiveness, distorted perceptions, guilt, project,
transference, distortions from the past
misreading of body language, tone
noisy transmission (unreliable messages, inconsistency)
receiver distortion: selective hearing, ignoring non-verbal
cues
power struggles
language-different levels of meaning
supervisors hesitation to be candid
assumptions-eg. assuming others see situation same as
you, has same feelings as you
distrusted source, erroneous translation, value judgment,
state of mind of two people
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Other factors may get in the way

of effective feedback sessions:

Part of the feedback process involves understanding

and predicting how the other person will react. Or in
the case of our receiving feedback, we need to
understand ways that we respond to feedback,
especially threatening feedback.

People often react negatively to threatening feedback.

This reaction can take a number of forms including:
selective reception and selective perception
doubting motive of the giver
denying validity of the data
rationalizing
attack the giver of the data
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Characteristics of effective feedback

Specific: "You wrote a thorough analysis on the
Anderson project," rather than "You've been doing a good
job lately."
Timely: Give feedback as soon as possible. Excellent
feedback presented at an inappropriate time may do
more harm than good.
Descriptive: Give facts. Talk about your observations,
rather than what you'd concluded from your observations.
Focus on the behavior not the person.
Sensitive: When emotions run high, allow a cooling-off
period before talking.
Helpful: When feedback is negative, explore alternatives
for improvement so the employee has goals to aim for.
Use the "sandwich technique" by saying one positive
statement followed by the negative feedback and then
another compliment.

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Feedback is crucial for

effective communication
Effective communication will only
come if communicators at all
organizational levels seek out
feedback and take appropriate
action to ensure that the intended
meaning is passed on to the
relevant audience.

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What is Active Listening?

By definition, listening to your employees
means that you are truly paying attention to
what they are saying.
It is not a passive process in which you nod
and raise an occasional eyebrow. Rather,
listening is an active and involved process
in which you use several specific strategies
to be absolutely certain that the message
you are receiving is the one your
employees are sending.
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What is Active Listening?

Good communication is
a two-way street, a
process of give and take
between individuals.

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Statistics support Active

Listening

Developing Active Listening Skills

There are a number of situations when
you need to solicit good information
from others; these situations include:
interviewing candidates
solving work problems
seeking to help an employee
on work performance
finding out reasons for
performance discrepancies.

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Developing Active Listening Skills

When you initiate conversations with employees,

greet them personally and listen sincerely.

Ask friendly questions, such as "How's the family?"

and "What's going on with you?" Listen for hidden
messages in words and actions.

The speaker may not want to say certain things out of

fear of a negative reaction. Be aware of the other
person's body language and tone of voice. Attend to
non-verbal cues, body language, not just words; listen
between the lines

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Developing Active Listening Skills

Look at the person; listen openly and with empathy.

State your position openly; be specific, not global

Respond in an interested way that shows you

understand the problem and the employee's concern

Use multiple techniques to fully comprehend (ask,

repeat, rephrase, etc.).

Ask the other person for as much detail as he/she can

provide; paraphrase what the other is saying to make
sure you understand it and check for understanding.
Ask the other for his views or suggestions

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Developing Active Listening Skills

Communicate your feelings but don't act them out (eg.

tell a person that his behavior really upsets you; don't
get angry)
Judge the content, not the messenger or delivery;
comprehend before you judge
Be validating, not invalidating ("You wouldn't
understand"); acknowledge other's uniqueness,
importance
Realize that when people feel threatened they will try
to protect themselves; this is natural. This
defensiveness can take the form of aggression, anger,
competitiveness, avoidance among other responses.
Be aware of the potential for defensiveness and make
needed adjustment.
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Developing Active Listening Skills

Be descriptive, not evaluative. Describe objectively,

your reactions, consequences
Be conjunctive, not disjunctive (not "I want to discuss
this regardless of what you want to discuss");
Don't totally control conversation; acknowledge what
was said
Own up: use "I", not "They"... not They have heard
you are non-cooperative"
Don't react to emotional words, but interpret their
purpose
Practice supportive listening, not one way listening
Decide on specific follow-up actions and specific follow
up dates
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Approaches that Facilitates

Active Listening

Use various feedback techniques:

rephrase what your employee has said. For example,
after your employee presents his thoughts, you can say,
What you are saying is....
summarize what your employee has said. For example,
when he has concluded a thought, you can say, Let me
recap what Ive heard and you tell me if Ive got it right.
interject questions in supportive and constructive tone
whenever your employees points are unclear to you
such as, Im not certain what you mean. Can you clarify
that for me?

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Miscommunication happens!
In any communication at least some
of the "meaning" lost in simple
transmission of a message from the
sender to the receiver.
In many situations a lot of the true
message is lost and the message that is
heard is often far different than the one
intended.
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Miscommunication happens!
The key point is that everything you do
during the communication process is
sending a message to your employees.
As a result, there are countless
opportunities for miscommunication and
confusion, particularly as the messages go
through your employees filter mechanisms.
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Types of Barriers
Interpersonal Barriers
Organizational Barriers

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Interpersonal barriers
Perception and perceptual selection
processes
Semantics (language)
Channel selection
Inconsistent verbal and nonverbal
communication.

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Interpersonal Barriers
Perception

Communication depends on our perception, or how we perceive

people, their motives, and intentions. We consciously and
unconsciously choose from streams of sensory data, we
concentrate on some bits, and we ignore others. We call this
process "perceptual selection". Perceptual selection affects what
we hear and how we hear it, and whether and how we are willing to
respond (Buchanan and Huczynski, 1997).

Perceptual Biases: People attend to stimuli in the environment in

very different ways. We each have shortcuts that we use to
organize data. Invariably, these shortcuts introduce some biases
into communication. Some of these shortcuts include stereotyping,
projection, and self-fulfilling prophecies. Stereotyping is one of the
most common. This is when we assume that the other person has
certain characteristics based on the group to which they belong
without validating that they in fact have these characteristics.

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Interpersonal Barriers
Perception

Interpersonal
we perceive
How Relationships:
to minimize How
this barrier?
communication is affected by the past experience with
improve
our Perception
self-awareness
of our by
own
the individual.
is also affected
the
organizational
relationship
two people
values,
beliefs,
and attitudes
andhave.
howFor
they
example,
communication
superior
may be
affect our
perception; from
and aalso
improve
our
perceived differently than that from a subordinate or
understanding
of, and sensitivity to, others.
peer

Examples include recommendations to avoid

Assumptions-eg. assuming others see situation same
stereotyping and to improve listening skills.
as you, has same feelings as you affects the
While
this advice helps minimize the barrier,
communication.
it is primarily sender-focused; i.e. it is the
Receiver distortion: selective hearing, ignoring nonsupplier
of information who is to be more
verbal cues.
aware and empathic.

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Interpersonal Barriers
Semantics/ Language:
Semantics
the study ofthis
the meaning
of
How toisminimize
barrier?
words or other symbols. Typically, we view
semantics
pay careful
the choice of
as attention
a barrier toto
effective
words and language
so thatbecause
confusion
communication
in organizations
words
can beisused
imprecisely, inaccurately,
or offence
avoided.
or may mean different things to different
people.
The choice of words or language in which a
sender encodes a message will influence the
quality of communication.
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Interpersonal Barriers
Channel Selection
WhenHow
improving
communication
in
to minimize
this barrier?
attention is rightfully given to
organizations,
To date, research has shown that matching
how to send the message, or the selection of
characteristics of the message (how clear vs
a channel (oral or written media). Selecting a
ambiguous, how rational vs emotional, and
channel that does not fit the message can
how routine vs non-routine) to the channel
lead to a breakdown in communication.
can improve the effectiveness of
communication.
For example, weAknow
that emotional
or
complicated
message
complex
are ausually
most
should bemessages
sent through
"rich" channel,
such
effectively
communicated
as
a face-to-face
meeting face-to-face.
(e.g. Lengel and
Daft, 1988).
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Interpersonal Barriers
Inconsistent verbal and
non-verbal communication
We often
organizations
that
Howfind
to in
minimize
this barrier?
and non-verbal
inconsistent
Minimize anyverbal
inconsistencies
between words
communication
can lead to
a communication
and manner of speaking,
facial
expressions,
breakdown.
and posture.Inconsistency confuses a
receiver who tries to figure out the "true"
message of the sender and then relies
heavily on the non-verbal actions to decode
meaning.

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Organizational Barriers

Physical distractions
Information overload
Time pressure
Technical and in-group language
Status differences
Task and organization structure
requirements
Absence of formal communication
channels
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Organizational Barriers
Physical distractions
How to distractions
minimize thisinbarrier?
Physical
advise
organizations
include
supervisors
to minimize these
distractions
whenever
interruptions,
noise,possible.
and
equipment breakdowns. The
reality of organizational life is that
at best we can try to minimize
distractions instead of eliminating
them altogether.
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Organizational Barriers
Information overload
Information
overload this
can be
a byHow to minimize
barrier?
product of
sheer of
volume
of
Reduce
thethe
amount
information
that
information
and dataorthat
managers
requires
processing
to develop
deal with on a dailyskills
basis.
largewith
part
time-management
to Acope
of a manager's
higher
amounts.job is informationprocessing (Mintzberg, 1973). One offcited study has estimated that
managers spend up to 80 per cent of
every day communicating (Luthans
and Larsen, 1986).
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Organizational Barriers
Time pressure
Time
pressure
is another
to
How
to minimize
this barrier
barrier?
that is ever-present
in
communication
Recommend sensitivity
to
organizations.
We have
advised
organizational time
periods.
Select the
best
time when
you communicate
managers
to recognize
that the timing
important
messages.
of a message
can affect whether the
message influences the receiver in the
way intended.

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Organizational Barriers
Technical and in-group language
Technical
in-group
language
How toand
minimize
this
barrier?is
barrier torecognizing
communication
another
have prescribed
and in
organizations,
particularly
when
minimizing specialist
vocabularies
organizational
subunits are highly
whenever possible.
differentiated or when organizational
Simplify terms and consider the
members are highly professionalized.
technical level when communicating.
Technical and professional
vocabularies make it hard for one
individual or group to communicate
with another.
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Organizational Barriers
Status differences
Status
can
be barrier?
large or
Howdifferences
to minimize
this
small in anminimizing
organization.
Large
status
Advocate
status
differences
differences
are thought
contribute
with
the responsibility
ontothe
higher to
problems
with to
communication.
status
person
reduce the distance
(Hunt, 1985).

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Organizational Barriers
Task and organization
structure requirements
Task
and to
organization
structure
requirements
How
minimize
this barrier?
can provide barriers to effective
Use
structural The
devices
such as
communication.
tasks people
perform will
affect who talks toteams,
whom, the
urgency
and
multifunctional
task
forces,
or
speed of messages, and what information
integrating
supervisors,
or decentralize
people need to
share. As a direct
decision
making
and access
consequence
of hierarchy,
we canto
find filtering
(intentionally or
leaving
out
information
sounintentionally
that authority
is aligned
parts of a message), distortion (to serve
with
responsibility.
individual
goals), and refusal to communicate
(either because of oversight or deliberately
not sharing information) (Hunt, 1980).
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Organizational Barriers
Absence of formal
communication channels
WhenHow
theretoisminimize
an absence
formal
thisofbarrier?
communication
channels,
it is difficult
to get
Develop
many ways
to improve
upward
information from(e.g.
employee
to manager,
communication
suggestion
systems,from
manager to employee,
from subunit
to
performance
reports, attitude
surveys),
subunit, and
from customer
to supplier.
downward
communication
(e.g.,
videos, In
organizations
we need
channels
to transmit
newsletters,
briefings
and
meetings)
and
information
about performance,
goals and
horizontal
communication
(e.g. electronic
goal achievement,
procedures
and circles).
practices,
networks
and intranets,
and quality
and to foster coordination and problem
solving across the organizational boundaries.
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Internal Noise
These are the internal noise going on in
your own head that can distract you and
distort what you are saying and hearing
including your expectations, biases,
wandering mind, or attention focused on
other matters.
How to overcome?
When you are communicating with your
employees, the best approach is to give
them your undivided attention.
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Internal Noise
They are also the internal noise of the people with whom
you are communicating (can be detected by their
questions, their distracted appearance, or their off-target
comments.)
How to overcome?
When this occurs, run a reality check to find out what the
blockages may be. The best way to do this is to ask a few
questions based on what you are observing, such as, Have I
missed something?. By focusing the question on your own
actions, you make it much easier for your employee to
answer honestly.
Depending upon what you learn from your positive
questioning approach, you can then adjust your comments to
increase the likelihood of having real two-way
communication.
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The Johari Window

The open (public) area contains things that
are openly known and talked about - and
which may be seen as strengths or
weaknesses. This is the self that we choose
to share with others
The blind area contains things that others
observe that we don't know about. Again,
they could be positive or negative behaviors,
and will affect the way that others act towards
us.
The unknown area contains things that
nobody knows about us - including
ourselves. This may be because we've never
exposed those areas of our personality, or
because they're buried deep in the
subconscious.
The hidden (private) area contains aspects
of our self that we know about and keep
hidden from others.

A Fact
Communication skills and
effectiveness can be
improved
The following Slides show some
recommendations on

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Have a Clear Message

your message should be clear
in your own mind before you
ever send it. If your thinking is
a little vague, or if your
objectives are rather sketchy,
that is exactly how your
message will be
communicated and received.

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Understand Your Employees

The fact is that your employees have a vast
array of motivations, expectations, values,
and styles that need to be recognized if you
want to communicate effectively with them.
By understanding as much as possible about
your employees, you can then select the best
style, channel, vocabulary, volume, sentence
structure, content, format, and timing to
communicate successfully with them.

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Getting out of the e-mail box

Some bosses tend to rely excessively on email, with some believing that once they
have sent a particular message, the
communication process is complete.

This is merely one-way communication of the most limited

form, because matters of intonation, volume, pace, and
inflection are missing.
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Getting out of the e-mail box

E-mail can be very helpful and productive for
transmitting specific facts or data
but all sorts of problems can arise when the issues are even
slightly complex, and that describes most business issues today.

Why?
Because e-mail is one-dimensional and lacks so many of the
elements present in face-to-face communication, there is a
tremendous potential for conflict and confusion. The main reason is
that neither the sender nor the receiver picks up sufficient cues to
really know what the other is trying to say. As a result, even the
most basic e-mail communication has the potential to quickly
escalate into a war of words.
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Getting out of the e-mail box

When your employees ask you to
intervene electronically to resolve
a misunderstanding, do not do it.
Rather, pick up the phone to discuss the
situation, or, preferably, set up a face-to-face
meeting. Its rather amazing that many of these
meetings actually involve people who work just
down the hall from each other.
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Dont Be Defensive
A major source of problem in communication
is defensiveness. Effective communicators
are aware that defensiveness is a typical
response in a work situation especially when
negative information or criticism is involved.
Be aware that defensiveness is common,
particularly with subordinates when you are
dealing with a problem. Try to make
adjustments to compensate for the likely
defensiveness.
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What does
effective communication require?
Effective communication requires
awareness and a committed,
cooperative effort among all people
involved, so it is not always possible at
the moment - unless all people
voluntarily contribute these.

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Learn When It's Better to Keep Quiet

Some subjects should not be matters of
public discussion in the workplace. These
include an employee's work performance,
your feelings about company policy and
difficulties you have with your boss.
It's also important to keep confidential any
personal problems employees bring to you
and anything anyone tells you in confidence.
The only exception to this practice would be
when keeping quiet involves breaking the law
or company policy.
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Open communication
Ensure that one of your key values is open
communication.
Unless told otherwise, supervisors are authorized to
communicate.
Management credibility and trust should only come with a
demonstrated track record of truthful, open
communication.
Communication about significant happenings needs to be
thoroughly planned. Being too busy is not an acceptable
excuse for inadequate or ineffective communication.
Care should be taken to decide what requires formal
communication and by whom, and what can be
communicated informally.
Significant information should show who has authorized
its release and be released in all locations at the same
time.
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Local business issues

are favoured

In communicating, favour local issues, especially

serious business issues (such as business results,
customer feedback, and the future of the business).

Communication issues which arise at local level (e.g.

cross-functional issues, rumours) should be addressed
by those involved without delay.

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The team leaders role is critical

Important information must be made available to team
leaders (Supervisors) in a timely manner to enable
team leaders to communicate it to their teams.
Information should be both cascaded down the
organization and communicated direct to team leaders
as appropriate.
It is better to over-communicate than undercommunicate. Team leaders should make clear what
information is available and communicate as requested.
Effective team leaders should regularly communicate
with team members on a formal and informal basis, and
actively seek feedback from their teams on the
effectiveness of communication with them.
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Training should be provided

Training in effective communication should
always be available to team leaders,
supervisors and managers.
Communication materials and support should
be provided to managers, supervisors and
team leaders as appropriate.

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Communication must respect

individuals
All communication must be truthful, and the impact and
consequences of communication determined in advance
and taken into account.
It also means effective communication of job requirements
and standards, and keeping everyone informed of how
they are performing. There should be "no surprises" when
it comes to individual performance feedback.
Information provided to any one person should be also
provided at the same time to all others involved or likely to
be interested.
The special communication needs of shift employees or
employees located in remote locations should always be
considered.
Mischievous communication (e.g. starting or spreading
rumours known to be untrue) should not be tolerated.
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Communicate both positive and

negative news
Be committed to communicating both good
and bad news speedily, in advance if possible,
even if the full impact of the decision or
message are not yet clear. Rumours in the
workplace should be addressed with effective
communication as soon as is practicable.
Communicating on a "need to know" basis,
avoiding controversial issues, or delaying
communication "until all details are clear" are
contrary to this goal.
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Increase Face-to-Face
Communication

Print, both hard copy and electronic, remains the

primary means of communication in most medium to
large organizations even though this is popular with only
about 10 percent of frontline employees. Employees
say they want face-to-face communication.

E-mail is very popular as a source of timely news. But

employees typically think that this is "information not
communication".

Only when communication is largely face-to-face with

the immediate supervisor will it stand any real chance of
being effective. Forget print. Communicate directly
from senior executives to supervisors face-to-face (with
printed support materials if appropriate) and get
supervisors to communicate with their people.
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Ensure Supervisors'
accountabilities

Obviously, supervisors need to be responsible for

effective communication in their teams. They need to
communicate face-to-face but not necessarily in
meetings. Some supervisors may be nervous of
speaking in public, and some employees do get
militant in meetings. If they prefer to communicate
one-to-one that's fine.

Supervisors should consult with and involve their

people in decisions to do with their work as much as
possible. They also need to represent employees to
management, passing on employees' feedback, ideas,
questions and concerns.

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Ensure supervisors
communicate

On one hand it's critical that supervisors have a good

knowledge of what's going on in the organization. On
the other hand it's important that supervisors'
effectiveness is measured. As Tom Peters reminds us
"what get measured gets done".

This can be done with an upward or 360 degree

review (or appraisal) system, or with a simple
communication survey. This asks subordinates to rate
their supervisor's communication effectiveness in
terms of quality and frequency and to make comments
to help their supervisor improve their communication
skills. The results are fed back to the supervisors and
their managers.

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Measure communication
effectiveness

If you're serious about internal communication, it's

important to measure your communication
effectiveness from time to time. This can be done by
way of a communication audit or employee survey.
Your choices are to use a questionnaire or focus
groups, or both. Questionnaires are good for
measurement (especially longitudinally over time) and
for gathering the opinions of employees in far flung
locations (such as one of my recent surveys which
covered 15 countries in almost as many languages).
With questionnaire surveys it's usually cost effective
these days to survey all employees.

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Measure communication
effectiveness

Focus groups are good for getting very detailed

feedback from employees when knowing exactly how
to improve is more important than measurement.
They are often used when it is easy to get to a
representative sample of employees in a few key
locations.
Obviously it's best to use both a questionnaire to all
employees followed up by some focus groups to
investigate specific problems or areas where there are
especially good or bad results.

Table of Contents

References

Several Internet Resources in Effective Communication

Employee Communication & Surveys http://www.employeecommunication.com.au/index.jsp

Using vision to improve organizational communication (An

Emerald Article by Dawn Kelly)
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/01437730010318183

Be the Boss Your Employees Deserve (A book by Ken Lloyd)

http://www.box.net/shared/uhu990qeji

The Importance of Effective Communication (Research by HRD

Specialist Edward G. Wertheim)
http://web.cba.neu.edu/~ewertheim/interper/commun.htm#introd#intr
od

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E-mail @ mullaya_98@yahoo.com