Communication

Damodar Suar
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Individuals spend 70% of their time in writing,
reading, speaking and listening. Verbal, non-verbal
The main goal of this chapter is to understand and
improve your communication
Recruiter emphasizes on communication skills as most
important.
Companies effective communication, employee
engagement is 4.5 times, 20% lower turnover rates
Transferring and understanding of meaning
Birbal in King Akbars court: famer, parents died: one falling
into well, another lightening struck him; Mulla, parents
died while fighting, soldiering not good profession.
 Functions of communication

Control,
Motivation,
Emotional expression, and
Information sharing and decision making
 Process
Sender Receiver

Message Encoding Channel Message Message

to be sent message/ received decoding
symbolic
(V/NV) Noise Perceptual problem,
information overload,
semantic difficulty,
cultural difference

Feedback

Passes between sender and receiver through a channel, receiver decodes, result is
transfer of meaning from one person to another
Formal vs. informal channel
Noise communication barriers that distort the clarity of the message
Feedback: check on how successfully the message is transferred and the meaning is
understood
 Directions of communication
Downward communication: top to bottom, manger to
subordinate (verbal), team leader sending an e-mail to team
members (written), one-way employee down-the-line,
reasons why a decision made, need to be respected, listened
Upward communication: bottom to top, subordinate to
managers, provide feedback to higher-ups, progress towards
goal, target realization, feeling about job, difficulties.
Conference meeting, social media, town hall; Brief, focus
on main points, mention actionable items to get the attention
of boss
Lateral communication: members of same workgroup or
same levels, save time, co-ordination, knowledge transfer
and supervisor support
 Interpersonal Cmmunication
1. Oral communication: speeches, formal one-to-one, group
discussion, rumor mills, grapevine, advantage: speed,
feedback and correction; still richest medium in
controversial issues to resolve
message distortion when passes through a number of
people
2. Written communication: memo, letter, fax, e-mail, instant
messaging, organizational periodicals, notice displayed on
bulletin boards, any other device where message pass
through written words or symbols; Why? Tangible and
verifiable (record available), careful, well thought out,
logical, clear
Time-consuming, less information in more time compared to
oral, does not have built-in mechanism for feedback as oral
 3. Nonverbal communication: body movements, the
intonations or emphasis on words, facial expression,
physical distance
Through body language: Help me, I am lonely, hand/leg
crossing to protect oneself, lifting of eyebrows, rub noses,
tap fingers for impatience, Namaste varies in different
places in India
Interest in other, status difference
(Body language+ spoken word) more meaningful
Intonation: Why dont I take you to dinner tonight? (
someone else, reasons, problem with me, etc)
Facial exp.: arrogance, aggressiveness, fear, shyness
Distance, verbal, looking to watch; contradiction between
verbal and non-verbal cues; No universal nonverbal
 Organizational Communication
Chain: formal channel of command, Speed (moderate),
Accuracy(high), Emergence of a leader (moderate),
Member satisfaction(moderate)
Wheel: central figure to act as a conduit for all of groups
communication, fast, high, high, low
All channel: self-managed teams, fast, moderate, none,
high
Grapevine: informal communication, 75% employees hear
about matters through rumors on grapevine. Not controlled
by mgt, perceived by employees as reliable, serves self-
interest; 3/4 message accurate
Rumors: Anxiety, ambiguity, emergency situation, situation
important to us, Persist till uncertainty is met or anxiety
reduced.
Reduce rumors: 1. Announce time-table for making
important decisions; 2. explain decisions/behaviours that
appears secretive; 3. let all know current and future plans;
4. Openly discuss wrost-cases
Electronic communication: e-mail, text messaging,
networking software, internet and weblogs,
videoconferencing
Email: quickly written, stored, edited, distributed widely,
read at convenience, cost low
Instant messaging (IM) via laptop or desktop and Text
messaging via cell phones
Networking software: Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp,
ResearchGate, ERP in IIT KGP
Web blogs ; Video conferencing: audio + images, TV
cameras, microphones attached to PC
 Knowledge management
Organizing and distributing collective wisdom so that right
information reaches the right people at right time.
Explicit, tacit, databases, vital services and information,
computer network and server, think of library of IIT KGP,
Wikipedia, YouTube
Motivation and value of knowledge, Organization
performance
 Barriers to effective communication

Distort information? 1. Filtering: sender

manipulating information, fear of communicating
bad new and desire to please boss/others; vertical
level, status difference; up-ward vs. down
2. Selective perception: see and hear based on our
needs, motivations, experience, background and
personal characteristics
3. information overload: e-mail, fax, IM, phone calls,
meetings, assignments, working memory fails
4. Emotions: happy vs. sad mood, angry vs. happy
interpretation differs
 5. Language: Age and context
6. Communication Apprehension or anxiety,
individual vs. group, oral communication
apprehension avoid oral
7. Gender difference: Man- facts, logic, women-
men not listening; relationships; status, power,
interdependence, women-closeness
Politically correct communication
Global Implications: Cultural barriers, cultural
context (non-verbal), A cultural guide: assume
difference, description, empathy, treat your own
interpretation as working hypothesis