Communication

The Lubricant of Organizations

Anthony Abhishek Joseph 14

Mehul Jain 12
Pankaj Jain 13
Rajiv Siddhartha 21
Communication

 Exchange of information

 The art of being able to structure and

transmit a message in a way that
another can easily understand and/or
accept
Communication is the process of sending
and receiving information among people…

Feedback

receiver sender

SENDER RECEIVER
Why Communicate?

To change behavior

To get and give

To get action
Information

To persuade To ensure understanding

 What are the most common ways
we communicate?

Spok
en W ma ges
ord is u al I
V

Bod
d y La
ten Wor ngu
W r it age
Communication Networks

Independent, Centralized Connected,

decentralized decision makers decentralized
decision makers (commanders) decision makers
(cowboys) (cyber-cowboys)

= places where actions are taken and information is generated

= centralized decision maker
Organisation Communication: Flow
Information Loss

100%
Board
63%
Vice President

56%
Gen. Mgrs
40%
Plant Managers
30%
Supervisors
20%
Workforce

(Source: Management: Competing

in the New Era, Bateman & Snell)
All communication methods are
important but emphasis should be
placed upon the spoken word... since

Of all our communication efforts are:

misunderstood, misinterpreted,
rejected, disliked, distorted, or not
heard (in the same language, same
culture)!
DILBERT: BODY LANGUAGE
WHAT YOU SAY IS NOT WHAT YOU
GET!!!!!!!!
What causes distortion or the barriers
to understanding/listening?

 Perceptions  Environment – noise

 Language  Preconceived
notions/expectations
 Semantics
 Wordiness
 Personal Interests
 Attention span
 Emotions  Physical hearing problem
 Inflections  Speed of thought
Group facilitation requires frequent and
high quality communication with others

A skilled manager
must be a
successful communicator

Managers are
facilitators of learning
and communicating
new ideas
Listening…the other side of communication
Too many people see communication as merely speaking.

Messages must be received as well as sent.

A good question to ask yourself is, are you really listening

or simply waiting for your turn to talk?

If you are thinking about your reply before the other

person has finished, then you are not listening!
How can we improve our listening skills?
Eliminate distractions
Concentrate
Focus on the speaker
Maintain an open mind
Look for nonverbal cues
Do not react to emotive
words
Ask questions
Sit so you can see & hear
Avoid prejudices
Take notes
Ask for clarification
How can we improve our listening
& facilitation skills as managers?

SUMMARIZIN
PARAPHRASING G
Restating what
Pulling together
another has said
the main points
in your own
of a speaker
words

QUESTIONING

Challenging people
to tackle & solve
problems
 Paraphrasing

Use initial phrases such as:

restating what another person
has said in your own words.
develop the habit of doing so.
practice these techniques on
your colleagues.
In other words…
I gather that…
If I understand what you are
saying…
What I hear you saying is…
Pardon my interruption, but let
me see if I understand you
correctly…
 Summarizing
“If I understand you correctly,
your main concerns are…”
“These seem to be the key
ideas you have expressed…”
to establish a basis for
further discussion and/or
review progress.
The person
summarizing must listen
carefully in order to
organize the information
systematically.
useful for emphasizing
key points.
Questioning…a critical facilitation skill
There are two basic types of questions:

 Closed questions

generally result in short yes/no or other one

word answers. They should be used only
when you want precise, quick answers.
Otherwise, they inhibit thought.

2. Open-ended questions

invite an actual explanation for a response.

Questions that begin with “how”, “what” and
“why” are typical.
Some examples

Rephrase the following closed questions to

make them open-ended:

 Isn’t today a nice day?

 Is there anything bothering you?
 So everything is fine, then?
Other helpful techniques to foster
communication (both verbal and non-verbal)…

Repeat the last

Nod Your Head word or two of the
prior speaker

Maintain eye Keep an open

contact body position

Repeat a sentence
Make encouraging
or part of one
statements