CHAPTER VI Communicating

WHAT COMMUNICATING IS
Morris Philip Wolf and Shirley Kuiper

define communication as a process

of sharing information through
symbols, including words and
message
Communication may happen between
superior and subordinate, between
peers, between a manager and a client
or customer, between an employee and
a government representative.

FUNCTIONS OF
COMMUNICATION
Information function

information provided through

communication may be used for decisionmaking at various work levels in the
organization.
Motivation function
Communication is also oftentimes
used as a means to motivate employees to
commit themselves to the organizations
objectives.

Control function

When properly communicated,

reports, policies, and plans define roles,
clarify duties, Authorities and
responsibilities.
Emotive function
when feelings are repressed in the
organization, employees are affected by
anxiety, which, in turn, affects
performance.

The communication
process

SENDER
Develops
idea
then
transmit
message
to

encodes

RECEIVER
Who
Receives
message
decodes
Accept
or
reject

Then
provides
thefeedback
toS

Develop an idea
The most important step in
effective communication is developing an
idea. It is important that the idea into
words, illustrations, figures, or other
symbols suitable for transmission.

Transmit
After encoding, the message is
now ready for transmission through the use
of an appropriate communication channel.

Receive
The next step is the communication
process is the actual receiving of the
message by the intended receiver.

Decode
The next step, decoding, means
translating the message from the sender into
a form that will have meaning to the
recipient.

Accept
The next step is for the receiver to
accept or reject the message. Sometimes,
acceptance or rejection is partial.

use
The next step is for the receiver to use

the information. If the message provides

information of importance to a relevant
activity, then the receiver could store it
and retrieve it when required.
Provide feedback
The last step in the communication
process is for the receiver to provide
feedback to the sender.

Forms of
Communication

2 major forms
Verbal
Nonverbal

Verbal communications

are those transmitted through

hearing or sight. This mode of transmission
categorizes verbal communication into two
classes: oral and written
Oral communication mostly involves
hearing the words of the sender
Written communication, however,
has limitations and to remedy these,
some means are devised.

Nonverbal communication

is a means of conveying message

through the body language.

THE BARRIERS TO
COMMUNICATION
Various factors may impede the
efficient flow of communication. Any,
or all, of these factors may, at any
point, derail the process. Even if the
channel transmits the message, the
timing and the meaning of the
message may be affected by the
factors.

The barriers to
communication may be
classified generally as

Personal barriers

are hindrances to effective

communication arising from a
communicators characteristics as a
person, such as emotion, values, poor
listening habits, sex, age race, socio
economic status, religion, education etc.
Physical barriers
refer to interferences to effective
communication occurring in the
environment where the communication is
undertaken.

Semantic Barriers

is the study of meaning as

expressed as symbol. Words, pictures,
or actions are symbols that suggest
certain meanings. When the receiver
has chosen the wrong meaning,
misunderstanding occurs. Such error
constitutes a barrier to communication.

OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO
COMMUNICATION
When communication barriers
threaten effective performance, certain
measures must be instituted to eliminate
them. To eliminate problems due to noise,
selective perception, and distraction, the
following are recommended:

Use feedback to facilitate

understanding and increase the

potential for appropriate action.
Repeat messages in order to provide
assurance that they are properly
received.
Use multiple channels so that the
accuracy of the information may be
enhanced.
Use simplified language that is
easily understandable and which
eliminates the possibility of people
getting mixed-up with meanings.

TECHNIQUESFORCOMMUNICATINGIN
ORGANIZATIONS
Communicating may be classified
as to the types of flow of the message
which are as follows downward, upward or
horizontal. Each of the types of the
message flow has its own purposes and
techniques.

Downward Communication
Downward communication refers to

message flows from higher levels of

authority to lower levels. Among the
purposes of downward communication are.
1. to give instructions
2. to provide information about
policies and procedures
3. to give feedback about
performance
4. to indoctrinate or motivate

UpwardcommunicationDownwardcommunication
ConcernsConcerns
-problems and exceptions
-suggestions for improvement
-performance reports
- financial and accounting
information

- implementation of goals,
strategies and objectives
- job instruction and
rationale
- procedures and practice
- performance feedback
- indoctrination

HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION
Concern;
interdepartmental coordination
intradepartmental problem-solving
staff device to the departments

UpwardCommunication
Refers to messages from persons in
lower-level positions to persons in higher
positions. The messages sent usually
provide information on work progress,
problems encountered, suggestions for
improving output, and personal feelings
about work and non-work activities.

Formal Grievance Procedures.

Grievances are part of a normally

operating organization. To effectively deal
with them, organizations provide a system for
employees to air their grievances.
Employee Attitude and opinion surveys.

Finding out what the employees

think about the company is very important.
The exercise, however, requires expertise and
the company may not be prepared to do it. If
the organizations operation is large enough
to justify such activity, then it must be done.

Suggestion systems
Suggestions from employees are
important sources of cost-saving and production
enhancing ideas. Even if majority of the
suggestions are not feasible, a simple means of
acknowledging them contributes to employee
morale.
Open door policy
An open-door policy even of a limited
basis, provides the management with an
opportunity to act on difficulties before they
become full-blown problems.

Informal Gripe Sessions

Can be used positively if
management knows how to handle them.
When employees feel free to talk and they
are assured of not being penalized for
doing so, then management will be spared
with lots of efforts determining the real
causes of problems in the company.

Task Forces
When a specific problem or issue
arises, a task force may be created and
assigned to deal with the problem or
issue. Since membership of task forces
consists of management and
nonmanagement personnel.

Exit interviews
When employees leave an
organization for any reason, it is to the
advantage of management to know the
real person.

Horizontalcommunication
Refers to message sent to
individuals or groups from another of the
same organization level or position.

The purposes of horizontal communication

are:
to coordinate activities between

departments
to persuade others at the same level of

organization
to pass on information about activities

or
feelings

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

is defined by Boone and Kurtz as
an organized method of providing past,
present, and projected information on
internal operations and external
intelligence for use in decision making.

The Purposes of MIS

The MIS is established for
various reasons. Wheelen and Hunger
enumerate them as follows:

 To provide a basis for the analysis of early

warning signals that can originate both

eternally and internally.

To automate routine clerical operations like

payroll and inventory reports.

to assist managers in making routine

decisions like scheduling orders, assigning

orders to machines, and reordering supplies.

to provide the information necessary for

management to make strategic or

nonprogrammed decisions.

SUMMARY
The achievement of the objectives of the engineering
organization will depend on the performance of the
human and non-human elements attached to it. The
task of management is to program these elements
correctly so that each will respond accordingly to their
assigned tasks. Standard programming methods have
already been adapted by technologies for most
machines and equipment.