Chapter 16

Communication

1
 What Is Communication?

• Communication
– The transfer and understanding of meaning
– Interpersonal communication
• Communication between two or more people
– Organizational communication
• All the patterns, network, and systems of
communications within an organization

2
 Elements/ methods of Interpersonal/modern
Communication
• Message
– Source: sender’s intended meaning
• Encoding
– The message converted to symbolic form
• Channel/medium
– The medium through which the message travels
• Decoding
– The receiver’s retranslation of the message
• Noise
– Disturbances that interfere with communications
• Feedback

3
Exhibit 16-1:The Communication
Process

Message Channel Receiver

Encoding Decoding

Sender Noise Message

Feedback

4
 Interpersonal Communication
Methods
• Face-to-face • Bulletin boards
• Telephone • Audio-/videotapes
• Group meetings • Hot lines
• Formal presentations • E-mail
• Memos • Computer conference
• Postal mail • Voice mail
• Fax • Teleconference
• Publications • Videoconference
5
 Communication Types

• Verbal communication • Written

(common form) communication
(common form)

Chapter 10, Stephen P. Robbins, Mary Coulter, and Nancy Langton, Management, Eighth Canadian Edition.
Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 6
 (Communication Types): Nonverbal Communication

• Communication that is transmitted without words

– Sounds
– Images
– Situational behaviors
– Physical surroundings
• Body language: gestures, facial expressions, and other
body movements that convey meaning
• Verbal intonation (paralinguistic): emphasis that a
speaker gives to certain words or phrases that conveys
meaning

7
 Barriers to Effective Interpersonal
Communication/ reasons for communication
breakdown
• Filtering
– The deliberate manipulation of information to make it
appear more favourable to the receiver
• Emotions
– Disregarding rational and objective thinking processes
and substituting emotional judgments when interpreting
messages
• Information Overload
– Being confronted with a quantity of information that
exceeds an individual’s capacity to process it

8
 Barriers to Effective Interpersonal
Communication (cont’d)
• Language
– The different meanings of and specialized ways
(jargon) in which senders use words can cause
receivers to misinterpret their messages
• National Culture
– Culture influences the formality, openness,
patterns, and use of information in
communications

9
 Types of Organizational
Communication
• Formal Communication
– Communication that follows the official chain of
command or is part of the communication required to do
one’s job
• Informal Communication/ Grapevine
– Communication that is not defined by the organization’s
hierarchy
• Permits employees to satisfy their need for social interaction
• Can improve an organization’s performance by creating faster
and more effective channels of communication

10
 The Grapevine and its importance

• An informal organizational communication

network that is active in almost every
organization
– Provides a channel for issues not suitable for
formal communication channels
– The impact of information passed along the
grapevine can be countered by open and honest
communication with employees

11
Direction of Communication Flow

• Downward
– Communications that flow from managers to
employees to inform, direct, coordinate, and
evaluate employees
• Upward
– Communications that flow from employees up to
managers to keep them aware of employee needs
and how things can be improved to create a
climate of trust and respect

12
 Direction of Communication Flow
(cont’d)
• Lateral (Horizontal) Communication
– Communication that takes place among
employees on the same level in the organization
to save time and facilitate coordination

13
 Types of Organizational
Communication Networks
• Chain Network
– Communication flows according to the
formal chain of command, both upward
and downward
• Wheel Network
– All communication flows in and out
through the group leader (hub) to others
in the group
• All-Channel Network
– Communication flows freely among all
members of the work team

14
• Workplace design and communication(benefits
of open workplaces)- Flexible communication
and innovative ideas due to open workplace
design

Chapter 10, Stephen P. Robbins, Mary Coulter, and Nancy Langton, Management, Eighth Canadian Edition.
Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 15
Bonus questions( think of these two topics
in Bangladeshi perspective)
• How information technology affects
communication
• The role of communication in customer service

Chapter 10, Stephen P. Robbins, Mary Coulter, and Nancy Langton, Management, Eighth Canadian Edition.
Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 16