Chapter 15
Communicating and Motivating Others
Learning Objectives
 Explain how managers use motivation and
communication to achieve results
 Understand how to apply communication to pursue and
achieve goals efficiently and effectively
 Describe how challenging work and goals motivate
individuals and teams
 Illustrate how positive reinforcement enables managers
to motivate others to achieve superior results
 Formulate and communicate a performance-based
reward system that motivates individuals and teams to
achieve organizational objectives
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How Managers Achieve Great Results
with Others (p. 374)
 Motivation
• Incentive or drive to complete a task, function, or
idea
• All our behaviors are motivated by an intrinsic desire
to do well
• Managers need to know what motivates their
employees
 Communication
• Act of transmitting information, thoughts, and
processes through various channels
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How Managers Achieve Great Results
with Others (cont.)
 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (p. 375)
• People are motivated by a number of needs that are
displayed in a hierarchy
• Physiological – basic items that we need to ensure our
survival
• Safety – need for an environment that is safe, both
physically and mentally
• Affiliation/belongingness – desire to be accepted by others
and to find our place in social settings
• Esteem – need to be respected and appreciated by others
• Self-actualization – need for personal growth and selfdevelopment
 Esteem and self-actualization are particularly important and
relevant for today’s fluid workplace
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How Managers Achieve Great Results
with Others (cont.)
 ERG theory (p. 375)
• System that sets out three categories of human
needs
• Existence needs – describe our physiological and
safety needs
• Relatedness needs – reflect our desire for good
relationships with others
• Growth needs – need for personal fulfillment, selfdevelopment, and accomplishment
• Movement within the hierarchy can be up or down
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How Managers Achieve Great Results
with Others (cont.)
 Two factor theory of motivation (p. 375)
• Theory based on job satisfaction and/or job dissatisfaction
and the extent to which attitudes influence motivation
• Hygienes – e.g., working conditions, wages, job security,
and company policy (p. 376)
 If these factors considered poor or below average, job
dissatisfaction likely to be higher
• Motivators – opportunities for personal growth, such as
recognition, achievement, and advancement
 When absent, employees experience ambivalence toward their roles
 When effective, employees are highly stimulated and satisfied with
their roles
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Communicating with Others (p. 377)
 Process of communicating
Figure 15.1
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Communicating with Others (cont.)
 Process of communicating (cont.)
• Sender – encodes and transmits message through a
chosen communication channel (p. 378)
• Receiver – decodes and interprets the meaning of
the message
 Provides feedback to the sender to assure that message
was received and understood
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Communicating with Others (cont.)
 Oral communication (p. 378)
• Provides verbal discussions, ideas, and processes,
either one-on-one or as a group (face-to-face)
• Advantages
 Helps to build relationships
 Accelerates decision making and problem solving
 Provides a forum for immediate feedback
• Disadvantages
 Informal nature may lead to vague or reckless statements
 Unless recorded, messages may be unreliable, unstable,
and incomplete
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Communicating with Others (cont.)
 Written communication (p. 378)
• System in which sender prepares written documents
• Advantages
 Greater time may be devoted to message preparation
 Message can be archived
 Receiver has more time to interpret the message
• Disadvantages
 Time and effort required to prepare an effective statement
 Does not permit spontaneous or immediate feedback
 Sender does not know whether message has been
interpreted as intended
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Communicating with Others (cont.)
 Electronic communication (p. 378)
• Includes emails, Skype, instant messaging,
videoconferencing, and social networking (e.g., Twitter,
Facebook)
• Advantages
 Can be delivered instantly to a large audience
 Messages can be sent and delivered from any location
 Effective way for group members to stay in touch
• Disadvantages (p. 379)
 May be hampered by technical problems
 Messages open to misinterpretation
 Users subject to hacking and cyber criminals
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Communicating with Others (cont.)
Figure 15.2
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Communicating with Others (cont.)
 Channel richness (p. 379)
• Capacity to convey as much information as possible
during the communication process
• Face-to-face is the richest communication channel
 Permits direct personal contact, immediate feedback, and
immediate clarification
 Body language – person’s facial expression and body
movements that express communication and emotion
without the use of words
• Telephone conversation is the next richest channel
 Body language and direct eye contact are absent
 Verbal cues express level of emotion
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Communicating with Others (cont.)
 Barriers to communication (p. 380)
• Obstacles that interrupt
the flow of conveying
and receiving messages
Figure 15.3
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Communicating with Others (cont.)
 Barriers to communication (cont.)
• Filtering – message is screened before being passed on to
the receiver (p. 381)
 May be resolved with simple language and reliance on several
communication channels
• Emotion – mood affects communication
 May be overcome with awareness of one’s feelings and constraining
them when communicating
• Information overload – large amounts of information can
lead to confusion
 Prioritize work to avoid simultaneous waves of information
• Differing perceptions – imposing one’s own reality
 Overcome by examining our assumptions and seeking constructive
feedback
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Communicating with Others (cont.)
 Overcoming communication barriers (p. 381)
• Listening – active effort to understand, learn, and
obtain information from others
 Give speaker full attention
 Avoid distractions
 Don’t interrupt
 Read nonverbal cues
 In the case of global networks, learn to understand
different culture and teach teams to communicate
effectively in virtual organizations
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Communicating with Others (cont.)
 Communication networks (p. 381)
• System of resources used as a channel for groups of people to
connect to each other
• Grapevine (p. 382) - informal line of communication
where information is passed from one person to another
• Gossip chain - several individuals spread information
through an organization, which is sometimes false or
misleading
• Cluster chain - group of people that disseminate
information within their group or cluster
 Effective and consistent management
communication required to control rumors
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Communicating with Others (cont.)
 To become a more effective communicator and
motivator a manager must display: (p. 382)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Compassion
Conscientiousness
Forgiveness
Gratitude
Grit
Humility
Hypo-egoic –heightened self-awareness that signals leaders when their
actions are inhibiting others or are based on satisfying their own needs (p.
383)
• Mindfulness
• Openness
• Wisdom
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Power of Challenging Work (p. 383)
 Expectancy theory (p. 384)
• Holds that individuals are more likely to be motivated and
perform well if they expect to receive desired rewards
• Outcomes – the results of a process or undertaking
• Valence – individual’s opinion of the value of outcomes (p.
385)
• Effort-to-performance expectancy – effort devoted to role
will result in high performance
 Individuals confident in their ability to perform will have high
motivation
• Performance-to-outcome expectancy – perception that
desired performance will lead to desired outcomes
 If performance-to-outcome expectancy is high, motivation will be high
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Power of Challenging Work (cont.)
 Porter-Lawler introduced two types of rewards into
expectancy theory (p. 385)
• Intrinsic rewards – positive feelings experienced as a
result of achieving the task
• Extrinsic rewards – concrete rewards (e.g., bonuses,
promotions)
 Goal setting theory
• Motivation will be increased by clear, challenging, specific
goals where employees are fully committed and
encouraged to give feedback
• Goals focus attention and direct efforts to achieve a specific
target
• Achieving goals produces a sense of accomplishment and
satisfaction
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Reinforcing Positive Behaviors (p. 386)
 Reinforcement theory
• Behavioral construct where individuals may be rewarded or
punished based on the consequences of their behavior
• Reinforcement schedules
 Fixed-interval
 Variable interval
 Fixed ratio
• Behavior modification – method of shaping actions by the
use of positive reinforcement
 Positive reinforcement – reward given to motivate a person or
group which is usually stated verbally or with ‘pats on the back’
and words of encouragement
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Reinforcing Positive Behaviors (cont.)
 Reinforcement theory (cont.)
• Avoidance learning – benefits theory, also called
negative reinforcement, which postulates that
behavior is strengthened by the removal of
negative statements or actions (p. 386)
• Extinction – behavioral method that involves
withholding praise or a positive reward
 Empowerment
• the sharing of decisions, information, and
responsibility with others
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Rewarding Performance (p. 388)
 Reward system
• Theory that provides prizes, incentives for tasks and jobs
well done, and special recognition
• Merit-based rewards – positive reinforcement based on
specific accomplishments, with rewards given for
achievement of specified measurements
• Piece-rate incentives – awards and prizes given at a
specific rate as accomplishments occur, rather than all at
one time
• Scanlon plan – system that recognizes and rewards
individuals for collaboration, leadership, education, and
training given to another individual or group cohesively
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Rewarding Performance (cont.)
 Equity theory (p. 389)
• System that holds that individuals are more motivated if
they perceive that they are being treated as fairly as their
fellow workers or those in other firms
 Stock options (p. 390)
• Company stocks given to employees as additional
compensation or incentives, usually at a discounted price
for a limited time
 Gainsharing
• System that allows employees to share in any cost savings
made by the firm
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