MESSAGE DESIGN LOGICS
AND EFFECTIVENESS OF
CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK
Kathryn S. O’Neill, Geraldine E. Hynes, &
Heather R. Wilson
Sam Houston State University
March 14, 2013
Association for Business Communication
Southwestern U.S. Annual Conference
Background

Organizations spent $133.4 billion in 2011 to train
employees (ASTD, State of the Industry Report, 2012)
 12.6%
is for training managers and supervisors
 7.9% is for training in interpersonal skills

Premise: Skilled communicators of corrective
feedback improve employee performance and
productivity
Agenda





Theoretical Framework
Purpose
Methodology
Results
Discussion and Implications
Theoretical Framework

O’Keefe and McCornack (1987)
 Asked
why some communication situations elicit wide
variation in messages’ content and effectiveness

O’Keefe’s (1988) Theory of Message Design Logics
 Suggested
messages are designed according to three
fundamental premises in ends-to-means reasoning
about communication
Expressive
Fundamental Premise: Language is a medium for
expressing thoughts and feelings
 Example:
“You have not done your share of the group’s work. I
am going to have to remove you from the group. I
know you have done some work, though. Can you
bring it to my house so I can use it? Maybe I can
salvage something from this situation.”

Conventional
Fundamental Premise: Communication is a game
played cooperatively by social rules
 Example:
“I am going to have to ask you to rewrite this report.
The things I want you to do are listed on this page of
comments. Please turn the work around as quickly as
possible.”

Rhetorical
Fundamental Premise: Communication is the
creation and negotiation of social selves and
situations
 Example:

“Things have gone well on our project, and we have another
whole day before it must go to the typist. Your part was
good, but I think it could be strengthened with some minor
additions. What would really help is some statistical support.
I bet a couple of hours at the library would do the trick. I
know you are as eager as the rest of us to get a good grade,
and I think the investment of a little more time would really
pay off. What do you say?”
Purpose
Apply O’Keefe’s theory
 To
the workplace
 To interactions between supervisors and their
subordinates
Research Methods





Pilot study: collected messages in response to a typical
corrective feedback situation
Sample: 14 Supervisors in communication training
program
Task: To deliver corrective feedback to a chronically
tardy employee
Procedure: Supervisors wrote what they would say to
their employee
Analysis:
Authors used a rubric to analyze each message
independently
 Came to consensus for each message

Results: Distribution of Message Types



21% of the sample composed Rhetorical messages
64% composed Conventional messages
14% composed Expressive messages
Results: Experience And Message Type
Message Type
Years of Experience
Rhetorical
5 - 20
Conventional
1 - 12
Expressive
1, unk.
Discussion




Theory is supported in workplace settings
Developmental aspect of the theory is supported
Theory supports a strategy of formal training for
supervisory communication skills
Case-based exercises may be a valuable tool for
predicting supervisors’ communication skill level
Next Steps



Expand study to include supervisors in multiple
industry settings
Expand study to consider more demographic factors
Test perceived effectiveness of message design
logics
Thank you!
Kathryn O’Neill <oneill@shsu.edu>
 Gerry Hynes <hynes@shsu.edu>
 Heather Wilson <hrw004@shsu.edu>


PowerPoint <www.shsu.edu/~gba_geh>