Chapter 9
Communicating in
teams and
organisations
Learning Objectives
9.1
9.2
9.3
9.4
9.5
9.6
Explain why communication is important in organisations and
discuss four influences on effective communication encoding and
decoding
Compare and contrast the advantages of and problems with
electronic mail, other verbal communication media, and non-verbal
communication
Explain how social acceptance and media richness influence the
preferred communication channel
Discuss various barriers (noise) to effective communication,
including cross-cultural and gender-based differences in
communication
Explain how to get messages across more effectively, and
summarise the elements of active listening
Summarise effective communication strategies in organisational
hierarchies, and review the role and relevance of the organisational
grapevine
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9-2
Communicating Through
Social Media at Domino’s
The CEO of Domino’s
Pizza uses the social
media to stay connected
while travelling. He uses
Facebook to obtain
customer feedback and to
engage customers in
novel ways, like the ‘Social
Pizza’. He has also
learned about cultural
differences in the use of
social media, as his Dutch
customers prefer tweeting.
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9-3
Communication Defined
• The process by
which information is
transmitted and
understood between
two or more people
• Effective
communication
– Transmitting
intended meaning
(not just symbols)
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9-4
Importance of Communication
•
•
•
•
•
Coordinating work activities
Organisational learning
Decision making
Change behaviour
Employee wellbeing
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9-5
Communication Process
Model
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9-6
Influences on Effective
Encoding and Decoding
• Communication proficiency: motivation and
ability of sender and receiver
• Similar codebooks
• Shared mental models of the communication
context
• Experience encoding the message
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McShane, Olekalns, Travaglione, Organisational Behaviour, 4e
9-7
Think Before You Send
• UXC Connect addressed the email overload
strategically by developing guidelines on using
emails
• For example, a key principle is that emails should be
sent only if they help co-workers to do their job
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9-8
How Email has Altered
Communication
•
•
•
•
Now preferred medium for coordinating work
Tends to increase communication volume
Significantly alters communication flow
Reduces some selective attention biases
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9-9
Problems with Email
• Communicates emotions poorly
• Reduces politeness and respect (increased cyber
bullying)
• Inefficient for ambiguous, complex, novel situations
• Increases information overload
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9-10
Workplace Communication
Through Social Media
• Social media include internet-based tools
that allow users to generate and exchange
information
• Social media take many forms, serve several
functions and are more interactive and
dynamic
• Social media may offer considerable
versatility and potential in the workplace
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9-11
Non-Verbal Communication
• Facial gestures, voice intonation, physical
distance and even silence
• Influences meaning of verbal symbols
• Less rule-bound than verbal communication
• Important part of emotional labour
• Most is automatic and non-conscious
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9-12
Emotional Contagion
• The automatic process of sharing another
person’s emotions by mimicking their facial
expressions and other non-verbal behaviour
• Serves three purposes:
– Provides continuous feedback to speaker
– Increases emotional understanding of the other
person’s experience
– Communicates a collective sentiment—sharing
the experience as part of the drive to bond
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9-13
Choosing the Best
Communication Channel
• Social acceptance
– How well the communication channel is approved
and supported by the organisation, team and
individual:
 Communication channel norms
 Individual communication channel preferences
 Symbolic meaning of the communication
channel
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9-14
Choosing the Best
Communication Channel
continued
• Media richness
– The channel’s data-carrying capacity needs to be
aligned with the communication activity
– High richness when channel:
 conveys multiple cues
 allows timely feedback
 allows customised message
 permits complex symbols
– Use rich communication media when the situation
is non-routine and ambiguous
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9-15
Hierarchy of Media Richness
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9-16
Factors that Override Media
Richness
• Ability to multi-communicate with lean
channels
• Communication proficiency
• Social presence effects
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9-17
Persuasive Communication
• Changing another person’s beliefs and
attitudes through using facts, arguments and
emotional appeal
• Spoken communication is more persuasive
because it:
– Is accompanied by non-verbal communication
– Has high quality immediate feedback
– Has high social presence
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9-18
Communication Barriers
• Perceptions
• Filtering
• Language
– Jargon
– Ambiguity
• Information overload
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9-19
Information Overload
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9-20
Managing Information
Overload
• Solution 1: Increase information processing
capacity
–
–
–
–
–
Learn to read faster
Scan through documents more efficiently
Remove distractions
Time management
Temporarily work longer hours
• Solution 2: Reduce information load
– Buffering
– Omitting
– Summarising
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9-21
Cross-Cultural Communication
• Verbal differences
– Language
– Voice intonation
– Silence/conversational
overlaps
• Non-verbal differences
– Interpreting non-verbal
meaning
– Importance of verbal
versus non-verbal
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9-22
Gender Communication
Differences
Men
Women
Power speech:
gives advice directly
Powerless speech:
gives advice indirectly
Task oriented:
report talk
Relationship oriented:
rapport talk
Conversations are
negotiations of status
Less sensitive to
non-verbal cues
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Conversations are
bonding events
More sensitive to
non-verbal cues
9-23
Improving Interpersonal
Communication
1. Empathise
2. Repeat the message
3. Use multiple
communication
channels
4. Use timing effectively
5. Be descriptive
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9-24
Active Listening Process and
Strategies
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9-25
Improving Workplace
Communication
• Workspace design
– Clustering people in teams
– Open office arrangements
• Internet-based organisational communication
– Wikis, collaborative document creation
• Direct communication with management
– Management by walking around (MBWA)
– Town hall meetings
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9-26
Organisational Grapevine
• Early research findings
–
–
–
–
Transmits information rapidly in all directions
Follows a cluster chain pattern
More active in homogeneous groups
Transmits some degree of truth
• Changes due to internet
– Email becoming the main grapevine medium
– Social networks are now global
– Public blogs and forums extend gossip to
everyone
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9-27
Grapevine Benefits/Limitations
• Benefits
–
–
–
–
Fills in missing information from formal sources
Strengthens corporate culture
Relieves anxiety
Signals that problems exist
• Limitations
– Distortions might escalate anxiety
– Perceived lack of concern for employees when
company informtation is slower than grapevine
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Summary
• Effective communication (transmitting and
understanding information) is vital to various
aspects of managing organisations and people
• Main types of communication channels are
verbal and non-verbal as well as internetbased channels. The right channel depends on
social acceptance and media richness
• Several barriers create noise in the
communication process and need to be
addressed through awareness and active
listening
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9-29
Chapter 9
Communicating in
teams and
organisations