COMMUNICATION
Focus on Listening
Definitions of
Effective Communications

Cognitive congruence
between what is
sent and what is
received: shared
meaning.
More Effective
Communication

Behavioral

produces the desired
response: achieves
its purpose
Organizational

the right people
receive the right info
in a timely manner
COMMUNICATON IS MORE
THAN JUST THE MEDIA
Model of the Communication
Process
Feedback
Sender
Thinking
Encoding
Transmitting
Receiver
Perceiving
Decoding
Understanding
The Process in Action
 Thinking: Purchasing manager says to herself, “I
think we’re getting short on Liederhosen.”
 Encoding: Writes an e-mail to assistant telling him
to get Liederhosen
 Transmitting: Sends e-mail
 Perceiving: Assistant reads e-mail three days
later.
 Decoding: Checks dictionary to find out exactly
what Leiderhosen is.
 Understanding: Realizes that he needs to buy
men’s traditional German leather shorts.
Examples of Barriers to
effective communication
 Use
of
emotionally
charged words
or politically
incorrect
terminology
 Exclusive
focus
on content
rather than
context –
ignoring:
 Intonation
 Emotions
 Non-verbal
cues
 Distrust or
credibility of
sender
Cover – Economist - October 4-10,
2003
Even More Barriers
 Unclear Messages
 Jargon
 Inadequate Information
 Semantics
 Inappropriate Channel Richness
 Listening:
 Filtering
 Selective Listening
 Lack
of feedback
Increasing Message Clarity
 Use
Multiple Channels
 Phone
conversation followed up with an email. Team VTC followed by a personal
meeting.
 Be
Complete and Specific
 Provide
as much information as possible.
Message Clarity

Claim Ownership of Your Message


Be Congruent


State your point of view rather than making
generalizations (e.g. “Most people think that..’.)
Do what you say and make sure body language
and words say the same thing
Simplify Your Language

“I have changed my mind” is almost as good as: “I
am experiencing a paradigm shift”
Not-so favorable
recommendations
Extremely inept – “I most
enthusiastically
recommend this candidate
with no qualifications
whatsoever.”
Totally worthless – “I can
assure you that no person
wood be better for this
job”.
Not-so-favorable continued
industrious – “In my opinion,
you will be very fortunate to get this
person to work for you.”
 Not worthy of further consideration
– “I would urge you to waste no
time in making this candidate an
offer of employment.”
 Not
Match the Medium to the
Message
Channel Richness
Richest
Type of Message
Nonroutine
Ambiguous
Information Medium
> Personal chat
>Telephone
>Personal e-mail
>Memos, Letters
Leanest
Routine,
Clear
>Fliers, Web Sites
Electronic Bulletins
Increasing Communicator
Credibility/Trust
 Expertise
 Mutual
Trust
 Reliability
 Warmth and Friendliness
 Personal Image / Confidence
How to Project Confidence with
Your Words
 Know
exactly what you want
 Commitment
to goal > better able to sell
idea
 Use
first person (“I”) if not part of team
 Take
credit for ideas
 Minimize
appearance of uncertainty
 If
unsure of opinion, make broad but
positive statements
 Make
bold statements about ideas.
Effective Listening
1. Make Eye Contact
2. Exhibit Affirmative Head Nods and Appropriate Facial
Expressions
3. Avoid Distracting Actions or Gestures
4. Ask Questions
5. Paraphrase
More on Listening
6. Avoid
Interrupting the Speaker
7. Don’t talk while trying to listen
8. Judge the message after it has been
delivered
9. Listen for and respond to feelings
10. Note all cues, verbal and non-verbal
Stay away from emotionally
charged words!
Examples of Political correctness

Physically challenged
instead of physically
disabled or handicapped
 Women in the Office instead
of office girl
 Undocumented workers
instead of illegal aliens
 Monocultural instead of
white, honkey
Politically Correct
 Senior
instead of elderly or old codger
 Vertically challenged instead of short
 Indigenous peoples instead of Native
American or Australian
 Differently-sized people instead of fatso
 Visually impaired instead of blind
 Temporarily insane instead of guilty
Communication Exercise
Procedure
 As
individuals, fill out and score
Listening Skills survey.
 When done get into groups and select
one observer
 Everyone but the observer: Produce a
list (by consensus ) of gender-based
communication differences. Select a
spokesperson to present your list. (20
minutes max.)
Observers
On the sheet provided, record your
observations of the group
 Stop the group after 20 minutes if it has
not finished
 Using your supportive communication
skills, feedback your observations of
listening skills to each individual.

 Group
members (other than the focal
person) may contribute their observations.
 Focal person – listen.