Assignment Organizational Communication
Assignment Organizational Communication
Assignment Organizational Communication
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS
Quarter: Winter 2015,
Deadline for Submission of Assignment: February 5,
2015
Attempt all questions given below. Your answers should not be copied, word-forword, from the textbook. You may use the terms, concepts, examples from the
textbook, but these must be written as your own, independent expression.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
What is feedback? What are the keys to giving and receiving the
feedback effectively?
8.
9.
10.
The message begins with the information sources , the mind of the
sender, who speaks a message encodes it into words or action and
sentences.
The message can be anything a written note or saying of words, a mark
on piece of paper or sound waves that travel through a proper channel.
Where it is distorted by either typing or noise and in the end it reaches the
receiver and receiver decodes the message.
Communicator
Audience
As
As
Sender
Message
receiver
Figure # 1.
As you can see the figure it simply define this theory, a sender who
encode and message and message travel through any mean and reach
the receiver and in the end receiver decode that message.
The introduction of term and idea i.e. sender & receiver in
communication given by this theory, and the possible interference. And
also the accuracy aspect of communication is emphasized by this theory.
The usefulness of electronic theory is limited as people are not machines.
But one can possibly design a perfect accurate electronic communication
system.
1. Preoccupation
2. New technique for improving our writing and speaking skill
3. The accuracy of idea and thoughts
These all should be done by considering the pre-planned policy and
structure, that it should comply with those and those which the policy
forbids, or there is the possibility of rejection to your idea and thoughts,
the receiver can considerably ignores your message as he/she can think
you do not have a right to discuss or the you might not be able to express
your idea accurately to convince other.
Message
Audience
Certain Environment
Speech acts
Phone conversation
Face to face conversation
Gender specific
Message
Communicator
Audience
Response
Environment
Aristotle was the first who addressed the problem of communication and
attempted to work out a theory that is known as Rhetorical theory. In which
emphasis is placed on both parties clearly understanding the message in the
communication after the circular communication process R4
Why is it more important than two other theories of communication?
Third set of theorists add more dimensions to our understanding of the
communication
process:
Communication is not linear, but circular; not just sending a message to be
received,
but
producing
a
response;
not
static,
but
dynamic.
Rhetorical theorists provide an important addition to a communication model for
business
communicators
Many people caught up in the accuracy forget third crucial variable, producing
the
desired
response
form their audience. R6
Refernece
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
R1=( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communication )
R2= (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication)
R3= (www.inf.ed.ac.uk/teaching/courses/hc1/slides1011/slides27.pdf)
R4= (http://communicationtheory.org)
R5= (http://references-definitions.blurtit.com/98665/what-is-rhetoricaltheory)
6. R6= (http://references-definitions.blurtit.com/98665/what-is-rhetoricaltheory )
Psychological
Psychological
Barriers
Barriers
Relationships
Relationships
Attitude
Attitude
Sematic
Sematic
Barrier
Barrier
Communication
Communication
Barriers
Barriers
Varied
Varied
Connotatiive
Connotatiive
Meanings
Meanings
Time
Time
Place
Place
space
space
Physical
barrier
Physical barrier
Climate
Climate
Nose
Nose
Choise
Of
Choise Of
Mediium
Mediium
PSYCHOLOGIAL BARRIERS
The barriers fall under this category includes the following
1. Emotional
2. Perceptions
3. Selectivity
Emotional:
One of the possible psychological block is emotional. E.g. one must be
emotion al blocked if he /she are going to announce a new policy and
he/she knows that the policy cannot be accepted in general and refused.
Or one is asked to be prepare for the most worthy and shift-up
presentation of his/her carrier, and the most demanding when you are
writing to someone whom you dislike.
Emotional barriers are considered very important for the personality of a
person. A person is not professional in communication if he is facing such
barriers during communication. He must overcome this problem because
it is considered as gap in communication. Fear, empathy and vulnerability
are emotional barriers and can be overcome with determination.
Emotional barriers become active when a person ignores the suggestion
or idea of other one. Such person feels that he is alone in this world and
no one is here to respect his ideas. His emotions become the barrier for
his communication. Besides this, fear also plays an important role as
barrier in communication. The fear of talking to higher authority person is
very common in people. They become confuse and feel difficulty in
sending their message to him. R1
One factor is timing, that some message that are effective at one time are
not effective at other or even useless at other, kind of just for information.
Any message that address a specific happening like a letter of
congratulation and letter of condolence address a specific happening of
event, and are effective only at that time.
e.g. a call of meeting on the concern of safety issue in construction
company has more value and attraction when there an incident because
of safety lack.
Similarly there are a lot of selectiveness that can be a barrier to a
communication.
A receiver gets the message, selectively and encodes what benefit
him/her or in her/his interest and forget the rest of the message. It can be
due to experience, need and motivation that drive him/her to do so.
Here the thinking tendency, knowledge and information of the people also
involves that some of the people already knows about the issues, context
and the topic of the message.
Semantic Barrier:
Semantics is related to meanings of words. To be more exact, it is related
to connotative and denotative meanings of words and its study. Every
word has a direct meaning called the denotative meaning. In addition to
its exact or lexical meaning, words also acquire implied meanings called
connotative meanings. Connotations are understood based only on an
individuals experience and knowledge.
Words are of course are symbols, and therefore limited because they
cannot have precisely the same meaning for everyone.
The study of word choice is called semantic and thus these can a barrier
to a communication that the listener or audience to a massage interprets
the message wrongly.
If the encoder and decoder do not share the same connotative meaning of
words, misunderstanding occurs. e.g. you will enjoy a cheap holiday or
factories requires cheap labor to reduce the cost of production. The
connotation of cheap is different here.
The second thing that leads to the semantic barrier is the fluency of
language. Communication with someone whose native language is is not
the same as yours may block the communication and result in the choice
of irrelevant and inappropriate words.
References
1. R1=
http://www.wannareadyou.com/emotional-barriers-ofcommunication-know-the-reasons-of-emotionalbarriers.html#axzz3PqOhOAHj
2. R2=
http://www.ehow.com/list_6756817_perceptual-barrierscommunication.html
3. R3=http://www.ehow.com/info_8120612_semantic-barriers-effectivecommunication.html
4. R4= https://www.scribd.com/doc/98799734/Physical-Barriers
Question # 3: Write the most common pitfalls of the following channels of
communications:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Downward Communication
Upward Communication
Lateral Communication
Writing Communication
Answer:
A
medium
through
which
a message is
transmitted
to
its
intended audience, such as print media or broadcast (electronic) media.
Communication channels are the means through which people in an
organization communicate. Thought must be given to what channels are
used to complete various tasks, because using an inappropriate channel
for a task or interaction can lead to negative consequences. Complex
messages require richer channels of communication that facilitate
interaction to ensure clarity.
Importance of Communication
A breakdown in the communication channel leads to an inefficient flow in
information. For example, if employees are unaware of what the
organization expects of them, this could cause employees to become
suspicious of motives and changes in the company. This could negatively
affect productivity in the workplace. If productivity decreases, eventually
this will harm the organization as a whole.
Formal
Communicat
ion Channels
Informal
Unofficial
Once you have considered the organization itself. The channels of
communication are open to you
Directional Flow.
The directional flow in which you send a message, whether it is, say being
sent within the organization or outside of it, whether it is being sent up or
down the hierarchy also effects the communication. For example some
researcher says that the message and information get distorted as it flows
upward in an organization and some other says that the information get
distorted as it flows downward. There can be lot of reason which involves
in the distortion of information on either side. Other research shows that
in lateral communication block by some common reason as rivalry and
jealous among peers.
Download Communication:
Downward communication is the flow of information and messages from a
higher level inside an organization to a lower one. Effective downward
communication is crucial to an organization's success.
Possible Pitfalls of download Communication:
1. Download communication is time consuming because it moves
along the line of command of hierarchy. It results in the waste of
time as the line communication is long.
2. Download communication has to pass through the level of authority
so delay as well as distortion of the message and information.
in
3. R3=
http://thebusinesscommunication.com/advantages-anddisadvantages-of-written-communication/
2.
3.
Initial Audience: is the audience that receives the message first and
routs it to other audiences. Sometimes, the initial audience guides
the sender regarding designing of the message.
has to devise some common ground between him and the audience. He
has to choose the information that audience needs and finds interesting.
He should encode the message in words and other symbols that audience
will understand easily
"Understanding your audience is fundamental to the success of any
message. You need to adapt your message to fit the audience's goals,
interests and needs." ~ Kitty O. Locker and Stephen Kyo Kaczmark R4
In order to communicate effectively the communicator should have
information about the audience:
1. How much the audience knows about the topic, i.e., their
knowledge?
2. Demographic factors, i.e. age, income, number of children, etc.
3. Personality.
4. Values and beliefs.
5. Past behavior.
Demographic Factors:
Past Behavior: R5
Minds,
says
that
effective
According to the book, The Guru Guide, CEOs overwhelming say that in
managing change you can never do enough to get your message across
to your people. R6
WHAT MAKES PEOPLE LISTEN?
Paying attention is a gift from the audience to the speaker, a momentary
surrender of control. An audience will respond, either purposely or
unconsciously: 1. if the message is in their self-interest 2. if they trust and
believe the person delivering the message 3. if they like the message
itself. Understanding and addressing audience motivations is the first step
in making your connection.
HOW CAN YOU GET THIS ATTENTION?
The next step in grabbing the audiences attention is to manage
intentionally the audience perceptions of you, as well as their
expectations: literally, you must explain your relationship to your
audience and establish your professional identity.
As after getting your audience inventory, you need to figure out how best
to motivate the people you have just analyzed. One must try to increase
credibility and also try to structure message persuasively.
Understanding psychological theories of motivation is very important for
the success of business communication. Without the basic neither one can
keep things running nor can fix when they break down.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
2. Threat can only effects one side of picture but the desired outcome,
that is expected from it is still zero.
3. Threat can produce to the working environment and lead to tension
and distress.
4. Threat lead to make people dislike you
5. Threat can also lead to counter aggressive reply.
Consider a reward a way to change behavior, as the rewards are
considered as effective way to shape behavior. Rewarding certain
behaviors is an extremely powerful tool to get desired results. Reward
must be important for the person who is going to get it. Different
people react differently, some like to have recognition of achievement,
some to money.
Appeal to their growth needs:
In most of the cases you cannot reward your audience with tangible things
or prizes. Here you have to reward the effectively by appealing to their
growth.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
1. Analyze cost and benefit of the idea itself; as many of us only have
a view on ony advantages not on disadvantages.
2. Analyze cost and benefit in favor of audience; advantages we only
look to the potential reward that result for us only without thinking
about the acceptance of our audience.
3. Specify the benefit that audience is going to have with your idea.
Naturally, people are not like the numbers and figure of any financial cost/
benefit analysis. So one should assume audience the same way, when
confronted by the same situation.
Be Sensitive to character Traits:
Generalization about ourselves or other peoples can be dangerous.
Perceiving the behavior is a character trait and we may perceive
incorrectly, and it can be worst when the categorized people based on
incorrect inference. So everyones character is more complex than on
simple trait.
Taking these into mind, that the effective communication can only be
possible by considering what will motivate and persuade your audience.
E.g. one has a differenet conversation method and motive with sales
manager than to an accountant.
Different people are convinced by different things. Just as engineers use
electrical theory to predict how machines work, communicators must use
psychological theory to predict how people work. Effective communicators
analyze what will motivate the people with whom they are communicating
There are so many way that can be devised to have an analysis, instead f
discuss the personality theories.
In summary there are as many possible means and ways that one can use
to motivate the audience, analyzing who they are, how they feel, and the
cost/benefit and one can use different techniques by keep these things in
mind and achieve the desired results.Reference
1. R1= http://www.tlcsem.com/pmotivate.htm
2. R2= http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/audience-analysis/
3. R3=
http://debo10199businesscommunication.blogspot.com/2012/02/
audience-analysis-part.html
4. R4=
http://debo10199businesscommunication.blogspot.com/2012/02/
audience-analysis-part.html
5. R5=
http://debo10199businesscommunication.blogspot.com/2012/02/
audience-analysis-part-b.html
6. R6= mgt.ncsu.edu/pdfs/career_resources/Audience%20Strategy.pdf
a. Assumptions and facts are what you start out with when you
are thinking; conclusion is what you end up with.
b. There are two valid method to draw conclusion: 1.
i. Deduction
ii. Induction
Deduction: Starting with a main principle or assumption, applying it to a
specific case, and drawing a conclusion.
Example: Start with a main principle, such as Business
Communication is important
Apply a specific case, such as writing is a part of communication;
and come up with a conclusion, Therefore, writing is important
Induction: This only other valid way to draw conclusion is by induction.
Induction means starting with specifics and generalizing to the main
principle.
Example: Start with a series of specific such as, I will be spending
a lot of time in business meetings I will be spending a lot of time
writing business letters I will be spending a lot of time writing
memos to the people within the organization
Avoid either/or defect: this occurs when you setup two alternatives
and do not allow any other. Example: if you dont like your boss,
than quit!(ignores other alternatives such as changing the situation
Avoid the catchall explanation: This oversimplification occurs when
you isolate one factor and treat it as if it were the sole cause.
Example: The Edsel failed because consumers werent ready for
push button gear shift. (This idea ignores other possible reasons
or combination of reasons for the Edsels failure)
Structuring of Ideas
When you think, naturally, all different kinds of ideas occur to you some
good, some bad, some complete, and some fragmented.
The result of thinking process is your conclusion.
When you communicate you dont want your audience to wade through;
instead, you want to structure your ideas, to make your conclusion clear.
An effective structure is based on: 1) Providing a hierarchy for your ideas
2) Choosing the appropriate order for those ideas.
They would dare to be open with one another, and the result would
be one of disruption in team working relationships, escalation of bad
feelings carried over from old grievances, etc.
Giving and Receiving Feedback
The way in which feedback is given and received during microteaching
contributes to the learning process. Feedback that is vague, judgmental,
ill-timed, or unusable is not as valuable as feedback that
is specific, descriptive, timely, and practical.
Similarly, although
being criticized is often not pleasant, being open to well-intentioned, wellcrafted feedback can only further professional development.
Presented below (and in a handout) is a series of suggestions for how to
give and receive feedback in a microteaching workshop.
Giving Feedback
When giving feedback, try to:
Be specific rather than general. The more concrete the feedback is,
the more useful it will be to the person receiving it. Thus, rather than
saying, Mike sometimes you weren't clear in your explanations . . .," tell
Mike exactly where he was vague and describe why you had trouble
understanding
him.
Similarly, it is nice but not very helpful to say, Joan, I thought you did an
excellent job. Rather, list the specific things that Joan did well. For
example, she might have motivated the problem effectively, used
transitions advantageously, or communicated interest and enthusiasm.
Tell her how these techniques contributed to the success of her
performance.
Be descriptive, not evaluative. Focus on the effect the performance
had on you, rather than on how good or bad you perceive it to be. For
example, saying, Its wrong to call on students when they dont have
their hands up, is a generalization that may or may not be true in all
cases. However, saying I felt uncomfortable because you called on me
when I didnt have my hand up, can help the person realize that students
may
have
the
same
reaction.
Remember, too, that some of your responses will come from your own
perceptions (for example, not everyone feels uncomfortable when called
on). Thus it is good practice to begin most feedback with, In my
opinion . . . or, In my experience . . . .
You will have less idea if speaking the outside groups. Get the idea
from the person who invited you to speak to the outside group
If audience members have the same occupation, you can form an
idea about your audience.
3. Select the main idea for message
Selecting the main theme or your core idea should be done first.
Gather additional information for supporting your core idea.
Initially, core ideas or supporting information may be haphazard,
which is quite normal.
Do not rush this stage of preparation.
Do not presume this initial structure will be your final version.
4. Research the topic
It is obvious that you would not possess complete information about
your central theme.
Collect facts, data and information.
Your research may cause you to drop some initial ideas and add new
ones.
New facts, new views are constantly appearing.
5. Organize data and write the draft
In this step initial outline is structured into deliverable presentation.
A good oral presentation has three part: Introduction, a body (Text,
discussion), and a conclusion or summary)
1. Introduction: Introduction seeks to do several things: Getting
attention, include an aim or purpose, and layout the direction
of speech.
2. Body (Text, discussion):
This is the heart of the presentation; here you include data
and evidence in support of your central theme.
3. Summary or Conclusion: It reminds the audience of the main
ideas covered in the body of the talk, whereas conclusion
draws inference from the data.
6. Create Visual Aids
Some presentations do not require visuals , for some visuals are
indispensable part.
But the most important is answering the question: Would visual ass
to understanding and support of your message?
7. Rehearse the talk
By rehearsing you will become more comfortable with your material.
When rehearsing, stand and deliver your talk out loud.
Rehearsing three times is enough to have confidence. If rehearsed
too much, the statement sounds.
Introduction
Meetings are an extremely common form of
communication.
They range from large and formal to small and formal.
They include:
Regular staff meetings.
Project team meetings.
Special or ongoing committee meetings.
business
Effective chairing will ensure that a meeting achieves its aims and objectives.
Chairs should facilitate, encourage, focus and clarify
2.
understand what is going on around them are less likely to take the risk of
speaking up. Chairs must ensure that there is real democracy and that
everyone is involved and encouraged to take part.
Other points to successful and effective chairing:
Start the meeting on time. This respects those who turned up on
time and reminds late-comers that the scheduling is serious. Start
late to accommodate late-comers and they will assume it is ok to
come late.
Introduce yourself and welcome all, especially new members and
thank them for their time. If it is the first meeting of the committee
(or the first of the academic year), it is good practice for all
members to introduce themselves.
At the start of the meeting, review the overall agenda briefly and
involve members in committing to the agenda. This will give
participants a chance to understand all proposed major items and to
indicate any adjustments you may need to make to the agenda for
new problems or priorities.
Review what has previously been done, congratulating members
when things have been accomplished
At the start of each major agenda item, there should be a short
introduction to develop a common understanding and to encourage
participation. Clarify at the outset the type of action needed, the
outcome expected (decision, information point, action assigned to
someone).
Remind members what preparation was expected of them and if
colleagues were expected to read papers before the meeting don't
read them out. The next time you ask them to read beforehand they
will assume it is not worth the effort.
Keep the meeting focused, on time and encourage equal
participation and contribution from members.
Summarize key
points afterwards if lengthy. If discussions are side-tracked, take
appropriate action to get back on track.
Ensure that all members understand any jargon, initials or acronyms
you should not assume that everyone has equal knowledge or
understanding.
Ensure that all the key points are agreed and minuted and actions
assigned to individuals where appropriate with the proposed timeframe and feedback required.
Ensure unresolved items or non-agenda items raised during the
meeting are parked for later attention and it is agreed how they will
5.