Chapter 15   Managers and Communication

Without communication, nothing would ever get done in organizations. Managers are concerned with two types of communication: interpersonal and organizational. We look at both in this chapter and the role they play in a manager’s ability to be efficient and effective. Focus on the following learning outcomes as you read and study this chapter.

LEARNING OUTCOMES 

15.1 Define the nature and function of communication.
15.2 Compare and contrast methods of interpersonal communication.
15.3 Identify barriers to effective interpersonal
communication and how to overcome them.
15.4 Explain how communication can flow most effectively in organizations.
15.5 Describe how technology affects managerial communication and organizations.
15.6 Discuss contemporary issues in communication.

A MANAGER’S DILEMMA 

In the dynamic global environment of today’s organizations, the ability to communicate effectively is a vital skill for managers in every area of business. Your students will learn in their study of Chapter 15 that everything a manager does during the workday involves communication. Moreover, the fact that workforces are becoming increasingly diverse presents a number of challenges to successful communication. Chapter 15 examines key communication issues encountered by managers, including barriers to effective communication and suggestions for overcoming them. Students will read about the different directions in which communication flows within the organization and how managers use communication networks to acquire and disperse information needed for decision making and the production of goods and services. Since managerial communication is significantly affected by information technology, this chapter looks at fundamental concepts of networked computer systems and wireless capabilities.

This chapter’s “A Manager’s Dilemma” looks at Twitter and their growing popularity. Twitter is a messaging service, a customer service tool to reach customers, and provides real-time search, and microblogging. The number of people using Twitter’s service has skyrocketed in recent years.  This has left the company with some interesting challenges, such as how to control the flow of all those tweets. Are there systems in place to protect a user’s data? Is it possible that an individual’s tweets could be intercepted or diverted? What happens when someone sends a Tweet and its content is fraudulent?  Is Tweeter liable in those cases?  Control in this case applies to the security of Twitter account information as well as the security of the overall Twitter system.  As evidenced by WikiLeaks, information can be a powerful tool.  The management of Twitter will need to take security issues seriously as leaked personal or account information would cause customers to lose faith in the organization.

CHAPTER OUTLINE 

INTRODUCTION
 Communication between managers and employees provides the information necessary to get work done effectively and efficiently in organizations. Chapter 15 presents basic managerial communication concepts including the interpersonal communication process, methods of communicating, barriers to effective communications and ways to overcome these barriers.  Organizational communication issues such as communication flow and communication networks, and contemporary issues and challenges associated with electronic communications and information technology are covered as well.

14.1 THE NATURE AND FUNCTION OF COMMUNICATION
 The importance of effective communication cannot be overemphasized because everything a manager does involves communicating.
A. What Is Communication?
 Communication is the transfer and understanding of meaning.
1. If no information or ideas have been conveyed or transferred, communication has not taken place.
2. For communication to be successful, the meaning must be imparted and understood.
3. Good communication does not require agreement with the message—only a clear understanding of the message.
4. Communication encompasses both interpersonal communication (between two or more people) and organizational communication (all the patterns, networks, and system of communication within an organization).
B. Functions of Communication
Effective communication serves four major functions:  control, motivation, emotional expression, and information.

14.2 METHODS OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
Exhibit 15-1 illustrates the seven elements of the communication process:  the communication source (the sender), the message, encoding, the channel, decoding, the receiver, and feedback. Note that the entire process is susceptible to noise—any disturbances that interfere with the transmission, receipt, or feedback of a message.
A. Methods of Communicating Interpersonally. Exhibit 15-2 provides a comparison of various methods of communication.
1.  Feedback—How quickly can the receiver respond to the message?
2.  Complexity capacity—Can the method effectively process complex messages?
3.  Breadth potential—How many different messages can be transmitted using this method?
4.  Confidentiality—Can communicators be reasonably sure their messages are received only by the intended audience?
5.  Encoding ease—Can senders easily and quickly use this channel?
6.  Decoding ease—Can receivers easily and quickly decode messages?
7.  Time–space constraint—Do senders and receivers need to communicate at the same time and in the same space?
8.  Cost—How much does it cost to use this method?
9.  Interpersonal warmth—How well does this method convey interpersonal warmth?
10.  Formality—Does this method have the needed amount of formality?
11.  Scanability—Does this method allow the message to be easily browsed or scanned for relevant information?
12.  Time of consumption—Does the sender or receiver exercise the most control over when the message is dealt with?
B. Nonverbal Communication is communication transmitted without words. The best-known types of nonverbal communication are body language and verbal intonation.
1. Body language refers to gestures, facial expressions, and other movements of the body that convey meaning.
2. Verbal intonation is an emphasis given to words or phrases that conveys meaning.

LEADERS WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

A CEO’s public persona tells a lot of him/her and the company.  Steven Jobs has carefully crafted an image of being creative, hip and cool, just like the company he heads.  Dressed in black polo shirt and black or blue jeans he introduces his new products ever year at MacWorld. He also tries a little humor to help communicate with the Gen X and Gen Y consumer.   Mr. Jobs is a leader who understands and exploits the power of nonverbal communication and connecting with his audience.

15.3 EFFECTIVE INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
A. Barriers to Communication.
1. Filtering is the deliberate manipulation of information to make it appear more favorable to the receiver.
a. As information is communicated upward through the organizational levels, senders condense and synthesize it so that top managers will not experience information overload. These senders filter communication through their personal interests and perceptions of what is important.
b. The more vertical layers present in the structure of an organization, the more opportunities there are for filtering.
c. The more that organizational rewards emphasize style and appearance, the more managers will be motivated to filter communications in their favor.
2. Emotions influence how a receiver interprets a message when it is received. It is best for receivers to avoid reacting to a message when they are upset because they are not likely to be thinking clearly.
3. Information overload occurs when the information we have to work with exceeds our processing capacity.
a. Receivers tend to select out, ignore, pass over, or forget information when they have information overload.
b. Alternatively, receivers may put off further processing until the overload situation is over, which also results in lost information and less effective communication.
4. People become defensive when they feel threatened, and they may engage in behaviors such as verbally attacking others, making sarcastic remarks, being overly judgmental, and questioning others’ motives.
5. With a diverse workforce, different words mean different things to different people, even when they speak the same language.
a. Age, education, and cultural background can influence language use and the definitions given to words.
b. Jargon is specialized terminology or technical language that members of a group use to communicate among themselves.
6. National culture can affect the way a manager chooses to communicate.

B. Overcoming Barriers to Effective Interpersonal Communication
1. Use feedback; the feedback might be verbal or nonverbal, or both.
2. Simplify language.
a. The manager should consider characteristics of the intended audience, tailoring the message to the receiver.
b. The sender should remember that understanding is improved when he or she uses language that is familiar to the receiver.
3. Listen actively.
a. In listening, two people are engaged in thinking: the receiver as well as the sender.  Listening is an active search for meaning.
b. Active listening is listening for full meaning without making premature judgments or interpretations.
c. Active listening is enhanced by developing empathy with the sender—placing oneself in the sender’s position.
d. Exhibit 15-3 lists additional behaviors demonstrated by active listeners.
 4. Constrain emotions. A manager should strive to refrain from communicating until he or she has regained composure.
 5. Watch nonverbal cues.  Actions speak louder than words, so the sender should ensure that his or her actions are in alignment with and reinforce the verbal message.
 15.4 ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
 A. Formal Versus Informal Communication
 1. Formal communication is communication that follows the official chain of command or is required to do one’s job.
 2. Informal communication is communication that is not defined by the organization’s structural hierarchy.
 a. Informal communication systems permit employees to satisfy their need for social interaction.
 b. Informal communication systems can improve an organization’s performance by creating alternative—and frequently faster and more efficient—channels of communication.
 B. Direction of Communication Flow
 1. Downward communication is communication that flows downward from a manager to employees.  It is used to inform, direct, coordinate, and evaluate employees.
 2. Upward communication is communication that flows upward from employees to managers.
 a. Upward communication can be used to keep managers aware of how employees feel about their jobs, their coworkers, and the organization in general.
 b. The organizational culture influences the extent of upward communication. A climate of trust, respect, and participative decision making encourages a significant amount of upward communication. A highly mechanistic and authoritarian environment severely limits upward communication in terms of both style and content.
 3. Lateral communication is communication that takes place among any employees on the same organizational level.
 4. Diagonal communication is communication that cuts across work areas and organizational levels.
 a. The increased use of e-mail facilitates diagonal communication in an organization.
 b. Diagonal communication has the potential to create problems if employees do not keep their managers informed about decisions they have made or action they have taken.
 C. Organizational Communication Networks
 1. Exhibit 15-4 illustrates three common types of communication networks.
 a. The chain network represents communication flowing according to the formal chain of command, both downward and upward.
 b. The wheel network represents communication flowing between a clearly identifiable and strong leader and others in a work group or team. The leader serves as the hub through which all communication passes.
 c. The all-channel network represents communication flowing freely among all members of a work team.
 2. The grapevine is the informal organizational communication network.
 a. The grapevine is active in almost every organization. One survey reported that 63 percent of employees hear about matters first through rumors on the grapevine.
 b. The grapevine can act as both a filter and a feedback mechanism.
 
 5. UNDERSTANDING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
 A. How Technology Affects Managerial Communication
  Two developments in information technology have a significant impact on current managerial communication:  networked computer systems and wireless capabilities.
 1. In a networked computer system, a company links its computers to form an organizational network.
 
 2. The term wireless capabilities refers to wireless communication that depends on signals sent through air or space without the need for wired connections by using microwave signals, satellites, radio waves and radio antennas, or infrared light rays.  “Wi-Fi and WiMAX hot spots” are locations where wireless Internet access is available.
 B. How Information Technology Affects Organizations
 1. Since communication and the exchange of information among organizational members are no longer constrained by geography or time, collaborative work efforts are enhanced and have the potential to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
 2. However, managers must remember to address the possibility of psychological drawbacks. For example: What is the psychological cost of an employee’s being continuously accessible? Would employees feel pressured to “check in” even during off hours? What is the importance of maintaining a separation between work lives and personal lives?
 
 15.6 COMMUNICATION ISSUES IN TODAY’S ORGANIZATIONS
 Effectively communicating means being connected to employees and customers and having the ability to be connected to any of the organization’s stakeholders.
A. Managing Communication in an Internet World. 
 The two main challenges created by new technology in the business world are legal and security issues and lack of personal interaction.
1. Managers must be knowledgeable about potential legal problems that can arise from misuse of technology, including inappropriate usage of e-mails and blogs.
2. Software that enables real-time collaboration can be chosen to ameliorate the lack of personal interaction posed by the Internet age.
B. Managing the Organization’s Knowledge Resources
 Managers need to facilitate communication among employees in order to encourage the sharing of their knowledge with one another.  Managers can achieve this goal in several ways, including the following:
1. Create online information databases.
2. Create communities of practice, which are groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in that area by interacting on an ongoing basis.
 C. The Role of Communication in Customer Service
 The content of an organization’s communication and how this communication takes place can have a significant impact on customer satisfaction.
 1. The quality of the company’s personal interaction between employee and customer has a significant impact on customer satisfaction.
 D. Getting Employee Input
1. Organizations need to get input from employees, even if all they do is provide a suggestion box for their employees. Employee suggestions can help with such things as something—such as reducing costs, improving delivery time, etc.
2. Exhibit 15-5 lists some suggestions for letting employees know that their opinions matter
 E. Communicating Ethically
1. Ethical communication includes all relevant information, is true in every sense, and is not deceptive in any way.
2. Unethical communication can take several forms including: omitting information, selectively misquoting someone, misrepresenting numbers, distorting visuals, and failing to respect privacy or information security needs.
3. In a global survey by the International Association of Business Communicators, 70 percent of communication professionals said their companies clearly define what is considered ethical and unethical behavior.
4. If companies have no clear guidelines, then they should answer the following questions:
a. Has the situation been defined fairly and accurately?
b. Why is the message being communicated?
c. How will the people who may be affected by the message or who receive the message be impacted?
d. Does the message help achieve the greatest possible good while minimizing possible harm?
e. Will this decision that appears to be ethical now seem so in the future?
f. How comfortable are you with your communication effort?
 g. What would a person you admire think of it?
 

LET’S GET REAL: MY RESPONSE 
Glenn A. Jones
Oral Care Consultant/Technology Trainer
Colgate Oral
Pharmaceuticals
New York, NY

In this response, Glenn tackles some of the difficult questions about Twitter. One of the issues with Tweeter is that a person’s thoughts are sent immediately without the opportunity to scrutinize information for accuracy. For people who use Tweeter haphazardly, is there a possibility that incorrect or potentially detrimental information will be shared, causing negative repercussions for an organization?  For students, they may be familiar with the term ‘drunk texting’ and while the messages sent to others are sometimes funny, in other cases they can harm or destroy relationships.
Glenn recommends that Tweets be held for a short time so that their content can be considered for a time before sending.  The obvious drawback of this is that it takes away one of the advantages of using Tweeter – its immediacy.

Answers to Review and Discussion Questions 

1. Define communication, interpersonal communication, and organizational communication. Why isn’t effective communication synonymous with agreement?
Communication is the transfer and understanding of meaning. Interpersonal communication is communication between two or more people. Organizational communication includes all the patterns, networks, and systems of communication within an organization.  Effective communication is not the same as agreement because if someone disagrees with us, we assume that the person just didn’t fully understand our position. In other words, many of us define good communication as having someone accept our views. But I can clearly understand what you mean and just not agree with what you say.

2. What are the functions of communication?
The functions of communication include controlling employee behavior, motivating employees, providing a release for emotional expression of feelings and fulfillment of social needs, and providing information.

3. Explain the components in the communication process.
Before communication can take place, a purpose, expressed as a message to be conveyed, must exist. It passes between a source (the sender) and a receiver. The message is converted to symbolic form (called encoding) and passed by way of some medium (channel) to the receiver, who retranslates the sender’s message (called decoding). The result is the transfer of meaning from one person to another.  The entire process is susceptible to noise—disturbances that interfere with the transmission, receipt, or feedback of a message.

4. What are the various communication methods managers can use? What criteria can managers use to evaluate those communication methods?
The communication methods include face-to-face, telephone, group meetings, formal presentations, memos, traditional mail, fax, employee publications, bulletin boards, other company publications, audio- and videotapes, hotlines, e-mail, computer conferencing, voice mail, teleconferences, and videoconferences.  Managers can evaluate the various communication methods according to their feedback, complexity capacity, breadth potential, confidentiality, encoding ease, decoding ease, time-space constraint, cost, interpersonal warmth, formality, scanability, and time of consumption.

5. What are the barriers to effective communication? How can those barriers be overcome?
The barriers to effective communication include filtering, emotions, information overload, defensiveness, language, and national culture. Managers can overcome these barriers by using feedback, simplifying language, listening actively, constraining emotions, and watching for nonverbal clues.

6. Contrast formal and informal communication.
Formal communication is communication that takes place within prescribed organizational work arrangements. Informal communication is not defined by the organization’s structural hierarchy.

7. Explain communication flow, the three common communication networks, and how managers should handle the grapevine.
Communication in an organization can flow downward, upward, laterally, and diagonally.
The three communication networks include the chain, in which communication flows according to the formal chain of command; the wheel, in which communication flows between a clearly identifiable and strong leader and others in a work team; and the all-channel, in which communication flows freely among all members of a work team.   Managers should manage the grapevine as an important information network. The negative consequences of rumors can be minimized by communicating openly, fully, and honestly with employees.

8. How does technology affect managerial communication? How does it affect organizations?
Technology has radically changed the way organizational members communicate. It improves a manager’s ability to monitor performance; it gives employees more complete information to make faster decisions; it has provided employees more opportunities to collaborate and share information; and it has made it possible for people to be fully accessible, anytime anywhere. IT affects organizations by influencing the way that organizational members communicate, share information, and do their work.

9. Discuss the five contemporary communication issues facing managers.
The two main challenges of managing communication in an Internet world are the legal and security issues and the lack of personal interaction.
Organizations can manage knowledge by making it easy for employees to communicate and share their knowledge, which can help them learn from each other ways to do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. One way is through online information databases and another way is through creating communities of practice.
Communicating with customers is an important managerial issue since what communication takes place and how it takes place can significantly affect a customer’s satisfaction with the service and the likelihood of being a repeat customer. It’s important for organizations to get input from their employees. Such potentially valuable information should not be ignored.
Finally, a company’s communication efforts need to be ethical. Ethical communication can be encouraged through clear guidelines and through answering questions that force a communicator to think through the communication choices made and the consequences of those choices.

10. Which do you think is more important for a manager: speaking accurately or listening actively? Why?
Students’ reactions may vary; however, they need to make a strong case for their answer. A strong case can be made for each of the two responses. As students have learned, barriers can occur at any step in the communication process. The sender is responsible for sending an accurate message and choosing the most appropriate channel for the message, while considering the receiver’s characteristics and environment. Active listening is critical so that the receiver can interpret the message as intended and send valuable feedback to the sender. In addition, the open communication that is vital between management and employees in a learning organization depends upon an atmosphere of trust. Employees must have confidence that their manager will listen actively to their comments and concerns.

ETHICS DILEMMA 

In this chapter’s ethical dilemma, students are to consider what happens when colleagues or even your boss wants to “friend” you on a social network site.  Is it okay to provide people you know in a professional sense a “window into your personal life?” What ethical issues might arise in such a situation?  In this chapter, the distinction is made between formal communication and informal communication.  Most people would see Facebook as informal communication (even though we have already discussed the use of Facebook as a recruiting tool for Ernst & Young).  Employees have the right to decline others access to their personal information on social networking site, unless the site is dedicated for company use.  Students should also be aware that perspective employers may also want access to their social networking information to learn more about an applicant.

SKILLS EXERCISE:  DEVELOPING YOUR  ACTIVE LISTENING SKILLS 

Whether you are a manager and need to gain information from others, or an employee who wants to communicate better with customers, co-workers, or managers, active listening is an important skill.  This exercise gives eight steps in helping to learn to be a better listener.  After going over the steps, students should ask a friend to tell him/her about their day and listen without interrupting. When your friend has finished speaking, ask two or three questions if needed to obtain more clarity and detail. Students should listen carefully to the answers and then summarize their friend’s day in no more than five sentences.

WORKING TOGETHER:  TEAM EXERCISE 

WORKING TOGETHER—Team-Based Exercise 

In this exercise students are asked about the usage of funny online videos for work reasons.  Students should consider the purpose of these videos, and any possible advantages and drawbacks of using online video.  As students are broken into groups of three or four, it might be interesting to have some students consider the advantages and other students consider their disadvantages.  Students’ discussion should cover the obvious reasons for company sponsored videos – the hopes that a ‘viral’ video could serve as an inexpensive way to promote product or services.  Such videos could also be a way to promote a company’s fun culture and aid in recruiting.  On the other hand, videos made by disgruntled employees could put the company in a bad light (see the case at the end of the chapter, Delivery Disaster).

Your Turn to be a Manager 

• Research the characteristics of a good communicator. What are they? Now practice being a good communicator—as both a sender and a listener.

• For one day, keep track of the types of communication you use (see Exhibit 15–2 for a list of various types). Which do you use most? Least? Were your choices of communication methods effective? Why or why not? Could they have been improved? How?

• For one day, track nonverbal communication that you notice in others. What types did you observe? Was the nonverbal communication always consistent with the verbal communication taking place? Describe.

• Research new types of IT devices. Write a report describing these devices (at least three) and their applicability to employees and organizations. Be sure to look at both the positive and negative aspects.

• Complete the skill-building module Active Listening found in mymanagementlab. Your professor will tell you what to do with it.

• Survey five different managers for their advice on being a good communicator. Put this information in a bulleted list format and be prepared to present it in class.

• Steve’s and Mary’s recommended readings: Phillip G. Clampitt, Communicating for Managerial Effectiveness, 3rd edition (Sage Publications, 2005); John Baldoni, Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders (McGraw-Hill, 2003); Robert Mai and Alan Akerson, The Leader as Communicator (AMACOM, 2003); Boyd Clarke, The Leader’s Voice: How Communication Can Inspire Action and Get Results! (Select Books, 2002); and Jo-Ellan Dimitrius and Mark Mazzarella, Reading People (Random House, 1998).

• Survey 10 office workers. Ask them (1) how many e-mail messages they receive daily, on average; (2) how many times in one day they check their e-mail; and (3) whether they think a ban on e-mail messages one day a week would be a good idea and why or why not. Compile this information into a report.

• Choose one of the four topics addressed in the section “Communication Issues in Today’s Organizations” and do some additional research. Put your findings in a bulleted list and be prepared to discuss in class. Be sure to cite your sources!

• In your own words, write down three things you learned in this chapter about being a good manager.

• Self-knowledge can be a powerful learning tool. Go to mymanagementlab and complete these self-assessment exercises: What’s My Face-to-Face Communication Style? How Good Are My Listening Skills? How Good Am I at Giving Performance Feedback? Using the results of your assessments, identify personal strengths and weaknesses. What will you do to reinforce your strengths and improve your weaknesses?

Answers to Case Application Questions 

Gossip Girls

1.  What do you think of this situation? Do you agree with the council’s decision about the firing and refusal to reinstate the employees?
Student responses to the question will vary and there may be some discussion as to the legality of the firing of the employees.  To develop discussion for this case, it may be useful to split the class into groups with one group taking the side of the employees and the other group taking the side of the city council. 

2.  In a recent survey, 60 percent of respondents indicated that the biggest pet peeve they have about their jobs is workplace gossip. Research the topic of office gossip/office rumors. Is office gossip always harmful? Discuss. Could it ever be useful to managers?
Students can read more about this study at http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200711/petpeeve.html which includes other pet peeves of employees.  For more information on the benefit of gossip, students can read the NY Times article, “Have You Heard, Gossip Turns Out to Serve a Purpose.”  This article by Benedict Carey shows that gossip may be useful in regulating unwanted employee behavior through peer pressure.

3.  In retrospect, what could these four women have done differently?
Students should see that the terminations were not based solely on the fact that the women in the office were talking about their manager or another employee.  The reasons the employees were terminated was the use of derogatory terms and creating an unfriendly work environment.  While interpersonal communication, such as the grapevine and gossiping, will naturally occur in organizations, students should see that organizations are within their right to prohibit behaviors that adversely affect performance or slander employees.

4.  What implications from this story can you see for managers and communication?
To follow up the case of the terminated employees, two of the four women fired from their jobs have settled lawsuits against the town. The town's insurance company paid $65,000 each to Joanne Drewniak and Jessica Skorupski for back pay, damages and attorney's fees. While the settlement says neither side admits fault, the biggest loser in this case is the image of the town of Hooksett.  Cases like this bring unwanted public attention to problems that can be handled internally and with less strong handed behavior.  Ask students to think of other ways the town could have dealt with this situation.

Delivery Disaster

1. Beyond its being vulgar and disgusting, what do you think of this situation from the perspective of managing communications?
This is an obvious case of unethical communication on the part of employees.  Whether employees meant to defame the company or not, the use the company’s product, logos, and employee uniform give the impression that this type of behavior is a common occurrence and condoned by the organization.

2. Why do you think Domino’s executives took a wait-and-see attitude? Why was this response a problem?
It can be difficult to determine what makes a video on the internet go ‘viral.’  In this case, it was up to management to take the steps necessary to come out early and either prevent the information from spreading (i.e. have the employees voluntarily take the video off of YouTube) or to come out and publically denounce the behavior of the employees.  Dominos should have had a clear set of guidelines regarding information about the company in place.

3. How could this type of communication problem be prevented at other Domino’s Pizza restaurants?
While it is difficult to prevent disgruntled employees from spreading negative information about a company, steps can be taken to let employees know that the company is not without recourse when fraudulent and defamatory information is involved. Employees should clearly understand the consequences for using employee logos, equipment, work locations, or uniforms in personal videos including termination and possible civil lawsuits.

4. Do incidents like this one and the possibility of them happening anywhere, anytime, mean that all forms of social media should be banned from workplaces? What are the implications for policies regarding communication technology? Discuss.
Like the grapevine, informal communication within an organization cannot be eliminated.  Any policy to prevent employees from accessing social networks on company computers within an organization may not be effective. Employees can now easily access Facebook and other social networks on their mobile telephones.  By staying aware of social networks, managers can identify issues that concern employees, and, in turn possible, use them to disseminate important information.