Topic 10: THE COMMUNICATION

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 LEARNING OUTCOMES
By end of this topic, you should able to:
• explain communication process;
• explain techniques to overcome barriers to communication;
• state basic needs in active listening;
• describe six methods of conveying feedback effectively;
• state two forms of conflict;
• explain three causes of conflict.
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THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

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Barriers in Communication

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 Filtering
Information
Selective
Language Perception

COMMUNICATION
BARRIERS
Fear of Information
Communicating Overload

Emotion
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 5 Techniques To
Overcome Barriers

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1. Ask for Feedback ✓ Information-oriented - focus in on just
one area, at a time.

✓ Prioritize - pick the most Important

ones to address first.

✓ Be specific - If you just ask a general

question, you’ll probably get a general
answer.

✓ Ask “How” and “What” questions.

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2. Use Simple Language

✓ Not too many technical

terms. (jargon)

✓ Careful selection of words

and structures - meets
understanding level of
receiver.

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3. Active Listening

✓Observation

✓Acceptance

✓Consideration

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4. Emotion Control

✓Emotional intelligence (EQ)

✓Receptive

✓Not distorting our message

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5. Use Non-verbal Symbols

✓Delivery with the help of facial

expressions and gesture activities.

✓Avoid incongruence between

speaking delivery with nonverbal
communication - that creates
confusion among your listeners.

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 Four Basic Needs In Active Listening

Active listening is a conscious effort that demands:

1) high degree of observation;

2) empathy on thoughts and feeling of another;

3) acceptance on what is conveyed;

4) responsibility to grasp fully understanding of information

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 Active Listening Skills
The skillset involves more than just hearing someone speak. When
putting to practice, you should be using these 6 techniques:
– Paying attention
– Withholding judgment
– Reflecting
– Clarifying
– Summarizing
– Sharing
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1. Paying Attention
✓ Allow your respondents
“waiting time” to think before
responding.

✓ Don’t cut respondents off, let

finish their sentences,

✓ Don’t start your answer before

they’ve finished.

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2. Withholding Judgment

✓Open to new ideas, perspectives,

and possibilities

✓Hold any criticisms, avoid

interruptions like arguing or
selling their point right away.

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3. Reflecting • E.g., someone said, “Emma is so
loyal and supportive of her people.
✓Periodically paraphrasing But no matter how much I push,
key points, indicates that her team keeps missing deadlines.”
you and your counterpart
• To paraphrase, you could say,
are on the same page.
“So Emma’s people skills are great,
but accountability is a problem.”

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4. Clarifying
Example:
✓emphasis is on asking, Say something like,
rather than telling “Let me see if I’m clear. Are you
✓Don’t be shy to ask talking about …?”
questions about any issue “Wait a minute. I didn’t follow you.”
that’s ambiguous or
unclear

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5. Summarizing

✓restating key themes to

confirm the other person’s
point of view.

✓helps both parties to be

clear, and increase
accountability.

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6. Share

✓continue to query, guide, and

offer, but don’t dictate a
solution.

✓all will feel more confident

and eager if they think
through the options and own
the solution.
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 EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK
• Focus on specific behaviour (not general)

• Not personal

• Information-oriented (implication, effect)

• Time-bound

• Ensure understanding

• Focus on behaviour that can be controlled

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 FORMS
OF
CONFLICTS
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 Nature of Organisational Conflict
Functional Conflict Dysfunctional Conflict
• healthy, constructive disagreement; • unhealthy, destructive

• results in new ideas, learning, disagreement;

growth among individuals; • focuses on conflict and the parties;

• improves working relationships; • drains energy;

• improve morale; • individuals act before thinking;

• leads to innovation and positive • leads to aggressive acts;

organisational change. • losses exceed potential gain.
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 3 CAUSES OF CONFLICTS

1. Communication differentiation

- due to language or channel used, failed to

communicate

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2. Structural differentiation

- conflicts over content and goals

e.g. speed vs. quality targets

3. Personality differentiation

- fail to understand or accept the differences in

personalities

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 Strategies
to
Resolve Conflict
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Assertion Cooperation

Compromise

Avoidance Accommodation

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Strategy #1: Assertion
• Takes a highly assertive and completely uncooperative
stance to resolving conflicts.

• The goal is to win or to beat the other party. Often called the
“win-lose” approach,

• It’s power-oriented and only seeks to defend its own

position, usually at the expense of others.
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 When to use Assertion Strategy?
✓ Use this option during emergency situations.

✓ Works best when time is of utmost importance.

✓ Refrain from using your power or rank to bully the other party:
If outside emergency or life and death situations, this technique is
likely to cause even more conflict down the line.

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Strategy #2: Cooperation
• This is the preferred approach in conflict management.

• High importance of both achieving goals and relationship

because it’s both assertive and cooperative.

• Cooperation or collaboration makes room for everybody’s

opinions, ideas, and suggestions to find the “win-win.”

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 When to use Cooperation Strategy?

✓ Best employed when looking to uncover new solutions to

existing or anticipated problems.

✓ Reaching a consensus is not easy: When it has time, patience,

a high degree of trust, and a lot of listening to come up with
the best outcome.

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Strategy #3: Compromise
• Compromising is smack in the middle because it’s both
assertive and cooperative, only to a certain degree.

• Both parties of the conflict get something but also have to

give-up something to arrive at a solution acceptable to
everyone. Also referred to as a “lose-lose” scenario.

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 When to use Compromise Strategy?

• When the aim is to find a middle ground: more likely to accept

the result on what could be achieved against lost, benefits of the
compromise against sacrifice.

• But dissatisfaction may cause future disagreements, especially

among teams who will have to keep working together.

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• Strategy #4: Avoidance
• Avoiding is low in both achieving goals and relationship
because it’s both unassertive and uncooperative.

• People who avoid conflict pretend that it doesn’t exist and hope
for it to go away with time.

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 When to use Avoidance Strategy?

• When the issue is insignificant and you have more pressing

issues to attend to.

• When confronting the issue will do more harm than good,

although temporarily: When a situation is emotionally charged,
avoiding it may give everyone time to cool down and think
more rationally.

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• IMPORTANT: Some conflicts don’t resolve themselves:
Ignoring a conflict may result in a much bigger conflict.

Example: Ignoring employees’ repeated requests to review their

benefits packages (accommodation, long working hours, health and
safety issues) may find themselves being involved in a costly labor
lawsuit.

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• Strategy #5: Accommodation
• It’s the most cooperative but also the least assertive.

• Also called harmonizing or peacekeeping.

• It’s when you give in to the demands of the other party,

without any regard for your own concerns. However,
accommodating has its uses too.

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When to use Accommodation Strategy?

• If it means better options or solutions: doesn’t sound so bad

if it results in better organizational outcomes.

• Works best when winning is more important to the other

person and losing is of little consequence to you.

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• When opt to preserve personal relationships: sensitive to the
needs of others and find satisfaction in helping.

• DON’T BE A VICTIM: People prone to giving in can easily be

victimized by the combative, competing types. Also, when you
give in simply to avoid conflict, people may see you as weak or
lazy.

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SUMMARY

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THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

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 5 Techniques To Overcome Barriers
• specific
Asking feedbacks • information-oriented

Simple language • not technical

• observation
Active listening
• acceptance

Emotion controlling • receptive

Non-verbal symbols • reflective

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• 2 forms of conflict:
i. Functional

ii. Dysfunctional

• 3 causes of conflicts are:

i. Communication Differentiation

ii. Structural Differentiation

iii. Personality Differentiation

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Assertion Cooperation
(Competing) (Collaboration)
(win) (win-win)

Compromise
(lose-lose)

Avoidance Accommodation
(delay) (yield)
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