Section 2

Communication

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 Defining Communication
The root of the word “communication” in Latin is
"communicare", which means to share, or to
make common.
Communication is defined as the process of
understanding and sharing meaning

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Do We Need To Communicate?

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Four Functions of Communication
Control Motivation

Functions of
Communication

Emotional
Information
Expression

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 Functions of Communication

 Control
– Formal and informal communications act to control individuals’
behaviors in organizations.
 Motivation
– Communications clarify for employees what is to done, how
well they have done it, and what can be done to improve
performance.

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 Functions of Communication

 Emotional Expression
– Social interaction in the form of work group communications
provides a way for employees to express themselves.
 Information
– Individuals and work groups need information to make
decisions or to do their work.

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Interpersonal Communication Process

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 Interpersonal Communication
 Message
– Source: sender’s intended meaning
 Encoding
– The message converted to symbolic form
 Channel
– The medium through which the message travels
 Decoding
– The receiver’s retranslation of the message
 Noise
– Disturbances that interfere with communications

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 Distortions in Communication
 Message Encoding
– The effect of the skills, attitudes, and knowledge of the sender on the process of
encoding the message
– The social-cultural system of the sender
 The Message
– Symbols used to convey the message’s meaning
– The content of the message itself
– The choice of message format
– Noise interfering with the message

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 Distortions in Communication
 The Channel (Cont’d)
– The sender’s choice of the appropriate channel or multiple channels for conveying the
message
 Receiver
– The effect of skills, attitudes, and knowledge of the receiver on the process of decoding
the message
– The social-cultural system of the receiver
 Feedback Loop
– Communication channel distortions affecting the return message from receiver to sender

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Interpersonal Communication Barriers
Filtering

National Emotions
Culture

Language Interpersonal Information

Communication Overload

Defensiveness

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 Overcoming Barriers to Effective
Interpersonal Communications
 Use Feedback

 Simplify Language

 Listen Actively

 Constrain Emotions

 Watch Nonverbal Cues

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Listening

Hearing Listening

With the Ear With the Mind

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 Active Listening
Listening while:
 Thinking & Evaluating
 Sorting important information
 Clarifying information & Attempt to stimulate
more from the speaker by verbal and
nonverbal way
 Restating or rephrasing information
 Summarizing the conversation
 Tolerating silences

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 Obstacles to active Listening
– Misconceptions
– Physical conditions
– Cultural differences
– Occupied with Personal problems
– Meanings of words
– Pressure & Anxiety

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Active Listening Behavior

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 Organizational Communication
Types
 Formal Communication
 Informal Communication
Direction Flow
 Downward
 Upward
 Lateral (Horizontal) Communication
 Diagonal Communication

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Types of Organizational Communications
Network and their Rating on Effectiveness

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Message Effectiveness
7%

38%

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Elements for effective communication
• Verbal communication (VC)
– emphasis that a speaker gives to certain words or
phrases that conveys meaning
• Non-Verbal Communication (NVC)
– Voice
– Body language
• Face & Eye contact
• Arms
• Hands
• Body angle
• Legs
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 Verbal communication (VC)
Sending Verbal Messages Effectively
• Words:
– Appropriate language & pronunciation
– Clear not vague meaning
– Suitable meanings for different cultures and
subcultures
– Consider dialect
– Use short words and short sentences
– Use word pictures: use positive language

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Positive Language
• The clarity & the tone of the message are considerably
improved if you see or hear positive rather than
negative language.

• Positive messages conveys more information than

negative language does.

• Positive wording tells what is & what can be done

rather than what isn’t & can’t be done.

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Examples of Body Language

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 Signals of Body Language
Positive signals
• arms & legs are uncrossed
• Leaning forward
• Pleasant expression
• Nodding
• Looking attentively and
thoughtfully posture
• Keeping Eye contact
• Animated, excited reaction
Negative signals
• arms & legs are crossed
• Leaning backward
• Deep wrinkled brow,
wrinkled or folded lips
• Shaking head
• Behaving nervously or
restlessly, distracting
• No eye contact
• Lifeless expression
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 Postures & Gestures
Standing With Hands On Hips

High confidence, Readiness, Aggression

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Sitting, Legs Apart

Open, Relaxed

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 Touching
 Some customers may accept a hand on their
backs or a touch on their shoulders

 Others consider touching as a way of invasion

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 Touching Nose
Bill Clinton rubbed his nose more than 26 times
as he was explaining his relation with Monica

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 Rubbing Hands

Anticipation

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 Stroking Chin

Trying to make a decision

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 Biting Nails

Insecurity, Nervousness
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 Pulling Ears

Indecision
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Gestures indicate changing psychological conditions
Mouth Cover Nose Touch Finger in Mouth Eye Rub

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Gestures indicate changing psychological conditions

Neck Ear Grab

Collar Pull
Scratch

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 Ways To Improve Your Body Language
1. Don’t cross your arms or legs – it might make you seem
defensive or guarded. Keep your arms and legs open.

2. Have eye contact, but don’t stare –

give all people some eye contact to create a better connection
and see if they are listening.
Don’t Keeping too much eye-contact (staring), people might
have uncomfortable feeling of nervousness or fear.
Giving no eye-contact might make you seem insecure.

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3. Don’t be afraid to take up some space – Taking up space by
for example sitting or standing with your legs apart a bit
signals self-confidence and that you are comfortable in your
own skin.

4. Relax your shoulders – When you feel tense it’s easily winds
up as tension in your shoulders. They might move up and
forward a bit. Try to relax. Try to loosen up by shaking the
shoulders a bit and move them back slightly

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5. Nod when they are talking – nod once in a while to signal that you are
listening. But don’t overdo it and peck like Woody Woodpecker.
6. Don’t slouch, sit up straight – but in a relaxed way, not in a too tense
manner.
7. Lean, but not too much –
If you want to show that you are interested in what someone is
saying, lean toward the person talking.
If you want to show that you’re confident in yourself and relaxed lean
back a bit.
Don’t lean in too much or you might seem needy and desperate for
some approval. Or lean back too much or you might seem arrogant
and distant.

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8. Smile and laugh –
Relax a bit, smile and laugh when someone says something funny.
People will be a lot more inclined to listen to you if you seem to be
a positive person. But don’t be the first to laugh at your own jokes,
it makes you seem nervous and needy. Smile when you are
introduced to someone but don’t keep a smile plastered on your
face, you’ll seem insincere.
9. Don’t touch your face – it might make you seem nervous and can
be distracting for the listeners or the people in the conversation.
10. Keep you head up. Don’t keep your eyes on the ground, it might
make you seem insecure and a bit lost. Keep your head up straight
and your eyes towards the horizon.

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11. Slow down a bit – this goes for many things. Walking slower not
only makes you seem more calm and confident, it will also make
you feel less stressed. If someone addresses you, don’t snap you’re
neck in their direction, turn it a bit more slowly instead.

12. Don’t fidget – try to avoid, phase out or transform fidgety

movement and nervous ticks such as shaking your leg or tapping
your fingers against the table rapidly. You’ll seem nervous and
fidgeting can be a distracting when you try to get something across.
Try to relax, slow down and focus your movements.

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13. Use your hands more confidently – instead of fidgeting with your
hands and scratching your face use them to communicate what you
are trying to say. Use your hands to describe something or to add
weight to a point you are trying to make. But don’t use them to
much or it might become distracting. And don’t let your hands flail
around, use them with some control.
14. Lower your drink – don’t hold your drink in front of your chest. In
fact, don’t hold anything in front of your heart as it will make you
seem guarded and distant. Lower it and hold it beside your leg
instead.

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15. Don’t stand too close
Let people have their personal space, don’t invade it.

16. Mirror - Often when you get along with a person, when the two of
you get a good connection, you will start to mirror each other
unconsciously. That means that you mirror the other person’s body
language a bit. To make the connection better you can try a bit of
proactive mirroring. If he leans forward, you might lean forward. If
she holds her hands on her thighs, you might do the same. But
don’t react instantly and don’t mirror every change in body
language. Then weirdness will ensue.

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17. Keep a good attitude :
keep a positive, open and relaxed attitude. How you feel will come
through in your body language and can make a major difference.

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