PENGANTAR MANAJEMEN

PERTEMUAN 12
 The Communication Process: What It Is, How
It Works ?
Communication, the transfer of information and understanding from one person to another—is an activity that you as a manager will have to
do a lot. You are an efficient communicator when you can transmit your message accurately in the least time. You are an effective
communicator when your intended message is accurately understood by the other person.
Sender, Message, and Receiver; The sender is the person wanting to share information—called a message—and the receiver is the person for
whom the message is intended, as follows. Sender → Message → Receiver
But the same is true when you are sending the message by voice to another person in the same room and have to decide what language to
speak in and what terms to use, and when you are texting a friend and can choose your words, your abbreviations and even an emoji or two .
Encoding is translating a message into understandable symbols or language. Decoding is interpreting and trying to make sense of the
message.

The Medium, means by which you as a communicator send a message is important, whether it is typing a text or an e-mail, hand-scrawling a
note, or communicating by voice in person or by phone or videoconference.

Feedback whereby the receiver expresses his or her reaction to the sender’s message. Feedback is essential in communication so that the
person sending the message can know whether the receiver understood it in the same way the sender intended—and whether he or she
agrees with it. It is an essential component of communication accuracy and can be facilitated by paraphrasing. Paraphrasing occurs when
people restate in their own words the crux of what they heard or read. It clarifies that a message was accurately understood.
 The Communication Process: What It Is, How
It Works ? Cont…

Noise Unfortunately, the entire communication process can be disrupted at several different points by noise; any
disturbance that interferes with the transmission of a message. Example, the decrease in learning is thought to occur
“because students can type faster than they can write,” which results in the lecturer’s words going “right to the students
typing fingers without stopping in their brains for substantive processing.” In contrast, writing by hand requires students to
process and condense spoken words so they can record their thoughts on paper. Another language barrier is jargon.
Jargon is terminology specific to a particular profession or group.
 Is a Medium Rich or Lean in Information? Media
richness
indicates how well a particular medium conveys information and promotes learning. That is, the “richer” a medium is, the better it is at
conveying information. Face-to-face communication, also the most personal form of communication, is the richest. It allows the receiver of
the message to observe multiple cues, such as body language and tone of voice. It allows the sender to get immediate feedback, to see how
well the receiver comprehended the message. At the other end of the media richness scale, impersonal written media are just the reverse—
only one cue and no feedback— making them low in richness.

Rich Medium: Best for Nonroutine Situations and to Avoid Oversimplification. Examples: In what way would you like your boss to inform you
of a nonroutine change, like the introduction of a new employee benefit? Via a memo tacked on the bulletin board (a lean medium)? Or via a
face-to-face meeting or phone call (a rich medium)? The danger of using a rich medium for routine matters (such as monthly sales reports) is
that it results in information overloading—the delivery of more information than necessary.

Lean Medium: Best for Routine Situations and to Avoid Overloading. Examples: In what manner would you as a sales manager like to get
routine monthly sales reports from your 50 sales reps? Via time-consuming phone calls (a somewhat rich medium)? Or via e-mails or text
messages (a somewhat lean medium)? The danger of using a lean medium for nonroutine matters (such as an announcement of a company
reorganization) is that it results in information oversimplification—it doesn’t provide enough of the information the receiver needs and wants

E-mail and social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter vary in media richness, being leaner if they impersonally blanket a large audience
and are anonymous (or posted under a screen name), and richer if they mix personal textual and video information that prompts quick
conversational feedback.
 How Managers Fit into the Communication Process
(Formal Communication)
1. Vertical Communication: Up and Down the Chain of Command, is
the flow of messages up and down the hierarchy within the
organization: bosses communicating with subordinates, subordinates
communicating with bosses. As you might expect, the more
management levels through which a message passes, the more it is
prone to some distortion:
 Downward communication—from top to bottom, flows from a
higher level to a lower level (or levels). In small organizations,
topdown communication may be delivered face-to-face. In larger
organizations, it’s delivered via meetings, e-mail, official memos,
company publications, and town hall meetings.
 Upward communication—from bottom to top, flows from a
lower level to a higher level(s). Often, this type of communication
is from a subordinate to his or her immediate manager, who in
turn will relay it up to the next level, if necessary. Effective
upward communication depends on an atmosphere of trust.
• 2. Horizontal Communication: Within and between Work Units, flows
within and between work units; its main purpose is coordination. As a
manager, you will spend perhaps as much as a third of your time in this
form of communication consulting with colleagues and co-workers at the
same level as you within the organization. Horizontal communication is
encouraged through the use of meetings, committees, task forces, and
matrix structures. Horizontal communication can be impeded in three
ways: (1) by specialization that makes people focus on only their jobs; (2)
by rivalry between workers or work units, which prevents sharing of
information; and (3) by lack of encouragement from management.
• 3. External Communication: Outside the Organization, flows between
people inside and outside the organization. This form of communication is
increasingly important because organizations desire to communicate with
other stakeholders—customers, suppliers, shareholders, or other owners—
in pursuit of their strategic goals. Small business owners particularly rely on
external communication to help grow their businesses. Small business
owners tended to seek input or counsel from two sources: peers in the
same community or online from a peer they had never met.
How Managers Fit into the Communication Process
(In-formal Communication)
• Informal communication channels develop outside the formal
structure and do not follow the chain of command—they are
more spontaneous, can skip management levels, and can cut
across lines of authority. The grapevine is the unofficial
communication system of the informal organization, a
network of in-person and online gossip and rumor. Workplace
gossip can be positive or negative, and it serves important
functions.

• Face-to-Face Communication, despite the entrenched use of

quick and efficient electronic communication in our lives, face-
to-face conversation is still justifiably a major part of most
people’s work day. Employees value authentic human contact
with the boss and welcome the implication that their manager
cares about them. Face time builds relationships and trust,
shows respect for employees as individuals, and thus is highly
motivating.
Barriers to Communication
Physical Barriers: Sound,
Time, Space
Try shouting at someone over
the roar of earth-moving
machinery on a construction site
and you know what physical
communication barriers are.
Other such barriers are time-
zone differences, telephone-line
static, and crashed computers.
Office design can be a physical
barrier, too, if it isolates people
in cubicles. But privacy does have
advantages. Open-plan offices
are intended to bring even the
most introverted people
together in accessible, shared
spaces designed to encourage
conversation and collaboration.
Cross-Cultural Barriers,
Culture
“Encompasses the ideas, values,
practices, and material objects
that allow a group of people,
even an entire society, to carry
out their collective lives in
relative order and harmony.
Because the norms and beliefs of
our culture are so deeply
ingrained in our thoughts and
behaviors, culture naturally
affects the way we communicate,
both with those who share that
culture and especially with those
from other cultures. One obvious
reason is that language
differences often exist.
Gender Differences
women and men process language
in different parts of the brain, so
perhaps it’s not surprising that
gender differences in
communication exist. Because
stress heightens different in men
and in women, men tend to
withdraw and isolate themselves
when problem solving, whereas
women seek out others for
support and can interpret men’s
withdrawing as lack of caring. A
linguistic style is a person’s
characteristic speaking patterns—
pacing, pausing, directness, word
choice, and use of questions, jokes,
stories, apologies, and similar
devices.
 Barriers to Communication Cont…

Filtering, a sender’s manipulation of information so that it will be seen more favourably by the receiver. A manager who
tells his boss what he feels the boss wants to hear is filtering information. The more vertical levels in the organization’s
hierarchy, the more opportunities there are for filtering. But some filtering will occur wherever there are status
differences. Factors such as fear of conveying bad news and the desire to please the boss often lead employees to tell
their superiors what they think they want to hear, thus distorting upward communications.

Silence, employees are more likely to be silent if they are being mistreated by managers, are experiencing frequent
negative emotions and rumination, or feel like they have less power in the organization. Silence can also be a simple
outcome of information overload or a delaying period for considering a response. For whatever reasons, research
suggests using silence and withholding communication are common and problematic. Silence regarding discrimination,
harassment, corruption, and misconduct means top management cannot take action to eliminate problematic behavior

Information Overload, a condition in which information inflow exceeds an individual’s processing capacity. What happens
when individuals have more information than they can sort and use? They tend to select, ignore, pass over, forget it Or
they may put off further processing until the overload situation ends. Employees must balance the need for constant
communication with their personal need for breaks from work, or they risk burnout from being on call 24 hours a day.
 Barriers to Communication Cont…

Nonverbal Communication: How Unwritten and Unspoken Messages

 Eye Contact, to signal the beginning and end of a conversation, to reflect interest and attention, and to convey
both honesty and respect.
 Facial Expressions, you’re probably used to thinking that smiling represents warmth, happiness, or friendship,
whereas frowning represents dissatisfaction or anger. But people in some cultures are less openly demonstrative.
 Body Movements and Gestures, open body positions, such as leaning slightly backward, express openness,
warmth, closeness, and availability for communication. Closed body positions, such as folded arms or crossed
legs, represent defensiveness. Angling your body away from the other person generally makes you look un-
interested
 Touch, norms for touching vary significantly around the world. For example, kissing on the cheek, patting on the
shoulder, and embracing may be appropriate in the United States, but many people in Asia find these actions
offensive. Other cultures are often more conservative about the use of touch between men and women.
 Barriers to Communication Cont…
Personal Barriers: Individual Attributes That Hinder Communication
 Variable Skills in Communicating Effectively, Some people are simply better communicators than others. They have the vocabulary, the writing ability, the speaking
skills, the facial expressions, the eye contact, the dramatic ability, the “gift of gab,” and the social skills to express themselves in a superior way. But better
communication skills can be learned.
 Variations in the Way We Process and Interpret Information, communication is a perceptual process in which people use different frames of reference and
experiences to interpret the world around them, they are selective about what things have meaning to them and what don’t. These differences affect what we say
and what we think we hear.
 Variations in Trustworthiness and Credibility, without trust between you and the other person, communication is apt to be flawed. Instead of communicating,
both of you will be concentrating on defensive tactics, not the meaning of the message being exchanged. When people are listening to someone with confidence
and trust, there is a predisposition to hear the message and agree. Emotions, you may interpret the same message differently when you’re angry or distraught than
when you’re happy. For example, individuals in positive moods are more confident about their opinions after reading a persuasive message, so well-designed
arguments have a stronger impact on their opinions. Extreme emotions such as jubilation or depression are most likely to hinder effective communication.

 Faulty Listening Skills, do you find your mind wandering over the course of a day? Do you forget people’s names shortly after meeting them? These are signs of
Mindlessness is a state of reduced attention. It is expressed in behavior that is rigid, or thoughtless. Another barrier to listening, ironically, is cell phones. If we’re
looking at our screens all the time, how can we really be listening to those who are right before us?
 Oversized Egos, our egos—our pride, our self-esteem, even arrogance—are a fourth barrier. Egos can cause political battles, turf wars, and the passionate pursuit of
power, credit, and resources. They influence the way we treat each other and how receptive we are to being influenced by others.
 Generational Differences, if you’ve tried to teach an older relative how to text or use Facebook, you may have some appreciation for how difficult it can be for
older generations to adapt to new technologies.
Social Media and Management

Social media, which use web-based and mobile

technologies to generate interactive dialogue
with members of a network, are woven into
every aspect of our lives. It’s no wonder, then,
that the communications capabilities of social
media continue to grow and expand and that
managers need to keep up with their increasing
potential. Moreover, those whose businesses are
global, for instance, are using social medial
platforms to reach audiences in developing
countries around the world.
 Social media and Managerial and Organizational
Effectiveness
Employment Recruiting, With their ease of use, speed, and
potentially huge audiences, social media have increasing
applications for managers’ and organizations’ effectiveness.
That it’s easier to find people with specific skill sets with
social media tools. Managers should be savvy, however.
Says Fisher, they should “keep good content flowing that is
helpful to their social communities and avoid just ‘asking’ all
the time, so that when candidates see these ads and check
out the company, they see a helpful resource and
interesting culture. However, Social media can also lead to
hiring discrimination (by revealing applicants’ religious
affiliation, age, family composition, or sexual orientation).
• Employee Productivity, While overuse of and even
addiction to social media exist and can cause serious
problems, there seems little doubt that social media tools
at work, used appropriately, can make communication by
and among employees more productive. In fact,
productivity is a driving force behind the use of all forms of
technology at work, including social media. The key for
employees, managers, and employers is to harness the
speed and reach of social media to enhance individual
performance. Results like reduced turnover, higher
performance, increased job satisfaction, and greater
creativity and collaboration are common findings in
research about the effects of social media. Employees who
work remotely are particular beneficiaries of social media’s
communications capabilities. Customized scheduling,
organizing, networking, document sharing, messaging, and
other digital communication options help relieve them of
the need to commute, attend routine meetings, and be
distracted by colleagues.
 Social media and Managerial and Organizational
Effectiveness Cont…
• Employer Productivity, Companies of all sizes and in all industries
believe in the benefits of social media, including their ability to keep
employees engaged and satisfied, and therefore productive. The
essence of social media is connectivity. If deployed effectively, social
media enable businesses to do the following:
 Connect with key stakeholders. The use of social media allows you
to connect in real time and over distances with many customers,
suppliers, employees, potential talent, and other key stakeholders.
 Connect with varied sources of expertise inside the organization.
We’ve seen such connectivity demonstrated in virtual teams,
redefining conventional organizational boundaries and drawing on
different sources of talent, knowledge, and experience throughout
the organization.
 Connect with varied sources of expertise outside the organization.
Social media can cross organizational boundaries and connect with
outsiders to help in problem solving. Example, crowdfunding.
• Social Media and Innovation: Crowdsourcing; if you are looking
for an innovative solution to a problem, you might conclude
that the more people you have thinking about the problem, the
more potential ideas will be generated. That’s the idea behind
crowdsourcing, using the Internet and social media to enlist a
group outside the organization for help solving a problem.
Organizations that tried crowdsourcing found that successful
efforts had two features in common. First, the managers
behind them were proactive in that they encouraged
contributors to submit ideas by posting their own ideas first and
inviting public comment, opening the conversation and giving
potential collaborators needed insight into the organization and
its needs. Second, the managers were reactive in responding
publicly to the contributions they received, validating the
contributors and encouraging still more to come forward
because they felt confident their ideas would be heard.
 Social media and Managerial and Organizational
Effectiveness Cont…
Social Media and Sales and Brand Recognition, is it logical to expect that an
“effective” social media presence generates customers and brand recognition?
Yes, for the following reasons:
 Social media can increase product/service awareness and generate
customer inquiries.
 Social media can enhance relationships with customers.
 Social media can increase the ability to reach customers on a global scale.
 For small or local businesses, social media can foster co-promotion of local
businesses and the image of small businesses in the area.
 Social media can foster consumers’ conversations about brands.
Don’t assume that the mere use of social media automatically results in more
sales and brand recognition. Recent research suggests that social media won’t
create positive outcomes unless two conditions are present. First, the
company must possess both competence in social media skills and technology
and commitment in the form of dedicated resources. Second, a successful
social media strategy requires consumers or customers with social media
skills.
Social Media and Reputation, some companies have been very successful at
using social media to build and protect their reputations online. One of the
biggest dangers managers face is negative comments about the organization
posted by disgruntled customers or even employees. Some tips for defusing
these and limiting the harm they can do are:
 Create and enforce a social media policy for employees. At a minimum, your
policy should limit what employees can say on the organization’s web pages
and ensure that all posted content meets the highest ethical standards.
 Appoint experienced managers to monitor your social media presence and
respond quickly and appropriately to negative posts.
 Acknowledge there is a problem. Gracefully accepting that someone has a
genuine issue with the organization, its product or service, or its posts—even
if the problem is a misunderstanding on his or her part—can go a long way
toward defusing bad feelings.
 Take the conversation offline if necessary. If a customer refuses to be
satisfied, take the conversation to a private sphere such as phone or e-mail.
Not only will this keep it out of the public eye and prevent further damage to
the brand but the individualized attention may also reduce the customer’s ire.
 Downsides of Social Media
• Cyberloafing, using the Internet at work for personal use—is a primary concern
for employers in their adoption of social media. Another consideration for
managers is that most employees can and do bring their own devices to work
and so are perfectly capable of bypassing controls installed on office computers. ,
taking an online break from work might not be such a bad thing. It can reduce
stress and improve concentration. The key, again, is fairness in setting and
upholding policies about social media use.
• Phubbing and FOMO Microaggressions (acts of unconscious bias), include a
number of seemingly tiny but repeated actions, like interrupting others,
mispronouncing or mistaking someone’s name, and avoiding eye contact. FOMO,
or of being out of touch with something happening in our social network. a
growing phenomenon although research shows that conversations are actually
less rewarding for both parties when interrupted by one person’s texting.
• Security: Guarding against Cyberthreats, Security is defined as a system of
safeguards for protecting information technology against disasters, system
failures, and unauthorized access that result in damage or loss. Security is a
continuing challenge, with computer and cell-phone users constantly having to
deal with threats ranging from malicious software (malware) that tries to trick
people into yielding passwords and personal information to viruses that can
destroy or corrupt data.
• Privacy: Keeping Things to Yourself, Privacy is the right of people not to
reveal information about themselves. Threats to privacy can range from name
migration, as when a company sells its customer list to another company, to
online snooping, to government prying and spying. A potentially devastating
violation of privacy is identity theft, in which thieves hijack your name and
identity and use your good credit rating to get cash or buy things. Monitoring
can become a source of bias, however, and determined employees can often
get around monitoring tools and devices, sometimes weakening the
organization’s security protocols in the process as your privacy rights may be
limited when you are using your employer’s computer and other equipment.
• The Need to Manage E-Mail, Employees tend to have a love/hate relationship
with e-mail. While texting, social networking, and other forms of electronic
and digital communication have begun to reduce the dominance of e-mail, it’s
predicted that the number of e-mail users worldwide will continue to grow.
Social Media Policy, a social media policy describes the who, how, when, and
for what purposes of social media use, and the consequences for
noncompliance. Assessing an Organization’s Social Media Readiness,
consider the social media readiness of an organization to which you belong.
Improving Communication Effectivenes

Using evaluative or judgmental comments such as “Your work is terrible” or “You’re always late for
meetings” spurs defensiveness, which can lead to defensive communication—either aggressive,
attacking, angry communication or passive, withdrawing communication.
The better alternative is nondefensive communication—communication that is assertive, direct, and
powerful. You may be surprised to learn that defensiveness is often triggered by nothing more than a
poor choice of words or nonverbal posture during interactions. In the language of behavior
modification, these triggers are antecedents of defensiveness.
For example, using absolutes like “always” or “never” is very likely to create a defensive response.
Communicating nondefensively begins with making sure your emotions are in check. Don’t have
important conversations when you are emotional. Other actions include framing your message into
terms that acknowledge the receiver’s point of view, freeing yourself of prejudice and bias, asking
good questions and actively listening to responses, and being honest about your intentions. Your
communications will be more effective and nondefensive when you communicate with the intention
of helping others.
 Improving Communication Effectivenes Cont…

• Empathy is the ability to recognize and understand another person’s feelings and thoughts. It is a reflective technique that fosters
open communication. Empathy works for managers because it is not the same thing as uncritically accepting others’ words and
behavior; rather, it relies on a conscious effort to understand the emotional impact of our own words and behavior. Empathy
leads to more effective communication and interaction because people feel heard. Using 3 distinct types of empathy:

 Cognitive empathy. Having cognitive empathy means you can “identify how another person feels and consider what they may
be thinking.”
 Emotional empathy. Emotional empathy is the ability to “physically feel what another feels.”
 Compassionate empathy. With compassionate empathy we “not only grasp a person’s predicament and feel their feelings, but
we’re moved to help in some way.

• Experience tells us that you won’t be able to use these types of empathy if you are not mindful. Mindfulness assists you in
placing your attention on the feelings and emotions others are displaying both verbally and nonverbally. You can increase your
mindfulness during conversations by first setting an intention to stay in the present moment. You then can attempt to pause
before responding, make friendly eye contact, and strive to be kind and nonjudgmental.
 Improving Communication Effectivenes Cont…
Active listening is the process of actively decoding and interpreting verbal messages. Active listening requires full attention and processing of information, which
hearing does not. Active listening made receivers feel more understood. It also led people to conclude that their conversations were more helpful, sensitive, and
supportive. Why do you think we miss or lose so much of what we hear? One reason is that we have the cognitive capacity to process words at a much higher rate
than people speak. This means our cognitive processes are being underutilized, leading to daydreaming and distractions. Noise is another reason. A third reason,
and one you can control, is your motivation to listen and your listening style. Understand Your Listening Style—or Styles You can improve your communication
competence by understanding your typical listening style. There are 4 styles:

1) Active—I’m fully invested. Active listeners are “all in.” They are motivated to listen and give full attention when others are talking. They focus on what is being
communicated and expend energy by participating in the discussion. They also use positive body language, such as leaning in or making direct eye contact, to
convey their interest.
2) Involved—I’m partially invested. Involved listeners devote only some of their attention and energy to listening. They reflect on what is being said and half-
halfheartedly participate in the discussion. Their nonverbal cues can show interest and non-interest in the same conversation.
3) Passive—It’s not my responsibility to listen. Passive listeners are not equal partners in a speaking–listening exchange. They assume the speaker is responsible
for the quality of the interaction and believe their role is to passively take in information. Passive listeners will display attentiveness, but they can fake it at
times.
4) Detached—I’m uninterested. Detached listeners tend to withdraw from the interaction. They appear inattentive, bored, distracted, and uninterested. They may
start using mobile devices during the speaking–listening exchange. Their body language will reflect lack of interest, such as slumping and avoiding direct eye
contact.

Effective listening is a learned skill, so it takes energy and desire to develop it. Basically, however, it comes down to paying attention to the content of the message.
ANY QUESTION ?