Poor Communication

Employees Polled Said They:

Don’t get decisions
explained well 54%

Aren’t well informed of 61%

company plans

Don’t believe what

64%
management says

0% 40% 80%
The Communication Process
Source
Noise
Encoding
Feedback

Noise
Channel
Noise
Decoding
Noise
Receiver
The Communication Process

Cultural Channel
Context Response Choice

Message

Communicator Audience
Strategy Choices
 Consider communication objective (intended
response) and choose appropriate strategy:
 Communicator--what style will work? what is your
credibility?
 Audience--who? what do they know & feel?
 Message--how to emphasize & organize?
 Channel Choice--how to send it?
 Remember Cultural Context!!
Communicator

 Use appropriate style for necessary content

control and audience involvement.
High
TELL
Content SELL
Control
CONSULT
Low
JOIN
Low Audience Involvement High
Communicator, cont’d

 Consider issue of credibility. Sources of

credibility and ways to emphasize or build:
 Rank… emphasize yours or associate yourself
 Goodwill… refer to track record or emphasize benefits
 Expertise… note resume or associate yourself
 Image… emphasize or model valued attributes
 Shared Values… emphasize commonality
Audience

 Get the right people, consider:

 Primary & Secondary
 Gate Keepers
 Opinion Leaders
 Key Decision Makers
 Find out about your audience:
 What do they know? (current and need)
 How do they feel? (interest and bias)
 How can they be motivated? (next slide)
Audience, cont’d

 Motivating the Audience

 Note Benefits
 Use Credibility Techniques
 “Common Ground”
 “Reciprocity”
 “Punishment”
 Use Message Structure Techniques
 “Inoculation” or “Two-Sided”
 “Foot in the Door” or “Door in the Face”
 Effective Opening and Closing
Message

 Emphasis
 People remember best the beginning and end
 Never bury important ideas in the middle
 State ideas prominently at beginning and end
 Structure
 Direct--underused, should be used ~ 90%!!
 Indirect--used best when message is sensitive,
audience bias is negative, audience is analysis-
oriented, and your credibility is low
Channel
 Written:
 Use when you want a permanent record.
 Allows for more detail & precision in wording.
 Faster for the receiver than listening.
 Paper vs. fax vs. e-mail vs. chat??
 Oral:
 Use to get across important themes, but not details (we get
~ 25% of a message).
 Takes more time but engages audience more.
 Presentation vs. group meeting vs. face-to-face vs. phone??
Channel, cont’d

 Meaning of oral messages are inferred

from:
 7% Words (what you say)
 38% Voice (how you say it)
 55% Nonverbal cues
 Why? Nonverbals are harder to control, so
they are more honest.
 Eyes, expressions, arms, hands, posture.
Channel, cont’d

 Increased use of e-mail has not been

accompanied by understanding of the channel.
Keep in mind:
 It is a public record
 Format, grammar, and spelling contribute to an
overall impression of you
 Humor (esp. sarcasm) comes across cold
 There are “norms” and “customs”
see http://www.albion.com/netiquette/
Channel, cont’d

 Formal:
 Use for legal issues or to communicate key
ideas and facts.
 Informal:
 Use to gather new ideas.
 Grapevines (according to one study) are
80% accurate.
Channel, cont’d

 Individual
 Use to build relationship, obtain an individual
response and secure private or confidential
information.
 Group
 Use to build group identity, obtain a group
response, avoid excluding people, and/or to
make sure all audience hears the message at
the same time.
Cultural Context

 Research addresses two dominant issues

 Gender
 National Culture
 These issues should be considered as part
of an audience analysis, but whenever
you deal with unfamiliar groups reconsider
all decisions within the cultural context!
Gender in Communication
 Socio-linguistic studies indicate differences in men
and women’s typical conversation styles in personal
and business situations.
 Establish power vs. to build a rapport.
 I vs. we when taking credit.
 Questions as a sign of incompetence vs. to learn.
 Downplaying doubts vs. downplaying certainty.
 “I’m sorry” to accept blame vs. show concern.
 Direct criticism vs. buffered criticism.
 Limited vs. free-flowing compliments.
 Confrontational conversations vs. unwanted conflict.
Tannen, HBR, Sept-Oct. 1995
Culture in Communication
 Cultural norms vary with respect to:
 How quickly you should get to your point versus
attend to the social elements.
 How much you should involve the audience (i.e.,
tell/sell vs. consult).
 To what extent emotions are expected.
 To what extent disagreement can occur.
 What gives a speaker credibility.
 To what extent should data versus values drive your
message.