Chapter 11: Organizational Communication

Question 1

Types of Organizational Communication

Answer 1

● Upward communication
● Downward Communication
● Business Communication
● Informal communication

Question 2

communication of subordinates to superiora or of employees to supervisors

Answer 2

upward communication

Question 3

drawbacks of using DIRECT upward communication

Answer 3

• potential volume of messages

* employees may not openly communicate the bad news to avoid confrontation or being reprimanded by their supervisors

Question 4

communication passed consecutively from employees to supervisor, who relays it to their supervisor, and so on.

Answer 4

serial communication

Question 5

The problems with using Serial Communication

Answer 5

• alteration of content and tone
• the farther away two people are, the less effctive communication
• MUM effect

Question 6

Methods to Facilitate Upward communication

Answer 6

● serial communocation
● Attitude Surveys
● focused groups and exit interviews
● Suggestion Boxes or Complaint Boxes
● Third party facilitator

Question 7

Communication of superior to subordinate or management to employees

Answer 7

downward communication

Question 8

Ways to facilitate downward communication

Answer 8

● Bulletin boards
● Newsletters
● policy manuals and employee handbook
● intranets

Question 9

a form of upward communication that is usually done by an outside consultant who administers a questionnaire asking employees to rate their opinions on such factors as satisfaction with pay, working conditions, and supervisors

Answer 9

Attitude surveys

Question 10

The idea that people prefer not to pass on unpleasant information

Answer 10

MUM (minimize unpleasant messages) effect

Question 11

the transmission of business related information among employees, management, and customers

Answer 11

Business Communication

Question 12

methods to facilitate Business Communication

Answer 12

● memos
●telephone calls
●emails and voice mails
●business meeting
●office design

Question 13

the idea behind this office design is that employees will communicate better with one another and be easier to supervise and help without the physical barriers of walls

Answer 13

open office design

Question 14

three common design for open office

Answer 14

●freestanding design
●uniform plans
●free-form workstations

Question 15

communication among employees in an organization that is not completely related to the completion of an organizational task

Answer 15

Informal communication

Question 16

an unofficial, informal communication network

Answer 16

grapevine

Question 17

Four patterns of grapevine:

Answer 17

● single strand
●gossip
●probability
●cluster

Question 18

grapevine contains two types of information

Answer 18

●gossip

●humor

Question 19

a distance zone within 18 inches of a person, where only people with a close relationship to the person are allowed to enter

Answer 19

intimacy zone

Question 20

a distance zone from 18 inches to four feet that is usually reserved for friends and acquaintances

Answer 20

personal distance zone

Question 21

an interpersonal distance from 4 to 12 feet from a person that is typically used for business and interacting with strangers

Answer 21

social distance zone

Question 22

distance greater than 12 feet from a person that is typical of the interpersonal space allowed for social interactions such as large group lectures

Answer 22

public distance zone

Question 23

communication inferred from the tone, tempo, and rate of speech

Answer 23

Paralanguage

Question 24

the things people surround themselves with (i.e., clothes, jewelry, office, decorations, etc)

Answer 24

artifacts

Question 25

message is passed on to another person by removing unimportant details

Answer 25

leveled

Question 26

describes a message in which interesting and unusual information is kept

Answer 26

shapened

Question 27

a description of a message in which information has been modified to fit the existing beliefs and knowledge of the person sending the information

Answer 27

assimilated

Question 28

a response to communication overload that involves the conscious decision not to process certain types of information

Answer 28

omission

Question 29

a method of coping with communication overload that involves organizing work into an order in which it will be handled

Answer 29

queuing

Question 30

a response to communication overload in which the employee leaves the organization to reduce the stress

Answer 30

escape

Question 31

listening styles

Answer 31

●inclusive listening
●leisure listening
●stylistic listening
●technical listening
●empathic listening
●nonconforming listening

Question 32

the listening style of a person that cares about the feelings of the speaker

Answer 32

empathic listening

Question 33

the listening style practiced by the individual who attends only to information consistent with their way of thinking

Answer 33

nonconforming style

Question 34

a listening style of the person who can retain a large amounts of details but does not know the meaning of those details

Answer 34

technical listening

Question 35

the listening style of a person who pays attention to way the information is presented

Answer 35

stylistic listening

Question 36

the listening style of a person who cares about only interesting information

Answer 36

leisure listening

Question 37

the listening style of a person who listens for the main ideas behind any communication

Answer 37

inclusive listening