Chapters 1-10 Flashcards
Credibility
Your reputation for being trustworthy
3 parts to it:
Competence
Caring
Character
Competence
The ability to do something successfully or efficiently
- One of the three competences to credibility
Establish Competence:
- Through study, observation, and practice
- Through real-world business experiences
- In the ways you communicate with others
- Focusing on action
Emphasizing results
Caring
Understand the interests of others.
Cultivate a sense of community.
Give to others and show generosity.
Community and Teamwork
- Is recognized by effective corporate business leaders
- Engenders trust and helps you find mutually beneficial solutions and opportunities
- Demonstrates generosity
Character
The actions one takes
High Character Characteristics:
- Consistent and of high integrity
- Values all stakeholders
Most important determinants of trust in the workplace:
- Honesty
- Ethical behavior
- Transparency and knowledge sharing
High character results in trust
FAIR
FACTS
- Truth with NO slanting; Clear Assumptions
ACCESS
- Do recipients have access to info to make decisions and provide input?
IMPACTS
-Have you thought about how the message will impact various stakeholders and evaluated ethical, corporate, and legal perspectives?
RESPECT
- Have you demonstrated respect and value for the inherent worth of others: their aspirations, thoughts, feelings, and well-being, used inclusive language, and avoided avoids stereotypes?
Most important skills to managers
Ability to inspire others
Adaptability
Analytical abilities
Core business knowledge
Cross-cultural sensitivity
Drive
Integrity
Listening skills
Oral communication
Presentation skills
Written communication
Interpersonal Communication Process
Sending and receiving verbal and nonverbal messages between two or more people.
The exchange of simultaneous and mutual messages to share and negotiate meaning between those involved.
Meaning
Encoding
Decoding
One goal = shared meaning
Barriers
interpersonal Communication Process
Noise:
- Physical noise (external noise)
- Physiological noise (internal noise: sicknesses, hearing)
- Semantic noise (meanings of words)
- Psychological noise (attitudes, emotions)
Filter of Lifetime Experiences
Accumulation of knowledge, values, expectations, and attitudes based on prior personal experiences.
Emotional Hijacking
Situations where emotions control behavior, causing reactions without thinking.
Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
Single best predictor of workplace performance
- Understanding and managing emotions to serve goals.
- Empathizing and effectively handling relationships with others
Domains to EQ
Self-Awareness
Self-Management
Empathy
Relationship Management
Active Listening
A person’s willingness and ability to hear and understand.
Active Listening Components:
- Paying attention
- Holding judgment
- Reflecting
- Clarifying
- Summarizing
- Sharing
Barriers to Effective Listening
- Lack of Time
- Lack of Patience and Attention span
- Image of Leadership
- Communication Technology
- Fear of Bad News or uncomfortable Information
- Defending
- “Me Too” Statements
- Giving Advice
- Judging
How to Be a Better Listener
- Have a Learner mindset
- Ask Rapport-building questions
- Learn to Sight-Read (nonverbal cues)
- Ask Funnel questions
- Ask Probing questions
- Do not ask leading, disguised, or cross-examination questions
- Read Nonverbal Cues
Introverts vs extroverts
Introverts:
Tend to get much of their stimulation and energy from their own thoughts, feelings, and moods.
Extroverts:
Tend to get much of their stimulation and energy from external sources such as social interaction.
Use your awareness of emotions to manage interactions = relationships management
Incivility
Rude behaviors that violate norms for respect: disrespecting, disregarding or ignoring others
- Incivility is common in the workplace.
- Many employees who are targets of incivility lose work time or leave their jobs.
Communication skills
(most important skills)
1. oral communication
2. listening skills
- written communication
- presentation skills
Teamwork skills
- Adaptability
- Value opinions of others
- Follow a leader
- Cross cultural sensitivity
Leadership skills
- Integrity
- Drive
- Innovation & creativity
- Ability to inspire others
Technical skills
- Quantitative analysis
- Qualitative analysis
- Core business knowledge
Principles of team communication
- Focus on performance.
- Go through four stages to reach high performance.
- Build a work culture around values, norms and goals.
- Meet often.
- Focus on psychological safety and ensure all voices are heard.
- Recognize and actively seek to avoid groupthink.
- Embrace diversity.
- Solve problems and generate creative solutions.
- Provide positive feedback and evaluate performance often.
Stages of development in teams
Forming
- team members focus on gaining acceptance and avoiding conflict
Storming
- team members open up about their competing ideas of how the team should work
Norming
- team arrives at a plan including roles, goals, and accountabilites
Preforming
- team operates efficiently towards accomplishing its goals
Team culture
Shared perceptions and commitment to collective values, norms, roles, responsibilities, and goals.
Typically during the norming stage.
Team charter
Provides direction to the team.
Identifies purpose or mission statements, values, goals, team member roles, tasks, ground rules, communication protocol, meeting protocol, decision-making rules, conflict resolution, and feedback mechanisms.
Divergence
Working independently can increase the number of ideas and solutions generated.
Convergence
Evaluating the proposed ideas and solutions and narrowing them to a small set of feasible solutions to address the problem.
Psychological Safety
semplathy for others; provide equal opportunities, respect)
Groupthink
(self-censorship based on collective rationalization)
Inherent diversity vs acquired diversity
Inherent diversity involves traits you are born with, such as gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.
Acquired diversity involves traits you gain from experience: Working in another country can help you appreciate cultural differences
How to show cultural respect
- Making sure everyone is heard.
- Making it safe to let team members express novel ideas.
- Giving team members decision-making authority.
- Sharing credit.
- Giving useful feedback.
- Putting feedback into action.
When planning for meetings …
- Purpose and expectations
- Attendees and their roles
- Schedule
- Agenda components
- Materials and planning needed prior to meeting
- Logistics issues
Coordination meetings vs problem solving meetings
Coordination meetings (focus on discussing roles and goals)
Problem-Solving meetings (focus on progress)
Best time for a meeting
10am - noon
Worst time for a meeting
4pm
Many people avoid difficult conversations because …
- to avoid hurting the feelings of others
- to avoid conflict
Techniques to approach difficult conversations
Disagree diplomatically:
validating
I-statements
Listen, share commonalities, and have empathy
Inclusion
occurs when employees feel a sense of value and belonging.
- Collaborating with diverse colleagues holds promise for higher performance and innovation, more rewarding work environments, and deep and meaningful friendships
- Gen Y & Gen Z are most sensitive to issues of diversity
Women vs Men
- Women tend to be more relationship oriented, collaborative, and interconnected in thinking.
- Men tend to be more independent, competitive, and linear in thinking.
Religion
- The United States is increasingly diverse in terms of religious and spiritual views.
- May influence morals and values in the workplace, inform views of leadership, or lead to participation in certain holidays or rituals.
Mental health & physical disabilities
Managers must listen to employee needs and allow flexible work when possible.
About 20- 30% of U.S. adults report mental health challenges.
*Depression leads to an average of 27 lost work days each year per employee
.
*Between 6 and 9.5 million American employees have some form of disability.
American Disabilities Act compliance has helped
Race and Ethnicity
Discrimination creates many barriers to professional opportunities.
Cultural Intelligence (CQ)
- A measure of your ability to work with and adapt to members of other cultures.
- Can be developed and improved over time.
CQ in the Workplace:
Respect
Understand
Adjust
Patience
Culture
Cultures differ in priorities
People across cultures interpret behavior differently than those in other cultures
Individualism
- A mind-set that prioritizes independence more highly than interdependence.
- Emphasizes individual goals over group goals.
- Values choice more than obligation.
Collectivism
- A mind-set that prioritizes interdependence more highly than independence.
- Emphasizes group goals over individual goals.
- Values obligation more than choice.
Egalitarian Cultures
People tend to distribute and share power evenly, minimize status differences, and minimize special privileges and opportunities for people just because they have higher authority.
Hierarchical Cultures
- People expect power differences, follow leaders without questioning them, and feel comfortable with leaders receiving special privileges and opportunities.
- Power tends to be concentrated at the top.
Performance Orientation
The extent to which a community encourages and rewards innovation, high standards, and performance improvement.
High Performance Orientation
- Emphasize results more than relationships
- Prioritize measurable goals and objectives in meetings and communications
- View feedback as essential to improvement
- Explicitly talk about financial incentives
- Value statements of individual accountability
- Expect urgency in communications and emphasize deadlines
Low Performance Orientation
- Emphasize relationships more than results
- Discuss goals and objectives casually without mechanisms for measuring them
- View feedback as judgmental and uncomfortable
- De-emphasize financial incentives; consider this motivation inappropriate
- Value expressions of loyalty and sympathy
- Show a relaxed view of time and view overemphasis on deadlines as pushy
Future Orientation
The degree to which cultures are willing to sacrifice current wants to achieve future needs.
High Future Orientation
- Emphasize control and planning for the future
- Focus more on intrinsic motivation
- Frequently discuss long-term strategies as part of business communications
- Use flexible and adaptive language
- Often mention long-term rewards and incentives
- Appreciate visionary approaches to business problems
Low Future Orientation
- Emphasize controlling current business problems
- Focus more on extrinsic motivation
- Rarely discuss long-term strategies as part of communications
- Use inflexible and firm language
- Often mention short-term rewards and incentives
- Prioritize proven and routine approaches to problems
Assertiveness Orientation
The level of confrontation and directness that is considered appropriate and productive.
High-Assertiveness Cultures
- Emphasize direct and unambiguous language
- Uncomfortable with silence and speak up quickly to fill the silence
- Prioritize resolving issues over showing respect to others
- Typically express more emotion
- Use tough, even dominant, language
- Stress equality and use competitive language
- Value unrestrained expression of thoughts and feelings
Low-Assertiveness Cultures
- Emphasize indirect and subtle language
- View silence as communicative and respectful
- Prioritize showing respect over resolving issues
- Typically express less emotion
- Use tender and pleasant language
- Stress equality and use cooperative language
- Value measured and disciplined expression of thoughts and feelings
Humane Orientation
Degree to which an organization or society encourages and rewards individuals for being fair, altruistic, friendly, generous, caring, and kind.
High human orientation
- Express greetings, welcome, concern, and appreciation in most interactions
- Consider taking time to talk about feelings as critical
- Volunteer to help others
- Smile and display other nonverbal signs of welcome frequently
Low Humane Orientation
- Express greetings and welcome in formal interactions
- Consider taking time to talk about feelings as inefficient
- Help others when asked
- Smile and display other nonverbal signs of welcome infrequently
Building and Maintaining
Cross-Cultural Work Relationships
- Establish trust and show empathy.
- Adopt a learner (versus judger) mind-set.
- Build a co-culture of cooperation and innovation.
The Importance of Knowing About Cultural Differences:
- Cultures differ in priorities
- People across cultures interpret behavior differently than those in other cultures
The Stages and Goals of Effective Message Creation
PLAN: Get the content right.
Understand your audience.
Gather the right information.
Develop your message.
WRITE: Get the delivery right.
Set the right tone.
Apply a clear and concise style.
Focus on navigational design.
REVIEW: Double-check everything.
Get feedback.
Ensure your message is fair.
Make sure to proofread.
Components of planning
Audience analysis:
Audience knowledge (or lack of knowledge); your relationship with and your personal credibility with the audience; audience benefits; needs, priorities, constraints of the audience; audience possible reaction
- Information gathering.
- Message development
Frame primary message (vivid statement 15 or less words)
Logic of the message; supporting points and specifics
Deductive versus inductive (direct and indirect)
Setting tone of message
- Use positivity
- Be diplomatic and use constructive language
- Be confident and demonstrate reliability; NOT overconfident
- Show concern for others
- Show respect for others’ time
- Give credit to others as appropriate
- Use I and We and You voice appropriately
Meta Messages
The overall but often underlying messages people take away from a communication or group of communications.
A combination of content, tone, and other signals.
Completeness
- Provide all accurate information
- Be accurate
- Be specific
Conciseness
Say as much as you can in as few words as possible
short and to the point
- Omit needless words: Goal reduce word count
- Control paragraph length: One idea per 40-80 word paragraph:
Simple routine messages may have 20-30 word paragraphs.
- In Routine Messages, Use Shorter Sentences: < 15 words
At how many words per sentence does comprehension drop?
20, try to keep sentences under 20 words.
- The process of unifying helps you control paragraph length and even tighten your business reasoning
Be specific
When specific = readers are more likely to have their questions answered.
When not specific = readers become scan and skim
Natural Style
Use action verbs when possible.
Use active voice.
Use short and familiar words and phrases.
Use parallel language.
Avoid buzzwords and figures of speech.
Avoid it is/there are.
Active voice
This is the better one!
Allows for faster processing.
Emphasizes the business orientation of the action.
Specifies the doer.
Results in fewer words.
Doer as Subject + Verb + Object
Ex: Sunrise provides free training for up to three people for each new store.
In the active voice, the subject of a sentence acts, like “Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.” The active voice is direct, clear, and easy to read.
Passive Voice
Object as Subject + Be Verb + Verb + Doer (Optional)
Ex: Free training is provided for up to three people for each new store.
With the passive voice, the subject is acted upon, like “The moon was walked on by Neil Armstrong”.
Short words or long words?
Choose short, conversational, and familiar words.
Using longer, less common words slows processing and distracts from the message.
Parallel language
Using parallel language means that you apply a consistent grammatical pattern across a sentence or paragraph. Parallelism is most important when you use series or lists.
Primary goal for document design
making your message easy to navigate
Headings
help highlight key ideas and allow readers to navigate the document to areas of interest.
- Be consistent in font style and formatting.
- NOT too much special formatting
- Only apply one type of formatting to a word or words
- If a format is required (such as APA) follow all guidelines. If preparing a report or message, use appropriate document design techniques.
- Lists
- White space
- Simplicity
Synchronous communication
Happening in real time
- spoken
- phone calls
- video calls
- in person
Asynchronous communication
Not happening simultaneously
- email
- text message
- written communication
Richness
social, verbal, and nonverbal cues
- immediacy
Control
strategic planning and editing of content
- permanence
Constraints
- Coordination of participants
- Resources needed to possess and use channel
Principles of effective emails
Use for the right purposes.
routine, task-oriented, fact-based, non-sensitive message.
Few constraints
High control
Ensure ease of reading.
Show respect for time.
Protect privacy and confidentiality.
Respond promptly.
Maintain professionalism and appropriate formality.
Manage emotion effectively.
Avoid distractions.
Components
of an Email
- Short, descriptive subject line.
- Greeting.
- Message = brief & identify actions
- Closing
- Signature block.
- Attachments*.
*optional.
Neutrality effect
If a message is intended to be positive, the recipient is likely to have a neutral perception of the message.
Negativity effect
If a message is intended to be neutral, the recipient is likely to have a negative perception.
Cyber silence
When an email receives no response.
Cyber Incivility
- The violation of respect and consideration in an online environment based on workplace norms.
- Can be active incivility or passive incivility.
Social Age
- Collaboration occurs across boundaries
- Problems are solved communally
excessive communication between individuals with shared interests
- sharing knowledge is power
- respect for expertise and contributions to the network
Industrial Age
Command and control
- little communication between teams and unties
- holding authority is power
- respect for position
Information Age
Excessive two way communication between teams and units
- holding knowledge is power
- respect for expertise in position
User 1.0
- Passively reads and searches for content.
- Gets the web as is.
- Email = main communication tool.
- Computer = main access point.
- Connected online for time-limited sessions.
User 2.0
- Actively creates and shares content online.
- Customizes web pages and content.
- Peer-to-peer programs are the main communication tools.
- Connects from various devices.
- Connected online all the time.
Benefits of Social Media
To companies:
- Team communication and collaboration
- Idea sharing/knowledge
- Innovative, creative, effective, & profitable approaches to work problems
- Used for HR succession planning, recruitment, and onboarding
- Skills development and training
- Interfacing with customers, suppliers, and partners
- Marketing of new products and services
- Less time and fewer resources needed for business travel
To business professionals:
- Build professional networks internally and externally
- Access business expertise and knowledge more rapidly
- Enhance camaraderie with peers
Challenges and risks of social media
To companies:
- Lack of adoption and penetration
- Lack of permanence
- Confusion over which communication channels to use
- Distraction from work, too much socializing
- Lack of control of information provided externally and internally
To business professionals:
- Lack of boundaries between professional and private lives
- Lower productivity due to multitasking
- Mistakes and incompetence broadcast to larger audiences
