COMMUNICATION Flashcards
FEATURES OF COMMUNICATION
- Formal communication: Communication that takes place through official channels, such as emails, memos, reports, and
meetings. - Informal communication: Communication that takes place through unofficial channels, such as gossip, rumors, and
social interactions. - Channels of communication: The means through which communication is transmitted, such as face-to-face
conversation, phone calls, emails, and video conferences. - Synchronicity: Refers to whether the communication is happening in real-time or not. Synchronous communication is
immediate and happens in real-time, while asynchronous communication has a delay. - Feedback: Refers to the response or reaction to a message. Feedback can be positive or negative and is crucial for
effective communication. - Focus of communication: Refers to whether communication is directed towards an individual or a group.
Communication can be one-to-one (between two individuals) or one-to-many (between one person and a group of
people).
FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNICATION
➢ Formal lines of communication are those that are established by the organization and are often depicted in an
organization chart. These lines are official channels that convey information from the top of the hierarchy down to
lower-level employees and vice versa.
➢ Informal lines of communication refer to channels that are not established by the organization. These lines are often
developed through social interactions and can exist between employees at any level of the hierarchy.
➢ Gossip is a form of informal communication that is often considered negative. It is the spreading of rumors or
information about other people without their knowledge or consent. Gossip can have a significant impact on workplace
culture and can create a toxic environment if left unchecked.
CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION
➢ Verbal: spoken words, tone, pitch, and volume are essential to convey the intended meaning of the message. It
includes face-to-face communication, telephone calls, and video conferencing.
➢ Bodily: nonverbal cues that accompany verbal communication such as body language, gestures, facial expressions,
posture, and eye contact. This channel of communication can reinforce, supplement, or contradict verbal messages.
➢ Written: communication through written words, including emails, memos, letters, reports, and presentations. This
channel allows the message to be documented and referred to at any time.
➢ Symbolic: communication through signs, signals, logos, and images. It can convey messages without words and can
have different interpretations based on the context and culture.
➢ Mehrabian’s 55-38-7 ratio refers to the relative importance of different channels of communication in conveying
emotions and attitudes. The ratio suggests that 55% of communication effectiveness comes from nonverbal cues such
as facial expressions and body language, 38% from tone of voice, and 7% from the actual words used in the message.
However, it is important to note that this ratio has been criticized for being oversimplified and not applicable to all
types of communication
TYPES OF FOCUS OF COMMUNICATION
One-to-one:
➢ This type of communication involves two individuals who are communicating with each other directly.
➢ Examples of this type of communication include a conversation between friends, a job interview, or a meeting between
colleagues.
One-to-many (broadcasting):
➢ This type of communication involves a single sender who is transmitting a message to a large number of receivers.
➢ Examples of this type of communication include a speech, a lecture, a TV show, or a radio broadcast.
Many-to-many:
➢ This type of communication involves a group of people who are all communicating with each other.
➢ Examples of this type of communication include online discussion forums, chat rooms, or social media platforms.
Many-to-one:
➢ This type of communication involves a large group of people communicating with a single individual or entity.
➢ Examples of this type of communication include feedback surveys, customer reviews, or complaints directed at a
company
THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS
The communication process involves a source (sender), encoding of the message, message itself, decoding of the message by
the recipient, and noise or other interferences that can affect the communication process. Here’s a breakdown of each
component:
➢ Source (sender): The person or entity who initiates the message or information that needs to be conveyed.
➢ Encoding: The process of converting the message or information into a symbolic form that can be communicated
through various channels.
➢ Message: The actual information or message that needs to be communicated.
➢ Decoding: The process of interpreting the encoded message by the recipient.
➢ Recipient: The person or entity who receives the message.
➢ Noise: Any interference or disturbance in the communication process that can affect the transmission or reception of
the message. Noise can be physical, psychological, or semantic in nature.
It’s important to note that the communication process is not always linear and can involve feedback loops, which allow the
sender and receiver to exchange information and ensure that the message is properly understood.
COMMUNICATION AND POWER
- Communication and miscommunication: Effective communication is crucial in organizations to ensure that messages
are conveyed accurately and understood correctly by the recipients. Miscommunication can lead to misunderstandings,
confusion, and mistakes. - Nichols (1962) – 20% of meaning remains in the transfer of a message from top to bottom of an organization: According
to Nichols, as a message travels down the organizational hierarchy, its meaning gets lost or distorted. He argued that
only 20% of the original message’s meaning is retained by the time it reaches the bottom of the organization. - Latour (1986) power as a rugby ball – noise can disrupt communication each time a message is passed on: Latour used
the metaphor of a rugby ball to describe how power affects communication in organizations. He argued that a message
is like a rugby ball passed between team members, and each time it is passed, there is a chance that it will be dropped
or knocked off course, causing noise or distortion. This noise can be caused by power struggles or conflicts within the
organization, which can disrupt communication and make it difficult to convey messages accurately.
TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATION
- McLuhan’s idea of ‘the medium is the message’ suggests that the medium used to convey a message is as important as
the message itself in shaping the way that people perceive it. - With advancements in communications technology, such as the microphone, printing, and email, communication has
become more efficient in terms of speed and reach. - However, with these technologies, there is a trade-off between efficiency and richness of communication. For example,
while email is efficient in terms of speed and reach, it may lack the richness of communication that face-to-face
interaction provides.
SOCIAL PRESENCE THEORY
- Social presence theory suggests that communication technologies vary in terms of the degree of social presence they
offer. - Face-to-face communication is considered to have high social presence as the communicators can interact with each
other directly and immediately. - Communication technologies like email, on the other hand, are considered to have low social presence as the sender is
distant from the receiver. - Emoticons and other such cues are sometimes used in electronic communication as surrogates for the lack of social
presence, as they help convey emotions and nonverbal cues that would otherwise be missing
MEDIA RICHNESS THEORY
- Theory developed by Daft and Lengel (1986)
- Richness of information conveyed in different media
- Different communications media are appropriate in different circumstances
- Uncertainty refers to the absence of information
- Equivocality refers to the degree to which information is open to interpretation
- High equivocality requires richer media for communication
- High uncertainty requires richer media for communication
- Richer media allows for more feedback and interaction between sender and receiver
- Lower richness media are appropriate for transmitting routine and structured messages
MEDIA RICHNESS THEORY (DAFT AND LENGEL, 1986)
Media richness theory, proposed by Daft and Lengel in 1986, is a framework that suggests that the choice of communication
medium depends on the richness of the information to be conveyed and the level of ambiguity or uncertainty involved in the
message. Some of the key points related to this theory are:
* Communication media vary in their ability to convey rich information.
* Face-to-face communication is the richest medium, as it allows for immediate feedback, personalization, and nonverbal cues.
* Asynchronous communication media, such as email or memos, are less rich, as they lack non-verbal cues and
immediate feedback.
* Rich communication media are better suited for messages with high ambiguity and uncertainty.
* Simple and routine messages with low ambiguity and uncertainty can be conveyed through less rich media.
* The selection of communication medium depends on the complexity and importance of the message, the receiver’s
preferences, and the organizational culture.
THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE
The choice of medium for communication depends on the type of message and the desired outcome. However, some general
suggestions could be made:
* Facts about a project: email or memo
* Figures, e.g. accounts: report or presentation
* Instructions for repairing machinery: manual or video tutorial
* Directions to head office: map or email
* Feedback to members of a project team: face-to-face meeting or video conference
* Praise to an individual who has won a new contract: email or phone call
* Anger to a colleague who is stirring up trouble: face-to-face meeting or phone call
* An idea for a new project: brainstorming session or email
* A new culture: face-to-face meeting or video conference
* Forthcoming redundancy to a group of employees: face-to-face meeting with HR representative or video conference.
THE INFORMATED ORGANIZATION (ZUBOFF, 1985)
- Organizational processes generate information
- Bureaucracy is a form of information technology
- Computers have transformed the way information is processed
- Organizations have become highly dependent on computers and digital technology
- The organization is increasingly viewed as a database
- Individuals are increasingly being reduced to highly caricatured versions in computer code
- The boundary between human beings and machines is becoming increasingly blurred in organizational contexts
THE ‘JANUS FACE’ OF ORGANIZATIONS
Threats:
* Hacking: unauthorized access to computer systems or networks
* Viruses: malicious software that can replicate itself and cause harm to computer systems
* Denial of service attacks: an attempt to make a computer or network unavailable to users
Border controls:
* Passwords: a secret code that allows access to a computer system or network
* Firewalls: a security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic
* Filters: software that blocks or restricts access to certain websites or types of content
