Organizational Communication

Summary

This course explores the intricacies of the communication process, emphasizing the role of encoding, decoding, and feedback in transmitting information. It highlights how technology and the internet have reshaped organizational communication. The script delves into barriers such as noise, selective perception, and cultural differences that can distort messages. It underscores the importance of active listening, effective business writing, and the dynamics of meetings in fostering clear communication. The course also distinguishes between different types of organizational communication, including downward, upward, horizontal, and diagonal, and the impact of social networks on these channels.

Takeaways

• 🔄 **Communication Process**: Communication is a two-way process involving encoding, sending, receiving, decoding, and feedback to ensure shared understanding.
• 🌐 **Influence of Technology**: Technology and the Internet have significantly impacted how information is shared within organizations.
• 📢 **Encoding and Decoding**: The sender encodes a message into symbols or words, and the receiver decodes it, aiming for the decoded message to match the sender's intent.
• 🔍 **Barriers to Communication**: Noise, selective perception, misrepresentation, filtering, information overload, and organizational or cultural barriers can distort or block communication.
• 🤔 **Nonverbal Communication**: Nonverbal cues like facial expressions and body language are crucial, often conveying more than words in face-to-face interactions.
• 👂 **Active Listening**: Active listening is essential for effective communication, requiring full attention, feedback, and clarification when necessary.
• ✍️ **Effective Business Writing**: Good business writing is clear, concise, and tailored to the audience, using common language and avoiding jargon.
• 📅 **Meetings**: Effective meetings are punctual, well-prepared, and participatory, contributing positively to employee well-being and productivity.
• 🔽 **Downward Communication**: Managers communicate with subordinates about job expectations, goals, policies, and company performance.
• 🔼 **Upward Communication**: Encouraging feedback from lower levels helps managers understand employee challenges and fosters a sense of inclusion and commitment.
• 🔄 **Horizontal Communication**: Peer-to-peer communication is vital for coordinating tasks and resources within the same organizational level.

Q & A

What is the definition of communication as discussed in the script?

Communication is defined as the process of transmitting information from one person to another to create a shared understanding and feeling. It comes from the Latin word 'communicator' meaning to share or make common.

What is the significance of the term 'encoding' in the communication process?

Encoding is the process where the message sender converts a thought, idea, or fact into a message comprised of symbols, pictures, or words.

What role does the 'message' play in the communication process?

The message is the encoded information being sent from the sender to the receiver.

Can you explain the term 'channel' in the context of communication?

The channel is the medium used to send the message to the receiver, which can include voice, writing, graphs, videos, intranets, television, body language, and so on.

What is 'decoding' and how does it relate to the communication process?

Decoding is the interpretation and translation of the message back into something understood by the receiver.

Why is 'feedback' important in the communication process?

Feedback is a check on the success of the communication, ensuring that the receiver's understanding matches the sender's intended message.

What is 'noise' in the context of communication?

Noise is anything that blocks, distorts, or changes the message in any way, preventing the intended message from being communicated effectively.

How does nonverbal communication play a role in the communication process?

Nonverbal communication includes body language, facial expressions, and other non-spoken cues that can be as meaningful as verbal communication, with research suggesting that in face-to-face communication, a significant portion of the message is conveyed nonverbally.

What are some barriers that can interfere with the communication process?

Barriers can include sender or receiver issues, organizational structure, cultural differences, noise, jargon, selective perception, misrepresentation, filtering, information overload, and more.

What is the difference between 'active listening' and 'hearing'?

Hearing is passive, while active listening is an active search for meaning, requiring engagement and clarification of messages.

Why is effective business writing important and what are some guidelines for it?

Effective business writing is crucial for clear communication and should be direct, use common language, support points with evidence, be respectful and relevant, and be free of grammatical errors. It should also be tailored to the audience and use graphic aids where appropriate.

How can managers improve meeting effectiveness?

Managers can improve meeting effectiveness by ensuring people come prepared, using an agenda, starting and ending on time, having clear purposes, and encouraging widespread participation.

What are the different types of organizational communication mentioned in the script?

The script mentions downward, upward, horizontal, and diagonal communication as different types of organizational communication.

Outlines

00:00

📡 Understanding the Communication Process

This section introduces the concept of communication, explaining it as the transmission of information to create a shared understanding. It breaks down the communication process into key elements: encoding (converting thoughts into messages), channels (mediums like voice, writing, and body language), decoding (interpreting the message), and feedback (ensuring the message was received as intended). Additionally, it highlights noise—anything that disrupts or distorts the message— and emphasizes that nonverbal signals, like body language and tone, play a crucial role in effective communication.

05:01

🌎 Barriers to Effective Communication

This paragraph discusses various barriers that can affect communication, such as organizational, cultural, and noise-related challenges. It points out that jargon or technical language can cause misunderstandings if the receiver is unfamiliar with the terms. The section also stresses the importance of improving communication skills, especially active listening, where the listener engages meaningfully to ensure they understand the message correctly. It concludes by outlining suggestions for being a good listener, including paying close attention to nonverbal cues and providing clear feedback.

10:05

💬 Communication in Organizational Settings

This paragraph focuses on communication within organizations, outlining different types of communication flows—downward, upward, horizontal, and diagonal. It explains how managers communicate with employees at various levels, from setting goals to checking on employees’ progress. The section also touches on the importance of effective meetings and how poor meetings can lead to frustration and wasted time. It suggests ways to improve meeting efficiency, such as setting clear agendas, being punctual, and encouraging participation.

Keywords

💡Communication

Communication is defined as the process of transmitting information from one person to another to create a shared understanding and feeling. It is central to the video's theme as it explores how effective communication can be achieved despite various barriers. The script mentions that communication involves encoding, transmitting, and decoding information.

💡Encoding

Encoding is the process where the sender converts a thought, idea, or fact into a message comprised of symbols, pictures, or words. It is a crucial step in the communication process highlighted in the script, where the sender prepares the message for transmission.

💡Message

A message is the encoded information being sent. The script explains that it is the content that travels through a channel from the sender to the receiver, and it is the core element of what is being communicated.

💡Channel

The channel is the medium used to send the message to the receiver, including voice, writing, graphs, videos, intranets, television, body language, etc. The script emphasizes the importance of the channel in delivering the message effectively.

💡Decoding

Decoding is the interpretation and translation of the message back into something understood by the receiver. The script describes it as a critical step where the receiver makes sense of the message received.

💡Feedback

Feedback is a check on the success of the communication, where the message receiver sends a new message back to the original sender. The script uses feedback as an example of how communication can be confirmed as successful or where it may need clarification.

💡Noise

Noise is anything that blocks, distorts, or changes the message in any way from what the sender intended to communicate. The script discusses noise as a potential barrier in the communication process that can alter the message's meaning.

💡Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication includes body language, facial expressions, and other non-spoken cues. The script points out that nonverbal cues can be some of the strongest forms of communication, conveying more than half of the message in face-to-face interactions.

💡Barriers

Barriers are elements that interfere with the accurate communication of a message. The script identifies various sources of barriers, such as sender, receiver, organization, or noise, and explains how they can affect the communication process.

💡Active Listening

Active listening is the process of actively engaging in the process of listening to what others are saying and clarifying messages if they are unclear. The script stresses active listening as a key component of effective communication, especially in leadership.

💡Business Writing

Business writing is discussed in the context of effective communication within an organizational setting. The script provides guidelines for effective business writing, emphasizing clarity, brevity, and appropriate style and tone for the audience.

💡Meetings

Meetings are cited as a common method of communication in organizations. The script discusses how effective meetings can improve communication and employee well-being, suggesting that preparation, punctuality, and clear purposes are key to successful meetings.

Highlights

Communication is the process of transmitting information to create a shared understanding.

The word 'communication' comes from the Latin word 'communicator', meaning to share or make common.

Encoding is the process of converting thoughts into messages with symbols, pictures, or words.

The channel is the medium used to send the message, including voice, writing, graphs, videos, etc.

Decoding is the interpretation of the message back into something understood by the receiver.

Feedback is a check on the success of communication, ensuring the message is understood as intended.

Noise can block, distort, or change the message in the communication process.

Nonverbal communication, such as body language, plays a significant role in conveying messages.

In face-to-face communication, 55% of the message is conveyed by facial and body expressions.

For effective communication, all parts of the message need to be congruent.

Barriers in communication can arise from the sender, receiver, organization, or noise.

Selective process, misrepresentation, filtering, and information overload are barriers to accurate communication.

Organizational barriers can influence who communicates what to whom within an organization.

Cultural barriers refer to different ways cultures express things, affecting communication.

Active listening is crucial for effective communication and leadership.

Effective business writing should be clear, concise, and appropriate for the audience.

Meetings can be improved with preparation, punctuality, clear purposes, and participation.

Communication skills are critical to effective management and organizational performance.

Downward communication involves higher-level employees communicating with lower-level employees.

Upward communication allows lower-level employees to communicate with higher-level management.

Horizontal communication occurs between individuals at the same organizational level.

Diagonal communication is when employees communicate across departments and levels.

Formal communication involves official organizational-sanctioned messages.

Informal communication includes gossip and answering questions, which is not official.

Social networks establish communication patterns within organizations.

Transcripts

[Music]

in this course we will discuss the

communication process some of the basic

issues in interpersonal communication

methods of communicating and how

technology and the Internet have

influenced organizational communications

communication is the process of

transmitting information from one person

to another to create a shared

understanding and feeling the word

communication actually comes from the

latin word communicator meaning to share

or make common communication does not

mean agreeing only that information is

transmitted and received as it was

intended this figure illustrates the

communication process encoding occurs

when the message sender converts a

thought idea or fact into a message

comprised of symbols pictures or words

the message is the encoded information

being sent the channel is the median

used to send the message to the receiver

including voice writing graphs videos

intranets intranets television body

language and so on when the message

receiver sees reads or hears the message

it gets decoded decoding is the

interpretation and translation of the

message back into something understood

by the receiver the decoded information

is hopefully the same as the information

in the sender intended to communicate

but that's not always the case

feedback is a check on the success of

the communication the message receiver

sends a new message back to the original

sender and the original sender assesses

to see if the receiver understood the

original message as intended repeating

or paraphrasing the original message

asking for clarification or asking if

your conclusions are correct our forms

of feedback noise is anything that

blocks distorts or changes in any way

the message the sender intended to

communicate in other words in the

communication process the sender

translates encodes information into

words symbols or pictures and

is it to the receiver through some

median or channel the sender then

receives the message Andrey translates

decodes it into a message that's

hopefully the same as what the sender

intended noise can enter anywhere in the

process making the message received

different from the one the sender

intended feedback creates two-way

communication that helps to check on the

success of the communication and ensure

that the receivers message was accurate

unfortunately though problems can arise

at any point during the communication

process that make the message ultimately

received different from the one sent

these barriers can come from the sender

or the receiver or the organization or

noise nonverbal communications are not

spoken or written some of the strongest

and most meaningful communications are

nonverbal a fire alarm a smile an

emoticon a red traffic light or a look

of anger on someone's face body language

is a body movement such as a gesture or

expression that conveys information to

others research suggests that in a

typical face-to-face communication

exchange 7% of the message is conveyed

by words 38% by vocal tone and 55% by

facial and body expressions for

communication to be effective and

meaningful then all three parts of the

message need to be congruent if any of

the three parts are incongruent

conflicting messages are being sent

consciously controlling your body

language is as important a managerial

skill as knowing how to interpret others

body language controlling your nonverbal

signals and vocal tone ensures that you

reinforce your intended message verbal

intonation is the emphasis given to

spoken words and phrases when body

language is inconsistent with the spoken

message receivers are more likely to

interpret your body language as the true

meaning barriers interfere with the

accurate communication of a message in

selective process

we selectively see and hear based on our

experiences and beliefs

misrepresentation occurs when messages

are not always decoded by the receiver

in the way the sender intended filtering

occurs when information is intentionally

withheld ignored or distorted to

influence the message that's ultimately

received information overload occurs

when you have so much information that

it's impossible to process all of it

organizational barriers refer to an

organization's hierarchical structure

and culture that can influence who is

allowed to communicate what to whom and

may limit how messages can be sent

cultural barriers refer to how cultures

have different ways of expressing things

noise is anything that blocks distorts

or changes the message to the sender

intended jargon or technical language

may create ambiguity if the receiver is

not trained to understand it many

barriers exist to good communication

that are beyond your control but

improving your communication skills can

help overcome these barriers listening

is not the same as hearing hearing is

passive listening is active search for a

meaning active listening plays an

important role in communication and is

especially important for effective

leadership

it requires becoming actively involved

in the process of listening to what

others are saying and clarifying the

meaning of messages if they're unclear

both parties should engage in active

listening until it's clear that each

understands the final message experts

generally offer the following

suggestions for being a good listener

pay close attention to individual

inferences facts and judgments and make

useful and logical connections between

what you've heard on multiple occasions

give speakers clear nonverbal evidence

that you are listening attentively

including leaning towards the speaker

maintaining eye contact and not

fidgeting give speakers clear verbal

evidence that you are listening actively

including giving constructive feedback

paraphrasing and questioning for

clarification and refinement

show the speaker respect by not

interrupting and using an inclusive

friendly and sharing tone rather than

exclusionary hostile and condescending

tones follow up on unusual or

inconsistent communication cues from the

speaker such as changes in tone

vocabulary and body language to

determine the real message the speaker

is trying to send use what the speaker

says or in first to determine the

speaker's motives self interests and

expectations of listeners offer speakers

honest clear timely respectful and

relevant acknowledgment of what they've

said effective business writing is not

just about grammar and punctuation the

style and tone also have to be

appropriate for the audience experts

suggest the following guidelines for

effective business writing get to the

point and use common language rather

than jargon or difficult verbage support

your points with statistics examples

citation of authorities and anecdotes

footnote any ideas phrases sentences and

terms that are not your own ensure that

your language length and evidence suit

your audience correct grammar and

spelling errors and stay focused make

documents attractive and easy to read

use graphic aids and pictures where

appropriate to highlight and express

ideas avoid passive voice because they

lead teams another way that managers

often communicate is through meetings in

addition to wasting time and money

poorly led meetings are often a source

of frustration one international survey

found that employee well-being was

related to whether meetings word times

were well spent

and the amount of meeting times our

number of meetings attended meeting

effectiveness may be improved when

people come prepared to meetings an

agenda is used meetings are punctual

they start and end on time purposes are

clear and there's widespread

participation communication skills are

critical to effective management and

organizational performance

organizational communication is the

exchange of information among two or

more individuals or groups in an

organization that creates a common basis

of understanding and feeling downward

communication occurs when higher level

employees communicate to those at lower

levels of the organization downward

communication typically consists of

messages about how to do a job

performance goals a firm's policies and

how the company is performing management

by wandering around is a face-to-face

management technique in which managers

get out of their offices and spend times

informally talking with employees

throughout the organization being

actively engaged in day-to-day

operations of the business gives

managers a feel for what's really going

on around the organization upward

communication occurs when lower-level

employees communicate with those at

higher levels encouraging upward

communication can help managers check

that subordinates understand their goals

and instructions keep managers informed

of employee challenges and complaints

and cultivate acceptance and commitment

by giving employees the opportunity to

express ideas and suggestions horizontal

communication occurs when someone in the

organization communicates with others at

the same organizational level managers

often depend on each other to help get

the job done and communication is

necessary for them to coordinate

resources and workflow although

horizontal communication occurs between

peers as in all levels of organizational

communication it's best to stay

professional and avoid confrontational

words and negative body language when

employees communicate across departments

and levels they are engaging in diagonal

communication formal communications are

official organizational sanctioned

communications they can be upward

downward horizontal or diagonal formal

communication channels typically involve

some sort of written communication that

provides a permanent record of the

exchange formal communication is usually

interpreted accurately informal

communication is anything that's not

official in formal communications

include gossip and answering and other

employees questions

about how to do something a social

network is the set of relationships

among people connected through

friendship family work and other sites

organizational communication can move in

a variety of directions and be formal or

informal in nature communication paths

can be downward upward horizontal or

diagonal social networks help to

establish communication patterns in

organizations

[Music]

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