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Planning and communications

Session 6 Communication and information technology

This session explains:  understanding communications  the process of interpersonal communications  organisational communication  understanding information technology  communication issues in today's organisation

6.1 Understanding communications Communication is defined as the transfer and understanding of meaning. Transfer means the message is received in a form that can be interpreted by the receiver. Understanding the message is not the same as the receiver agreeing with the message. For example, a message of increasing salary by 5% can be communicated from management to employees but may not be agreed by the employees as a whole.

In a closer group, there is interpersonal communication between two or more people. In a wider scope, there is organisational communication that deploy all the patterns, network, and systems of communications within an organisation.

There are four functions of communications, namely control, motivation, emotional expression, and information.

Control: Formal and informal communications act to control individual's behaviours in business organisations

Motivation: Communications clarify for employees what is to be done, how well they have done it, and what can be done to improve performance

Emotional expression: Social interaction in the form of work group communications provides a way for employees to express themselves

Information: Individuals and work groups need information to make decisions or to do their work

6.2 The process of interpersonal communications To define the process of interpersonal communication, there are sender and receiver. The meaning is transferred in the form of a message. The message should be encoded to be transmitted through the channel in use. The message should be decoded upon delivery to receiver. In all stages, there are various kinds of noise that may degrade the quality of communication.

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Planning and communications

Sender: a person or an organisation that has a message to deliver

Message: encoded in the form of a language fit for transmitted in the communication channel e.g. very short keywords like “meet @0800 lobby” if the cost is high

Medium: the communication channel e.g. a piece of paper, an audio tape, electric wire

Receiver: a person or persons or organisations that decode the message and may give feedback e.g. reply the message in the form of a message

Noise: disturbances that interfere the communications e.g. dirt on paper, distraction nearby

6.2.1 Distortions in communications There are various causes of distortions in various stages of communications.

Message encoding: The effect of the skills, attitudes, knowledge, and cultural background of the sender on the process of encoding the message e.g. experts may encode a message using technical terms without detailed explanations

The message: Symbols used to convey the message e.g. emoticons, hand signs The choice of message format e.g. a formal business report

The channel: The sender selected channel or channels e.g. by both email and web site announcement may cause confusions

Receiver: The effect of the skills, attitudes, knowledge, and cultural background of the receiver on the process of decoding the message e.g. perception about the sender prevents the receiver to accept the message

Feedback loop: The quality of feedback e.g. a smiling emoticon (^o^) replying a sad message would cause significant disgrace to the original sender

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Planning and communications

6.2.2 Methods of interpersonal communications There are methods of communications for two or more persons.

Method Time constraint Location constraint

Face-to-face Same time Same place

Telephone Same time Anywhere with access to phone

Group meetings Same time Same place

Formal presentations Same time Same place

Memos Anytime Within offices and branches

Postal mail Anytime At the postal address

Fax Anytime Offices with fax machines

Publications Anytime Within offices and branches

Bulletin boards Anytime Within offices and branches

Audio / video tapes Anytime Offices with appropriate equipment

Hotlines Same time Anywhere with access to phone

E-mail Anytime Anywhere with access to Internet

Computer conference Same time Anywhere with access to computer

Voice mail Anytime Anywhere with access to phone

Teleconference Same time Anywhere with access to phone

Videoconference Same time Anywhere with appropriate equipment

Evaluating the communication methods

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Note: Ratings are on a 1–5 scale where 1 = high and 5 = low. Consumption time refers to who controls the reception of communication. S/R means the sender and receiver share control.

Planning and communications

6.2.3 Barriers to effective interpersonal communications There are barriers to effective interpersonal communications.

Filtering: The deliberate manipulation of information to make it appear more favourable to the receiver

Emotions: Disregarding rational and objective thinking processes and substituting emotional judgements when interpreting messages

Information overload:Being confronted with a quantity of information that exceeds an individual's capacity to process it

Defensiveness: When threatened, reacting in a way that reduces the ability to achieve mutual understanding

Language: The different meanings of and specialised ways (jargon) in which senders use words can cause receivers to misinterpret their messages

National culture: Culture influences the form, formality, openness, patterns, and use of information in communications

To overcome the barriers, encourage feedback, use simplified language, listen actively, constrain emotions, and watch non-verbal cues.

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Planning and communications

6.3 Organisational communication More complicated, the communication in organisation is more sensitive and should be cautious.

Formal communication Communication that follows the official chain of command or is part of the communication required to do one's job

Informal communication Communication that is not defined by the organisation structure

 Permits employees to satisfy their need for social interaction  Can improve an organisation's performance by creating faster and more effective channels

Direction of communication flow

Downward: Communications that flow from managers to employees to inform, direct, coordinate, and evaluate employees

Upward: Communications that flow from employees up to managers to keep them aware of employee needs and how things can be improved to create trust and respect

Lateral: Communication that takes place among employees on the same level in the organisation to save time and facilitate coordination

Diagonal: Communication that cuts across both work areas and organisational levels in the interest of efficiency and speed

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Planning and communications

Types of communication networks

Chain: Communication flows according to the formal chain of command, both up and down

Wheel: All communication flows in and out through the group leader to others in the group

All-channel: Communications flow freely among all members of the work team

The grapevine An informal organisational communication network that is active in almost every organisation.

 Provides a channel for issues not suitable for formal communication channels  The impact of information passed along the grapevine can be countered by open and honest

communication with employees  May be found in reception area, pantry, rest rooms, and even in elevators  Can be damaging to the organisation and the relationships among employees  Management should handle the grapevine well

Discussion Who can get the most from the grapevine?

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Planning and communications

6.4 Understanding information technology Information technology is generally deployed in most business organisations. The benefits of information technology are:

• increasing ability to monitor individual and team performance by analysing operational data • supporting better decision-making based on more complete information • sharing information for collaboration effectively • accessing to co-workers for better communications

Use of information technology in communications • Intranet – an internal network that uses Internet technology and is accessible only to

employees • Extranet – an internal network that uses Internet technology and allows authorised users

inside the organisation to communicate with certain outsiders such as major customers and business partners

• Internet – an open network accessible by most of the users

Information technology services for communications • real-time services

◦ teleconference – good for a number of attendees from anywhere using any phones ◦ videoconference – limited to three parties, supports viewing documents and drawing ◦ web conference – good for a large group of users using computers or smart phones

• store and forward services ◦ email – now a formal way of communication ◦ blogs – a mean for broadcasting information to selected groups of recipients ◦ wikis – organised web sites for storing and retrieving information ◦ voice-mail – a backup of telephonic communication ◦ instant messaging – text-based communication

• automated (without human interactions) ◦ electronic data interchange (EDI) – sending and receiving data between systems

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Planning and communications

6.5 Communication issues in today's organisation To manage communication in an Internet-based world, there are:

• legal and security issues ◦ inappropriate use of company email and instant messaging ◦ loss of confidential and proprietary information due to accidental or deliberate

dissemination • lack of personal interaction

◦ being connected is not the same as face-to-face contact ◦ difficulties occur in achieving understanding and collaboration in virtual environments

Being connected versus being concerned: • managing Internet bully sites as a valuable resource for unique insights into the organisation

◦ employee complaints ◦ customer complaints

• responding to Internet bully sites ◦ recognising them as a valuable source of information ◦ posting messages that clarify misinformation ◦ taking action to correct problems noted on the site ◦ setting up an internal bully site for employees only ◦ continuing to monitor the public bully site

Managing the knowledge in the organisation: • building online information databases that employees can access • create communities of practice for groups of people who share a concern, share expertise,

and interact with each other

Communication and customer service: • recognising the three components of the customer service delivery process:

◦ the customer ◦ the service organisation ◦ the service provider

• developing a strong service culture focused on the personalisation of service to each customer: ◦ listen and respond to the customer ◦ provide access to needed service information

References Robbins, S and Coulter, M (2007) Management, 9th Ed, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education

International.

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