Unit 3: Assignment One

Levels of the Leadership Communication Process

Introduction

The Levels of the Leadership Communication Process diagram consists of five concentric circles representing the separate elements of a strategic approach to communication.

The strategic approach can be compared to an onion. The strategy is at the very core of the onion, but one must peel away the different layers to get to the core.

Read each section below to learn more about each level of the process.

Outer - 1st Circle

The outer circle contains two concepts, culture and climate.

Climate:

· "Positive" Climate - creates trust through effective open communications.

· "Negative" Climate - creates anxiety and distrust through an information vacuum.

Culture:

Social glue that binds members of organizations together through shared values, symbols, and social ideals.

· National Culture - language and subtle conventions like being reserved, autocratic, or participative in business settings.

· Organizational Culture - dictates preferred communications channel value (for example, email or oral); office design can encourage or discourage information flow.

Inner - 2nd Circle

The second circle contains three concepts: sender, receiver and purpose. They have a circular relationship where each affects the other concurrently.

Sender:

Encodes message based on own personality and experience for communications.

· Personality

· Experience

Receiver:

Decodes message based on several characteristics:

· Relationship

· Status difference

· Receiver's interest, emotional state, knowledge, and communication skills

Purpose:

Defines communications strategy appropriate for a given situation.

· Socialize

· Present information

· Gain information

· Persuade

Inner - 3rd Circle

The third circle contains four more elements in determining an effective communications strategy.

Message Content (four factors):

· Negative versus positive

· Fact versus opinion

· Importance to receiver

· Level of controversial

Channel:

· Basic options: oral, written, oral & written, visual

· Technologically mediated communications: e-mail, fax, v-conference, etc.

· Individual versus group

· Cost versus time

Environment:

Analyzing environment factors.

· Private or public?

· Formal or informal setting?

· Physical distance?

· Familiar or unfamiliar environment?

Time:

· Cost as in efficiency, quality

· Power

· Status

· Timing

Center - 4th and 5th Circles

The fourth and fifth circles make up the center of the diagram and represent the layered strategic approach to communication. The fourth ring has no words and the innermost ring is STRATEGY.

STRATEGY:

Once you have "peeled away" the outer layers you arrive at the core of the leadership communication process which is the selected strategy.

References

· Hynes, Geraldine (2011) Managerial Communication Strategies and Applications, 5th Ed, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Credits

Subject Matter Expert:

Gwen Barker

Interactive Design:

Estelle Domingos, Justin Lee

Instructional Design:

Marisa Johnson

Project Manager:

Paul Schwoboda