1. COMMUNICATION

2. What Is Communication
 The sharing of information between two or more
individuals or groups to reach a common understanding
 The process by which information is exchanged between a
sender and a receiver.

3. Importance of Good Communication
 Improved quality of products and services
• Subordinates communicate problems and solutions
for increasing quality to superiors
 Increased responsiveness to customers
• Empowered workers lower response time to satisfy
customer wants and needs
+ More innovation through communication
• Cross-functional teams communicating effectively
produce higher quality products more efficiently

4. Communication Functions
 Control – Informal and formal control of behavior of
members in a group
 Motivation – job clarity, expectations, feedback
 Emotional expression – groups a source for social
interaction and therefore communication plays a role
for release of emotions
 Information – facilitating decision making by
providing information by transmitting data to identify
and evaluate alternative choices

5. Communication Process
 Sender, encoding - The sender has a thought which he/she wants to
let someone else know. This thought is encoded in the form of a
message.
 Message - The thought thus acquires a body, a shape and a
structure.
 Channel - The message is transmitted using some channel to reach
the receiver; could be formal and informal channels
 Receiver, Decoding - The receiver ‘decodes’ the message to
understand its meaning.
 Noise - The process of decoding may not generate the same
‘thought’ that the sender wanted to transmit. The distortions are the
‘noise’.
 Feedback – Check on how successfully the original intended
message has reached the receiver.

6. Communication Process

7. Communication Types
 Oral– speed and feedback; opportunities for messages
to become distorted
 Written – Usually more carefully done, therefore more
likely to be well thought out, logical and clear
 Non-verbal – body movements, tone and emphasis
given to words, facial expressions, distance between
sender and receiver

8. Communication Channels Used in Organizations
 Formal Communication Channels
 Downward – Communication that flows from one level of a
group to a lower level
• Managers to employees
 Upward – Communication that flows to a higher level of a group
• Employees to manager
 Lateral – Communication among members of the same work
group, or individuals at the same level

9. Communication Channels Used in Organizations
 Informal Communication Channels
 Small Group Networks
• The wheel relies on the leader to act as the central conduit for all the group’s
communication
• The chain rigidly follows the formal chain of command
• The all-channel network permits all group members to actively communicate with each other.
 Grapevine
• 75% of employees hear of matters first through rumors
• Rumors emerge as a response to situations that are important, when there is
ambiguity, under conditions that arouse anxiety

10. Barriers To Effective Communication
 Filtering – purposefully manipulating information so it will be
seen more favorably by the receiver
 Selective perception – Receiver projecting their interests and
expectations into the communication while decoding messages
 Information overload – Individuals having more information than
they can sort out and use
 Emotions – how receiver is ‘feeling’ impacts interpretation of
message
 Language – Same words mean different things to different people

11. CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
 Language Differences
 Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures
 Etiquette and Politeness Across Cultures
 Social Conventions Across Cultures