Chapter 12: Organizational
Communication
“Thin-Slicing” a Conversation
• First minutes are behavior “thin slices”
– Predictive of eventual impressions
• Some aspects judged accurately after 5
seconds
– Others need more time
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What Is Organizational
Communication? (1 of 3)
• Organizational communication
– Important in negotiation
– Relates to job performance and satisfaction
– Ties organizations together
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What Is Organizational
Communication? (2 of 3)
• The Communication Process
– Shannon-Weaver model of communication
– Sender
– Encoding
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What Is Organizational
Communication? (3 of 3)
• The Communication Process
– The channel
– Decoding
– The receiver
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Barriers to Effective
Communication (1 of 4)
• Communication Apprehension
– Definition
– Impacts on organizational behavior
– Self-awareness and assertiveness training
may help
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Barriers to Effective
Communication (2 of 4)
• Language
– Words may have different meanings to others
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Barriers to Effective
Communication (3 of 4)
• Active Listening
– Definition
– Components
– Mindfulness
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Barriers to Effective
Communication (4 of 4)
• Active Listening
– Sales tool
– Tool of effective managers
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Communication Networks (1 of 5)
– Wheel network
– Circle network
– All-channel (or star) network
– Chain network
– Y-pattern network
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Communication Networks (2 of 5)
• Communication networks help applicants
learn of job opportunities
– “Strength of weak ties thesis”
– Importance of weak ties
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Communication Networks (3 of 5)
• Communication Flows in Organizations
– External communication
– Internal communication
– Employees are organizational stakeholders
– “Integrated communications”
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Communication Networks (4 of 5)
• Communication Flows in Organizations
– Upward communication
– Downward communication
– Lateral communication
– Followers’ reputations relate to ideas and
organizational goals
– Why upward communication is essential for
leaders
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Communication Networks (5 of 5)
• The Grapevine
– Definition
– Motivators for grapevine communication
– How rumors may be destructive
– Why Internet grapevine behavior occurs
– Social benefits of gossiping
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Electronic Communication (1 of 5)
• Email
– Primary mode of organizational
communication
– Netiquette
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Electronic Communication (2 of 5)
• Email
– Amount of email positively related to
performance
– Off-hours emails are stressful
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Electronic Communication (3 of 5)
• Text Messages
– Likely from mobile devices
– Grammar is important for business
communications
– Smartphone breaks increases employee well-
being
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Electronic Communication (4 of 5)
• Social Networking
– May contribute to power development
– Blogs can promote an organization
– Cyberslacking
– Employee social media guidelines
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Electronic Communication (5 of 5)
• Videoconferencing
– Essential for large organizations with
employees not local
– Advantages
– Makes global communication possible
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Cross-Cultural Communication
(1 of 2)
• Intercultural communication
• Differences in communication styles
– Examples
– What mismatches in styles may cause
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Cross-Cultural Communication
(2 of 2)
• Perceptions affect intercultural
communication
• Levels of differences on which it may falter
• Nonverbal communication and gestures
also vary
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Nonverbal Communication
(1 of 4)
• Definition of nonverbal communication
– Includes
– Percentage of understanding in conversation
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Nonverbal Communication
(2 of 4)
• Nonverbally communicated information
– Display of personal attributes
– Establishment of dominance and hierarchy
– Promotion of social functioning
– Fostering high-quality relationships
– Display of emotions
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Nonverbal Communication
(3 of 4)
• Silence
– Intentional withholding of meaningful
information
– Those more likely to withhold information
– Why climates of silence emerge
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Nonverbal Communication
(4 of 4)
• Silence
– What silence causes
– May enable corruption
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