Communication and Management Information Systems Notes

Communicating in Management of Engineering Projects

What Communication Is

  • Communication plays a key role in a manager's success, influencing their directing abilities.

  • Organizations emphasize improving the communication skills of managers and employees.

  • The word "communication" comes from the Latin word "communis," meaning "common understanding."

  • Communication is the exchange of information between people to reach a shared understanding.

  • Definitions of communication:

    • Louis Allen: Communication is the sum of all things one person does when creating understanding in another's mind. It is a systematic process of telling, listening, and understanding.

    • Harold Koontz and Heinz Weihrich: Communication is the transfer of information from sender to receiver, with the receiver understanding the information.

    • Rogers: Communication is the process by which people create and share information to reach a common understanding.

Functions of Communication

  1. Information Function:

    • Communication provides information for decision-making at various organizational levels.

    • Example: A construction worker receives instructions on using equipment, guiding their decisions on which equipment to use.

  2. Motivation Function:

    • Communication motivates employees to commit to the organization's objectives.

  3. Control Function:

    • Reports, policies, and plans, when communicated effectively, define roles and clarify duties, authorities, and responsibilities, facilitating effective control.

  4. Emotive Function:

    • Communication provides a means to decrease internal pressure by expressing emotions, whether satisfaction, dissatisfaction, happiness, or bitterness, reducing anxiety and its impact on performance.

Elements of Communication Process

  • The communication process includes elements like sender, message, encoding, media/channel, receiver, decoding, noise, and feedback.

  • Sender:

    • The person who conveys thoughts or ideas to the receiver; the source of communication.

  • Message:

    • The content of ideas, feelings, suggestions, or orders intended to be communicated.

  • Encoding:

    • The process of converting the message into communication symbols (words, pictures, gestures, etc.).

  • Media:

    • The path through which the encoded message is transmitted to the receiver (written form, face-to-face, phone call, internet, etc.).

  • Decoding:

    • The process of converting the sender's encoded symbols.

  • Receiver:

    • The person who receives the communication from the sender.

  • Feedback:

    • The actions of the receiver indicating that they have received and understood the sender's message.

  • Noise:

    • Obstruction or hindrance to communication affecting the sender, message, or receiver.

    • Examples:

      • Ambiguous symbols causing faulty encoding.

      • Poor telephone connection.

      • Inattentive receiver.

      • Faulty decoding (attaching wrong meanings).

      • Prejudices obstructing understanding.

      • Gestures and postures distorting the message.

Importance of Communication

  • A manager's effectiveness relies on their ability to communicate effectively with superiors, subordinates, and external parties.

  • Communication importance in management:

    1. Acts as the basis of coordination.

    2. Helps in the smooth working of an enterprise.

    3. Acts as the basis for decision-making.

    4. Increases managerial efficiency.

    5. Promotes cooperation and industrial peace.

    6. Establishes effective leadership.

    7. Boosts morale and provides motivation.

Communication Network

  • Communication network indicates how communication flows in an organization.

  • Types of communication networks:

    • Chain

    • Wheel

    • Circular

    • Free Flow

    • Inverted V

Formal Communication

  • Flows through official channels in the organization chart.

  • Occurs between superiors and subordinates or among employees/managers of the same level.

  • Can be oral or written but is generally recorded and filed.

  • Classified as vertical (upwards or downwards) and horizontal (between divisions).

  • Specific Formal Communication types:

    • Single chain: Supervisor and subordinates communicate.

    • Wheel: Subordinates communicate through a central superior.

    • Circular: Communication moves in a circle, with each person communicating with adjacent individuals; flow is slow.

    • Free flow: Each person can communicate freely with others; flow is fast.

    • Inverted V: A subordinate communicates with their immediate superior and their superior's superior.

Informal Communication

  • Communication outside formal lines, often called "the grapevine."

  • Spreads throughout the organization without regard for authority levels.

  • Managers use it to gauge subordinates' reactions.

  • Types of Grapevine Networks:

    • Single Strand: Each person communicates to the next in sequence.

    • Gossip: One person communicates with everyone on a nonselective basis.

    • Probability: Individuals communicate randomly with others.

    • Cluster: Individuals communicate with only those they trust; this is the most popular type in organizations.

Barriers to Communication

  1. Semantic Barriers:

    • Badly expressed message.

    • Symbols with different meanings.

    • Faulty translations.

    • Unclarified assumptions.

    • Technical jargon.

    • Body language and gesture.

    • Decoding issues.

  2. Psychological Barriers:

    • Premature evaluation.

    • Lack of attention.

    • Loss by transmission and poor retention.

    • Distrust.

  3. Organizational Barriers:

    • Organizational policy.

    • Rules and regulations.

    • Status differences.

    • Complexity in organizational structure.

    • Organizational facilities.

  4. Personal Barriers:

    • Fear of challenge to authority.

    • Lack of superior's confidence in subordinates.

    • Unwillingness to communicate.

    • Lack of proper incentives.

Improving Communication Effectiveness

  1. Clarify ideas before communication.

  2. Communicate according to the receiver's needs.

  3. Consult others before communicating.

  4. Be aware of language, tone, and message content.

  5. Convey helpful and valuable information.

  6. Ensure proper feedback.

  7. Communicate for present and future needs.

  8. Follow up on communications.

  9. Be a good listener.

Management Information System (MIS)

  • Communication serves the information function, requiring a system to gather information for effective decision-making.

    • Boone and Kurtz define MIS as "an organized method of providing past, present, and projected information on internal operations and external intelligence for use in decision-making."

  • MIS consists of written and electronic systems for reports, memos, bulletins, etc.

  • Allows managers of different departments to communicate.

  • Purposes of MIS:

    1. Provide a basis for analyzing early warning signals from external and internal sources.

    2. Automate routine clerical operations like payroll and inventory reports.

    3. Assist managers in making routine decisions like scheduling orders and assigning machines.

    4. Provide necessary information for strategic or non-programmed decisions.

  • The MIS and its Relation with the different departments of the organization:

    • Manufacturing

    • Marketing

    • Finance

    • Personnel

    • Engineering

    • Research and Development