Communicating in Teams and Organizations

Understanding Communication

  • Foundation for team dynamics in the workplace.
  • Critical for motivation, information sharing, behavior management, emotional expression, and trust-building.
  • Good communication skills are key to career success.

Communication Process Model

  • Sender: Form and encode the message.
  • Transmission: Send message through chosen channel.
  • Receiver: Receive and decode the message.
  • Feedback: Return feedback to the sender.
  • Noise: Any interference in the communication process.

Channels of Communication

Verbal Communication

  • Spoken: Effective for conveying emotions and persuasion.
  • Written: Better for technical content, enhances understanding.

Nonverbal Communication

  • Includes body language, intonation, proxemics.
  • Less structured than verbal; often automatic.
  • Emotional Contagion: Sharing emotions through nonverbal cues.

Selecting Channels

  • Synchronicity: Choose synchronous or asynchronous based on urgency and complexity.
  • Social Presence: The psychological closeness fostered by the medium.
  • Social Acceptance: Organizational norms may dictate channel use.
  • Media Richness: Capacity to convey information; richer channels offer more cues and feedback.

Hierarchy of Media Richness

  • Rich Media: Face-to-face, video conference, telephone.
  • Lean Media: Email, newsletters, financial statements.
  • Matching Complexity: Complex messages require richer channels; simple messages can use lean channels.

Barriers to Effective Communication

  • Filtering: Manipulating information to favor receiver's perspective.
  • Selective Perception: Receiver’s biases affect message interpretation.
  • Information Overload: Excessive information hampers processing.
  • Semantic Barriers: Different meanings of words based on context.

Active Listening

  • Fully concentrate on and understand the speaker’s message.
  • Enhances relationships and collaboration within teams.
  • Promotes respectful and thoughtful responses.

Cultural Context in Communication

  • Influences how meaning is derived; varies by culture.
  • High-context Cultures: Reliance on nonverbal cues.
  • Low-context Cultures: Dependence on explicit verbal communication.

Grapevine Communication

  • Informal network based on social relationships.
  • Benefits: Rapid information sharing, sense of belonging, informal feedback.
  • Disadvantages: Risk of rumors and dissatisfaction with slow official communication.