Lecture 4 - communication

-> why is communication important in organisations?

● Very few people work alone - typical management job involves interacting with
people often more than 90% of their time.
● Effectiveness of communication affects individual careers and organisational
performance
● Poor quality communication > dissatisfaction in the workplace > high turnover
● Leadership
● Cross cultural communication

-> what is interpersonal communication?

● Communication process = transmission of information and exchange of meaning
between at least two people
● Involves both the transmission of information and meaning
● Both the sender and receiver are contributing to the conversation in a unique way
● Unlike - Conversation is and exchange of words
● Unlike - Communication is the transformation of thoughts and words into meaningful
actions

-> Communication process

-> you cannot not communicate (Paul watzlawick 1967)
● Every behaviour is a form of communication
● Question is not “if” a person is communicating, but “what” is communicating
● Communication can be voluntary but also involuntary

-> communication and interpretation

● Receiver and sender interpret the situation according to their own personal
experiences, personality traits and points of view.
● When an event happens, people tend to react according to their own perspective

-> communication involves both verbal and non-verbal aspects

Verbal communication
To be able to listen actively you need to get others to speak

Non verbal communication

 ● when we interact face to face we are constantly sending and receiving messages
(signs, expressions, gestures, posture, voice) what we say (verbal) ist always
complemented by our non-verbal behaviour
● When our verbal and non-verbal signals are inconsistent, it’s the non-verbal that will
be believed

-> Communication - organisations

● Organisations are systems of communications (Instructions, feedback, evaluation,
collaboration)
● At work we constantly communicate (all we do and not do could be received by
someone)
● Leaders are responsible for communication
○ How does my organisation communicate internally/externally?
○ How do I communicate with my followers? They with me?

-> Communication - technology

● Information technology provides opportunities (reach more people, quicker, from
everywhere, distance, new people)
● Information technology provides challenges (work 24/7, need to feel updated, too
much information, no emotional connection, misinterpreting people, am I more
effective?)
Look up Proxemics (Edward Hall, 1963)