Identify the Main Functions of Communications

● Communication serves FOUR major FUNCTIONS within a group or organization:

1. Control
2. Motivation
3. Emotional Expression
4. Information

Exhibit 11-1 THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Contrast Downward, Upward and Lateral Communication

● Downward Communication flows to a lower level.

○ Assign goals

○ Provide instructions
○ Communicate policies
○ Provides feedback

● To engage in effective upward communication:

○ Communicate in headlines, not paragraphs
○ Support your headlines with actionable items

○ Prepare an agenda to make sure you use your boss's attention well
● Upward Communication flows to a higher level in the group or organization

○ Provide feedback to higher-ups

○ To inform them of progress
○ To relay problems

● Lateral Communication takes place among members of groups at the same level
○ Often necessary to save time and facilitate coordination
Exhibit 11-2. Three Common Small-Group Networks

Exhibit 11-3. Small-Group Networks and Effective Criteria

Compare And Contrast Formal Small-Group Networks and the Grapevine

● The Grapevine - Organization's informal communication network

○ Rumors emerge as a response to situations that are important to us, when there is ambiguity and under conditions
that arouse anxiety.

Contrast Oral, Written and Nonverbal Communication

● Nonverbal Communication
 ○ Includes body movements, the intonationz or emphasis we give to words, facial expressions and the physical
distance between the sender and receiver.
■ Physical distance also has meaning (Largely depends on cultural norms)

Exhibit 11-7. Information Richness and Communication Channels

Identify Common Barriers to Effective Communication

● Barriers to Effective Communication

1. Filtering
2. Selective perception

3. Information overload
4. Emotions
5. Language

6. Silence
7. Lying

Implications for Managers

● Remember that your communication mode eill partly determine your communication effectiveness
● Remember that written communication creates more misunderstandings than oral communication
● Communicate in-person when possible
● Choose correct communication strategies appropriate to the type of message you're sending
● Keep in mind communication barriers such as gender and culture.
● "The tongue also is a fire, a worls of evil among the parts of the body" (James 3:6, NIV)
● "Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone" (Proverbs 25:15).
● "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings firth good; qnd an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart
brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45, New King James Version).