Achieving effectiveness in Human

Communication - The Concept of

Richness

GITAM University
Information Richness and Communication
Media
 • Managers and their subordinates can become effective communicators by:
 – Selecting an appropriate medium for each message—there is no one “best”
medium.
 – Considering information richness •
 A medium with high richness can carry much more information to aid
understanding.
Information Richness

 • The amount of information that a communication medium can carry

 • The extent to which the medium enables the sender and receiver to reach a
common understanding
Information Richness

 Information richness refers to the amount of sensory input available during a

communication. For example, speaking to a colleague in a monotone voice with no
change in pacing or gestures does not make for a very rich experience. On the other
hand, if you use gestures, tone of voice, pace of speech, etc., to communicate meaning
beyond the words themselves, you facilitate a richer communication.
 Channels vary in their information richness. Information-rich channels convey more
non-verbal information. For example, a face-to-face conversation is richer than a phone
call, but a phone call is richer than an email. Research shows that effective managers
tend to use more information-rich communication channels than do less effective
managers (Allen and Griffeth, 1997; Fulk and Body, 1991; Yates and Orlikowski,
1992). The figure below illustrates the information richness of different information
channels.
 Information
Channel
Richness
Face-to-face
High
conversation
Videoconferencing High
Telephone High
Email Medium
Mobile devices Medium
Blogs Medium
Letter Medium
Written documents Low
Spreadsheets Low
 Use Written Use Verbal

to convey facts to convey emotions

when you do not need a

to provide a permanent record
permanent record

when you do not need a timely

when the matter is urgent
response

when you do not need immediate when you need immediate

feedback feedback

to explain complicated ideas for simple, easy-to-explain ideas