Chapter 7

COMMUNICATION AND HUMAN RELATIONS

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2010 Modified by Jackie Kroening 2011

COMMUNICATION AND HUMAN RELATIONS ** The main function of communications is to transfer meaning, thoughts, and feeling from internal self to the outside of self.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2010 Modified by Jackie Kroening 2011

Communication and Miscommunication

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Factors of Communication

Listening —and How it Can Fail

 ** Selective listening  Happens when a listener deliberately chooses what he or she wants to hear.

 The main cause of selective listening is information overload, where a listener is overwhelmed with incoming information and has to decide which information will be processed and remembered.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Listening —and How it Can Fail

 Tuning out – People refuse to listen to co workers or others due to prejudice.

 Prejudice is the unwillingness to listen to members of groups the listener believes are inferior.

  ** Red flag words - Brings an immediate emotional response (usually negative) from the listener, generally because of strong beliefs on the subject.

Active listening – Listening with greater concentration, less tolerance for distractions, and more feedback to the speaker.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

The Timing of Messages

  ** Emotional timing - Refers to the emotional readiness of the listener to hear a message.

Situational timing Refers to the listener’s situation when a message is received.

 Relevance timing - Communication should fit the other topics being discussed.

 ** Filtering - Hearing only what one wants to hear. The listener wants something to be true so badly that he or she interprets the message to make it true.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Communicating Without Words

 Nonverbal  Way of communicating without speaking.

 ** Use of gestures, body language, and facial expressions.

 Nonverbal signals indicate  Degrees of self-confidence  Maturity   Fear Other key qualities used to judge a person Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Nonverbal Communication

 The eyes:   * One of the most important nonverbal cues.

Listeners and those of lower rank are expected to give more eye contact.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Communicating Without Words

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Nonverbal Communications

Functions of Nonverbal Messages

 Nonverbal messages     Reflect the relationship between the speaker and listener.

** Show the speaker’s attitudes and emotions.

Clarify messages by providing context, or a point of reference, for communication.

Show the intensity, of the speaker’s reactions to the listener.

 Intensity - The degree to which one shows serious concentration or emotion  Signal the self-esteem level in a person.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Functions of Nonverbal Messages

 Gestures and their meanings  Illustrators: Used to clarify a point.

 Regulators : Controls the flow of communication.

 Displays : Used like nonverbal punctuation marks.

 Emblems : Used in a specific manner as they have a specific meaning, understood by both the sender and receiver.

 Distance between speakers - Proxemics or distancing, varies geographically.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Functions of Nonverbal Messages

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

The Zones of Distancing

Male-Female Communications

WARNING : This can be a sensitive subject. A number of generalizations are made. Even though these do not apply to everyone, we must begin somewhere if we are to understand, and hopefully improve, communication between the genders.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Male-Female Communications

  In general,

men

live in a hierarchical world of problem solvers.

Essentially they are always playing king of the hill.

Male-Female Communications

   Men tend to look at each encounter to evaluate whether they are up or down a status point.

They do not like to be down a point.

This explains many of their actions.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Male-Female Communications

  Men typically do not like to be told what to do, because it means they are down a status point.

For the same reason, they do not like to be given advice or to ask for help.

 However, once rank is established, as in a formal organization, men can accept the differences in status enough so that they can live with the situation.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Male-Female Communications

 Men tend to be problem solvers. If they do not have an answer they become more stressed and more focused, withdrawing into themselves.

   Men need to feel needed to be motivated.

Men often give feedback only when things go wrong.

Men tend to take comments literally.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Male-Female Communications



Women

do not live in hierarchies like men.

 Women tend to have one close friend or confidant.

 Women tend to share their feelings.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Male-Female Communications

 Women tend to relate similar experiences to show support and understanding.

 When women talk they tend to face each other; men do not.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Male-Female Communications

   Women want empathy, not solutions.

Women soften what they say, rather than giving commands.

Women tend to give suggestions, not directions.

  Women give feedback when things are going well, not just when they are going badly.

Under high stress, women tend to feel overwhelmed.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Male-Female Communications

 When frustrated, women tend to use closed words.

 Women are often motivated when they are respected.

 Women often think out loud.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Male-Female Communications

 The male method of communicating is

NOT

better than the female, and the female method is

NOT

better than the male;

the methods are just different

.

 To improve communications it is important for each gender to try to understand the other’s way of communicating.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Sending Messages to Men

    Ask them to do things, rather than ordering them.

Challenge their declarations.

Don’t give them unsolicited advice.

Don’t use closed words.

    Ask them what you really want to know.

Give them the bottom line.

Give praise when warranted.

Leave them alone when stressed or solving problems.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Sending Messages to Women

    Listen to them without comment.

Soften orders and directions; give suggestions.

Don’t provide answers when none were sought.

Show empathy.

    Respect them.

Give details with summaries.

Look beyond their literal words to see what is really being said.

Relate similar experiences.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Communicating in an Organization  Organizational communication  Oral and written communication within an organization.  Has both formal and informal dimensions.  Travels both vertically and horizontally.

 Vertical communication  Communicated according to an organization’s chain of command by flowing both upward and downward.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Communicating in an Organization

 Horizontal communication - Messages that are communicated between the speaker and his/her equals in a formal organization.

 ** Grapevine - Network within the organization that communicates incomplete, but usually somewhat accurate information.

 Rumor mill - Gossip network that produces mostly false information.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

International and Intercultural Communication  Low-context culture  A written agreement, like a contract, can be taken at face value.

 High-context culture  The social context (value system) surrounding a written document is more important than the document itself.

 One must be careful about cultural norms, nonverbal behaviors on both sides, and overall atmosphere of the communication.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

International and Intercultural Communication

High - to Low context Cultures

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Strategies for Success

 Become a better listener  Stop talking.

  Get rid of distractions.

Try to enter into the speaker’s reality.

 Use pauses for reflecting.

 Listen for main ideas.

 Give feedback.

 Listen for feelings as well as for facts.

 Encourage others to talk.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed

Strategies for Success

 Practice high-context communication  People in high-context cultures need to know how to put the speaker into context, to help them understand better.

 Should speak slowly and clearly.

 Conversation should include few words and expressions from the listener’s native language —whose meanings and pronunciation one is sure of.

 Use nonverbal signals carefully.

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed