COMMUNICATION
Myths about Communication
We communicate only when we want to communicate.
This is not true. We communicate all day, every day, often without realizing it. For example, suppose you are listening to a report in a staff meeting. You are tired because you were up late last night. Without realizing it, you yawn several times, even though you are interested in the report. The other people in the meeting do not know you are tired, so they conclude that your yawning is a signal that you are bored. Inadvertently, you sent an incorrect message to the others in the meeting.
Words mean the same to both the speaker and the listener.
Words hold different meanings for different people, based on their various experiences, perceptions, and biases. For example, when you tell an employee that her work is “above average,” you may mean that she is doing extremely well and you believe that she has great potential. However, your employee may have always perceived herself as a hard worker and a high achiever, and to her “average” means “merely acceptable,” so your “above average” comment means to her that you believe she is just above “merely acceptable.” As a result, your well-intentioned comment may actually deflate the employee, and her morale and performance may suffer.
We communicate chiefly with words. In reality, most communication is nonverbal.
We may say one thing but reveal another through our facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures, eye contact, or how we sit or walk. For example, another manager may tell you that her new assignment is going well, but as she does so she frowns, looks tired and worried, and jiggles her pen nervously. As you observe her, you believe what her facial expression and mannerisms are telling you more than her words. This is because it is harder to lie with our faces and bodies than with our words.
Nonverbal communication is silent communication.
Some people believe that all nonverbal communication can be seen but not heard. This is not true, because we can hear laughter, weeping, or the tone of voice in which something is said. If you hear co-workers whistling as they go about their jobs, you naturally assume that they are having good days.
Communication is a one-way street between an active speaker and a passive listener.
This myth assumes that all speakers talk at listeners rather than with them. In reality, communication is better when both parties participate actively. Participation is heightened when a listener provides feedback to a speaker through verbal and nonverbal communication. Often, shaking your head or furrowing your brow is a stronger indication that you do not understand something than what you actually say in response.
The message we communicate is the message that the listener receives.
Managers often assume that others receive their messages exactly as they intended them. Suppose that your boss gives you an assignment on Monday and states that it is due “soon.” You look at your schedule and decide that you can work on it Thursday and get it to your boss first thing Friday morning. On Tuesday your boss asks you for the completed assignment. In this case, “soon” meant “tomorrow” to your boss, while it meant “sometime this week” to you.
There is no such thing as too much information.
Both too little and too much information can be bad. Few employees need to know every little detail about an assignment, and a manager can easily overload an employee with needless information. In many cases, even if we had all of the information available to us, we would not have the time to hear it, read it, or listen to it all. Since information overload is common in organizations, it is important for managers to concentrate on the quality of their communications as much as the quantity of them.
The Communication Process
Sender Receiver
Message Transmission
Feedback
Thoughts/feelings
Encoding
Decoding
Decoding
Thoughts/feelings
Encoding
The Sender-Receiver Model
The sender-receiver model show how communication between two people works. When two people communicate, a sender must initiate a thought or feeling, encode it into words, and then transmit it to the other person. The receiver must decode the message, assign thoughts and feelings to a response, encode a response, and send a message back. Communications which involve three or more people become increasingly more complex.
Poor communication can have unfortunate consequences. Miscommunication in a hospitality business can also result in disaster.
Communication within an Organization
Managers must effectively communicate upward to their boss, downward to their staff, and laterally (or across) with fellow managers. Managers and employees can be seen as a network of linking pins. Line employees are linked to their managers through supervisors, while managers serve as linking pins for supervisors and department heads; department heads, in turn, are linked to division heads, and so on. These links are strengthened through good communication or weakened if communication is poor.
Upward Communication
Upward communication involves messages that are sent from subordinates to superiors. Subordinates send messages providing answers to inquiries, reporting on activities, tasks, and projects, communicating understanding about practices and policies, or revealing job-related problems.
Downward Communication
Downward communication involves messages that travel from superiors to subordinates. Superiors can send job instructions, information on procedures and practices, requests for tasks, feedback on job already in progress, or information on organizational goals and objectives.
Several problems occur with downward communication. Distortion or filtering of messages may occur as they travel down the hierarchy to employees. Downward communication is often unclear and vague because hurriedly prepared. Superiors make decisions then remember to send information about those decisions to the employees concerned. The quantity of information sent downward is often an issue.
Too much information can overload employees can cause information processing problems, stress, anxiety, and poor productivity. Too little information can make employees feel nervous, threatened, or resentful. The critical element in downward communication becomes the ability to send the right messages to the right people, with the appropriate content, at the right time.
Lateral Communication
Lateral communication involves messages that are exchanged among individuals at the same hierarchical level in an organization. Also called horizontal communication, they serve a number of functions including problem solving, information sharing, task coordination, and conflict resolution.
Barriers to Effective Communication
Many barriers can interfere with a manager’s ability to communicate. Barriers to effective interpersonal communication include:
Misinterpretation
For example, a manager who believed that an employee who enthusiastically agreed to work late was greedy for overtime pay instead of simply being willing to help out could seriously misjudge the spirit and intent of the employee.
Evaluation of sender
Managers sometimes have unrealistically positive or negative impressions of others. When managers see everything someone does as positive – a phenomenon called the halo effect – they often interpret that person’s messages in a positive way no matter what the messages are. The opposite is true when managers hold a negative opinion of a sender – the devil’s horns effect. Suppose an employee tells his manager that he made a minor error while running the cash register earlier in the evening. A manager who sees the employee with a halo will probably dismiss the mistakes as no big deal. If the manager sees the employee with devil’s horns, she might view this confession as proof that the employee constantly makes mistakes.
Projection
This can occur when one person assumes that the other holds the same intentions. An ambitious manager might assume that all other managers are ambitious, too. Such a manager might hear all messages from other managers as evidence of ambitious actions.
Stereotyping
Suppose you are a server at an upscale hotel restaurant and all of your friends are either servers or bartenders. You shun dishwashers and buspersons because you believe they represent a lower class of people. In this case, you are missing the opportunity to communicate with others simply because you hold a stereotypical bias against them.
Arrogance and superiority
Constantly interrupting others, refusing to talk to “inferiors,” and dominating conversations are examples.
Defensiveness
Suppose a manger who is defensive is questioned about his report on room sales to conventioneers. While the questioner may simply have wanted more information, the manager interpreted the question as a challenge to his report.
Inarticulateness
Not all people express themselves clearly at all times. An inability to say what you mean inhibits communication. One of the best ways to avoid this problem is to follow the KISS rule: keep it short and simple.
Hidden agendas
For example, a front office manager may believe that gaining more power and prestige for her department will lead to promotions or pay raises. Therefore, many of her actions are devoted to ensuring that the front office is seen in a positive light. As a result, she may not hear correctly what others are saying about the department or may send messages about the department that others distrust.
Status
Some employees are so eager to do a good job that they may not listen to the entire message the manager is sending – they hear the first part and immediately start thinking of how they are going to perform that part of the task and miss the rest of the message.
Environment
Noisy, hot, cold, or otherwise distracting environments make it difficult to communicate.
Emotions
For example, a manager schedules a performance evaluation meeting with an employee in which he suggests that the employee’s job performance must improve. While he may do this calmly and expect that the employee will receive the message calmly, this might not be the case. The employee might become angry, which in turn might make him angry. What started out as a positive communication experience could deteriorate rapidly.
Differences in backgrounds
Differences in education, age, experience, knowledge, and other background variables may impede communication. An employee with minimal education may not fully understand a message sent by a manager with more education, for example.
Poor timing
Suppose the manager calls Sharon, one of the best housekeepers, in for a meeting about how to help new housekeepers clean rooms effectively. The manager wants to hear Sharon’s ideas. However, Sharon appears distracted and unwilling to help. Her reluctance may not be because she is unwilling. Instead, Sharon’s reaction may be because she is preoccupied with a family problem or some other issue.
Tips on Developing Listening Skills
Be motivated
Listeners unwilling to hear and understand cannot be communicated with. Try to hear and understand what is being said.
Make eye contact
Research shows that while people listen with their ears, they show they are listening with their eyes. Making eye contact also helps you focus your attention.
Show interest
Nonverbal signals such as head-nodding and attentive facial expressions show that you are interested. Avoid distracting actions such as shuffling papers, looking at your watch, and so on which show a lack of interest.
Take in the whole picture
Interpret feelings and emotions, not just what is being said. Look for nonverbal clues.
Ask questions
Asking questions shows interest and allows you to clarify the message.
Don’t interrupt
Interrupting shows disrespect and arrogance.
Encourage suggestions
Asking people to offer advice shows that you value their opinions.
Self-disclosure
Telling the speaker how you feel about what he or she has said provides feedback that helps the communication process.
