Guidelines for Effective Communication

Author Topic: Guidelines for Effective Communication  (Read 9231 times)

Offline Shamim Ansary

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3735
  • Change Yourself, the whole will be changed
    • View Profile
Guidelines for Effective Communication
« on: April 22, 2012, 03:41:08 PM »

Effective communication is a part and parcel of any successful organization. A communication should be free from barriers so as to be effective. Communication is a two way process where the message sent by the sender should be interpreted in the same terms by the recipient. The characteristics of effective communication are as follows :

Clarity of Purpose: The message to be delivered must be clear in the mind of sender. The person to whom it is targeted and the aim of the message should be clear in the mind of the sender.

Completeness: The message delivered should not be incomplete. It should be supported by facts and observations. It should be well planned and organized. No assumptions should be made by the receiver.

Conciseness: The message should be concise. It should not include any unnecessary details. It should be short and complete.

Feedback: Whether the message sent by the sender is understood in same terms by the receiver or not can be judged by the feedback received. The feedback should be timely and in personal. It should be specific rather than general.

Empathy: Empathy with the listeners is essential for effective verbal communication. The speaker should step into the shoes of the listener and be sensitive to their needs and emotions. This way he can understand things from their perspective and make communication more effective.

Modify the message according to the audience: The information requirement by different people in the organization differs according to their needs. What is relevant to the middle level management might not be relevant to the top level of management. Use of jargons should be minimized because it might lead to misunderstanding and misinterpretations. The message should be modified according to the needs and requirements of the targeted audience.

Multiple Channels of communication: For effective communication multiple channels should be used as it increases the chances of clarity of message. The message is reinforced by using different channels and there are less chances of deformation of message.

Make effective use of Grapevine (informal channel of communication):
The employees and managers should not always discourage grapevine. They should make effective use of grapevine. The managers can use grapevine to deliver formal messages and for identification of issues which are significant for the employees. The managers can get to know the problems faced by the employees and can work upon it.

"Many thanks to Allah who gave us life after having given us death and (our) final return (on the Day of Qiyaamah (Judgement)) is to Him"

Offline Shamim Ansary

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3735
  • Change Yourself, the whole will be changed
    • View Profile
Intercultural Communication
« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2012, 03:45:35 PM »

Increased and improved communication in today’s internet age has led to intercultural communication. People talk and communicate across states, cultures, and / or religion. While technology has made communication faster and easier, it is important that intercultural communication is handled with a lot of sensitivity.

What can possibly go wrong ?

People encode and decode or interpret messages basis their values, beliefs, culture, and assumptions. This could lead to greater misunderstanding.

How to improve Intercultural Communication ?

01. While conversing / communicating with an audience that is not of a similar culture, one must thoroughly research about the culture of the
     other party. This will reduce the chances of making sensitive remarks and hence can avoid confusion.

02. Slang's and idioms should be avoided. Choose specific and relevant words.

03. Be an attentive listener. Check for understanding. Ask questions if there is a doubt.

04. Understand the importance of intonation while communicating. Stress on a specific word can change the entire meaning of a sentence. For
    e.g.: I never said HE stole the money lays stress on “HE” while “I never said he STOLE the money” lays stress on “STOLE” and hence it
    focuses on how was the money taken [not by stealing but by any other means].

05. Check your body language / gestures. Some countries might find a particular gesture as offensive as compared to other countries / cultures.
     Level of eye contact, distance between two people while making a formal vs. Informal communication are such examples of situations one
     must study about before starting an intercultural communication.

06. In China while exchanging visiting card, one must accept it with both hands and have a good look at the card. One should not keep it in his /
     her pocket immediately. Also, if you are visiting China and are having a meal with a Chinese host, make sure you leave some food in the plate.
     It implies that you are full and can’t have more. If you eat all ingredients on the plate it could mean you are still hungry and want more.

To understand various cultures is interesting and could go a long way in making intercultural communication fruitful and worthwhile.

"Many thanks to Allah who gave us life after having given us death and (our) final return (on the Day of Qiyaamah (Judgement)) is to Him"

Offline Shamim Ansary

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3735
  • Change Yourself, the whole will be changed
    • View Profile
How to Conduct a Meeting ?
« Reply #2 on: April 22, 2012, 03:51:48 PM »

Communicating in a meeting is an essential part of effective communication. Some meetings are not conducted in an efficient manner due to which they fail in accomplishing the sole objective of the meeting. It may be because:

>They do not involve participation of all, or
>They may be too long, or
>They may be unsystematic, or
>They may lack a clear agenda, or
>They may not begin on the planned time, or
>They may end without any conclusion.

As a result, such meetings lead to agitation and sheer wastage of time. In order to ensure effectiveness of a meeting, it must be planned, systematic and rational.

The process of running an effective meeting includes the following steps:

A.  Plan the meeting: Plan the meeting in advance. With the plan clear in mind, the objective of the meeting can be well accomplished. Planning
     includes-

    01. Outline the objective of the meeting.
    02. Decide the attendees/participants of the meeting.
    03. Plan an agenda for the meeting, i.e., the topics to be discussed, the sequence in which they will be discussed, in how much detail they will
         be discussed, the time given to each agenda topic, etc.
   04.  Plan the starting time of the meeting, plan for the breaks, and also plan the approximate time by which the meeting should end.

Announce/declare the meeting: After planning the meeting and before actually beginning the meeting, the participants should be delivered a message/memorandum to make them aware and ready for the topics to be discussed in the meeting. Give each participant responsibility for the agenda item. Issue the agenda.
   
Conduct the meeting: Be punctual. Try and arrive before time for the meeting. The meeting should begin on time. State the objective of the meeting in the very beginning so that all are clear with the purpose of the meeting. Give a brief introduction of the members/participants so that all are familiar. Circulate notes and handouts. Involve all attendees during the discussion. Encourage new ideas from the participants. Respect their ideas. Ask for a feedback. Make sure that there are no distractions during the meeting (such as ringing cell phones, or participants fiddling with pen, or gossiping, etc.). Give a quick review of the issues discussed in the meeting. Make sure that all the issues are discussed within the time frame. If time does not permit discussion of all issues, ask the participants if they are comfortable in discussing those issues in next meeting. Fix and decide upon the time for the next meeting.

Evaluate the meeting: Assess the meeting after it is conducted. Distribute an evaluation form to all participants which provides you a feedback on the effectiveness of the meeting. To get credible and honest feedback, do not give a space for name of the attendee on the form. Ask questions such as whether the objectives of the meetings were well met, did it involve participation of all, which part of the meeting did the attendee found most constructive and which part of meeting was not significant.

"Many thanks to Allah who gave us life after having given us death and (our) final return (on the Day of Qiyaamah (Judgement)) is to Him"

Offline Shamim Ansary

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3735
  • Change Yourself, the whole will be changed
    • View Profile
Corporate Meetings
« Reply #3 on: April 22, 2012, 03:53:20 PM »

Corporate Meetings are very crucial part of business activities. They are a significant means of formal communication. Meetings are a venue for generation of new and innovative ideas. These meetings are multipurpose in nature actually. They aim at discussing feedback and receiving feedback on the spot. The information of prior importance is given during meetings. They are a true means of conveying feelings and expressions. Meetings involve people of the company. Meetings, thus, encourage participation and motivate them. Participants in a meeting, if given responsibility, turn out to be more productive and contribute to organizational success.

Corporate Meetings thus turn out to be a place where various aspects of business management are discussed- the performance of the company, the mission and vision of company, the weaknesses of company, the obstacles faced and how to overcome them. Effective meetings involve presentations and lead to personality development. Efficient meetings save time, money and resources of the company.

While conducting business meetings, certain things have to be taken care of. Decisions should be based on facts and based on circumstances, they shouldn’t be based on presumptions. The participants should be optimum in number, not too much. Don’t go off track or don’t forget the agenda of the meeting. Avoid distractions during meetings, such as- looking here and there, talking on phone, fiddling, etc. Decision-making should be unambiguous. Don’t waste time waiting for latecomers. Start discussion on time.

A successful and effective business meeting is one which is well planned. It should be planned well in advance that who all would be the participants in meeting, the time, venue, and agenda of meeting. The agenda of the meeting should be clear to all. Do not try to make a fish market in meeting. Respect everyone’s views. Respect the leader. Try and co-operate. It has to be ensured that the decisions that are reached through a meeting should be implemented. Also, all participants must get minutes at the end of meeting.

Corporate Meetings tell where the company is and where is it heading. They are communication drivers behind organization’s success. Successful Corporate Meetings are productive, creative, well- focused, timely and well-led.
"Many thanks to Allah who gave us life after having given us death and (our) final return (on the Day of Qiyaamah (Judgement)) is to Him"

Offline Shamim Ansary

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3735
  • Change Yourself, the whole will be changed
    • View Profile
Seven Causes of Effective Communication
« Reply #4 on: April 22, 2012, 04:03:14 PM »

There are 7 Causes of effective communication which are applicable to both written as well as oral communication. These are as follows:

01. Completeness - The communication must be complete. It should convey all facts required by the audience. The sender of the message must take into consideration the receiver’s mind set and convey the message accordingly. A complete communication has following features:Complete communication develops and enhances reputation of an organization.
Moreover, they are cost saving as no crucial information is missing and no additional cost is incurred in conveying extra message if the communication is complete.

A. A complete communication always gives additional information wherever required. It leaves no questions in the mind of receiver.
B. Complete communication helps in better decision-making by the audience/ readers/ receivers of message as they get all desired and crucial information.
C. It persuades the audience.

02. Conciseness - Conciseness means wordiness, i.e, communicating what you want to convey in least possible words without forgoing the other C’s of communication. Conciseness is a necessity for effective communication. Concise communication has following features:
        A. It is both time-saving as well as cost-saving.
        B. It underlines and highlights the main message as it avoids using excessive and needless words.
        C. Concise communication provides short and essential message in limited words to the audience.
        D. Concise message is more appealing and comprehensible to the audience.
        E. Concise message is non-repetitive in nature.

03. Consideration - Consideration implies “stepping into the shoes of others”. Effective communication must take the audience into consideration, i.e, the audience’s view points, background, mind-set, education level, etc. Make an attempt to envisage your audience, their requirements, emotions as well as problems. Ensure that the self-respect of the audience is maintained and their emotions are not at harm. Modify your words in message to suit the audience’s needs while making your message complete. Features of considerate communication are as follows:
        A. Emphasize on “you” approach.
        B. Empathize with the audience and exhibit interest in the audience. This will stimulate a positive reaction from the audience.
        C. Show optimism towards your audience. Emphasize on “what is possible” rather than “what is impossible”. Lay stress on positive words
           such as jovial, committed, thanks, warm, healthy, help, etc.

04. Clarity - Clarity implies emphasizing on a specific message or goal at a time, rather than trying to achieve too much at once. Clarity in communication has following features:
        A. It makes understanding easier.
        B. Complete clarity of thoughts and ideas enhances the meaning of message.
        C. Clear message makes use of exact, appropriate and concrete words.

05. Concreteness - Concrete communication implies being particular and clear rather than fuzzy and general. Concreteness strengthens the confidence. Concrete message has following features:
        A. It is supported with specific facts and figures.
        B. It makes use of words that are clear and that build the reputation.
        C. Concrete messages are not misinterpreted.

06. Courtesy - Courtesy in message implies the message should show the sender’s expression as well as should respect the receiver. The sender of the message should be sincerely polite, judicious, reflective and enthusiastic. Courteous message has following features:
        A. Courtesy implies taking into consideration both viewpoints as well as feelings of the receiver of the message.
        B. Courteous message is positive and focused at the audience.
        C. It makes use of terms showing respect for the receiver of message.
        D. It is not at all biased.

07. Correctness - Correctness in communication implies that there are no grammatical errors in communication. Correct communication has
      following features:
        A. The message is exact, correct and well-timed.
        B. If the communication is correct, it boosts up the confidence level.
        C. Correct message has greater impact on the audience/ readers.
        D. It checks for the precision and accurateness of facts and figures used in the message.
        E. It makes use of appropriate and correct language in the message.

Awareness of these 7 Causes of communication makes you an effective communicator.
"Many thanks to Allah who gave us life after having given us death and (our) final return (on the Day of Qiyaamah (Judgement)) is to Him"

Offline Shamim Ansary

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3735
  • Change Yourself, the whole will be changed
    • View Profile
Overcoming Communication Barriers
« Reply #5 on: April 22, 2012, 04:06:58 PM »

There are a lot of communication barriers faced these days by all. The message intended by the sender is not understood by the receiver in the same terms and sense and thus communication breakdown occurs. It is essential to deal and cope up with these communication barriers so as to ensure smooth and effective communication.

As, in the previous section we have discussed the major barriers of communication. Let’s talk about how to overcome these barriers of communication.

01. Eliminating differences in perception:
The organization should ensure that it is recruiting right individuals on the job. It’s the responsibility of the interviewer to ensure that the interviewee has command over the written and spoken language. There should be proper Induction program so that the policies of the company are clear to all the employees. There should be proper trainings conducted for required employees (for eg: Voice and Accent training).

02. Use of Simple Language: Use of simple and clear words should be emphasized. Use of ambiguous words and jargons should be avoided.

03. Reduction and elimination of noise levels: Noise is the main communication barrier which must be overcome on priority basis. It is essential to identify the source of noise and then eliminate that source.

04. Active Listening: Listen attentively and carefully. There is a difference between “listening” and “hearing”. Active listening means hearing with proper understanding of the message that is heard. By asking questions the speaker can ensure whether his/her message is understood or not by the receiver in the same terms as intended by the speaker.

05. Emotional State: During communication one should make effective use of body language. He/she should not show their emotions while communication as the receiver might misinterpret the message being delivered. For example, if the conveyer of the message is in a bad mood then the receiver might think that the information being delivered is not good.

06. Simple Organizational Structure: The organizational structure should not be complex. The number of hierarchical levels should be optimum. There should be a ideal span of control within the organization. Simpler the organizational structure, more effective will be the communication.

07. Avoid Information Overload:
The managers should know how to prioritize their work. They should not overload themselves with the work. They should spend quality time with their subordinates and should listen to their problems and feedbacks actively.

08. Give Constructive Feedback: Avoid giving negative feedback. The contents of the feedback might be negative, but it should be delivered constructively. Constructive feedback will lead to effective communication between the superior and subordinate.

09. Proper Media Selection: The managers should properly select the medium of communication. Simple messages should be conveyed orally, like: face to face interaction or meetings. Use of written means of communication should be encouraged for delivering complex messages. For significant messages reminders can be given by using written means of communication such as : Memos, Notices etc.

10. Flexibility in meeting the targets: For effective communication in an organization the managers should ensure that the individuals are meeting their targets timely without skipping the formal channels of communication. There should not be much pressure on employees to meet their targets.

« Last Edit: April 22, 2012, 04:09:12 PM by Shamim Ansary »
"Many thanks to Allah who gave us life after having given us death and (our) final return (on the Day of Qiyaamah (Judgement)) is to Him"

Offline Shamim Ansary

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3735
  • Change Yourself, the whole will be changed
    • View Profile
Effect of Communication Barriers in Business Communication
« Reply #6 on: April 22, 2012, 04:22:25 PM »

An organization is an individual’s first home as one spends the maximum time here only. No organization runs for charity, it is really important that the organization achieve its goals. How does an organization become successful ? How will an organization achieve its goals ?.

The employees are the assets for any organization and the profitability of any organization is directly proportional to the labour put by its employees. Putting labor does not mean getting involved in hard physical work or digging the gold mines, it actually refers to the smart work done by employees, transparency between the team members, free flow of information from the superior to the subordinates. How does free flow of information happen? How is the transparency between the team members achieved ? - Through Communication and not only through communication but effective communication.

In organizations the barriers in communication go a long way in distortion of the message and the information does not reach in its desired form.

Imagine a situation where you want some report from your team members which needs to be forwarded to the managing director of the organization. What if your team misinterprets your information, screws up the project and fails to submit it within the deadline. The managing director will literally sit on your head and make your life miserable. The poor communication can actually cost you your job.

Let us now understand how barriers in communication effect business communication.

Noise acts as a devil in business communication. Any information downloaded at a noisy place is bound to get distorted and result in a complete mess.

Petty wanted to go through the complete budget of the sales, marketing and the operations team. She passed on this information to Joe at his workstation around which lots of other employees were shouting, the base phone was constantly ringing and the photocopier machine was making a terrible noise. At the end of the day, Joe submitted the report but the budget for the operations team was missing in the report. Joe actually had heard only about sales and marketing department and thus skipped the report of the operations team. Petty fired Joe and even stopped his appraisal. Unwanted distractions, noise, chit chats of the other employees etc played the culprit and poor Joe missed out on his promotion. Noise reduces the chances of the correct flow of information from the sender to the receiver. If the office is noisy, errors are bound to happen and thus increasing conflicts among the team members and decreasing the efficiency of the employees.

Unorganized and Haphazard thoughts also lead to ineffective communication in organizations. Business communications are bound to suffer due to ineffective communication. If any individual wants something from his team members, he first must be himself very clear what actually he expects from his team. The boss must clearly mention his team member’s key responsibility areas in clear words to avoid wastage of manpower, duplicacy of work, effective time management and more output from them.

Not cross checking among themselves or with the superiors also spoils the business communication to a large extent.

Misha was sharing her phone number with her client and she never bothered to verify with her client whether he has noted the correct number or not. One day, the client had a major query and he had to discuss with Misha on an urgent basis. He kept on trying the same number which Misha gave but someone else was responding. He then had to call the front desk lady to get connected with Misha and obviously he was furious. The client had wrongly noted Misha’s number and thus wasted his precious time and lost his temper. While sharing any important contact number it is the responsibility of the speaker to cross check with the listener. Email ids must be spelled out properly to avoid wrong spellings and unnecessary wastage of time.

During any business meeting, presentation or seminar, the speaker has to be very careful about his pitch and tone. It has been observed that during seminars or presentations only the front benchers are attentive, the last benchers are almost lost in their own sweet world. The person who chairs the meeting has to speak very clearly, has to be very confident and must maintain a tone audible to everyone, even to the individuals sitting on the last row. Information must pass to them also to expect the best out of them and increase their efficiency. Try to make the seminar or the meeting interactive. Dont just speak, also invite questions from the team. After any seminar or meeting, the superior or the in charge must send the minutes of the meeting through e mail to all the required recipients to avoid last minute confusions and discrepancies. The speaker must ensure whether everyone is clear or not ?

In any organization, it is mandatory to understand which employee can do a particular assignment, and which employee is not fit for a particular role. Chelsea was not keen for a branding profile but his boss could never understand her interest and always wondered why Chelsea was not effectively performing ? In any organization, before assigning responsibilities to the employees, it is a must to understand the employee and his area of specialization and interest. Communication will be for sure ineffective if a person from an accounting background is asked to deliver a presentation on sales techniques. He is bound to get nervous and the message will fail in creating the required impact. Don’t just impose work on any employee, give him the work he enjoys doing the most.

Difference in thought process also results in a poor communication in business areas. A boss and the employee can never think on the same level. Let us try to understand the situation with the help of an example.

Jude to Harry - “Harry, I need the complete financial report by end of the day”

By financial report, Jude actually meant the complete financial analysis, which would include the complete details of how much the company spends in advertising, promotional activities, and other marketing activities.,analyse the inflow and outflow of expenditure patterns and so on.

Harry could never understand Jude’s thought process. He simply compiled the expenditure details and handed over to Jude. Jude was obviously not happy. He was expecting much more from Harry. Harry had to resubmit the project resulting in duplicacy of effort and wastage of time. Jude should have made it very clear from the very beginning what all he was expecting from Harry. He kept half of his things within himself and did not share with Harry. Poor Harry had to redo his work. Every individual has a different mindset, different level of understanding and thus it is important to share each and every detail with others and clarify the things from the very beginning.

One should remember that the listeners are also a part of the conversation. The listeners must give their feedback at the end of the conversation. If you are not clear what your boss is expecting out of you, or what you are actually supposed to do, please ASK. Don’t hesitate, ask questions. Don’t hide your queries, ask and clear your doubts then and there only. Your boss will only feel happy if you share your queries with him.

For the successful running of an organization, it is important that transparency is maintained among the employees at all levels. Communication barriers must be overcome in organizations to ensure the free flow of information between the sender and the recipient and for an effective communication among the employees. Effective communication reduces the error rate, reduces conflicts and mis understandings and in turn increases the profitability of the organization. Every employee must try their level best to avoid the communication barriers in organizations for an effective business communication.
"Many thanks to Allah who gave us life after having given us death and (our) final return (on the Day of Qiyaamah (Judgement)) is to Him"

Offline Shamim Ansary

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3735
  • Change Yourself, the whole will be changed
    • View Profile
Communication Barriers - Reasons for Communication Breakdown
« Reply #7 on: April 22, 2012, 04:26:01 PM »
Communication is a process beginning with a sender who encodes the message and passes it through some channel to the receiver who decodes the message. Communication is fruitful if and only if the messages sent by the sender is interpreted with same meaning by the receiver. If any kind of disturbance blocks any step of communication, the message will be destroyed. Due to such disturbances, managers in an organization face severe problems. Thus the managers must locate such barriers and take steps to get rid of them.

There are several barriers that affects the flow of communication in an organization. These barriers interrupt the flow of communication from the sender to the receiver, thus making communication ineffective. It is essential for managers to overcome these barriers. The main barriers of communication are summarized below.

Following are the main communication barriers:

01. Perceptual and Language Differences: Perception is generally how each individual interprets the world around him. All generally want to receive messages which are significant to them. But any message which is against their values is not accepted. A same event may be taken differently by different individuals. For example : A person is on leave for a month due to personal reasons (family member being critical). The HR Manager might be in confusion whether to retain that employee or not, the immediate manager might think of replacement because his teams productivity is being hampered, the family members might take him as an emotional support.

The linguistic differences also lead to communication breakdown. Same word may mean different to different individuals. For example: consider a word “value”.

        A. What is the value of this Laptop?
        B. I value our relation?
        C. What is the value of learning technical skills?

   Communication Barriers

   “Value” means different in different sentences. Communication breakdown occurs if there is wrong perception by the receiver.

02. Information Overload:
Managers are surrounded with a pool of information. It is essential to control this information flow else the information is likely to be misinterpreted or forgotten or overlooked. As a result communication is less effective.

03. Inattention: At times we just not listen, but only hear. For example a traveler may pay attention to one “NO PARKING” sign, but if such sign is put all over the city, he no longer listens to it. Thus, repetitive messages should be ignored for effective communication. Similarly if a superior is engrossed in his paper work and his subordinate explains him his problem, the superior may not get what he is saying and it leads to disappointment of subordinate.

04. Time Pressures: Often in organization the targets have to be achieved within a specified time period, the failure of which has adverse consequences. In a haste to meet deadlines, the formal channels of communication are shortened, or messages are partially given, i.e., not completely transferred. Thus sufficient time should be given for effective communication.

05. Distraction/Noise: Communication is also affected a lot by noise to distractions. Physical distractions are also there such as, poor lightning, uncomfortable sitting, unhygienic room also affects communication in a meeting. Similarly use of loud speakers interferes with communication.

06. Emotions: Emotional state at a particular point of time also affects communication. If the receiver feels that communicator is angry he interprets that the information being sent is very bad. While he takes it differently if the communicator is happy and jovial (in that case the message is interpreted to be good and interesting).

07. Complexity in Organizational Structure: Greater the hierarchy in an organization (i.e. more the number of managerial levels), more is the chances of communication getting destroyed. Only the people at the top level can see the overall picture while the people at low level just have knowledge about their own area and a little knowledge about other areas.

08. Poor retention: Human memory cannot function beyond a limit. One cant always retain what is being told specially if he is not interested or not attentive. This leads to communication breakdown.

"Many thanks to Allah who gave us life after having given us death and (our) final return (on the Day of Qiyaamah (Judgement)) is to Him"

Offline Shamim Ansary

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3735
  • Change Yourself, the whole will be changed
    • View Profile
Feedback Communication
« Reply #8 on: April 22, 2012, 04:29:29 PM »
Receivers are not just passive absorbers of messages; they receive the message and respond to them. This response of a receiver to sender’s message is called Feedback. Sometimes a feedback could be a non-verbal smiles, sighs etc. Sometimes it is oral, as when you react to a colleague’s ideas with questions or comments. Feedback can also be written like - replying to an e-mail, etc.

Feedback is your audience’s response; it enables you to evaluate the effectiveness of your message. If your audience doesn’t understand what you mean, you can tell by the response and then refine the message accordingly.

Giving your audience a chance to provide feedback is crucial for maintaining an open communication climate. The manager must create an environment that encourages feedback. For example after explaining the job to the subordinated he must ask them whether they have understood it or not. He should ask questions like “Do you understand?”, “Do you have any doubts?” etc. At the same time he must allow his subordinated to express their views also.

Feedback is essential in communication so as to know whether the recipient has understood the message in the same terms as intended by the sender and whether he agrees to that message or not.

There are lot of ways in which company takes feedback from their employees, such as : Employee surveys, memos, emails, open-door policies, company news letter etc. Employees are not always willing to provide feedback. The organization has to work a lot to get the accurate feedback. The managers encourage feedback by asking specific questions, allowing their employees to express general views, etc. The organization should be receptive to their employee’s feedback.

A manger should ensure that a feedback should:

    Focus on a particular behavior - It should be specific rather than being general.

   Impersonal - Feedback should be job related, the manager should not criticize anyone personally.

    Goal oriented - If we have something negative to say about the person, we should always direct it to the recipients goal.

    Well timed - Feedback is most effective when there is a short gap between the recipients behaviour and the receipt of that feedback.

    Use “I” statements - Manager should make use of statements with the words like “I”, “However” etc. For example instead of saying”You were absent from work yesterday”, manager should say”I was annoyes when you missed your work yesterday”.

    Ensure understanding - For feedback to be effective, the manager should make sure that the recipients understands the feedback properly.

    While giving negative feedback to the recipient, the manager should not mention the factors which are not in control of the recipient.
"Many thanks to Allah who gave us life after having given us death and (our) final return (on the Day of Qiyaamah (Judgement)) is to Him"

Offline Shamim Ansary

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3735
  • Change Yourself, the whole will be changed
    • View Profile
Grapevine Communication
« Reply #9 on: April 22, 2012, 04:34:56 PM »
Grapevine Communication (Informal Business Communication)

Grapevine is an informal channel of business communication. It is called so because it stretches throughout the organization in all directions irrespective of the authority levels. Man as we know is a social animal. Despite existence of formal channels in an organization, the informal channels tend to develop when he interacts with other people in organization. It exists more at lower levels of organization.

Grapevine generally develops due to various reasons. One of them is that when an organization is facing recession, the employees sense uncertainty. Also, at times employees do not have self-confidence due to which they form unions. Sometimes the managers show preferential treatment and favour some employees giving a segregated feeling to other employees. Thus, when employees sense a need to exchange their views, they go for grapevine network as they cannot use the formal channel of communication in that case. Generally during breaks in cafeteria,the subordinates talk about their superior’s attitude and behaviour and exchange views with their peers. They discuss rumours about promotion and transfer of other employees. Thus, grapevine spreads like fire and it is not easy to trace the cause of such communication at times.

Examples of Grapevine Network of Communication


    A. Suppose the profit amount of a company is known. Rumour is spread that this much profit is there and on that basis bonus is declared.
    B. CEO may be in relation to the Production Manager. They may have friendly relations with each other.

Pros and Cons of Grapevine Communication
Advantages of Grapevine Communication


    01. Grapevine channels carry information rapidly. As soon as an employee gets to know some confidential information, he becomes inquisitive
          and passes the details then to his closest friend who in turn passes it to other. Thus, it spreads hastily.
    02. The managers get to know the reactions of their subordinates on their policies. Thus, the feedback obtained is quick compared to formal
           channel of communication.
    03. The grapevine creates a sense of unity among the employees who share and discuss their views with each other. Thus, grapevine helps in
          developing group cohesiveness.
    04. The grapevine serves as an emotional supportive value.
    05. The grapevine is a supplement in those cases where formal communication does not work.

Disadvantages of Grapevine Communication:

   01.  The grapevine carries partial information at times as it is more based on rumours. Thus, it does not clearly depicts the complete state of
          affairs.
    02. The grapevine is not trustworthy always as it does not follows official path of communication and is spread more by gossips and
          unconfirmed report.
    03. The productivity of employees may be hampered as they spend more time talking rather than working.
    04. The grapevine leads to making hostility against the executives.
    05. The grapevine may hamper the goodwill of the organization as it may carry false negative information about the high level people of the
          organization.

    A smart manager should take care of all the disadvantages of the grapevine and try to minimize them. At the same time, he should make best possible use of advantages of grapevine.
"Many thanks to Allah who gave us life after having given us death and (our) final return (on the Day of Qiyaamah (Judgement)) is to Him"