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Big Dog's Leadership Page - Communication
by Donald Clark, copyright 1997
Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people
who do the right thing. - Warren Benniss, Ph.D. "On Becoming a Leader"
Introduction
Many of the problems that occur in a organization are the direct result
of people failing to communicate. Faulty communication causes most problems.
It leads to confusion and can cause a good plan to fail. Communication
is the exchange and flow of information and ideas from one person to another.
It involves a sender transmitting an idea to a receiver. Effective communication
occurs only if the receiver understands the exact information or idea that
the sender intended to transmit.
Studying the communication process is important because you coach, coordinate,
counsel, evaluate, and supervise through this process. It is the chain
of understanding that integrates the members of an organization from top
to bottom, bottom to top, and side to side.
What is involved in the communication process?
-
Idea First, information exists in the mind of the sender. This can
be a concept, idea, information, or feelings.
-
Encodes Next, a message is sent to a receiver in words or other
symbols.
-
Decoding The receiver then translates the words or symbols into
a concept or information.
During the transmitting of the message, two processes will be received
by the receiver. Content and context. Content is the actual words or symbols
of the message. Context is the way the message is delivered: tone of voice,
the look in the sender's eye's, body language, state of emotion (anger,
fear, uncertainty, confidence, etc.).
Many leaders think they have communicated once they told someone to
do something, "I don't know why it did not get done...I told Jim to it."
More than likely, Jim misunderstood the message. A message has NOT been
communicated unless it is understood by the receiver. How do you know it
has been properly received? By two-way communication or feedback. This
feedback will tell the sender that the receiver understood the message,
its level of importance, and what must be done with it. Communication is
an exchange, not just a give, all parties must participate to complete
the information exchange.
Listening
Hearing and listening are not the same thing. Hearing is the act of perceiving
sound. It is involuntary and simply refers to the reception of aural stimuli.
Listening is a selective activity which involves the reception and the
interpretation of aural stimuli. It involves decoding the sound into meaning.
Listening is broken down into two categories: passive and active. Passive
listening is little more that hearing. It occurs when the receiver or the
message has little motivation to listen carefully, such as music, story
telling, television or being polite.
Active listening, on the other hand, involves listening with purpose.
It may be to gain information, obtain directions, understand others,
solve problems, share interest, see how another person feels, or show support.
It requires that the listener attends to the words and the feelings of
the sender for understanding. It takes the same amount or more energy than
speaking. It requires the receiver to hear the various messages, understand
the meaning, and then verify the meaning by offering feedback. The following
are some of the traits of good listeners:
-
Spends more time listening than talking.
-
Does not finish the sentence of others.
-
Does not answer questions with questions.
-
Are aware of biases. We all have them. We need to control them.
-
Never daydreams or become preoccupied with their own thoughts when others
talk.
-
Lets the other speaker talk. Does not dominate the conversation.
-
Plans responses after the other person has finished speaking...NOT while
they are speaking.
-
Provides feedback but do not interrupt incessantly.
-
Analyzes by looking at all the relevant factors and asking open-ended questions.
Walks the person through your analysis (summarize).
-
Keeps the conversation on what the speaker says...NOT on what interests
them.
-
Takes brief notes. This forces them to concentrate on what is being said.
Listening can be our most powerful communication tool! Be sure to
use it!
Feedback
The purpose of feedback is to change and alter messages so the intention
of the original communicator is understood by the second communicator.
It includes verbal and nonverbal responses to another person's message.
Providing feedback is accomplished by paraphrasing the words of the sender.
Restate the sender's feelings or ideas in your own words, rather than repeating
their words. Your words should be saying, "This is what I understand your
feelings to be, am I correct?" It not only includes verbal responses, but
also nonverbal ones. Nodding your head or squeezing their hand to show
agreement, dipping your eyebrows shows you don't quite understand the meaning
of their last phrase, or sucking air in deeply and blowing it hard shows
that you are also exasperated with the situation.
Carl Roger listed five main categories of feedback. They are listed
in the order in which they occur most frequently in daily conversations.
Notice that we make judgments more often than we try to understand:
-
Evaluative: Making a judgment about the worth, goodness, or appropriateness
of the other person's statement.
-
Interpretive: Paraphrasing - attempting to explain what the other
persons statement mean.
-
Supportive: Attempting to assist or bolster the other communicator
-
Probing: Attempting to gain additional information, continue the
discussion, or clarify a point.
-
Understanding: Attempting to discover completely what the other
communicator means by her statements.
Nonverbal Behaviors of Communication
To deliver the full impact of a message, use nonverbal behaviors to raise
the channel of interpersonal communication:
-
Eye contact: This helps to regulate the flow of communication. It signals
interest in others and increases the speaker's credibility. People who
make eye contact open the flow of communication and convey interest, concern,
warmth, and credibility.
-
Facial Expressions: Smiling is a powerful cue that transmits happiness,
friendliness, warmth, and liking. So, if you smile frequently you will
be perceived as more likable, friendly, warm and approachable. Smiling
is often contagious and people will react favorably. They will be more
comfortable around you and will want to listen more.
-
Gestures: If you fail to gesture while speaking you may be perceived as
boring and stiff. A lively speaking style captures the listener's attention,
makes the conversation more interesting, and facilitates understanding.
-
Posture and body orientation: You communicate numerous messages by the
way you talk and move. Standing erect and leaning forward communicates
to listeners that you are approachable, receptive and friendly. Interpersonal
closeness results when you and the listener face each other. Speaking with
your back turned or looking at the floor or ceiling should be avoided as
it communicates disinterest.
-
Proximity: Cultural norms dictate a comfortable distance for interaction
with others. You should look for signals of discomfort caused by invading
the other person's space. Some of these are: rocking, leg swinging, tapping,
and gaze aversion.
-
Vocal: Speaking can signal nonverbal communication when you include such
vocal elements as: tone, pitch, rhythm, timbre, loudness, and inflection.
For maximum teaching effectiveness, learn to vary these six elements of
your voice. One of the major criticisms of many speakers is that they speak
in a monotone voice. Listeners perceive this type of speaker as boring
and dull.
Barriers to Communication
Anything that prevents understanding of the message is a barrier to communication.
Many physical and psychological barriers exist.
-
Noise - Equipment or environmental noise impede clear communication.
The sender and the receiver must both be able to concentrate on the messages
being sent to each other.
-
Ourselves - Focusing on ourselves, rather than the other person
can lead to confusion and conflict. The "Me Generation" is out when it
comes to effective communication. Some of the factors that cause this are
defensiveness (we feel someone is attacking us), superiority (we feel we
know more that the other), and ego (we feel we are the center of the activity).
-
Perception - If we feel the person is talking too fast, not fluent,
does not articulate clearly, etc., we may dismiss the person. Also our
preconceived attitudes affect our ability to listen. We listen uncritically
to persons of high status and dismiss those of low status.
-
Message Distractions happen when we focus on the facts rather than
the idea. Our educational institutions reinforce this with tests and questions.
Semantic distractions occur when a word is used differently than you prefer.
For example, the word chairman instead of chairperson, may cause you to
focus on the word and not the message.
-
Environmental - Bright lights, an attractive person, unusual sights,
or any other stimulus provides a potential distraction.
-
Smothering We take it for granted that the impulse to send useful
information is automatic. Not true! Too often we believe that certain information
has no value to others or they are already aware of the facts.
-
Stress - People do not see things the same way when under stress.
What we see and believe at a given moment is influenced by our psychological
frames of references - our beliefs, values, knowledge, experiences, and
goals.
Notes
Created May 11, 1997. Last update - July 27, 1997.
Return to Big Dog's Leadership Page
Donald R. Clark
donclark@nwlink.com
