Process, physical, semantic, and psychosocial barriers and sexist communication are common organizational communication problems. Awareness of the various barriers can improve communication effectiveness. Constructive steps also can be taken to become a better listener, writer, and meeting chairperson.
I. Reading Exercises:
Exercise 1. Read and memorize using a dictionary:
transfer, sender, receiver, decode, interference, perception, interpretation, perceptual defense, restricted perspectives, disrupt, sample, attitude, opinion survey, grievance, extinguish, feedback
Exercise 2. Answer the questions:
1) What is communication?
2) Why is perception important?
3) How can managers become more effective communicators?
4) What enables one to screen out irrelevant stimuli?
Exercise 3. Match the left part with the right:
1. Perception is important to communication
a) structural consid erations, the grapevine, nonverbal communication, and upward communication.
2. Research suggests a trend toward
b) because it helps senders and receivers give meanings to environmental stimuli, including messages.
3. Communication is a social process
c) greater centralization of the overall communication function.
4. Four dynamics of organizational communication are
d) the transfer of information and understanding.
Exercise 4. Open brackets choosing the right words:
(Recognizing/disagreeing) that the grapevine cannot be extinguished, managers are (dissuaded/advised) to monitor it constructively.
The speaking module
II. Speaking Exercises:
Exercise 1. Describe communication, noise, grapevine, nonverbal communication, upward communication using the suggested words and expressions as in example:
communication
receiver, links, process, medium, transfer, feedback, sender, social, involving
example:
Communication is a social process involving the transfer of information and understanding. Links in the communication process include sender, encode, medium, decode, receiver, and feedback.
noise
interference, flow, person, chainlike, influence, integral, process, understanding
grapevine
disrupt, unofficial, complements, informal, communication, sometimes, system
nonverbal communication
effective, face-to-face, body language, including, communicators, gestural, impact, facial
upward communication
share, ideas, opinion, open-door policy, subordinates, feelings, surveys, grievance, attitude
Exercise 2. Ask questions to the given answers:
1) Question:
Answer: Spe cialists often interpret situations differently because of their restricted perspectives.
2) Question:
Answer: Perceptual defense enables one to screen out irrelevant stimuli, and perceptual set does the opposite.
3) Question:
Answer: Managers can become more effective communicators by doing a better job of receiving and giving nonverbal communication
The writing module
III. Writing exercises:
Exercise 1. Complete the sentences with the suggested words: meaningless, does, screen, perceptual, closure
Three ______subprocesses are selectivity, organization, and inter pretation. Perceptual defense enables one to ______ out irrelevant stimuli, and perceptual set _____the opposite. Grouping, figure-ground, and ______help people perceptually organize otherwise ______stimuli.
Exercise 3. Compose a story on one of the topics (up to 100 words):
“Communication is a social process”
“Perception is essential to communication”
“Four dynamics of organizational communication”
Lesson 9 The reading module
Read the text: Motivation
Motivation refers to psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction. It is an important area of study for managers because it helps them better understand our most valuable resource, people. (Realistically, motivation is just one of many explanations of work behavior, such as one's knowledge and emotional state and organizational factors.) Even though the employees in one study ranked “interesting work” the highest among the things they wanted from their jobs, their supervisors believed that wanted “good wages” above all else. This type of misperception of employees' needs can cripple a motivation program. Pollster D. Yankelovich contends that traditional motivation tools such as fear, money, strict supervision, and the work ethic are inappropriate for nearly half of today's labor force in the USA.
Among alternative motivation theories, Maslow's needs hierarchy theory, Herzberg's two-factor theory, and expectancy theory stand out as particularly relevant for managers. According to Maslov's message, people always have needs, and when one need is relatively fulfilled, others emerge in a predictable sequence to take its place. His five-level needs hierarchy, although empirically criticized, makes it clear to managers that people are motivated by emerging rather than fulfilled needs. Assuming that job satisfaction and performance are positively related, Herzberg believes that the most that wages and working conditions can do is eliminate sources of dissatisfaction. According to Herzberg, the key to true satisfaction and hence motivation is an enriched job that provides an opportunity for achievement, responsibility, and personal growth. Expectancy theory is based on the idea that the strength of one's motivation to work is the product of perceived probabilities of acquiring personally valued rewards. Both effort-performance and performance-reward probabilities are important to expectancy theory.
Depending on how it is designed, a job can either hamper or promote personal growth and satisfaction. Although historically a key to higher productivity, specialization of labor has been associated with costly human problems in recent years. Managers have the options of fitting people to jobs or fitting jobs to people when attempting to counter the specialization-of-labor dilemma. The first option includes realistic job previews (honest explanations of what a job actually entails), job rotation( periodically moving people from one specialized job to another), and limited exposure (establishing a challenging yet but fair daily performance standard or quota, and letting employees go home when it is reached). Managers who pursue the second option, fitting jobs to people, can either enlarge (combine two or more tasks into a single job) or enrich (redesign a job to increase its motivating potential) jobs. Job enrichment vertically loads jobs to meet individual needs for meaningfulness, responsibility, and knowledge of results. Personal desire for growth and a supportive climate are required for successful job enrichment.
Misperception, strict supervision, inappropriate, job satisfaction, enriched job, achievement, responsibility, personal growth, expectancy theory, perceived probabilities, hamper, exposure.
1) Why is motivation an important area of study for managers?
2) What can cripple a motivation program?
3) What is the key to true satisfaction, according to Herzberg?
4) What idea is expectancy theory based on?
1. Managers have the options of fitting people to jobs or fitting jobs to people
a) are inappropriate for nearly half of today's labor force in the USA
2. Yankelovich contends that traditional motivation tools
b) the most that wages and working conditions can do is eliminate sources of dissatisfaction.
3. Herzberg believes that
c) are important to expectancy theory.
4. Both effort-performance and performance-reward probabilities
d) when attempting to counter the specialization-of-labor dilemma.
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