Management Ch 15

the transfer of information and understanding from one person to another

the person wanting to share information

information

the person for whom the message is intended,

translating a message into understandable symbols or language

interpreting and trying to make sense of the message

the pathway by which a message travels:

whereby the receiver expresses his or her reaction to the sender's message.

any disturbance that interferes with the transmission of a message

indicates how well a particular medium conveys information and promotes learning.

follow the chain of command and are recognized as official

Up and Down the chain of command. Vertical communication is the flow of messages up and down the hierarchy within the organization: bosses communicating with subordinates, subordinates communicating with bosses. As you might expect, the more management levels through which a message passes, the more it is prone to some distortion.

from top to bottom. flows from a higher level to a lower level (or levels). In small organizations, top-down communication may be delivered face-to-face. In larger organizations, it's delivered via meetings, e-mail, official memos, and company publications.

from bottom to top. flows from a lower level to a higher level(s). Often this type of communication is from a subordinate to his or her immediate manager, who in turn will relay it up to the next level, if necessary. Effective upward communication depends on an atmosphere of trust. No subordinate is going to want to be the bearer of bad news to a manager who is always negative and bad-tempered.

flows within and between work units; its main purpose is coordination. As a manager, you will spend perhaps as much as a third of your time in this form of communication—consulting with colleagues and coworkers at the same level as you within the organization.

flows between people inside and outside the organization. These are other stakeholders: customers, suppliers, shareholders or other owners, and so on. Companies have given this kind of communication heightened importance, especially with customers or clients, who are the lifeblood of any company.

develop outside the formal structure and do not follow the chain of command—they skip management levels and cut across lines of authority. Two types of informal channels are (1) the grapevine and (2) management by wandering around

also known as management by walking around—is the term used to describe a manager's literally wandering around his or her organization and talking with people across all lines of authority.13 Management by wandering around helps to reduce the problems of distortion that inevitably occur with formal communication flowing up a hierarchy.

no message gets sent. Example: If a manager has an idea but is afraid to voice it because he or she fears criticism, then obviously no message gets sent.

the message is not expressed correctly. Example: If your vocabulary is lacking or English is not your first language, you may have difficulty expressing to a supervisor, coworker, or subordinate what it is you mean to say.

the communication channel is blocked. Example: When someone's phone always has a busy signal or a computer network is down, these are instances of the communication medium being blocked.

the recipient doesn't understand the message. Example: Perhaps you're afraid to show your ignorance when someone is throwing computer terms at you and says that your computer connection has "a bandwidth problem."

no message gets received. Example: Because you were talking to a coworker, you weren't listening when your supervisor announced today's work assignments.

the recipient doesn't respond enough. Example: You give some people street directions, but since they only nod their heads and don't repeat the directions back to you, you don't really know whether you were understood.

represents "the use of technology to participate in several interactions at the same time