Communication in the Workplace

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Communication in the Workplace

• Ma. Lourdes V. Rodriguez, MBA

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SEMINAR Objectives

• To be able to define Communication.
• To be able to identify the two types of
  Communication (verbal and non-verbal).
• To be able to give suggestions and tips on how to
  communicate in the workplace.

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Good communication is a key part of success in
the workplace.
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Without communication skills we are unable to
let others know what we think, feel, or want to
accomplish. We are unable to build partnerships,
motivate others, or resolve conflict. 
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ACTIVITY

• GROUP YOURSELVES
• GIVE A NAME FOR YOUR GROUP NAME SHOULD RELATE
  TO COMMUNICATION.
• Example Bloggers
• WRITE DOWN THE DIFFERENT WORKPLACES THAT YOU CAN
  THINK OF IN YOUR SCHOOL/COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY.

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What is a workplace?

• Dictionary definition - A place, such as an
  office or factory, where people are employed.

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What is our workplace?

• Administration office
• Accounting office
• Human Resources Office
• Bookstore
• Maintenance office
• Engineering office
• General Services

• Clinic
• Registrar
• Security Guard office
• Student Services
• Discipline office
• Campus Ministry office
• Others

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Communication

• The exchange of thoughts, messages, or
  information, as by speech, signals, writing, or
  behavior.
• The art and technique of using words effectively
  to impart information or ideas.
• Acceptable communication differs from company to
  company, but many aspects are universal.

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Tips to help us communicate effectively in the
workplace

• Listen - When you listen to others attentively it
  makes them feel good. It also makes for a deeper
  and more positive connection with others.
• In turn, you form an understanding and they
  will listen to you when its your turn to speak.
• Poor listening happens often and resultsin
  misunderstandings andmiscommunications.

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ACTIVITY

• HOW GOOD A LISTENER ARE YOU?

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•      A well-liked college teacher had just
  completed making up the final examinations and
  had turned off the lights in the office.  Just
  then a tall, dark, broad figure appeared and
  demanded the examination.  The professor opened
  the drawer.  
• Everything in the drawer was picked up and
  the individual ran down the corridor.  The Dean
  was notified immediately.

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Answer the Questions

• 1.  The thief was tall, dark, and broad.
                
• 2.  The professor turned off the lights.
           
• 3.  A tall figure demanded the examination.
          
• 4.  The examination was picked up by someone
           
• 5.  The examination was picked up by the
  professor.     

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Answer True or False

• 6.   A tall, dark figure appeared after the
  professor
• turned off the lights in the office.
                           
• 7.  The man who opened the drawer was the
  professor.    
• 8.  The professor ran down the corridor.
              
• 9.  The drawer was never actually opened.
          
• 10. In this report three persons are referred to.
      

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ANSWERS

• T
• T
• T
• T
• F

• 6. F
• 7. T
• 8. F
• 9. F
• 10. T

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INTERPRETATION OF SCORES

• 8PTS 10 PTS - ACTIVE LISTENER
• 5 PTS- 7 PTS AVERAGE
• BELOW 5 PTS NEEDS TO BE MORE ATTENTIVE.
• 1 POINT PER CORRECT ANSWER

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WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE?

• Have Intention - Ask yourself what your intention
  is before starting a project, going to a meeting,
  or speaking to someone.
• You can also ask others what their intentionsare
  in similar situations. Knowing your intention
  will help you be more conscious of what youre
  doing or saying.
• which means youll be able to be moreeffective
  and skillful.

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SPEAK CLEARLY

• Speak Clearly - Take a deepbreath and remain
  positive whentalking to people.
• Try to cut outthe ums, uh-hmms and
  ahhsthese make it difficult for peopleto
  understand what youre tryingto communicate.

• Try to keep yourvoice steady and dont talk
  tooquickly or too quietly.
• Be confident in what youre sayingand others
  will feel yourconfidence too.

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BE GENUINE

• Be Genuine - Being genuine can includespeaking
  honestly, expressing excitementor sadness when
  you feel like it, and beingfriendly.
• There is nothing wrong withsaying, no, I dont
  really agree with that,or you know, I think
  youve changed mymind! However, dont be rude.
  I wasjust being honest is not a good
  excusefor being harsh.
• Being genuine builds yourconfidence.

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Be Receptive

• Be open to whatothers are saying or offering.
• Often, people restrict the flow ofideas or
  communication becausetheyre making too
  manyassumptions or are being too quickto judge
  and criticize.

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GROUP ACTIVITY

• LOOK AT THE LIST OF WORKPLACES IN YOUR SCHOOL.
  RATE THEM FROM THE LEAST TO THE MOST NUMBER OF
  TIMES IN A DAY THAT YOU COMMUNICATE WITH THAT
  DEPARTMENT.
• EX VPA- 2X, ACCTG- 5X, HR- 4 X, ETC.

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CommunicationFlow
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Downward communication, Upward communication,
Lateral communication, and the Grapevine.
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Downward Workplace Communication Enabling

• Let's focus first on downward communication in
  the workplace, and a couple of its important
  characteristics. Consider these common, downward
  forms of workplace communication
• A manager explains a task to an employee
• A customer gives an order to a supplier
• Shareholders instruct management.

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Enabling

• These forms have more than direction in common.
  Each one also provides enabling information in
  the workplace. When a manager instructs an
  employee, she enables the employee to do his job,
  and makes it possible for him to earn a living by
  doing something that has value for the employer.
• Another example senior management finds out from
  shareholders, or the board of directors, how
  owners want to apply the money they've invested.

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• And, as information moves downward in the
  workplace, it grows increasingly detailed.

Make a Budget report
Make a Budget report for the month to include the
following
Make sure the report includes the exact amount
and the qty.
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• All organizations of more than one person must
  use workplace communication in one way or
  another.
• One person must give another instructions before
  any activity can occur.

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• At each stage in the downward flow of
  communication, people in the organization receive
  information to help them do their jobs. And, at
  each stage the information become less abstract,
  more specific, and more detailed.

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GROUP ACTIVITY

• ILLUSTRATE AN EXAMPLE OF A DOWNWARD COMMUNICATION
  THAT YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED.
• SHOW THAT IT BECOMES MORE DETAILED AS IT GOES
  DOWN THE CHAIN OF COMMAND.

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Upward Communication Compliance

• A second major flow of communication is upward,
  from employee to supervisor, supervisor to
  department head, department head to vice
  president, and so on.

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Less detail

• Now, turning to upward communication, we know
  that the staff at the registrar or accounting
  department will report back to the section head
  on their number of enrolees.
• The college account, in turn, will report, in
  less detail, to the VPAA about enrollment
  figures.
• Finally, VPAA will report to the President on how
  well the College is doing for SY 2008-2009.

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Group activity

• ILLUSTRATE AN EXAMPLE OF UPWARD COMMUNICATION
  THAT YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED.
• SHOW THAT IT BECOMES LESS DETAILED AS IT GOES UP
  THE CHAIN OF COMMAND.

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Lateral communication Coordination

• Now, think of the information that flows back and
  forth between you and your peers, whether you're
  a front-line worker, a manager, or a member of
  the board of directors. This is lateral
  communication.

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Characteristics

• First, no superior/subordinate relationship
  exists here it's strictly a case of two people
  with roughly equal amounts of power and prestige.
  That makes this form of communication voluntary
  and discretionary.
• Yes, the boss may tell us to communicate with
  each other, but unless we both want to do it,
  we're not going to exchange much information of
  value.

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• That takes us to the second aspect, the idea of
  reciprocating.
• The quality and quantity of information we
  provide to our peers generally reflects what we
  get back from them. I may provide good
  information to you when we start working
  together, but I won't continue to provide it
  unless you reciprocate in kind.

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Team Communication

• Team communication is a special form of lateral
  communication, and an essential one.
• For teamwork in the workplace, members must not
  only communicate with each other, but will often
  need to communicate with peers outside their
  immediate group.
• Leaders will need to keep these communication
  flows in mind, as well as the upward and downward
  flows that connect them directly to their
  co-employees.
• Communication for team building and just plain
  teamwork and is many-faceted and requires
  consistent attention.

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The Grapevine Filling the Gaps

• Its Tuesday morning, and John down the hall just
  emptied out his desk and left the building.
  Apparently for good.
• Everyone wants an answer to the same question
  "Why?" If there's no official answer, and
  sometimes even if there is one, the people around
  him begin speculating about possible reasons.
• This is a communication channel that no one owns
  and no one controls. And while we might complain
  about gossips and busybodies, we all use it
  sooner or later.

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It has a function

• Despite its many faults, though, the grapevine
  does have a place, a function, in all
  organizations. It fills in gaps left behind by
  conventional and official communication.
• As I've said, downward communication delivers
  enabling information from superior to
  subordinate, while upward communication involves
  compliance information reported back to the
  superior by the subordinate. And, lateral
  communication takes place between peers, helping
  us coordinate with each other.

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New tools

• Traditionally, the grapevine revolved around
  mouth-to-mouth communication, with only
  occasional bits of information written down or
  put on paper.
• But, new technologies mean change. The Internet
  opened up all kinds of new opportunities for
  unofficial communication. Email, it's true, may
  be monitored, but that's easily circumvented. For
  example, free, anonymous email accounts offered
  all over the Net.

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• Then, there are photocopiers and fax machines,
  both of which can be used to surreptitiously
  maintain the grapevine. And how about cell
  phones, which provide an alternate means of
  mouth-to-mouth communication, even when you're at
  the office.
• While technologies enabling the grapevine may
  change, the same human traits continue to fuel
  this communication channel. They include our
  natural curiosity and our desire to influence the
  way others think and behave. Don't forget,
  either, about the need to get even or to
  belittle, which fuel many rumors that course
  through grapevines.

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Speed

• Where downward, upward, and lateral communication
  are structured and flow formally through specific
  channels, the grapevine goes through multiple
  channels and even multiple versions.

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Communication Flow

• downward, or enabling, communication that moves
  instructions and other directive information down
  or through a hierarchy
• upward, or compliance, communication that
  provides feedback to the people who originate
  downward communication
• lateral, or coordinating, communication that
  moves between peers to maintain or improve
  operational efficiency
• the grapevine, which fills in gaps in official
  communication and provides answers to unaddressed
  questions.

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Why is effective communication essential in the
workplace?

• Communication we are constantly bombarded by it.
  It may be in the form of spoken or written words,
  pictures, gestures, symbols and (for an
  interesting few) telepathic messages from a
  variety of intriguing sources. But in the
  workplace, effective communication is essential
  to our progress and well being.

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What is your communicating style?

• Good communication skills require a high level of
  self-awareness. Understanding your personal style
  of communicating will go a long way toward
  helping you to create good and lasting
  impressions on others

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• By becoming more aware of how others perceive
  you, you can adapt more readily to their styles
  of communicating.

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Three basic communication styles

• Aggressive
• Passive
• Assertive

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Elements of the Aggressive Style

• Beliefs
• "Everyone should be like me."
• "I am never wrong."
• "I've got rights, but you don't."

• Communication Style
• Close minded
• Poor listener
• Has difficulty seeing the other person's point of
  view
• Interrupts
• Monopolizing

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• Behavior
• Puts others down
• Doesn't ever think they are wrong
• Bossy
• Moves into people's space, overpowers
• Jumps on others, pushes people around
• Know-it-all attitude
• Doesn't show appreciation

• Characteristics
• Achieves goals, often at others' expense
• Domineering, bullying
• Patronizing
• Condescending, sarcastic

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• Verbal Cues
• "You must (should, ought better)."
• "Don't ask why. Just do it."
• Verbal abuse
• Confrontation and Problem Solving
• Must win arguments, threatens, attacks
• Operates from win/lose position

• Nonverbal Cues
• Points, shakes finger
• Frowns
• Squints eyes critically
• Glares
• Stares
• Rigid posture
• Critical, loud, yelling tone of voice
• Fast, clipped speech

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• Effects
• Provokes counteraggression, alienation from
  others, ill health
• Wastes time and energy oversupervising others
• Pays high price in human relationships
• Fosters resistance, defiance, sabotaging,
  striking back, forming alliances, lying, covering
  up
• Forces compliance with resentment

• Feelings Felt
• Anger
• Hostility
• Frustration
• Impatience

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Elements of the Passive Style

• Beliefs
• "Don't express your true feelings."
• "Don't make waves."
• "Don't disagree."
• "Others have more rights than I do."
• Communication Style
• Indirect
• Always agrees
• Doesn't speak up
• - Hesitant

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• Characteristics
• Apologetic, self-conscious
• Trusts others, but not self
• Doesn't express own wants and feelings
• Allows others to make decisions for self
• Doesn't get what he or she wants
• Behaviors
• Sighs a lot
• Tries to sit on both sides of the fence to avoid
  conflict
• Clams up when feeling treated unfairly
• Asks permission unnecessarily
• Complains instead of taking action
• Lets others make choices
• Has difficulty implementing plans
• Self-effacing

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• Nonverbal Cues
• Fidgets
• Nods head often comes across as pleading
• Lack of facial animation
• Smiles and nods in agreement
• Downcast eyes
• Slumped posture
• Low volume, meek
• Up talk
• Fast, when anxious slow, hesitant, when doubtful

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• Verbal Cues
• "You should do it."
• "You have more experience than I do."
• "I can't......"
• "This is probably wrong, but..."
• "I'll try..."
• Monotone, low energy

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• Confrontation and Problem Solving
• Avoids, ignores, leaves, postpones
• Withdraws, is sullen and silent
• Agrees externally, while disagreeing internally
• Expends energy to avoid conflicts that are
  anxiety provoking
• Spends too much time asking for advice,
  supervision
• Agrees too often

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• Feelings Felt
• Powerlessness
• Wonders why doesn't receive credit for good work
• Chalks lack of recognition to others' inabilities
• Effects
• Gives up being him or herself
• Builds dependency relationships
• Doesn't know where he or she stands
• Slowly loses self esteemPromotes others' causes
• Is not well-liked

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Elements of the Assertive Style

• Beliefs
• Believes self and others are valuable
• Knowing that assertiveness doesn't mean you
  always win, but that you handled the situation as
  effectively as possible
• "I have rights and so do others."
• Communication Style
• Effective, active listener
• States limits, expectations
• States observations, no labels or judgments
• Expresses self directly, honestly, and as soon as
  possible about feelings and wants
• Checks on others feelings

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• Characteristics
• Non-judgmental
• Observes behavior rather than labeling it
• Trusts self and others
• Confident
• Self-aware
• Open, flexible, versatile
• Playful, sense of humor
• Decisive
• Proactive, initiating

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• Behavior
• Operates from choice
• Knows what it is needed and develops a plan to
  get it
• Action-oriented
• Firm
• Realistic in her expectations
• Fair, just
• Consistent
• Takes appropriate action toward getting what she
  wants without denying rights of others

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• Nonverbal Cues
• Open, natural gestures
• Attentive, interested facial expression
• Direct eye contact
• Confident or relaxed posture
• Vocal volume appropriate, expressive
• Varied rate of speech

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• Verbal Cues
• "I choose to..."
• "What are my options?"
• "What alternatives do we have?"
• Confrontation and Problem Solving
• Negotiates, bargains, trades off, compromises
• Confronts problems at the time they happen
• Doesn't let negative feelings build up

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• Feelings Felt
• Enthusiasm
• Well being
• Even tempered
• Effects
• Increased self-esteem and self-confidence
• Increased self-esteem of others
• Feels motivated and understood
• Others know where they stand

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• Clearly, the assertive style is the one to strive
  for. Keep in mind that very few people are all
  one or another style. In fact, the aggressive
  style is essential at certain times such as
• when a decision has to be made quickly
• during emergencies
• when you know you're right and that fact is
  crucial
• stimulating creativity by designing competitions
  destined for use in training or to increase
  productivity

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• Passiveness also has its critical applications
• when an issue is minor
• when the problems caused by the conflict are
  greater than the conflict itself
• when emotions are running high and it makes sense
  to take a break in order to calm down and regain
  perspective
• when your power is much lower than the other
  party's
• when the other's position is impossible to change
  for all practical purposes (i.e., government
  policies, etc.).

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Remaining aware of your own communication style
and fine-tuning it as time goes by gives you the
best chance of success in business and life.
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Thank you....
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