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Principles of Management Communication
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Introduction
Communication plays an integral part in enhancing the success of every organization. In most cases, organizations have been keen in spending millions of money in programs aimed at training the employees about the importance of effective communication skills. By doing so, organizational management appreciate the fact that the design of communication norms have their target at ensuring that business operations run smoothly. At the same time, interpersonal communication has the same level of importance as the design of communication norms in the sense that it facilitates cooperation among employees, managers, customers, and other stakeholders. With globalization, companies see the importance of emphasizing on intercultural communication strategies. Enhanced verbal and written skills of communication also enable companies to realize their goals and objectives in a more effective manner. Therefore, organizational communication strategies are useful for companies in terms of supporting several activities such as conflict resolution.
Effective Communication Norms
According to Baack (2012), communication implies the concept of information transmission, receiving, and processing to come up with a meaning and the appropriate feedback. Communication norms involve the useful patterns considered to be ethical and respectful. In the business setting, interpersonal and systems communications are the two levels of communication that promote enhanced business operations. With these levels of communication, effective norms do not only imply ethical standards but also the need for considering multicultural factors owing to the fact the setting is globalized in nature (Bell & Smith, 2011). This point implies that organizations should factor out intercultural communication in order to reflect the dynamic perspectives present in the business setting. Within this model of communication that promotes multicultural cooperation, some of the basic effective norms include the application of a frame of reference, inculcating a tone that is quite professional, and ensuring the assessment of the importance of contextual differences. The use of these norms in a business setting play a crucial role in enabling organizations to realize a better opportunity for establishing a sustainable environment that translates to the achievement of a better understanding of business processes and the attainment of competitive advantage.
Importance of Interpersonal Communication
Interpersonal communication takes place between individuals in the workplace regularly. For managers, this form of communication is essential in facilitating a healthy relationship with employees and other managers. Since managers are always in active communication with their subordinates, interpersonal skills of communication should be in place. For instance, managers use their interpersonal skills of communication in addressing individual employees and team members. Additionally, interpersonal communication is important in enhancing a one-on-one communication between managers and individual employees, which requires a different form of communication as opposed to addressing the entire group. At the same time, the manager uses interpersonal communication to appeal to the emotional needs of the employees by assessing a situation in order to come up with a constructive feedback.
For employees, the development of interpersonal communication skills is of great importance in facilitating effectiveness and professional productivity. The interaction with other employees and team members would only be effective with proper skills for interpersonal communication (Koschmann, 2013). For example, interpersonal skills enable employees to have a healthy interaction with other employees, customers, and other stakeholders of the organization. It is for this reason that many organizations design certain programs aimed at training employees to acquire the best strategies for developing their interpersonal communication skills. These initiatives are usually important in ensuring that relationships within the business setting are healthy and the fear of conflicts arising is kept low.
One of the most interpersonal communication techniques I have ever employed in overcoming barriers to communication is the infamous six-step model used widely in communication processes. The six-step model is useful in the sense that allows one to put into consideration the audience as well as adhering to the business ethics of communication. The first step in the six steps calls for the sender of the information to have an idea followed by the second step where the sender encodes the information. The third and fourth steps involve the sender transmitting the message and the receiving gets it respectively. Upon getting the message, the receiver decodes it and finally providing a feedback. I found this technique quite important in facilitating the effectiveness of interpersonal communication and overcoming communication barriers. A few months ago, I was in charge of a team of 6 interns whose responsibility was to assess company position using 6-sigma tools. The role I played was that of the sender as well as the receiver. As the sender, I would ensure that the receiver of the information had a clear understanding of the deliverables. As the receiver, I would ensure that I paid attention and listened keenly in order to attain clarified information before providing feedback.
Importance of International and Intercultural Interpersonal Communications
Proper development of intercultural communication strategies is useful in determining the ability of the organization to have a successful administration of its core inter-organizational networks (Bell & Smith, 2011). In the current globalized business environment, it is important for organizations to improve their levels of competence in intercultural communication. In fact, many human resource departments are keen at making sure that their employees have the ability to understand the importance of intercultural communication in order to effectively interact with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. For instance, managers usually emphasize that their employees understand cultural differences such as power distance uncertainty avoidance among other objects of culture as explored by Geert Hofstede.
According to a recent research conducted by Martin and Nakayama (2017), communication in international business environments calls for the need for individuals to learn how to adapt and appreciate the cultural differences that come with diversity. In fact, understanding these cultural differences would allow one come up with the most effective means of achieving proper interpersonal communication and avoid cases of conflicts arising. In fact, proper skills of intercultural communication would enable organizations benefit from the advantages that come with a diverse workforce that is able to coexist in a healthy relationship. Among the most vital characteristics for enhancing intercultural communication include aspects such as eye contact, mastering non-verbal cues, the maintenance of the appropriate space, and body language among others. With this knowledge, intercultural communication in international business environments becomes a useful asset for organizations in the realization of a sustainable competitive advantage.
Verbal and Nonverbal Communication in Management
Verbal and nonverbal communications, alongside the international and intercultural communication strategies, are key aspects of the overall process of organizational communication (Baack, 2012). Verbal communication takes place in formal and no-formal channels. Some of the examples of formal channels of communication include face-to-face meetings, video-conferencing, email, and telephone communications among others. Apart from the face-to-face mode of communication, other means of delivering information formally are applicable within and outside the organizational settings. On the other hand, informal channels of communication include discussions that take place in the hallway, break rooms, and the parking lot among others. In most cases, informal communication speeds up communication as opposed to the formal method of communication.
On its part, nonverbal communication uses cues that involve features such as headings and subheadings in writing, captions, and bar charts among other cues used in writing. Additionally, nonverbal communication utilizes gestures, pace, and facial expression. In most cases, these cues are either voluntary or involuntary. However, it is important for the speaker to ensure that he or she understands the necessary cues that are appropriate in sending a specific message in order to avoid misinterpretation (Bell & Smith, 2011). Despite the differences seen between verbal and nonverbal communication, the observation of factors such as cultural diversity matter for the two forms of communication. As such, managers should consider the necessity of developing strategies that are necessary in enhancing communication among individuals in the globalized business environment.
Approaches for Effective Written Communication
Every management should have a team whose skills in written communication are effective. Written communication in management is useful in promoting effective management practices (Murgado, 2011). For instance, written communication comes with various advantages such as the word choice clarifies the message, the chosen channel provides the opportunity for revisiting the message from time to time, as well as providing a formal means of delivering message in the sense that it has the company stamp and logo, thereby making message authentic. Therefore, the best affective for coming up with effective written communication includes the need...