Organizational Communication

Front 1

Organizational Communication

Back 1

Human communication that occurs within an organization

Front 2

Structural factors of organizational communication
(3)

Back 2

1. Division of labor
2. Span of control
3. Pyramid of control

Front 3

Division of labor

Back 3

Organizations more productive when they allow people to specialize

Front 4

Span of control

Back 4

Limit on authority of individual supervisor

Front 5

Pyramid of control

Back 5

Hierarchy of supervisors and upper level managers

Front 6

Organizational Culture

Back 6

Totality of socially transmittable behavior patterns in an organization
(how people dress, work, etc.)

Front 7

"Tough-Guy-Macho" culture

Back 7

High-risk organizations
(police, surgeons, movie industry)

Front 8

"Work-Hard-Play-Hard Culture"

Back 8

Focus on sales/meeting customer needs
(Mary Kay, McDonalds)

Front 9

"Bet-Your-Company" Culture

Back 9

High risk (large up-front investment) and low feedback
(oil companies, NASA)

Front 10

"Process" Culture

Back 10

Low risk-slow feedback, focus on procedures, members rarely see results; long meetings, much communication
(government, pharmacy, utilities)

Front 11

The Command function

Back 11

Coordinate interdependent members and work

Front 12

Relational function

Back 12

Create productive business and personal relationships within the organization

Front 13

Ambiguity-management function

Back 13

reducing vagueness in organization

Front 14

Communication is _____ within organizations

Back 14

crucial

Front 15

Executives believe communication and ______ are linked

Back 15

productivity

Front 16

Most important thing people want to know is

Back 16

"Do I know what is expected of me at work?"

Front 17

Leader-Member Exchange (LMX)

Back 17

The two-way relationship between leaders and employees

Leader behaviors:
1. Supportive communication
2. Non-controlling communication

Front 18

Supportive communication

Back 18

Higher LMX, helping with problems, encourage development, praise accomplishments

Front 19

Non-controlling communication

Back 19

Increases LMX, lack of micromanagement, allow employee to decide how to do their job

Front 20

Trust

Back 20

Individual's confidence in another person's intentions and motives and the sincerity of that person's world

Front 21

Cognitive Trust

Back 21

Focuses on the person's professionalism and reliability

Front 22

Affective Trust

Back 22

Concerns the relationship with the person

Front 23

Network Structures

Back 23

"Nodes" that are connected by "links"--organizations seen this way

Front 24

Key idea in network structures

Back 24

Centralization

Front 25

Downward Communication

Back 25

Initiated by management, then filters down through "chain of command"

Front 26

"Point of Diminishing Returns"

Back 26

Busy people need more reminders to act on downward communication

Front 27

7 Ways people adapt to information overload:

Back 27

1. Omission: failing to handle all the information
2. Error: ignoring/failing to correct errors
3. Queuing: Letting things pile up (think Instant Queue)
4. Filtering: ranking what is dealt with first
5. Approximations: Lowering standards of precision
6. Multiple Channels: Information processing
7. Escape: Refusing to handle output

Front 28

By the time a message reaches lower levels, it is usually ____

Back 28

distorted

Front 29

Upward Communication

Back 29

Ideas and feelings of lower-level employees communicated to higher-level employees

Front 30

Upward communication encouraged?

Back 30

No-subordinates are often reluctant to share feelings with their superiors

Front 31

5 functions of upward communication:

Back 31

1. Provides management with information for decision making
2. Helps relieve employee frustration
3. Enhances employee sense of participation
4. Measures effectiveness of downward communication
5. Suggests better uses for downward communication

Front 32

Horizontal Communication

Back 32

Exchanges between people at same level of the organization

Front 33

4 functions of horizontal communication

Back 33

1. Task coordination
2. Problem solving
3. Information sharing
4. Conflict resolution

Front 34

Informal Communication

Back 34

Rumors one way of communication--inadequate downward comm that creates a vacuum that rumor fills

Front 35

Two types of gossip

Back 35

1. Self-serving (destructive)
2. Group-serving (productive)

Front 36

Rumors pass through three types of message channeling:

Back 36

1. Leveling: some details omitted
2. Sharpening: parts exaggerated
3. Assimilation: distorted to fit one's view