Communication in Organizations

Basic Skills and Conversation Models

Henk T. Van der Molen, Yvonne Gramsbergen-Hoogland

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781138552128
• eBook ISBN: 9781351374910
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Applied Psychology
• Index: Psychology

One of the most important requirements of leadership is effective communication. The idea that some people are natural leaders and that others will never learn to show good leadership is now outdated. It has been replaced by the conviction that leadership and communication skills can be learnt. This second edition of Communication in Organizations continues to give clear advice and guidance on communicating in a range of different contexts in the workplace.

From handling complaints and breaking bad news to negotiating deals and giving presentations, it explores the building blocks to effective communication skills, nurturing the leadership qualities required in any organization. By defining the abstract concepts of 'organization' and 'communication', it provides readers with the necessary skills to conduct any conversation on a professional manner. Illustrated with concrete examples throughout, this new edition includes a new chapter on career coaching, with exercises and ideas for role-play to enable the ideas to come alive. The three parts work seamlessly to expand the readers' conversation skill-set as they progress through the book.

Communication in Organizations is an invaluable resource for students of management and business psychology, as well as those taking courses who are already in the workplace. The practical aspects compliment both introductory and advanced courses in interpersonal communication, leadership and business and professional communication.

Part I

Basic communication skills

Introduction

In every organization where people work together, communication is essential. Discussions are held about the tasks that must be performed, about their relation to one another and about the situations that demand change. There are meetings to be held and organizing to be done. There are appointments to be made. There are contacts to be made with the outside world.

Do you learn this within the framework of the organization? For sure, but you are one step ahead if you have immersed yourself in it in advance and have developed skills that can become sharpened and refined in the practical running of the organization.

For example, when the employees of Dinner Ltd wish to hold the various types of discussions with which they are concerned, and to conduct them in an appropriate manner, a number of building blocks are necessary. We call these building blocks basic communication skills.

In this first part we will discuss the basic communication skills, which are always important for communication. In communication a general distinction can be made between the sender, the person who sends out a message, and the receiver, the person who receives the message (Figure 1.1).

The same distinction can be made between sender and receiver (or listener) skills. With regard to sender skills we can make a distinction between regulating skills and assertive skills. Regulating skills are those with which one influences the structure and direction of the conversation; these are necessary to monitor the meaningful progress of the conversation. Assertive skills are those whose purpose is to reveal as clearly as possible what one thinks and wants. (For a more extended skill model of interpersonal communication we refer to Hargie & Dickson, 2004, p. 23.)

Figure 1.1 Communication between sender and receiver

Part I is structured as follows. In Chapter 1 we discuss the regulating skills. This is followed by the listening skills in Chapter 2. Then in Chapter 3 the assertive skills are dealt with.

With the help of the basic communication skills, all different types of conversations can be held. Whether a selection interview, a job evaluation, a negotiation or a meeting is involved, it is always important that members of staff direct the conversation as well as possible, listen to what others have to say attentively and put across their own opinion and intention as clearly as possible. In other words, acquisition and a thorough command of the skills discussed in these three chapters is necessary to be able to hold the different types of conversation that will be discussed in Part II and Part III.

Before we elaborate further on these skills, we would like to pay some attention to the general understanding of the concept ‘skill’. According to Collins Dictionary skill means: ‘quickness, swiftness; 2) dexterity, proficiency, adroitness’. The concept – as we mean it – is best described by the second definition. At the same time we would like to emphasize that skills training not only means teaching a few tricks, but also being able to choose as functionally as possible from a ‘repertoire of skills’. By ‘functionally’ we mean that the application of the skills contributes as much as possible to the realization of the goals of the particular conversation.

Practical example

On Monday morning Food and Beverage Manager Harry Haddock is leafing through his diary to see how the week’s schedule looks: this afternoon the first of two weekly staff meetings with both directors; tomorrow morning a consultation with the headwaiters about the party next week for a computer company; then two days at a conference in Liverpool about sickness absence. So this week it will be impossible to spend a morning calmly sitting down and preparing a conversation with Alex Armstrong and Charlotte Cohen about the terrible history of the new temporary waiters.

Chef Bert Berman asks where Dan Diamond is hanging out. ‘Sick’ is the answer. Good heavens, is that man sick on Monday morning again? How should he approach this? That bloke has got to go if it continues like this, which is a shame as he’s a good assistant. But you must be able to depend on a bloke. Should he go and talk to him?

Grace Green faces Ronald Rosenthal with it: ‘Ronald we must have a talk about the personnel day. When can we talk about it? It’s not going so well.’

Freddy Fortune to Gerald Glass: ‘Gerald, are you having that meeting with the guy from the kitchen factory this afternoon? Can you come by this morning as I want to have a word about the payment conditions? Maybe we can make them a little more flexible.’

In the secretary’s office disaster has struck. Jenny Jacobson says to her colleagues: ‘How is it possible that first thing on Monday morning it’s such chaos? Are there people sick, are we overworked, or are we just too slow? Mr Fortune wants to see the minutes of the yearly meeting this afternoon. I can’t tell him they’re not ready yet. We have to talk.’

All these examples make it clear that conversations are essential in a lot of processes, and finally for the success of the organization.

1 Regulating skills

Table 1.1 Overview of the regulating skills

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• Opening the conversation, setting goals

• Goal evaluation

• Closing the conversation

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Introduction

The purpose of the regulating skills is to protect the order and clarity of the conversation. Table 1.1 gives an overview of the skills that are discussed in subsequent paragraphs.

Opening the conversation, setting goals

When you take the initiative in a conversation, for efficient continuation it is usually important to supply your conversational partner with your intentions fairly soon after beginning. How exactly you open the conversation is naturally dependent upon the situation. When you want to discuss the progress of a project with a colleague who drops in now and then, you would start this conversation differently from when you meet a new client for the first time, or in a selection interview when you meet an applicant. In the first case, you would start fairly informally, whilst in the last case you would usually begin formally. In order to create a relaxed atmosphere, one often begins a conversation by discussing some generalities. This can work well, but we must realize that there are many people who do not feel at ease when discussing such generalities. These feelings of unease are on the one hand brought about because one has the idea that time is not being efficiently used, and on the other because one does not know exactly how to end the generalities. Such people only begin to feel at ease when you get to the point, namely when the conversation about the important subjects begins.

Whether you start formally or informally, in both cases clarity of your intentions promotes the smooth progression of the conversation. When you have the opportunity to prepare yourself for a conversation, you can try to devise a global structure for it. You should try not to stick to this structure too rigidly in case other turns in the conversation turn out to be more useful, bearing in mind its purpose. In general, we can state that a clear conversational structure, upon which the conversational partners have agreed at the beginning, promotes efficiency. In practice, conversational partners will often have a number of subjects they wish to discuss. By making an inventory of these subjects in advance and establishing the order of the subjects to be discussed, you can specify a sort of agenda for the conversation.

Goal evaluation

In this book we assume that conversations are based on a goal. Often, the goal is the solving of problems. In order to check that you are still busy with the goals that were originally set, it is useful to ask ‘goal evaluating questions’ from time to time. These are questions such as: ‘What was it exactly we wanted to achieve?’ ‘Are the goals attainable?’ ‘Are the methods employed adequate in relation to the goal?’ Take an example from the last part of the conversation between Bert Berman and Harry Haddock at the beginning of the week:

HARRY: We were going to discuss the planning for this week. In the meantime we have decided that I will reorder the crates of wine and that you will chase up the butcher. Are there any other things that we need to discuss now?

In this example we see that Haddock refers to the goals set at the beginning of the conversation and then gives Berman a chance to speak. When one or both of them is of the opinion that the planning for the following week has not yet been adequately discussed, they can decide to continue the conversation. If both agree that the goal has been reached, then the conversation can be rounded off. At the end of the conversation it is often useful to summarize the arrangements.

Closing the conversation

In order to keep a check on the time it is generally wiser to make known the time available at the beginning of the conversation. Then a clear agreement has been made about the length of the conversation; for example, half an hour or three-quarters of an hour. If such an agreement is made, it is important to keep an eye on this time too: that is to say, you must decide whether the goals set can be reached within the limited time available. If the time has almost expired, you can refer to the agreement. For example: ‘I see that we have about five minutes left.’ Then a summary can be introduced with a sentence such as: ‘Maybe it is a good idea if we take a look at what we have discussed so far.’ After this summary you can discuss with your conversational partner how you will continue. In many cases it is useful to close with a summary, where the concrete arrangements can be lined up (see Chapter 2).

2 Listening skills

Table 2.1 Overview of the listening skills

‘Non’-selective listening skills; attentive behaviour	Selective listening skills
• Nonverbal behaviour	• Asking questions
• Minimal encouragers	• Paraphrasing of content • Reflection of feelings • Concreteness • Summarizing

Introduction

It is not only important to have a good structure in a conversation, but also to let your conversational partner know that he is being listened to (Bostrom, 1990; Steil, 1991). First of all, it is stimulating for the partner, and second, one can avoid the problems that occur when one does not listen well. Burley-Allen (1995) has described listening as ‘the forgotten skill’, indicating that a lot of people tend to speak too quickly without having paid careful attention to one another. In Table 2.1 we present an overview of the listening skills that are discussed in this chapter.

In the folllowing section on ‘non’-selective listening skills it is explained that the listener has only little influence on the conversation. He gives other people all the time to explain their story and only responds by giving attention. These skills are necessary to stimulate the conversation partner into talking. Selective listening skills are used by the listener to find out and select certain aspects of the conversation that he finds important. ‘Non’-selective skills are hardly ever used alone. Even when one is only paying attention to somebody’s story, one often unconsciously selects what one finds important and gives more attention to that part. That is why we have put ‘non’ in inverted commas.

‘Non’-selective listening skills, minimal ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Part I Basic Communication Skills
• Part II Dialogues
• Part III Group Conversations
• Appendix A: Exercises
• Appendix B: Role Play
• References
• Author Index
• Subject Index