Improving Communication

Active Listening

• We need to be good listeners.

• Active listening is the process of taking action to help someone say exactly what he or she really means.

Active Listening

• 1. We need to listen for message content

• 2. Listen for feelings

• 3. Respond to feelings

• 4. Note all cues

• 5. Paraphrase and restate

Active Listening

• Don’t you think employees should be promoted based on seniority?

• What does the supervisor expect us to do about these out of date computers?

Ten Steps to Good Listening

• 1.Stop talking

• 2. Put the other person at ease

• 3. Show that you want to listen

• 4. Remove any potential distractions

• 5. Empathize with the other person

• 6. Don’t respond too quickly; be patient.

• 7. Don’t get mad. Hold your temper.

• 8. Go easy on argument and criticism.

• 9. Ask questions.

• 10. Stop talking.

Constructive Feedback

• Feedback is the process of telling someone else how you feel about something that person did or said.

• We have to be extremely careful about how we give feedback.

• Employees may be harmed by the discussion if not done right.

Constructive Feedback

Use of Communication Channels

• Channel Richness is the ability of a channel to carry information effectively.

Interactive Management

• MBWA (Management By Wandering Around)

Interactive Management

• Open office hours

• Online discussion forums

• Employee group meetings

• Video conferences

• 360-degree feedback

The Perception Process

• Perception is how we receive, organize, and interpret information from the environment.

SENDER RECEIVER

Message

Feedback

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS- Stereotypes -Selective Perception-Halo Effects -Projection

Perception and Attribution

• Attribution is the process of developingexplanations for events.

• Attribution Error happens when someone’sfailures are blamed on internal factors than external factors.

Perception and Attribution

• Self-serving bias is when someone tries to blame failures or problems on external problems and successes on internal problems.

Two Women

• Can you see the young woman?

• Can you see the old woman?

Scary optical illusion - Brightness

• Do you see some women looking at themselves in a mirror?

Big monster chasing little monster

Which line is bigger?

They are both the same length

• The illusion works because things in the distance would normally be smaller, but in this picture the perspective of the road plays tricks on your mind.

The power of letters and numbers - shape

• Read the letters from left to right across the page.

• Next, read the text from top to bottom.

Read the colours!

Look Closer

Perceptual Tendencies and Distortions

• These are things that can influence communication:

• Stereotypes

• Halo Effects

• Selective Perception

• Projection

Stereotypes

• Stereotypes are when traits that are usually associated with a group are associated with an individual.

• Race stereotypes

• Age stereotypes

• Ability stereotypes

Halo Effect

• Halo effect happens one somebody is judged (well or badly) on one feature.

• Positive: Valeria is always on time…therefore she is a good employee.

• Negative: His hair is messy…he must be an unorganized, lazy person.

Selective Perception

• This happens when we look for things that support or reinforce what we already think or believe.

• This could mean, for example, that people from different departments are never going to see others’ points of view.

• Fight this by getting other opinons.

Projection

• Projection is when we assign personal attributes onto other people.

• You always have to be self-aware of what you are doing. You have to empathize, and you have to have a willingness to communicate.