CAS352:

Lesson 2 Overview

Introduction

This lesson offers essential conceptual information about the study of organizational communication. Chapter 1 provides an opportunity to consider how communication affects and is affected by organizations. In this chapter, we study the human communication process and explore multiple definitions of organizational communication. At the end of the reading, you have a chance to evaluate your own communication competencies.

Keywords

• Communication
• Organization
• Organizational Communication
• Shared Realities
• Constitutive
• Process
• Communication Competency

Objectives

After completing Lesson 2, you should be able to

• explain how effective communication creates organizational excellence;
• describe the four communication competencies;
• identify your personal communication competencies;
• explain the human communication process and its outcomes; and
• define organizational communication.

Lesson Readings & Activities

By the end of this lesson, make sure you have completed the readings and activities found in the Lesson 2 Course Schedule.

Introduction to Organizational Communication

Shockley-Zalabak begins Chapter 1 by arguing that organizational life is becoming increasingly complex. Organizational complexity can be attributed to a variety of factors, including the widespread use of constantly developing communication technologies. We live in an era marked by globalization and rapid technological innovation that requires us to constantly acquire new skills.

In such a fluid and complex environment where people in organizations face complex problems that require coordinated (rather than individual) action to solve these issues, people must be able to work together. To get them to work together, communication is essential. Organizational excellence, in Shockley-Zalabak's manner of speaking, is simply the ability to work together to solve complex problems. Her central point is that the ability of an organization to respond to its environment (e.g., its customers, suppliers, regulators, shareholders, competitors, neighbors, and other constituencies) and manage its internal processes depends upon effective communication on the part of the members of the organization. After all, many features that make an organization successful are rooted in communication. Examples of such features include organizational management, problem solving, adaptability, and worker satisfaction. In Chapter 1, Shockley-Zalabak explains the human communication process, defines organizational communication, and lays out the four competencies for "organizational excellence" that the textbook (and this course) aim to help you develop.

The Human Communication Process

According to Shockley-Zalabak, human communication is the process through which people attempt to create shared realities. In other words, it is the means by which we invite others to understand the world as we do. Mutual understanding is important for organizations because it enables organizational members to take part in coordinated action.

Organizational communication can be conceptualized as a process that includes the same elements as the human communication process. For this reason, she reviews the communication model, which synthesizes a complex understanding of the process of human communication. The model proposes that all communication takes place within a context or environment that influences people's expectations and behavior. For example, we might expect to talk about different topics at a party than we do at a religious service. The key ideas of the model are as follows:

1. When we communicate with others, we act as both a sender and receiver of messages. A person who wishes to communicate with another individual seeks to share some central ideas (i.e., meanings). In order to do so, the sender must first encode his/her ideas into symbols (consciously chosen words and gestures) that can be sent to the other person. The process of encoding involves selecting the symbols that will best represent one's meanings.
    
2. Once meanings are encoded, they form a message. Messages are transmitted via a communication channel from a source to a receiver. Types of channels include air and light (as in face-to-face communication), telephone, e-mail, and other communications technologies.


3. Once the other person receives the message, he/she must decode it by attributing meaning to the symbols and signs that comprise the sender's message. Senders choose symbols consciously. Signs are unconscious nonverbal behaviors that indicate a sender's emotional meanings (e.g., a person who selects words to describe a car accident might also unconsciously communicate that the event was scary by speaking quickly, fidgeting, and sweating). The receiver uses his/her own experiences to make sense of (i.e., to decode) the sender's message. The receiver has then ascribed meaning to the sender's symbols and signs. These meanings may or may not match those of the sender.


4. The receiver can now offer feedback to the sender through a response to the message. By providing feedback, the receiver becomes a sender. The receiver must encode his/her meanings into a message that can be transmitted to a receiver via a channel. The process of communication thus repeats.

The human communication process contains multiple sources of potential error. For example:

• When encoding a message, a person may have difficulty finding the right words to represent his/her cognitive meanings (e.g., "I can't find the right words to say this, but . . . ").
• When decoding a message, a person may ascribe meanings to the sender's symbols and signs that the sender did not intend (e.g., "He said my dance moves looked 'sick.' My dance moves aren't tasteless. I am outraged.").
• Transmission through the channel can be disrupted by distortions called "noise." Noise can occur both internally (e.g., inattention, a wandering mind, etc.) and externally (e.g., loud music, poor lighting, etc.).

The communication model thus highlights the difficulty of communication. When we interact with others, we can never be perfectly understood. Our job as communicators is to consider how our audience will react to our messages and do our best to overcome sources of error. A significant point is that misunderstanding also can be created by willful deception. A sender can deliberately attempt to deceive someone by distorting or misusing the communication process. For example, an employee who has not accomplished much work on a project may purposely misrepresent his progress to his boss in order to avoid criticism or appear more productive than he actually is.

Definitions of Organizational Communication

Like all forms of communication, organizational communication contains senders who encode messages and transmit them via channels to receivers who then decode the messages and offer feedback. Organizational communication, however, is not only comprised of the interactions of individuals. Shockley-Zalabak explains that we can best understand organizational communication as "a complex interaction of process, people, messages, meaning, and purpose"(p. 17).

• As process it creates and sustains the organization as a continuous and ongoing system.
• As people it involves the behavior of individuals within a collective social entity.
• As messages it consists of the specific messages created and circulated by its members.
• As meaning it connects members in shared understandings of the world.
• As constitutive of organizations, communication does not just describe organizations, but actually creates them—communication activities are the basic “stuff” of organizational life.

What sets organizational communication apart from interpersonal and other forms of communication is that it is a communicative process oriented toward coordinating the efforts of multiple individuals (usually, but not always organizational members) and groups in order to achieve a goal of an organization. Organizational communication is a highly complex process because it involves interpersonal and small group communication and coordinates the behaviors of many people and groups.

Competencies for Organizational Excellence

Shockley-Zalabak defines organizational excellence as the "ability of people to work together and utilize technology for the creative solving of increasingly complex problems." She argues that "excellence" requires communication competency on the part of the members of the organization. The definition of communication competency is subject to debate, but Shockley-Zalabak emphasizes that it centers on the ability of organizational members to work with diverse groups of people to develop creative solutions to shared problems. She follows other scholars who suggest that competency is composed of four elements: (1) understanding the process of communication, (2) interpersonal sensitivity, (3) communication skills, and (4) an ethical orientation toward communicative responsibility.

The Four Competencies for Organizational Excellence

Knowledge	The ability to understand the organizational communication environment. Knowledge competency involves understanding what organizational communication is, how it functions within one's organizational environment, and the major theories that ground its study.
Sensitivity	The ability to sense meanings and feelings within organizations. Sensitivity competency deals with recognizing and working to understand the behavioral tendencies and communication preferences of other organizational members.
Skills	The ability to analyze organizational situations as well as to send and receive messages. Skills competency comprises the ability to communicate effectively in many different organizational settings.
Values	A commitment to taking responsibility for effective communication. Values competency involves making ethical communication decisions in organizational life.

Activities

Lesson 2 Discussion

Post Initial Response

Compose and post a thoughtful, well-considered answer to the discussion question below.

How do you define organizational communication? Consider the discussion concerning definitions of organizational communication on pp. 17–19 in Shockley-Zalabak. Develop your own one- or two-sentence definition of “organizational communication” and explain which of the different perspectives on organizational communication your definition emphasizes or does not account for (terms for you to consider when creating your definition: process, people, messages, meaning, constitutive of organizations).

Reply to Peers

Reply to at least two of your classmates’ postings. Provide a thoughtful response to your classmates’ posts by engaging the following questions:

• Where do your definitions share similarities?
• Where do they differ?
• How has her/his definition expanded your definition or helped you think of it differently?

Individual Essay

Read the case at the end of Shockley-Zalabak, Chapter 1 (p. 22). In a thoughtful, well-considered essay, answer the following questions:

• What does this case illustrate about messages and meanings? Consider this question in the context of Human Communication: Messages and Constitutive Processes (pp. 11–14).
• What factors contributed to the outcome of the communication process in this case?
• What could Jane have done differently (think about the communication process) to better influence the outcome of this interaction?

The essay should be no shorter than 500 words, but no longer than about 750 words. In any case, it should be complete, reasonably free from errors, clearly organized, and well thought out.