Introduction to Organizational Communication

1. Introduction to Organizational Communication Frameworks for Understanding Organizational Communication Chapter Two

2. Human Communication • Frameworks for understanding organizational communication can be found in descriptions of human communication and organizations. • Human communication process attempts to construct shared realities through social interaction.

3. Human Communication • Knowledge-defining and describing the human communication process and identifying basic characteristics of organizations and organizational communication. • Sensitivity-understanding human communication as attempts to create shared realities and distinguishing among interpersonal, small-group, and organizational communication.

4. Human Communication • Skills-practiced through application of knowledge and sensitivity competencies in exercises and case analyses. • Values-developed through an understanding of the importance of communication in the process of organizing and an awareness that all communication is subject to evaluation for ethics and effectiveness.

5. Basics of Human Communication • Defining Communication • Using symbols (words) to attempt to create shared meaning (mutual understanding) that will result in an effect on the two of them.

6. The Human Communication Process

7. The Human Communication Process • Source/Receiver • Encoding/Decoding • Message • Channel • Noise • Competence • Field of Experience • Communication Context • Effect

8. The Construction of Shared Realities • Human communication is the process of attempting to construct shared realities, to create shared meanings. It is our attempt to have others understand it and our efforts to comprehend the world of those around us. • Human communication is dynamic and ever-changing.

9. The Construction of Shared Realities • Interpersonal communication • Group communication • Public or mass media communication • Organizational communication

10. Concepts of Organizations • The term organization is applied to the results of the process of organizing. • Organizing is an attempt to bring order out of chaos or establish organizations, entities in which purposeful and ordered activity takes place.

11. Concepts of Organizations • Interdependence exists among organizational components as well as with the external environment. • Organizations are dynamic systems in which individuals engage in collective efforts for goal accomplishment.

12. Concepts of Organizations • From the perspective of adaptation and change, organizations can be understood as active and dynamic mergers of human behaviors and technological operations.

13. Concepts of Organizations • The objective approach suggests that an organization is a physical, concrete thing, that it is tangible and actually holds people, relationships, and goals. Some people refer to this approach as the container view of organizations.

14. Concepts of Organizations • A subjective approach looks at an organization as activities that people do. Organization consists of the actions, interactions, and transactions in which people engage. Organization is created and maintained through the continually changing contacts people have with one another and does not exist separately from the people whose behavior constitutes the organization.

15. Concepts of Organizations • From the objective view, organization means structure; from the subjective view, organization means process. (Pace and Faules, 1994)

16. Concepts of Organizations

17. Concepts of Organizations • Organizations possess five critical features: • Two or more people • Goals • Coordinating activity • Structure • Environmental embeddedness Miller, 1995

18. Definitions of Organizational Communication • Miller (1995) concludes: • Studying organizational communication requires looking at how communication processes contribute to the coordination of behavior in working toward organization and individual goals.

19. Definitions of Organizational Communication • Eisenberg and Goodall (1997) suggest four approaches to defining organizational communication: • Communication as information transfer • Communication as transactional process • Communication as strategic control • Communication as balancing creativity and restraint.

20. Definitions of Organizational Communication • Communication as information transfer uses a pipeline or conduit metaphor • Communication as transactional process uses meanings are in receivers (“You cannot not communicate”)

21. Definitions of Organizational Communication • Communication as strategic control uses the metaphor of individuals attempting to control their environments through the use of strategic ambiguity. • Communication as balancing creativity and restraint uses the metaphor of balance; duality of structure.

22. Definitions of Organizational Communication • Process through which organizations are created and in turn create and shape events. The process can be understood as a combination of process, people, messages, meaning, and purpose.

23. Organizational Communication as Process • Because the process is ever-changing, it can be described as evolutionary and culturally dependent. In other words, the ongoing process of creating and transmitting organizational messages reflects the shared realities resulting from previous message exchange evolves to generate new realities that create and shape events.

24. Organizational Communication as People • Organizational communication contributes to creating relationships and assists both individuals and organizations in achieving diverse purposes.

25. Organizational Communication as Messages • Organizational communication is the creation and exchange of messages.

26. Organizational Communication as Meaning • Organizational communication creates and shapes organizational events. • The interactions of ever-changing behaviors often create multiple perceptions of events and multiple realities that become the process through which organizational meanings are generated.

27. Organizational Communication as Purpose • Organizational communication seeks to reduce environmental uncertainty. It is people, messages, and meaning. It is intentional and unintentional messages explaining the workings of the organization. It is the process through which individuals and organizations attempt goal-oriented behavior in dealing with their environments.

28. Organizational Communication • Whereas interpersonal and group communication occur in organizations, organizational communication is a more comprehensive process including, but not limited to, one-on-one and group exchanges.

29. Introduction to Organizational Communication Frameworks for Understanding Organizational Communication Chapter Two END