Managerial communication helps people coordinate their work and supports organizational effectiveness. It influences others’ opinions, attitudes, motivation, and behavior; expresses feelings and intentions; and enables people to share information about events and issues. This lesson explains the basic communication process, the role of feedback, and how noise can distort a message.
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What is the basic path of a communication episode?
A communicator develops an idea, encodes it as a message, sends it through a medium, and a receiver decodes and interprets it. The receiver may then provide feedback.
What is encoding, and what can influence it?
Encoding is translating an idea into a systematic set of symbols, such as spoken or written language. It can be influenced by the sender’s past experiences, emotional state, the message’s importance, and the people involved.
What is decoding?
Decoding is the receiver’s process of interpreting a message and trying to uncover its meaning and intent. The receiver’s prior experiences and frame of reference can affect that interpretation.
What are the three types of feedback?
Informational feedback provides nonevaluative information; corrective feedback challenges or corrects the original message; reinforcing feedback indicates that the message and its intent have been received.
What is noise, and how can managers reduce it?
Noise is any factor that distorts message clarity and can arise at any point in communication. Managers can reduce it with clear, specific wording, an appropriate medium, opportunities for questions, and checks that the receiver understood.
Quiz questions
Which sequence best represents a basic communication episode?Answer: An idea is encoded, sent through a medium, decoded by a receiver, and followed by possible feedback.
A receiver reports the month-end inventory level without evaluating it. What type of feedback is this?Answer: Informational feedback.
An employee says that monitoring inventory is not part of their responsibility, challenging a manager’s instruction. What type of feedback is this?Answer: Corrective feedback.
Which statement about feedback in communication is accurate?Answer: A nod, a clarification request, or no response may function as feedback.
A manager’s instructions could be misread because of unclear wording. Which action is most likely to reduce this communication problem?Answer: State the desired result and relevant limits clearly, then check the receiver’s understanding.
Based on Organizational Behavior by J. Stewart Black, David S. Bright, Donald G. Gardner, Eva Hartmann, Jason Lambert, Laura M. Leduc, Joy Leopold, James S. O’Rourke, Jon L. Pierce, Richard M. Steers, Siri Terjesen, Joseph Weiss (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.