Page 421 - Fundamentals of Management Myths Debunked (2017)_Flat

420 Part 4 • Leading
◂ ◂ ◂ From the Past to the Present ▸ ▸ ▸

One of the most famous studies of the grapevine was conduct- However, what was noticeably interesting about this study
ed by management researcher Keith Davis who investigated was that it found that employees who have strong communi-
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the communication patterns among 67 managerial personnel. cation ties with their managers tend to bring in more money
The approach he used was to learn from each communication than those who steer clear of the boss.
recipient how he or she first received a given piece of infor- What managers can learn from both of these studies is
mation and then trace it back to its source. It was found that, that it’s important to understand the social and communi-
while the grapevine was an important source of information, cation networks that employees use as they do their work.
only 10 percent of the executives acted Know who the key contact points are
as iaison individuals (that is, passed so that if you ever need to find out
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the information on to more than one The Grapevine: or relay information, you know who
other person). For example, when one to go to.
executive decided to resign to enter An important source If your professor has assigned this,
the insurance business, 81 percent of of information go to the Assignments section of
the executives knew about it, but only mymanagementlab.com to com-
11 percent transmitted this information plete these discussion questions.
to others. At the time, this study was interesting because of Talk About It 1: Why is it important for managers to un-
what it found, but more importantly because of what it showed derstand social and communication networks employees use?
about how the communication network worked.
Recent research by IBM and the Massachusetts Institute Talk About It 2: What have been your experiences
of Technology using a similar type of analysis focused more with the grapevine and what did you learn from those
on people’s social networks of contacts at work rather than on experiences about dealing with the grapevine as a source
how information flowed through the organizational grapevine. of communication?

messages to others. However, the best-known areas of nonverbal communication are body
language and verbal intonation.
Body language refers to gestures, facial configurations, and other movements of the
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body. A snarl, for example, says something different from a smile. Hand motions, facial
expressions, and other gestures can communicate emotions or temperaments such as aggres-
sion, fear, shyness, arrogance, joy, and anger. 10

It’s not WHAT you say but HOW you say it.

Verbal intonation refers to the emphasis someone gives to words or phrases. To illustrate
how intonations can change the meaning of a message, consider the student who asks the
instructor a question. The instructor replies, “What do you mean by that?” The student’s reac-
tion will vary, depending on the tone of the instructor’s response. A soft, smooth tone creates
a different meaning from one that is abrasive with a strong emphasis on the last word. Most of
us would view the first intonation as coming from someone who sincerely sought clarification,
whereas the second suggests that the person is aggressive or defensive. The adage, “it’s not what
you say but how you say it,” is something managers should remember as they communicate.
The fact that every oral communication also has a nonverbal message cannot be
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overemphasized. Why? Because the nonverbal component is likely to carry the greatest
impact. Research indicates that from 65 to 90 percent of the message of every face-to-face
conversation is interpreted through body language. Without complete agreement between
the spoken words and the body language that accompanies it, receivers are more likely to
react to body language as the “true meaning.” 12
body language
Nonverbal communication cues such as facial
expressions, gestures, and other body movements What Barriers Keep Communication from Being Effective?
verbal intonation A number of interpersonal and intrapersonal barriers affect why the message decoded by a
An emphasis given to words or phrases that receiver is often different from what the sender intended. We summarize the more prominent
conveys meaning
barriers to effective communication in Exhibit 13–2 and briefly describe them here.