Agricultural Education 842

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Agricultural Education 842

• Leadership
• and
• Administration

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Review

• Motivation is an individual desire to fulfill
  ones needs.
• All motivation is intrinsic.
• Supervisors need to understand human motivation
  to promote high levels of productivity in an
  organization.
• Supervisors should strive to emphasize the needs
  of the employees in the context of fulfilling
  organizational goals.

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Review (cont.)

• Respect and Trust are the two most important
  factors influencing supervisorsubordinate
  relationships.
• Focusing on organizational goals without
  consideration of employees needs interferes with
  effective supervision.
• Frequent personal rewards and recognition should
  be used to maintain and improve employee
  motivation.

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Lesson 9

• Communication in Organizations

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Objectives

• List three formal information channels in an
  organization.
• Identify four forms of communication in
  organizations.
• Describe guidelines for interpersonal
  communication.
• Explain practical guidelines for effective
  writing.

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Objectives (cont.)

• Review guidelines for effective presentations.
• Discuss guidelines for productive meetings.
• Identify three factors to consider in selecting a
  communication medium.
• Summarize guidelines for effective organizational
  communication.

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Draw . . .

• A schematic diagram of the communication
  process

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Interpersonal Communication
Noise or Filter
Original Context
Different Context
Sender
Receiver
Translates thoughts Into words and symbols
Translates words and symbols Into thoughts
Barriers to Effective Communication
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Three Types of Communication

• Monologue one-way communication, includes a
  sender, but no receiver
• Technical Communication two way communication
  involving exchange of data or information
• Dialogue sincere and honest communication with
  the intent of establishing a living mutual
  relation

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Three Formal Information Channels in
Organizations

• Downward instructions, directions, policies,
  directives, goals typically a trickle-down
  process

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Three Formal Information Channels in
Organizations (cont.)

• Upward direct reporting to supervisors,
  suggestions status/production reports, occurs
  less frequently and shorter duration than
  downward communication

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Three Formal Information Channels in
Organizations (cont.)

• Horizontal lateral messages that occur between
  similar levels within an organization, focus
  tends to be on coordination

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Informal Communication Channels

• Grapevine a universal, but unofficial means of
  transmitting information, may not be accurate
• (Managers should recognize and utilize the
  organizational grapevine)
• Rumor unofficial pieces of information with no
  identifiable or verifiable source, can be
  misleading, malicious, and harmful to employee
  morale
• Gossip underground or behind-the-scenes
  communication that usually contains a thread of
  truth, but may also contain a number of
  unsubstantiated assertions that are not true.

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Electronic Communication

• Electronic Communication creates unique
  opportunities and problems with communicating for
  understanding
• Email
• Voice Mail
• Electronic Paging
• Cell Phone
• Walkie-Talkie
• Video-Conference
• Digital Media
• Power Point

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Four Forms of Organizational Communication

• Focus on authentic dialogue based on trust to
  create a mutual relation with others.
• How does dialogue differ from communication?

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Organizational Communication
Interpersonal Communication
Oral Presentations
Dialogue
Written Communication
Meetings
Source Hitt, W. D. (1988). The leader manager
Guidelines for action. Columbus, OH Batelle
Press.
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Interpersonal Communication

• Interpersonal Communication involves
  face-to-face interaction on a one-to-one basis
• Giving Instructions Asking Questions
• Answering Questions Providing/Obtaining
  Info
• Listening to Concerns Making Suggestions
• Providing Encouragement Offering Praise

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Written Communication

• Written Communication includes all forms of
  written messages in which thoughts are expressed
  in words and/or images to convey a message to an
  audience
• Memos Meeting Minutes
• Letters Proposals
• Reports Thank You Notes
• Email Web Pages

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Oral Presentations

• Three phases include preparation, delivery, and
  evaluation, effective for delivering large amount
  of information to an audience at one time, need
  to have clear purpose in mind and focus the
  content on fulfilling the purpose

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Meetings

• Involve three or more persons working together,
  managers spend 10-50 of their day in meetings
  and must make sure that meetings are effective
  and efficient.
• Most common complaint about meetings is that
  they are unproductive
• WHY?

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Guidelines for Effective Interpersonal
Communication

• Express thought clearly
• Be willing to express feelings
• Put yourself in place of other person
• Be truly present (concentrate on person)
• Be a good listener (two ears, one mouth)

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Guidelines for Effective Interpersonal
Communication (cont.)

• Postpone Evaluation (judgment)
• Avoid hostility when others views differ from
  your own
• Be willing and open to changing your mind
• Be willing to confront those with differing views
• Think WinWin

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Barriers that Affect Interpersonal Communication

• Bias systematic tendencies to use information
  about others in ways that result in inaccurate
  perceptions
• Stereotypes inaccurate beliefs about
  characteristics of certain groups of people
• Inattention distractions from other problems,
  issues, or just the inability to concentrate on
  the communication issue at hand
• Non-Verbal Cues various gestures, body
  movements, postures, etc. send messages to the
  receiver which may reinforce or interfere with
  communication of the intended message

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Guidelines for Effective Writing

• Write in the language of the reader.
• Focus on one key idea.
• Organize your thoughts in a coherent manner.
• Choose a writing style and stick with it.
• Make the paragraph the basic unit of composition.

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Guidelines for Effective Writing (cont.)

• Use definite, specific, and concrete language.
• Use the active rather than the passive voice in
  your composition.
• Use short words rather than long words when
  possible.
• Omit needless words, or redundancy.
• Apply basic rules of grammar properly.

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Barriers to Effective Writing

• Lack of Clarity
• Lack of Focus
• Dullness (uninteresting or boring)

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Guidelines for Effective Presentations

• Suit the speech to each specific audience.
• Determine your central idea.
• Clearly define the purpose of the presentation.
• Gather information from your own experiences.
• Organize the material in a coherent fashion.

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Guidelines for Effective Presentations (cont.)

• Prepare good visual aids.
• Speak from on outline, do not read text.
• Let your feelings show.
• Maintain eye contact with audience.
• Be flexible, and adjust to audience cues.

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Barriers to Effective Presentations

• Lack of clear definition of purpose.
• Lack of organization.
• Failure to tailor presentation to audience.
• Lack of enthusiasm.
• Poor visual aids.
• Unaware/insensitive to audience feedback/cues.

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Guidelines for Productive Meetings

• Clearly define the purpose of the meeting.
• Prepare an agenda in advance.
• Create a relaxed atmosphere.
• Give everyone in attendance a chance to
  contribute.
• Allow and encourage open expression or
  disagreement.

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Guidelines for Productive Meetings (cont.)

• Truly listen to participants.
• Keep the meeting on track .
• Summarize key points at the end of the meeting.
• Prepare and distribute minutes within 24 hours.
• Evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the
  meetng.

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Barriers to Effective Meetings

• Lack of focus or direction
• Nothing accomplished
• Jumping from topic to topic
• Monopolized discussion
• No sense of closure (decision making)
• No follow-up or report of results

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Guidelines for Effective Organizational
Communication

• Let people know where organization is headed
• Let people know the major issues influencing the
  organization
• Provide accurate and complete information
• Make certain each staff member has information
  needed to do their job
• Let people know what is expected of them

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Guidelines for Effective Organizational
Communication (cont.)

• Manage by walking around (get to know people).
• Actively seek ideas and opinions from staff.
• Give individuals accurate and timely feedback on
  performance.
• Keep everyone informed of progress toward
  organizational goals.
• Walk the talk (integrity, do what you say).

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Barriers to Effective Organizational Communication

• Failure to communicate organizational mission and
  goals.
• Failure to communication where organization is
  going.
• Failure to provide information needed for
  employees to do their jobs.
• Failure to provide accurate and timely feedback
  on performance.

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Selecting a Communication Medium

• Level of Information Richness amount of
  information that a medium can carry, and the
  extent to which the medium enables the sender and
  receiver to reach a common understanding
• Time how critical is the time element in having
  the sender and receiver reach a common
  understanding?
• Documentation to what extent does there need to
  be a paper/electronic trail to acknowledge that a
  specific message has been sent/received.

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Four Ps of Organizational Communication
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Four Ps of Organizational Communication

• Praise in Public

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Four Ps of Organizational Communication

• Praise in Public
• Punish in Private

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Key Points

• Effective communication requires good listening
  skills.
• Silence should not be misinterpreted as either
  agreement or lack of disagreement.

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Key Points (cont.)

• Effective managers should pay close attention to
  factors that interfere with good communication
• Rumors
• Gossip
• Low morale
• Antagonism

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Conflict Resolution

• . . . personal feuds, employee persecution, and
  interdepartmental competition can produce
  conflict that disrupt organizational
  productivity. Resolving conflicts involves
• Meeting individually with all parties affected
• Meeting collectively as a group to discuss
  situation
• Sort out grievances
• Develop mutually agreeable solution

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Conflict Resolution (cont.)

• Confront conflicts as soon as they occur
• Accept the reality that there are at least two
  sides to every issue
• Be aware that conflict resolution takes time and
  thought
• Expect that most incidents will eventually be
  know throughout the organization
• Promote an atmosphere of decorum
• Establish a collaborative problem-solving process
  in which conflicting parties seek a mutually
  beneficial resolution (seek WinWin, not WinLose)

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Conclusions

• Communication channels are downward, upward, and
  horizontal.
• Forms of organizational communication include
  interpersonal, written, oral presentations, and
  meetings.
• Honesty and trust are two important requirements
  for effective communication.
• Focus and clarity are two important
  characteristics of effective writing.

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Conclusions (cont.)

• Oral presentations should be tailored to the
  intended audience.
• Agendas should be prepared in advance to ensure
  productive meetings.
• Medium selection should consider information
  richness, time, and documentation.
• Open communication between and among staff is
  important for organizational effectiveness.

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Next Week

• Team Building

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Assignment

• Brody, Chapters 15 16

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Have a good weekend!