Discussion board | Applied Sciences homework help

1. Define and give examples of seven categories of nonverbal behavior, and summarize the importance of each in a specific organization or career field.

lthough they are neighbors and see each other almost every day, Bob and Carolyn rarely speak to each other. Ever since their partnership broke up, the hard feelings have made even casual conversation painful. “We both should have known better,” Bob lamented. “It was such a simple misunderstanding. We went into the partnership agreeing that we would be ‘equal partners,’ but now I can see that we had different ideas about what being ‘equals’ meant. I saw each of us taking charge of the areas that we did best: I’m good at marketing and sales, and Carolyn knows product design and production backward and forward. So it made sense to me that, while we were each equally responsible for the business and deserving an equal share of the profits, we would each make the final decisions in the areas where we were experts.” 193 “That’s not what I meant by ‘equal partners,’” stated Carolyn flatly. “Bob wasn’t willing to take responsibility for the hard work of production. He kept saying, ‘That’s where you’re the expert.’ And he didn’t have any faith in my ideas about sales and marketing. He wanted to make those decisions himself, whether or not I agreed. To me, being equal means you have just as much say as the other person in every part of the business.” In hindsight, both Bob and Carolyn realize there had been signs of trouble from the beginning of their partnership. “Even before we opened for business, I could tell that Carolyn was unhappy,” sighs Bob. “I always saw the venture as a chance to make a fortune. But whenever I’d get excited and talk about how much money we could make, Carolyn would clam up and get this grim look on her face.” Carolyn also remembers early, unspoken signs of trouble. “I’ve always wanted to have a business that my kids could be proud of,” she said. “But when I’d talk about that goal, Bob wouldn’t have much to say. Even though he never said so, at times I got the feeling that he was laughing at my high ideals.” This story illustrates the importance of paying close attention to verbal and nonverbal messages. The 81 ill-fated partnership between Bob and Carolyn could have been avoided if they had paid more attention to the unspoken but powerful nonverbal clues that warned of trouble in their relationship. Examining more carefully just what an “equal partnership” meant also could have helped them avoid the clash that finally led to their breakup. This chapter looks at the two channels by which you communicate: your words and your nonverbal behavior. By applying its lessons, you will learn to recognize that significant problems can lurk in even the simplest statements, and you will discover some ways to avoid or overcome such problems. You will also become more aware of the wordless messages each of us constantly sends and receives.

• Verbal Messages

194 Misunderstandings are a fact of life; the process of encoding and decoding described earlier in this book is inherently imperfect. As Table 4-1 shows, a listener can understand the meaning of every word perfectly, yet still interpret a message completely differently from its intended meaning. In fact, most people vastly overestimate how well their explanations get through and how well they understand others.1 Table 4-1 Even Simple Messages Can Be Misunderstood What the Manager Said What the Manager Meant What the Subordinate Heard I’ll look into hiring another person for your department as soon as I complete my budget review. We’ll start interviewing for that job in about three weeks. I’m tied up with more important things. Let’s forget about hiring for the indefinite future. Your performance was below par last quarter. I really expected more out of you. You’re going to have to try harder, but I know you can do it. If you screw up one more time, you’re out. I’d like that report as soon as you can get to it. Drop that rush order you’re working on, and fill out that report today. I need that report within the next week or so. I talked to the boss, but at the present time, due to budget problems, we’ll be unable to fully match your competitive salary offer. We can give you 95 percent of that offer. If I were you, I’d take that competitive offer. We’re certainly not going to pay that kind of salary to a person with your credentials. We have a job opening in Los Angeles that we think would be just your cup of tea. We’d like you to go out there and look it over. If you’d like the job, it’s yours. If not, of course you can stay here in Denver. You be the judge. You don’t have to go to Los Angeles if you don’t want to—but if you don’t, you can kiss your career with this firm good-bye. Your people seem to be having some problems getting their work out on time. I want you to look into this situation and straighten it out. Talk to your people and find out what the problem is. Then get together with them and jointly solve it. I don’t care how many heads you bust, just get me that output. I’ve got enough problems around here without you screwing things up, too. 195 Source: Adapted from Altman, S., Valenzi, E., & Hodgetts, R. M., Organizational Behavior: Theory and Practice. Waltham, MA: Academic Press, 1985. Clarity and Ambiguity Because the most basic language problems involve misunderstandings, we begin our study of language by considering how to prevent this sort of miscommunication. We also look at times when a lack of clarity can actually be desirable. 82 case STUDY The Cost of Miscommunication We often hear of communication errors disrupting productivity or even harming a person’s professional reputation, but we do not always consider the more dire consequences of such errors. In 2009, a 25-year-old Norwegian university student was severely injured in a bar fight in Copenhagen. The student tried to explain to the hospital staff that he was a haemophiliac. Haemophilia is a condition in which the body is unable to make blood clots, which are required to stop bleeding. The staff mistakenly thought the patient said he was homosexual, and sent him home without specialized treatment. The communication error was caused by a language barrier. The Danish word for haemophilia is “haemofili,” whereas the word for homosexual is “homofil.” This miscommunication cost the young man his life: He was found dead from a brain hemorrhage less than 24 hours after being discharged from the hospital. Source: Hauksson, K. M., “Miscommunication Costs Norwegian His Life,” IceNews, May 21, 2009. 196 Use Unequivocal Terms to Avoid Misunderstandings Equivocal terms are those with two different, but equally acceptable or common, meanings. Some examples include the following scenarios: Plane tickets and hotel reservations for a business meeting in Portland are booked for Oregon instead of the intended Maine destination. A client asks a contractor for a mid-project change: “Can you move that door from here to there?” The contractor replies, “No problem.” Later, the client is astonished to find that she has been charged for the change order. You agree to visit a client at home at “dinner time” in a part of the country where “dinner” is midday and “supper” is in the evening. When you appear at 6:00 pm, the client asks why you did not arrive at the promised time. Most equivocal misunderstandings arise in casual conversation, where statements seem perfectly clear until you discover that others can interpret them differently.2 Sometimes equivocal problems arise because communicators from different fields use the same term in specialized ways. Hollywood agent Jerry Katzman describes just such a situation. In a meeting with representatives of a Silicon Valley software publisher, he used the phrase in development to mean that a project was in the rough- idea stage. The software people expected that phrase to mean the project had been funded and was being created. Katzman reported, “It was like when the Japanese first came to Hollywood. They had to use interpreters, and we did, too.”3 Equivocation sometimes arises from different cultural values. Compared with Americans, Mexicans are less inclined to express conflict and are more polychronic and relaxed about managing time. The Spanish word ahorita means “right now” or “immediately” in English. Despite its dictionary meaning, North Americans have found their Mexican counterparts use the term quite differently: When are those photocopies going to be ready? “Ahorita,” answers the secretary who knows the copy machine is broken. When will that delivery be made? “Ahorita,” answers the salesman who has no truck. 197 One U.S. financial officer sheepishly admits he finally prohibited his Mexican staff from giving him ahorita as an answer.4 83 case STUDY Misunderstandings Lead to Airline Catastrophe The worst accident in aviation history occurred on March 27, 1977—in large part due to a tragic misunderstanding. The lessons from that disaster are just as important today as they were more than four decades ago. The airport on the Spanish island of Tenerife was shrouded in fog as two jumbo jets lumbered toward departure—one at each end of the single runway. As one plane headed into position, the second plane was pointed straight at it, hidden by the fog. The copilot of that plane radioed the control tower, saying, “We’re now at take-off,” to which the controller replied, “OK.” The crew meant they were ready to begin take-off, while the controller assumed the plane was awaiting final clearance. He added, “Stand by for take-off; I will call you,” but interference from another transmission blocked this critical part of the message. Unaware the runway was occupied, the pilots of the doomed plane began their rush toward disaster. By the time the two aircraft were visible to each other, it was too late to avert impact. In the ensuing collision and fire, 583 lives were lost. As a result of this catastrophe, aviation authorities now require the use of standard phrases to identify flight operations. The phrase take-off is used only when actual lift-off is due to take place. In all other cases, controllers and aircrews use the term departure. This simple change has helped prevent additional fatal misunderstandings like the one in Tenerife. Unfortunately, the clarification came too late for the almost 600 innocent travelers in the 1977 disaster. Sources: Subsecretaria de Aviacion Civil, Spain. (1978). Official report of the investigation translated into English. Retrieved from http://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/809.pdf; Tenerife Information Centre. (2009). The Tenerife Airport disaster. Retrieved from 198 http://www.tenerife-information-centre.com/tenerife-airport-disaster.html At least some equivocation problems can be avoided if you double- check your understanding of terms that might be interpreted more than one way. When you agree to meet “Wednesday” with someone, mention the date to be sure you are both thinking of the same week. When your supervisor says your ideas are “OK,” make sure the term means “well done” and not just “adequate.” And beware of the ubiquitous ASAP, which stands for “as soon as possible.” What is considered “soon” by one person’s standards is not always the same definition shared by others in the office. Use Lower-Level Abstractions When Clarity Is Essential Language varies in its level of abstraction, or vagueness. Low-level abstractions are concrete statements that provide specific details or descriptions. By contrast, high-level abstractions cover a broader range of possible objects or events without describing them in much detail. In business, it is important to communicate using low-level abstractions. High-level abstractions can create confusion and misunderstandings because they are often subject to a wide variety of interpretations. Consider the following examples: High-Level Abstraction Low-Level Abstraction The job will take a little longer. The job will take 48 hours to complete. Please order some supplies. Please order 5 easels and a case of paper. We need some market research. Please create a detailed survey that we can distribute to our customers to identify their preferences for learning about our events. This team needs to take it to the next level. This team needs to achieve a 3% increase in donations this month. 199 84 CULTURE at work Poor Translations Create Marketing Blunders When international firms fail to understand the culture of a new market that they are entering, the word-for-word translations of their product names can range from humorous to offensive. Here are a few examples: Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux didn’t help its sales in the United States when it used the slogan, “Nothing Sucks Like an Electrolux.” Clairol introduced the curling iron “Mist Stick” into Germany, only to find out that “mist” is slang for manure in that country. Pepsi lost market share in parts of Southeast Asia when it painted vending machines light blue—a color associated with death and mourning. Gerber’s baby food sales suffered in rural Africa when the company used the same packaging as in the United States with a smiling baby on the label. Later, the company discovered that in areas where many customers cannot read, product labels contain pictures of what’s inside the package. Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious porn magazine. Ford’s marketing of its Pinto cars flopped in Brazil, where that word is slang for “tiny male genitals.” Because both abstract language and specific language have their advantages, it is often best to use both. One way to achieve maximum clarity is to begin explaining your proposal, problem, request, or 200 appreciation by making an abstract statement, which you then qualify with specifics: “I’m worried about the amount of time we seem to be spending on relatively unimportant matters [abstract]. In our last meeting, for instance, we talked for 20 minutes about when to schedule the company picnic and then had only 15 minutes to discuss our hiring needs [specific].” “I’d like to take on more responsibility [abstract]. Until now, the only decisions I’ve been involved in dealt with small matters [still abstract], such as daily schedules and customer refunds [more specific]. I’d like a chance to help decide issues such as buying and advertising [specific requests].” Another type of ambiguous language that causes problems is the use of relative words such as soon, often, large, and short that have meaning only in relation to other (unspecified) terms. Telling your supervisor you will have the memo done soon or agreeing to do a short report can cause problems. If soon means “in a few weeks” to you, but “in a few days” to your boss, a conflict is brewing. Replacing relative words with numeric words can eliminate most of these problems. Use “in two days” rather than soon and “two paragraphs” rather than short, for example. Use Slang with Caution Casual, slang-laden speech may be fine off the job, but it can create the wrong impression with bosses, clients, and even colleagues. Some slang simply will not be understandable to others. For example, the British term “gobsmacked” is likely to draw a blank stare when used in conversation with someone outside the United Kingdom (“I was gobsmacked when they gave me that assignment”). Similarly, to compliment a colleague’s presentation by calling it “sick” runs the risk of being interpreted as a deep insult. Other slang terms are also likely to cast you in an unprofessional light. You may call a friend “bro,” but it is smart to use more professionally oriented speech in professional settings. 85 201 Use Jargon Judiciously Every profession has its own specialized vocabulary, called jargon. For example, people who work in social media may talk about “SEO,” “crowdsourcing,” and “brandjacking,” but these terms likely mean little to people outside of this profession. Nevertheless, using jargon has several benefits in the workplace. First, jargon is often used to save time when communicating with colleagues. It is quicker to use a short term in place of a longer definition of a complex idea. For example, accountants use the term liquidity instead of saying “the degree to which an asset can be converted into cash.” Acronyms are a special kind of jargon that saves time by giving people a shorthand way—an abbreviation—to refer to common things. For example, you may hear an organization’s chief executive officer referred to as simply “the CEO.” Second, jargon can be used to evaluate people’s expertise on a subject. If you have ever interviewed for a job, you may have noticed that some of the interview questions were peppered with jargon. One of the authors of this book recently learned that a former public relations student was asked an interview question about an organization’s involvement in “CSR.” This acronym refers to “corporate social responsibility,” and it refers to the practice of engaging in efforts that illustrate the company’s commitment to making an impact on environmental and social well-being. The interviewer was trying to determine whether the job candidate knew the insider language. If a candidate can “talk the talk,” it is more likely that he or she possesses the skills to do the job. Finally, using a certain amount of jargon has value to outsiders. Speakers who sprinkle their comments with jargon will appear more credible to some listeners.5 While incomprehensible language may impress listeners, though, it does not help them to understand an idea. Thus, if your goal is to explain yourself (and not merely to build your image), the ideal mixture may be a combination of clear language sprinkled with a bit of professional jargon. Despite these benefits, jargon may cause difficulty in the workplace. If a speaker uses jargon with which the audience is unfamiliar, it could create noise for the listeners as they shift their focus to attempting to decipher the meaning or tune out altogether. 202 Use Ambiguous Language When It Is Strategically Desirable In low-context cultures such as the United States and Canada, speaking directly is valued. “Don’t beat around the bush” is a common phrase. Vague language can be seen as a sign of deliberate deception, as an old joke shows: A reporter warned a state senator, “Sir, your constituents were confused by today’s speech.” “Good,” the senator replied. “It took me two days to write it that way.” Despite its bad reputation, ambiguous language does have its place. High-context cultures have made an art of strategic ambiguity,6 or finding ways to express difficult messages indirectly. One U.S. author describes how indirectness works: Instead of criticizing a report, the manager asks for more information…. When they say “I’d like to reflect on your proposal a while,” when the decision must be [made] soon, it means “You are dead wrong, and you’d better come up with a better idea very soon. But I don’t tell you so, because you should know that yourself!” It seems to me that such indirectness in interpersonal communication is a virtue; it is just as efficient, and it is certainly more mature and polite than the affront, “You are dead wrong.” We need not talk to one another as if we were children (or characters out of the pages of pulp fiction)—yes, children need clarity—but adults can deal with indirectness and multiple meanings.7 86 ETHICAL challenge Strategic Ambiguity A. Develop strategically ambiguous ways to rephrase each of the following statements: