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5. Communication skills (verbal)

52 Source: Job Outlook 2016, National Association of Colleges and Employers. Many people fail to realize the full extent of the role of communication in career success. One survey revealed that students were half as likely as employers to recognize the key role that communication skills play in becoming an effective professional.16 Just as disturbing was the finding that students are more likely than employers to believe they are good communicators. In other words, many students underestimate the importance of good communication while overstating their own abilities. That is not a recipe for success. Because communication skills are an essential ingredient in professional and organizational accomplishment, this book is dedicated to helping you hone your talents in this important area.

• The Nature of Communication Communication looks simple and almost effortless, especially when it goes smoothly. But every communicative exchange is affected by principles that are not always apparent. Understanding this process better can help you make strategic choices that help achieve both personal and organizational goals.

Communication Principles A more sophisticated understanding of how communication operates begins with some fundamental principles. Communication Is Unavoidable A fundamental axiom of communication is “One cannot not communicate.”17 As you will learn in Chapter 4, facial expression, posture, gesture, clothing, and a host of other behaviors offer cues about our attitudes. The notion that we are always communicating means we send messages even by our absence. Failing to show up at an event or leaving the room suggests meaning to others. Because communication is unavoidable, it is essential to consider the unintentional messages you send. 53 Communication Is Strategic Almost all communication is aimed at achieving goals. On the job, the most obvious type is instrumental communication, or messages aimed at accomplishing the task at hand. Your manager is communicating instrumentally when she says, “I need that report by noon,” and you are pursuing instrumental goals when you ask, “How long does the report need to be?” People are not always direct in their communication about instrumental goals. Saying, “Wow—look at the time!” could be an implicit message designed to accomplish the task of ending a conversation. Furthermore, in a negotiation, your “final offer” may actually be a bargaining ploy to get a better deal. ©Yellow Dog Productions/The Image Bank/Getty Images A second set of goals involves relational communication, or messages that shape and reflect the way people regard one another. Building positive relationships is not just about being sociable; a positive climate in the workplace also helps us accomplish instrumental goals. Conversely, a negative relationship can make it difficult, or even impossible, to accomplish the task at hand. Virtually all messages contain both instrumental and relational dimensions. When a customer service representative asks, “How can I help you?” the instrumental nature of this question is obvious. But the way the question is asked shapes the tenor of the relationship between the rep and the customer—rushed or deliberate, sincere or phony, friendly or unfriendly.18 54 A third, less obvious reason we communicate involves identity management, which is the practice of presenting yourself in ways that produce a preferred image and distinctive sense of self. To understand this concept, list 10 words or phrases that describe the way you would like others to see you on the job. Your list probably includes terms such as competent, trustworthy, and efficient. (Be sure to complete your own list before reading on.) Taken together, the attributes on this list (and many others) make up the professional identity you want to create. Next, think about the ways you communicate, both verbally and nonverbally, to get others to accept your identity. If being calm under pressure is part of your preferred identity, what do you say or do to project that quality? If you want others to see you as knowledgeable, how do you communicate to create that impression? As these examples show, communication is often strategic; in other words, we intentionally craft messages for the purpose of achieving instrumental, relational, and identity goals. However, we do not always realize that we are being strategic in our communication. Think about the last time you met a new person. You probably did not have the following thoughts running through your mind: “Must look confident and friendly! Firm handshake! Direct eye contact! Remember to smile!” While many of these behaviors are performed subconsciously, crafting a thoughtful strategy to achieve your goals can boost the odds you will succeed. The authors of this book suggest a variety of communication strategies you can use to achieve your goals and the goals of the organizations with which you are involved. Many of these strategies focus on specific work- related contexts, such as interviews, meetings, and presentations. Others will be useful in almost every professional context where you want to enhance your professional identity, manage relationships, and get the job done most effectively. At first, the notion of strategic communication might seem unethical. In reality, communicating purposefully is not necessarily dishonest. For example, organizational spokespersons must be strategic in how they phrase their messages when communicating with the public during a crisis event. If family members are grieving over the loss of a loved one due to a 55 workplace accident, a spokesperson may strategically choose to acknowledge that they are hurting, rather than saying, “I know how you feel.” The guidelines on pp. 22–24 show that it is possible to be strategic while still respecting others’ rights and needs. Communication Is Irreversible At one time or another, everyone has wished they could take back words they regretted uttering. Unfortunately, this is not possible. Our words and deeds are recorded in others’ memories, and we cannot erase them. As the old saying goes, people may forgive, but they do not forget. In fact, the more vigorously you try to erase an act, the more vividly it may stand out. Communication Is a Process It is not accurate to talk about an “act” of communication, as if sending or receiving a message were an isolated event. Rather, every communication event needs to be examined as part of its communication context. As an example, suppose your boss responds to your request for a raise by saying, “I was going to ask you to take a cut in pay!” How would you react? The answer probably depends on several factors: Is your boss a joker or a serious person? How does the comment fit into the history of your relationship—have your boss’s remarks been critical or supportive in the past? How does the message fit with ones you have received from other people? What kind of mood are you in today? All these questions show that the meaning of a message depends in part on what has happened before the message. Each message is part of a process: It does not occur in isolation. Communication Is Not a Panacea Panacea comes from the Greek word panakeia, meaning “all-healing.” Just as alchemists during the Renaissance believed there was an elixir that would give eternal life, some individuals today believe that communication is a cure-all for all problems. Although communication can certainly smooth out the bumps and straighten the road to success, misunderstandings and ill feelings may still occur.19 Even effective communication cannot solve all problems. In some situations, the parties may understand one another perfectly yet still disagree. These limitations are important to understand as you begin to 56 study communication on the job. Boosting your communication skills may increase your effectiveness, but improvements in those skills will not be a remedy for every situation that you encounter. case STUDY Derogatory E-mails Lead to Firings Three employees of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission learned the hard way that digital gossip can be costly. They were fired after supervisors found they had used the state’s e-mail system to disparage and ridicule coworkers. The culprits referred to colleagues by offensive nicknames, such as Monster, Psycho, Stoned Intern, Roid Rage, Extreme Makeover, Where’s My Car?, and Albino. A representative message read, “Where’s My Car and Psycho are talking about food—a match made in stoner/fatty heaven!” The workers called their e-mails harmless office chatter. “It was just talk, water cooler chat,” one protested. An administrative law judge disagreed, characterizing their messages as “misconduct” that disqualified them for unemployment insurance benefits. Source: Foley, R. J., “Email Exchanges Gets Three Iowa Civil Rights Investigators Fired,” Cedar Rapids Gazette, August 22, 2011. Basics of the Communication Model No matter what the setting is or how many people are involved, all communication consists of the same elements. Understanding those elements can help explain what happens when one person tries to express an idea to others. It can also offer clues about why some of these attempts succeed and others fail. 57 The communication process begins with a sender, the person who transmits a message.20 Some messages are deliberate, whereas others (such as sighs and yawns) may be unintentional. The sender must choose specific words or nonverbal methods to send an intentional message. This activity is called encoding. The channel (sometimes called the medium) is the method used to deliver a message. You will read much more about channels in the next section. Even when a message reaches its intended receiver intact, there is no guarantee it will be understood as the sender intended it to be.21 The receiver must still attach meaning to the words or behavior. Receivers actively interpret and respond to the messages they have received, both unintentionally and intentionally. The process of a receiver attaching meaning to a message—such as when a teacher interprets a student’s yawn as meaning the student is bored by the lecture—is called decoding. Misunderstandings often arise because messages can be decoded, or interpreted, in more than one way. Consider a situation when a customer responds to a slip-up by saying, “Don’t worry about it.” Perhaps the literal statement is accurate: “There’s absolutely no need to worry.” Or perhaps the customer means, “It isn’t perfect, but I can tolerate the mistake.” The customer could also be annoyed yet not want to say bluntly, “I’m really unhappy.” In the coming chapters, you will learn a variety of strategies for reaching a shared understanding in these situations. The receiver’s discernible response to a sender’s message is called feedback. Some feedback is nonverbal—smiles, sighs, frowns, and so on. Sometimes it is verbal, as when you react to a colleague’s ideas with questions or comments. Feedback can also be written, as when you respond by writing an e-mail to your coworker. In many cases, the lack of a message is a type of feedback. Failure to answer a letter or to return a phone call, for example, can suggest how a receiver feels about the sender. Even though we have described sending and receiving as discrete roles, communication is actually a two-way process. Especially when communication is instantaneous—in face-to-face settings, phone conversations, and online chat—people are simultaneously senders and receivers. Imagine pitching an idea (sending a message) to your manager 58 (receiver). While listening to your idea, your manager frowns (sending feedback), and you immediately attempt to adjust your communication (receiver). Both of you are sending and receiving messages at the same time. Because sending and receiving are simultaneous and connected, these two roles are combined into the “communicator” positions represented on both sides of the model pictured in Figure 1.1. FIGURE 1.1 Communication Model Once you understand that receiving and sending are simultaneous and connected, you start to recognize that successful communication is not something active senders do to passive receivers. Rather, it is a collaborative process in which the participants create a shared understanding through the exchange of messages. In other words, communication is not something we do to others, but rather a process we do with them. An effective way to build shared meaning is to practice other-orientation—that is, to try to understand the other person’s viewpoint, whether or not we agree with it. Feedback helps us in this process of building shared meaning. One of the greatest barriers to effective communication is noise— factors that interfere with the exchange of messages. The most obvious type of noise is environmental, or based on the communicators’ 59 surroundings. The babble of voices in the next room, the annoying ring of someone’s cell phone in a meeting, and a smelly cigar are all examples of environmental noise. A second type of noise is physiological—physical issues such as hearing disorders, illnesses, disabilities, and other factors that make it difficult to send or receive messages. To appreciate the impact of physiological noise, recall how tough it is to process messages when you are recovering from a late-night study session or have a headache. The third type of noise is psychological—forces within the sender or the receiver that interfere with understanding, such as egotism, defensiveness, assumptions, stereotypes, biases, prejudices, hostility, preoccupation, and fear. If you were thinking strategically about communicating with someone at work, what steps could you take to reduce the amount of noise in your environment before delivering your message? Communication Channels As a business communicator, the channel you choose to deliver your message can have a big influence on your effectiveness. Should you express your ideas in a phone call? Put them into a text message or e-mail? Send them via fax or in hard copy? Or should you express yourself in person? Deciding which communication channel to use is not a trivial matter; communication researchers have extensively studied which factors lead to good channel choice.22 To select the best channel, you should consider several aspects related to the communication. Consider Channel Characteristics New technologies have given businesspeople a wider range of choices for communication than ever before. It was not that long ago when the choices were in-person communication, telephone call, fax, pager message, or written memo. Today, other options include e-mail message, voice mail, instant messaging, video conferencing, web conferencing, social media, cell phone call, texting, and more. One way to start evaluating these choices is to consider each how channel’s different characteristics match up with your communication goals. 60 Richness. Richness refers to the amount of information that can be transmitted using a given channel. Three aspects determine the richness of a channel: (1) whether it can handle many types of cues at once, (2) whether it allows for quick feedback from both senders and receivers, and (3) whether it allows for a personal focus.23 Ideally, when announcing an important decision that may affect employees (e.g., the acquisition of another company), you would select a rich channel to convey this information. Face-to-face communication would likely be preferred in such a situation because it allows for the communication and decoding of verbal and nonverbal cues, simultaneous feedback, and a personal focus. In contrast, lean channels carry much less information. While a lean e-mail channel is a good choice for exchanging information efficiently, it is not as effective when factors such as tone and emotion are important. Even the inclusion of emoticons such as “smiley faces” may not prevent e-mail misunderstandings.24 Speed. Speed of the channel refers to how quickly the exchange of messages occurs. High-speed or instantaneous channels support synchronous communication; they include face-to-face conversations, video chat, and telephone conversations. A key benefit of synchronous channels is that no time lag separates the transmission and reception of messages, so immediate feedback is possible. That is, you can respond to questions as soon as they arise and rephrase or elaborate as necessary. If you need a price quote now, or if you need to discuss a complex idea that will need elaboration, a high-speed channel is probably the best choice. Nevertheless, high-speed, synchronous communication is not always desirable. Another option is asynchronous communication, which occurs through channels such as e-mail, interoffice memos, and voice mail. In these “low-speed” channels, there is a lag between the transmission and reception of messages. These channels can be effective for less urgent requests. In addition, if you want to avoid a knee-jerk reaction and encourage careful thought, you might be better off choosing an asynchronous method to deliver your message. 61 Control. Control refers to the degree to which you can manage the communication process. Of course, because communication is a two- way process, you can never have complete control over it. Even so, different channels offer different types of control. In written channels (such as e-mail and social media posts), you can exert more control over how you encode a message because you will be able to write, proofread, and edit it as many times as you need until you get it exactly the way you want. If you have something highly sensitive to say, this might be a good channel to choose. But there are also some trade-offs to this kind of channel. Even though you might spend hours drafting a memo, letter, or report, the recipient may scan it superficially or not read it at all. In contrast, in a face-to-face channel, you have much more control over the receiver’s attention. You can reduce noise, interpret nonverbal signals of understanding, or even explicitly ask the sender to pay more attention to your message. Consider the Desired Tone of Your Message In general, channels that utilize oral communication—face-to-face, telephone, video conference —are best for communicating messages that have a personal dimension. One corporate manager, whose company spends more than $4 million annually on employee travel, makes the case for face-to-face contact: “Nothing takes the place of a handshake, going to lunch, seeing their eyes.”25 These types of channels are also best for ideas that have a strong need for visual support, in the form of a demonstration, photos or slides, and so on. Spoken communication is also especially useful when immediate feedback is needed, such as in question-and-answer sessions or as a quick reply to your ideas. Written communication works well when you want your message to have a relatively formal tone. Writing is almost always the best medium when you must choose your words carefully. Writing is also better than speaking when you want to convey complicated ideas that are likely to require much study and thought on the part of the receiver. Likewise, it is smart to put your message in writing when you want it to be the final word, with no feedback or discussion. Finally, writing is the best option 62 for any message if you want a record of that communication. In business and the professions, sending confirming letters and e-mails is common practice, as is keeping meeting minutes. These steps guarantee that what is said will be a matter of record, with the documentation being useful in case of later misunderstandings or disputes and in case anyone wants to review the history of an issue. Handwritten notes of thanks or sympathy also express thoughtfulness and add a personal touch that is lost in many electronic messages. Consider the Organization’s Culture Besides message-related considerations, the culture of the organization in which you work may favor some communication channels over others.26 For example, Microsoft Corporation is so e-mail intensive that some voice mail greetings include the directive, “If you’re from Microsoft, please try to send electronic mail.” In other organizations, voice mail is the preferred channel. Kirk Froggatt, a vice president at Silicon Graphics, offers one explanation: “There’s something fundamentally more personal about voice mail. You can get the tone of voice, the passion. People like that.”27 A recent study even indicated that employees who followed corporate norms for e-mail and instant messaging received higher performance evaluations.28 Along with an organization’s overall preference for certain channels, it is important to consider the preferences of particular departments or even individuals. For example, the computer support staff members in some organizations respond to e-mails, while in other companies a phone call to the help desk is the best way to get a quick response. If you know a coworker or your boss responds only to face-to-face reminders, your best bet is to use that approach. Consider Using Multiple Channels In some cases, it is wise to send a message using more than one channel. For example, you could: Distribute a written text or outline that parallels your presentation. Follow a letter, fax, or e-mail message with a phone call, or call first and then write. Send a report or proposal, and then make appointments with your readers to discuss it. 63 This redundancy capitalizes on the diverse strengths of the various channels and boosts the odds of getting your desired message across. One study revealed that following up a face-to-face exchange with an e-mail that included supplemental information was more persuasive than the single-channel approach. The dual-channel approach also enhanced the sender’s credibility.29 Sometimes channel selection involves trade-offs. For example, face-to- face communication is rich and fast, and it allows you to have much control over the receiver’s attention. It also has the potential to create personal bonds that are more difficult to forge through other types of communication. Unfortunately, personal contacts can be difficult to schedule, even when people work in the same building. A cross-town trip for a half-hour meeting can consume most of the morning or afternoon. TECHNOLOGY tip The Virtues of Going Offline Today’s array of communication technologies makes it possible to be connected to others on a nearly around-the-clock basis. This 24/7 connectivity has led to a dramatic growth in teleworking and telecommuting—flexible work arrangements in which employees do their jobs outside the office. Along with their benefits, however, the technologies that keep workers connected have a downside. When your boss, colleagues, and customers can reach you at any time, you can become too distracted to tackle necessary parts of your job. Communication researchers have discovered that remote workers have developed two strategies for reducing contact and thereby increasing their efficiency.30 The first simply involves disconnecting from time to time—logging off the computer, forwarding the phone call to voice mail, or simply ignoring incoming messages. The researchers labeled the 64 second strategy dissimulation. With this approach, teleworkers discourage contact by disguising their activities—for example, changing their instant message status to “in a meeting” or posting a fake “out of the office” message online. It’s important to note that these strategies are typically used not to avoid work but rather to get more done. Too much connectivity is similar to many aspects of life: More is not always better. Ultimately, the question is not which communication channel to use, but when to use each one most effectively.31 Knowing how to choose the optimal channel can have a strong impact on your career. In one survey, managers who were identified as “media sensitive”—those who carefully matched the channel to the message—were almost twice as likely to receive top ratings in their performance reviews when compared with less- media-sensitive peers.32 Table 1-2 presents some guidelines that will help you decide how to deliver your message most effectively. Table 1-2 Considerations in Choosing a Communication Channel Richness Speed Control over Message Control over Attention Tone Level of Detail Face-to-Face High Synchronous Low High Personal Moderate Telephone Moderate Synchronous Low Moderate Personal Moderate Teleconferencing and Videoconferencing Voice Mail Moderate Asynchronous Moderate Low Moderate Low E-mail Low Asynchronous High Low Impersonal- Moderate High Instant Messaging Low Asynchronous but potentially quick Moderate Moderate Moderate Low Text Messaging Low Asynchronous but potentially High Low Impersonal- Moderate Low 65 quick Hard Copy (e.g., handwritten or typed message) Low Asynchronous High Low Depends on writer’s style High

• Communicating in and beyond Organizations For most of us, work is collaborative. Whether the people we work with are in adjacent cubicles or on the other side of the world, we are members of communication networks—patterns of contact created by the flow of messages among communicators through time and space.33 Two kinds of networks exist: formal and informal.

Formal Communication Networks Formal communication networks are systems designed by management that dictate who should communicate with whom to get a job done. In small organizations, these “chain of command” networks are so simple they may hardly be noticeable. In larger organizations, they become more intricate. The most common way of describing formal communication networks is with organizational charts like the one in Figure 1.2. Organizational charts are more than just a bureaucrat’s toy: They provide clear guidelines indicating who is responsible for a given task and which employees are responsible for others’ performance. They also depict optimal flows of communication, including downward, upward, and horizontal communication. FIGURE 1.2 A Formal Communication Network 66 Downward Communication Downward communication, sometimes referred to as top-down communication, occurs whenever leaders or managers send messages to their lower-level employees. Downward communication is usually one- directional; in other words; the higher-level communicator does not invite a response from the lower-level recipient.34 Examples of downward communication include explaining an organization’s mission or vision, assigning directives or giving job instructions, and providing feedback. Business communication experts John Anderson and Dale Level have identified five benefits of effective downward communication: Better coordination Improved individual performance Improved morale 67 Improved consumer relations Improved industrial relations35 Most managers would agree—at least in principle—that downward communication is important. It is hard to argue with the need for giving instructions, describing procedures, explaining rationales, and so on. Like their bosses, employees recognize the importance of downward communication. A study at General Electric (GE) revealed that “clear communication between boss and worker” was the most important factor in job satisfaction for most people. GE was so impressed with the findings of this study that it launched a program to encourage managers to communicate more, and more directly, with their employees, including holding informal meetings to encourage interaction.36 The desire for feedback is probably so strong among most employees because supervisors rarely provide enough of it. As two leading researchers put it: “The frequent complaint … by the individual is that he [sic] does not know where he stands with his superiors.”37 Many companies do take a more enlightened approach to feedback. Ed Carlson, former president of United Airlines, is generally credited with turning the company from a loser into a winner during his tenure. Part of his success was due to his emphasis on keeping United’s employees—all of them— aware of how the company was doing. “Nothing is worse for morale than a lack of information down in the ranks,” he said. “I call it NETMA— Nobody Ever Tells Me Anything—and I have tried hard to minimize that problem.”38 True to his word, Carlson passed along to the field staff information on United’s operations that was previously considered too important to circulate. Upward Communication Messages flowing from the lower levels of hierarchy to upper levels are labeled upward communication. Almost every organization claims to seek upward messages, but many supervisors are not as open to employee opinions as they purport themselves to be. In some organizations, questioning the boss can be a recipe for professional suicide. “The disconnect between rhetoric and reality is why Scott Adams [creator of the Dilbert comic strip] is a millionaire,” says management expert Warren Bennis.39 68 Businesses that truly are open to upward communication can profit from the opinions of employees.40 Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the United States, claimed that “our best ideas come from clerks and stockboys.”41 Industry observers credit the dramatic turnaround of Mattel Corporation to CEO John Aberman’s openness to employee suggestions.42 As the following Career Tip suggests, getting recognized by your supervisor can pave the way to career advancement. Upward communication can convey what employees are doing, which unsolved problems they are facing, how areas might be improved, and how employees feel about one another and the workplace.43 These messages can benefit both lower-level employees (subordinates) and upper-level management (superiors)—which explains why the most satisfied employees feel free to express dissent to their bosses.44 Bennis emphasizes the critical role that upward communication plays in the success of an organization: The longer I study effective leaders, the more I am convinced of the underappreciated importance of effective followers. What makes a good follower? The single most important characteristic may well be a willingness to tell the truth. In a world of growing complexity, leaders are increasingly dependent on their subordinates for good information, whether the leaders want to [be] or not. Followers who tell the truth, and leaders who listen, are an unbeatable combination.45 CAREER tip Getting Recognized by Your Bosses According to Muriel Solomon, “The big secret to getting recognized is to give creative thinking a priority.” She and other career advisors suggest that you can showcase your talent, create interest in your work, and 69

display your potential in several ways:

Present proposals to your boss. Learn the history of a challenge, and then develop a specific plan to address it that shows creativity and understanding of the company’s needs. Do not wait for someone to recognize you or choose you for a prime assignment. Volunteer to participate on committees, to chair a committee, or to sponsor a workshop, hearing, or sports event. Create opportunities to enlarge your working relationships with people at many levels of your organization. Prepare concise summaries and submit reports to your boss. Get your thoughts printed. Contribute quality writing to company publications, department newsletters, or association or professional journals. Distribute copies to your manager, and post on bulletin boards and company blogs. Use thoughtful gestures to build bridges. Devote 5 minutes per day to raising your visibility by thanking people who worked on your project, calling or sending thank-you notes to the supervisors of those who helped you (with a blind copy to the one whose help you received), and feeding your gratitude into the grapevine. Be ready to share a story about your accomplishments. Without bragging, be prepared to weave your accomplishments (be sure to include recent ones) into an interesting story you can tell whenever the opportunity arises: “Something like that happened to us last week…. ” Sources: Klaus, P., The Hard Truth About Soft Skills. New York, NY: Collins Business, 2007; Solomon, M., Getting Praised, Raised and Recognized. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1993. Despite its importance, upward communication is not always easy. Being frank with superiors can be both important and risky, especially when the news is not what the boss wants to hear.46 One executive gives an example: In my first C.E.O. job, a young woman who worked for me walked in one day and said, “Do you know that the gossip in the office is that the way for a woman to get ahead is to wear frilly spring dresses?” And I 70 just looked at her and asked, “Where did this come from?” She said, “Well, you said, ‘pretty dress’ to four women who happened to be dressed that way. And so now it’s considered policy.”47 Some organizations have developed systems to promote upward communication in the face of potential challenges. Pillsbury Corporation employees can voice their messages on an anonymous voice mail system. An independent company creates transcripts of all calls and forwards them to Pillsbury’s CEO.48 Most of the responsibility for improving upward communication rests with managers. One recent study showed the likelihood of reporting bad news was highest when employees trusted supervisors and when there was a history in the organization of leaders resolving problems.49 They can begin the process by announcing their willingness to hear from subordinates. A number of vehicles can be used to facilitate upward messages—an open-door policy, grievance procedures, periodic interviews, group meetings, and the suggestion box, to name a few. Nevertheless, formal channels are not the only way to promote upward messages. In fact, informal contacts are often the most effective approach. Chats during breaks, in the elevator, or at social gatherings can sometimes tell more than planned sessions. Even so, no method will be effective unless a manager is sincerely interested in hearing from subordinates and genuinely values their ideas. Just talking about the desirability of upward communication is not enough; employees have to see evidence of a willingness to hear upward messages—both good and bad—before they will really open up. Horizontal Communication A third type of organizational interaction is horizontal communication (sometimes called lateral communication). This type of communication occurs between people, divisions, or departments that would be considered on an equal level in the organizational hierarchy. Communications occurring among office workers in the same department, coworkers on a construction project, and teachers at a middle school are all examples of horizontal communication. 71 Horizontal communication serves five purposes:50 Task coordination: “Let’s get together this afternoon and set up a production schedule.” Problem solving: “It takes three days for my department to get reports from yours. How can we speed things up?” Sharing information: “I just found out a big convention is coming to town next week, so we ought to get ready for lots of business.” Conflict resolution: “I’ve heard you were complaining about my work to the boss. If you’re not happy, I wish you would tell me first.” Building rapport: “I appreciate the way you got that rush job done on time. I’d like to say thanks by buying you lunch.” Top-performing organizations encourage people from different areas to get together and share ideas. At Hewlett-Packard, Worldwide Personnel Manager Barbara Waugh and her colleagues spent five years improving horizontal communication. “My role is to create mirrors that show the whole what the parts are doing—through coffee talks and small meetings, through building a network, through bringing people together who have similar or complementary ideas.”51 Despite the importance of horizontal communication, several forces may discourage communication among peers.52 Rivalry is one such factor. People who feel threatened by one another are not likely to be cooperative. This sense of threat can stem from competition for a promotion, a raise, or another scarce resource. Another challenge is the specialization required for people with different technical specialties to understand one another. A communication professor and a geographic information science professor may find it difficult to collaborate because of their individual specialties, despite being peers in the hierarchy of a university setting. Information overload may also discourage employees from reaching out to others in different areas. A simple lack of motivation is another problem. Finally, physical barriers, such as having offices scattered throughout different buildings, can interfere with horizontal connections. Informal Communication Networks 72 So far, we have focused on networks within organizations that are created by management. Alongside the formal networks, every organization also has informal communication networks—patterns of interaction based on friendships, shared personal or career interests, and proximity. One business writer described the value of informal networks: A firm’s organizational chart will tell you about authority. It doesn’t always show how things get done or created. You know the rules, but you don’t know the ropes. For that, you need a map to the network, the corresponding informal structure that is usually invisible.53 Informal relationships within organizations operate in ways that have little to do with the formal relationships laid out in organizational charts.54 Figure 1.3 shows how the actual flow of information in one firm is quite different from its formal structure. Moreover, beyond any sort of organizational connection, people are connected with one another through informal personal networks—with friends, neighbors, family members, and all sorts of other relationships. FIGURE 1.3 An Informal Communication Network Source: Adapted from Orbe, M. P., & Bruess, C. J., Contemporary Issues in Interpersonal Communication. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2007. 73 ©Sydney Shaffer/Photodisc/Getty Images RF Some informal networks arise because of personal interests. Two colleagues who are avid basketball fans or share a fascination with rare books are more likely to swap information about work than coworkers who have no such bonds. Personal friendships create connections that can lead to increased communication. Finally, physical proximity increases the chances for interaction. Shared office space or frequent meetings around the copying machine make it more likely that people will exchange information. Informal networks are often a source of important job-related information, organizational resources, career advice, and social connections that help workers successfully navigate their careers. When someone is excluded from that network—even unintentionally—he or she is placed at a major disadvantage. For example, research has shown that women often are cut off from informal communication networks, and this isolation has a real impact on their ultimate career success.55 The difference is even more pronounced for minority women, who face “concrete walls” that isolate them from informal relationships with superiors and peers.56 It is important to identify the informal networks in your organization and try to get as involved as possible—especially if you are a woman or a minority. Functions of Informal Networks within Organizations Not all informal messages are idle rumors. Informal communication can serve several useful functions: 74 Confirming formal messages: “The boss is really serious this time about cutting down on overnight travel. I heard him yelling about it when I walked past his office.” Expanding on formal messages: “The invi

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