Computer Mediated Communication (CMC)

• Computer-mediated communication (CMC): communication that relies on computer technology to facilitate information exchange.
• Information richness: the potential information-carrying capacity of a communication medium.
  • Computer-mediated groups perform more poorly than face-to-face groups, at least when they meet for only a single session. A careful review concluded that computer-mediated decision groups generally take more time, make less effective decisions, and have less satisfied members than face-to-face groups. Lack of nonverbal cues may make it difficult to recognize subtle trends towards consensus.

Personal Approaches to Improving Communication

• When you communicate well, people generally respond to you in a positive way, even if they are not totally happy with your message. Poor communication can provoke a negative response that is self-perpetuating, in that it leads to even poorer communication.
• Basic Principles of Effective Communication
  • Take the Time: Good communication takes time. Managers in particular have to devote extra effort to developing good rapport with employees. Not taking adequate time often leads to the selection of the wrong communication medium.
  • Be Accepting of the Other Person: Try to be accepting of the other person as an individual who has the right to have feelings and perceptions that may differ from your own.
  • Do not confuse the person with the problem: although you should be accepting of others, it is generally useful to be problem oriented rather than person oriented.
  • Say what you feel: Congruence: a condition in which a person’s words, thoughts, feelings, and actions all contain the same message. Congruency can be thought of as honesty or authenticity, but you should not confuse it with brutal frankness or cruelty.
  • Listen Actively: Effective communication requires good listening. People who are preoccupied with themselves or who simply hear what they expect to hear are not good listeners. Active listening: a technique for improving the accuracy of information by paying close attention to the sender (watching body language, paraphrasing what the speaker is saying, asking questions, wait out pauses).
  • Give timely and specific feedback.

Organizational Approaches to Improving Communication

• 360-degree feedback: performance appraisal that uses the input of supervisors, employees, peers, and clients/customers of the appraised individual. It is usually used for employee development rather than salary determination. Focuses on required behavioural competencies rather than bottom-line performance.
• Employee Surveys: An anonymous questionnaire that enables employees to state their candid opinions and attitudes about an organization and its practises. Plans for changes in response to survey concerns indicate a commitment to two-way communication.
• Suggestion Systems: Programs designed to enhance upward communication by soliciting ideas from improved work operations from employees.  They represent a formal attempt to encourage useful ideas and prevent their filtering through the chain of command. Query Systems: provide a formal means of answering questions that employees may have about the organization
• Telephone hotlines: Many organizations have adopted hotlines to bypass the chain of command. Some are actual query systems in that employees can call in for answers to their questions. Such hotlines prove especially valuable at times of crisis, such as during storms or strikes.
• Management training: proper training can improve the communication skills of managers. Isolating specific communication skills and giving the boss an opportunity to practise these skills should have positive effects.