Communicate Effectively at the Direct Leadership Level

2. Communicate Effectively at the Direct Leadership Level: L301
a. Standards
1. Develop effective communication skills by-
a. Defining communication,
b. Identifying the principles of interpersonal transactional communication, and
c. Identifying the relationship between listening and effective oral communication.
2. Communication Definition
i. Webster’s dictionary definition of communicate is “to make known; disclose, to manifest, to transmit to others, to express oneself effectively.” It defines communication as “the act or process of communication; transmission; the exchange of ideas, messages, or information as by speech, signals, or in writing.” Communication has also been defined as a transaction in which man invents and attributes meanings to realize his purpose.
1. Intrapersonal
a. Intrapersonal communication enables you to communicate with and know yourself better.
2. Interpersonal
a. Interpersonal communication enables you to enter into and sustain relationships.
3. Group
a. Group communication enables you to interact with groups of people effectively
4. Mass
a. Mass communication enables you to communicate information to large numbers of people in a relatively short time.
3. Identify the principles of interpersonal transactional communication
a. First principle – You cannot NOT communicate.
i. Each day we receive thousands of behavioral cues to communicate. We choose which are worthy of our attention. We interpret or attribute meaning to each of these cues. We learn to accept some cues and reject others. We select the cue we will respond to and how we will communicate that response. Through this process, we assign purpose to each communication. Communication with purpose cannot be random. This conditioning process begins early in life.
b. Second principle – Communication is predictable.
i. Whenever you choose to recognize some sensory cue, you must organize the information in some personally acceptable way. The easiest way to do this is to compare the behavior you now sense to all the behaviors you’ve ever known. As you repeat this process, you come to expect certain patterns of communicative behavior from certain people in certain situations. You learn to categorize people and their responses by paying attention to the feedback you get from people when we communicate with them. In this way, you improve the effectiveness of your communication by learning more about your own and the other person’s communicative patterns.
c. Third principle – Communication is a “chicken and egg” process.
i. Think of yourself as a simultaneous and continuous sender and receiver. Because communication occurs constantly in some form, it is difficult to determine whether you communicate first and respond last or vice versa. However, does it really matter? We define the context of our communication through punctuation. Punctuation is simply assigning specific beginning and ending points along the line of the continuous communication process. Human communication, as a dynamic process is best understood as a system where senders are simultaneously receivers and receivers are simultaneously senders.
d. Fourth principle – Communication occurs at two levels.
i. Communication not only conveys information, but at the same time imposes behavior. All interpersonal communication occurs at two levels: content and process. “The Dynamics of Human Communication” refers to the two levels as content and relationship while the USASMA model refers to them as content and process. We will use content and process. Content communication conveys information. Process communication (tone, context, gesture, and other nonverbal action) sends instructions to the receiver about how to interpret the message. When the content message does not match the process message, conflict and mistrust form in the mind of the receiver.
e. Fifth principle – Transactions are between equals or up–and–down.
i. You relate to people as equals or as nonequals. A typical example of a nonequal relationship is that of the mother–infant pair. Nonequal relationships include two different positions: one communicator is in the superior, or one–up position, while the other is in the one–down, or inferior position. Do not equate the words “up” and “down” with judgmental terms as “good,” “bad,” “strong,” or “weak.” Nonequal relationships are often set by social or cultural factors. It is usual for one–up persons to define the nature of the relationship.
f. Sixth principle – Communication is a sharing of meaning.
i. This means that what meaning one person assigns to a word or image may not be the same as the meaning assigned by someone else to the same word or image. Each of us has our own system of classification, our own filtration system, by which we assign meaning. When we share our assigned meanings (GUESSES) with others, we expose some of our self–hoping that the other will understand us and interpret our meaning as we do.
4. Identify the relationship between listening and effective oral communication
a. The Three Myths about Listening
i. Listening is a natural process.- If you believe that listening occurs naturally, like breathing, then it follows that you never need to learn how to do it. Listening is a skill just like driving a golf ball or firing a rifle. You develop the skill just as you would any other skill. ii. Listening is the same as hearing.- Hearing is a natural process, but as we stated above, listening is a skill that we develop. We can train ourselves to “not listen” or to listen selectively. iii. Listening is the same as paying attention.- Many times we pretend to listen when we really are not. The receiver of the communication must indicate to the speaker that he is being heard and understood. The receiver indicates attention through both verbal and nonverbal indicators.
b. Overview
i. Let’s look at listening from a different approach, in relation to four types of internal and external responses to spoken messages. These responses range from very casual, almost accidental, to very deliberate and purposeful types of responses. They are not orderly stages that you go through when listening, nor a sequence that must be followed. All or only a few of these may occur within one set of listening transaction, or they may be skipped or types may be applied in any sequence. The four types are reflex, content, relational or active, and introspective listening.
c. Type I, Reflex Listening
i. A very basic kind of listening involving little more than hearing and a recognition that some noise has come to you. Reflex listening is very common in social settings, classrooms, public settings, and in concerts. Reflex listening involves primarily “guidance” noises where you can move out of danger, approach and engage prospective pleasant experiences, but stay tuned to hear other important messages should they occur.
d. Type II, Content Listening
i. This type of listening is the one most frequently referred to when teachers and managers (leaders) criticize “poor” listening. Learning in school, receiving instructions on the job, getting information about what to do and how to run your life, are all involved in the content level. You listen to learn and to understand and to somehow retain information. An important dimension of content–type listening is an ability to detect which messages are accurate, useful, sound, truthful, reliable, and relevant.
e. Type III, Relational Listening
i. Listening is important not only in relation to getting the content of the message called “deliberative listening” but also in another dimension called “empathic listening.” This empathic dimension to listening includes active listening. Active listening reflects a whole orientation to life and to people–one which implies that to listen is to have the creative power to imagine how it would make sense to say what the other person is saying. It says that the other person (the speaker) is fundamentally important and worth listening to. How do you “do” active listening–by listening to a person without passing judgment on what is being said, and mirroring back what has been said to indicate that you understand the feelings the speaker was putting across. Effective communication is free to happen when threats have been removed. By the mirroring process, you help build a climate in which you can be accepting, noncritical, and non–moralizing.
f. Type IV, introspective listening
i. Focus in this type of listening is on having something happen to the listener, not to the speaker. It may be the inner enjoyment of hearing poetry or music or spoken endearments. You experience something when you listen introspectively. Introspective listening has the quality of listening with a very open mind, but it also has the uncommon quality of applying your own deep understanding of your personal commitments and of the persuasion process as you evaluate the speakers’ messages.