Interpersonal Communication - Term Paper Example

?Interpersonal Communication Interpersonal communication has been recognized as an inevitable factor in managing organizational behavior within today's business world. The relationship between effective leadership and communication in organizations has long been emphasized by researchers. The leadership style, relational messages and leader’s communication has a great impact on how interpersonal communication takes place among supervisors and subordinates within the organization. Along with his vision, the manager's interpersonal communication ability and skills play a significant role in promoting employee attachment to the organization and in achieving the organizational goals. Schuler in 1979 “took a major step forward in the area of research on organizational communication with his role-perception transaction-process model of organization communication, which describes the relationship among communication, role perceptions, and two outcome variables-satisfaction and performance” (Penley 309). It is evident that effective interpersonal communication enhances the satisfaction of employees and this would in turn result in better performance and subsequent easy accomplishment of the organizational goals. Today’s employees need to interact with consumers, coworkers and the management constantly and no employee would like to engage in work in isolation. These factors have increased the role of effective interpersonal communication skills in the business scenario. The positive outcomes of maintaining effective interpersonal communication skills within the organizational setting are many and varied. These may vary from increased productivity, greater commitment to a very conducive work environment where each one can strive towards achieving the organizational goals. Researchers have emphasized that interpersonal skills help enhancing organizational commitment within the organizational culture. As such, employers today search for employees who possess greater interpersonal communication abilities. Matin Jandaghi and Karimi conducted some remarkable studies to understand how interpersonal communication skills increase organizational commitment and the researchers identified that team building skill plays a pivotal role in enhancing organizational commitment. The researches resorted to a descriptive survey for the purpose of the study. The survey was administered on two public organizations in Qom city and the participants of the study were consisted of 106 individuals who were randomly selected from these two public organizations. It has been identified that “poor communication skills can cause irrevocable damage to relationships; affecting productivity, satisfaction, performance, morale, trust, respect, self confidence, and even physical health” (Matin Jandaghi and Karimi 387). It is, therefore, imperative that effective interpersonal skills are maintained and fostered in the workplace so as to endure healthy, positive and result oriented organizational behavior. There are many definitions of interpersonal communication. However, in the management and business scenario Avkiran’s definition is of great significance. For the author, “interpersonal communication skills are ability to respond to staff's needs positively, fostering a non-discriminatory work environment where staff can develop to their full personal potentials, and delegating authority” (Matin Jandaghi and Karimi 388). Managers and leaders needs to be advocates of interpersonal communication skills. Effective leaders can make use of their interpersonal communication skills to inspire and motivate their employees and in handling conflicts, developing team building and in promoting desirable organizational change as and when necessary. As efficient leader, through his/her interpersonal skills, can very easily motivate, persuade and empower his/her followers or employees. It is also worthwhile to unearth the relationship between organizational behavior and interpersonal communication in an organizational setting. One should always bear in mind that organizations are typically made of people and the work force is one of the most critical factors in its survival and growth. Hence, the way the people or employees are treated and the way they behave in particular situations is very crucial. Organizational behavior (OB), as it is referred to in business studies, is a study of human behavior; it is complex and has components from various fields like psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Organizational behavior in an organization develops over the years of the existence of the organization and is closely linked to what is referred to as organizational culture. Managing organizational behavior is a relatively complex process in normal situations, especially if a major change occurs like mergers and acquisitions (M&A) or other important structural or managerial changes take place within an organization. This organizational change is quite often stressful to everyone concerned. There may be fears of loss of jobs, changes in duties and responsibilities, fears (or hopes) of change in the compensation structure, and the ever present attitude of resistance to change. Under all these circumstances, interpersonal communication from the part of the management is of utmost significance in maintaining the organizational behavior. It has been very well suggested by Nelson and Quick when the authors observe: “Interpersonal communication is important in building and sustaining human relationships at work. Interpersonal communication cannot be replaced by the advances in information technology and data management that have taken place during the past several decades” (Nelson & Quick 175). Thus, it can be argued that in spite of the advancements in science and technology, interpersonal communication assumes greater importance when it comes to managing organizational behavior. The interpersonal communication model has long been employed in the management and business scenario. The interpersonal communication model consists of four basic elements: the communicator, the receiver, perceptual screens, and the message (Nelson & Quick 175). It is the duty of the communicator to ensure that his/her message is correctly interpreted and understood by the receiver. Perceptual screens play a pivotal role in the understanding of the message. Leaders, supervisors, and other management professionals should be well aware of the factors that contribute to these perceptual screens. An organization comprises of people who belong to different genders, values, traditions, beliefs, past experiences, cultural influences, and individual needs and as such this diversity in the workforce is most likely to affect the way the communication is understood by different people. It has been identified that effective supervisory communication increases both the productivity of the workforce and their commitment to the organization. In this respect, Nelson and Quick have put forward five Keys to effective supervisory communication that distinguishing an effective communicator from a poor communicator. These keys include “being expressive speakers, empathetic listeners, persuasive leaders, sensitive people, and informative managers” (Nelson & Quick 180). The managers and leaders should be able to exercise the most effective role among these depending on the organizational setting and work environment. Researchers have emphasized on the various benefits and advantages of interpersonal communication in business. For instance, Kinicki and Kreitner regard the quality of interpersonal communication within an organization as very significant. They argue that “people with good communication skills helped groups to make more innovative decisions and were promoted more frequently than individuals with less developed abilities” (Kinicki & Kreitner 305). The authors go on to purport that five communication traits are necessary for communication competence. These communication abilities include assertiveness, aggressiveness, non-assertiveness, non-verbal communication and active listening (Kinicki & Kreitner 307). While assertiveness seems to be a positive interpersonal communication trait aggressiveness may have a very negative impact upon the workforce. Non-assertive communication traits also can be unbecoming of an effective manager or leader as this would lead to taking advantage of him. Thus, it can be inferred that managers with good interpersonal competencies are most likely to be more assertive and less aggressive. Similarly, Kakabadse, Bank and Vinnicombe are of the opinion that lack of interpersonal communication skills can adversely affect one’s prospect towards growth, achievement and success. Interpersonal communication strengthens unity among the workforce and it promotes the employees’ commitment and attachment towards the organization. As the authors observe, “good, clear, interpersonal communication is vital to get the job done, to facilitate team working and to meet customer requirements in face-to-face situations” (Kakabadse, Bank & Vinnicombe 150). It is thus evident that managing organizational behavior and meeting the organizational goals presupposes effective interpersonal skills in and outside the organization. Interpersonal communication styles can broadly be categorized as either one-way or two way. In one way interpersonal communication it is evident that the speaker does not expect a discussion or feedback. It can assume the nature of a direction or guideline which is very often employed by the managers in the business scenario. On the other hand, the two way interpersonal communication fosters discussion, sharing of information and ideas and welcomes creative suggestions and feed backs. For Bateman and Zeithami there are six main styles of interpersonal communication styles that are being employed in today’s business world. They include controlling, egalitarian, structuring, dynamic, relinquishing, and withdrawal styles. In the controlling style the managers employ one-way communication and do not expect any feedback but direct others; the egalitarian style resorts to two-way communication and it promotes sharing of information, cooperation, innovation and mutual understanding between the manager and the employee; the structuring style is employed while undertaking complex tasks to establish proper schedules and to preserve the company standards or rules; the dynamic style is favored in times of crisis as it makes use of a high-energy approach where inspirational pleas and motivation are significant; the relinquishing style deferential and is highly receptive to the ideas of others; and, finally, the withdrawing style is employed by mangers who are disinterested or unwilling to indulge in discussion or communication (Interpersonal Communication: Encyclopedia of Small Business). It is also significant that the managerial professionals prove themselves to be effective listeners and good receivers who value contributions from their peers as well as subordinates. It is therefore significant that effective managers resort to one or more of the interpersonal leadership styles discussed above depending on the situation and need. The organizational behavior of any organization is determined by how effectively and judiciously the managers and supervisors are able to exercise their interpersonal skills to the best. It can also be observed that interpersonal communication within an organization varies in accordance with the various leadership styles and theories. While autocratic and directive leadership is most likely to make use of one-way communication, supportive and participative leadership styles promote interpersonal communication. It is also worthwhile to consider how charismatic, transactional and transformational leadership styles regard the role played by interpersonal communication. There is no doubt that charismatic leaders will be immensely blessed with strong interpersonal communication skills. As such, such leaders are able to inspire, motivate and influence their followers very easily. The fact that a person can arouse loyalty is indicative of the influence a leader with charisma can have over his or her followers. One of the unique abilities of such leaders is to turn complex or difficult concepts into simple and easily understood interpretations. Followers are able to connect to the concepts and ideas put forth by them as these leaders are masters of interpersonal communication skills. According to Burke and Cooper charismatic leaders arouse enthusiasm and commitment in followers by articulating a compelling vision, increasing follower confidence about achieving it, and linking the task or mission to the values, ideals, and self-concept of follower (86). Similarly, the transformational and transactional leaders also display considerable amount of interpersonal skills in their interaction with their employees. According to Farrell, Souchon and Durden a transformational leader is most likely to be “charismatic, inspirational, intellectually stimulating to followers, and individually considerate” whereas a transactional leader is likely to be “short-term and instrumentally focused, in that s/he will lead by providing rewards contingent on performance, and manage by exception” (2). As it is evident from the quotation both these leadership styles necessitates better interpersonal communication from the part of managers and leaders. While a transactional leader motivates and tries to increase the self-efficacy of the workers through implied incentives, promoting service oriented behaviours, provision of individual/group, common, and intrinsic/extrinsic reward systems, and by constantly providing performance feedbacks to the employees, the ttransformational leaders, on the other hand, believe in the power of motivation, inspiration and the empowerment of staffs and emphasise the use of intelligence and creativity (Farrell, Souchon & Durden 5). Thus, it can be seen that all the major modern leadership and management theories offer greater importance to interpersonal communication as it determines the ultimate success or failure of a business or organization. To conclude, interpersonal communication strengthens the unity of the organization, promotes productivity and increases the attachment and loyalty of the workforce in attaining the organizational goals. Works Cited Burke, Ronald J and Cooper, Cary L. Leading in Turbulent Times: Managing in the New World of Work. Illustrated ed: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. Print. Farrell, Andrew M., Souchon, Anne L. and Durden, Geoffrey R. Enhancing Service Performance through Transformational and Transactional Leadership Styles. Conference Track: Marketing of Services, 2000. Web. June 12, 2011. . Interpersonal Communication: Encyclopedia of Small Business. eNotes.com, Inc, 2011. Web. 12 June 2011. < http://www.enotes.com/small-business-encyclopedia/interpersonal-communication>. Kakabadse, Andrew., Bank, John & Vinnicombe, Susan. Working in organizations. The Gower Developments in Business Series. 2nd Illustrated ed: Gower Publishing, Ltd., 2004. Print. Kinicki, A & Kreitner, R. Organizational Behavior: Key Concepts, Skills and Best Practices. 3rd ed: Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2009. Print. Penley, Larry E. “Studying Interpersonal Communication in Organizations: A Leadership Application.” Academy of management Journal 28. 2 (1985): 309-326. Print. Matin, H.Z., Jandaghi, G & Karimi, F.H. “Relationship between Interpersonal Communication Skills and Organizational Commitment (Case Study: Jahad Keshavarzi and University of Qom, Iran).” European Journal of Social Sciences 13. 3 (2010): 387-398. Print. Nelson, Debra L & Quick, James Campbell. Understanding Organizational Behavior. 3rd Illustrated ed: Cengage Learning EMEA, 2007. Print. Read More