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HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS AND INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS AND INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION. Meeting 1/Session 2 Sunday, 20 February 2010. Introduction. The fundamental building block of every organization, regardless of size or structure, is the human r/ship.

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HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS AND INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

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  1. HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS AND INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION Meeting 1/Session 2 Sunday, 20 February 2010 Haslina/Topic 4

  2. Introduction • The fundamental building block of every organization, regardless of size or structure, is the human r/ship. • Without it organization cannot flourish and human potential goes unrealized • Yet, in organizational contexts, r/ships are complicated. Why? Haslina/Topic 4

  3. Interpersonal r/ships have at least 3 dimensions: • Dominance—the extent to which one person has power over or makes decisions that are followed by the other • Affection—the extent to which each person likes or is attracted to the other • Involvement—the degree to which people identify with or interact with each other Haslina/Topic 4

  4. Supportive Communication and Human Relationships • SC relies on the accurate exchange of messages • Research found that: • Organizations fostering supportive r/ships enjoy higher productivity, faster p-s, higher quality outputs and fewer destructive conflicts than do groups and organizations where interpersonal r/ships are less positive • The presence of good IP r/ships between managers and subordinates was 3 times more powerful in predicting profitability in major corporations over a 5-year period that the 4 next most powerful variables (market share, capital intensity, firm size and sales growth rate) Haslina/Topic 4

  5. Effective IP r/ships require both parties meeting several conditions: • Coming together on a person-to-person basis • Accurately empathizing with each other’s world view and clearly communicating that u/standing to one another • Regarding each other warmly and positively • Regarding each other unconditionally • Perceiving mutually experienced acceptance, empathy and support • Exhibiting trusting behavior Haslina/Topic 4

  6. Supportive climate leads to subordinate satisfaction and accuracy in comm., whereas a defensive climate leads to distorted comm. and dissatisfaction • Supportive comm. engenders feelings of support, understanding and helpfulness and also helps us to overcome 2 significant problems: defensiveness and disconfirmation Haslina/Topic 4

  7. Supportive Description Problem orientation Spontaneity Empathy Equality provisionalism Defensive Evaluation Control Strategy Neutrality Superiority certainty Gibb’s communication climate Haslina/Topic 4

  8. Principles of Supportive Communication • Problem centered, not person centered • Based on congruence, not incongruence • Descriptive rather than evaluative • Conjunctive, not disjunctive • Validates rather than invalidates individuals Haslina/Topic 4

  9. Superior-Subordinate Communication • How much time do you think supervisors spend communicating with their subordinates? • Factors affecting superior-subordinate comm. • Frequency • With the emergence of technology, the amount has begun to change • Managers are increasingly inclined to make an announcements, share info, request info and assign tasks through email • Managers prefer to comm. with individual external to their orgs and most consider their interaction with outsiders, as well as superiors to be exciting and challenging. Why? Haslina/Topic 4

  10. Subordinates too, often appreciate the opportunity to interact with their supervisors depending on the quality of their r/ship and the sorts of issues that precipitate the interaction Haslina/Topic 4

  11. Openness • Can be related to sending messages as well as receiving them • Subordinate’s views of supervisors openness and warmth are based on NV cues such as eye gaze, posture, facial expression and tone of voice • Subordinate’s perceptions of supervisor openness correlate positively with job satisfaction, as well as reported satisfaction with the supervisor Haslina/Topic 4

  12. Problems with S-S comm. • Upward distortion • Those near the bottom of the organizational hierarchy are reluctant to comm. upward info that is unfavorable or that in any sense reflects on the negatively. • Why do you think so? • Greatly influenced by the nature of the r/ship between superior and subordinate as well as by how the supervisor chooses to comm. downward • Critical determinant of accurate upward comm. is trust Haslina/Topic 4

  13. Upward influence • Relates to superior’s perceived upward influence of often referred to as “Pelz effect” • The notion that subordinate satisfaction is related to both perceived supervisor supportiveness and the supervisor’s actual ability to satisfy some of the subordinate’s needs through influencing those higher in the organizational hierarchy Haslina/Topic 4

  14. Semantic information distance • Significant gap in info and u/standing on certain issues that exists between supervisors and subordinates • Occurs due to differences in experiences, hierarchical levels and overall perspectives on the organization Haslina/Topic 4

  15. Peer Interaction in Organizations • Often peer r/ships are conceptualized within the broader domain of organizational networks (patterned interaction) • 3 levels of comm. network • Total system networks, map the patterns of comm. throughout the whole org. • Clique networks focus on groups of individuals within the org who comm. with one another more extensively than they do with others • Personal networks identify those individuals who most frequently interact with a particular member(s) of the org. Haslina/Topic 4

  16. Those who tend to be the most empowered in orgs are those who participate actively at each of these network levels • They will be better informed of the happenings • They experience greater connectedness with others • They get better u/standing of how their job relates to others • “Theory of weak ties” reinforces the benefits of encouraging individuals to expand their peer networks and to comm. broadly across the org esp with those offering different perspectives and experiences • Those with weaker ties, that is, those who are not in constant contact, often learn a great deal from each other when they do comm. Haslina/Topic 4

  17. Within informal comm. peer networks, individuals play diverse roles • Isolates—have minimal contact with others, either because they desire little contact or because others seek to avoid them • Those who are isolated across networks usually suffer from depleted self-confidence, low morale and reduced productivity • Opinion leaders—occupy informal positions of l/ship (they are quite influential nonetheless though not holding formal position) Haslina/Topic 4

  18. Gatekeepers—control the flow of info between organizational members • Quite powerful because they can choose to convey or withhold information • Cosmopolites—connects the organization to its relevant environment • Bridges—belong to at least two groups and connect each group or clique to the other • Liaisons—connects two groups without belonging to either one Haslina/Topic 4

  19. Conclusion • Can you think of any other types of r/ships that exist in the workplace? Haslina/Topic 4

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