1st Edition
Closing the Communication Gap An Effective Method for Achieving Desired Results
Improved communication in business means higher profits. Improved communication in government means happier citizens. Improved communication in healthcare means quicker recoveries, fewer lawsuits, and happier nurses and patients.
Closing the Communication Gap can help readers improve communication by closing the gap between what the communicator means and what the listener actually understands. It supplies a complete overview of the various elements and dimensions of effective communication needed to stop talking and start communicating.
Defining and discussing both the formal and the informal communication systems within an organization, the book demonstrates the importance of good communication and details the four types of poor-quality communication. It explains how to create a climate of communication in your organization. It describes how this climate of communication encourages the development of quality relationships as well as what it takes to maintain this culture of communication.
After reading this book, you will understand how to be a better listener, how to use social media in marketing, how to deal with difficult people, and helpful tips for public speaking. You will gain valuable insights on how to talk to your employees, how to talk to your boss, and the best ways to communicate with a corporation.
This book can be read for personal growth or it can be used by a company to teach employees the importance of quality communication. Quality assurance departments will find this book useful in lowering errors and waste in the workplace. The book is also suitable as a communication textbook or supplemental text at the introductory university level.
If a corporation were a person, communication would be the bloodstream.
—Lee Iacocca, Former CEO, Chrysler Corporation
Good Talk, More Money
Introduction
Poor-Quality Communication
Miscommunication
Noncommunication
Misunderstanding
Withholding Information
Quality Communication
Communication and Language
Quality Relationships
Virtues, Integrity, and Trust
Lifelong Learning
Summary
References
What Happens When Two People Talk—At Work?
The Basic Scoop on the Communication Loop
Meet the Loop
An Autopsy of the Loop
The Loop Has Soul
The Loop Has Issues
The Loop Has Culture
The Formal Loop and Its Shadow
Get Loopy with a Network of Communication Loops
Networks of Loops Loop in Different Directions
Random Communication
Downward Communication
Upward Communication
Lateral Communication
The Complexity of Formal Networks of Communication Loops
Shadow Loops
How to Use the Informal Communication
Network, Also Known as the Shadow Loop
Summary
Reference
How Do You Talk to Your Boss?
Introduction
Nothing to Fear But Fear
The Downside of Fear
The Good Side of Fear
Facing Fear
Plan the Whole Process
Mission
Vision
Approach
The Meeting
Concluding the Meeting
Execute the Plan
Follow-up to the Meeting with Your Boss
Summary
How Do You Talk to Your Employees?
Introduction
Create an Environment of Openness and Trust by First Being a Listener
Tell Them Why
Do It with a Smile
Adopt a New Philosophy about Organizations and Employees
Adopt a New Philosophy about Management
Listen with Your Eyes as Well as Your Ears
Listen to the Person and Not Just the Employee
Listen to the Behavior over a Period of Time
Listen to Themes, to Metaphors, and to What Is Conspicuously Not Discussed
Listen to Learn
Create an Environment of Openness and Trust by Becoming an Effective Communicator
Talk to Your Employees
One on One
In a Group
Write to Your Employees
Newsletters
Town Meetings
Memos
E-mails, Blogs, and a Tip of the Hat to Texting
Understand Your Employees
Personality Type of Each Employee
Variables Style Management
Five-Way Communication
Communication Channels
Body Language
Summary
References
How Do I Hear What My Teammates Are Really Saying?
Introduction
Rugged Individualism Dies with the Team
What Makes a Standout Leader?
The Team Takes Precedence over the Individual
Maturity Is Imperative for Good Teamwork
The Ancients Were Right
Know Thyself
Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You
Use the Feedback Loop
Listen to Your Teammate
Repeat Back
Listen to the Feedback
Repeat the Feedback Loop for a Second Time
Use the Feedback Loop with Verbal and Written Team Communication
Discuss Feelings and Body Language
Listening Filters
The Johari Window
Three Rules in Dealing with Emotions in a Team Setting
Use the Shadow Communication Loop to Further the Team Mission
Talking at the Water Cooler
Use the Shadow Loop to Further the Team’s Progress
Hearing Is Nested in a Relationship with Four Stages
Developing Role Clarity: Developing Expectations and Gathering Information
Commitment to the Relationship of Boss/Member of Staff
Stability and Productivity for a Period of Time
Experiencing a Pinch in the Relationship
Dealing with the Pinches in the Relationship Is Crucial
Dealing with Them Immediately and Effectively Maintains Healthy Relationships
Ignoring Pinches in Relationships Leads to Disruption and Conflict
Problems to Solve
Disagreement and Efforts to Save Face
Contest Stage and Efforts to Win
Fight/Flight Stage: Eliminate or Harm the Character of the Other Side
Holy War: The Object Is to Destroy
Restoring a Relationship
Ennui: Settling for the Status Quo and Limbo
Mute Termination: Quit Job or Fire Employee or Staff Member
Pretending to Fix the Relationship: Premature Reconciliation
Unplanned Renegotiation of a Relationship under Extreme Stress
Ending the Relationship
Summary
References
How Do I Hear What My Boss Is Really Saying?
Introduction
Learn to See the Nonverbal Message If You Want to Really Hear Your Boss
If Your Boss Believes in You, He or She Will Trust and Therefore Tell You More
What the Boss Sees Determines What You Get
Eye Contact (Oculesics)
Posture and Movement (Kinesics)
Dress and Appearance (Objectics)
Gestures and Smile (Kinesics)
What the Boss Feels Determines What You Get
Voice and Vocal Variety (Vocalics)
Words and Nonwords (Verbal Technique and Chronemics)
Boss Involvement (Objectics)
Humor (Verbal Technique Using Kinesics, Vocalics, Chronemics)
What Is Neurolinguistic Programming?
Your Boss Will Tell You More When You Tune in to His Favorite NLP Channel
Check Out Your Boss’s Predicates to Learn His or Her Channel
Check Out Your Boss’s Eye Movements to Learn His or Her NLP Channel
You Can Have Empathy, Sympathy, and Harmony with Your Boss
Check Your Boss’s Gestures, Signals, and Other Telltale Actions
Proxemics: Give Your Boss His or Her Space
Kinesics: Your Boss’s Body Movements Have Meaning
Palm
Hand to Face
Folded Arms
Crossed Legs
Eye Signals
The Boss’s Arrangement of Furniture
Summary
References
What Do I Say to a Difficult Person or a Bully?
Introduction
Do Not Avoid or Ignore Difficult People
The Dictatorial Personality
The Know-It-Alls
The Passive–Aggressive Personality
The Whiner
The Downers
The People Pleaser
The Nonparticipant
Do Not "Pass the Buck"
Use a Procedure to Handle Difficult People
Use Group Learning Tools to Handle Difficult People
Use Early Warning Skills and Prevention to Handle Difficult People
Use Techniques to Handle Difficult People
Use Fairness and Consistency to Handle Difficult People
Use the Company’s Counseling and Mental Health Services to Handle Difficult People
Use Directness and Power to Handle Difficult People
Summary
References
How Do I Talk to My Customers?
Introduction
Treat All People with Respect
Without Customers, You Are Out of Business
Listen to Your Customers
Look Them in the Eye
Use Friendly Body Language
Give Feedback and Ask for Feedback
Do Not Escalate an Angry Situation
Use Personality Types to Determine Your Communication Strategy
Summary
References
How Do I Communicate to a Corporation from the Outside?
Introduction
Understand and Respect the Corporation’s Culture
Understand the Corporation’s Personality
Understand the Corporation’s Formal Communication System
Understand the Corporation’s Shadow Communication System
Understand the Corporation’s Environment and Its Pressure/Stress Points
Plan a Communication Strategy
Implement the Plan
Evaluate and Improve the Procedure
Summary
References
How Do I Communicate to a Corporation from the Inside?
Introduction
Introducing Systems Thinking and the Learning Organization
Understand that a Corporation Is a System
Understand that a System Has Characteristics
Understand that an Individual Within a System Must Develop a System Mindset
System Archetypes Have Been Identified that People
Who Communicate Within Systems Must Understand
How Do You Communicate Well in a System?
Summary
References
How Does a Corporation Use Social Media to Communicate?
Introduction
The Rapid Prominence of Social Media
The Characteristics of Social Media
The Tools of Social Media and Their Uses
The Steps to a Corporate Voice in the Social Media Arena
The Use of Social Media with High-Performance Teams
Summary
References
Social Communication in the Workplace
Introduction
Decide to Become Social
Become Objective about Yourself
Discover Your Reason for Being
Know When to Shut Up
Use Social Communication in a Group or Team Setting
Use Social Communication in Public Speaking
What Happened to Sid?
Summary
References
Interviewing Guidelines
Introduction
Planning the Interview
Interview Guide Preparation
Selecting the People to Interview
Scheduling the Interview
Location of the Interview
Inviting the Interviewees
What Is in It for the Interviewee?
Appearance in the Interview
Recording the Interview
The Interview
Interview Follow-up
Gaining Rapport during the Interview
Interview Techniques for Gaining Highest-Quality Information
Omissions
Unspecified Nouns
Unspecific Verbs
Words Implying Necessity
Universal Quantifiers
Rules
Nominalizations
Cause and Effect
After the Interview
Summary
Reference
Index
Biography
H. James Harrington, Robert Lewis
