CHAPTER 1

The Nature of Managerial Communication

Objectives

After reading this chapter, you will be able to:

1. explain how management and communication form managerial communication;
2. explain how managers use managerial communication to motivate;
3. explain the need for communication policies;
4. identify the processes of group or team communication in traditional and virtual environments.

Introduction

Your success as a manager depends on your ability to communicate effectively. In today’s global economy, that is not easy because technology is producing more information, complicating the way in which people from different countries and cultures communicate, as well as how they communicate with people with various business specialties. The ability to sift through the information, cultures, and disciplines is time-consuming, and the amount of information being processed is but one of many existing barriers to communication. This book is a guidepost through those barriers that will help you focus your managerial communication (MC) to make your organization as efficient as possible.

As a manager, you need strong communication competency to work with diverse groups of people in an ever-changing global work world. It takes a great deal of skill to both manage and communicate well. Understanding how the disciplines of management and communication have come together to form MC will help you understand the importance of MC in the organization.

Origins of Managerial Communication

When people think of management, they think of it as something people do in an organization to get things done. Management is the “act or art of managing: the conducting or supervising of something (as a business)” or “the judicious use of a means to accomplish an end” (Merriam-Webster’s online 2014). When people think of communication, they think of message exchanges between a source and a receiver. The basic definition of communication is “to make commonly understood.” Therefore, MC is the use of management and communication skills to make information commonly understood in order to accomplish organizational goals.

The fields of management and communication continue to evolve through scientific investigation. The two fields were a fledgling collection of ideas in the 1900s. Compared with the more ancient fields, such as philosophy or mathematics, management and communication are still infant fields of study. However, management and communication have advanced through scientific investigation.

Management

The management theories we use today have developed over time. Management scholars talk about four managerial functions, and textbooks define management generically as the process of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling to achieve the stated goals by using resources judiciously. The field of management employs the classical approaches, which include perspectives on scientific management principles, administrative management, bureaucratic management, behaviorism, human relations, and so on. Contemporary approaches include perspectives on quality circles, organizational behavior, quantitative analysis, and contingency theories. The classical perspective, a more pessimistic managerial view, pioneered by Frederick W. Taylor shown in the photo at the bottom left of this page, is often referred to as Theory X, where managers felt their subordinates had nothing to offer the company except their manual labors. The behavioral perspective, a more optimistic managerial view, is referred to as Theory Y, where managers began to realize that the workers could be a source of assistance if encouraged to do so. The human relations perspective, put forth by William Ouchi and referred to as Theory Z, involved the quality circle approach to managing, teaching American businesses to adapt to the art of Japanese management styles. Theory Z focused on increasing employee loyalty to the company by providing a job for life with a strong focus on the well-being of the employee, both on and off the job. According to Ouchi (1981), Theory Z management tends to promote stable employment, high productivity, and high employee morale and satisfaction through his examination of the evolving culture of “Z” people in society. Management scholars agree that contributions by people such as Max Weber, Henri Fayol (shown in the photo at the top right of this page), Frederick W. Taylor, Chester I. Barnard, Joan Woodward, Mary Parker Follett, Herbert Simon (shown in the photo at the bottom right of this paragraph), Elton Mayo, and W. Edwards Deming helped to shape the field of management. In fact, their books are considered by many to be the most influential management books of the twentieth century (Bedeian and Wren 2001). Frederick W. Taylor’s work revolutionized early American industrial organizations, leading to the scientific management approach. Elton Mayo’s and Fritz Roethlisberger’s work at the Hawthorne plant in Illinois is largely responsible for shaping managers’ understanding of the direct effect that social interaction has on productivity in the workforce, thus ushering in the human relations movement. Edward Deming’s research on quality circles and teams further revolutionized management theory. The field of management evolved largely from the ideas of these people.

Communication

Communication studies grew out of the field of management studies. The National Communication Association defines communication as “a group of instructional programs that focus on how messages in various media are produced, used, and interpreted within and across different contexts, channels, and cultures, and that prepare individuals to apply communication knowledge and skills professionally” (Morreale and Backlund 2002, p. 7). Peter F. Drucker (1954), shown in the photo at the top left of this page, argued that management was the effective use of motivation and communication, one of five basic tasks of the manager.

Moreover, it was in the 1950s that communication studies began to concentrate on an individual’s relations with other individuals (Morreale and Backlund 2002). Along with management studies, communication studies revealed evidence that workers could help improve operations when their ideas were considered. Communication studies became more relationship oriented. Mary Parker Follett (shown in the photo at the left) was a management philosopher, whose contributions helped business leaders recognize the importance of effective communication of human beings within the organization. What is clear about her emphasis on motivation and interpersonal communication skills is that they are predicated on effective management. She is also credited with offering the following sage advice: “Management is the art of getting things done through people.” Follett’s writings are featured with commentary in the 1995 Harvard Business School Press book, Follett: Prophet of Management.

As the study of the fields of management and communication evolved concurrently, practitioners became increasingly aware that communication is an essential competency for managers and their subordinates.

Managerial Communication

Management and communications theories go hand in hand at all levels of the organization: top, middle, and frontline. Morreale, Rubin, and Jones (1998) listed the study of relationship management as part of interpersonal and group communication skills. Managers must control conflict, allow others to express different views, know how to effectively be assertive, analyze situations, and exchange information. Managers who practice these skills successfully are effective communicators. The role of effective MC in the workplace is to help the firm succeed.

The Role of Managerial Communication

Managers play many complex roles in the workplace: mind reader, detective, analyst, pundit, and fortune-teller. But managers are only human, and they need two-way communication to truly know what is happening in their work worlds. A manager’s worst communication error is to assume that everyone has and understands the information that has been conveyed. On the flip side, as any help wanted advertisement will prove, a manager’s most important competence—and the one most executives look for in college graduates—is the ability to communicate. Using writing, speaking, listening, and nonverbal skills effectively to translate organizational ideas into productive worker actions contributes directly to a healthy bottom line.

A successful communication is a message that is understood in the way that the sender intended and leaves the sender and receiver on good terms. These criteria for successful communication are consistent with Barnard’s (1968) views on coordinated systems of organizational control and the most important function of the executive (Zuboff 1988). In this role, managers ensure the downward, horizontal, and upward exchange of information, and transmission of meaning through informal or formal channels that enable the achievement of the goal (Bell and Martin 2008).

Effective MC is imperative to achieving the mission of any company, and no manager can succeed in the classic management functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling without it. By communicating effectively at all levels—top, middle, and on the front line, as well as across internal boundaries and interculturally—a manager can help the organization exert a positive influence on the community in which it is located and be as profitable as possible for its owners.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, communication theorists wrote articles that defined the boundaries of several professional disciplines in the field of communication (Shelby 1993). For the purposes of scientific investigation in professional communication, the discipline is often divided into four areas: organizational, business, corporate, and MCs. These areas are not exactly mutually exclusive (managers can be engaged in two or more of these types of communication simultaneously), but they are distinct enough to be considered separate disciplines within the field.

Four Types of Workplace Communication

Organizational communication is the study of how in a complex, system-oriented environment people send and receive information within the organization, and the effect that it has on organizational structure. The type of communication focused on at the organizational level would include improving coordinated systems of control.

Business communication focuses on studying the basic use of both written and oral skills. For example, business communication focuses on developing the fundamental concepts of written communication principles, such as grammar, unity, emphasis, coherence, construction of standard documents used in a business environment—that is, bad news and good news messages—progress reports, reprimands, and job search skills such as resumes and employment application letters. Business communication overlaps with managerial and corporate communication in that these documents are what form the history of the corporation.

Corporate communication focuses on creating a desired world reputation and image of the organization. For example, the duties of a director of corporate communications would include the task of overseeing the writing of the company’s external documents such as the annual report.

MC merges business communication, organizational communication, corporate communication, and management. Figure 1.1 illustrates how management and the other three areas of communication are interdependent, with MC emerging as the main communication in the workplace.

MC combines the management and communication theories in the workplace to help managers function as planners, organizers, leaders, and controllers of a company’s limited resources in order to achieve the stated goals. In fact, it is impossible for any manager to function without MC at any level of management. Take a moment and try to plan, organize, lead, or control a project without using communication on some level.

Communicate to Motivate

Figure 1.2 illustrates the Communicate to Motivate Model (CMM) and its constituent parts. Planning sets up a blueprint for future actions needed to achieve agreed-upon goals. Organizing determines who will do what and why. Leading occurs when top managers share their vision of the future and then shape organizational culture to achieve that vision. Controlling systematically gauges the organization’s actual performance against the established plans and goals and calibrates adjustments in areas of weakness.

Along with resources, managers use their functions to attain the goals of the organization. Imagine trying to accomplish any of these functions without goal-directed communication. Froschheiser (2008) argues that business leaders need to preach “communication, communication, communication” (p. 9). Every employee should know the company’s goals. No confusion. No exceptions. Communication is the “golden thread” tying all the management functions together. For example, you can conceive of a brilliant plan; however, successful interpersonal communication is necessary to implement it. To conceive a plan is to communicate on an intrapersonal level. In fact, most plans that failed did so somewhere in the communication process.

Geneen, a former ITT executive, wrote that to “manage means to get something done, to accomplish something that you, or the team of managers, set out to do, which presumably is worthy of your effort” (Geneen and Moscow 1984, p. 105). What is implicit in all the earlier definitions is that managers work for owners, especially in profit-seeking enterprises. Managers successfully operate businesses for owners to achieve their goals, so as to dominate the market as the number one recognized brand. Whether owners bear the risk of failure or enjoy the safety of success, employees will expect them to provide the resources for them to do their jobs. Thus, we could say that the real work of a manager is to help owners judiciously utilize resources to accomplish the owners’ goals. (Nonprofit organizations may have benefactors and donors instead of owners, while government organizations have stakeholders such as voters and tax payers.) This managerial task requires motivating and communicating with employees.

Employees are the organization’s most important resource because only human resources can be developed and improved in a way that makes them more productive (Drucker 1954). No nonhuman resource is capable of being the boss! Therefore, managers must always strive to continually improve their ability to motivate their employees. In management terms, motivating an employee means getting him or her to do a good job independently with little help.

Motivation can be done with a stick (threat, punishment) or with a carrot (incentive, reward). The carrot approach is preferred for building an organization of employees who take initiative and are proactive in helping achieve the stated goals. Employees work better when rewarded for good work. Because motivation is a large part of the leadership function, motivation theories are nearly always included in the prominent part of management textbooks. Window into Practical Reality 1.1 shows a good example of a manager getting things done through people using her interpersonal communication skills.

Jennifer figured out how to help her frontline employees plan and control the amount of their paychecks by doing something extra, such as upselling to customers (suggesting other items on the menu prior to closing the sale). She learned that few of her employees saw their jobs with her franchise as a career; thus, she used their own ambitions as a means to an end. For her employees who were enrolled in college, she was able to make college more affordable, as long as they treated her business and customers as they should be treated, with respect and courteousness.

Although managers must build a strong working relationship with employees, this should not be confused with building friendships, because that is not the goal of effective communication. A manager needs to do his or her job without bias or favoritism. Holding back constructive criticism on the basis of friendship is a sign of a weak manager.

Motivating a football player on a pro-team or motivating a food worker at McDonald’s is accomplished by communicating with the employees what is expected of them; what their position does for the firm, the team, the customer, and for the employee; and by using positive reinforcement—praising an employee for a job well done, or passing along a thank you for caring about the customer. The manager is motivating the employee and molding the employee into the type of team player the manager wants in order to have a successful organization. Since many of us watch collegiate or professional sports, or eat at fast-food restaurants, we can quickly identify the teams that seem to run like a machine and the ones that are very disjointed. Sports fans may avoid watching their favorite team play when they are not winning. While lack of talent could be to blame, the problem also could be that they are not being motivated properly and are not being communicated with in such a way that they are motivated to win. Likewise, most people have their favorite fast-food restaurants that they revisit because of the service. A manager builds employee customer service skills and the loyalty of the customer through effective planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

Managerial Communication by Management Tier

We can use MC theories to explain communication responsibility across the three tiers of management (top, middle, and frontline). Figure 1.3 shows who starts the communications process and who carries out the directions. At the strategic level, top management deals with conceptual problems and direction-setting for the organization. At the tactical level, middle managers direct the human elements of the organization. At the operational level, the frontline managers use their technical skills on behalf of the organization.

While in theory the tiers make sense, the study by Harcourt, Richerson, and Wattier (1991) of 871 U.S. middle managers’ communication practices showed information to be moving in and through middle managers as opposed to out from them. The middle managers did not always communicate the information that was pertinent to the subordinates. In addition, Brownell (1990) provides evidence of middle managers’ listening skills and how they rated themselves as listeners in the hospitality industry. While they rated themselves as good listeners, their subordinates did not. Lawler, Porter, and Tennenbaum (1968) surveyed 105 managers who evaluated themselves to be higher on self-initiated interactions than non-managers and subordinates. A different study found that 105 managers evaluated self-initiated interactions with other managers higher than those initiated by subordinates or nonmanagers. As the studies show, most managers have a lot of work to do in using communication to motivate and help subordinates do their jobs.

Information changes as it progresses through levels of management; therefore, the accuracy of information should always be questioned. Channels will be discussed in the next chapter, a subject that is important to show how top management communicates goals throughout the company.

One typical leading or motivating function of frontline management is reprimanding an employee who is tardy. Most frontline managers will follow a prescribed system of progressive disciplinary actions—verbal warning, first written warning, second written warning, and dismissal—to reinforce compliance and gain commitment (Frankel and Otazo 1992). What different kinds of communication could result? To what degree does an employee’s frequency of communication with an immediate supervisor change pre- and postreprimand? Does the employee openly complain about the supervisor, regardless of whether the reprimand was fair and accurate? Does his or her productivity change? How does the supervisor’s choice of words affect employee behavior in the short and long term? Answers to testable questions like these add to the resources that management research can provide to practitioners. All of these questions are important.

After a frontline manager has reprimanded an employee, the most important question is: “What to do in order to motivate the employee again after the reprimand?” A reprimand should not cause an employee to lose his or her motivation. In fact, Taylor, Fieldman, and Lahlou (2005) found that blood pressure was significantly higher when recipients were reading a threateningly worded reprimand when compared with a nonthreateningly worded reprimand.

In the past, MC was oriented more toward practicing managers who needed to understand communication theory from a more pragmatic perspective than toward the development of the basic skills, which are normally the focus of business communication. Therefore, a background in management principles and basic communication skills developed in an undergraduate business communication course are helpful to the manager.

Communication competency is the use by a manager of a combination of knowledge, skill, behaviors, and attitudes. If a manager expects to make good decisions, he or she must understand the structure of the organization. The manager must be able to plan the goals within the organization for which he or she is responsible. The manager must then lead teams to perform tasks that will reach the stated goals of the organization and the subunit.

Finally, the manager must have a way to evaluate the performance and correct any shortcomings. One way of doing this is to develop a routine that includes frequent, in-depth discussions about performance with employees. Asking specific questions to help the employee along can be important. Such questions might include: What have you accomplished? How did you measure accomplishments? What do you want to accomplish in the next few months? What measurements might you use for those accomplishments? What has to be done? And, how can I help?

Being a great manager at any level requires competency in many areas: communication, planning and administration, teamwork, strategic action, global awareness, and self-management. Communication competency includes informal and formal communication and the ability to negotiate. Planning and administration competency involves the ability to gather information, analyze it, and develop a solution to a problem. It also includes the ability to use time management, to be able to plan and organize multiple projects, and to do so within the budget.

Teamwork competency involves the ability to design an appropriate team, to motivate team members and support them with a creative environment, and to manage the dynamics of the team that will develop. Strategic action competency is understanding the environment in which you work, including not only your organization but also the industry as a whole, before you take a strategic position and put it into action. Global awareness competency is being knowledgeable about other cultures with whom you work, understanding differences, and being open to discussions when cultural misunderstandings arise. Self-management competency includes your personal integrity and ethical beliefs, drive, resilience, self-awareness, personal development, and the ability to balance work and life issues (Hellriegel, Jackson, and Slocum 2007).

Picture managerial communicators as rational planners, decision makers, and commanders; they often work in harried environments switching in a few minutes from one person or problem to another. Many times the environment is anything but quiet. Finding the time to plan and thoughtfully consider every communication does not always happen as a manager would like. Being successful in the business world and in your career will not happen without good communication skills. Learn as much as possible about strategies that have been successful, identify your own weaknesses, and then work to correct them. If you are an extrovert, you may talk too much and need to learn to listen more. If you are an introvert, you may be a good listener but need to learn to talk more and to assume a greater leadership role in guiding people. Try out some of the other suggestions in this book to see if they work for you.

A major problem in business today is information overload. You will have to determine which messages require your time and which ones simply contain “nice to know” information that can be filed or deleted entirely. Becoming a user of information yourself and repackaging this information for others takes a great deal of time and communication. Communication policies help members of an organization understand to whom they should be communicating and when. For example, medication has benefits, but also has side effects, especially for a long-time user. A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention. That is why we must be selective when receiving and sharing information.

Communication Policies

How organizations use communication is somewhat individualized; all companies have an organizational culture and climate. While you may not find an organization’s communication policies in published form, the culture of the firm reveals those policies. The culture and communication within the organization reflect the beliefs, values, and attitudes of the organization. The organizational climate is the environmental quality that the workers experience. Climates can be very supportive, defensive, positive, or negative. Generally, a supportive climate begins at the top with leaders who are nonjudgmental, open to ideas, trusting, and believe in participatory decision making. If you work in an organization where everyone works overtime, then you will probably feel that you should also work overtime. The culture and climate of the organization drive the organization’s communication style and unconsciously control the motivation to communicate.

Communication drives organizational culture, too. IBM began using a program called JAMS to allow employees to discuss ideas. With this program, a data-mining program can be used to analyze discussions for themes. This facilitates very open discussions because JAMS participants join, exit, and rejoin ongoing discussions and very quickly see where the discussion is going as they reenter an existing discussion. Moderators (those who lead and facilitate focus groups) can also sort out themes that emerge (Spangler, Kreulen, and Newswanger 2006).

Many organizations have had communication policies or a communication manual in place for a long time. Normally, the policies integrate the mission statement and goals of the firm within the communication function. Important policy items include a crisis communication plan, public relations communication, human resources communication policies, norms for treating proprietary information, communications etiquette, and the appropriate channels (formal documents, e-mail, blogging, social media, and so on) for the different kinds of information disseminated. The fact remains that many companies do not take the time to build a policy book until something negative happens as in the example shown in the Window into Practical Reality 1.2.

While communication policies may not work all the time, they can be helpful in addressing questions about the correct way to communicate certain kinds of information. For instance, organizations are governed by laws as well as company policy concerning what a company representative can say about an employee. The media often makes public statements that are said as an aside or in confidence. It would be easy for a member of the press or the market competition to overhear a salesman talking on the phone in a public area of the airport. Employees must be aware of when and where they can talk about company business. Firms often allow only certain people to discuss company information outside the company office building. If employees have a problem, you want them to come to someone within the company with their grievance and not go to the press. Having employees sign a general confidentiality statement and explaining what the statement means is one way of making this message clear.

Communicating in Teams

Managers generally bring people together to solve a problem; they assign a task and let the team work independently until they have a solution. Prior to the 1970s, formal communication was the standard approach in most businesses. The team-based management approach in the late 1970s moved firms from very formal to more informal communication. In this approach, teams participate more fully in company decision making through less formal communication channels and are highly involved with coordination between the functional teams they represent. They not only solve problems but also develop relationships between the functional areas of the company by supporting one another.

How do teams use formal and informal communication channels? First, it is necessary to define the term team. A work team is typically made up of a small number of people; they should have complementary skills, should share the common purpose of the team, should have the freedom to set their goals, and should require very little direct supervision. Effective teams also have the ability to solve problems, resolve conflict internally, distribute leadership among the team members, and evaluate their processes. Essential soft skills include understanding the feelings and needs of coworkers, communicating effectively, and dealing with any barriers that may appear. Teams can be formal or informal. Formal teams are often appointed to carry out ongoing work assignments on a permanent basis. Informal teams are a casual coming together of people to work on an informal basis throughout the organization. It is important to have different talents and specialties within a team, as for instance when introducing a new product. In this case, the team should be cross-functional, comprised of people from different areas of the organization who can apply their varied expertise to the project.

Successful teams demonstrate emotional intelligence, quality interaction, and distributed leadership. Studies have shown that as a result of successful team interaction, workers are happier and empowered, efficiency increases, there is synergy between departments, and the lines of communication are more open. With people from different departments talking directly with each other, layers of management are eliminated, thereby increasing efficiency. The company is able to draw upon the skills, imagination, and creativity of the whole workforce for problem solving and developing new ideas.

A team must maintain good communication. Achieving the task assigned, maintaining the social morale of the team, and helping each member of the team to grow are essential to success. Effective teams must develop trust, make sure that everyone understands their role in the team, and discuss shared goals and expectations. Such interactions aid in the development of synergy (a combined greater value of multiple ideas versus one person working on a project) among the members and distributed leadership. These team processes require open communication and strong verbal, nonverbal, and visual communication skills. Team members who lack good interpersonal communication skills jeopardize the success of the team. Team members should feel comfortable expressing concerns, and a healthy discussion should follow. Basically, team members train one another on how they can communicate as a team. Effective teamwork can enhance communication within the company as well as with customers and business partners, as redundancies can be eliminated.

Phases of Team Development

Effective teams move in rather predictable ways through a series of phases as they blend their experiences, talents, and skills to complete their assigned task. Initial team assessment involves assessing the performance and characteristics of all members individually, looking at how they fit in with the team, institution, culture, and technology as well as their skills in analyzing, documenting, implementing, and evaluating each other (Yarbrough 2003). It is important for the team to know what their strengths and weaknesses are as individuals and as a team. There needs to be a climate of trust if members are to honestly share their information. This exercise also helps members of the team, who do not know one other, to get to know one another as individuals and teammates.

• After completing the initial assessments, the team enters Phase 1 of team development, which is setting out roles and responsibilities. Time spent here will help the performance of the team later. Some of the things that should be done in Phase 1 include deciding who will be the communication hub manager and being sure everyone has the needed information. Members also need to decide on a team manager who will be responsible for procedures, tasks, and assignments. One member should be responsible for all documents and the dissemination of those documents, and someone needs to maintain the database or website with accurate information for the team to access and use. The climate manager helps to maintain good relationships between team members and ensure full participation, and the conflict manager helps to reduce any conflicts that arise between team members. In small teams, individual members may perform more than one of these discussed roles.
• Phase 2 involves managing the procedures that have been set in place. During this phase the team members will negotiate and come to a consensus on the task and its subparts.
• Phase 3 involves performing or finalizing tasks, training, updates, meetings, and reporting to the appropriate constituents.
• Phase 4 involves reporting to management, and the team’s evaluation of their performance. It is good for teams to celebrate successes.

Celebration could involve going to lunch together, having a drink after work, or something else. Generally, when you are part of a team, it is in addition to your normal job, which means that it is extra work. Taking time to celebrate and receiving recognition from management makes it easier to do the work and will help the team perform well in the future. Making use of the great power of friendship can strengthen the team. Effective teams tend to be self-motivated but can also fall into “groupthink.”

Groupthink happens when a team stops generating new ideas, suppresses critical thinking, and squelches divergent thought. The best way to avoid groupthink is to use devil’s advocacy—presenting an opposing view to stir discussion and clarification, and dialectic—a method that ensures the team does not put a moral righteous spin on its decision making. The dialectic process involves debating. Dialectic is to debate two good ideas to determine the strengths and weaknesses of both before selecting one. Generally, when one person comes up with an idea, others will add to it or look at it from a different perspective. It is best to assign one or two members the task of asking the hard questions. To come up with the best solution, the group must look at many ideas. If the group is intercultural, you may have to ask people to give you their ideas. You also want to avoid letting one person dominate the discussions and to encourage many ideas and lots of feedback in discussions.

Work group time orientation is also influenced by the individual’s view of flexibility, separation, and concurrency. Flexibility is the degree of rigidity placed on the use of time. It can range from the avoidance of scheduling, to having rigid meeting times, to being fluid where time is concerned. Separation is allowing or eliminating extraneous factors when working on a task. Concurrency is the number of tasks a person feels comfortable completing at the same time. While team participation may take up a large segment of a worker’s time, other work assignments may require that the team member segregate team and individual work time. Ways to practice separation or inclusion include keeping your door closed or open; screening or taking calls, texts, and e-mails; and using nonverbal cues to indicate availability.

The team behaviors just discussed generally work well when everyone is from one culture and is in the same room together; however, virtual teams often do not have the luxury of either. Time elements, or chronemics, for virtual teams can have major consequences. Not only are people frequently in different time zones but how they perceive and use time may be different. Whether you are monochronic (can do one thing at a time) or polychronic (can do multiple tasks at the same time), in today’s work world you have to be able to adjust to the other’s time culture. Working globally is commonplace in today’s organizations.

Currently, over 60 percent of professional employees participate in virtual teams (Kanawattanachai and Yoo 2007). It is possible for the members to be from only one national culture (such as the U.S. culture, which is actually made up of multiple cultures); however, that is not what is normal in today’s work world. Virtual teams, by definition, are geographically dispersed, electronically dependent, have dynamic structural arrangements, and are often nationally diverse. Virtual teams must overcome the challenges that each of these elements represents in order to be innovative. Innovative organizations are adept at diversifying, adapting, and reinventing themselves to meet the changing global economy; and effective group interactions are critical to these processes. There is a great deal that virtual team members may not know about one another, including their situation, how they acquire knowledge, and their resources, so it is important for virtual team members to learn about one another before they can be an effective team. Many virtual teams find that not being in real time makes it difficult to keep a dynamic-innovative platform moving forward owing to time lags. Innovation tends to be better when teams do not have to rely only on electronic means of communication, though face-to-face opportunities may not be possible. Audio and video conferencing and social media tools can help to bridge the geographic divide. Because interactions are structured and recorded, many times virtual groups feel they are being micromanaged. When teams perceive a safer communication climate, more innovation takes place (Gibson and Gibbs 2006). Climate and culture will always influence the ethical practices of an organization and the types of moral problems managers will encounter.

Summary

The study of MC is a combination of management and communication theory. Because it is a relatively new discipline, testing continues both academically and in corporations. Theory testing and the scientific process support MC as being the main communication in the workplace; it overlaps with management, corporate communication, business communication, and organizational communication. Managers lead, plan, organize, and control the material, financial, informational, and human resources of a business by using MC.

The purpose of communicating in an organization is to get a message understood, see that the message accomplishes its purpose, and maintain favorable relationships with the people involved. Managers communicate information according to their position on the hierarchical level. The three levels of management include the strategic level, which is top management and deals with conceptual problems of the organization, the tactical level, which is middle management and controls more of the human elements of the organization, and the operational level, made up of frontline managers who generally are dealing with the technical skills of the organization.

MC is oriented more toward business management and communication theory than toward the skills of business communication. MC is the result of the merging of the types of professional communication in the workplace. Communication competency is the use by a manager of a combination of knowledge, skills, behaviors, and attitudes. Management is the art of getting things done using people in the right way, while satisfying their needs and the needs of the organization. Managers make decisions based on an understanding of the structure of the organization. One of the major problems today is an overabundance of information in the work world. Managers will need to sort through the information and be precise in the messages they send and receive.

Organizations can have formal communication policies or allow policies to develop ad hoc, or they may do both. The degree of formal or informal communication depends on how the firm is organized. The introduction of team-based management in the late 1970s moved firms from very formal communication to more informal communication. Team-based management relaxed the formal communication structure in favor of more informal lines of communication. Organizations learned that the quicker information could travel to where decisions were made or the actual work was being done, the more effective the organization became. The prevalence of virtual teams in today’s innovative organizations has presented distinct challenges and opportunities for effective team communication and problem solving.