1.
MODULE 1COMMUNICATION IS BUSINESS
WEEK 1LEADERSHIP, COMMUNICATION AND
MANAGEMENT
Key Topics we will cover this week are:
•Introducing definitions of the elements of leadership,
management and communication
•Developing a framework for the interrelationships between
leadership communication and organisational communication,
and discuss the framing of the role of the communication
practitioner within the organisational structure
•By the end of Week 1 you should be able to discuss and
identify leadership and management communication styles
within your workplace or work experiences in the context of a
study of Business Communication.
REQUIRED READING
Each week the readings from the set text (Dwyer, J 2016,
Communication for Business and the Professions, Strategies and
Skills, 6th edition) are listed as ‘textbook’:
Textbook: Chapter 1, Communication Foundations, pp 2-4.
Textbook: Chapter 8, Leadership, pp 185-203.

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RECOMMENDED READING
The following reading has been electronically supplied in the
Readings on the unit site:
Penrose, J M 1993, Advanced Business Communication, 2nd
edition. Belmont, Caliph, Wadsworth Pub Co. Chapter 1, pp 4–
15.
Independent Learning Task 1
Complete this sentence: Leadership is
….......................................?
Post your response on the Week 1 Discussion Board. Read other
students definitions and respond to them whilst also responding’
to comments made about your own definition. Truly, there is no
absolutely right or absolutely wrong answer, but the sharing of
ideas in itself brings knowledge.
Remember to include at least one research source in each post
and a Reference List. The Discussion Board is available for a
three-week period – make sure you post in the Week 1 DB
before midnight on Sunday of Week 3.
ABOUT INDEPENDENT LEARNING TASKS
The Independent learning tasks are peer-learning activities and
while your Tutor will give weekly feedback, it will be general
in its nature and not specific to individual students.
The idea of these tasks is to give students an opportunity to
practice some elements of analysis or to delve more deeply into
some aspect of theory that will help you develop a deeper
understanding of the Unit content. It may also help you respond
to your assignment tasks. The more you get involved with your
peers, the better your collective and individual understanding is

3.
likely to be.
Part of your mark will be based on your own responses and your
responses to other students. These Independent learning
tasks represent an important part of Assessment 1. To
access all the information on Assessment 1, go to your Unit
Outline.
INTRODUCTION
Communication is part of all human activity. We all
communicate all the time. It is so all-encompassing that it
defies definition.
A respected scholar recently observed in the pages of this
Journal that “considering that communication is one of the
oldest human activities, it is somewhat astonishing that no
generally accepted definition exists.” It is the present writer’s
contention that the reasons for this apparent anomaly can be
identified and that a lack o0f a definition is not as serious as it
seems, for just as Einstein did not change ‘the laws of the
Universe’, so non definition can change ‘the laws of
communication.” (Newman 2006, p. 115)
That may be so, but the study of the differing definitions is
fascinating and we will be looking at many of these as the
weeks go by.
DISCUSSION POINT: Many times in our personal and
professional lives we know whether we are really connecting or

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not with others. Reflect on a situation where you have
communicated successfully and then on an unsuccessful
communication experience. This is the journey we are on in this
Unit — developing the skills and knowledge to be able to be
aware of what is being communicated by us and those around
us.
COM12 Business Communication
Module 1 Communication is business
ABOUT DISCUSSION POINTS
Throughout this study guide, you will find these discussion
points. They are there for you to follow through as a personal
and reflective moment about the issue at hand. Sometimes, they
will direct you to specific short reading or to a YouTube clip.
You can share your thoughts about the discussion points in the
Discussion Point thread on the Discussion Board (DB).
These Discussion Points are not assessed. They are presented as
an extra talking point for the group. We hope you get some
further insights through participating in them.
Within the business community, public and private

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organisations and the professions, communication is an integral
part of leading, managing, informing, mentoring, motivating,
coaching, instructing, persuading and reporting. All of these
activities start with what we hear, say and feel.
By successfully getting your message across you convey your
thoughts and ideas effectively. When not successful, the
thoughts and ideas that you send do not necessarily reflect your
own, causing a communication breakdown and creating
roadblocks that stand in the way of your goals — both
personally and professionally. Getting your message across is
paramount to progressing. To do this you must understand what
your message is, what audience you are sending it to, and how it
is perceived. You must also factor in the circumstances
surrounding your communication, such as situation and cultural
context. (Manktelow n.d.)
For businesses to flourish today, they need effective
communication practitioners who listen, observe, survey and
map their organisation with the objective of delivering
successful outcomes through the use of communication models
and techniques in all their forms.
Communication is the key driver of leadership and management.
It happens every day, everywhere in every workplace.
1.1 DEFINITION OF LEADERSHIP
Leadership is the process of influencing groups and individuals
towards the achievement of an organisation’s vision and
objectives (Dwyer 2009, p. 250).
Effective leaders have the ability to create the conditions for
self-motivation in followers and the capacity to influence others
through communication and leading by example. The outcome is

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a high-performance culture and positive communication
practices that build motivation, confidence, satisfaction and
commitment to achieve the organisation’s vision and objectives.
(Dwyer 2013, p. 179)
A leader’s influence is like singing — if one only belts out one
note, there’s no song. But if you have nine notes, it sounds like
real music. (Johansen n.d.)
DISCUSSION POINT: Think about three situations in which
you have acted as a leader, and then nominate three people who
have, in your opinion, been successful leaders. List six
behaviours that made these people successful leaders. Have you
demonstrated these successful behaviours when leading a
group?
REALITY CHECK: follow the YouTube link below to a
discussion on why, how and what inspirational leaders
communicate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4
ABOUT REALITY CHECKS: These Reality Checks are
designed to draw connections between the ideas and theories

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being discussed and real world communication to
‘value add’ to this week’s topic. Sometimes this will be a case
study or it may be
YouTube links or other media.
You can share your thoughts about the discussion points and
reality checks in the thread for this week in the Discussion
Board (DB). These Reality Checks are not part of any
assessment. They are just for you and your student colleagues.
We hope you
get some further insights through participating in them.
1.2 LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION
Leadership communication is communication that is fed by the
leader’s character and the organisation’s values. It sets the
emotional climate of an organisation and is an expression of its
work culture.
Although leaders and followers are closely linked, it is the
leader who often initiates the relationship, creates the
communication linkages, and carries the business burden for
maintaining the relationship. (Northouse 2010, pp 3-4)
Gandhi said, ‘Be the change you want to see’. As a leader or
leadership team, you exert enormous influence on how the
organisation is led, managed and how these roles are
communicated.
Leadership communication encompasses interpersonal skills as
well as a range of oral and written skills set against any number
of communication resources (e.g. physical appearance and body
language; use of symbols and metaphor; media and artefacts).

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A basic model of leadership communications is recreated from
Chateris-Black (2006, p. 26).
Leadership Style
Communication Resources
Verbal and Non-Verbal Modes
Messaging
Leadership Performance
The Leadership message should be developed with careful intent
and extreme care. Then it must be skilfully delivered and, most
importantly, it must be sustainable.
Leadership messages do one or more of the following (Baldoni
2003, pp 6-7):
•Affirm organisational vision and mission. These messages let
people know where the organisation is headed and what it
stands for.
•Drive transformational initiatives (e.g. change). These
messages prepare people to do things differently and give
reasons why.
•Issue a call to action. These messages prepare people to rally
behind an initiative.
•Reinforce organisational capability. These messages

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underscore the organisation’s strengths and are designed to
make people feel good about the organisation.
•Create an environment in which motivation can
occur. These messages provide reasons why things are done,
and create a path for success for people to follow. They also
describe the benefits of success.
•Promote a product or service. These messages place what
the organisation produces within the mission, culture and values
of the organisation.
The leadership messages set up a vision for the company or
organisation. They are driven by an individual or a team. They
provide a clear vision. Why are we here? What do we do or
make? Why is our product or service unique? How can we
deliver a better product or service?
1.3 THE TRAITS OF LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION
Successful leadership communication must reflect the following
traits. It must have:
•Significance. Messages that are about big issues in the present
and future of the organisation (e.g. people, performance,
products and services)
•Values. messages that reflect the vision, mission and
culture of the organisation
•Consistency. Messages that exemplify the practical application
of these stated values and behaviours
•Cadence.Messagesthatregularlyreinforcetheseorganisational
aspirations.

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1.4A BRIEF SYNTHESIS OF THE TYPES OF LEADER-
COMMUNICATORS
There are many types of leadership-communicator roles, but for
our purposes, we are naming just a handful. It should be noted
that these roles are not mutually exclusive, as the styles may
occur in combination and may vary from situation to situation
(Baldoni
2003). The information below is summarised from Baldoni
(2003) and Mai and
Akerson (2003).
Type
Description
Leader as expert
This type of leader-communicator possesses a high degree of
specialised skill and/or knowledge. Communication is
concerned with the facts and knowledge generation. Attributes
include intelligence and experience in a certain area of the
business environment, and the ability to grapple with
complexity.
Leader as visionary
This type of leader-communicator is characterised by the ability
to think about the future and its possibilities. Communication is
shaped around translating an image of what the organisation
could become, and the enlistment of others in that vision.
Attributes include imagination and the ability to grasp, promote
and translate ideas as they emerge.

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Leader as meaning-maker
This type of leadership communication is concerned with
managing the dialogue around the meaning of work. Leader-
communicators communicate in ways that create focus,
reinforce work identity, and increase feelings of significance.
Attributes include a consciousness of how meaning may be
acquired to make work positive and fulfilling, and how work
identity may be shaped and influenced.
Leader as trust builder
This style of leadership communicator is primarily
concerned with creating and sustaining trust. The aim is to
support others in communicating in honest and credible ways.
Attributes include the ability to admit uncertainty when it
arises, manage dialogue, and the ability to express an interest in
analysing failure, instead of ignoring it (for detailed discussion
see Mai and Akerson 2003, chapter 5).
Leader as Navigator/Direction Setter
This style of leadership communication is about telling people
what needs to be done. It is also about helping to steer the
organisation towards its goals, desired outcomes and timelines.
Attributes include an excellent ability to remain focused,
provide instruction, make decisions and take the lead in
problem solving when necessary (for detailed discussion see
Mai and Akerson

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2003, chapter 2).
Leader as
Transition Pilot
This leadership communication role is preoccupied with
managing the turbulence of change. The role functions to help
people adjust or reposition in times of change. Attributes
include a sound knowledge of change communication, empathy,
and the ability to engage people in the process (for detailed
discussion see Mai and Akerson 2003, chapter 7).
Leader as linking- agent
This style of leadership communication is concerned with the
crossing of organisational boundaries in order to keep people
connected. This style focuses upon establishing and supporting
clear communication channels. Attributes include the ability to
navigate information infrastructures and establish relationships.
Leader as mentor and coach
This type of leader-communicator understands what motivates
individuals and provides support, reassurance and praise in
communication. Leader-coaches are successful at adjusting their
focus to address the needs of individuals, and well as the needs
of the team. Attributes include excellent listening skills,
integrity, and the ability to ask the right questions.
Leader as transformer
This type of leader-communicator is focused upon driving
transformation and renewal. Attributes include the ability to
provoke thoughts and fundamental assumptions that underpin
the way we conduct business, intellectual rigor, and the ability
to inspire (for detailed discussion see Mai and Akerson 2003,

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chapters 9–11).
REALITY CHECK: Follow this YouTube link to see an
interview with Bill Winter about mentoring and coaching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TTHu7u1osk
DISCUSSION POINT: Table 7.3 Characteristics of formal and
Informal Mentoring on page 200 of the Dwyer text looks at
different ways of mentoring. Can you identify some of these
traits from within your own work experiences and identify some
practices that
demonstrate these characteristics?
To lead people, walk beside them. As for best leaders — the
people do not notice their existence. The next best — the people
honour and praise them. The next — the people fear them and
the next — the people hate them. When the best leaders work
is done the people say, ‘We did that ourselves’. Lao Tsu,
born circa 604BC
There are a number of leadership assessment tools available in
the marketplace which approach leadership as a measurable,
learnable and teachable set of behaviours and attributes (the
Leadership Practices Inventory developed by Kouzes and Posner
is one such example).

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Of significance, the Australian Public Service has available a
Senior Executive Leadership Capability (SELC) Framework
which sets out the core leadership criteria for the sector. This
framework is worth extensive consideration, as it is very
detailed, and has been developed from the frontline.
1.5 DEFINITION OF MANAGEMENT
Management is the process of planning and coordinating work
activities and tasks so that they are completed efficiently and
effectively with and through other people. (Dwyer 2008, p. 250)
Although leadership and management have different meanings
they often work in teams called Leadership Teams. After half a
century of research there is a body of evidence on activities that
are common to all or most managers.
These include:
• Acting as a figurehead, representative or point of contact
for a work unit
• Monitoring and disseminating information
• Networking
• Negotiating with broad constituency
• Planning and scheduling work
• Allocating resources to different work activities
• Directing and monitoring the work of subordinates
•Specific human resources management activities

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•Problem solving and handling disturbances to work flow
•Innovating processes and products
•Technical work relating to the manager’s professional or
functional specialisation.
REALITY CHECK: Follow this link to a You Tube clip that
talks about good managers and bad managers. Do the managers
in your workplace have all of these skills or are they teamed up
to cover all of these skill bases. How does that work, is
communication
sometimes (or always) inconsistent?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ1OTaJ9Sfc
1.6 ORGANISATIONAL MANAGEMENT
The first step in becoming an effective communication
practitioner is to recognise that organisational communication,
leadership communication and workplace culture are
inextricably entwined.
If a business or organisation is committed to improving its
communication effectiveness and leadership capacity, it will
take into consideration not only the interrelated dimensions of
organisational communication to inform the management of
communication across the organisation, but also cultural
management strategies to embed the type of communication
climate it is aiming for. (Conrad 1990)
Overall, this is inseparable from the need to entrench a strategic
approach to communication management.

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These cultural management strategies will need to embrace the
following key ideas:
•Cultures are created by communication. They emerge and are
sustained by communication between employees. Therefore,
attempting to interpret workplace culture is difficult as they are
complex and constantly evolving.
•The day-by-day tasks and pressures lead people and work
teams to develop their own ways of coping. As such, strategies
to address communication weaknesses potentially need to
consider differing subcultures across the organisation.
•Subsequently, these subcultures feed into the leadership
communication attributes of an organisation. They may differ in
how they value action learning, working in teams, risk taking,
and performance feedback. In addition, members of subcultures
may operate with different sets of myths and stories, metaphors
and ceremonies to define and support themselves.
•Communicators may have to be aware of competing values,
affecting and influencing individual and collective behaviour.
•If cultural management strategies to support communication
effectiveness across the organisation are to achieve resonance,
the strategies must also recognise the motivations and
constraints for individuals within organisational situations
(Conrad 1990, p. 78, refer to diagram below). These
motivations and constraints are to some extent reflective of the
interrelated dimensions of organisational communication
(formal-structural, personal-interpersonal and power-political)
and provide a useful framework
in which to plan and project communication and initiatives.

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REALITY CHECK: Follow this link to a clip looking into
workplace culture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIpfm9AmyI8
DISCUSSION POINT: After watching the video above, did you
know that culture in the workplace was such a significant part
of leadership, management and communication?
FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNUICATION
(Conrad 1990, p. 78)

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Individual Manager Communication
Skills
Expectations
ormal policies and procedures
-images
FURTHER THOUGHTS
Effective cultural management strategies can only be built from
positive cultural engagement through the management of
collective uncertainties, the creation of social order and
continuity, and the creation of a communal identity and
commitment.
Cultural management and the promotion of communication

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effectiveness should be a common goal. It needs to happen from
peer to peer as well as up, down and across organisations.
Leadership and management should be primarily driven on a day
to day basis by carefully considered internal and external
communication strategies, in which every aspect of the ‘culture’
of the organisation is examined and honed to best suit the
organisation’s aims and objectives. It involves the practical
application and analysis of messaging which we will discuss
later in the Unit.
An organisation’s leadership, management styles and
communication strategies are so interdependent that failure to
meet and reflect the needs of any of these three elements
often leads to failure, confusion and poor messaging and
communication outcomes.
Communication, in all its forms, is the human face of an
organisation. It is our thoughts, words, symbols, signs, body
language, tone and message. It starts internally with our own
thoughts and feelings and then our work colleagues and on to
the outside world. It is what people see and hear. It is how they
interpret and understand those messages that will form their
opinions and actions.
REALITY CHECK: Follow this link to a YouTube clip just
because it is great fun — and nearly on topic!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA7bKo4HRTg

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REFERENCES
Baldoni, J 2003, Great Communication Secrets of Great
Leaders, McGraw Hill, USA.
Chartaris-Black, J 2006, The Communication of Leadership,
Leadership and Metaphor
Beyond the West. Routledge, USA.
Conrad, C 1990, Strategic organisational communication: an
integrated perspective.
2nd edn. Holt, Rhinehart and Winston, USA.
Dwyer, J 2009, Communication in Business Strategies and
Skills, 4th edn, Pearson
Education Australia, French’s Forest, NSW.
Dwyer, J 2013, Communication for Business and the
Professions, 5th edn, Pearson Education Australia, French’s
Forest, NSW.
Johansen, M. Nine sources of Leadership influence,
www.legacee.com
Mai, R & Akerson, A 2003 The Leader As Communicator:
Strategies And Tactics To
Build Loyalty, Effort, And Spark Creativity. Amacom, USA.
Manktelow, J n.d. Understanding communication skills.
Mindtools: Essential skills for a successful carreer. Accessed

21.
from:
www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/CommunicationIntro.htm
Newman J.B 1960, Rationale definition of communication,
Journal of Communication
Vol. 10, Iss. 3, published online 7 Feb 2006.
Northouse, P.G 2012, Leadership: Theory and Practice, 5th
edition. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
WEEK 2 BUSINESS AND PEOPLE
Key topics we cover this week are:
•An introduction to communication in its many forms
•A discussion about the importance of developing
communication skills on a personal and business level in the
context of local, national and global markets today.
By the end of Business and People we will be beginning to
develop a framework for you to examine your own
communication skills and of others around you in your
workplace.
REQUIRED READING
Textbook: Chapter 7, Communication across the Organisation,
pp 154-179.

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RECOMMENDED READING
Bell, A.H. & Smith, D.M. 2010, Communication Architecture
for Professional Success’. Management Communication, 3rd
edition, John Wiley & Sons Hoboken, N.J. Chapter 1, pp 30–37.
Independent Learning Task 2
Select one of the following terms that you find most
challenging:
‘verbal communication’, ‘non-verbal communication’ or
‘graphic communication’. Define the term and say why you find
it challenging.
Remember to include at least one research source in each post
and a Reference List. The Discussion Board is available for a
three-week period – make sure you post before midnight on
Sunday of Week 4.
Independent Learning Task — optional — just for fun!
Evaluate your communication skills on-line at:-
http://www.queendom.com/tests/relationships/communication_s
kills_r
_access.html
To communicate is to impart information. Any behaviour that

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transmits messages from one person to another person is
communication.
Communication is any behaviour — verbal, nonverbal or
graphic — that is perceived by another. Knowledge, feelings or
thoughts are encoded and sent from at least one other person
and received and decoded by at least one other. Meaning is
given to this message as the receiver interprets the message. A
connection is made between the people communicating. (Dwyer
2013, p. 4)
Communication is the expression of your feelings, ideas and
perceptions:
•Verbally and nonverbally. Body language and position,
movement, facial expression or tone.
• In writing. Both internal and external consumption
•Graphically. Including PowerPoint and other presentation
formats, video, signs, symbols, shapes, graphs and diagrams.
The ability to communicate is learned, and is affected by social,
business and wider cultural influences. ‘People cannot not
communicate, even when we ignore the other person, something
is communicated’ (Waltzawick, Beavin & Jackson 1967).
2.1 DIFFERENT TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
• Intrapersonal. Within yourself, your thoughts and feelings
•Interpersonal. Between two people in a small group. This could
be on a one-to-one basis, usually in sight of each other but not
necessarily e.g. telephone, e-mail or letter.
•Team interaction among people with a common objective.
This is normally within sight of each other, but can be
teleconferencing, e-mail discussion groups, blogs and business
directed social media formats.

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•Organisational. Communication within a more complex system
of groups with a common aim.
•Public. One source (normally an organisation) makes
contact with a number of outside groups or organisations
e.g. public relations OR a person or small group
communicates with a larger group of people in the same
location e.g. a speech, seminar or lecture.
•Mass. Use of mass media to contact large numbers of distant
people e.g. advertising, television, editorial or social media
formats and more.
REALITY CHECK: Follow the link below to a YouTube clip
that provides more detail about different types of
communication. Were you aware of these types? Do you think
you have skills to work and manage within these communication
skill bases?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX_LpCUrp4c
In the business environment, good communication uses a mix of
interpersonal, group communication, written, oral, audio-
visual and social media forms to send an integrated and
consistent message. Good communication skills can be
developed, transferred and applied to a wide range of personal,
professional and occupational situations.
‘Employers expect their staff to be competent in a wide range of
communication tasks including:

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•Communicating with people from different backgrounds,
experiences and cultures
•Organising ideas and information into knowledge for use by
self and others
•Expressing and presenting ideas and information
accurately and persuasively
•Listening to understand others and take actions based
on that understanding
•Using communication technologies efficiently and effectively
•Communicating professionally and ethically’. (Dwyer 2009, p.
4).
In many organisations today, the communication practitioner is
required to mentor and train staff and management to develop
their skill bases around these tasks. They need to be effective
two-way communicators.
Two — way communication:
•Is audience centred
•Uses clear messages to exchange ideas and receive and
give good feedback
•Is persuasive
•Projects the organisations image and cultural ethos
•Uses a variety of communication channels
•Build relationships
•Gathers information
•Applies ethical practices
(Dwyer 2013, pp 4-5)
Additionally, today’s businesses need to communicate locally,
nationally and globally every day.
There are a number of reasons:
•To stay competitive. By adapting to the needs of the market

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place and promote your products and services as widely as
possible in local, national and international markets
•To engage with changing technology. In the last twenty years,
we have all been part of an information technology revolution
where communication can be instantaneous and delivered across
a range of new electronic platforms. This is best demonstrated
by the evolution of Web 2.0 and with
the growing power of social media. Cross-generationally,
people are sourcing their information well outside traditional
formats. Mail is now universally called ‘snail mail’. Printed
materials, newspapers and even television now compete for the
attention of the public in a ways that would have be
unimaginable fifty years ago.
•To meet the challenges of a changing economy. In the
last few decades, the world economy has become
globalised. We have experienced a move from primary and
secondary industrial bases (agriculture and manufacturing)
towards tertiary or service bases e.g. education, entertainment,
finance and tourism. This means there is an increasing emphasis
on accessing, interpreting and distributing information so
communication has quite suddenly more important than ever.
Many smaller businesses now use the Web to directly access
global markets. They are able to succeed in niche markets
because of lower operational costs and the ability to understand
and react quickly to change.
•To grow their leadership and management skills. The
number of smaller companies marketing to and servicing
clients and customers is rising. Workers in small organisations
need to be multi-skilled and flexible. This means that
communication has changed in many companies from a top

27.
down model to differing versions of vertical, horizontal/lateral
communication models to best meet the needs of the
organisation. This directly impacts on leadership and
management styles.
•To grow interpersonal skills. Even in larger companies, the
workforce is becoming more independent, responsive and self-
managed. On a personal level, workers need highly developed
communication skills to cope with enterprise bargaining,
individual contracts and constant evaluation. You have to
promote yourself in the workplace and communication skills are
vital.
DISCUSSION POINT: Reflect on the organisations you have
worked for. Do they adhere to the basic tenets of
communication described above or not? How do they fail and
how do they succeed? Do you think management in these
organisations perceive that internal and external day to day
communications may have a significant effect on
how they are seen by their workers and clients?
Many people are also choosing to work as sole traders or on a
consultancy basis, often from home, and they are totally
dependent for effective communication through using new
technology.
Bigger, modern organisations now place greater emphasis on
group and teamwork. Even here, management structures are
flattening out, resulting in an organisational structure that is
horizontal rather than vertical.
Workers need greater awareness and need to be functional and
effective communicators. It is the role of the communication

28.
practitioner to be aware of what is
happening within their organisations and to shape practice to
achieve the best communication outcomes.
In all of these scenarios, the relationship between leadership,
management and communication practice has become
paramount. No matter what sort of enterprise you are engaged
in, it is important have these three vital components of business
are in balance across all your internal and external
communication.
The successful organisation is the one that communicates
effectively across the diverse range of people both
within and outside the organisation. Increasingly
organisations are interacting nationally and globally with
other individuals, clients, suppliers and organisations.
Effective business communication bridges the different
perspectives of people with diverse life and career experiences
by sharing meanings and building understanding (Dwyer 2009,
p. 8).
2.2 TYPES OF ORGANISATIONS
Mechanistic organisations communicate in a highly structured
way, and make considerable use of charts, rules, policies,
manuals, guidelines and job descriptions. These days, you may
start a job with up to a week of orientation programming where
you are taken from the Vision Statement, Corporate Strategy
Documents, Policy Manuals, Codes of Conduct, Workplace

29.
Health and Safety, Quality Assurance and corporate style guides
across a whole range of organisational requirements. It’s quite
important to take a backpack on your first days as you will be
loaded up with paper work!
The classical mechanistic organisation demonstrates a
hierarchical structure with a predominantly top down
leadership, management and communication style. It might be
seen in the public sector as well as long established companies
and organisations where it has historically ingrained itself in
the work culture. Let’s not diminish its power
— not everyone wants to be a decision maker. It exists because
it suits the needs of the organisation and it works. A hospital
won’t last long if everyone can diagnose an illness. Food outlets
like Macdonald’s and Pizza Hut demonstrate mechanistic
structures because they really just want workers to deliver the
same product in the same time frame every time — and so do
fast food consumers.
Organic organisations are dynamic and flexible in their
communication, and relatively informal with communication
taking place between all levels.
Google is an excellent example of an organic structure.
Douglas Merrill, Senior
Director at Google describes how it works.
For Google information is “enlightenment” (not power) and the
entire organization is compelled to give “freely and learn from
each other,” using “abundant data and computational resources
to change the way people learn and work. (Farber 2005)
Google works within a structure they call cloud management.
The idea being that the entire organisation is structured to be
able to transform itself quickly to exploit any new opportunity
or weather any storm.

30.
Neither mechanistic nor organic organisations can claim the
‘high moral ground’. Often, it can be a mix. The real issue for
you as a communication practitioner within an organisation is
to know what is really going on and how best to manage
the
personalities and work culture you are working with.
REALITY CHECK: Follow this link to a YouTube clip that
details differences between Mechanistic and Organic
organisational structures. Reflect on how these structures relate
to the different organisations you have experienced. Can you
identify those that are mechanistic and those that are organic?
More importantly, can you identify any that are in transition
from mechanistic towards organic? Is this working or is
causing internal conflict?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMomBOlz7k4
2.3 HOW DO WE COMMUNICATE?
This is not an easy question to answer. The answer seems
simple — many people communicate without even thinking
about it.
We communicate by:

31.
• Words (spoken, sung or written)
• Gesture
• How we speak (the tone and volume of our voice)
• How we stand/sit (our posture and body movement) and
• Facial expressions and
• Through signs, symbols and images.
Many times we even communicate very effectively by what we
don't say or respond to. We can communicate face-to-face or via
a technological intermediary (emails, Web,
social media, telephone), even editorially or through
advertising, television and radio
and other media.
As discussed earlier, when we start looking for an all-
encompassing definition of how we communicate, it's not so
easy. You end up with something vague and general.
In summary, Communication is any activity or message, verbal
or non-verbal, which is perceived by any person and has
meaning for that person. Everything we do or say is
communication — it's impossible to not communicate. Even
saying or doing nothing can send a message. Communication is
vital to human survival and development. It binds communities
together and is the substance of our culture. It plays a major
role in all human activity and is central to our economic
subsistence.
Communication is a dynamic and interactive process. As people
respond, interpret and modify messages, they not only use their
intellect to place meaning and structure on a variety of
messages received but they also

32.
respond emotionally and use their perceptual skills in this
interaction. (Dwyer 2009, p.12).
FURTHER THOUGHTS
For organisations to survive in an increasingly competitive and
information-oriented environment, they need communication
practitioners who speak, write and interact with others
efficiently, effectively and professionally. These practitioners
need also to be observing, listening, mapping, surveying,
training, mentoring, supporting and adapting good
communication practice. Over the range of business units
offered, you will be able to develop these techniques. Should
we mention that even if you aren’t employed specifically as the
‘communication practitioner’ in an organisation, you are still a
communicator and all of these ideas matter if you are to be
effective and ultimately,
successful?
‘The most important thing in communication is to hear
what isn't being said.’ Peter Drucker
OTHER ACADEMIC SOURCES
Listed below are the names of areas of study as well as
academic and other writers who have written useful texts around
this week’s topic. This list may help you source more
information. Try the Griffith Library or other academic search
engines like Google Scholar.
Professor Armand Mattelart, Historian and sociologist of
communication

33.
Mattelart helps us understand communication in the context of
those big ideas about modern society, including the invention of
communication.
Professor Graeme Osborne, University of Canberra
The historical background to communication between Australia
and the rest of the world.
Jennifer Craik, RMIT
Explores the mass communication and analyses the War of
the Worlds radio broadcast.
Troy Innocent, Digital artist, Monash University
Explores the human response to technology and the role of
interactivity in his artwork, Iconic, he uses symbols and iconic
language to describe an entirely new world — a space for new
forms of communication, which doesn’t attempt to simulate real
life.
Semiotics
The semiotic approach sees communication as a mutual
negotiation of meaning rather than a linear transfer of messages
from transmitter to receiver. The notion of 'meaning-
construction' has been influential in the study of media and
communication. What exactly did the semiotic theorists
Saussure, Peirce and Barthes mean? What are 'the sign', 'the
signifier' and 'the signified'?
Margaret Peters, University of South Australia
Discusses communication in the workplace.

34.
Kim Anderson, Niemen’s, Director of marketing and content
How is the growth of e-commerce affecting the relationship
between business and customers? How does the growth of e-
commerce affect the relationship between business and
customers?
Matthew Allen, Curtin University of Technology
How communication technology transforms who we are.
Diana Eades, Forensic Linguist
Language and communication practices of the court. Her
analysis of what went on in one Queensland courtroom led to
the release of a convicted woman. She explains what happens
when people coming before the court don't understand what's
being said.
Rod Olney, News Room Channel Ten
An example of how critical theories of narrative illuminate the
news process and its products — how the news might be ‘read’.
Derham Groves, Monash University
Television in people's lives.
Tara Lemmey, President, Electronic Frontier Foundation
As information goes digital, it becomes increasingly easy to
access personal information. The rise in computer surveillance
has also fuelled concerns about online privacy and security.
Electronic Frontier Foundation is actively monitoring these
changes in cyberspace.
Gladys Genley, Historian of the alternative uses of technology
The use of personal, rather than mass media.
REFERENCES

35.
Dwyer, J 2009, Communication in Business Strategies and
Skills, 4th edition, Pearson Education Australia.
Dwyer, J 2013 Communication for Business and the
Professions, Strategies and Skills 5th edition
Farber, D 2005, Between the lines - A view into Google’s inner
works. www.zdnet.com
Waltzawick, P, Beavin, J.H & Jackson, DD 1967, Pragmatics of
Human Communication, Norton, USA
WEEK 3 COMMUNICATION AS A PROCESS
Key topics we will cover this week are:
•The development and evolution of communication models
•The emergence of the Cultural model in response to
globalisation and multiculturalism
•How information flows (or fails to flow) across organisations.
REQUIRED READING
Textbook: Chapter 1, Communication Foundations, pp 5-18.
Textbook: Chapter 2, Social Media, pp 24-31.
Independent Learning Task 3
Pages 8-11 (7th edn) and 7-10 (6th edn) of the Dwyer
textbook detail specific models of communication. Read

36.
through these models and identify one of the following models
from your own experiences of interacting with organisations:
Transmission Model, Process Model, or a Cultural Model. Tell
us how and why you made your choices by listing some of the
model’s characteristics there were evident in your example.
Remember to include at least one research source in each post
and a Reference List. The Discussion Board is available for a
three-week period – make sure you post before midnight on
Sunday of Week 5.
INTRODUCTION
This week, we move into ways in which communication has
been deconstructed and analysed starting around 1949 until
today. These models represent a movement towards a scientific
approach to communication. They are constantly evolving to
meet current needs and the challenges of globalisation, the
revolution in technology and multiculturalism.
These models are essential to learning and understanding
communication, because they provide a benchmark against
which all communication may be observed and delivered. As
you go forward in this Unit, you will be asking yourself
questions such as,
‘what was the message I sent, why was it received that way,
what interfered with understanding, what made noise so that my
message was only partially interpreted.’ It is an eye, ear and
mind opener.

37.
The seven main elements in the communication process are
sender, message, receiver, feedback, channel, context or setting,
noise and interference. (Dwyer 2013, p. 6)
Messages are continually encoded by the sender and decoded by
the receiver. This is perpetual and as natural as breathing.
Figure 1.1 may well be the most important graphic in Dwyer’s
text (2013, p. 6) as it succeeds in laying out the interactive
process that is communication.
Below I will paraphrase Dwyer’s seven elements of
communication:
1.SENDER: It all starts here. The sender initiates the
communication. Each of us has unique perspectives of
ourselves, our culture and our place but in this course we hope
to help you learn skills and that will assist you to interpret and
filter experiences. Through examining communication we will
encourage you to know more about yourself so that you can
listen and respond to others.
2.MESSAGE: this is the symbol, sign, words, movement,
tone of voice, inflection, rate and pitch of your speech, facial
expression, touching or body movement that is sent — either to
be understood or misunderstood.
3.RECEIVER: This is the decoder of the message. It may be one
person or many and there can be many forms that each
individual decodes the Message. It is getting complex!
4.FEEDBACK: This is the decoded response. It is the vehicle
through which communication is continued. The receiver
decodes the message and encodes a response and so on towards
understanding or failure.

38.
5.CHANNEL: How is the message sent? By web or email, or in
a strategic conversation, or informally. What method is used?
Obviously, messages can be (and are often) sent using a
combination of channels.
6.CONTEXT: This is the situation or setting. It has three
dimensions — physical, social-psychological and temporal (it’s
meaning in terms of the sequence of events or messages
surrounding it).
7.NOISE AND INTERFERENCE: Any and all communication
barriers that distort the interpretation or understanding of the
message.
REALITY CHECK: Follow the links to YouTube clips that talk
about communication and models. Though it uses some
American terminology it is a good resource.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUvEU5CaRdA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pu3A717r2U
3.1 MODELS OF COMMUNICATION
Since the 1940s, communication researchers have been
developing models. The first point that Dwyer makes about
models is most pertinent to this Unit.
Models and diagrammatic representations of how

39.
communication works illustrates different views of the
process by which people transfer meaningful information.
These representations cannot be regarded as a complete guide:
they take the elements that are seen as most significant in the
process and place them in an ordered pattern. Their purpose is
to explain and clarify essential features and regularities in
the process. (Dwyer 2013, p. 9)
Let’s deconstruct these ideas some more:
•The models follow a chronological line and very much reflect
workplace cultures and societal trends of their time. For
example, the Shannon and Weaver model created in 1949,
models a workplace where communication was fairly uniformly
top down, the organisational structure was hierarchical and
mechanistic. Leadership styles were ‘Command and Control’. In
other words, most workplace worked on the basis of you were
told what to do and you did just that without question. It was
the last remnants of the Industrial revolution where Labour was
treated like a part of the machinery.
•Many organisations today intermittently demonstrate a hybrid
version of a few models — sometimes mechanistic and top
down and on other occasions more organic with a much flatter
management style.
•The communication practitioner’s role is to listen, observe and
interpret what is really happening in their workplace and work
towards adding consistency.
•Keep in mind that all current theorising maintains that
Leadership style, management style and communication are
inexorably intertwined. If one aspect is weak — all may fail —
and any such fail will directly affect the bottom line.
The Transmission Models
Early communication analysts, like Shannon and Weaver,

40.
looked at communication as a process. There are different ways
of describing the process, but it's useful to begin with some
pretty basic terms that we can use as a kind of shorthand. We
will use these terms throughout the Unit, so everyone doing the
subject knows what we are talking about.
The transmission model of communication can involve a degree
of transaction, interaction and sharing of meaning, but basically
communication is seen as instrumentalist. This model is one-
way — communication is an instrument for getting the receiver
to understand, absorb, be influenced or persuaded by the
message conveyed by the sender. Developed in 1949, it is very
much a product and companion to leadership and management
styles of that era which could be characterised as top down —
hence it’s one way technique.
The effectiveness of communication is measured by the
similarity of message in the minds of the sender and the
receiver.
The Process Models
The original transmission model of communication has been
developed and refined over the years. From this has
emerged the process model, which shows communication
as a two-way, interactive process.
The process model of communication has seven elements,
broadly similar to the transmission model. This can be
represented diagrammatically

41.
The sender conveys a message, verbal or non-verbal, to the
receiver, who then interprets the message. This interpretation is
affected by the receiver’s perception of the message which, in
turn, is determined by the receiver's culture, background,
experiences and beliefs.
The receiver then responds to the message (feedback), which
indicates how well the message has been understood, and
continues the communication.
Communication happens in a certain place and time (context)
and may be affected by interference. In this model, interference
is any barrier raised as creating clear, unambiguous
communication.
This may include, for example:
•Lack of attention to, or honing of, message
•Receiver inattention — wrong place, wrong time
•Poor collateral materials
•Cultural difference
•Any disconnection from prevailing leadership and
management styles and/or any lack of cohesion.
The Cultural Models
Most modern models of communication show that
communication can't be artificially
'extracted' from the culture. It is an integral part of our
culture/s.
What do we mean by culture? Culture is made up of the values,
basic assumptions, beliefs and practices of a group — all the
routines and rituals that we pass on to the next generation.

42.
There has to be a certain amount of 'common' culture (i.e. a
sharing of certain values, rules, etc.). But 'our' culture is
becoming more and more changeable, diverse and fragmented,
giving rise to the potential for contestation and difference.
Different groups have competing meanings and values, for
example, bosses and workers, developers and conservationists.
This means of communicating is more complex and challenging
than simply having a sender conveying a successful message to
the receiver. Cultural diversity and ambiguity of messaging are
hallmarks of our culture and the business world is in no
way immune to them. Indeed, I believe we all have
experiences of these communication breakdowns in both our
personal and business lives.
At a practical level, we should be more aware of the contexts of
the communication process: the context in which the sender
operates (background, beliefs, attitudes etc.) plus the context in
which the receiver interprets the message (receiver's
background etc.),and we have to hone our message to create
successful communication of our message with the receiver/s.
Since perception significantly influences communication it is
useful to look closely at it. Each person selects, organises and
interprets their sensory impressions of their environment.
Selection is the art of attending to certain stimuli in the
environment while ignoring others. In the perception process,
people also organise the stimuli selected in order to create
meaning, relationships and patterns (Dwyer 2009, p.13).

43.
We have to be aware of, work with, and allow for
differences, and diverse interpretations of messages. And we
need to be more aware of the emotional aspects of
communication — receivers may be reacting immediately and
emotionally to what we might consider is our rational, common
sense message. Most business organisations, especially the
bigger ones, consist of a range of people from different sub-
cultures. This must be acknowledged in order to gain
cohesion or common purpose among those subgroups.
The business manager can't simply give orders or instructions
and expect everyone to immediately obey or understand. Many
managers can't understand why they are not communicating
effectively. Awareness of context — particularly cultural
context — may help overcome the problem.
The success of a manager as a communicator often relies on
how they shape the message to meet the particular needs of the
receivers. It is a very important ‘big picture’ issue within
organisations and one in which the communication practitioner
has a role as a potential mentor and trainer — through listening
and observing, mapping and surveying receiver responses.
One extreme of this cultural approach argues that successful
communication can only occur between members of a cultural
sub-group and that communication is more likely to fail when
there are fundamental differences between sub-groups. But is
this a return to tribalism with inward-looking groups that are
hostile to each other? Surely there can still be some common
ground — an agreement on the basic rules or laws so that
society can still function within change and diversity.
3.2 INFORMATION FLOWS
Getting the right information flow is important, and getting it

44.
right is a lot easier if you understand how it works. There are
four directions in which communication can flow in an
organisation:
1. Downwards Information flows from the top down to lower
levels in the organisation. This information tends to be mainly
instructions, directions and guidelines.
2. Upwards Information flows from the lower levels of an
organisation to higher managerial levels. This can be
overlooked in some organisations, but it is a vital source of
information for managers. Non-supportive supervisors and lack
of listening skills in management can cause problems.
3. Horizontal Communication at the same level throughout the
organisation, for example between departments or sections. It
can be formal (meetings, forms) or informal (telephone calls,
conversations at the coffee machine).
4. Lateral Communication between a lower level of an
organisation and a higher one across areas of authority. For
example, the head of one division may communicate directly
with a supervisor from another division about something, which
will then be put to the head of the supervisor's own division.
Such discussions should be carried out openly and with
permission, to prevent any possible barriers to
effective
communication building up.
Some organisational characteristics can cause communication
problems or barriers within these information flows. Problems
can happen when:
•Management is too centralised. Rigid and unbending
hierarchies may provide strong leadership, but they can also
stifle information flows, especially upwards.

45.
•There are too many management layers. This almost inevitably
leads to more time being spent in formal communication,
slowing every decision
•The structure of the organisation is too complicated.
Complex organisations have complex communication.
Complexity by definition can be difficult to penetrate, resulting
in too much information in circulation all the time. Really
important matters are often over looked and there is a very real
chance that informal ways of shortcutting complex procedures
will develop. Needless to say, these coffee clubs, smoker’s
groups and generalized gossip networks can often become a
real issue for successful communication.
FURTHER THOUGHTS
The study of communication models need to be kept in the
context that they are measures and benchmarks against which to
measure the effectiveness of your messaging. Their progress
and evolution over the last sixty years has been as dynamic as
the workplace itself — as even small businesses move
confidently from cottage
industries into the global market place.
What I write is different from what I say, what I say is different
from what I think, what I think is different from what I ought to
think and so it goes further into the deepest darkness. Franz
Kafka
Interpretations of interpretations interpreted. James Joyce
OTHER ACACEMIC SOURCES
Listed below are the names of areas of study as well as
academic and other writers who have written useful texts around

46.
this week’s topic. This list may help you source more
information. Try the Griffith Library or other academic search
engines like Google Scholar.
Glenn Lewis, University of Canberra
The Shannon and Weaver model of communication.
Merrelyn Bates, Griffith University
Communication models in the social sciences.
Terry Flew, Queensland University of Technology
Communication studies in universities and how they relate to
the ‘Information Society’.
Judith Lye, Buddhist meditator
An insight into Buddhist culture; the importance of the roles of
silence and meditation.
Frank Stootman, Physicist
The ultimate cross-cultural communication challenge — the
search for extra-terrestrial intelligence being conducted from
the University of Western Sydney.
Laura Miller, Editor, online magazine Salon
Can technology be used to disseminate culture?
David West, Australia National University
One of the roles of communication common to all models
is the conveying of information out into the public sphere, a
concept first described by Jurgen Habermas.
Psychology and Organisational Behaviour
The discipline of Psychology has contributed significantly to
our understanding of organisational communication.
Source and read an article about Group Behaviour and

47.
Organisational Culture.
MODULE 2:INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
WEEK 4INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
Key topics to be covered this week are:
•Critically analyse the roles of individual components in the
communication process: emotional intelligence, non-verbal
communication, active listening, versatility, assertiveness and
responsiveness.
•Begin to identify the strengths and weakness in your own
interpersonal communication style.
•Discussing tools and techniques to assist you to build up your
skill base around interpersonal communication.
REQUIRED READING
Textbook: Chapter 4, Emotional Intelligence: Managing Self
and Relationships, pp 79-89.
Textbook: Chapter 3, Interpersonal Communication, pp 46-72.
RECOMMENDED READING
The following reading has been supplied in your Dossier

48.
of Readings book to accompany this module.
Guffey, ME 2008, ‘Developing Team, Listening and Etiquette
Skills’. Business Communication: Process and Product, 6th
edition. Mason, OHIO: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Chapter 2, pp 50–61.
Independent Learning Task 4
On page 58 (7th edn) and pag 81 (6th edn) of the Dwyer text
you will find Table 3.1 which illustrates five basic traits of
emotional intelligence. Read them careful and then give
yourself a rating out of ten as to your own competency and
explain why you gave yourself that mark.
Remember to include at least one research source in each post
and a Reference List. The Discussion Board is available for a
three-week period – make sure you post before midnight on
Sunday of Week 6.
INTRODUCTION
Interacting with other people seems to be one of the most
spontaneous parts of everyday life. This doesn't mean you can
overlook or ignore interpersonal communication in your role
as communicator. The fact that interpersonal communication
is commonplace and 'ordinary' should not discourage us from
trying to build upon our skills base. In fact, part of your
communicator role would be to mentor and perhaps provide
training for managers around these skills. Often, content experts
become managers. They know all there is to know about how to
create the product. However this in no way qualifies them as

49.
good people managers and communicators. Again, you need to
be listening, observing, supporting and building skill bases for
successful communication at all levels within the organisation.
Today’s employers are looking for more than a person’s
technical or business expertise, experience and educational
background. They are seeking individuals who are emotionally
able to utilise emotions to guide thinking in personal
interactions and to withstand the pressures of the work.
(Dwyer 2013, p. 67)
DISCUSSION POINT: Many of you will have worked with
managers who are masters of content but, sadly have tragic
communication skills. Share some of your stories about what
goes wrong and how it impacts on both understanding and
productivity.
REALITY CHECK: Follow the YouTube link below. Although
it’s an ad, it covers a lot of issues about where we are going this
week.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVJuIZElOXE
4.1 EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Emotional intelligence is a different way of being smart. It
includes knowing what your feelings are and using your feelings
to make decisions in life. (Goleman 1998)

50.
Goleman says emotional intelligence has four domains — self-
awareness and self- management as internalised personal skills.
Plus social awareness and relationship management which
covers our abilities to be empathetic and to be a team player,
collaborating, influencing and communicating with others in the
workplace.
Emotional intelligence starts with emotional awareness. Heini
states:
At its highest level, it means being able to predict our feelings
in advance. (Hein www.eqi.org/aware.htm)
Emotional awareness encompasses connecting with,
acknowledging, identifying, accepting, reflecting and
forecasting feelings.
COM12 Business Communication
Module 2 Interpersonal communication
This involves examining how you see yourself, how comfortable
you are in different situations about revealing feelings, your
own self-esteem and your own levels of self- regulation and
self-motivation.
Emotional Intelligence is a relatively new term, but this is
ancient wisdom.

51.
Developing a rapport with people you communicate with often
depends on some or all of the factors above.
Some people are more extroverted, gregarious and friendly, but
this doesn't mean that more introverted or shy people aren't
successful interpersonal communicators. The most important
things are knowing yourself and being true to yourself. Being
sincere and natural is much more appealing than pretending to
be someone you are not.
Be aware that everyone else you communicate with also brings
their own levels of self- awareness into the communication loop
and we can begin to understand the intense levels of complexity
that can interfere with successful communication.
Techniques for building a good rapport also depend on the
context or situation of the communication, especially the rules
associated with the situation. For example, each of the
following has a different set of rules and different appropriate
behaviours:
•Length of relationship
•Level of intimacy
•Age
•Gender
•Power, status
•Professional or private relationship.
There are no fixed or universal rules, and the rules can be
inhibiting. For example, people may learn to be agreeable,
unassertive or fearful of confrontation, resulting from gender,
diversity or a wide range of cultural mores. This learning
can be unhealthy reactions to negative experiences.
It sounds simplistic — yet we learn to be more effective
communicators by listening to and observing others, learning

52.
from 'role models' in real life and through media.
REALITY CHECK: Follow the YouTube link below to a very
good discussion of the true role of self-management and
emotional intelligence.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCfEOlOZJSg
4.2 ASSERTIVENESS
Assertive behaviour acknowledges an individual’s rights as well
as others to have ‘their voice’ heard. It is a behaviour that
builds upon honesty, empathy and comfort. It is the active
expression of self-awareness and challenges our commitment to
equity and emotional intelligence values.
Aggressive behaviour is about winning at all costs. It often
evokes anger and conflict in an often singlehanded attempt to
entirely control outcomes. It rarely involves active listening or
observation other than to gain advantage in an adversarial
manner.
Submissive behaviour often results from being unable to make
your ‘voice heard’. Often it is a natural ‘fight or flight’
response to aggressive behaviours.
An assertive person can be able:
•to make requests

53.
•to actively and constructively disagree
•to express positive or negative feelings
•to stand up for personal rights
•to stand up for people without personally attacking another
•to initiate, maintain or disengage from conversations.
Being assertive is different to being aggressive. To be assertive
is to respond appropriately to what your emotional intelligence
is telling you without infringing on the rights of others.
Assertiveness is not insincere, apologetic or passive, and always
allows room for compromise. With interpersonal communication
often the best outcome is based on a consensus position —
perhaps only then can you be sure as a communicator that you
‘heard every voice’ in the room.
4.3 NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
Non-verbal communication (NVC) is an important aspect of
interpersonal communication. It is every part of communication
that does not exist as words — spoken or written. It is the
subconscious rather than conscious.
Surprisingly, research has established that 35% of meaning
comes from words and
65% from the non-verbal elements (Dwyer 2009, p. 93).
It is that part of the message that is not put into words. It
includes:
•Kinesics — gesture and body movement (face or eyes, body
language, posture, eye movement)
•Haptics — touch (hitting, handshakes, pat on the shoulder)
•Proxemics — personal space. When people get close, it can be
a sign of intimacy, but if we feel they are too close, it

54.
becomes threatening
behaviour. Keeping someone 'at arm's length' may be a way of
gaining and maintaining control of a situation.
•Paralanguage — voice. Not the words, but the way they are
spoken i.e. the pitch, tone, volume.
•Context or environment. The location in which
communication takes place can have a considerable effect.
•Artefacts — this includes items like the colours and patterns of
the clothes we wear, makeup, scent, glasses and badges. These
all contribute to the impression that we give, and may set the
tone of any communication.
There are three types of non-verbal communication:
•Personal to the individual. We all develop our own unique
NVC's, such as our style of dress, eye contact or not and a
myriad of others.
•Cultural. We can develop NVC according to the culture within
which we are brought up or work. Cultural groups may be
determined by age, gender, nationality etc. and each group will
influence its members in their choice and interpretation of
NVCs.
•Universal. Some NVCs are common to humankind such as a
smile or tears.
Generally speaking, verbal language expresses thoughts and
attitudes while NVC expresses feelings and emotions and is less
conscious. NVC usually reinforces what is being said, but can
also contradict it — this is the principle on which the lie
detector test is based. Where the spoken message and NVC are

55.
at odds, it is the NVC that tends to be believed.
The study and interpretation of NVC is not an exact science. It
can be ambiguous and open to misinterpretation. NVCs should
always be interpreted in the context of your own self-
knowledge (emotional intelligence) and through observation
and active
listening.
DISCUSSION POINT: On page 73 of the text, you will see a
graphic called Self- evaluate your skills: Assertive, Aggressive
and Submissive Nonverbal behaviour. Answer yes to which trait
might be your most common reaction and tell us what you have
learnt from taking the test.
4.4 ACTIVE LISTENING SKILLS
Active listening is an important aspect of communication.
Active listening isn't 'natural' listening’. It takes attention and
we need to work at it.
This can be best explained by understanding the difference
between hearing and listening in the context of a communicator.
Consider hearing to be passive where we only ‘take home’ what
we want from a discussion and active listening to be active
process where we are ‘awake’ to what we are feeling, hearing,
seeing and understanding.

56.
While hearing is a passive process, listening is a five stage
conscious, knowing response to a message in which the listener
hears sounds, interprets those sounds and attaches meaning to
the sounds in the message:
Stage 1 Receiving the verbal and nonverbal messages
Stage 2 Understanding the speaker’s thoughts and emotions
Stage 3 Remembering and retaining the message
Stage 4 Evaluating and judging the message
Stage 5 Responding or reacting to the message. (Dwyer 2013, p.
40).
REALITY CHECK: Follow this YouTube link to a good
discussion about active listening skills.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwqpd_XGzQM
Active listening allows you to articulate valid feedback and
correctly assess the emotional climate in the room. Real
messages will only emerge through an understanding of the
emotions that are underpinning the exchange — for both the
speaker and the listener. Techniques include attentive,
encouraging and reflective listening to tease out meaning.
At an interpersonal level, we are often more interested in
talking than listening (the

57.
'yes, but' phenomenon). We sometimes only take in a few words
or gestures and it is these that immediately catch our attention.
Often, we race to judgment without observing all of the cues
and information available. It is quite natural to do this, and that
is why communication practitioners need to be constantly
honing their active listening techniques and evaluating all the
messages being sent and received.
Listening actively involves:
•Making eye contact with the speaker without being
intimidating
•Adopting positive body movements such as nodding, but
avoiding fiddling with objects and wriggling about
•Making affirmative noises (e.g. yes, I see) where appropriate
•Ignoring or removing distractions
•Using posture to show interest e.g. face the speaker, lean
forward slightly
•Giving feedback that reflects the content and feelings in the
message.
Take the time to put active listening into the context of
communication models and it is easy to see the important role it
plays in the complex task of sending and receiving messages
potentially affecting sender, receiver, message, channel,
feedback and context.
4.5 RESPONSIVENESS AND FEEDBACK
A responsive communicator is defined as someone who is

58.
engaging their emotional intelligence and active listening skills
to meet the aims and objectives of the organisation.
Responsive communicators:
•Identify and interpret non-verbal cues about other people's
feelings
•Understand the feelings within the message as well as
understanding its basic concepts through engaging your
emotional intelligence in the discussion.
•Pick up and respond to the meaning of the message — sent and
received.
•Explore and communicate their understanding of the message
to other people — ask them if they can tell you what they are
feeling and hearing.
To maintain a balanced view, they avoid becoming over-
involved retaining a certain degree of objectivity and distance.
They understand that in order to be able to understand and
respond to the feelings of others they must sometimes detach
themselves from their personal feelings. Detachment is not lack
of empathy. It is the ability to detach from your own feelings in
order to understand others. Interestingly, it is a practice that
forms a cornerstone of meditative practice within Eastern
philosophies.
In Western practices, communication practitioners have used
transactional analysis as a simple method of determining the
roles we take on in our communication. We may be:
The Parent Authoritarian moralistic, judgmental,
supportive
The Adult Rational, realistic, seeking clarification
The Child Playful, demanding instant gratification,

59.
rebellious, seeking guidance
These roles are flexible and don't reflect a person's age or
status. They are roles that we all play in the communication
process. Each has its own value at varying appropriate
times. A versatile communicator can move between these roles
as necessary to facilitate communication.
Page 51 of the Dwyer text contains Figure 2.2 Characteristics of
effective feedback. This is an excellent summary of
responsiveness through the use of constructive feedback.
Responsiveness is a learned skill. It needs regular practice. Like
comedy, it is all in the timing. In practice, it is just know these
characteristics that is important it is performing them.
Responsiveness must be real and timely to work, but it we are
all seeking understanding and acknowledgement of our ideas to
create self-motivation
and self-realisation.
REALITY CHECK: Follow this link to a short YouTube video
that puts responsiveness and constructive feedback in a 1
minute nutshell.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmLZyB99ITA
4.6 RECORDING AND MAPPING

60.
Make sure you record or even map responses. A useful tool here
is a relationship map. Who are friends? Who are in cliques?
Who are the outsiders? Who are the opinion makers? How does
information find its way around the organisation?
Do people read their emails in a timely manner or is better to
join the morning coffee club and get responses from one end to
the other by lunch? Only you are in the position as the
communication practitioner to make these calls.
This sort of level of analysis will help you understand what is
really happening and we will be providing you with some
further surveying and mapping tools later in this unit.
FURTHER THOUGHTS
Communication is happening all the time. Through the
application of emotional intelligence, empathy, non-verbal cues,
active listening, assertiveness and responsiveness, the
communicator becomes ‘awake’ to what is going on around
them. Many Eastern philosophies use the terms awake and
asleep to refer to an individual’s state of enlightenment. Only
through knowing yourself can you know others.
‘Know thyself’
– inscribed into the pronaos of the Temple of Apollo –
built 7th Century BC
OTHER ACACEMIC SOURCES

61.
Listed below are the names of areas of study as well as
academic and other writers who have written useful texts around
this week’s topic. This list may help you source more
information. Try the Griffith Library or other academic search
engines like Google Scholar.
Chris Marsden, University of Warwick
Interpersonal communication is increasingly being mediated by
technology.
Howard Rheingold, Member of 'The Well'
Is 'real' interpersonal communication being superseded by
virtual communication? Howard Rheingold became a member of
'The Well', one of the first online communities in the US, in
1985.
Bob McChesney, University of Wisconsin
Activists in any field have to be assertive.
Dr Michael Georgeff, Director, Australian Artificial
Intelligence Institute
Can virtual environments allow responsiveness? Dr Georgeff
sees it as an immersive experience, that technology is merely an
illusion. Artificial intelligence gives computers a life of their
own.
Mark Balnaves, Murdoch University
Many types of communication have had to adapt to new
technology. An example is the paperless office
Dean Seaman, University of Virginia
In a dramatic example of communication versatility, rare and
valuable documents, Assets and books are being digitised and
put online.

62.
REFERENCES
Goleman, D 1998, Working with Emotional Intelligence,
Bantam Books USA. Hein, S n.d. Emotional Awareness,
www.eqi.org/aware.htm
MODULE 3:TEAMS AND ORGANISATIONAL MAPPING
WEEK 5INTRODUCTION TO TEAM DYNAMICS
Key topics we will cover this week are:
•Developing skills around working in teams
•Examining how to integrate an understanding of emotional
intelligence and communication modelling into your day to day
routine
•Gaining some useful tools to help you observe, map and survey
your workplace from a communications perspective
REQUIRED READING
Textbook: Chapter 9, Team and Work Group Communication,
pp 209-232.
Independent Learning Task 5
Next time you find yourself in a decision making meeting
whether

63.
at work or in your personal life identify the following member
profiles:
•The friendly helper
•The tough battler
•The logical thinker
Remember to include at least one research source in each post
and a Reference List. The Discussion Board is available for a
three-week period – make sure you post before midnight on
Sunday of Week 7.
COM12 Business Communication
Module 3 Teams and organisational mapping
INTRODUCTION
Communication is so integral to our daily lives that it sounds
simplistic to make a statement like ‘communications is the tool
we use to enjoy working together.’ Yet, it is true. Many times
people decide to stay in a job because they feel welcome,
respected and comfortable. Many of us will have worked
happily in a place, then a different set of circumstances,
management or leadership comes along and the workplace
rapidly becomes unhappy and destabilised. Many practitioners
talk about toxic workplaces where staff turnover is through the
roof and morale is painfully low. All of these reactions, states
of mind and circumstances are often rooted in communication

64.
— both good and bad.
The structure and context within which an effective team
operates enable the Leader and members to engage with the
team’s purpose and participate in its activities. The drivers of
high-performing teams are the leader and members’ common
understanding of the team’s purpose, shared and individual
roles and expectations, ability to build rapport and
relationships, and the knowledge and skills to perform
effectively. (Dwyer
2013 p 204)
5.1 WORKING TOGETHER
Work team meetings are a major part of business
communication. Work teams work collaboratively to achieve
agreed outcomes which are within its charter. They may take all
types of structures to accomplish their task.
Some key processes may be to:
• Identify a problem
• Think creatively
• Solve problems.
Effective meetings enable individuals to:
• Share and clarify information
• Give and receive feedback
• Provide and/or receive training
• Participate in discussions
• Become part of the solution to problems
• Observe and actively listen to what is being said and felt.
Meetings may be pro forma with rules and regulations e.g. an

65.
annual general meeting (AGM) or board meeting OR informal
which are less structured, and involve a greater reliance on
individual participation.
There are four basic types of teams:
•Project work teams. Are outcome driven with a clear purpose
and sets of goals, for example, a conference or product
launch. Project team —
Obviously, these teams are constructed for a single purpose —
with a clear outcome. Table 8.1 Common factors in
participation projects on page 207 of the Dwyer text outlines
factors that make for either successful or unsuccessful projects.
•Self-managed groups. Do just that. They are responsible for
managing themselves and have a high level of control over their
day to day activities. Often, a team leader will be appointed but
essentially the unit teaches, mentors, and facilitates its own
management. Self-managed teams are often see to be at the
cutting edge of innovation capable of flexibility and
‘digging down’ into the intellectual capacities of its members.
•Cross-functional teams. Usually contain content experts from
across the organisation who subsequently reach consensus
decisions. The idea is to harvest all the ideas and use all the
available expertise across the organisation to achieve its goals.
•Virtual teams. Work within electronic media across
distance and in isolation to communicate and collaborate.
REALITY CHECK: Follow this YouTube clip to an

66.
interview about self-managed groups.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBnR00qgGgM
DISCUSSION POINT: Identify when you have worked in any
one of these types of teams and share your experiences in the
discussion board.
Some meetings require people to take specific roles, such as the
chairperson and the secretary. These may be elected or
appointed. The chairperson decides the agenda (in consultation
with others), keeps all the members informed, facilitates
the actual meeting, and helps the meeting to reach decisions
and recommend actions. The secretary takes notes on the
proceedings and keeps a record of any decisions made.
Effective meetings take planning. An agenda must be agreed
and notified in advance so that all members can prepare. If
decisions are to be made, the way in which they are arrived at
should be agreed in advance. Possibilities include consensus
(everyone agrees) and simple majority (the option voted for by
the most people). If necessary, a casting vote may be taken by
the chairperson.
At every stage of group development and in every type of team,
members engage in formal and informal communication. They
apply their interpersonal listening and non- verbal skills,
including body language, voice, tone and nuance to manage
team interactions.

67.
Communication purposes in a team include:
•Establishing a climate of trust and balancing power and
authority
•Setting goals and agreeing objectives
•Allocating tasks and delegating work
•Striking the balance between empowerment and accountability
•Identifying tactics for monitoring and follow up
•Evaluating and appraising performance
Again, we come back to how the role of communication
practitioners and communicators is integral to the successful
leadership and management of an organisation. What workers
are saying, doing, feeling and communicating within these work
teams is the creative life-blood of the organisation.
Teamwork is becoming more and more common in business.
This is a reflection of changes in the workplace including:
•A move away from autocratic authority (decision-making from
the top) to participative decision-making. Remember this is an
excellent observation point for leader communication and
organisational communication. How do these two work in
practice? Is real time practice in opposition to how the upper
echelon think communication is working in their organisation?
Often organisations have attitudes, policies and philosophies
that do not reflect their day to day practice. In many ways, it is
the human condition, where battlelines can be drawn when
communication has broken down. A saying attributed to former
Prime Minister Keating sums this up entirely. ‘When having to
choose between a conspiracy and chaos, always choose chaos.’
It’s your role as a communicator to join up these dots of
information and make the message coherent.
•'Flatter' organisational structures should correlate with fewer

68.
bosses and more self-managed, semi-autonomous work teams.
Sometimes, however, this is a sham and one of the most
difficult communication environments can be where flatter
management styles have become policy. However, the reality is
that lip service only is being paid to these processes and any
real decision making is still top down. This can create an
extremely cynical workplace where team work has become a
waste of time and everyone knows it.
•The move from mass production (the mechanical
structure) to more specialised products and services requires a
more flexible system of co- operation and information sharing
(a more organic structure).
Small, task-oriented groups meet the challenges presented by
changing business. Effective teams follow a set of understood
rules of organisation and decision-making procedures, not
necessarily written down but inherent within the work culture of
the organisation
5.2DISADVANTAGES OF WORK TEAMS
•It can be time consuming. We all know how ‘real’ work time
can be sucked up by endless meetings and these need to be
prioritised.
•Group work can be disruptive and frustrating. Sometimes
it just isn’t working and aggressive as well as submissive
elements are blocking progress
•There may be pressure on group members to conform to and
‘group think’, which often stifles creativity.

69.
The important thing is to be independent in your analysis of
what is happening and applied your skills as a communicator to
manage cultural change towards healthier communications
practice.
It is important to identify all the goals — individuals,
group, leadership and management. These may or may not be
in harmony, but ideally there should be a balance. However,
often there may be conflict.
All types of goals can be manipulated so be aware of those
seeking their own ends, agendas or, sometimes, just the
personal satisfaction of winning at all costs.
5.3 GROUP DYNAMICS
Put simply, group dynamics is the name given to what happens
between, and to, group members. Again, it is here where the
awareness of the intertwined relationship between leadership,
management and communication and, indeed, your own self-
awareness are paramount.
People usually do fall into roles within group work that can be
identified as task-related, maintenance related, defensive and
(sadly) dysfunctional.
Key to observing and interpreting groups dynamic is
identifying some consistent member profiles. Some of these
are:

70.
5.4 THE FRIENDLY HELPER
•Maintenance oriented
•Harmoniser, compromiser, seeks mutual affection, appeals to
pity
•Fears s/he will not be loved, wanted.
5.5 THE TOUGH BATTLER
•Task or defensive oriented
•Sees group in terms of conflict and power
•Assertive, initiating, presses for results, gives orders and
directions
•Weighs up who is strong and weak
•Fears losing power or becoming soft and sentimental.
5.6 THE LOGICAL THINKER
•Task oriented
•Seeks information, weighs up the pros and cons
•Sticks to the rules
•Fears losing control, losing objectivity.
These roles are often driven by different levels of inclusion,
control and acceptance. These are most likely feelings that have
grown organically with the dominant work culture in the
organisation. Remember, all information is useful and the
observations you are making go to the heart of leadership
and management styles and subsequently communication.
The other shaper of team dynamics is leadership behaviour that
fall into three basic and overarching traits:
•Authoritarian Leadership

71.
•Participative leadership
•Laissez-faire Leadership
Figure 8.2 Different leadership styles and the flow of
communication on page 193 of the Dwyer text quickly
demonstrates the impacts of style.
FURTHER THOUGHTS
The observation and management of team meetings and
group dynamics is the frontline of managing the
communication in your organisation. This is precisely where
war and peace ‘break out’. It is important to remember that how
decisions are made is often more important in the long run than
the decisions themselves. Demand that every participant is
treated respectfully and that every voice in the room is heard. It
is often up to the communication practitioner to not only ‘take’
the emotional climate in a meeting, but to set it. How you
conduct yourself will often set the benchmark.
WEEK 6 IDENTIFYING, SURVEYING AND MAPPING
Key topics this week are:
•Discussion about various tools you can use to qualify and
quantify the success of communication in your organisation.
•Working out how which combinations of these tools may be
appropriate for your workplace.

72.
REQUIRED READING
Textbook: Chapter 15, Conducting Surveys and Questionnaires,
pp 350–370;
Textbook: Chapter 13, Knowledge Management, pp 308–317.
Independent Learning Task 6
Consider the physical map of your workplace as suggested in
the
Discussion Point in 6.1 PHYSICAL MAPPING in this study
Guide. Share your thoughts, good and bad about:
1.The physical environment’s impact on communication
2.Its role in potentially setting up cliques and Power Groups.
3.Decide whether the physical design of the workplace informs
you about the Leadership and Management styles within the
organisation.
COM12 Business Communication
Module 3 Teams and organisational mapping
Remember to include at least one research source in each post
and a Reference List. The Discussion Board is available for a
three-week period – make sure you post before midnight on
Sunday of Week 8.
50
49

73.
INTRODUCTION
An important part of your job is to develop some tools to
quantify and quality the success or failure of communication
within your organisation using surveying and mapping of
responses and attitudes.
Surveys are used extensively to inform social and
economic policy. Properly conducted surveys provide accurate
information and prediction, allowing those organisations that
use the survey results to plan confidently for the future. Fowler
(2009, p. 3) explains:
There are three potential properties of data from a properly
done survey that make them preferable to data from other
sources:
•Probability sampling enables one to have confidence that the
sample is not a biased one.
•Standardised measurement that is consistent across all
respondents so that comparable data is obtained.
•To meet analysis needs a special purpose survey may be the
only way to ensure that all of the data for a given analysis are
available and can be related. (Dwyer 2013, p. 351)
For the purposed of this Unit, we will give a brief overview of
some rudimentary surveys you right use when you get into the
workplace. In Assignment 3 Business Report you will be
encouraged to use some of these skills to collect and collate
data about communication within an organisation. There is no
expectation that you will be necessarily producing a full,
ethically reviewed survey. However we will be interested in the
questions you ask and your interpretation of this primary

74.
source.
It is noted that the Dwyer text gives a methodology for a ‘full
blown’ set of surveys and questionnaires. This will become an
excellent resource for you as you study further or
become the communication practitioner within your
organisation.
DISCUSSION POINT: We are interested to know whether you
have participated in a survey about communication in your
workplace. If so, can you tell us how that worked and whether
there was adequate feedback on results? If you have never
been
surveyed, perhaps you could tell us what your expected
outcomes might be.
The place to start is the organisational chart. You can find this
in the Strategic Plan or other policy documents. It details the
‘hierarchy’ of the organisation as well as establishes the sorts of
management and other teams that make up the formal structures.
It might also indicate communication lines. Most companies
have this and it is good to first observe chains of reportage,
roles and team charters.
REALITY CHECK: Follow the YouTube link to an excellent
breakdown of the structure and purpose of an organisational

75.
chart and its meaning.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ghoia9_B0Y
Work teams usually have an established charter setting out the
membership parameters, tasks, accountability and reportage for
each group.
This helps to establish who’s who within the work teams and
whether the various work teams are actually completing their
nominated reportage duties within the organisation. This may
not be happening. Perhaps the group is moribund or perhaps
they have just fallen off the task. Either way, you need to chart
what the reporting cycles should be and whether that is actually
occurring.
REALITY CHECK: Follow the link to this YouTube clip that
gives an overview of the nature of teams, socially and in the
workplace. Skip the first few minutes as they are irrelevant.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBbAzdSOn7w
Organisations can actually have a great set of policy documents,
setting all sorts of necessary communication lines, but the
reality is that they have fallen into disuse or have been
superseded by the evolving of structures. This often happens in
the hurly- burly of the day to day.

76.
It is useful to make a map that charts the published
communication lines in an organisation and match it against
what is really happening. It is imperative to know what should
be happening against what the reality is.
6.1 PHYSICAL MAPPING
It is helpful to draw up a map of where workers and work
groups sit or work within the building. This is often an
extremely interesting exercise that can often reveal the
hierarchical or flat management structure of the organisation. It
may indicate physical obstacles to communication. An example
may be that all management is on one floor or in a particular
area and this may hinder more informal communication
lines. Everyone on one floor will get the message straight away
whereas it takes some time for the message to get to the ‘factory
floor’ unless some other mechanisms are engaged. This can lead
to confusion (noise and interference).
In any event, drawing up this map will enable the development
of a relationship map as an overlay.
DISCUSSION POINT: Draw a map of where people sit in your
workplace. Once you have done that, complete this week’s
Independent Learning Task.
6.2 RELATIONSHIP MAPPING

77.
A relationship maps and records who are connected, and who
are not, across a myriad of relationships and alliances.
Often these relationships can be drawn onto the Physical Map in
different coloured lines to indicate the nature of the
relationships. It need only be a very basic map and it is really
just for your use to aid your understanding of the culture and
dynamics of the organisation. You may find in bigger
organisations that there are no social connections between
departments or that certain factions, cliques and shadow
networks operate with far too much power.
In communication, a shadow network is a name given to
informal networking. They have no structure, charter or
reportage requirements — yet they are powerful. The can be the
smoker’s club, or the lunch crew or the crew that go to the pub,
or footy tab — whatever they do or whomever they are — they
are powerful and are connected through their workplace and
experiences.
This power can be exercised positively and negatively. Indeed,
some of the most creative ideas can be found in the shadow
system. A big part of your role to make sure that every voice is
heard is to set up mechanisms that harvest these ideas and feed
them into the more formal structures.
When drawing up your relationship map remember to
include all of the informal
‘shadow’ networks — smokers, coffee shop, lunch groups as
well as out of work connection (footy clubs, kids, schools) as
these are all very much ‘live sites’ for work communication.
Many times it is here in these shadowy networks that matters
are discussed and ‘sorted’.

78.
REALITY CHECK: Follow this YouTube link to a discussion
about different sorts of relationships. Can you identify these
types of relationships in your workplace?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UlP7g36ono&NR=1&feature=fvw
p
I’m sure you will be surprised at the amount of meaning these
maps can bring to your communication successes and failures —
and often leadership and management are blind to some of the
more physical and emotion information available to them —
whereas the workers certainly are not.
It adds to your understanding of why some people may behave
differently in various meeting situations and can value add
to your own awareness as well as your
understanding of other’s feelings and emotions when trying to
establish a positive emotional climate.
These tools can serve as a quick reference for you when heading
into a potential conflict meeting. It can act as a quick guide of
who is going to stick up for whom and who is not. They are also
usual for considering when setting up teams that truly match the
demographics across the entire workplace. They are a positive
tool for creating inclusiveness.

79.
6.3 SURVEY QUESTIONS
There are many ways of using survey questions. You can do a
real survey using a program like Survey Monkey which will be
anonymous and do the data analysis for you or it can be as
random and a set of questions you might ask some workers in
response perhaps to where they sit in the organisational chart
and maps.
Each work place is different so it is difficult to come up with a
definitive set. Here are some examples of questions that work:
•What values are shared across the organisation and do we live
up to these values effectively?
•How often do you personally take away useful
information/learning from staff or team meetings?
•Can you describe the role of the management team?
•How often does the management team communicate
information to you personally and to all staff?
•How often do you use the website or intranet to source
organisational information?
•How often is information from your work team
communicated to other departments/work teams across the
organisation?
•Do you believe there are functional, informal networks that
communicate information effectively across the organisation?
These questions are merely offered to spark your imagination
when developing survey questions for your workplace.

80.
Here’s what they may look like in a real survey within an
organisation. It just needs to be a simple document. The secret
of surveys is to keep them short, easy to answer and always
hone the questions down to what you really want to know.
Formal Processes
1.How would you describe your understanding of the roles of
the Strategic Management Team and the Business Management
Team?
don't know
poor
little
basic
good
informed
complete
Comments:
2.How often do these two working parties communicate
information to:
– You personally?
Don’t know

81.
never
seldom
occasionally
regularly
often
all the time
– Staff and board?
Don’t know
never
seldom
occasionally
regularly
often
all the time
Comments:
3.How often do you use the intranet or our website to source
learnings?
Don’t know

82.
never
seldom
occasionally
regularly
often
all the time
Comments:
4.How often do you personally take away useful
information/learning from staff meetings?
Don’t know
never
seldom
occasionally
regularly
often
all the time
Comments:

83.
Informal/Internal processes
5.How often are learnings from your project communicated to
other projects?
Don’t know
never
seldom
occasionally
regularly
often
all the time
Comments:
6.Do you believe that the organisation has any functional
informal networks t that communicate across the organisation?
Don’t know
never
seldom

84.
occasionally
regularly
often
all the time
Comments:
7.Howeffectivelydoyoubelievethatyoucanupwardlycommunicate
your learnings/information/concerns within the organisation?
Don’t know
never
seldom
occasionally
regularly
often
all the time
Comments:
External influences
8.How effectively do you believe we communicate our learnings
into the wider community?

85.
Don’t know
never
seldom
occasionally
regularly
often
all the time
Comments:
9.How effectively do you believe the organisation fulfils its
strategic objectives?
Don’t know
never
seldom
occasionally
regularly
often
all the time
Comments:

86.
10.List some values we share across the organisation?
Comments:
54
51
6.4 KNOWLEDGE WORKERS
Knowledge is data, information and intelligence that can be
used to act. The intellectual capital of an organisation is the
collective knowledge (whether documented or not) of individual
workers that can be (and is) applied to work.
Knowledge workers are the natural allies of the communication
practitioner. You can often identify them through the
observation of these traits:
•Values knowledge
•Encourages knowledge sharing
•Applies knowledge to all activities
•Empowers people to make decisions relating to work activities
•Encourages networks and recognises the efforts of others.