Communication and Effective Questioning

Communication is the transfer of information.

4 principles of Osgood Schramm Model of Communication

1. Circular Communication not linear
2. Equal and reciprocal Communication
3. Messages require interpretation
4. 3 steps for communicating: encoding, decoding and interpreting.

There are 2 parties:

1. The sender (origin encoder)
2. The receiver (decodes and interprets).

Types of Messages

1. Verbal messages - words
2. Non-verbal - body language, lights, sounds, pictures and symbols, etc.

One way and Two way Communication

Sending a message is one-way.

Communication is completed when the receiver sends a feedback; and therefore, becoming a two-way communication.

The medium is the tool utilized in order to transfer the message.

An example is a “no smoking” signage which has:

• text (the word)
• the icon (the picture)
• the color (red-indicating fire hazard)

Effective Questioning

The correct question-asking technique promotes better understanding for a successful communication. It has to be done in:

• the right time
  • The way you ask the question determines the kind of answer.
• the right manner

Asking questions conveys interest, level of engagement, or even intelligence. It is also used as a means of evaluating something.

Proper Way of Asking Questions

1. Create clear questions that will basically get the vital information using the 4W and 1H (Who, What, Where, When and How)

Be neutral and not accusatory.

Communicate directly obvious and clear. Don’t muddle your message by adding filler words such as:

• ‘about’
• ‘maybe’
• ‘a little bit’

2. Structure the question

Choose words that are familiar, unambiguous, and easily understood.

Provide concrete examples, if possible.

Pay attention to your listener to make certain they understand the language that you are using.

3. Use steady eye contact and appropriate body language expressing interest and willingness to encounter and accept new conclusions.

Use the appropriate tone of voice that will convey that the conversation is collaboration - aimed towards making things better. In the same manner, your nonverbal communication should complement what you say. When the two differ, your listener will believe your nonverbal cues and tend to ignore what you are saying.

Avoid distracting habits such as:

• crossing your arms
• putting your hands in your pockets
• handling a cell phone
• turning away from people when you ask questions.

Practice moving purposely instead.

Actively listen to the response and pause at the end of a question so that the person will have time to think, formulate, and deliver an answer.

Do not interrupt to show your interest in the response. Block physical distractions like background noise, interruptions, uncomfortable temperatures, and busy environments. If possible, close the door, turn off a cell phone, or suggest that you and your listener find a quieter interaction

4. Have something to note or write the response.

5. Restate or enhanced the question if the answer is vague or respectfully request for a repetition if inaudible to you.

6. Be open-minded by showing respect for responses are views not in accordance to our view; or use silence for responses that are hostile

Types of Communication Media

Verbal media include face-to-face meetings, telephone calls, voice mail, and video conferences.

Choose a medium that is appropriate for the message that you are sending. Consider:

• the complexity of your message
• the costs of a potential misunderstanding
• your listener’s ability to understand you
• the urgency of your message.

1. Physical media

The talking person can be seen and heard. This shows the body language and the climate. It can be:

• a face-to-face conversation or
• videoconference and webinars.

1.a. Large meeting

This is excellent for urgent matters, brain storming, or when announcing information concerning the organization. However, there may be less opportunity for dialogue

1.b. Departmental meetings

This gives good opportunities for dialogue with less involvement of the personnel in the higher ranks.

1.c. Personal

Few people meet either randomly or as scheduled to discuss and answer questions.

1.d. Viral communication

This uses social networks

2. Mechanical media

This type of medium utilizes written or electronic channels. These channels is fast but impersonal.

2.a E-mail

2.b. Memos and announcements

Usually, announcements are made through memorandum.

2.c. Printouts

Examples are billboards, company manuals, newsletter, or company brochures

2.d. Short Message Service

This is a personal channel.

2.e. Social media

Its use for business communication should be minimized.

Flow of Communication

1. Downward

This is from higher office to lower office, management to employees (memo, announcements, work order). This usually involves formal communication that is either oral, written on paper or electronic form.

2. Upward

From lower office to higher office, employees to management (requests, reports, complains).

3. Horizontal

This is communication of same ranks (employee to employee, manager to manager). This may be formal or informal.

4. Outward

Communication from within the organization towards other agencies.

Confidentiality is a major issue in this direction of communication.

5. Grapevine

This is a very informal communication that has no specific direction.

Teamwork is the effort of group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose and hold themselves mutually accountable for its achievement.

Ideally, the team develops a distinct identity and work together in a co-ordinated and mutually supportive way to fulfil their goal or purpose.

Task effectiveness is the extent to which the team is successful in achieving its task-related objectives. Shared goals are most likely to be achieved through working together and pooling experience and expertise.

Each team member is hired to perform a certain skill set, which contributes to a single department, and the department functions interact with the operations of other departments to provide quality service.

In contrast with a group that shares a common profile, a team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable (see Tab. 2-1a)

Table 2-1a. Difference Between a Group and a Team

Group Member

Team Member

may still be a part of the group in the absence of any contribution have specific role to fulfill may not be involved in the planning and decision-making, since conformity is valued more than positive results contribution is needed and is based on expertise required to accomplish a common goal and team leader may decide on the matter when consensus agreement is not reached given their tasks or told what they should do collaborate and use their talents and experience to contribute to the success of team’s objectives are cautious about what they say and are afraid to ask questions base success on trust and encourage all members to express their opinions, varying views, and questions. potentials are not maximized because of strict role as a member encouraged to offer skills and knowledge, and in turn is able to contribute to the group’s success are bothered by differing opinions or disagreements because these are considered threats see conflict as a part of human nature and react to them as an opportunity to hear about new ideas and opinions

While human is considered the most important asset of any organization, teamwork is inevitably the key factor that makes human work together to achieve common goals. Developing teamwork is vital to any organization because of the scope of work performed on a daily basis.

Teamwork is the effort of group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose and hold themselves mutually accountable for its achievement. Ideally, the team develops a distinct identity and work together in a co-ordinated and mutually supportive way to fulfil their goal or purpose. Task effectiveness is the extent to which the team is successful in achieving its task-related objectives. Shared goals are most likely to be achieved through working together and pooling experience and expertise.

Each team member is hired to perform a certain skill set, which contributes to a single department, and the department functions interact with the operations of other departments to provide quality service. In contrast with a group that shares a common profile, a team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable (see Tab. 2-1a)

Table 2-1a. Difference Between a Group and a Team

Group Member

Team Member

may still be a part of the group in the absence of any contribution have specific role to fulfill may not be involved in the planning and decision-making, since conformity is valued more than positive results contribution is needed and is based on expertise required to accomplish a common goal and team leader may decide on the matter when consensus agreement is not reached given their tasks or told what they should do collaborate and use their talents and experience to contribute to the success of team’s objectives are cautious about what they say and are afraid to ask questions base success on trust and encourage all members to express their opinions, varying views, and questions. potentials are not maximized because of strict role as a member encouraged to offer skills and knowledge, and in turn is able to contribute to the group’s success are bothered by differing opinions or disagreements because these are considered threats see conflict as a part of human nature and react to them as an opportunity to hear about new ideas and opinions

Team Member Roles Types of Team in the Organizational Workplace

All workplace teams have the common element of people working together cooperatively and members possessing a mix of skills.

1. Self-Managing Work Teams

   This is sometimes referred to as the self-directed team. A self-managing work team is a small group of employees responsible for managing and performing technical tasks to deliver a product or service to an external or internal customer. Such teams perform a wide variety of manufacturing and service activities and work in an extremely integrated and collaborative way because they don’t have a formal leader. Members define the division of labor, responsibilities and the distribution of tasks, as well as make decisions and even control and supervise themselves.

2. Cross/Multi-Functional Teams

   A cross-functional team is a work group composed of workers from different specialties, at about the same organizational level, who come together to accomplish a task. The people from different specialties are supposed to blend their talents. This type of work team is usually formed to develop work with a multidisciplinary view, in which each area represented by team members complements the knowledge of others, bringing more creative and comprehensive results.

3. Task Force team

   This is sometimes referred to as special purpose team. They form only when emergency situations emerge which the organization needs to solve. Its members are usually the best of the company in the area. During the resolution of the emergency, they will dedicate themselves exclusively to this task. Their goal is to do this in the best way and in the shortest possible time.

4. Project team

   These are work groups an organization creates to implement a specific project until completion. Afterward, the group dissolves as it achieved its objectives. Typically, members come from different areas of the company and perform other tasks related to their home department. But, as far as the project is concerned, they answer to the project leader.

5. Virtual Teams

   Some teams conduct most of their work by sending electronic messages to each other rather than conducting face-to-face meetings. A virtual team is a small group of people who conduct almost all of their collaborative work by electronic communication rather than face-to-face meetings.

Different Team Roles

It's important to define a role for each member of a team, based on her personal strengths and preferences. According to MindTools, Dr. Belbin, a prominent researcher, identified nine different roles that members of a team will naturally adopt. If you are aware of these roles, you can work to create more balanced teams with a broad range of talent and fewer weaknesses. By being aware and respectful of different styles, team members can also work together more sympathetically.



 Researcher R. Meredith Belbin came up with nine team roles through a study conducted at Henley Management College. He identified the team roles after observing the behavioral tendencies of individuals within a group (see Fig. 2b). Belbin describes a team role as "a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way." The team roles consist of three categories: action-oriented roles, people-oriented roles and thought-oriented roles. Teams formed on the basis of Belbin's categories are effective in achieving their objectives because there are no overlapping roles or missing qualities in the team.

1. Action-oriented Role - focus on improving team’s performance, putting ideas into action, and meeting deadlines

a. Shaper

 In a team, the shaper role is performed by people who are dynamic and relish challenges. Rather than quit when faced with challenges, shapers maintain a positive mental attitude and strive to find the best ways to overcome challenges facing the team. Shapers are extroverts and possess great interpersonal communication skills and work toward motivating other team members.

b. Implementer

 People who play the implementer role in a team are those who actually get things done in the team. They are practical, efficient and well-organized. Implementers turn the team’s ideas and thoughts into actual plans. Because of their conservative nature, implementers are rather rigid and slow to accept change in a team.

c. Completer/ Finisher

 Finishers have an eye for detail. In a team, they're regarded as perfectionists because they're the ones who detect errors or omissions and strive to ensure that the team adheres to deadlines. They're neat and self-conscious and worry at the slightest sign of a problem. Finishers also have a problem with delegation; they would rather be overwhelmed than share their work with others.

2. People-oriented Role - bring people and ideas together

a. Coordinator

 Coordinators are seen as possessing the traditional team role. They're mature and confident in nature and possess great listening skill. They guide the activities of the team to what they identify to be the team's obligations. Coordinators are good at delegating duties, but they may be manipulative when it comes to directing the team toward what they perceive to be its goals.

b. Team Worker

 Team workers are the people who ensure the team remains united. They work toward resolving conflict or issues affecting the team’s dynamics. Team workers are very supportive of other team members and are thus popular within the team. Team workers are known to be non-committal during decision making because they don’t want to be seen as taking sides: they put team cohesion ahead of their decision-making abilities.

c. Resource Investigator

 Resource investigators are inquisitive and enthusiastic in nature and possess great negotiating and networking skills. They are extroverts, which makes it easy for others to relate to them. Through their networking skills, resource investigators develop external contacts and negotiate for the team's resources. They are quick thinkers and good at getting information from other people.

3. Thought-oriented Role -analyze options and provide technical expertise.
   

a. Monitor-Evaluator

 These are the critical thinkers in a team. They're serious minded and cautious in nature. Rather than rush into decision making, they prefer to critically analyze information before making any conclusions. Monitor-evaluators lack the energy to motivate other team members and are deemed to be slow in decision making.

b. Specialist

 Workers with expert knowledge in a particular area comprise the specialist role. Their contribution to the team is limited only to their area of expertise. Their priority is in maintaining their professional standards. Though they show great pride in their area of expertise, they show little or no interest in the expertise of others. Because of their expert knowledge, they're indispensable members of a team.

c. Plants

 Plants are innovative members of the team. They come up with original approaches and ideas that help the team in solving problems or overcoming challenges. Plants are introverts in nature and possess poor communication skills. Plants prefer to work alone. They react well to praise but are greatly affected by negative criticism.

Stages of Team Growth

 Groups go through a set of predictable stages of development. In 1965, Bruce Tuckman, who carried out research on group dynamics, identified the four stages (see Fig. 2a) as forming (getting to know each other); storming (initial confrontation as group members identify their differences); norming (coming together to work for the benefit of the team); and performing (working well together with a process to deal with any differences of opinion and reassessing to look for opportunities for improvement)

Team development

 Teams don't just form and immediately start working together to accomplish great things. It undergoes stages of team growth; and teams must be given time to work through the stages and become effective.

Stage 1: Forming.

 When a team is forming, members cautiously explore the boundaries of acceptable group behavior. They search for their position within the group and test the leader's guidance. It is normal for little team progress to occur during this stage.

Stage 2: Storming.

  This is probably the most difficult stage for the group. Members often become impatient about the lack of progress, but are still inexperienced with working as a team. Members may argue about the actions they should take because they faced with ideas that are unfamiliar to them and put them outside their comfort zones. Much of their energy is focused on each other instead of achieving the goal.

Stage 3. Norming.

 During this stage team members accept the team and begin to reconcile differences. Emotional conflict is reduced as relationships become more cooperative. The team is able to concentrate more on their work and start to make significant progress.

Stage 4. Performing.

 By this stage the team members have discovered and accepted each other's strengths and weaknesses, and learned what their roles are. Members are open and trusting and many good ideas are produced because they are not afraid to offer ideas and suggestions. They are comfortable using decision making tools to evaluate the ideas, prioritize tasks and solve problems. Much is accomplished and team satisfaction and loyalty is high.