                  3.  ESSENTIALS OF SUPERVISORY COMMUNICATION  
        
             Communication is simply the transfer of information and
        understanding from one person to another.  It is successful only
        when a mutual understanding takes place; that is, when both the
        sender and receiver understand the message.  Neither must agree 
        with the idea.  They must only understand it in order to consider
        their communication successful.  
        
             Sixty percent of communication is non-verbal and involves a
        pat on the back, drumming fingers, rocking in a chair, facial
        expressions, tapping the foot, and other such activities. 
        Thirty-five percent of communication is the delivery.  Tone of
        voice, voice volume, and rate of speech all enhance or detract
        from the messages being successfully sent and received.  Only
        five percent of any communication process is the actual content
        of the message.  The effective, successful, astute supervisor
        needs to become a master of both non-verbal and delivery methods
        which will enhance the communication process between supervisor
        and employee (Haney, 1986).  
        
             The tragedy is that many people, including mediocre
        supervisors, believe that the communication process is only the
        content.  These individuals do not master the process and
        ultimately fail to succeed as supervisors.  Those who do master
        these two communication areas generally rise to the top in their
        chosen fields.
        
             In examining human communication, it is essential to
        understand that it is influenced by assumptions held by the
        communicators involved.  Some of these assumptions are
        destructive and troublesome because (1) they are false and imply
        and inadequate, distorted view of the world, and (2)
        communicators are usually unaware that their evaluations and
        communications are being influenced by these assumptions.  
        
             As organizations grow larger and more complex,
        communicators, and especially supervisors, are challenged to
        respond to greater demands from their employees.  The consequence
        of this is that organizations require greater competence on the
        part of its managers and key personnel than ever before.  
        
             In order to assist the supervisor in managing the
        communication process more effectively, Haney (1986) summarized
        the communication process and presented the following summary of
        how managers, supervisors, leaders, can be more effective in
        communicating with their employees.
        
             1.   The Process of Perception.  The central premise is that
                  what we experience is not reality but our perception of
                  reality.  Our willingness or inability to internalize
                  this truism can readily lead us into defensive and
                  self-destructive behavior.  We are challenged to
                  recognize that our "reality" is subjective, partial,
                  unique, and subject to bias - and to ascertain
                  accurately the perceptions of others.
        
             2.   The Frame of Reference and the Self-Image.  The frame
                  of reference concept is likened to a stained-glass
                  window in one's solitary confinement cell.  The major
                  lens of this window is one's self-image.  A valid self-
                  concept is essential if one is to deal effectively with
                  others.
        
             3.   The Exceptionally Realistic Self-Image (ERSI).  Among
                  the advantages that a person with an ERSI enjoys are
                  the liberation of energy that would otherwise be
                  required for self-image protection, the ease of
                  maintaining an ERSI, the prerequisites for developing
                  skills for reading others and screening inputs, and the
                  selection of realistic personal goals.  A game plan for
                  attaining an ERSI is:
                       a.   Make an earnest commitment to discover
                            yourself.
                       b.   Recognize and reduce your defenses against
                            valid feedback.
                       c.   Receive and evaluate the external and
                            internal cues.
                  External cues are those we receive from others. 
                  Internal cues are those we receive from ourselves.
        
             4.   Motivation and Communication.  "The easiest thing of
                  all is to deceive oneself; for what a man wishes he
                  generally believes to be true."  Demosthenes. 
                  Motivation causes people to pursue different goals.  In
                  understanding what motivates an individual, the
                  supervisor can more effectively communicate with him or
                  her if this basic understanding exists between them.
        
             5.   The Process of Communication.  Communication process
                  involves encoding, transmitting, medium, receiving, and
                  decoding.  Encoding and decoding are the most subtle,
                  least understood, and most neglected phases of the
                  process.  The insidious role of fallacious,
                  unconsciously held assumptions is underscored as being
                  the root of most communication problems between
                  supervisors and employees and vice versa.  
        
             6.   The Inference-Observation Confusion.  The inference-
                  observation confusion occurs when one somehow acts upon
                  inference as if it were an accurate observation.  One
                  of the key reasons that we often find it easy to
                  substitute inference for observations is that our
                  statements of inference can be readily confused with
                  statements of observation.  There is nothing in our
                  language (grammar, spelling, pronunciation, syntax, and
                  so on), that distinguishes between the two statements. 
                  A four-step procedure for coping with the inference
                  observation confusion is:
                       1.   Detect the inference.
                       2.   Calculate the probability that the inference
                            is correct.
                       3.   Get more data - if the risk is a poor one.
                       4.   Recalculate the risk.
                  Creativity and decisiveness are not incompatible with
                  inference awareness.  Creativity can be facilitated
                  when one is conscious of inferring.  The quality of
                  decisions can be enhanced by inference awareness.  It
                  is not the avoidance of inferring (risk-taking) but the
                  awareness of it.
        
             7.   Bypassing.  Bypassing occurs when communicators miss
                  each other with their meanings either by using the same
                  word while meaning different things or by using
                  different words while meaning the same thing. 
                  Resulting in false disagreements (or agreements),
                  bypassing can sometimes be innocuous, even humorous. 
                  Underlying bypassing is the supposition that words mean
                  the same to the other person as they do to me.  This
                  belief is supported by two insidious fallacies; that
                  words have mono-usage; that words have meanings.  To
                  guard against bypassing, the communicator can supplant
                  these assumptions with two others that represent much
                  more adequately the relation between words or meanings:
                  (1) most words, with the exception of some technical
                  terms, are used in more than one way; (2) meanings
                  exist not in words but only in the people who speak,
                  hear, write, and read them, the people, who fix the
                  variables--that is, assign meanings to words.
        
             8.   Allness.  Allness is a sort of evaluational disease. 
                  It occurs when one unconsciously assumes that it is
                  possible to know and to say everything about something;
                  that what one is saying (or writing or thinking) covers
                  all there is (or all that is important) about a
                  subject.  When we fail to realize that we are
                  abstracting, that is, leaving out details, we are in
                  distinct danger of believing that we have left out
                  nothing--nothing of consequence, at any rate. 
                  Arrogance, intolerance of other view points, and
                  closemindedness are frequent consequences of such false
                  assurance.  To intensify our awareness of abstracting
                  and thus avoid allness, Haney suggested we should:
                       1.   Cultivate the humility to concede that we can
                            never say or know everything about anything.
                       2.   Recognize that abstracting is inevitable when
                            we talk, listen, and so on, for then we would
                            be more likely to improve the quality of our
                            abstractions, be empathetic, and be creative
                            and less inhibited by past practices.
                       3.   "Remember the etc." a simple yet effective
                            device.
                       4.   Free ourselves from the insularity of an
                            "all-wall."
        
             9.   Indiscrimination.  Indiscrimination occurs when one
                  fails to recognize differences among the similarities. 
                  The frequent result is that one reacts to blacks,
                  police officers, politicians, business executives,
                  lawyers, Jews, and so forth as if they were all
                  identical--or at least enough alike to preclude any
                  important differences.  The basic device for warding
                  off dogmatic, unreasonable indiscriminations is the
                  "Which Index"--black 1 is not the same as black 2, and
                  so on.
        
             10.  Polarization.  Polarization is the result of the
                  confusion of contraries.  It is the tendency to
                  evaluate and communicate in black-and-white terms when
                  shades of gray would be more appropriate.  This pattern
                  of communication is dangerous enough on the
                  interpersonal level, but on the national and
                  international levels, it can be catastrophic.  To cope
                  with the pendulum effect, it is helpful to regard
                  differing perceptions as the consequence of differing
                  conditioning and to concede that in complicated
                  problems no one (including ourselves) has the one
                  complete and incontestable solution.
        
             11.  The Frozen Evaluation.  The frozen evaluation generally
                  occurs when one assumes nonchange.  It tends to occur
                  when one unconsciously believes that the way it is now
                  is the way it has always been--or always will be.  This
                  can be a troublesome and dangerous premise because
                  literally nothing (especially human beings) remains the
                  same.  We can keep ourselves alert to the process
                  nature of life by habitually When-Indexing (dating) out
                  thoughts and statements.  Man (1973), after all, is not
                  the same as Man (1993).  
        
             12.  Intentional Orientation.  Intentional orientation
                  invites trouble, confusion, and conflict (1) because
                  often our maps (one's child care theories and notions,
                  for example) inadequately and fallaciously represent
                  the territory (the flesh-and-blood child's feelings and
                  behavior) and (2) because we may be unaware that we are
                  dealing primarily with these maps and not with the
                  respective territories that they represent.  The basic
                  remedy for diminishing the destructive effects of
                  intentional orientation is to "get intentional."  That
                  is, develop a readiness to go out and examine the
                  territory rather than be content to be deluded by one's
                  often spurious maps.  The byword of extensionality is
                  to look first--then talk.
        
             13.  Pointing and Associating.  Among the ways we use words
                  are these: (1) simply to point to, or call attention
                  to, what we representing by the words and (2) to evoke
                  associations (memories, feelings) for what we are
                  referring to.  When one is unaware that words may be
                  used for these dual purposes, there is the possibility
                  of a number of miscommunication patterns, including the
                  "pointing-association" confusion; name calling; and
                  associative by-passing.  
        
             14.  Blindering.  If in defining a problem, I am unaware of
                  leaving out details, I am in danger of becoming
                  blindered - of unconsciously permitting a narrowed
                  perception to restrict my attack of the problem.  The
                  basic correctives are (1) to remember that definitions
                  inevitably involve the exclusion of details (perhaps
                  crucial ones) and (2) to recognize and remove your
                  blinders.  
        
             15.  Undelayed Reactions.  Some undelayed reactions, such as
                  reflex responses, are largely unavoidable, harmless,
                  and even self-protective.  Others, such as many reflex-
                  like responses, may be highly useful when they have
                  been properly conditioned and employed--the numerous
                  actions of driving an automobile, for example.  But
                  some reflex-like responses--for instance, those
                  manifested in fear and rage--are often destructive.  It
                  is the latter that should be controlled if we are to
                  avoid contributing to the harm of ourselves and others
                  (pp. 555-559).  
        
             This is a comprehensive explanation of the common
        communication errors which supervisors are prone to commit.  The
        management of the communication process is the most important
        aspects of all the supervisor's functions.  In order to
        communicate effectively, he or she must not only be able to
        encode, but decode.  This means the supervisor must be an active
        listener.
        
             The supervisor must not only listen to the words an employee
        sends, but also must listen to the meaning the employee is
        placing on the words.  Listening is hard work.  Listening with
        "one ear" is not very effective.  Some of the basic rule for
        effective listening are:
             1.   Be interested in the message.
             2.   Resist distractions.
             3.   Don't let personal biases turn you off.
             4.   Try to understand the words and the implied message.
             5.   Work hard to understand difficult ideas or materials.
             6.   Don't hesitate to ask questions (Haney, 1986, pp. 38-
                  39).
        
             These are general principles.  Specific skills which need to
        be practiced are:
             1.   Looking and acting interested.
             2.   Mirroring.
             3.   Paraphrasing.
             4.   Repeating.
             5.   Verification.
             6.   Affirming.
             7.   Silence or pausing to wait.
             8.   Touch.
             9.   Pacing (Haney, 1986).
        
             All organizations transfer information to employees in two
        ways: formal and informal 
        channels.
         
             Formal channels usually follow a company's organizational
        lines of authority from the top man to the bottom echelons.  In
        theory, there is a two-way flow, but in practice this does not
        always occur.  The communication is often sidetracked or stopped. 
        A supervisor may feel that a certain piece of information should
        not be passed on up to his boss because (1) he doesn't want to
        bother him with trivia; or (2) he may feel it would not reflect
        well on his ability as a supervisor.  Upward communications are
        usually questions, complaints, or grievances, and many
        supervisors consciously tend to stop the flow of such
        communications.  
        
             Informal channels of communication, variously known as the
        "grapevine," the "rumor mill," "scuttlebutt," always exist. 
        These forms develop as a result of employees working together and
        talking about their jobs.  News which comes from these sources is
        typically more gossip than truth, is unreliable, unconfirmed, and
        unauthenticated.  Despite these characteristics, it draws people
        like a magnet.  
        
             These forms of communication are not effective for
        supervisors.  The effective supervisor tells news to a person
        directly.  To stifle the flow of rumors, a supervisor needs to
        answer all questions as promptly and truthfully as possible.  If
        employees can be certain they will receive accurate information
        if they ask for it, the "grapevine" will dry up and wither.  
        
             Communication breaks down because barriers often exist that
        hamper or distort the flow of communication between people. 
        These breakdowns frequently can (1) cost time and money to the
        company, (2) cause employees to lose work, (3) create
        misunderstandings, (4) cause a breakdown in team effort, and (5)
        seriously damage morale.  
        
             Telephone conversations can often cause misunderstandings. 
        There is no way to read the non-verbal communication the employee
        is receiving from the supervisor.  Not receiving communication
        face-to-face can prevent an employee from asking questions
        related to what the employee is seeing.
        
             Sometimes a supervisor may prejudice a person.  He may
        already have his mind made up about an employee's ability, and he
        may let this prejudgment show.  He or she might say, for example,
        "You probably won't understand this, but I'll try to explain it
        to you anyway."  The employee, knowing that the supervisor has no
        confidence in his or her capacity to understand, might therefore
        make little effort to understand what the supervisor is saying.  
        
             A supervisor may block communication by saying to his or her
        employee, "Where did you get such a wild idea?"  Even a good idea
        and communication would probably be stifled with such an
        introduction.
        
             Age can act as a barrier to communication.  An older
        supervisor may have a crew-cut hairstyle, and the young employee
        may have long hair and an earring.  They both understand the
        words that are being spoken, but because they are alienated by
        the "generation gap" as expressed in their personal styles,
        neither one accepts the other person for what he or she is, and
        communications is hampered.
        
             Physical disabilities and inadequacies need to be considered
        when communicating with others.  A person who is hard of hearing
        may have difficulty hearing what is being said.  He or she may
        even feel that the supervisor is talking in a low tone of voice
        to frustrate him or her.  
        
             What are some of the easiest strategies to invoke in order
        to overcome communications barriers?  Consider these following
        actions steps to enhance the process of communication.
        
             1.   Face-to-face talks are always better than other forms
                  of communication.  Talking directly to a person enables
                  him or her to ask questions to clarify what is being
                  said during the conversation.
        
             2.   Simple, clear, clean-cut language does a lot to break
                  down barriers to understanding.  Long, complicated
                  sentences and words are sure to lead to confusion.  
        
             3.   Repetition is another way to overcome communication
                  barriers.  Repeating the message several times using
                  different words can aid comprehension.  
        
             4.   Trying to place yourself in the other fellow's shoes
                  can lead to greater communication.  In the process of
                  empathizing with another's feelings, opinions, and
                  attitudes, supervisors can communicate in ways that
                  might surprise the employee.
        
             5.   Being genuinely concerned about the welfare of the
                  other person and about the possible effect that the
                  communication will have on him.  
        
             6.   When possible, choose a physical location that will
                  help and not hinder communication.  Talking over a
                  problem in a quiet office free from noise and
                  distractions and without the phone ringing constantly
                  is much different than from talking in an atmosphere
                  where there are a host of distractions (George, 1979,
                  pp 42-43).    
             
             The supervisor's role in the communication process is
        essential.  Although every person in any organization is
        responsible for some aspect of communication, the supervisor is
        charged with  maintaining a good climate for communications with
        his or her employees.  He or she is responsible for seeing that
        employees understand each other, their jobs, and the
        organization's goals and objectives.  The supervisor is the
        linking chain between departments, and he or she must realize
        that the total communication climate in a company is no stronger
        than the weakest supervisor.  
        
             A first-line supervisor is responsible for good
        communications and understanding within his or her unit.  Most
        supervisors will explain that poor communications cause more
        problems than any other single item.
        
             Communications that are effectively made can have a healthy
        and positive effect on the climate and production of an
        organization.  The supervisor needs to be a better communicator
        than the average employee because his or her scope of influence
        is greater.  In order to accomplish this, supervisors need to
        always be informed and ready to communicate with employees.  When
        mysteries arise in any organization and the supervisor is not
        aware of their genesis, communication problems are sure to arise. 
        
        
             To gain his or her employee's confidence, the supervisor
        needs to be consistent in his or her communications practices. 
        He or she should not say one thing today and another thing
        tomorrow.  This confidence between supervisor and employer can
        and will ensure good communication between them.  
        
             Communications and orders easily flow down the line, but
        information from the employees upward also needs to go up the
        line without being sidetracked.  Many supervisors do not realize
        how difficult it may be for an employee to communicate with them. 
        Whatever the reason, the supervisor must take this into
        consideration.  
        
             Another barrier to upward communications is the fact that
        the supervisor controls the employee's job and pay.  The employee
        may be hesitant to say something that may in some way affect his
        or her job.  Since his or her job is dependent on the supervisor,
        this may cause him or her to hesitate to "speak up" to the
        supervisor.  Supervisors need to be aware of the existence of
        this difficulty and make every effort to make it easier for the
        worker to "speak his mind."  The upward flow of communications is
        hampered and in many cases is stopped altogether.  
        
             A supervisor cannot know too much about employee
        communications.  He or she supervises his employees by
        communicating with them, and the skill with which he or she
        communicates will be reflected in the skill with which he or she
        manages.  Depending on the person, the situation, and the
        information to be covered, supervisors communicate in different
        ways to different people.  
        
             Supervisors often overcommunicate.  Communicate enough to
        let employees know everything necessary but not so much that they
        will "tune out" old blabbermouth when talking.  Talk about the
        things they want to know about and are interested in like their
        jobs, their pay, the things that affect them at work.  It may be
        necessary to avoid controversial non-work subjects like politics
        and religion.  
        
             The effects of good communication within an organization
        cannot be easily measured, but they are reflected in several
        ways.  An employee's attitude toward the company and his or her
        job will be improved as will be his morale, his cooperation, and
        his job satisfaction.  With a healthier communication climate, a
        similar improvement in the work climate will develop.  Good
        communication will not make all things come true, but when a
        healthy attitude toward work and a free climate of communication
        exists, it is natural that an organization will experience an
        overall improvement in its communication, both up and down the
        line of supervision.    
