London school of business and law
Master foundation programme
Managerialcommunication
Nonverbalcommunication in the context of managerial communication
Student name:
Tamara Sargsyan
Tutor name:
Tatiana Pavlovsky
June2010
Table ofContents
Introduction
1. Communication:Verbal and Non-verbal
2. Why non-verbalcommunication can be considered relevant
3. Why non-verbalcommunication can be considered irrelevant
Conclusion
References and Bibliography
Introduction
The purpose ofthis essay is to analyse why non-verbal communication can be consideredrelevant or irrelevant in the context of managerial communication.
In the firstpart of the main body we the definitions of communication will be given as wellas the types of communications will be presented. And also we will see whatrole plays communication in an organization.
In the secondpart the relevance of non-verbal communication will be examined and exampleswill be given for every statement and argument. Here the statements will besupported by academic arguments.
In the thirdpart the irrelevance of non-verbal communication will be analysed, and similarto the previous part all the opinions will be supported by academic arguments.
In the finalpart a conclusion will be made whether non-verbal communication is relevant orirrelevant in the context of managerial communication through bringing togetherthe statements both from second and third parts.
1. Communication:Verbal and Non-verbal
A little aboutcommunication:Communication can be considered as one of most important and basic needs ofhuman beings. It can be defined as exchange of information between entities.(Khan, 2001)
Usually whenwe say «communication» we imagine things connected with verbalcommunication, like talking on phones, listening to radio, etc. Verbalcommunication needs language; however it is not the only type of communication.Also non-verbal communication exists which does not need language and ideas canbe expressed independent of a language. Non-verbal communication is alwaysconnected with the senses of humans, because through that senses one getsinformation. (Khan, 2001)
Through thesense of sight we can see motion, colours, shapes, which are all means ofnon-verbal communication. The sense of hearing is usually thought to be moreverbal than non-verbal, but it is proved that many feelings like calmness orcheerfulness can be communicated through using some rhythmic sounds. Somepeople think that sense of smell can recall our memory best of the others.Sense of taste is connected with the sense of smell, and tasting food and drinkcan communicate friendship, agreement and approval. Sense of touch is also usedas a mean of communication. Examples are a kiss, a handshake, a hug, etc.(Khan, 2001; Hibbitts, 1992)
Communicationin an organization: Communication plays central role in every organization especially it isimportant for management as it is necessary for effective management. It hasbeen shown that communication, especially oral skills have significant impacton success in business environment. (Hargie, Dickson & Tourish, 1999)
Study ofStanford University MBA graduates was carried out and it showed that goodcommunication is the most important skill for success in business. (Hamilton,2008)
Communicationis considered to be the organization’s oxygen, blood, brain, central nervoussystem, arteries, highways for transacting a business, fuel or glue. Thesecomparisons all show how important is the communication in management. (Hargie,Dickson & Tourish 1999)
2. Whynon-verbal communication can be considered relevant
Almost everymanagement textbook mentions that non-verbal communication plays a significantrole in an organization. Communication itself is very important in anorganization as it takes 80% of the managers’ day. (Riggio, Feldman, 2005)
There is anopinion that non-verbal communication is the most powerful form ofcommunication and it makes you understand people better than words. Goodcommunicators are always sensitive to the emotions. (Heathfield, n.d.)
Let us see whynon-verbal communication can be relevant in everyday life and especially formanagers.
First of allit helps to interpret the verbal means of communication right. In our everydaylife we usually use body language to give a full meaning to our words. Andsaying the same word with different facial expressions and different movementscan mean totally different things. For example when we call someone an «idiot»with smile doesn’t mean the same when we do the same with anger. (Khan, 2001)
Secondly it helpsto develop good interpersonal relationships not only at work place but also athome. It’s worth mentioning the famous cliché that says «actionstalk louder than words». For establishing good relationships it is crucialto be able to understand and use non-verbal communication in a proper way. Forexample, if someone always talks with angry manner or with intonation ofblaming everyone,he/she can never have good relationships with people, no matter how kind his/her wordsare. (Non-verbal communication in building relationships, n.d.)
Non-verbalcommunication is very important during hiring and evaluating the personnel.Usually people think that during the jog interviews the verbal communication isthe only important thing. However, researches show that the applicants, whoshow more expressive non-verbal behaviour, such as eye-contact, smiling,interview-focused, usually receive more favourable evaluation. For example,during interviews the HR manager of the bank where I used to work first of allwas paying attention on cloths of the applicants as she considered it animportant factor for understanding the nature of the applicant. (Riggio, Feldman,2005)
Understandingnon-verbal communication helps managers to be more sensitive. If the managerunderstands his/her employees’ emotions he/she can easily surpass the managerswho are short of sensitivity. In cases when the manager-follower relations havehigh quality the managers provide emotional support and motivate theirfollowers. These high-quality relations are usually led by mutual trust andrespect. What is more, some suggest that non-verbal communication skills arethe most important skills that a leader must have to create good relationshipswith followers. (Riggio, Feldman, 2005)
My sister’sexample is the brightest example of successful leadership. She became the headof customer service department of a bank at the age of 23 after working withthat bank only one year. That was mainly because she had a strong sense ofunderstanding emotions of not only her colleagues but also other managers andthe CEO. Every employee respects and trusts her. Of course her promotion was not built only on hersensitivity; however this specification played a huge role on her career.
Non-verbalcommunication is very important for attracting customers. It is not a secretthat polite and «with smile» service always has better impact oncustomers. Studies with waiters show that even little things like crouchingdown to the customer’s table, slightly touching the customer always bring togetting more tips from them. (Riggio, Feldman, 2005)
For example, whenlooking at the statistic in our bank we could always find out that one of ourcustomer service employees always was doing more job than the others. At theyear end, taking into account the opinions of other employees, that girl wonthe prize «Smile of the Bank». As all the employees of our bank werealso the clients of the bank they can reflect the opinion of other customers,and taking into account the volume of work done by that that employee, we cancome to a conclusion that she could easily attract customers by her smile.
Non-verbalmeans of communication sometimes seem more trustworthy. Usually people firsttry to rely on non-verbal communication to express their feelings and emotions.They seem to be more trustable as they are usually unconscious and people thinkthat they never lie. (Besson et al., 2005)
Here thebrightest example will be the American television series «Lie to me»,which is about a firm which employees accept assignments from third parties andthrough their ability of interpreting micro expressions and reading the bodylanguage they always find the truth because the unconscious nature of humannon-verbal behaviour always betray what they want to hide.
Summarizingall the above mentioned and looking at non-verbal communication in the contextof managerial communication, we can see that non-verbal communication plays asignificant role both in hiring a staff and earning respect and love of thefollowers and getting promotions in the career.
3. Whynon-verbal communication can be considered irrelevant
nonverbaldialogue gesture mimicry
In this partof essay analysis of the reasons why non-verbal communication can be consideredirrelevant will be done.
First of all culturaldifferences have huge impact on non-verbal communication. They often lead tomiscommunication. An example of a student and an employee of a university canhighlight this statement better. A multinational student was trying to explaina white woman in the university that he had paid the bill and he was doing itby waving his hands and minimizing the distance between him and the woman.There was an impression that the student was chasing her, but in realityminimizing the distance between people was considered to be respectful from thepoint of view of the student’s culture. Also there are lots of signs andmovements that differ from culture to culture and using them incorrectly canlead to miscommunication. (The importance of Nonverbal Communication. N.d.; Riggio,Feldman, 2005)
Wronginterpretation may bring unwanted results. This statement can be connectedwith the previous one but can be considered from another point of view. Wrong interpretation can be bothbecause someone is understood wrong and because someone sent wrong signals. Inboth cases business, career, relationships, and even self-esteem may suffer. (Hogan,2010)
Forunderstanding this statement better let’s study the example of my friend. Sheis a very hardworking person, and she never liked to sit without a work. Hermanager always gave her as little work as possible, because he always thoughtthat my friend didn’t like to do much work. Even after she told him that it wasquite opposite he didn’t believe as he misinterpreted the emotions of myfriend. And finally my friend gave up the work and moved to another firm. Thisexample shows that in this case giving more relevance to non-verbal behaviourwas wrong and because of that suffered both my friend and the firm. (Hogan,2010)
Otherstatement that shows the irrelevance of non-verbal behaviour is that duringinterviews and employee estimation verbal behaviour is much more important thannon-verbal. The aim of the interviewing for a job or evaluating existingemployees is to find out if the applicant is «hireable» or qualifiedenough for the specific job. In such cases most managers give more relevance toverbal behaviour than to non-verbal, because the qualification and thereadiness to answering questions is sometimes more important for a job.(Riggio, Feldman, 2005)
For example,once I was watching a television show about dress-code in organizations. It wastelling about a woman who was working in a bank but she liked to dresscolourful dresses, and as she was very high qualified professional themanagement excused her colourful appearance in the bank.
Summarizingthe above mentioned we can see that non-verbal communication has aspects thatmake it to become irrelevant both during every day life and within anorganization.
Conclusion
Looking at allthe above mentioned points of relevance and irrelevance of non-verbalcommunication, we can come to a conclusion, than verbal and non-verbal communicationbehaviour can not be separated from each other.
Though we saythat non-verbal communication has a cultural meaning we also know that bodylanguage has universal components and there are signs and gestures than do notvary from culture to culture.
Though we saythat non-verbal behaviour can be interpreted wrong, we also can say thatwithout them people would misunderstand each other much more frequently.
And though wesay that during evaluating or interviewing employees verbal behaviour is muchmore important, we can say for sure that though some employers can excuse thedress-code violations, no employer will excuse more serious non-verbalmisbehaviours such as talking on phone during the interview even to the bestqualified employee.
In my opinionnot only in the context of managerial communication but also in our everydaylife non-verbal communication can be considered more relevant than irrelevant,because it helps to understand each other more frequently than brings tomisunderstanding. As it is always good not to be very extreme let’s always try toremember about negative results of non-verbal communication.
References and Bibliography
References
1. HamiltonC., 2008, Communication for results: a guide for business and the professions,8th edition, Belmont, Tomson wadsworth
2. HargieD. W. O., Dickson D., & Tourish D, 1999, Communication in management,Hampshire, Gower Publishing Limited
3. RiggioR. E., Feldman R. S., (ed.), 2005, Application of nonverbal communication,Mahwah, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.
Electronic sources4. Besson C., Graf D., Hartung I., KropfhäusserB. and Voisard S., 2005 TheImportance of Non-verbal Communication in Professional Interpretation, retrieved on June 18 from
5. HeathfieldS. M., n.d, Listen with your eyes, retrieved on June 18 from
6. HibbittsB.J., 1992, Coming to our senses: Communication and Legal Expression inPerformance Cultures, retrieved on June 17 from
7.HoganK., 2010 Secrets of Reading Body Language, retrieved on June 18 from 8. Khan A. A., 2001, Non-Verbal Communication: Fact andFiction, retrieved on June 15 from
9. Non-verbalcommunication in building relationships, n.d., retrieved on June 18 from
10. Theimportance of Nonverbal Communication. N.d., retrieved on June 18 from
Bibliography
Widdowson H.G., 2001, Teaching language ascommunication, 12th impression, Oxford, Oxford University Press
Electronic sources
Stagl H., n.d., Monitor Your Organization’s «Non-Verbal»Communication, retrieved on June 18 from
Non-Verbal Communication Skills, n.d., retrieved onJune 18 from