READING FOR DETAIL.

 

A Understanding a printed text

The following passage introduces the topic of maintaining good communication

and relationships between managers and the people they work with.

Look at the way the passage is constructed, paying attention to the headings.

Then read and translate the words and word combinations from the text before

reading.

Read the text carefully looking up everything you do not understand and answer

the questions given below the text.

 

Wordlist.

1.to receive information -……………………………………………………

2. to wish ………………………………………………………..

3. to pass ………………………………………………………..

4. to send ………………………………………………………..

5. to suit ………………………………………………………….

suited …………………………………………………………

6. receiver ……………………………………………………….

7. to submit ………………………………………………………

8. to support …………………………………………………….

9. appropriate terms ……………………………………………..

10. staff …………………………………………………………

11. a powerhouse of ideas ………………………………………..

12. actions ………………………………………………………….

13. to make ………………………………………………………

14. with ………………………………………………………….

without ………………………………………………………

15. to follow ……………………………………………………..

16. route …………………………………………………………..

17. up and down ………………………………………………….

18. to forget ………………………………………………………

forgotten ………………………………………………..

19. communication path …………………………………………

20. social links …………………………………………………..

21. official – unofficial ………………………………………….

22. formally – informally ……………………………………….

23. grapevine ………………………………………………………

24. office gossip ………………………………………………….

25. to affect ………………………………………………………

26. interesting and useful …………………………………………..

27. to receive and understand ……………………………………..

28. audience, recipient or reader ……………………………………..

29. to explain ……………………………………………………….

30. tend to receive …………………………………………………….

31. to seek out …………………………………………………………

32. to expect …………………………………………………………..

33. to ignore or reject …………………………………………………..

34. past experience …………………………………………………….

35 to depend on ……………………………………………………………

36. a purpose …………………………………………………………………

purposeful ……………………………………………………………..

purposeless …………………………………………………………….

37. to persuade ……………………………………………………………..

persuasion …………………………………………………………..

38. to influence …………………………………………………………..

39. to take some course of actions ………………………………………….

40. to accept information ………………………………………………….

 

TEXT 1. How Information Travels

 

1. Managers do not work in isolation; once they receive

Channeling information, they will often wish to pass it on. To be most

Information effective a message should be sent in the form most suited

to the receiver (and that is not necessarily the form easiest

to you, the sender). When you submit a recommendation to

your boss you will summarize the arguments as best you can

stressing the facts that support your case and filter out the

information which is unnecessary.

When decisions are passed down to you, from on high, you

will wish to “translate” them into appropriate terms for your

staff. This can sometimes take the form of receiving orders and

passing on detailed instructions.

The manager is the hub of a system of communication -

a one-man communication centre, as well as being a

powerhouse of ideas, an initiator of actions, and a thinking

man as well. The good manager is a good communicator – and

usually vice versa.

 

2 Communications of all kinds are what make organization

The formal work. Without adequate communications an organization

route will soon grind to a halt. Communications usually follow

the route of the established management hierarchy.

 

3 Formal communications usually pass up and down the

The Grapevine pyramid of management as intended. What is too often

forgotten is that there are other communication paths.

In any organization there are social links that are unofficially

and informally used to transmit “interesting’ information.

(“Interesting” information can be defined as that affecting

people.) The ‘grapevine’ includes not only the social links

but also everything from office gossip to post-room

misinformation. Every office, every factory, every organization

has its grapevine.

The good communicator will be aware of the grapevine

and plug into it. Not all that he obtains from it will be

complementary, nor will it always be correct, but it will

always be interesting and often useful. At times the manager

can feed information into the grapevine himself. If he

is not to lose all credence though, his input must always be

correct.

 

4. Communication is a two-way process. It is not

Two-way complete until the message has been received and under-

Communication stood. The extend to which the message is understood

is more important than the way or form in which it is sent.

This means that the transmission of messages should

always be in the form best understood by the person receiving

them. Some things are better said, some best written down.

The principle is repeated: think first, last and all the time about

the recipient or audience or reader.

Adjust the writing, the speaking and arithmetic to suit him.

And if pictures will help, give him a picture.

Clearly, the style and quality of communication will

depend not just on the sender and the receiver but also on

their relationship to each other. A small, informal organisation

will suggest a different style of communication to a

large rigidly-controlled, hierarchical one. In all cases it is

necessary to select the best mode for communication.

 

Methods of communication

5. We can define a manager’s communication modes as:

Communication verbal – the written word

modes oral – the spoken word

visual – the illustration, and

numerical – the written and interpreted number,

electronic – using a computer.

Further, within the above categories, there are the

receivers of the messages. For every writer there must

be a reader, for every speaker a listener, and for every

artist a viewer.

 

 

6. We have explained that a communication is not

When does made until it is received and understood. The prime

communication essential in any form of communication is therefore

take place? to know the audience. It is important to accept the

concept that people tend to receive – to hear, to read,

to see – very largely only what they want to receive.

They seek out what is expected and what is familiar

while trying to ignore or reject what is new. Every

communication should be made with that thought in

mind. The answer is to ensure that every message is

clear, simple and- as far as possible – unambiguous.

You should also know that the taking of the message

depends on the past experience (the training) of the

recipient. It means that by departing from the well known

you move in short, simple steps towards the really new.

 

7. It is very important to know that for any

The Purpose of communication to be worth while, it must have a purpose-

Communication and that purpose is always persuasion. This is not to say

that there are no purposeless communications: there are

too many, but they are usually of little value to anyone.

Every genuine communication seeks to influence the

recipient. It may seek to persuade him to take some course

of action, to make a decision one way or another, or merely

to apply his mind to accepting more information.

 

8. We have identified the fundamental principle of communi-

cation as: transmit all communications in the manner

best suited to the recipient’s understanding or in other words, write and speak clearly and simply so that the reader or listener can easily understand.