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How Multiple Forms of Media Impact Our Social Understandings

Communication is seen as a process of information transference from one person to another. Few think about the cognitive models that develop from information transference and how different communication channels influence meaning. Dennis, et. al. (2008) discusses the nature of information conveyance and convergence when dealing with groups and how media synchronicity impacts meaning making among recipients. Media richness theory indicates that task performance will improve when task information are matched to the medium’s information richness.  Difficult tasks require more information when compared to simple tasks while less rich media are better suited to tasks that require less information. The media used to transfer information should be based on the type of task. For example, someone who wants to complete a simple task such as changing a wiper blade on a car will need few instructions to successfully complete this task. Changing a car transmission may require multiple fo

Supportive and Humanistic Leaders are More Effective

Both style and communication intertwine tightly around the effectiveness of leaders.   Reinout de Vries and Angelique Bakker-Pieper conducted research on 279 employees in government agencies to understand the communication styles on human-oriented and leadership outcomes   (2010). They used the six main communication styles of verbal aggressiveness, expressiveness, preciseness and assuredness, supportiveness and argumentativeness.  Leadership communication style bases its effectiveness on the need to maximize hierarchical relationships to reach goals (Daft, 2003). Communication has a purpose and is goal oriented. Communication seeks to enhance and influence the environment in one form or another. The ultimate goal is often dependent on the leader who seeks either collective or self-gain.  Communication is about knowledge sharing. It is a process where individuals exchange tacit and explicit information to create new knowledge (Van den Hoof and De Ridder, 2004). Communica

How Social Network Channels Influence Job Performance

Do your social networks impact your success? Xiaojung and Vekatesh (2013) discuss research on how important physical and online social networks are to job performance. Direct physical, direct online, and indirect online are sources of information that impact the process of decision-making and connecting to resources. Their research helps identify how online and offline communication channels can work together to enhance job performance. It is first beneficial to define what a social network is. “ A social network is a specific set of linkages among a defined set of persons, with the additional property that the characteristics of these linkages as a whole may be used to interpret the social behavior of the persons involved ” (Mitchell, 1969, p. 2). Those within the same social networks often use similar behaviors and vantage points. Face-to-face communication offers the opportunity for both verbal and non-verbal communication. It is considered a rich content channel that sp

Preparing College Graduates for Job Interviews

One of the responsibilities of higher education is to prepare students for the job market. This preparation is a long process of learning competitive skills to successfully work within an organization. Sometimes, we forget that in order to have students use their new developed skills they will need to land a job. Dr. Lauren Mackenzie (2009) shares some of her assignment experiences in helping students interview better and secure the employment they desire.  She believes that there are three concepts which are helpful to students that include viewing interviews as conversations, nexting, and thin slicing.  As you may not be familiar with these terms nexting is a flow of information, and thin slicing is understanding the non-verbal cues. Together these three concepts help in creating higher levels of interview preparedness.  All interviews are conversations. The employer is trying to gain as much information about you while you are trying to gauge them. It is a process o

Become an Influencer-Learning the Art of Persuasion

Improving on communication skills and influencing is extremely important for potential success.   A paper by Johnson and Young (2012) discusses the concepts of influencing others to achieve objectives. Their advice appears to be practical in the sense that it continues to expand the network creating more adherents. It also takes into account the natural resistance people display and how to overcome those concerns.  Most people tune out a significant amount of daily conversation and lots of information is lost from one day to the next. To attract someone’s interests it is sometimes necessary to do or ask something interesting. In sales they may call this “making the pitch” but in daily conversation it is more of “tuning in” to potential engagement. Most people are receptive to things that help them. Explaining concepts through their vantage point and the potential benefits of certain actions helps them to visualize the possibilities. Focusing on encouraging others to engage