Communication, And Communication Style: Communication And Leadership Style

Communication and Leadership Style

Communication and leadership go hand in hand. We all communicate daily and communication is a major part of our day. Sargent (2016) discussed how the leadership style of his supervisor relates to her communication style, which has affected his department in a negative way causing lowered productivity. Communication from a supervisor is so important to the success of a team.

Direction of Communication

Communication flows in three different directions: downward, upward, and laterally (Robbins & Judge, 2009). Downward communication occurs within an organization when a manager communicates with employees (Robbins & Judge, 2009). Downward communication is used to assign goals, provide instructions, inform

Upward communication provides feedback to supervisors, informs them of progress towards goals, and relays current problems (Robbins & Judge, 2012). The upward communication keeps managers informed of employee job satisfaction and how ideas for improvement within the organization (Robbins & Judge, 2009).

Lateral communication occurs between employees on the same level or work group (Robbins & Judge, 2009). Lateral communication is necessary to save time and facilitate coordination (Robbins & Judge, 2009). Lateral communication can become dysfunctional when the formal vertical channels are avoided (Robbins & Judge, 2009).

Sargent’s supervisor is not communication effectively with her team, and it is creating a dysfunctional environment. Email can be a good form of communication but when used we need to be careful that others do not misinterpret the message being sent.

Barriers to Effective

Filtering is when the sender purposely manipulates information so that it will be seen more favorable by the receiver (Robbins & Judge, 2009). Selective perception is where the receiver sees and hears based on their needs, motivations, experience, background, and other personal characteristics (Robbins & Judge, 2009). Information overload occurs when the information received exceeds our processing capacity (Robbins & Judge, 2009). Our emotions at the time we receive communication will influence how we interpret it (Robbins & Judge, 2009). Even if we speak the same language, sometimes the way we use words will be different for each person and can cause communication errors (Robbins & Judge, 2009). Communication apprehension occurs when someone experience tension and anxiety in oral communication, written communication, or both (Robbins & Judge, 2009). Men and women do not always communicate in the same way which causes communication errors (Robbins & Judge, 2009). When we are afraid to use certain words in the fear of offending someone this is using “politically correct” communication, which can cause communication misunderstandings (Robbins & Judge, 2009).

In the case with Sargent’s supervisor I wonder if she suffers from communication