Sonia Kukreja Centralization and Decentralization Considerable debate has taken place over the years over the issue of ‘centralization’ that means that the authority for most decisions is concentrated at the top of the managerial hierarchy versus ‘decentralization’ that requires such authority to be dispersed by extension and delegation throughout all levels of management. There are advantages as … Read more
Managerial Roles Another approach to study management is to examine the roles that managers are expected to perform. These roles can be defined as the organized sets of behaviors identified with the position. These roles were developed by Henry Mintzberg in the late 1960s after a careful study of executives at work. All these roles … Read more
Successful Group Discussion Techniques There are some definite Dos and Don’ts in group discussion techniques Dos Organize your thoughts. Pre-plan what you are going to say. Speak. It is important for the evaluator to hear you speak. If you have any doubts regarding the subject, seek clarifications. In the case of group discussions for selection … Read more
Conducting Group Discussion The ideal group usually consists of eight-ten participants. If the number of participants is more than that, then there is a tendency for some of the members to be passive listeners and avoid participation. Similarly, if the number of participants is less than six, the discussion suffers from a lack of diversity … Read more
Barriers to Communication Communication is a process that covers six different steps involving among others, encoding, decoding and transmission. For ensuring effective communication, all the parties and instruments will have to play their part as envisaged. At every stage of the communication process, however, there are barriers, which hinder or dilute the flow of communication. … Read more
Techniques of Group Decision Making Some of the techniques employed to make the group decision-making process more effective and decision-making more efficient in which creativity is encouraged are as follows. Brainstorming Brainstorming technique involves a group of people, usually between five and ten, sitting around a table in a classroom setting generating ideas in the … Read more
Barriers to Effective Listening Humans are creatures of habit and the habits you have created over time determine your success. Old habits are difficult to break but through habit formation, you can build new behaviors, despite the difficulty encountered while trying to form them. Common Barriers to Listening The factors which act as impediments to … Read more
What is a Group? A group, in the context of organizational communication, is defined as a collection of individuals who interact with each other, accept expectations and obligations as members of the group and share a common identity. Group activities have certain advantages and disadvantages. What Is a Discussion? A discussion is understood as an … Read more
What is Communication? Effective communication is central to the success of any business organization. Communication is a pervasive activity which encompasses almost all facets of our lives. Much of our life is spent communicating with each other, be it at our workplace or in our family life. The term communication is derived from the Latin … Read more
What is Listening? Effective listening is the process of analyzing the sounds, organizing them into recognizable patterns, interpreting the patterns and understanding the message by inferring the meaning. Listening is not to be confused with hearing. Hearing is a physiological process which involves receiving the sound waves by the eardrum and transferring them to the … Read more
Levels of Listening Based on the effectiveness of the listening process, three levels of listening have been identified. Level 1 is that of Non-listening and is the least desirable, followed by Level 2 which is Passive Listening. Level 3 is Active Listening, which is most desirable. Though we listen at all the three levels during … Read more
Poor Listening Habits Research shows that after two days we retain only one fourth of what we hear. In fact, we do not hear all that is said and forget many of the things we hear. This is a reflection of our poor listening habits. Inefficiency of listening can be harmful for the organization. Some … Read more
Improve Your Listening Ability Effective listening calls for efforts on the part of the speaker, listener as well as others concerned with the process to remove the barriers that come in the way of effective listening. Conscious efforts have to be made by the listener to improve his listening ability and develop effective listening skills. … Read more
Group Cohesiveness Cohesiveness defines the degree of closeness that the members feel with the group. It identifies the strength of the member’s desires to remain in the group and the degree of commitment to the group. The extent of cohesiveness depends upon many factors including the compatibility of individual goals with group goals. The more … Read more
Management by Objectives Management by objectives (MBO) can also be referred as Management by Results or Goal Management, and is based on the assumption that involvement leads to commitment and if an employee participates in goal setting as well as setting standards for measurement of performance towards that goal, then the employee will be motivated … Read more
