1.
Communication & Influence
Team Members:
Brandon Luong Matt Brown
Brian Turner Russell Veals
Gene White Victoria Landrum

2.
Interpersonal
Relationships

3.
Positive Interpersonal Relationships
s What are they?
– Encounters that create positive energy in an organization
s Benefits:
– Higher commitment and information exchange among
coworkers
– Expanded intellectual capacity
– Better task performance
– More positive emotions
– Physical well-being

4.
Positive Interpersonal Relationships
s Organizational example:
Business Student Ambassadors
s What we do:
– Work with each other within our organization as student
officers by sharing responsibilities
– Build relationships by holding socials
– Be open, friendly, and welcoming to new students
s How it helps:
– High sense of accomplishment
– More feelings of camaraderie
– Mutual trust and responsibility
– Attractive to new or unsociable students

5.
Positive Interpersonal Relationships
s Organizational example:
Lewis Landscaping
s What we do:
– Support coworkers by finishing their tasks for them
– Converse about similar topics of interest while working
– Spend time with each other while working to be able to
recognize emotional ups and downs
s How it helps:
– Faster task completion
– Fun, supportive working environment
– Higher level of “team spirit”

6.
Effective
Communication

7.
Effective Communication
s What is communication?
– The act of conveying information by, to or between people or
groups
s Importance of Effective Communication
– The most important skill in building and strengthening
positive relationships giving the people an enhanced feeling
of trust, openness and support.
– In studies, communication problems are identified as the
single largest impediment to positive relationships and
positive performance in organizations.

8.
Effective Communication
s Reasons for difficulties include:
– People are often given an abundance of information that
was poorly presented, as a result information gets lost
– Lack of context, often times information lacks significant
meaning to the person receiving the messages
– Last, the effective interpretation and use of the information
still depends on the relationship the recipient has with the
sender
s Results
– Misunderstandings
– Lack of Information
– Decrease in employee performance
– Decrease in profitability or productivity for an organization

9.
Example of Ineffective
Communication
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBKKgtsWqZQ

10.
Example of Effective
Communication
s Organizational example:
– Global Foundation (GF)
s Had communication problems: officers did not
understand roles, duties, obligations, etc.
s MGMT 389 skills applied = more effective group
s Results:
– Work gets done on a timely manner
– Information is flowed without interruption
– More support and group efforts
– Stronger board members

11.
Before After

12.
Power and Influence

13.
Building a Strong Power Base
s What are power and influence?
– Power is the ability of a person, team or organization to
influence others
– Influence is the affect power can have on others’ behavior
– Power is necessary to influence people, but not all powerful
people are capable of influence
s Two power sources:
– Personal power
– Position power

14.
Building a Strong Power Base
s Personal Power:
– The traits that make up this source of power are:
– Expertise - Task-relevant knowledge or experience
– Personal Attraction - Desirable characteristics associated
with friendship
– Effort - Dependability and reliability
– Legitimacy - Behavior consistent with
key organizational values

15.
Building a Strong Power Base
s Position Power:
– The traits that make up this source of power are:
– Centrality - Being in the middle of communication
– Latitude/Job Flexibility - Freedom to exercise one’s own
judgment
– Visibility - Whether or not influential people in the company
see how well or poorly you are performing
– Relevance - Being directly related to the central objectives
and issues in an organization

16.
Building a Strong Power Base
s Organizational example:

17.
Using Influence Wisely
s Three methods of influence:
– The three influence strategies or “three Rs” are Retribution,
Reciprocity, and Reason
– Each of these strategies have strengths and weaknesses,
and it is important to know in which situations they are
acceptable for use

18.
Using Influence Wisely
s Retribution:
– The strategy of forcing others to do as you say
– The direct method uses coercion; the indirect method uses
intimidation
– It is useful when quick results are required, but the drawback
is that it can cause employees to resent their superiors
s Reciprocity
– The strategy of convincing others to want to do what you say
– The direct method uses bargaining; the indirect method uses
the approach of making others feel obligated to agree
– The drawback is that this strategy can lead to people
believing that terms of assignments, etc. are open for debate

19.
Using Influence Wisely
s Reason:
– The strategy of showing others that it makes sense to do as
you say
– The direct method requires the presenting of facts to
strengthen your argument; the indirect method involves
appeal to other personal values
– The drawback is that this strategy can take a while to build
trust with others and that it requires that they share common
goals and values with the influential person

20.
Using Influence Wisely
s Organizational example:

21.
The End
Thanks for listening!

22.
Works Cited
s Luong, Brandon. Personal Interview. 19
Sep 2010.