3. How you choose to communicate is as important as what you communicate. Whether answering a question (like what’s for lunch) , providing direction, or disseminating information, the communication medium you use can be critical...
4. How you choose to communicate is as important as what you communicate. Whether answering a question (like what’s for lunch) , providing direction, or disseminating information, the communication medium you use can be critical... ... because the medium carries a message all its own.
7. That depends on its ‘richness’. $ A medium is rich if it can convey substantial new understanding. ¢ A medium is poor if it cannot. A face to face meeting is very rich. A wall poster is poor.
8. But what exactly determines ‘richness’? There are four factors: 1 Feedback speed 2 Cues 3 Personableness 4 Emotional content
9. 1 Feedback speed A medium is rich if it allows quick or immediate feedback. Very Rich Very Poor Media Richness Face to face meeting Wall Poster Online Chat Email Exchange
10. 2 Cues A medium is rich if it allows transmission of multiple cues such body language, tone of voice, or word choice Very Rich Very Poor Media Richness Face to face meeting Wall Poster Video conference Email Exchange Telephone
11. 3 Personableness A medium is rich if it is highly tailored to the recipient Very Rich Very Poor Media Richness One-on-one face to face meeting General email Video conference Personal email Telephone
12. 4 Emotional content A medium is rich if it has a high capacity to carry emotional content Very Rich Very Poor Media Richness Face to face meeting Threaded discussion Video conference Personal email Telephone
13. The choice of medium depends upon the required richness for the message being communicated Let’s look at three examples: A You have tell someone they are to be laid off You have to provide a weekly project status report to your team B C The cafeteria lunch menu has been updated
14. A The layoff The face to face meeting is best because ... The person being laid off will have many questions and rapid feedback is essential Multiple cues (body language, tone of voice) help convey additional emotional information to the person The ‘message’ needs to be tailored precisely to the recipient here and communicate information unique to their circumstances It is easy to communicate emotion to the person being laid off (e.g. empathy)
15. B The weekly project status report Likely an email to team members is best because ... There is likely not a need for instant feedback, and email can facilitate feedback if needed Multiple cues are not needed for a routine status report The ‘message’ is tailored to a group, not a specific individual There is little need to communicate emotion to the recipients of the project status report
16. C The cafeteria lunch menu has been updated Likely updating an intranet web page is best because ... There is no need for a feedback mechanism Multiple cues are not needed for something as routine as updating a lunch menu The ‘message’ need not be tailored to any group or individual – it is organizational wide There is no need to communicate emotion in the message
