Impact of Nonverbal Communication in Organizations:A survey of perceptions

Introduction

Objectives:

gather information on the importance of
non-verbal feedback and ability to decode
non-verbal cues.

to compare those findings with the
existing body of literature on non-verbal communication

Use these finding to improve non-verbal
communication in business.

Literature review:

Importance of Nonverbal Communication

non-verbal channels contributes to 93 percent of the attitudinal message to the receiver

not sum total but rather, blending of one channel with another that contributes most to the total impact of the message.

Non verbal channels like voice tone have a stronger impact on non decoders.

nonverbal behaviors can be used to predict truth or deceit in the sender

Successful candidates in job interviews had more eye contact, head movement and smiling compared to unsuccessful candidates

Types of Nonverbal Cues

Classified 59 types of nonverbal behaviour into 21 groups

5 out of the 21 were significantly involved in conversation

Facial animation, vocal warmth, vocal pitch and body movements were most important

Extremely Discrepant Verbal/Nonverbal Cues

Research shows that vocal channels cant be manipulated to suppress true feelings, compared to facial features.

when there is extreme disconnect between vocal and facial cues the decoder suspects the sender is lying

However, facial cues give more information in honest communication

Demographic Impact on Nonverbal Communication

Gender has the greatest effect on decoding non-verbal
communication

women were more accurate in reading non deceptive communication compared to deceptive communication.

Method

Source of participants

Sampling pool

505 surverys

217 males and 288 females

67% was between the ages of 25 and 45.

Quesstionnaire

Part 1

importance and the ability to decode

Part 2

demographic information of participants

Results

Decoding Skills

Good decoders preferred facial expressions while average and below decoders relied more on voice level or tone to provide most accurate information

Encoding Skills

More than 50% of respondents felt their supervisors’ verbal and nonverbal communication was occasionally or frequently in conflict

mangers may feel that they must not show their emotions to their subordinates, leading to mixed messages and loss of trust

Gender Differences

Female decoders favoured non verbal cues compared to verbal cues.

Predicting Nonverbal Skills

Women in the educational industry rated themselves as the best decoder, compared to any other professions.

This is understandable, as women in other studies are good decoders. Teaching requires intense, long periods of communication from the teacher to ensure students are following.

Perception Differences in Managers and Employees

Management employees believed that decoding ability improved with age.