CHANNEL SURFING

It is important for leaders not only to send nonverbal signals correctly but also to receive and correctly interpret the nonverbal communications of others. By becoming aware of nonverbal signals, leaders become better communicators and have better interactions when dealing with and leading others.

Researchers Stephen Nowicki Jr. and Marshall Duke, professors of psychology at Emory University, have described the following six channels of nonverbal communication.

Rhythm and Use of Time

Have you ever noticed that some people walk faster or slower than you do? Some people always seem to be in a hurry, hastening through meetings or meals and almost running from one place to the next. Other people take their time to get settled, move slower, and never feel rushed. Rhythm plays a role in social situations. Being out of sync with others may cause confusion, anxiety, or discomfort for both you and the people you are with.

Closely linked to rhythm is use of time. How a person organizes time and commitments says much more about that person than the words coming out of his or her mouth. Time is very important to people, and breaking time rules can become a glaring problem. For instance, being constantly late to meetings gives the impression that one does not care for the attendees, their time, and their work. Being notoriously late may also convey that you are self-centered, uncaring, and irresponsible. Being consistently punctual, however, tells others that you are responsible and considerate of their feelings and their work.

Interpersonal Space and Touch

The second nonverbal channel involves boundaries or territories in terms of space and touch. People are very territorial. They have walls around their offices or cubicles and fences around their houses. In terms of nonverbal communication, when someone “invades” or comes too close to your space, you may become more attentive or more tense, uncomfortable, perturbed, or angry. Individuals' personal space can be imagined as a flexible bubble around each person, which grows or shrinks depending on the situation.

Anthropologist Edward T. Hall has found that Americans have four different zones, each one deemed appropriate for certain kinds of communication with others. In the intimate zone (eighteen inches and closer), people let only their close friends and family discuss personal issues and feelings. In the personal zone (eighteen inches to four feet), they feel comfortable conversing with friends, acquaintances, and co-workers. In the social zone (four to twelve feet), they feel comfortable talking to people they have just met or are about to meet about nonspecific or nonpersonal issues that are not confidential. Finally, the public zone (twelve feet and beyond) is meant for those they do not know, and communication is only by gestures.

In the work setting, not paying attention to these zones may cause problems in communicating with others. For instance, standing too close to someone you do not know well may irritate or even frighten that person. Standing too far away from someone while discussing personal, confidential matters may cause uneasiness or embarrassment for that person.

Touch, especially in the workplace, carries extreme meanings, and should be used cautiously. Touch occurs in the intimate zone of interpersonal space. With family and friends, touch is mainly used to convey affection. It is generally acceptable to touch people along the outside of their body lines, but touching inside the body line (inside the arms, along the sides of the chest, or inside the legs) is loaded with extreme emotional messages. Inappropriate touching has become a major issue in the workplace and often leads to allegations of sexual harassment. Also, the way one touches can send different messages. Patting, squeezing, or brushing, for instance, can communicate positive messages, whereas poking tends to send a negative message.

Objectics

The third nonverbal channel may be one of the least recognized. However, think about your clothes, hair, jewelry, cosmetics, and fragrance—what academicians have termed objectics. These and other objectic signals communicate messages to others. For instance, a ring on the left ring finger says to others that you are married or engaged. Wearing lots of jewelry may communicate that you are rich but may also convey garish taste or a snobbish attitude. Even the color of your clothes can convey signals to others. For instance, red evokes power, dominance, and attention. Black suggests authority and power but may also convey aggressiveness. Blue is suggestive of stability and confidence.

Many organizations have dress codes, governing what employees can and cannot wear to work. Stylish attire may communicate to others that you're up on the latest fashion, but it may not be acceptable at work. However, even if you understand and abide by the workplace dress rules, the way you dress can still communicate many things you may not realize. For instance, an unwrinkled shirt, pressed pants, polished shoes, and well-groomed hair conveys that you are organized, neat, efficient, and confident. Coming to work with messed-up hair or a wrinkled suit communicates that you are in a hurry and do not have time to take care of yourself, or may even signal that you don't care how you look in the eyes of others.

Gestures and Postures

Gestures are a major part of everyday life—waving hello or good-bye, pointing your finger, raising your hand to communicate “stop,” nodding or shaking your head to indicate yes or no, and shrugging your shoulders to say, “I don't know,” to name just a few. In an organizational setting, gestures may be used to give directions or add emphasis to the words you are saying.

Gestures are used more in close-range conversations, but body posture can be used to communicate from either close up or far away. Posture involves most of the body, including hands, arms, feet, and head. Although you can avoid making gestures, you cannot avoid having a posture. For instance, slouching may convey that you are tired or disinterested. If your hands are in your pockets, others may believe you are bored. Standing erect may communicate excitement, enthusiasm, confidence, and interest.

Leaning toward a person you are talking with communicates that you are interested in what the person is saying or that you believe it to be important. Even when you are at rest—standing in the hallway or sitting at your desk, for instance—your posture says a lot about how you are feeling.

Facial Expression

This is one of the most important nonverbal cues to be aware of in interactions with others. Everything from a smile, a frown, or a grimace to raising the eyebrows, blinking, and eye contact can communicate a great deal. Researchers, including Nowicki and Duke, have specified the importance to effective social functioning and adjustment of accurately reading and appropriately displaying facial expressions in different circumstances in the workplace and with family and friends.

What may be most important in terms of facial expression are the eyes. For instance, when you smile, the corners of your mouth turn up. When you smile genuinely, crinkles appear around your eyes and your pupils may dilate. When you fake a smile, no such crinkling appears and there is no change in pupil size. Moreover, eye contact is extremely important in communicating with others. When you make eye contact with people, you are telling them that you are interested in them—how they are feeling and what they are saying. If you don't make eye contact, others may believe that you aren't interested in them or their feelings.

Catching Up on Nonverbal Communication

Paralanguage

The final channel of nonverbal communication encompasses all the aspects of sound that accompany words, including tone of voice, loudness, speed, intensity, sounds such as humming and whistling, the uhs and ums you use when speaking, and even silence. Of all the nonverbal channels, paralanguage is the most important in terms of communicating emotional meaning when conversing with others. For instance, an mmmmm may communicate interest or liking, whereas a hissing sound may signal averseness. Too many uhs and ums may convey that you are confused, do not know what you are talking about, or are unknowledgeable about the topic at hand. Talking fast may convey that you are in a hurry or that what you are saying is not all that important. Talking slowly, especially in meetings or presentations, may communicate that you are insecure or unprepared.

Changing the emphasis or stress we give to the different words in a sentence may totally change the meaning or emphasis of the sentence. Nowicki and Duke use this sentence as an example: “Mary's lending me her book.” If you emphasize Mary, the main point of the sentence seems to be that it is no one but Mary who is lending the book to me. If you emphasize lending, Mary is not giving the book to me; she is lending it. If me is emphasized, the book is being lent to me and no one else. If her is emphasized, the book is Mary's and no one else's. And if book is emphasized, it is the book, not anything else, that Mary is lending to me. The entire emotional meaning and interpretation of the sentence changes each time the verbal emphasis changes.

Tone of voice is also an important part of paralanguage. What we say may be overshadowed by how we say it, or more important, the tone in which we say it. The subtlety of voice tone, according to Nowicki and Duke, may be the most important aspect of nonverbal communication. Talking loudly may communicate excitement or anger. A soft or gentle tone brings calm.

It is one thing to recognize the channels of nonverbal communication; it is more difficult to be continually aware that you are correctly identifying and relaying the correct nonverbal behaviors to fit the situation. Again, you should realize that you must not only give the correct nonverbal signals and behaviors to others but also—and possibly more important—correctly identify and interpret the nonverbal signals others are giving to you. Our research shows that those who are better able to recognize nonverbal expressions of emotion in facial expressions and tone of voice believe themselves to be better at certain aspects of leadership, particularly in the domain of relationships.