Caruso, a boss, is accused of being a poor communicator by his employees. Specifically, he does not listen to his employees' input, focuses only on business metrics without explaining directions clearly, and has a hierarchical communication style where employees must approach him rather than the other way around. This damages motivation and creates tensions. To improve, the document recommends that Caruso learn communication fundamentals like listening, choosing words carefully, understanding why communication fails, and being positive. It also suggests developing interpersonal skills like making personal connections, maintaining a network, compromising, and showing interest in others. Regular self-review would help Caruso recognize effective and ineffective communications to continuously enhance his skills.

1. Question one
A lot of bosses are accused of being “poor communicator”. Why do you think this is?
Communication is straightforward which is encoded and decode messages
between the sender and the receiver. Communication can fosters motivation but also
act as a double edge sword because it may also be able to de-motivate people within
the radius. It can control members in several way such charismatic leader who speaks
with confidence. What makes it difficult, complex and frustrating to communicate with
each other are the barriers that avoid us to decode the messages clearly.
A lot of bosses are accused of being poor communicator because of they have
very high communication barrier in the way which leads to communication breakdown.
For example if the boss is from different country and of course he will have different
culture. Each culture holds different cultural beliefs, practices and perception. Even so,
the boss and the employees need to respect and to be respected with their culture.
Communication takes both parties to be able to listen and to talk. It’s hard to
communicate with someone who already thinks they are correct in the first place. The
more egotistical the boss is the worse the communications are. There are some weird
unwritten rules also. " Because I am the boss I can’t be wrong", or "I will look stupid if I
am wrong because I am the boss so I will go to the ends of the earth defending my
position." or "Since I am the boss I can’t be questioned about anything".
The bosses may have poor communication because of their feeling of superiority.
They often thought that they have the power to control over people and less often they
see that the way they communicate and behave burdens them. It could be that, the
superior (the boss) is too intelligent for his subordinates or his subordinates' perspective
is different from his superior. Having this issue derived on several factors such as
emotions, physical barriers, lack of social skills, lack of knowledge and education. In the
case incident states that the boss is men so in other words, they mostly emphasize
about status, power and independence.
Some bosses will speak to their people on what needs to be done, but won't listen
to what their peoples input. They are too busy with expenses, payroll, monthly reports,
etc. They forget to take the time to create clear and concise directions. They assume
that just because they were in the meeting that the same communication was heard by

2. all. They have selective hearing and do not communicate all the information they were
supposed to.
Another example of poor communication is the language and different accents
and dialects. Some words may mean different to different individuals. Some employee
may not understand the accent and dialects spoken. In this process, communication
breakdown occurs because there is wrong perception by the receiver. In short, the
receiver did not receive (decode) the message clearly.
In addition, the hierarchical structure of a company also adds up to the
satisfaction of the bosses that often results to poor communication. For example,
instead of having the initiative to talk to their employees , they have this mentality that
since they are the bosses and they are at the higher level in the organizational structure
, their employees should be the ones to make an effort to consult them or talk to them
That’s why they are called poor communicator. A good boss will speak to their
people and listen to what they have to say. A good boss will take care of their people; a
good boss knows that you can't run a business by yourself. A poor communicator is not
a good leader. A great leader will lead their people to victory, and will know how to pull
their people out of defeat, and rise and learn from the leaders mistakes.

3. Question two
What does this case suggest regarding the relationship between reinforcement theory
and communication?
The reinforcement theory, based on E. L. Thorndike's law of effect, simply looks at
the relationship between behavior and its consequences. Reinforcement theory
emphasizes that consequences influence behavior while communication is the
transference and understanding of meaning, it would appear that good communication
will increase understanding and efficiency while complimenting the reinforcement
theory.
In the case study suggest that there is strong relationship between reinforcement
theory and communication. Communication controls behaviors which stimulates
motivations, offer information and is a way to release emotions. Reinforcement theory
is a middle part of those four functions. In order to achieve each function,
communication and reinforcement theory work hand in hand to provide opportunity to
send messages and to receive feedback from employees.
Sending the correct messages and receiving feedback not only strengthens the
relationship between the boss and the employee, it also strengthens the lines of
communication. Since Mr. Caruso does not communicate well, he is unable to motivate
his employee through the use of reinforcement theory.
Reinforcement theory establishes that employees have higher job satisfaction and
higher levels of motivation when the behavior the company wants is reinforced with
praise. In Mr. Caruso’s case, his employees are very critical of his style of management
and it is considered to be a regular source of conflict.
In the workplace, reinforcement theory can either hinder or promote
communication. If mangers or supervisors ways of communicating produce favorable
results, there is huge possibility that they will repeat that action and as a result, it will
yield a better flow of communication. But if they already know that a particular action
will produce unfavorable results, they will most likely not do that specific action. Since
Caruso is not aware of the consequences of his behavior, he continues to do it because
it satisfies his wants and needs. For him , his actions bring positive results that benefit
him as a manager or supervisor in public relations but in reality his bad behavior have

4. affected the performance of his employees that led to lack of initiative to be more
productive and promote effective communication
When we talk about expectancy theory in which it act in a certain way depends
on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and
on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual. The employee will apply the
relationship by receiving the correct data. So he or she will exert their perception of the
effort to their performance. If the performance is good they will be given reward and
they eventually achieve their goal satisfaction.
However, if the employee did not receive the proper data (decode properly) they
will tend to misunderstand and perceived differently. So they may be less effort to be
made and lower down their performance. In other words, they will not satisfy and will
not achieve their goals.
This case only proves that when an action results to a negative consequence,
employees try to decrease the occurrence of this behavior but when it brings positive
effects, the natural outcome would be an increase in the action that produced it. But
when a specific behavior does not deliver either good or bad effects, it is most likely that
the action will never happen again.

5. Question three
What, specifically, do you think Caruso needs to do to improve his communication
skills?
First and for most Caruso needs to understand and learn the beginning of the
communication process. It is he (sender) which starts the messages and then the
message will be encoded by the brain. Followed by the message being send (verbally or
written) through the channel which travels to the receiver. The receiver will then
decode the message in which the brains translate the message in most simple way by
the receiver. While having this process, there will be some distractions such as noises in
which it prevent the receiver from understanding the message clearly. Finally, ending
with feedback which determines the receiver understands fully or not.
Next step is for Caruso to learn and explore the power of non-verbal
communications. Action speaks louder than words so body language may reveal a
person’s true feelings, motivation or character. It is hard to control than words. The way
he listen, look, move, and react tells the other person whether or not he care, if he is
being truthful, and how well he listen. When his nonverbal signals match up with the
words he said, they increase trust, clarity, and rapport. When they don’t, they generate
tension, mistrust, and confusion.
If he want to communicate better in all areas of his life, it’s important to become
more sensitive to body language and other nonverbal cues, so he can be more in tune
with the thoughts and feelings of others. he also need to be aware of the signals he
sending off, so he can be sure that the messages he send are what he really want to
communicate.
Another way to enhance his communication skills is to improve the direction of
communications. In downward communication, Caruso needs to interact with his
employee of lower level whereas lateral takes place among members of the same work
group such as managers of same level. Moreover he also need to improve his formal
channel of communication because his job require professionals dealing with clients. He
need to differentiate when to use formal language and when to use informal language.
While Mr. Caruso seems to understand that some people do need to be told that
they are doing a good job, he actually needs to put it into practice. Mr. Caruso must set
the example by meeting his deadlines. If he is able to complete his work in timely

6. manner, his employees will begin to so the same. He needs to learn how to
communicate with clients to avoid placing his employees in awkward situations.
Showing his employees the correct way to deal with clients will give the
employees self-confidence and motivation. When employees feel valued by the
company, it fosters creativity and stronger problem-solving skills. Furthermore,
changing his tone when he speaks to his employees will relieve tensions his employees
feel when they are unable to express their emotion through communication process.
Finally, criticizing employees and not praising them are enough to kill motivation and job
satisfaction. Mr. Caruso would do well to use constructive criticism and praise his
employees more in order to create environment that allows for growth and for more
open lines of communication where he can receive feedback to make sure that his
message is getting through his employees.

7. Question four
Assuming Caruso wants to improve, how would you suggest he go about learning to
be a better communicator?
In order for Caruso to improve and be a better communicator, that he should
learn and understand the process of communication as well develop his own
interpersonal skills in communication. The process of communication involves Listening,
Choosing his words, understands why communication fails, relax, clarify and being
positive.
In this information, age that we are all in, Caruso will be able to quickly learn and
develop his communication skills while running a business. He could easily sign up for an
online course that he could do on his own time, read articles online, learn
communication skills through a good book and so forth.
However, he could easily follow seven verbal communication skills that improve
workplace management effectiveness
1. Personal Contact - The reason is that people relate to one another better when
they can meet in person and read each other’s body language. What’s more,
people can feel the energy the connection creates. You can also smile and shake
someone’s hand when you greet them, which creates a powerful connection.
2. Develope a Network - No one achieves success alone. Success in any company
requires a team effort.
3. Be Positive - Try to remain positive and cheerful. People are much more likely to
be drawn to you if you can maintain a positive attitude.
4. Relax - When we are nervous we tend to talk more quickly and therefore less
clearly. Being tense is also evident in our body language and other non-verbal
communication. Try to stay calm, make eye contact and smile. Let your
confidence shine.

8. 5. Choosing his words: This is where he needs to be aware of. The words that he’s
going to use when talking to the others could he be misunderstood or confusing
to others and also criticizing the employees with praise or harsh on the words
being used.
6. Always be Couteous - Courtesy lets people know that you care. Say “Thank You”
and “Would you please…” instead of just, “Please…” this show that you
appreciate your employees’ efforts.
7. Be Clear - Since people often hear things differently, and they may be hesitant to
ask you to explain what you said, you should ask, “Did I explain this clearly?” This
will confirm they understood.
8. Compromise - You can decrease the tension associated with conflict if you always
ask, “What is best for the company?” This gives people a different perspective on
your requests, and they will be less likely to take any conflict personally.
9. Understand Why Communication Fails: By learning about the various barriers to
good communication he can be aware of and reduce the likelihood of ineffective
interpersonal skills.
10.Be interesting and interested - Even though most of your workplace
communications will be about business topics, it is also important to share your
personal side. You can share your interest in your family and ask about theirs. You
can tell short stories and have your employee’s feel closer to you.
11.Finally Listen - Listening attentively to your employees demonstrates respect.
Listening isn’t easy because everyone’s mind tends to wander. So to help you
concentrate on what the other person is saying, keep a good eye contact –
without staring, and then make a comment about it or ask a question.

9. By understanding all of those skills and applying them in his communication with
regards to improve the communication with his employees, it could be really helpful as
this could somehow increase the bond of his relationships with them, avoids
misunderstanding with the others, making the employee more comfortable and
motivated in their working environment which could fix the communication breakdown.
Improving communication skills is a process that happens gradually over a period
of time and that he has the opportunity to practice his communication skills every day at
work. A quick tip to help him to improve faster would be at the end of each day, take a
moment to review his communications during the day. What was effective? What
wasn’t effective? That way he will continue to learn and improve his communication
skills.