ORGANISATIONAL COMMUNICATION AND PRESENTATIONS SKILLS
Syllabus
EN
IT
Learning Objectives
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
The course provides students with the basic notions in the field of organizational communication and presentation skills, delivering an overview of the management and organizational tools that can be designed to handle the internal and external communication activities of modern organizations. More specifically, attention will be paid to the tacit and explicit competencies that underpin the ability of human resources to establish sound exchanges at the one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, and many-to-many levels. Starting from an organizational contextualization of what is meant by communication, the teaching will delve into the conceptual and practical challenges of organizational exchanges of data and information, enhancing the students’ ability to participate in meaningful communication activities within any types of organizations, including public sector entities, private firms, and non-profit institutions.
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
The students will acknowledge the issues characterizing the multifaceted communication exchanges that are enacted within organizations. During the teaching activities, the challenges related to effective communication at the individual and collective levels will be deepened, with a focus on the topics of strategic and managerial alignment between internal and external communication, the role of organizational culture in affecting interpersonal exchanges within organizations, and the consistency between organizational communication and organizational action. Moreover, the students will improve their awareness of the specific skills and expertise that are needed to timely and properly manage the multiple tools and approaches available to enact communication within and across the internal and external organizational boundaries.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
People who will attend at the teaching activities will be involved in active learning sessions that will be aimed at applying to practice the theoretical constructs and the conceptual tools discussed during frontal lessons. Active learning activities will include, inter alia, case study analysis and discussion, role playing sessions, and simulations. The contextualization of conceptual knowledge developed by students will concern a variety of organizational context, allowing students to acknowledge and understand the multifacetedness of challenges characterizing the appropriate management of communication at the organizational level.
MAKING JUDGEMENTS:
At the end of teaching activities, students will develop autonomy of judgement about the strategic, structural, and managerial factors that affect the alignment between internal and external communication. Moreover, the discussion of the conceptual issues presented during class activities will empower students to critically assess and improve their presentation skills, adapting them to the evolving challenges faced by organizations in turbulent environmental conditions.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
As a result of the attendance at the teaching activities, students will be able to identify and handle the hard and soft tools available to manage the communication needs of organizations. Since role playing activities and in basket sessions will be embedded in classwork activities, the students will benefit from the opportunity of directly experiencing the ambiguities and hurdles affecting the management of communication processes within organizations. Besides, they will be able to increase their presentation skills, achieving a mastery in handling the tools and approaches of organizational communication.
LEARNING SKILLS:
Students will recognize that organizational communication is a critical tool of representation of the individual and collective identity of organizational members. The conceptualization of organizational communication as a symbolic artefact and as a cultural tool will sustain the students’ awareness of the role played by organizational communication in paving the way for managerial effectiveness and business excellence.
The course provides students with the basic notions in the field of organizational communication and presentation skills, delivering an overview of the management and organizational tools that can be designed to handle the internal and external communication activities of modern organizations. More specifically, attention will be paid to the tacit and explicit competencies that underpin the ability of human resources to establish sound exchanges at the one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, and many-to-many levels. Starting from an organizational contextualization of what is meant by communication, the teaching will delve into the conceptual and practical challenges of organizational exchanges of data and information, enhancing the students’ ability to participate in meaningful communication activities within any types of organizations, including public sector entities, private firms, and non-profit institutions.
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
The students will acknowledge the issues characterizing the multifaceted communication exchanges that are enacted within organizations. During the teaching activities, the challenges related to effective communication at the individual and collective levels will be deepened, with a focus on the topics of strategic and managerial alignment between internal and external communication, the role of organizational culture in affecting interpersonal exchanges within organizations, and the consistency between organizational communication and organizational action. Moreover, the students will improve their awareness of the specific skills and expertise that are needed to timely and properly manage the multiple tools and approaches available to enact communication within and across the internal and external organizational boundaries.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
People who will attend at the teaching activities will be involved in active learning sessions that will be aimed at applying to practice the theoretical constructs and the conceptual tools discussed during frontal lessons. Active learning activities will include, inter alia, case study analysis and discussion, role playing sessions, and simulations. The contextualization of conceptual knowledge developed by students will concern a variety of organizational context, allowing students to acknowledge and understand the multifacetedness of challenges characterizing the appropriate management of communication at the organizational level.
MAKING JUDGEMENTS:
At the end of teaching activities, students will develop autonomy of judgement about the strategic, structural, and managerial factors that affect the alignment between internal and external communication. Moreover, the discussion of the conceptual issues presented during class activities will empower students to critically assess and improve their presentation skills, adapting them to the evolving challenges faced by organizations in turbulent environmental conditions.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
As a result of the attendance at the teaching activities, students will be able to identify and handle the hard and soft tools available to manage the communication needs of organizations. Since role playing activities and in basket sessions will be embedded in classwork activities, the students will benefit from the opportunity of directly experiencing the ambiguities and hurdles affecting the management of communication processes within organizations. Besides, they will be able to increase their presentation skills, achieving a mastery in handling the tools and approaches of organizational communication.
LEARNING SKILLS:
Students will recognize that organizational communication is a critical tool of representation of the individual and collective identity of organizational members. The conceptualization of organizational communication as a symbolic artefact and as a cultural tool will sustain the students’ awareness of the role played by organizational communication in paving the way for managerial effectiveness and business excellence.
Prerequisites
None. However, awareness of the basic notions of organizational behavior is recommended for active participation to classwork activities.
Program
First Module (3 CFU)
1. Introduction and conceptualization of organizational communication;
2. Theories of communication: an organizational perspective;
3. Internal communication of organizations: functions and objectives;
4. Internal communication of organizations: attributes and characteristics;
5. Internal communication of organizations: tools and approaches;
6. Communication behaviors within organizations and presentation skills;
7. The determinants of effectiveness in communication;
8. The bridges between internal and external communications: peculiarities and specificities;
9. Alignment between internal and external communication.
Second Module (3 CFU)
1. A "symbolic" view of organizational communication;
2. Organizational culture and organizational communication;
3. Sensemaking and sensegiving within organizations;
4. Communication biases and interpretative problems;
5. Communication and decision making processes;
6. Communication and conflict management;
7. Communication and organizational identities;
8. Leadership and organizational communication;
9.Are organizations able to communicate?
1. Introduction and conceptualization of organizational communication;
2. Theories of communication: an organizational perspective;
3. Internal communication of organizations: functions and objectives;
4. Internal communication of organizations: attributes and characteristics;
5. Internal communication of organizations: tools and approaches;
6. Communication behaviors within organizations and presentation skills;
7. The determinants of effectiveness in communication;
8. The bridges between internal and external communications: peculiarities and specificities;
9. Alignment between internal and external communication.
Second Module (3 CFU)
1. A "symbolic" view of organizational communication;
2. Organizational culture and organizational communication;
3. Sensemaking and sensegiving within organizations;
4. Communication biases and interpretative problems;
5. Communication and decision making processes;
6. Communication and conflict management;
7. Communication and organizational identities;
8. Leadership and organizational communication;
9.Are organizations able to communicate?
Books
Rogala, A. & Bialowas, S. (2016). Communication in Organizational Environments. Functions, Determinants and Areas of Influence. London: Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliography
Kinicki, A. & Fugate, M. (2018). Loose Leaf for Organizational Behavior_ A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach. New York NY: McGraw Hill
Miller, K. (2012). Organizational Communication. Approaches and Processes. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning
Miller, K. (2012). Organizational Communication. Approaches and Processes. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning
Teaching methods
Teaching activities will be delivered face to face. An active learning approach will be used. Alongside case studies, case experiences and role playing, students will be encouraged to build team and to participate in project work activities
Exam Rules
The exam will consist either in a oral exam or a written essay. More specifically, the students will be asked to answer to 6 open ended questions. They will be evaluated according to their ability to discuss the topics dealt with and to provide original conceptual and practical insights.
The following criteria will be used for assessing students' performance:
0 point: The student is unable to effectively discuss the main issues reported in the questions. Theoretical knowledge is not adequately exploited to articulate convincing propositions and arguments. No insights are provided drawing on examples which may enhance the understanding of the topics dealt with in the question.
Not sufficient (<18): The student provides some brief notions which allows her/him to address some superficial issues touched by the questions. Theoretical knowledge is poorly exploited to articulate convincing propositions and arguments. Limited insights are provided drawing on examples which may enhance the understanding of the topics dealt with in the question.
Sufficient (18/22): The student provides some notions which allows her/him to address the key issues dealt with in the questions. Theoretical knowledge is adequately exploited to articulate convincing propositions and arguments. Some insights are provided drawing on examples which may enhance the understanding of the topics dealt with in the question.
Adequate (23/25): The student provides adequate notions which allows her/him to address most of the issues dealt with in the questions. Theoretical knowledge is effectively used to articulate convincing propositions and arguments. Good insights are provided drawing on examples which may enhance the understanding of the topics dealt with in the question.
Good (26/28): The student completely addresses the issues which are contemplated in the question. The student is proficient in using theoretical knowledge to critically discuss the question and are able to draw insights from connecting different topics discussed in the textbook. Fitting insights are provided drawing on adequately developed practical examples.
Excellent (29/30): The student completely addresses the issues which are contemplated in the question. The student uses a wide array of conceptual tools to investigate the main topics included in the question. Practical examples are discussed in a critical way to provide multifaceted perspectives to comprehensively address the issues touched by the question.
The following criteria will be used for assessing students' performance:
0 point: The student is unable to effectively discuss the main issues reported in the questions. Theoretical knowledge is not adequately exploited to articulate convincing propositions and arguments. No insights are provided drawing on examples which may enhance the understanding of the topics dealt with in the question.
Not sufficient (<18): The student provides some brief notions which allows her/him to address some superficial issues touched by the questions. Theoretical knowledge is poorly exploited to articulate convincing propositions and arguments. Limited insights are provided drawing on examples which may enhance the understanding of the topics dealt with in the question.
Sufficient (18/22): The student provides some notions which allows her/him to address the key issues dealt with in the questions. Theoretical knowledge is adequately exploited to articulate convincing propositions and arguments. Some insights are provided drawing on examples which may enhance the understanding of the topics dealt with in the question.
Adequate (23/25): The student provides adequate notions which allows her/him to address most of the issues dealt with in the questions. Theoretical knowledge is effectively used to articulate convincing propositions and arguments. Good insights are provided drawing on examples which may enhance the understanding of the topics dealt with in the question.
Good (26/28): The student completely addresses the issues which are contemplated in the question. The student is proficient in using theoretical knowledge to critically discuss the question and are able to draw insights from connecting different topics discussed in the textbook. Fitting insights are provided drawing on adequately developed practical examples.
Excellent (29/30): The student completely addresses the issues which are contemplated in the question. The student uses a wide array of conceptual tools to investigate the main topics included in the question. Practical examples are discussed in a critical way to provide multifaceted perspectives to comprehensively address the issues touched by the question.