Silence as a means of communication

            Silence generally means absence of any kind of noise.  But in communication it is seen as absence of speech.  So, absence of speech doesn’t mean that the person is not communicating with the other person.  Silence is a very powerful form of communication.  Depending on the situation, the meaning of silence differs on each occasion.

            During a speech, if the speaker pauses in between he is trying to mean something.  If the pause is very short, it means that he is trying to recollect what he is going to speak next.  If he pauses for a long time, it means that the speaker wants the audience to either think about the matter he said or he is looking for some kind of response from them.  It can also mean that the speaker is seeking the attention of the audience because he is going to say something very important next.            

            According to the law of contract there is a provision that silence is a form of acceptance.  It tells that if a customer starts using the product without expressly conveying his acceptance, the seller of the goods can assume that the buyer has accepted the product.

            It can be taken that by remaining silent; a person is trying to say that he is upset.  For example, it can be found that if a very talkative person suddenly becomes silent others could easily find that he is upset.

            Silence can also be used as a sign of insult.  This usually happens in workplace.  Eg: A superior without speaking just turning his back on his subordinate to insult him.

            Silence can be used to admit defeat.  In debates, if the opposite party gives his views and we are unable to give counter points and remain silent, then it is that we admit defeat to him.

            We also pray in silence.  To demand silence one can use silence.  A person placing his index finger on his lips indicates that he needs silence from their part too.

            To show one’s trust one use silence.  By not revealing confidential information about a friend, one tells him that he can trust him.  It also communicates to others that one doesn’t want to get into trouble.  For example, you saw a murder by the roadside and you noticed that many people also witnessed it.  But when the police asks about it to you and others, everybody remains silent on the matter because it is known that it brings more trouble. 

            Thus silence can allow a user to express a large variety of emotions, convey messages and also use it as a sign of acceptance.  A higher percentage in this regard goes to expression of emotions.  Often people use it to express anger, upset and other emotions.  So, silence is more powerful than a bunch of empty words.

Review of Staffing function

     The various functions of management includes planning, organizing, staffing, leading and control.  An organization to be run in an effective manner requires efficient and competent human beings.  This requirement is fulfilled by the Staffing function.
     Staffing is therefore defined as the process of 'recruiting and retaining the most competent people'.  Staffing includes a variety of activities from recruitment, selection, placement, training, performance appraisal and motivation of employees.
     Recruitment is the process of looking for the potential candidates either within the organization (internal) or outside the organization (external).  Selection is the process of differentiating between applicants and conduct a series of tests before taking him into the organization.  The various tests that scan be conduct include Intelligence tests, Aptitude tests, Personality tests etc.  Then comes the Placement i.e placing the employee in the correct place that would maximize his productivityy.  In the performance appraisal the employees are evaluated on a regular basis.  This is done mainly to find whether an employee needs further training and also for promotion or firing process.  The most important activity of staffing is to retain the employees.  Employees must be motivated on a daily basis.  The Equity theory, Expectancy therory and the reinforcement therory needs to be well understood by the human resource personnel in motivating the employees.
     The success of any organization depends on the people working there.  Therefore the function of Staffing is the most significant and vital in an organization.

Six hats review

             Six thinking hats is a method where Edward de Bono focuses on ‘Parallel thinking’.  He introduced this method mainly to avoid the difficulties that are faced during meetings in a company.  Earlier, a meeting or a discussion takes a lot of time to arrive at a conclusion.  People in a meeting don’t know how to go about, so when one presents a thought the others started arguing about it and this took a lot of time.  With the introduction of this thinking hat process, every meeting or a discussion ended in just one – fourth of the time that it would normally take.

            Parallel thinking is a concept where everyone is made to look from a same point of view at one point of time.  This enabled people to come out with a variety of ideas.  If people were made to concentrate on a particular thing it increases their efficiency because arguments are reduced and if arguments are reduced people don’t have to respond to it and so their thinking will not be distracted.  Moreover, if everyone thinks in different directions in a meeting it creates confusion.  It is not that people are made to focus on one view alone.  At one point of time he thinks in one angle, and when all the ideas are collected, they are made to think in another angle.  This helps to clear his mind of other thoughts and focus on a particular view.

            Six thinking hats gives clear cut ideas to persons whether to focus on facts, emotions, strengths, weaknesses, creativity or control at one point of time.  This helped in synergy of thoughts, save a lot of time and reduces confusion.