Communicator Competence Questionnaire

Abstract

The Communicator Competence Questionnaire (CCQ) is a concise, 12-item instrument designed by Monge, P. R., et al., to measure communication competence specifically within organizational settings. This scale is tailored for assessing the skills exhibited in the critical supervisor-subordinate dyads. The CCQ utilizes a dual-perspective evaluation method, allowing supervisors to evaluate their subordinates and subordinates to evaluate their supervisors. The instrument operationalizes competence through two primary, correlated dimensions: encoding skills (message creation and clarity) and decoding skills (message reception and responsiveness).

Initial validation demonstrated satisfactory convergent validity, supporting its use as a measure of workplace communication effectiveness.

Keywords

Communicator Competence Questionnaire, CCQ, communication competence, workplace communication, encoding skills, decoding skills, supervisor-subordinate relationship, organizational communication, dyadic assessment.

Authors

P. R. Monge, et al.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the CCQ is to provide a standardized, structured method for assessing the level of communication competence exhibited by individuals within a professional or organizational hierarchy. The scale aims to quantify observable communication behaviors that contribute to effective interaction in the workplace.

It is specifically designed for the evaluation of communication skills between supervisors and subordinates, facilitating a reciprocal assessment process. This dyadic structure allows organizations to identify specific areas of strength and weakness in both the transmission (encoding) and reception (decoding) of professional messages.

Construct

The underlying psychological construct measured by the CCQ is workplace communication competence, which is defined behaviorally and structurally divided into two interdependent factors derived from communication theory: encoding and decoding.

The scale items are constructed to represent specific, measurable communication behaviors appropriate for the workplace setting. Seven items focus on encoding skills, which pertain to the ability to transmit messages clearly and effectively (e.g., expressing ideas clearly, having a good command of the language, and being easy to understand). The remaining five items focus on decoding skills, which measure receptive communication abilities, including effective listening, attentiveness, and the timely processing and response to various forms of organizational messages.

Validity

The initial validation of the CCQ focused primarily on establishing convergent validity. This involved correlating the competence scores derived from the two scale factors (encoding and decoding) with scores from two separate, global measures of communication competence.

This validation analysis was systematically conducted using both the supervisor-rated data and the subordinate-rated data to ensure that the scale functions consistently regardless of the rater’s hierarchical position. The correlation coefficient between the CCQ measures and the global competence indicators was found to be 0.74. This substantial finding provides reasonably strong empirical evidence for the convergent validity of the scales, confirming that the CCQ measures the intended construct effectively.

Reliability

Specific measures of internal consistency reliability (such as Cronbach’s Alpha) or test-retest reliability were not detailed in the available source documentation by Monge, P. R., et al. (nd). While the factor structure suggests internal coherence, subsequent research utilizing the CCQ should prioritize the establishment and reporting of standard reliability metrics to ensure the scale’s consistency and stability across repeated administrations and diverse samples.

Factor Analysis

Scale development utilized a rigorous confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) employing an oblique rotation method. This analytical approach confirmed the hypothesized two-factor structure of the CCQ, successfully separating the items into the encoding factor and the decoding factor.

The use of oblique rotation was theoretically motivated, allowing the two factors to covary. The results of the CFA confirmed that the encoding and decoding factors are indeed significantly correlated, supporting the conceptualization of competence as a unified construct composed of distinct, yet interacting, components.

Instrument

Test Type: Behavioral rating scale (Other-report/Peer-report).

Format: 12 items utilizing a 7-point agreement scale.

Language Available: English.

Population Group: Working adults and organizational personnel involved in supervisor-subordinate dyads.

Age Group: Adult.

Population Details: Initial validation samples were drawn from two large firms within the same industry located in the U.S. Midwest. The primary sample consisted of 220 respondents forming supervisor-subordinate dyads, while a secondary sample included 60 staff members from a manufacturing firm.

Test Methodology: The methodology employs a dyadic assessment approach where participants evaluate their relational counterpart. Supervisors rate their subordinates, and, conversely, subordinates rate their supervisors using the 12 items and a 7-point agreement scale.

Keywords

Organizational assessment, dyadic communication, workplace behavior, communication skills, managerial effectiveness, job performance, professional development.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not available in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not available in source material.

Correspondence Address: Not available in source material.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed by Monge, P. R., et al., and published in Communication Yearbook 5. The exact year of the scale’s initial publication is not explicitly stated in the source material (nd), though the context suggests publication in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Information regarding licensing fees and specific usage permissions is not provided in the primary source documentation.

Reference’s

Monge, P. R., et al. (nd). Communicator competence in the workplace: Model testing and scale development. Communication Yearbook 5.

• Level, D. A., and Johnson, L. (1978). Accuracy of information flows within the supervisor/subordinate relationship. Journal of Business Communication 15:13–22.
• Ray, S. R. (2010). Collegiate athletes’ perceptions of coaches’ communication competence. MA thesis, University of Wyoming.
• Truncale, J. (2011). Interpersonal skills of highly successful business owners in the graphic communications industry. PhD dissertation, New York University.
• Wiemann, J. M. (1977). Explication and test of a model of communicative competence. Human Communication Research 3:195–213.

Items of the Communicator Competence Questionnaire

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. My subordinate has a good command of the language.
2. My subordinate is sensitive to others’ needs of the moment.
3. My subordinate typically gets right to the point.
4. My subordinate pays attention to what other people say to him or her.
5. My subordinate can deal with others effectively.
6. My subordinate is a good listener.
7. My subordinate’s writing is difficult to understand.
8. My subordinate expresses his or her ideas clearly.
9. My subordinate is difficult to understand when he or she speaks.
10. My subordinate generally says the right thing at the right time.
11. My subordinate is easy to talk to.
12. My subordinate usually responds to messages (memos, phone calls, reports, etc.) quickly.

Scoring: The scoring utilizes a 7-point agreement scale:

• YES! = very strong agreement
• YES = strong agreement
• yes = mild agreement
• ? = neutral feelings of the language
• NO! = very strong disagreement
• NO = strong disagreement
• no = mild disagreement