Business Communication Reviewer PDF

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION REVIEWER NATURE, ELEMENTS AND PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION  The word communication has been derived from the Latin word 'communicare' that means ‘to share’.  Communication may be defined as the interchange of thought or information between two or m...

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION REVIEWER NATURE, ELEMENTS AND PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION  The word communication has been derived from the Latin word 'communicare' that means ‘to share’.  Communication may be defined as the interchange of thought or information between two or more persons to bring about mutual understanding and desired action.  It is the exchange of facts, ideas, and viewpoints that bring about commonness of interest, purpose, and efforts.  Communication involves something more than mere transmission of the message or transmission and physical receipt thereof. The correct interpretation of the message is important from the point of view of organizational efficiency. As such, the greater the degree of understanding present in the communication, the more the likelihood that human action will proceed in the direction of the accomplishment of goals. COMPONENTS OF COMMUNICATION 1. CONTEXT- Communication is affected by the context in which it takes place. This context may be physical, social, or cultural. Every communication proceeds with context. 2. SENDER/ ENCODER- refers to the person who sends the message. A sender makes use of symbols or paralinguistics to convey the message and produce the required response. 3. MESSAGE- refers to the key idea that the sender wants to communicate. The main objective of the message should be clear. 4. ENCODING- the process of conversion of subject matter into symbols. It is also known as the “communication symbol”. 5. MEDIUM/ CHANNEL- is a means used to exchange or transmit the message. 6. RECIPIENT/ DECODER- a person for whom the message is intended or targeted. 7. DECODING- the process of translation of an encoded message into ordinary understandable language. 8. FEEDBACK- it is the main component of the communication process as it permits the sender to analyze the efficacy of the message. PURPOSE OF COMMUNICATION 1. FOR INSTRUCTION: the communicator transmits with necessary directives and guidance to the next level, so as to enable them to accomplish his particular tasks. In this, instructions basically flow from the top to the lower level. 2. FOR INTEGRATION: The integration function of communication mainly involves bringing about inter-relationship among the various functions of the business organization. It helps in the unification of different management functions. 3. FOR INFORMATION: Top management informs policies to the lower level through the middle level. In turn, the lower level informs the top level of the reaction through the middle level. Information can flow vertically, horizontally, and diagonally across the organization. 4. FOR EVALUATION: Communication is a tool to appraise the individual or team, and their contribution to the organization. Evaluating one’s own inputs or other’s outputs or some ideological scheme demands an adequate and effective communication process. 5. FOR IMAGE BUILDING: - It can be done by communication with the different media, which has to project the image of the firm in society. Through an effective external communication system, an enterprise must inform society about its goals, activities, progress, and social responsibility. 6. FOR EMPLOYEE’S ORIENTATION: Communication helps to make people acquainted with the co- employees, superior, and with the policies, objectives, rules, and regulations of the organization. DIMENSIONS OF COMMUNICATION 1. DOWNWARD COMMUNICATION- communication from superiors to subordinates in a chain of command is a downward communication. Downward communication is used by the managers for the following purposes: Providing feedback on employees’ performance. Giving job instructions. Providing a complete understanding of the employees’ job as well as to communicate them how their job is related to other jobs in the organization. Communicating the organization's mission and vision to the employees. Highlighting the areas of attention. 2. UPWARD FLOW OF COMMUNICATION- It provides feedback on how well the organization is functioning. The subordinates use upward communication to convey their problems and performances to their superiors. EXAMPLES ARE: Grievance Redressal System Complaint and Suggestion Box Job Satisfaction surveys 3. LATERAL/ HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION- Communication that takes place at the same levels of hierarchy in an organization (i.e., communication between peers, between managers at the same levels, or between any horizontally equivalent organizational member). ADVANTAGES OF LATERAL COMMUNICATION: It is time-saving. It facilitates coordination of the task. horizontally equivalent organizational member. It provides emotional and social assistance to the organizational members. It can also be used for resolving conflicts of a department with other departments or conflicts within a department. 4. DIAGONAL OR CROSSWISE COMMUNICATION- This takes place between a manager and employees of other work groups and is called diagonal communication. It generally does not appear on the organizational chart. For instance - To design a training module a training manager interacts with an Operations personnel to enquire about the way they perform their task. 5. GRAPEVINE OR INFORMAL COMMUNICATION- It stretches throughout the organization in all directions irrespective of the authority levels. Grapevine generally develops due to various reasons. One of them is that when an organization is facing recession, the employees sense uncertainty. Also, at times employees do not have self confidence due to which they form unions. Sometimes the managers show preferential treatment and favor some employees giving a segregated feeling to other employees. Example of Grapevine Network of Communication: 1. Suppose the profit amount of a company is known. Rumor is spread that this much profit is there, and, on that basis, the bonus is declared. 2. The CEO may be in relation to the Production Manager. They may have friendly relations with each other. FUNDAMENTALS OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION  Effective managers and professionals in all walks of life have to become skilled in the art of ‘reading’ the situations that they are attempting to organize or manage.  Everyone in the organization needs to develop the skills of understanding and interpreting the messages and meanings they encounter.  There is a deep emphasis on ‘developing deep appreciation of the situations’- and this involves understanding what communication means and how it works. DIFFERENT VIEWS TOWARD COMMUNICATION ARROW MANAGERS  Arrow managers believe that communication operates one way, as in firing an arrow. If your aim is good, then you will hit the target. If you have a clear message, then you will communicate. ADVANTAGE DISADVANTAGE  arrow managers may well spend some  it can be very dangerous to see time working out their ideas and listeners as simply passive processors making sure that their messages and of information. It is also very difficult instructions are as specific as possible. to construct unambiguous messages.  Arrow managers can also be insensitive to possible ambiguities in  what they say and how they say it. CIRCUIT MANAGERS  circuit managers concentrate on communication as a two-way process, emphasizing the importance of feedback.  they usually emphasize the importance of good listening and trust in relationships.  Clampitt argues that this approach also has some weaknesses. In particular, he feels that circuit managers can overemphasize agreement and fail to recognize real differences in views within the workplace.  Circuit managers may assume that disagreement is simply a matter of poor communication, and that more communication will almost automatically lead to agreement. COMMUNICATION AND DANCE BEING METAPHOR  Both are used for multiple purposes. You can dance to entertain others, to impress your partner, to express yourself, and so on. In the same way, you can communicate for different reasons: to inform, to persuade, to impress, etc.  Both involve the co-ordination of meanings. The importance of co-ordination is an obvious feature of dance. You have to know what your partner thinks is the best way of doing the dance – you have to know what they are going to do next! When we communicate, we also have to recognize how other people see the situation, recognize what they are doing, and respond accordingly. We shall see how important this is in communication when we look at interpersonal skills.  Both are governed by rules. There are sets of rules that apply to different types of dance: what sort of steps to use, how these steps are organized in sequence, what dress is appropriate. Again, in this book we shall see how different rules apply to different communication situations – ranging from the rules and conventions of grammar through to social rules and expectations. Also, these rules can change over time and be negotiated by the participants.  This analysis has very important practical implications – these different views of communication influence how we behave. Confronted by a similar situation, these three different types of managers will respond very differently. And this is why it is important to think very clearly about how we define communication and what that definition involves. How we think about communication will influence what we do. Confronted by misunderstanding or conflict, the arrow manager will perhaps focus on developing a ‘clearer message’. If that manager has a misleading picture of the employees’ assumptions, then this effort may be completely wasted or even lead to further conflict. PARALANGUAGE IN BUSINESS ORGANIZATION Paralanguage is an essential part of nonverbal communication and as it is nonverbal, it does not consist of words but without it words do not convey the intentional meaning. “Para means “like”, hence paralanguage literally means like language‟ and paralinguistic‟ is the systematic study of how a speaker verbalizes” (Sinha, K.K., 2012). Even without hearing the words Paralanguage conveys the message about what people are communicating. VOICE- As soon as we utter something, the first thing that comes out is the voice. The same goes for the other side, whenever someone is speaking the first thing, we listen to is the voice, even if we are not able to see the speaker just by the voice we can identify the gender, background, temperament, and much more. CLARITY- The voices can be ambiguous or unambiguous, pleasant or unpleasant at times. The clear voice will effectively convey a clear message. This is the reason that in some jobs it is essential that the applicant possess a clear and pleasant voice. For instance, a job involving the task of the receptionist, or of attending the telephone, in call centers and for radio jockey. TONE- The tone while speaking can be harsh & loud, soft & gentle, pleasing & comforting, sharp and full of rage etc. tone is that physical level of speech at which the sound of human voice is transmitted. According to Raman & Singh ‘tone’ is the attitude of the speaker as revealed in the choice of vocabulary or the intonation of speech. Tone is used to convey an outlook consciously or unconsciously. The verbal communication may not be clear without the tone. Intonation helps the tone to refer to the pattern of sounds that are felt during communication. In the absence of the intonation or modulation the speech will be monotonous. It is important and easy to learn the intonations of our own native language but seems difficult while learning the second language. For being the good speaker, the person should have command of the tone with the intonations. This may make his speech more influential and interesting. The change or the modulation in tone changes the meaning of words or actions. For example, a cough can convey different meanings. It can be for clearing the throat, or reminding someone to speak out at the right time, or it may also convey that one should stop speaking more, i.e., be careful of the speech as people are listening to you. PITCH- Pitch is a measure to find out the high and low voice. The rise and fall of the pitch varies every time we communicate, depending upon with whom we are communicating and what we are sharing. Pitch has a lot to do with one’s state of mind. TOO HIGH- When the person is excited or speaks in anger automatically the pitch rises. Too High pitch can irritate the audience; the drawback is that due to high pitch people may not be able to concentrate on words and try to escape themselves by leaving the conversation area. TOO LOW- Too low pitch makes the bold words sound dull by separating the energy and strength of those words. Too low pitch with a big audience is a worst situation while delivering the speech. On the other hand, it has some positive aspects too; low pitch can be used while talking to someone especially if the person is feeling low. MONOTONOUS- For the person who is delivering a speech the pitch depends upon the topic or subject matter. The variations in pitch are important to attract the attention of listeners, and to keep them interested in the speech. Without the proper use of pitch, the speech becomes boring and conveys a monotonous sound therefore to maintain the curiosity of the audience it is vital to be at a right pitch. The best way to improve one’s pitch variation is to observe the great speakers while they are speaking, or to watch the videos of great presentators. At the same time, it is equally important to maintain the pitch level at which the listener gets the point comfortably. VOLUME- The volume variation or the intensity is the essential part of paralanguage as it refers to the loudness and softness of voice. Most of the times people who have a loud voice are considered confident and successful, and the persons with low or dull voice are considered unsuccessful or lacking in confidence. SPACE/ ENVIRONMENT- With the size of audience the place also matters, if the conversation is done at open space, here the speaker needs to be bit loud even if the number of listeners is less. Due to the fact that in open environment the voice spread, and will not be clearly audible if the speaker is too soft. The situation will be vice versa in a closed small cabin where soft voice works wonders. ARTICULATION- According to Raman & Singh “Articulation is the process by which sounds, syllables, and words are formed when your tongue, jaw, teeth, lips, and palate alter the air stream coming from vocal folds”. Poor articulation is a result of changing the sounds due to omitting, substituting, and distorting the words. Poor articulation is also caused due to some uncontrollable reasons of physical and mental disorders or due to the prolonged bad habit of using wrong words. But it is good to know that if practiced poor articulation can quickly replace the bad one. As articulation is important for our speech whenever we interact in social, emotional, educational or professional gathering, therefore we must put our efforts into improving it. PAUSE- Speaking should also go together with pause. While speaking with a pace, small temporary halt is important; we should not go on speaking without giving a pause. It is vital to pause at the right moment because if the pause is used in a wrong way, or at a wrong place it can create many problems. A pause can be highly effective in gaining the audience's attention as it will make the content clear and easy to understand to the listener. But too many and frequently used long pauses can ruin the speech and divert the attention of audience and give the listener the chance of daydreaming. It is thus very essential for a speaker to observe his/her speeches vigilantly. PACE OF SPEAKING- Pace or speed of speaking refers to the rate at which a person speaks. This is the essential factor in understanding the reliability of the message and of the communicator. If a person speaks too slowly the audience will lose the interest and the value of speaker will decrease. Speaking too fast also lower the credibility as many times in this situation the words are overlapped, and the meaning is lost. ords used while communication show the different feelings, but are not able to communicate the exact meaning without the support of the nonverbal element. Thus speaking speed here plays the crucial role. BALANCED PACE- The speaker should speak in a balanced pace, getting fast while communicating the easy and common topic and slowing down when using the difficult terms or the subject matter that is new for the listeners. Getting hold of the speed will make the voice clear and send the convincing messages. Understandable voice from balanced rate is the strong and easiest instrument through which we can convey our intentions and thoughts. NONFLUENCY/ DYSFLUENCY- Communication is not always a constant series of momentous words, there are breaks in between the fluent speech, and we call it dysfluency. A person who says “all is fine” but at the same time stammers and seems afraid and nervous, it will reveal the truth that all is not fine. SILENCE- The dysfluency of silence have both negative and positive effect on communication. It provides a connection between messages and also makes the environment of stress and peace. It can also be judgmental by being in favor or against; it may be used for the agreement or disagreement of proposal. During the conversation, one may use silence to aid the reader forecast that what the speaker is going to say now. The silence probably gives the answer better than the long explanations. It is even said that at times silence can communicate more than words. FILLERS- Fillers are the words which creates hindrances between speech by various sounds like; Uh...Ahhh!, Mmmnnn!, Shhh..h, Hmmnnnn...! and many more. HESITATION- This is caused due to the perception in the mind of the speaker that he /she will not be able to speak nicely, this hesitation due to lack of confidence makes the speech more dull even before the speaker starts communicating. REPETITION- It is the unnatural stretching out of sounds or repetition of some words like; i mean to say.. that what I mean to say !, you see..!, ok..ok..ok ! etc. It is interesting to know that some of these dysfluencies, if used at the proper place also aids the speaker to breathe and relax for some seconds between the speech. But too frequent use of these dysfluencies irritates the listener. WORD STRESS- Word stress is of great significance in communication and for the correct transmission of message. By putting stress or importance on different words in a sentence while uttering them can change the whole meaning of the message. For instance, the following series of sentence is stressing at different word (which is underlined) each time it is pronounced:  She writes excellent business mails.  She writes excellent business mails.  She writes excellent business mails.  She writes excellent business mails.  She writes excellent business mails. Although the similar words are used in each sentence it depicts the different meaning by stressing on the underlined words. It is important for every speaker to know that how much important it is to put emphasis on the word in the sentence to convey its real meaning. In business organizations the focus on paralanguage is increasing day by day. The reason behind this is the continuous interaction of marketing people with the customers. The quality of speech plays the vital role in influencing and convincing the customer. Paralanguage is also used in the jobs which are more based on speaking, like in call centers or the job of talking on phone etc. Hence the paralanguage has become the vital root for the speakers to have a command on it for delivering the better and influential speeches. THE BUSINESS WRITING PROCESS IN THE DIGITAL AGE Today’s new media and digital technologies enable you to choose from innumerable communication channels to create, transmit, and respond to messages. Nearly all business communication, however, revolves around writing. Whether you are preparing a message that will be delivered digitally, orally, or in print, that message requires thinking and writing. Many of your messages will be digital. A digital message may be defined as “one that is generated, stored, processed, and transmitted electronically by computers using strings of positive and non positive binary code.” That definition encompasses many forms, including e-mail, Facebook posts, tweets, and other messages. For our purposes, we will focus primarily on messages exchanged on the job because writing is central to all business communication, this chapter presents a systematic plan for preparing business messages in the digital age. One thing you should immediately recognize about business writing is that it differs from other writing you have done. In preparing high school or college compositions and term papers, you probably focused on discussing your feelings or displaying your knowledge. Your instructors wanted to see your thought processes, and they wanted assurance that you had internalized the subject matter. You may have had to meet a minimum word count. Business writing is definitely not like that! It also differs from personal texts you may exchange with your friends and family. These messages enable you to stay connected and express your feelings. In the workplace, however, you will want your writing to be:  Purposeful - You will be writing to solve problems and convey information. You will have a definite strategy to fulfill in each message.  Economical - You will try to present ideas clearly but concisely. Length is not rewarded.  Audience-oriented- You will concentrate on looking at a problem from the perspective of the audience instead of seeing it from your own. These distinctions actually ease your task. You won’t be searching your imagination for creative topic ideas. You won’t be stretching your ideas to make them appear longer. Writing consultants and business people complain that many college graduates entering industry have a conscious—or perhaps unconscious— perception that quantity enhances quality. Wrong! Get over the notion that longer is better. Whether you are presenting your message in an e-mail message, in a business report, or at a wiki site, conciseness and clarity are what count in business. The ability to prepare purposeful, concise, and audience-centered messages does not come naturally. Very few people, especially beginners, can sit down and compose an effective e-mail message, letter, or report without training. However, following a systematic process, studying model messages, and practicing the craft can make nearly anyone a successful business writer or speaker.  PREWRITING DRAFTING REVISING ANALYZE RESEARCH EDIT - Edit your message to be - What is your purpose? - Gather data to provide sure it is clear, concise, - What do you want the facts. conversational, readable. receiver to do or believe? - Search company files, - Revise to eliminate - What channel should you previous correspondence, wordy fillers, long lead- choose: face-to-face and the internet. ins, redundancies, and conversation, group meeting - What do you need to know trite business phrases. e-mail, letter etc. to write this message? - Develop parallelism. - How much does the - Consider using headings ANTICIPATE audience already know? and numbered and bulleted lists for quick - Profile the audience. ORGANIZE reading. - What does the receiver already know? - Organize direct messages PROOFREAD - Will the receiver’s response with the big idea first, be neutral, positive or followed by an explanation Take the time to read every negative? How will this affect in the body and an action message carefully. your organizational strategy? request in the closing. Look for errors in spelling, - For persuasive or negative grammar, punctuation, names, and ADAPT messages, use an indirect, numbers. problem-solving strategy. Check to be sure the format is - What techniques can you use consistent. to adapt your message to its DRAFT audience? - Prepare a first draft, EVALUATE - How can you promote usually quickly. feedback? - Focus on short, clear Will this message achieve your - Strive to use positive, sentences using the active purpose? conversational, and courteous voice. Does the tone sound pleasant and language. - Build paragraph coherence friendly rather than curt? by repeating key ideas, Have you thought enough about using pronouns, and the audience to be sure this is incorporating appropriate appealing? transitional expressions. Did you encourage feedback? REWRITING The first phase of the writing process prepares you to write. It involves analyzing the audience and your purpose for writing. The audience for your message will be other franchise owners, some highly educated and others not. Your purpose in writing is to convince them that a policy change would improve customer service. You think that a single-line system, such as that used in banks, would reduce chaos and make customers happier because they would not have to worry about where they are in line. Prewriting also involves anticipating how your audience will react to your message. You are sure that some of the other owners will agree with you, but others might fear that customers seeing a long single line might go elsewhere. In adapting your message to the audience, you try to think of the right words and the right tone that will win approval. DRAFTING The second phase involves researching, organizing, and then drafting the message. In researching information for this message, you would probably investigate other kinds of businesses that use single lines for customers. You might check your competitors. What are Wendy’s and Burger King doing? You might do some calling to see whether other franchise owners are concerned about chaotic lines. Before writing to the entire group, you might brainstorm with a few owners to see what ideas they have for solving the problem. Once you have collected enough information, you would focus on organizing your message. Should you start out by offering your solution? Or should you work up to it slowly, describing the problem, presenting your evidence, and then ending with the solution? The final step in the second phase of the writing process is actually drafting the letter. At this point many writers write quickly, realizing that they will polish their ideas when they revise. REVISING The third phase of the process involves editing, proofreading, and evaluating your message. After writing the first draft, you will spend considerable time editing the message for clarity, conciseness, tone, and readability. Could parts of it be rearranged to make your point more effectively? This is the time when you look for ways to improve the organization and tone of your message. Next, you will spend time proofreading carefully to ensure correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, and format. The final phase involves evaluating your message to decide whether it accomplishes your goal. Although the writing process looks like a linear set of steps, it actually is recursive, enabling writers to revise their work continually as they progress. However, careful planning can avoid wasted time and frustration caused by rethinking and reorganizing during drafting. ANALYZING AND ANTICIPATING THE AUDIENCE Surprisingly, many people begin writing and discover only as they approach the end of a message what they are trying to accomplish. If you analyze your purpose before you begin, you can avoid backtracking and starting over. The remainder of this chapter covers the first phase of the writing process: researching the purpose for writing, anticipating how the audience will react, and adapting the message to the audience. DETERMINING YOUR PURPOSE As you begin to compose a workplace message, ask yourself two important questions: (a) Why am I sending this message? and (b) What do I hope to achieve? Your responses will determine how you organize and present your information. Your message may have primary and secondary purposes. For college work your primary purpose may be merely to complete the assignment; secondary purposes might be to make yourself look good and to earn an excellent grade. The primary purposes for sending business messages are typically to inform and to persuade. A secondary purpose is to promote goodwill. You and your organization want to look good in the eyes of your audience. Many business messages do nothing more than inform. They explain procedures, announce meetings, answer questions, and transmit findings. Some business messages, however, are meant to persuade. These messages sell products, convince managers, motivate employees, and win over customers. Persuasive and informative messages are developed differently. MAKING CHOICE BASED ON THE AUDIENCE PROFILE Profiling your audience helps you make decisions about shaping the message. You will discover what language is appropriate, whether you are free to use specialized technical terms, whether you should explain the background, and so on. Profiling the audience helps you decide whether your tone should be formal or informal and whether the receiver is likely to feel neutral, positive, or negative about your message. Another advantage of profiling your audience is considering the possibility of a secondary audience. For example, let’s say you start to write an e-mail message to your supervisor, Sheila, describing a problem you are having. Halfway through the message you realize that Sheila will probably forward this message to her boss, the vice president. Sheila will not want to summarize what you said; instead, she will take the easy route and merely forward your e-mail. When you realize that the vice president will probably see this message, you decide to back up and use a more formal tone. You remove your inquiry about Sheila’s family, you reduce your complaints, and you tone down your language about why things went wrong. Instead, you provide more background information, and you are more specific in explaining issues with which the vice president is unfamiliar. Analyzing the task and anticipating the audience help you adapt your message, so it is effective for both primary and secondary receivers. USING EXPERT WRITING TECHNQIUES TO ADAPT TO YOUR AUDIENCE After analyzing the purpose and anticipating the audience, writers begin to think about how to adapt a message to the task and the audience. Adaptation is the process of creating a message that suits the audience. Skilled communicators employ a number of expert writing techniques such as featuring audience benefits, cultivating a “you” view, and sounding conversational but professional. In describing effective writing, Ben Franklin observed, “To be good, it ought to have a tendency to benefit the reader.”1 These wise words have become a fundamental guideline for today’s business communicators. Expanding on Franklin’s counsel, a contemporary communication consultant gives this solid advice to his business clients: “Always stress the benefit to the audience of whatever it is you are trying to get them to do. If you can show them how you are going to save them frustration or help them meet their goals, you have the makings of a powerful message.” Adapting your message to the receiver’s needs means putting yourself in that person’s shoes. It’s called empathy. Emphatic senders think about how a receiver will decode a message. They try to give something to the receiver, solve the receiver’s problems, save the receiver’s money, or just understand the feelings and position of that person. DEVELOPING THE “YOU” VIEW In concentrating on audience benefits, skilled communicators naturally develop the “you” view. They emphasize second-person pronouns (you, your) instead of first-person pronouns (I/we, us, our). Whether your goal is to inform, persuade, or promote goodwill, the catchiest words you can use are you and your. Compare the following examples. “Negative tone can hurt your company in many ways. It can lose customers, it can generate lawsuits and, if inflammatory rhetoric is found in a discoverable e-mail or log notes, a few words might cost your company a whopping settlement and punitive damages in a bad-faith lawsuit.” —Gary Blake, National Underwriter Life & Health Financial Services