Business Communications Notes PDF

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Final Study Guide...

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Chapter 1: Establishing Credibility ● ●

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Post trust era Credibility ○ Establishing credibility allows you to communicate more easily and more influentially ○ Competence ○ Caring ○ Character ■ Understanding the interests of others ■ Cultivating a sense of community ■ Giving to others ■ Showing generosity Character → reputation for staying true to commitments made & adhering to high moral and ethical values ○ Important in creating trust Stakeholder → all groups in society affected by your business

FAIR test ● How well FACTS have been provided ● How well you have granted ACCESS to your motives, reasoning, and information ● How well you have examined IMPACTS on stakeholders ● How well you have shown RESPECT Chapter 2: Interpersonal Communication & Emotional Intelligence ● ● ● ● ● ●

Interpersonal Communication Process → process of sending and receiving verbal and nonverbal messages Meaning → thoughts and feelings people intend to communicate Encoding → process of converting meaning into messages Decoding → interpreting messages Goal of communication is to arrive at a shared meaning → people attain the same understanding about ideas, thoughts, & feelings Noise → distortion or interruption of messages ○ Physical ○ Physiological ○ Semantic ○ Psychological

Emotional Intelligence ● Understanding emotions ● Managing emotions ● Empathizing with others 1

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Effectively handling relationships with others Emotional Hijacking → emotions control our behavior and cause us to react without thinking ○ Prevents effective interpersonal communication ■ Misinterpret information ■ Fail to listen to others / not communicate with others

Self-Awareness ● Accurately understanding emotions and how they affect you ● Self Management ○ Ability to use self awareness to stay flexible and direct behavior positively ● Optimists vs. Pessimists ○ Optimists → failures = learning experiences ○ Pessimists → twice as likely to quit ● Active Listening → anticipate how the speaker thinks and feels ○ Pay attention ○ Hold judgement ■ Learner mindset → show eagerness to others’ ideas and perspectives ■ Judger mindset → view disagreement rigidly ■ Learner statements ■ Judger statements ○ Reflect ○ Clarify ○ Summarize ○ Share ○ Beware of things that can steer conversation away Asking Right Questions ● Rapport building questions → break the ice and gradually ease people into conversations ● Funnel questions ● Probing questions → lead to reliable understanding; analyze problem from every angle ● Solution oriented questions → focus on how to overcome problems ● Avoid asking the wrong questions Pay Attention to Nonverbal Cues ● Synchronize body language → feels more natural and show empathy ● Eye movement ● Smiles and nods ● Hands and arms + Touch Relationship Management ● Ability to use awareness of emotions to manage interactions successfully 2

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MVS → motivational value system; nurturing, directing, automizing ○ Blue, red, green, hub Maintain civility ○ Don’t: ■ Ignore others ■ Treat others without courtesy ■ Disrespect the efforts of others ■ Disrespecting privacy of others ■ Disrespecting time of others ■ Disrespecting the dignity and worth of others

Chapter 3: Team Communication & Difficult Conversations ● ●

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Teams should focus on performance Teams go through four natural stages to reach high performance ○ Forming → team gets to know one another ○ Storming → least productive; trying to understand roles and goals ○ Norming → arrives at a work plan ○ Performing → operate efficiently toward accomplishing their goals Effective teams build a work culture around values, norms, and goals ○ Team culture → set of shared perceptions and commitment to collective values, norms, roles, responsibilities, and goals Effective teams meet often Effective teams embrace differing viewpoints and conflict Effective teams provide a lot of positive feedback and evaluate their performance Effective teams feel a common sense of purpose

Managing Meetings ● Planning for Meetings ○ Prepare essential questions ○ Create and distribute the agenda ○ Coordination meetings → focus on discussing roles, goals, accountabilities ○ Problem solving meetings → brainstorm how to address and solve problems ● Running effective meetings ○ Create tradition, culture, and variety ○ Set expectations and follow the agenda ○ Encourage participation and expression of ideas ○ Build consensus and plan of action ○ Close the meeting ○ Difficult people ■ Provide strong leadership with clear agenda, goals, and roles ■ Pull team member aside and talk to them ● Follow up after meetings 3

Working in Virtual Teams ● Focus on building trust at each stage ● Meet in person if possible ● Get to know one another ● Use collaborative technologies ○ Schedule time to agree about which communication technologies to use and ensure all members know / learn how to use them effectively ● Choose an active team leader ● Run effective virtual meetings ○ Focus on teammates and avoid multitasking ○ Use video when possible ○ Make sure each team member is involved Group Writing ● Start right away ● Work together at the planning stage ● Make sure your roles and contributions are fair ● Stay flexible and open ● Meet in real time + ensure writing reflects the views of the group ● Discuss how you will edit the document together ● A single member should polish the final version and ensure a consistent voice Managing Difficult Conversations ● Embrace difficult conversations and assume the best in others ● Adopt a learning stance and commit to hearing everyone’s story ● Stay calm and overcome noise ● Find common ground ● Disagree diplomatically ○ Validate views and feelings of others and use I statements ○ I statements → “I think” “I feel” “I believe” ● Avoid exaggeration and either/or approaches ● Initiate conversation, share stories, focus on solutions Chapter 4: Communicating Across Cultures Chapter 5: Creating Effective Messages The AIM Process ● Audience Analysis ○ Identify reader benefits and constraints ○ Consider reader values and priorities ○ Estimate your credibility ○ Anticipate reactions 4

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○ Keep secondary audiences in mind Information Gathering ○ Identify business problem ○ Analyze business problem ○ Clarify Objectives Message Development ○ Frame primary message ○ Set up message framework ■ Avoid logical inconsistencies Concern for others ○ Avoid relying heavily on the I-voice ○ Respect time and autonomy of your readers ○ Give credit where credit is due Sending the Right Meta Messages ○ Meta messages → overall / underlying messages people take away from a communication; content, tone, and other signals

Chapter 7: Email & Other Traditional Tools for Business Communication Strategically Selecting Channels for Communication ● Communication Channel → the medium through a message is transmitted ○ When choosing a channel, must consider: ■ Richness ● Immediacy & cues ■ Control ● How messages are planned and recorded ■ Constraints ● Limitations of coordination and resources Creating Effective Emails ● Use email for the right purposes ● Ensure ease of reading ○ Provide a short, descriptive subject line ○ Keep message brief but complete ○ Clearly identify expected actions ○ Provide a descriptive signature block ○ Use attachments wisely ● Show respect for others’ time ○ Select message recipients carefully ○ Provide timelines and options ○ Be careful about using the priority flag ○ Let others know when you can respond to the email ○ Avoid confusing / repetitive email chains 5

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Protect privacy and confidentiality Respond promptly Maintain professionalism and appropriate formality ○ Avoid casual ways of writing / formatting that appear unprofessional ○ Carefully review message for typos & grammar ○ Use greetings and names Manage emotion and maintain civility

Instant Messaging in the Workplace ● Ideal for quick and simple announcements, questions, confirmations of plans, quick tips, support, congratulations ● Make sure your tone is positive, supportive, and appropriately fun ● Don’t use acronyms and emoticons ● Avoid sarcasm and jokes ○ Often misinterpreted and misunderstood ● Turn off sound for alerts ● Identify yourself ● Avoid personal IM during work hours ● Avoid sending business IM after work hours Managing Your Digital Communication Efficiently ● Check four to five times at designated times of the day ● Use automatic messages to help people know when you’re unavailable Building Connections With Phone Conversations ● Schedule and plan for your calls ● Ensure quality audio ● Share conversation time equally ● Close with appreciation ● Follow up on agreements Participating in and Leading Group Voice and Video Calls ● Practice using technology before the group call ● Use your webcam effectively ● Start call with purpose and take charge ● Follow guidelines of effective virtual meetings Chapter 8: Social Media for Business Communication Communicating in the Workplace in the Social Age ●

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