Comm05 tudy guide - Summary Business Communication PDF

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COMM205- TEST CONTENT Chapter 1 Summary of Learning Objectives 

Explain how communication skills fuel career success and why writing is vital in a digital workplace.

In a fast-paced, competitive, and highly connected digital workplace, communication skills matter more than ever before. Communication technology has provided unprecedented mobility, and workers are increasingly expected to be plugged in after hours and wherever they may travel. Today’s workers write more, not less, and excellent oral and written communication skills are the top qualities that employers seek. Such skills are critical to job placement, performance, career advancement, and organizational success. Especially in a recession, excellent communication skills can set you apart from other candidates. Communication skills include reading, listening, nonverbal, speaking, and writing skills. Ever since the digital revolution swept the workplace, most workers write their own messages and increasingly use new communication channels, such as social media. Excellent writing skills are particularly important because messages today travel more rapidly, more often, and to greater numbers of people than ever before. Writing skills are not inherent; they must be learned. 

Examine critically the internal and external flow of communication in organizations through formal and informal channels, explain the importance of effective media choices, and understand how to overcome barriers to organizational communication.

Whether informing, persuading, or promoting goodwill, businesspeople communicate to achieve a particular objective. Internal and external office communication has accelerated thanks to new communication technologies. The mobile digital workplace is unthinkable without e-mail, IM, company intranets, corporate websites, audio and video podcasts, videoconferences, and Web chats. Internal communication includes exchanging ideas and messages with superiors, co-workers, and subordinates. External communication involves customers, suppliers, government agencies, and the public. Media richness and social presence are concepts that help classify the communication media most suitable to avoid ambiguity in a given workplace interaction. Formal channels of communication follow an organization’s hierarchy of command. Informal channels of communication, such as the grapevine, deliver unofficial news—both personal and organizational—among friends and co-workers. Smart communicators avoid office gossip.

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Analyze ethics in the workplace, understand the goals of ethical communication, and choose the tools for doing the right thing.

Ethics describes standards of right and wrong prescribing what people should do. These standards consist of rights, obligations, and benefits to society. They include virtues, such as fairness, honesty, loyalty, and more. Ethical standards rise to a level higher than the law. The goals of ethical business communicators include abiding by the law, telling the truth, labelling opinions, being objective, communicating clearly, using inclusive language, and giving credit. When faced with a difficult decision, the following questions serve as valuable tools in guiding you to do the right thing: (a) Is the action legal? (b) Would you do it if you were on the opposite side? (c) Can you rule out a better alternative? (d) Would a trusted adviser agree? and (e) Would your family, friends, employer, or co-workers approve?

Chapter 2 Summary of Learning Objectives 

Discuss effective practices and technologies for planning and participating in face-toface and virtual meetings.

Workplace meetings are called only when urgent two-way communication is necessary. Leaders should start the meeting on time and keep the discussion on track. Conflict should be confronted openly by letting each person present his or her views fully. Leaders should summarize what was said, end the meeting on time, and distribute minutes afterward. To participate actively, attendees should arrive early, come prepared, have a positive attitude, and contribute respectfully. In virtual meetings people who cannot be together physically connect with technology. Such meetings save travel time, trim costs, and reduce employee fatigue. Audioconferencing enables people to use an enhanced speakerphone to confer with others by telephone. Videoconferencing combines video and audio for real-time interaction in special telepresence rooms. Web conferencing enables participants to share documents and converse in real time. 

Explain and apply active listening techniques.

Experts say that we listen at only 25 percent efficiency. While listening to supervisors on the job, take notes, avoid interrupting, ask pertinent questions, and paraphrase what you hear. When listening to colleagues and teammates, listen critically to recognize facts and listen discriminately to identify main ideas and to understand logical arguments. When listening to customers, defer judgment, pay attention to content rather than form, listen completely, control emotions, give affirming statements, and invite additional comments. Keys to building powerful listening skills include controlling external and internal distractions, becoming

actively involved, separating facts from opinions, identifying important facts, refraining from interrupting, asking clarifying questions, paraphrasing, taking advantage of lag time, taking notes to ensure retention, and being aware of gender differences.

Chapter 3 Summary of Learning Objectives 

Define culture, name its primary characteristics, and explain five key dimensions of culture.

Culture is the complex system of values, traits, morals, and customs shared by a society. Significant characteristics of culture include the following: (a) culture is learned, (b) cultures are inherently logical, (c) culture is the basis of self-identity and community, (d) culture combines the visible and invisible, and (e) culture is dynamic. Members of low-context cultures (such as those in North America, Scandinavia, and Germany) depend on words to express meaning, whereas members of high-context cultures (such as those in Japan, China, and Arab countries) rely more on context (social setting, a person’s history, status, and position) to communicate meaning. Other key dimensions of culture include individualism, time orientation, power distance, and communication style. 

Discuss strategies for enhancing intercultural effectiveness, reflect on nonverbal intercultural communication, and assess how social media affect intercultural communication.

To function effectively in a global economy, we must acquire knowledge of other cultures and be willing to change our attitudes, but first we need to become aware of our own cultural assumptions and biases. Culture is learned. Ethnocentrismrefers to the belief that one’s own culture is superior to all others and holds all truths. Overcoming stereotypes and developing tolerance often involve practising empathy, which means trying to see the world through another’s eyes. We can minimize nonverbal miscommunication by recognizing that meanings conveyed by body language, such as eye contact, posture, gestures, and use of time, space, and territory, are largely culture dependent. Becoming aware of your own nonverbal behaviour and what it conveys is the first step in broadening your intercultural competence. When communicating in social networks, people tend to seek out those who are like them; the extent to which they reach out across boundaries depends on whether they are outgoing or introverted. In improving oral messages, use simple English, speak slowly and enunciate clearly, observe eye messages, encourage accurate feedback, accept blame, listen without interrupting, smile, and follow up important conversations in writing. To improve written messages, try to accommodate the reader in organization, tone, and style. Use short sentences and

short paragraphs, observe titles and rank, avoid ambiguous expressions, strive for clarity, use correct grammar, and cite numbers carefully. 

Explain the advantages and challenges of workforce diversity, and address approaches for improving communication among diverse workplace audiences.

A diverse workforce can benefit consumers, work teams, and business organizations. However, diversity can also cause discord among identity groups. Business communicators should be aware of and sensitive to differences in the communication techniques of men and women. To promote harmony and communication in diverse workplaces, many organizations develop diversity training programs. You should understand and accept the value of differences. Don’t expect conformity, make fewer assumptions about others, and look for common ground.

Chapter 4 Summary of Learning Objectives 

Understand the nature of communication and its barriers in the digital age.

Although people are sending more messages and using new technologies in this digital age, the basic communication process still consists of the same basic elements. The sender encodes (selects) words or symbols to express an idea in a message. It travels verbally over a channel (such as an e-mail, a website, a tweet, a letter, or a smartphone call) or is expressed nonverbally with gestures or body language. “Noise” such as loud sounds, misspelled words, or other distractions, may interfere with the transmission. The receiver decodes (interprets) the message and may respond with feedback, informing the sender of the effectiveness of the message. Miscommunication may be caused by barriers such as bypassing, differing frames of reference, lack of language skills, and distractions. 

Analyze the purpose of a message, anticipate its audience, and select the best communication channel.

Before drafting, communicators must decide why they are creating a message and what they hope to achieve. Although many messages only inform, some must also persuade. After identifying the purpose, communicators visualize both the primary and secondary audiences, which helps them choose the most appropriate language, tone, and content for a message. Senders should remember that receivers will usually be thinking, What’s in it for me? (WIIFM). Senders select the best channel by considering the importance of the message, the amount and speed of feedback required, the necessity of a permanent record, the cost of the channel, the degree of

formality desired, the confidentiality and sensitivity of the message, and the receiver’s preference and level of technical expertise. 

Employ expert writing techniques such as incorporating audience benefits, the “you” view, conversational but professional language, a positive and courteous tone, biasfree language, plain language, and vigorous words.

The term audience benefits involves looking for ways to shape the message from the receiver’s, not the sender’s, view. Skilled communicators look at a message from the receiver’s perspective, applying the “you” view without attempting to manipulate. Expert writing techniques also include using conversational but professional language along with positive language that tells what can be done rather than what can’t be done. (The project will be successful with your supportrather than The project won’t be successful without your support). A courteous tone means guarding against rudeness and avoiding sounding preachy or demanding. Writers should also avoid language that excludes, stereotypes, or offends people (lady lawyer, spry old gentleman, and confined to a wheelchair). Finally, plain language, familiar terms, strong verbs, and concrete nouns improve readability and effectiveness.

Chapter 5 Summary of Learning Objectives 

Explain how to generate ideas and organize information to show relationships.

Fresh ideas may be generated by brainstorming, a technique that involves encouraging a group of people to unleash “out-of-the-box” ideas, which are then grouped into outlines. Ideas for simple messages may be organized in a quick scratch list of topics. More complex messages may require an outline. To prepare an outline, divide the main topic into three to five major components. Break the components into subpoints consisting of details, illustrations, and evidence. Organizing information with the main idea first is called the direct strategy. This strategy is useful when audiences will be pleased, mildly interested, or neutral. The indirect strategy places the main idea after explanations. This strategy is useful for audiences that will be unwilling, displeased, or hostile. 

Improve your writing techniques by emphasizing important ideas, employing the active and passive voice effectively, using parallelism, and preventing dangling and misplaced modifiers.

You can emphasize an idea by making it the sentence subject, placing it first, and removing competing ideas. Effective sentences use the active and passive voices strategically. In the active voice, the subject is the doer of the action (She hired the student). Most sentences should be in the active voice. In the passive voice, the

subject receives the action (The student was hired). The passive voice is useful to deemphasize negative news, to emphasize an action rather than the doer, and to conceal the doer of an action. Parallelism is a skillful writing technique that uses balanced construction (jogging, hiking, and biking rather than jogging, hiking, and to bike). Skillful writing avoids dangling modifiers (sitting at my computer, the words would not come) and misplaced modifiers (I have the report you wrote in my office). 

Draft effective paragraphs by using three classic paragraph plans and techniques for achieving paragraph coherence.

Typical paragraphs follow one of three plans. Direct paragraphs (topic sentence followed by supporting sentences) are useful to define, classify, illustrate, and describe. Pivoting paragraphs (limiting sentence followed by a topic sentence and supporting sentences) are useful to compare and contrast. Indirect paragraphs (supporting sentences followed by a topic sentence) build a rationale and foundation of ideas before presenting the main idea. Paragraphs are more coherent when the writer links ideas by (a) sustaining a key thought, (b) dovetailing sentences, (c) using pronouns effectively and (d) employing transitional expressions. Paragraphs with eight or fewer lines look most attractive.

Chapter 6 Summary of Learning Objectives 

Complete business messages by revising for conciseness.

Concise messages make their points by using the least number of words. Revising for conciseness involves eliminating flabby expressions (as a general rule, at a later date, at this point in time). Concise writing also excludes opening fillers (there is, there are), redundancies (basic essentials), and empty words (in the case of, the fact that). Conciseness is especially important in revising microblogging messages as short as 140 characters. 

Improve clarity in business messages.

To be sure your messages are clear, apply the KISS formula: keep it short and simple. Avoid foggy, indirect, and pompous language. Do not include trite business phrases (as per your request, enclosed please find, pursuant to your request), clichés (better than new, beyond a shadow of a doubt, easier said than done), slang (snarky, lousy, bombed), and buzzwords (optimize, paradigm shift, incentivize). Also avoid burying verbs (to conduct an investigation rather than to investigate, to perform an analysis rather than to analyze). Converting a verb into a noun lengthens the sentence, saps the force of the verb, and muddies the message. Finally,

do not overuse intensifiers that show exuberance (totally, actually, very, definitely). These words can emphasize and strengthen meaning, but overusing them makes your messages sound unbusinesslike. 

Enhance readability by understanding document design.

Well-designed messages enhance readability and comprehension. The most readable messages have ample white space, appropriate side margins, and raggedright (not justified) margins. Serif typefaces (fonts with small features at the ends of strokes, such as Times New Roman, Century, and Palatino) are often used for body text. Sans serif typefaces (clean fonts without small features, such as Arial, Helvetica, and Tahoma) are often used for headings and signs. Numbered and bulleted lists provide high “skim value” in messages. Headings add visual impact and aid readability in business messages as well as in reports.

Chapter 7 Summary of Learning Objectives 

Understand e-mail and the professional standards for its usage, structure, and format in the digital-era workplace.

The exchange of information in organizations today is increasingly electronic and mobile although office workers still send paper-based messages when they need a permanent record, want to maintain confidentiality, or need to convey formal, long, or important messages. E-mail is still the lifeblood of businesses today, but instant messaging is gaining popularity. Direct (nonsensitive) e-mails and memos begin with a subject line that summarizes the central idea. The opening repeats that idea and amplifies it. The body explains and provides more information. The closing includes (a) action information, dates, and deadlines; (b) a summary; and/or (c) a closing thought. Skilled e-mail writers take advantage of down-editing. After deleting all unnecessary parts of the sender’s message, they insert their responses to the remaining parts of the incoming message. Careful e-mail users write concisely and don’t send anything they wouldn’t want published. 

Explain workplace instant messaging and texting as well as their liabilities and best practices.

Because they are fast, discreet, and inexpensive, instant messaging (IM) and text messaging have become increasingly relevant for businesses in communicating with customers, employees, and suppliers. Risks include productivity loss, leaked trade secrets, and legal liability from workers’ improper use of digital media. Businesses also fear fraud, malware, and spam. Best practices include following company policies, avoiding sensitive information, not forwarding inappropriate links and

other digital content, and using correct grammar and spelling. When texting, businesspeople should consider the proper timing, address their messages to the correct person, and identify themselves to the recipient. They should not use texting for sensitive news or expect an instant reply.

Chapter 8 Summary of Learning Objectives 

Compose direct messages to make requests, respond to inquiries online and offline, and deliver step-by-step instructions.

In direct messages requesting information or action, the opening immediately states the purpose of the message. The body explains and justifies the request. If many questions are asked, they should be expressed in parallel form and balanced grammatically. The closing tells the reader courteously what to do and shows appreciation. In a message that replies directly and complies with a request, a subject line may identify previous correspondence, and the opening immediately delivers the good news. The body explains and provides additional information. The closing is cordial and personalized. If action is necessary, the ending tells the reader how to proceed and gives helpful details. When writing messages that explain instructions, (a) divide the instructions into steps, (b) list each step in the order in which it is to be carried out, (c) arrange the items vertically with bullets or numbers, and (d) begin each step with an action verb using the imperative (command) mood. Messages that give instructions should not sound dictatorial. When businesses respond online, they s...