Approaches for effective written management communication

Management Communication

Management Communication 11

1. Explain effective communication norms in a business setting

The idea that people need to have feedback, appreciation and information is a good basis for understanding how and why excellent business communication is important and compelling for success. In fact, not only do they need it for appreciation, they need it to continue to be effective and be successful. If we do not give feedback and communicate we will lose our influence and cut into creating successful results. Some of the basic business communication norms include responding to business needs. These needs include returning phone calls, following up on a request, listening intently, appreciative communication, and clear communications with details and directions, doing what you say you will do, remembering what is important to them, and valuing what is most important to them (Thompson, 2009).

Our communication styles and methods are being stretched to the limit by email, technology, lack of time and demands on our ability to do so much in our days.

Email – not only should you be returning emails in a timely way, but you need to set the context each and every time of why the email is important and what information it is that you want to deliver.

Cell phones – the ring tones that are available now are fun outside of the office, networking situations, client lunches, etc. Put them on vibrate or shut them off. Take and make calls when you are with people sparingly. Most people are not interested in listening to your conversations no matter how stimulating you think they might be.

Returning phone calls –Whether you think you have time to return the call or not, find out what people need, make sure you are clear on whether you can help them or not and then get back to your own work. People who return phone calls are trusted and respected. You do not need to make the calls long.

Handshake, body language and eye contact – ask a friend to shake hands with you and then ask them to give you feedback. Firm is good. Learn to look at a person when they are speaking. A good part of our non verbal communication is our body – watch what your body is saying about you.

Business cards – get one and have them with you at ALL times. Do include an address, email and phone number. Name and what you do – a title is very good. If your company does not provide a business card, get one for yourself anyway.

2. Describe the role of interpersonal communication both as a manager and as an employee. What specific techniques have you used to overcome barriers to communication? Be sure to specify your role in the communication.

Role of Interpersonal Communication

Interpersonal communication plays a vital role in the business organization, is essence without communication one can't think of the existence of organization in real world. Followings are the key roles of business communication:

· Interpersonal communication develops civilized society: Communication is what has enabled us to develop the civilized society. It is one activity that we human beings clearly do better than the other forms of life on earth, and it largely explain our dominant role.

· It contributes to the development of each and every employee.

· Interpersonal communication helps functioning of the organization: Staffing, planning, controlling, reporting, producing, selling, servicing and the like functions are done through communication. The organization cannot function if the persons involved fail to communication.

· Interpersonal communication coordinates works: All efforts from beginning to ending (procurement, production, distribution etc.) in an organization are coordinated by the communication.

· Techniques of Overcoming Communication Barriers

To overcome the barriers as a manager I apply the 6 C’s of effective communication: ensuring that the information is complete in all respects and contents so that there is no misunderstanding. Other important aspects of communication are that it should be non-lacking in clarity, correctness, consideration, and courtesy.

3. Explore the role of international and intercultural interpersonal communications in today’s global businesses

Business organizations are increasingly getting global thereby bringing on board people of heterogeneous backgrounds, cultures, beliefs and tastes. These differences call for a development of better ways of understanding communication to ensure that these different categories are understood and served (Sriussadaporn-Charoenngam, 2012).

Communication within a management must be designed to suit the demands of each category. This is the only way a business can reap the benefits of exploring new markets.

4. Describe both verbal and nonverbal management communication

In management, verbal communication refers to the type of communication where individuals share information by using speech. Individuals working within an organization need to effectively use verbal communication that employs readily understood spoken words, as well as ensuring that the enunciation, stress and tone of voice with which the words are expressed is appropriate.

Nonverbal communication is the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless cues between people. It is sometimes mistakenly referred to as body language (kinesics), touch (haptics), distance (proxemics), and physical appearance.

Other common types include facial expression e.g. smiles or frown, gestures such as waving and pointing, paralinguistics such as voice intonations, loudness, inflection and pitch, body language such as arm-crossings and leg-crossings, proxemics (personal distance between people speaking), and eye gaze and appearances (Spitzberg, 2012).

5. Explain approaches for effective written management communication.

The approaches for effective management communication are discussed below:

Use a Professional Tone. Your readers will form an opinion of you from the content, the style and, most important, the attitude and tone that come across in your writing. Create a professional, positive tone by using simple, direct language. Adopt a “you-attitude” versus an “I-attitude,” to show that you’re sincere in your focus on the reader rather than on yourself as the writer (AJ Giannini L. S., 2014).

If you need to convey unwelcome information, craft it with special care. When denying a request or sharing bad news, acknowledge the problem or situation and diplomatically explain the background and your position.

Know Your Audience. The intended readers of your correspondence can vary from medical doctors, lawyers and other fitness professionals to clients of all occupations and ages, including children. You must consider their backgrounds, technical expertise and educational levels as well as their mindsets and possible reactions to your writing. This process is no easy task, but the more time you take to identify your audience, the more effective your message will be (Thompson, 2009).

Organize Your Information Clearly. Arrange your thoughts so that your correspondence can be read quickly and comprehended easily. Organize the information based on your purpose.. For incident reports, write in chronological order, explaining how the events unfolded. When sharing news and information, use the “6Ws”—who, what, when, where, why and how—to guide you.

Use the Right Format. Format refers to how your correspondence is laid out on paper or online. Usually writers choose their formats based on the method of delivery—letter, memo or e-mail. Each type has distinct format conventions for including and placing elements such as the date, addressee, subject line, salutation, message body, closing line, signature block and company letterhead or logo.

Use Visual Elements Carefully. Visual elements—such as font size and type; underlined, italicized or bold text; and bulleted or numbered lists—help emphasize key points and make your correspondence more effective. With all the options available, be careful not to go overboard, especially with fonts. Choose font types based on your document’s purpose, audience and formality.

6. Analyze various approaches for engaging an audience during a presentation and encouraging active listening

An engaging presentation will involve the audience as much as possible, through creating space for questions and answers and the sharing of opinions. Audience voting mechanisms, getting the audience to move around and allowing volunteers to assist in demonstrations will maintain interest and keep the audience’s energy levels up. You might wish to prepare visual aids and demonstrations to make the talk more engaging and interesting. Try a mix of approaches to cater for the potential learning styles of different members of the audience (Thompson, 2009).

· Discussion and debate: A direct verbal lecture and the opportunity for discussions will suit the more linguistic learners in the audience.

· Visual aids: PowerPoint slides, video, striking images, demonstrations, charts and graphs will suit the visual learners in the audience.

· Objects and interaction: Passing around tangible objects and creating opportunities for audience members to build or draw something will help the kinesthetic learners in the audience.

· Anecdotes and storytelling: Sharing inspiring stories, interesting examples and engaging anecdotes will help non specialist audiences to understand complicated issues and will maintain their interest more effectively than a series of facts. This is particularly useful for the inter-personal learners in the group.

· Audience self reflection: Opportunities that allow audience members to learn something about themselves (and to reflect upon their own views), are useful for the intra-personal learners in the audience (Sriussadaporn-Charoenngam, 2012).

7. Describe effective methods of conflict resolution.

The primary processes for dispute resolution may utilize formal or informal methods for conflict resolution. Formal and informal methods include:

Negotiation: involves direct contact between the parties or their representatives; requires a willingness to communicate, and usually willingness to compromise.

Mediation: a negotiation facilitated by a neutral third-party who assists the parties in moving to resolution. The neutral has no control over the outcome but controls/directs the process.

Arbitration: involves a third-party’s intervention, most often with the power to make a binding decision.

Adjudication: our state financed and administered court system of formalized rules and appealable decisions made by a judge or jury.

Avoidance: a legitimate approach to settlement – consciously chosen strategy of deliberately walking away from conflict as a strategy for its management.

Coercion: force; self-help; a unilateral action by one of the parties designed to effect resolution.

8. Analyze techniques for leading teams and group meetings.

In some cases, the opportunity to lead a group discussion can arise on the spur of the moment; in others, it’s a more formal arrangement, planned and expected. In the latter case, you may have the chance to choose a space and otherwise structure the situation. In less formal circumstances, you’ll have to make the best of existing conditions. Regardless of the circumstance one should observe the following techniques:

Set the stage and choose the space

If you have time to prepare beforehand, there are a number of things you may be able to do to make the participants more comfortable, and thus to make discussion easier.

If you have the luxury of choosing your space, you might look for someplace that’s comfortable and informal. Usually, that means comfortable furniture that can be moved around (so that, for instance, the group can form a circle, allowing everyone to see and hear everyone else easily). It may also mean a space away from the ordinary.

Provide food, drinks and materials

The ultimate comfort, and one that breaks down barriers among people, is that of eating and drinking and have discussion aids such as newsprints.

Purpose and content familiarity

If you have the opportunity, learn as much as possible about the topic under discussion. This is not meant to make you the expert, but rather to allow you to ask good questions that will help the group generate ideas (Miller, 2011).

Lead the discussion

The point is made that many good group or meeting leaders are, in fact, facilitators, whose main concern is supporting and maintaining the process of the group’s work. This is particularly true when it comes to group discussion, where the process is, in fact, the purpose of the group’s coming together. Good leadership aids in putting the audience at ease and enables them to establish ground rules and as well enables the leader to generate an agenda for the session.

How active you are might depend on your leadership style, but you definitely have some responsibilities here. They include setting, or helping the group to set the discussion topic; fostering the open process; involving all participants; asking questions or offering ideas to advance the discussion; summarizing or clarifying important points, arguments, and ideas; and wrapping up the session. Let’s look at these, as well as some dos and don’ts for discussion group leaders (AJ Giannini L. S., 2014).

Setting the topic require that the topic is predetermined in advance of the meeting and if otherwise one should aid in defining it. Fostering the open process requires that attention is paid to content, and interpersonal dynamics of the discussion all at the same time – not a simple matter. Involving all participants is a part of fostering the open process, but is important enough to deserve its own mention. To involve those who are less assertive or shy, or who simply can’t speak up quickly enough, you might ask directly for their opinion, encourage them with body language (smile when they say anything, lean and look toward them often), and be aware of when they want to speak and can’t break in.

The last technique in leading group is follow-up. Even after you’ve wrapped up the discussion, you’re not necessarily through. If you’ve been the recorder, you might want to put the notes from the session in order, type them up, and send them to participants. The notes might also include a summary of conclusions that were reached, as well as any assignments or follow-up activities that were agreed on (AJ Giannini L. D., 2011).

Works Cited
AJ Giannini, L. D. (2011). Nonverbal communication in moderately obese females. A pilot study. Annals of Clinical Psychiatry. 2:111-1115. .

AJ Giannini, L. S. (2014). . Journal of Psychology. 122:591-594,.

Miller, K. (2011). Quantitative research methods. In F. M. Jablin & L. L. Putnam (Eds.), The new handbook of organizational communication. Advances in theory, research, and methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 137–160.

Spitzberg, B. H. (2012). . Interpersonal communication competence. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

Sriussadaporn-Charoenngam, N. &. (2012). . An Exploratory of Communication Competence in Thai Organizations. Journal of Business Communication, 36, 382–418.

Thompson, J. L. (2009). . Building collective communication competence in interdisciplinary research teams. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 37(3), 278–297.

Completeness

Conciseness

Correctness

6 C’s of Communication

Courtesy

Consideration

Clarity