The "information technology paradox" refers to

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Discover how to excel in business and enhance your career through vital business communication skills.

Learning Objectives

Explain the importance of effective communication to your career and to the companies where you will work

Describe the communication skills employers will expect you to have and the nature of communicating in an organization by using an audience-centered approach

Describe the communication process model and the ways that social media are changing the nature of business communication

List four general guidelines for using communication technology effectively

Define ethics, explain the difference between an ethical dilemma and an ethical lapse, and list six guidelines for making ethical communication choices

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After studying this chapter, you will be able to do the following:

1.Explain the importance of effective communication to your career and to the companies where you will work

2.Describe the communication skills employers will expect you to have and the nature of communicating in an organization by using an audience-centered approach

3.Describe the communication process model and the ways that social media are changing the nature of business communication

4.List four general guidelines for using communication technology effectively

5.Define ethics, explain the difference between an ethical dilemma and an ethical lapse, and list six guidelines for making ethical communication choices

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Understanding Why Communication Matters

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The essence of communication is sharing—providing data, information, insights, and inspiration in an exchange that benefits both you and the people with whom you are communicating. Richard L. Daft, Management, 6th ed. (Cincinnati: Thomson South-Western, 2003), 580. Businesses and relationships thrive on effective communication. Learn to be a valuable contributor to your company and advance your career success through effective business communication skills.

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Communication is Important to Your Career

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In a business environment you need to be prepared to share complex ideas. Simplify your communications by being specific, including appropriate details, and by being concise. Even if you decide to work for yourself and build your own business your confidence will increase when you are able to communicate with a wide range of audiences, from attorneys to prospective investors. Additionally, whether you work for someone else or yourself, become an effective leader and Increase your odds of getting a new client or getting promoted to management by proving your ability to speak and write effectively.

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Communication is Important to Your Company

Influence Perceptions

Increase Productivity

Improve Employee

Satisfaction

Improve Decisions

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Whether you are working for a company or for yourself, effective communication will contribute to an organization’s success. Persuade customers through clear, detailed, data driven, and ethical communications. Increase employee productivity and workplace satisfaction through practical, concise, factual communication. Improve decision making with timely and reliable information.

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Be An Effective Communicator

Provide Useful Information

Give Facts and Evidence

Be Concise

Be Clear

Explain Benefits

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Provide useful information to recipients to aid them in responding to your message, where appropriate. Avoid including unnecessary and irrelevant details, instead provide practical content. Include all of the necessary facts and information in your messages and support your message with appropriate data or evidence to avoid being vague. Spend time editing your message to be concise. Don’t waste your audience’s time by including unnecessary content.

Review your message for clarity to ensure your audience understands the intended meaning and, where applicable, explain how your audience will benefit from your message.

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Summary of Objectives

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This section covered the following elements involved in Understanding Why Communication Matters:

Communication is Important to Your Career

Communication is Important to Your Company

Be an Effective Communicator

This concludes our discussion of Understanding Why Communication Matters. The next section will cover Communicating in Today’s Global Business Environment.

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Communicating in Today’s Global Business Environment

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You’ve been communicating your entire life, of course, but if you don’t have a lot of work experience yet, meeting the expectations of a professional environment might require some adjustment. This section offers a brief look at the unique challenges of business communication, the skills that employers will expect you to have, the nature of communication in an organizational environment, and the importance of adopting an audience-centered approach.

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What Employers Expect

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No matter how good you are at accounting, engineering, law, or whatever professional specialty you pursue, employers expect you to be competent at a wide range of communication tasks. In fact, employers start judging your ability to communicate before you even show up for your first interview, and the process of evaluation never really stops. Fortunately, the following skills that employers expect are the same skills that will help you advance in your career:

Organizing ideas and information logically and completely

Expressing ideas and information coherently and persuasively

Actively listening to others

Communicating effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and experiences

Using communication technologies effectively and efficiently

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What Employers Expect

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Following accepted standards of grammar, spelling, and other aspects of high quality writing and speaking

Adapting your messages and communication styles to specific audiences and situations

Communicating in a civilized manner that reflects contemporary expectations of business etiquette

Communicating ethically, even when choices are not crystal clear

Managing your time wisely and using resources efficiently

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Communicating in an Organizational Context

Formal

Upward

Downward

Horizontal

Informal

Grapevine

Rumor Mill

Social Media

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In a formal communication network, information flows along the lines of command in a company’s organizational structure:

Upward communication flows from employees to executives.

Downward communication flows from executives to employees.

Horizontal communication flows between departments.

Every organization also has an informal communication network (a grapevine) that operates anywhere two or more employees are in contact. Some of this informal communication takes place naturally as a result of employee interaction both on the job and in social settings, and some of it takes place when the formal communication network does not provide the information that employees want. In fact, the inherent limitations of formal communication networks helped spur the growth of social media and the Business Communication 2.0 concept.

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Formal Communication Network

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 The formal communication network is defined by the relationships between the various job positions in the organization. Messages can flow upward (from a lower-level employee to a higher-level employee), downward (from a higher-level employee to a lower-level employee), and horizontally (across the organization, between employees at the same or similar levels).

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The Audience-Centered Approach

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An audience-centered approach means understanding and respecting the members of your audience, and making every effort to get your message across in a way that is meaningful to them. This approach is also known as adopting the “you” attitude (focusing on the audience), as opposed to writing messages that are about “me’ (focusing on yourself). Learn as much as you can about your audience, such as their biases, education, and personal and professional styles. If you are addressing strangers and unable to find out more about them, use your common sense and imagination to project yourself into their position.

This ability to relate to the needs of others is a key part of emotional intelligence, widely considered to be a vital characteristic of successful managers and leaders. The more you know about the people that you are communicating with, the easier it will be to relate to their needs—which, in turn, will make it easier for them to hear, understand, and respond to your message.

Summary of Objectives

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This section covered the following elements involved in Communicating in Today’s Business Environment:

What Employers Expect

Communicating in an Organizational Context

Audience-Centered Approach

This concludes our discussion of Understanding Why Communication Matters. The next section will cover Understanding the Communication Process.

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Exploring the Communication Process

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As you no doubt know from your personal interactions over the years, even well-intentioned communication efforts can fail. Messages can get lost or simply ignored. The receiver of a message can interpret it in ways the sender never imagined. In fact, two people receiving the same information can reach different conclusions about what it means.

Fortunately, by understanding communication as a process with distinct steps, you can improve the odds that your messages will reach their intended audiences and produce their intended effects. This section explores the communication process in two stages: first by following a message from one sender to one receiver in the basic communication model, and second by expanding on that basic scenario to include multiple messages and participants in the social communication model.

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Communication Process

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By viewing communication as a process, such as the following, you can identify and improve the skills that you need to be more successful.

The sender has an idea.

The sender encodes the idea as a message.

The sender produces the message in a transmittable medium.

The sender transmits the message through a channel.

The audience receives the message.

The audience decodes the message.

The audience responds to the message.

The audience sends feedback.

Becoming An Effective Business Communicator

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The communication process presents many opportunities for messages to get lost, distorted, or misinterpreted as they travel from sender to receiver. Fortunately, you can take action at every step in the process to increase your chances of success. Set the tone for effective communication by preventing potential problems and by being prepared with solutions to problems that may arise.

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Social Communication Model

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The basic communication model reviewed in the previous slide shows how a single idea moves from one sender to one receiver. The social communication model on the other hand illustrates how new technologies have facilitated a more interactive and conversational approach to communication.

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Business Communications

1.0 Versus 2.0 Tendencies

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Traditional business communication strategies tend to include limited channels for message distribution and they are typically unidirectional. Business communication 2.0 tendencies however encourage collaboration and message delivery through many channels.

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Summary of Objectives

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This section covered the following elements involved in Exploring The Communication Process:

Communication Process

Becoming an Effective Business Communicator

Social Communication Model

Business Communication 1.0 vs. 2.0 Tendencies

This concludes our discussion of Understanding The Communication Process. The next section will cover Using Technology for Effective Communication.

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Using Technology for Effective Communication

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Today’s businesses rely heavily on technology to enhance communication. In fact, many of the technologies you might use in your personal life, from microblogs to video games to virtual worlds, are also used in business. You will find technology discussed extensively throughout this book, with specific advice on using both common and emerging tools.

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Using Communication Technology

Aid to Interpersonal

Communication

Avoid Information

Overload

Use Productively

Reconnect With

People

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Anyone who has used a computer knows that the benefits of technology are not automatic. The following methods can help you use communication technology effectively:

Keep technology in perspective. Technology is an aid to interpersonal communication, not a replacement for it. By focusing on your message and your audience, you can avoid falling into the trap of letting technology get in the way of successful communication.

Guard against information overload and information addiction. The overuse or misuse of communication technology can lead to information overload, in which people receive more information than they can effectively process. Beyond simple overload, some workers are beginning to show signs of information technology addiction—to the point of craving the stimulation of being connected practically around the clock, even while on vacation. As a recipient, you often have some level of control over the number and types of messages you choose to receive. Use the filtering features of your communication systems to isolate high-priority messages that deserve your attention. Also, be wary of subscribing to too many blog feeds, Twitter follows, Facebook updates, and other sources of recurring messages. Focus on the information you truly need to do your job.

Use technological tools productively. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, IM, and other technologies are key parts of what has been called the “information technology paradox,” in which information tools can waste as much time as they save. Concerns over inappropriate use of social networking sites, for example, have led many companies to ban employees from accessing them during work hours.

Reconnect with people frequently. Even in the best circumstances, technology can not match the rich experience of person-to-person contact. Therefore, even enthusiastic users know that technology has limits. Remember to step out from behind technology frequently to learn more about the people that you work with—and to let them learn more about you.

Summary of Objectives

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This section covered the following elements involved in Using Technology for Effective Communication:

Technology as an Aid to Interpersonal Communication

Avoid Information Overload

Use Technology Productively

Reconnect with People

This concludes our discussion of Using Technology for Effective Communication. The next section will cover Committing to Ethical Communications.

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Committing to Ethical Communications

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Ethics are the accepted principles of conduct that govern behavior within a society. Ethical behavior is a companywide concern, but because communication efforts are the public face of a company, they are subjected to particularly rigorous scrutiny from regulators, legislators, investors, consumer groups, environmental groups, labor organizations, and anyone else affected by business activities. Ethical communication includes all relevant information, is true in every sense, and is not deceptive in any way. In contrast, unethical communication can distort the truth or manipulate audiences in a variety of ways

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Ethical Communications

True in Every Sense

Includes Relevant Information

Not Deceptive in

Any Way

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Ethics are the accepted principles of conduct that govern behavior within a society. Put another way, ethical principles define the boundary between right and wrong. Ethical communication is true in every sense, includes all relevant information, and is not deceptive in any way.