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ESSENTIALS OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

8th Canadian Edition

Mary Ellen Guffey/Dana Loewy/

Richard Almonte

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Chapter 1

Career Success Begins with Communication Skills

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Learning Objectives

1. Understand the importance of becoming an effective business communicator in today’s changing workplace.

2. Identify ways in which technology helps improve business writing.

3. Discuss how to become an effective listener.

4. Analyze nonverbal communication and explain techniques

for improving nonverbal communication skills.

5. Explain professionalism in the workplace.

6. Explain how culture affects communication and describe methods for improving cross-cultural communication.

7. Identify specific techniques that improve effective communication among diverse workplace audiences.

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Succeeding in the Changing World of Work

Why is it important to develop communication skills?

Innovative communication technologies (we communicate rapidly)

Flattened management hierarchy (more employees making decisions)

More participatory management

Increase emphasis on self-directed work and project teams

Ask students to offer examples of different occupations they have had, have now, or may have in the future. Discuss the extent to which written or verbal communication was/is required and how the jobs they will obtain after graduation will place more emphasis on their communication skills.

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Succeeding in the Changing World of Work

Heightened global competition (interaction with other cultures)

New work environments (telecommuting)

The move to a knowledge economy (growth of business)

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How Technology Improves Business Writing

Designing and producing professional-looking documents, presentations and Web pages

Using templates and collecting information electronically

Adding graphics for emphasis

Improving correctness and precision

Using software for team writing

Examining the Communication Process

Transmission of information between sender and receiver

Purpose of communicating is to deliver meaning (though there are several factors that can interfere)

Five essential steps in all forms of communication

Communication Process

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Examining the Communication Process

Sender forms idea influenced by a number of factors

Sender encodes idea in a message by using words or gestures

Message travels over a channel, which could include e-mail, letter, smartphone, etc.

Receiver decodes message and understands the meaning

Feedback travels to sender through a nod or responding message

Communication is successful only when the reader understands the message as the receiver intended it. Feedback is central to the communication process.

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Developing Better Listening Skills

Barriers to Effective Listening

Physical Barriers

You are sick or uncomfortable.

You cannot hear the speaker.

Personal Barriers

Your values conflict with those of the speaker.

Language Problems

You cannot understand the speaker.

Ask the students: Which barrier to effective listening do you struggle with the most?

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Developing Better Listening Skills

Barriers to Effective Listening

Thought Speed

You start thinking about other things.

Faking Attention

You find it difficult to concentrate.

Grandstanding

You would rather speak than listen.

You become impatient.

Technological Barriers

You are distracted by your laptop or cell phone.

Ask the students: Which barrier to effective listening do you struggle with the most?

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Tips for Becoming an Active Listener

Stop talking.

Control your surroundings.

Establish a receptive mindset, and keep an open mind.

Listen for main points.

Capitalize on lag time.

Becoming an active listener is an active process. It requires effort.

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Tips for Becoming an Active Listener

Listen between the lines.

Judge ideas, not appearances.

Be patient.

Take selective notes (only important points).

Provide feedback (ask questions, give opinions).

Improving Your Nonverbal Communication Skills

How the Eyes, Face, and Body Send Silent Messages

Messages are delivered beyond words.

Nonverbal cues are as, if not more, important than words.

Examples:

Eye contact

Facial expression

Posture and gestures

Successful communicators attend to nonverbal cues.

Ask your students: What are some examples of positive or negative nonverbal cues?

Ask students: What attitudes do the following body positions and movements suggest to you? Do they always mean the same thing? What part does context play in your interpretations?

a. Whistling, wringing hands

b. Bowed posture, twiddling thumbs

c. Steepled hands, sitting in sprawled position

d. Rubbing hand through hair

e. Pacing back and forth, tugging ears

f. Twisting fingers through hair

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Improving Your Nonverbal Communication Skills

How Time, Space, and Territory Send Silent Messages:

Time

We allocate more time to respected clients.

Space

Formal decor indicates formal communication.

Territory

We maintain zones of privacy to feel comfortable.

Meaning is also conveyed through external elements like time, space, and distance.

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Four Space Zones for Social Interaction

for Social Interaction]]

Culture influences the way we look at space.

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Improving Your Nonverbal Communication Skills

How Appearance Sends Silent Messages

Business Documents

Organized, readable, and correct

People

Professional, presentable, and polite

Appearance sends a powerful nonverbal message.

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Improving Your Nonverbal Communication Skills

Tips for Improving Your Nonverbal Skills

Establish and maintain eye contact.

Use posture to show interest (look alert).

Improve your decoding skills.

Probe for more information.

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Improving Your Nonverbal Communication Skills

Tips for Improving Your Nonverbal Skills

Avoid assigning nonverbal meanings out of context.

Associate with people from diverse cultures (learn their customs).

Appreciate the power of appearance (maintain professionalism).

Observe yourself.

Enlist friends and family.

What Employers Want: Professionalism

Technical Knowledge

Soft Skills (employability skills; key competencies)

Able to communicate

Work with others

Solve problems

Make ethical decisions

Appreciate diversity

Soft skills are also known as employability skills and key competencies.

Ask the students to offer examples of professionalism in the workplace. Write on board. Discuss meaning behind answers.

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Projecting Professionalism When You Communicate

Check your conduct to ensure professionalism.

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Understanding How Culture Affects Communication

Be sensitive to other cultures.

Learn customs and traditions of other cultures when doing business with them.

Canadians value collective decision making and tolerance of others.

Americans value individualism (common among most Western cultures).

Have students read the article “Doing business abroad? Simple faux pas can sink you” by Gary Stoller in USA TODAY at www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2007-08-23-faux-pas_N.htm.

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Understanding How Culture Affects Communication

Comparing Key Cultural Values: Five Key Dimensions

Low vs. high context (depend little on context of situation to convey meaning)

Individualism vs. collectivism (more collectivist than the United States)

Formality (less emphasis on tradition)

Communication style (straightforward, polite)

Time orientation (formal and task oriented)

Ask the students: Can you think of evidence to support the argument that Canadians are more collectivist than Americans?

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Context Continuum

Learning Intercultural Workplace Skills

Learn to understand and accept people from other cultures.

Control ethnocentrism and stereotyping.

Develop tolerance (practise empathy and patience).

Control ethnocentrism and stereotyping (judging others based on own values; oversimplifying behaviour and applying it to all members of a group of people)

Develop tolerance (practise empathy and patience)

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Tips for Minimizing Oral Miscommunication Among Cross-Cultural Audiences

Use simple English.

Speak slowly and enunciate clearly.

Encourage accurate feedback.

Check frequently for comprehension.

Observe eye messages.

Tips for Minimizing Oral Miscommunication Among Cross-Cultural Audiences

Accept blame.

Listen without interrupting.

Remember to smile.

Follow up in writing.

Tips for Minimizing Written Miscommunication Among Cross-Cultural Audiences

Adopt local styles.

Consider hiring a translator.

Use short sentences and short paragraphs.

Avoid ambiguous writing (idioms, acronyms, etc.).

Cite numbers carefully (especially with dates).

Ask students to explain in simple English what the following idiomatic expressions mean. Have them assume that they are explaining them to people for whom English is a second language.

a. let the cat out of the bag

b. take the bull by the horns

c. he is a tightwad

d. putting the cart before the horse

e. to be on the road

f. lend someone a hand

g. with flying colours

h. turn over a new leaf

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Tips for Effective Communication with Diverse Workplace Audiences

Understand the value of differences.

Don’t expect conformity.

Create zero tolerance for bias and stereotypes.

Practise focused, thoughtful, and open-minded listening.

Tips for Effective Communication with Diverse Workplace Audiences

Invite, use, and give feedback.

Make fewer assumptions.

Learn about your cultural self.

Seek common ground.

Summary

Senders must successfully deliver messages to receivers (through verbal and nonverbal communication).

Listening is an important part of the communication process.

Understanding cultural values plays an important role in effective communication.

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