Assignment 6

maemk

BUSI201_Topic6.pdf

Home >Business & Finance homework help >Management homework help >Assignment 6

Business Communication Essentials

Topic 6

Business

Messages

Checklist: Planning Business

Messages

The Three-Step Process

Planning Business Messages

• Analyzing the Situation

• Choosing Media and Channels

• Gathering Information

• Organizing the Information

Writing Business Messages

• Adapting to the Audience

• Composing the Message

Completing Business Messages

• Revising for Clarity and Conciseness

• Proofreading the Final Product

• Producing the Message

• Distributing the Message

Optimizing Your Writing Time

Medium/Channel Combinations

Medium/Channel Combinations:

Advantages and Disadvantages (1 of 3)

Medium/Channel Advantages Disadvantages

Oral, in-person • Provide opportunity for immediate feedback

• Easily resolve misunderstandings and

negotiate meanings

• Involve rich nonverbal cues (both physical

gestures and vocal inflections)

• Allow you to express the emotion behind your

message

• Restrict participation to those physically

present

• Unless recorded, provide no permanent,

verifiable record of the communication

• Can reduce communicator’s control over

the message

Oral, digital • Can provide opportunity for immediate

feedback (live phone or online conversations)

• Not restricted to participants in the same

location

• Allow time-shifted consumption (podcasts, for

example)

• Lack nonverbal cues other than voice

inflections

• Can be tedious to listen to if not audience

focused (recorded messages such as

podcasts)

Written, printed • Allow writers to plan and control their

messages

• Can reach geographically dispersed

audiences, although not as easily as digital

• Offer a permanent, verifiable record

• Can be used to avoid immediate interactions

• Can deemphasize emotional elements

• Give recipients time to process messages

before responding (compared with oral

communication and some digital formats)

• Offer limited opportunities for timely

feedback

• Lack the rich nonverbal cues provided by

oral media

• Often take more time and more resources

to create and distribute

• Can require special skills in preparation

and production (elaborate documents)

Medium/Channel Combinations:

Advantages and Disadvantages (2 of 3)

Table [Continued]

Medium/Channel Advantages Disadvantages

Written, digital In general, all the advantages of written printed

documents plus:

• Can be delivered quickly

• Offer the flexibility of multiple formats and

channels, from microblogs to wikis

• Offer the ability to structure messages in

creative ways, such as writing a headline on

Twitter and linking to the full message on a

blog

• Can offer links to related and more in-depth

information

• Can increase accessibility and openness in

an organization through broader sharing

• Enable audience interaction through social

media features

• Can be easily integrated with other media

types, such as embedded videos or photos

• Can be limited in terms of reach and

capability (for instance, you need

someone’s email address before sending

a message)

• Require internet or mobile phone

connectivity

• Are easy to overuse (sending too many

messages to too many recipients)

• Create privacy risks and concerns

(exposing confidential data; employer

monitoring; accidental forwarding)

• Entail security risks (viruses, spyware;

network breaches)

• Can create productivity concerns

(frequent interruptions; nonbusiness

usage)

Medium/Channel Combinations:

Advantages and Disadvantages (3 of 3)

Medium/Channel Advantages Disadvantages

Visual, printed • Can convey complex ideas and relationships

quickly

• Are often less intimidating than long blocks of

text

• Can reduce the burden on the audience to

figure out how the pieces of a message or

concept fit

• Make simple charts and graphs (easy to

create in spreadsheets and other software),

then integrate with reports

• Can require artistic skills to design

(complicated visuals)

• Require some technical skills to create

• Can require more time to create than

equivalent amount of text

• Can be expensive to print (large or

elaborate pieces)

Visual, digital In general, all the advantages of visual printed

documents and all the advantages of written

digital formats plus:

• Can personalize and enhance the experience

for audience members

• Offer the persuasive power of multimedia

formats, particularly video

• Require time, cost, and skills to create

• Can require large amounts of bandwidth

to distribute

The Most Common Media and Channel

Options

• Oral medium, in-person channel

– Management by walking around

• Oral medium, digital channel

• Written medium, print channel

– Memos, letters

▪ Choose a printed message when you:

– Want to make a formal impression

– Are legally required to provide information in printed

form

– Want to stand out from the flood of digital messages

– Need a permanent, unchangeable, or secure record

The Most Common Media and Channel

Options

• Written medium, digital channel

• Visual medium, print channel

• Visual medium, digital channel

– Infographics, interactive diagrams, animation, and

digital video

Visual Medium

• Print Channel

– Photographs

– Diagrams

– Charts and Graphs

• Digital Channel

– Infographics

– Interaction and

Animation

– Digital Video

Challenges of Communication

on Mobile Devices

Consuming Digital

Media

• Screen Size and

Resolution

• Input Technologies

• Bandwidth, Speed,

Connectivity

• Data Usage and

Operating Costs

Factors to Consider When Choosing

Media and Channels

• Media Richness

• Formality

• Media Limitations

• Channel Limitations

• Message Urgency

• Cost

• Audience Preferences

• Security and Privacy

Choosing between Direct and Indirect

Approaches

blank Direct Approach Indirect Approach Indirect

Approach

Audience

Reaction

Eager, interested,

pleased, neutral Displeased

Uninterested,

unwilling

Message

Opening

Main idea, request,

good news

Buffer statement;

lead up to reasons

Statement or

question

Message

Body Necessary details

Provide reasons;

state bad news

Arouse interest;

build desire to act

Message

Cordial comment;

request action Close cordially Request action

Outlining Your Content

Adapting to Your Audience

• Adopting the “you” attitude

– is to focus on the reader’s needs by demonstrating

genuine interest.

Instead of This Write This

Tuesday is the only day that we can

promise quick response to purchase

order requests. We are swamped the

rest of the week.

If you need a quick response, please

submit your purchase order requests on

Tuesday.

At Construction Resources, we are proud

to supply the highest-rated engineered

wood in the entire Midwest.

Ensure the integrity of your building

projects with the highest-rated

engineered wood in the entire Midwest.

Maintaining Standards of Etiquette (2 of 2)

Instead of This Write This

Once again, you’ve managed to bring

down the website through your

incompetent programming.

Let’s review the last website update to

explore ways to improve the process.

You’ve been sitting on our order for two

weeks, and we need it now!

Our production schedules depend on

timely delivery of parts and supplies,

but we have not yet received the order

scheduled for delivery two weeks ago.

Please respond today with a firm

delivery commitment.

Emphasizing the Positive

• Communicate negative news without being negative.

• Euphemisms are phrases that convey your message

without carrying a negative connotations

• Avoid usage to hide the truth

Instead of This Write This

The problem with this department is a

failure to control costs.

The performance of this department can

be improved with tighter cost controls.

You failed to provide all the necessary

information on the previous screen.

Please review the items marked in red so

that we can process your order as quickly

as possible.

Using Bias-Free Language

• Avoid Bias

– Gender

– Age

– Race/Ethnicity

– Disability

Creating a Conversational Tone

• Don’t Confuse Texting and Writing

• Avoid Stale and Obsolete Language

• Avoid Preaching and Bragging

• Be Careful with Intimacy and Humor

Creating a Conversational Tone

• Conversational tone is warm but businesslike and

emphasizes plain, clear language; not too formal and not

too casual

– Avoid stale and pompous language

– Avoid preaching and bragging

– Be careful with humor and intimacy

Finding the Right Tone (1 of 3)

Tone Example

Stuffy: too formal for today’s

audiences

Dear Ms. Navarro:

Enclosed please find the information that was requested during

our telephone communication of May 14. As was mentioned at

that time, Midville Hospital has significantly more doctors of

exceptional quality than any other health facility in the state.

As you were also informed, our organization has quite an

impressive network of doctors and other health-care

professionals with offices located throughout the state. In the

event that you should need a specialist, our professionals will

be able to make an appropriate recommendation.

In the event that you have questions or would like additional

information, you may certainly contact me during regular

business hours.

Most sincerely yours,

Samuel G. Berenz

Finding the Right Tone (2 of 3)

Tone Example

Conversational: just right for most

business communication

Dear Ms. Navarro:

Here’s the information you requested during our phone

conversation on Friday. As I mentioned, Midville Hospital

has the highest-rated doctors and more of them than any

other hospital in the state.

In addition, we have a vast network of doctors and other

health professionals with offices throughout the state. If you

need a specialist, they can refer you to the right one.

If you would like more information, please call any time

between 9:00 and 5:00, Monday through Friday.

Sincerely,

Samuel Berenz

Finding the Right Tone (3 of 3)

Tone Example

Unprofessional: too casual for

business communication

Here’s the 411 you requested. IMHO, we have more and

better doctors than any other hospital in the state.

FYI, we also have a large group of doctors and other health

professionals w/offices close to U at work/home. If U need

a specialist, they’ll refer U to the right one.

Any? just ring or msg.

L8R,

Weeding out Obsolete Phrases

Obsolete Phrase Up-to-Date Replacement

we are in receipt of we received

kindly advise please let me/us know

attached please find enclosed is or I/we have enclosed

it has come to my attention I have just learned or [someone] has just informed me

the undersigned I/we

in due course (specify a time or date)

permit me to say that (omit; just say whatever you need to say)

pursuant to (omit; just say whatever you need to say)

in closing, I’d like to say (omit; just say whatever you need to say)

we wish to inform you that omit; just say whatever you need to say)

please be advised that (omit; just say whatever you need to say)

Using Plain Language

Prefer a Simple,

Unadorned Style

• Support the “You”

Attitude

• Show Respect for

the Audience

• Boost Productivity

and Profitability

Selecting Active Voice or Passive

Voice (1 of 2)

• Dull and Indirect (Passive Voice)

– Legal problems are created by this contract.

– The new system was proposed by the project team.

• Lively and Direct (Active Voice)

– This contract creates legal problems.

– The project team proposed a new system.

Selecting Active Voice or Passive

Voice (2 of 2)

• Accusatory or Self-Congratulatory (Active Voice)

– You lost the shipment.

– I recruited seven engineers last month.

• More Diplomatic (Passive Voice)

– The shipment was lost.

– Seven engineers were recruited last month.

Choosing Powerful Words

Balancing Abstract and Concrete

Words

Concrete Words

• Characteristics

–Tangible

–Objective

Abstract Words

• Characteristics

–Concepts

–Qualities

Finding Words that Communicate

Well

• Choose Strong,

Precise Words

• Avoid Clichés and

Buzzwords

• Choose Familiar

Words

• Use Jargon

Carefully

The Future of Communication:

Machine Learning