HRMN 495-Mini Case Study 5
matador
EffectiveBusinessCommunication.pdf
Learning Topic
Effective Business Communication
I know that you believe that you understood what you think I
said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I
meant.
—Robert J. McCloskey, former State Department spokesman
Getting Started
Communication, defined as the process of understanding and sharing
meaning, is an activity, skill, and art that incorporates lessons learned
across a wide spectrum of human knowledge (Pearson & Nelson, 2000).
Perhaps the most time‐honored form of communication is storytelling.
We've told each other stories for centuries to help make sense of the
world, anticipate the future, and entertain ourselves. The art of
storytelling draws on your understanding of yourself, your message, and
how you communicate it to an audience that is simultaneously
communicating back to you. Your anticipation, reaction, and adaptation to
the process will determine how successfully you are able to communicate.
You were not born knowing how to write or even how to talk, but in the
process of growing up, you have undoubtedly learned how to tell—and
how not to tell—a story out loud and in writing.
Effective Business Communication https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/hrmn/hrmn495/2225/lear...
1 of 10 4/2/2023, 10:34 PM
UMGC (n.d.). Effective Business Communication. Retrieved from https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/hrmn/hrmn495/2225/ learning-topic-list/effective-business-communication.html#
Learning to communicate well requires you to read and study how others
have expressed themselves and then adapt what you learn to your
present task—whether it is texting a brief message to a friend, presenting
your qualifications in a job interview, or writing a business report. You
already have skills and knowledge that will provide a valuable foundation
as we explore the communication process.
Effective communication takes preparation, practice, and persistence.
There are many ways to learn communication skills; the school of
experience, or "hard knocks," is one of them. But in the business
environment, a lesson learned may come at the expense of your
credibility if it comes through an important presentation. In an
educational environment, you can try out new ideas and skills before you
must communicate effectively in ways that have broad impact on your
career. Listening to yourself—and perhaps feedback—may help you reflect
on new ways to present—or even perceive—thoughts, ideas, and
concepts. This helps you to grow and improve your ability to
communicate in business, opening more doors than you might anticipate.
Why Is It Important to Communicate Well?
Communication is key to your success—in relationships, in the workplace,
as a citizen of your country, and throughout your life. Your ability to
communicate comes from experience, but you can also learn from
professional speakers' experiences throughout their lifetimes.
Business communication can be viewed as a problem‐solving activity in
which you look at the following questions:
• What is the situation?
• What are some possible communication strategies?
• What is the best course of action?
• What is the best way to design the chosen message?
Effective Business Communication https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/hrmn/hrmn495/2225/lear...
2 of 10 4/2/2023, 10:34 PM
• What is the best way to deliver the message?
We will examine this problem‐solving process and help you learn to apply
it in the kinds of situations you are likely to encounter over the course of
your career.
Communication Influences Your Thinking about Yourself and Others
The drive to communicate is fundamental. Being unable to communicate
can even mean losing a part of yourself because you communicate your
self‐concept—your sense of self and awareness of who you are—in many
ways. Do you like to write? Do you find it easy to make a phone call to a
stranger or to speak to a room full of people? Perhaps someone told you
that you don't speak clearly or that your grammar needs improvement.
Does that make you more or less likely to want to communicate? For
some, it may be a positive challenge, while for others, it may be
discouraging. But either way, your ability to communicate affects your
self‐concept.
Your communications skills also help you to understand others. Beyond
their words, their tone of voice, nonverbal gestures, the format of their
written documents, and more provide you with clues about who they are
and what their values and priorities may be. Active listening and reading
are part of successful communication.
Communication Represents You and Your Employer
The image you convey of yourself via communicate can make an
impression on people you meet or influence the perception of your
friends and family, instructors, employer, etc. What you communicate and
how you communicate it can also reflect on people who are associated
with you, especially your employer.
In your career, you represent your organization in spoken and written
form. Your professionalism and attention to detail will reflect positively on
Effective Business Communication https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/hrmn/hrmn495/2225/lear...
3 of 10 4/2/2023, 10:34 PM
you and set you up for success. Developing your communication skills will
have a positive impact on your relationships, your prospects for
employment, and your ability to make a difference in the world.
Communication Skills Are Desired by Business and Industry
Oral and written communication proficiencies are consistently ranked in
the top 10 desirable skills in employer surveys. In fact, high‐powered
business executives sometimes hire consultants to coach them in
sharpening their communication skills. According to the National
Association of Colleges and Employers, the following are the top five
personal qualities or skills potential employers seek:
1. Communication skills (verbal and written)
2. Strong work ethic
3. Teamwork skills (works well with others, group communication)
4. Initiative
5. Analytical skills
Knowing this, you can see the potential for communication skills to
increase your promotion potential and employment prospects. No matter
what career you pursue, learning to express yourself professionally in
speech and in writing will help you get there.
Communication in Context
Is a quiet dinner conversation with someone you care about the same
experience as a discussion in class or giving a speech? Is sending a text
message to a friend the same experience as writing a professional project
proposal or a purchase order? Each context has an influence on the
communication process. Contexts can overlap, creating an even more
dynamic process. You have been communicating in many of these
contexts throughout your life, and you'll be able to apply what you've
Effective Business Communication https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/hrmn/hrmn495/2225/lear...
4 of 10 4/2/2023, 10:34 PM
learned through experience in each context to business communication.
Intrapersonal Communication
Have you ever listened to a speech or lecture and gotten caught up in
your thoughts so that, while the speaker continued, you were no longer
listening? During a phone conversation, have you ever been thinking
about what you are going to say instead of listening to the other person?
Have you ever told yourself how you did after you wrote a document or
gave a presentation? As you "talk with yourself," you are engaged in
intrapersonal communication.
Culture and Perception
What you perceive in communication with others is also influenced by
your culture, native language, and world view. As the German philosopher
Jürgen Habermas (1984, p. 100) said, "Every process of reaching
understanding takes place against the background of a culturally
ingrained preunderstanding."
For example, you may have certain expectations of time and punctuality.
You weren’t born with them, so where did you learn them? From those
around you as you grew up. What was normal for them became normal
for you, but not everyone's idea of normal is the same.
When your supervisor invites you to a meeting and says it will start at 7
p.m., does that mean 7:00 sharp, 7‐ish, or even 7:30? In a business
context, when a meeting is supposed to start at 9 a.m., is it promptly a 9
a.m.? Variations in time expectations depend on regional and national
culture as well as individual corporate cultures. In some companies,
everyone may be expected to arrive 10 to 15 minutes before the
announced start time to take their seats and be ready to commence
business at 9:00 sharp. In other companies, meeting and greeting from
about 9 to 9:05 or even 9:10 is the norm. When you are unfamiliar with
Effective Business Communication https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/hrmn/hrmn495/2225/lear...
5 of 10 4/2/2023, 10:34 PM
the expectations for a business event, it is always wise to err on the side
of being punctual, regardless of what your internal assumptions about
time and punctuality may be.
Your Responsibilities as a Communicator
Whenever you speak or write in a business environment, you have
responsibilities to your audience, your employer, and your profession.
Your audience has an inherent set of expectations that you will fulfill
these responsibilities. The specific expectations may change based on the
context or environment, but two central ideas will remain: be prepared,
and be ethical.
The Communicator Is Prepared
As the business communicator's first responsibility, preparation includes
being organized, clear, punctual, and concise. Being prepared means that
you have selected a topic appropriate to your audience, gathered enough
information to cover the topic well, put your information into a logical
sequence, and considered how best to present it. If your communication
is a written one, you have written an outline and at least one rough draft,
read it over to improve your writing and correct errors, and sought
feedback where appropriate. If your communication is oral, you have
practiced several times before the actual performance.
The Communicator Is Ethical
The business communicator’s second fundamental responsibility is to be
ethical. Ethics refers to a set of principles or rules for correct conduct. It
echoes what Aristotle called ethos, the communicator's good character
and reputation for doing what is right. Communicating ethically involves
being egalitarian, respectful, and trustworthy—overall, treating your
audience the way you would want to be treated.
Effective Business Communication https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/hrmn/hrmn495/2225/lear...
6 of 10 4/2/2023, 10:34 PM
Communication can move communities, influence cultures, and change
history. It can motivate people to take a stand, consider an argument, or
purchase a product. The degree to which you consider both the common
good and fundamental principles you hold to be true when crafting your
message directly relates to how your message will affect others.
The Ethical Communicator Is Egalitarian
The word egalitarian comes from the root equal. To be egalitarian is to
believe in basic equality: that all people should share equally in the
benefits and burdens of a society. It means that everyone is entitled to
the same respect, expectations, access to information, and rewards of
participation in a group.
To communicate in an egalitarian manner, speak and write in a way that is
comprehensible and relevant to all your listeners or readers, not just
those who are like you in terms of age, gender, race or ethnicity, or other
characteristics.
In business, you will often communicate to people with specific
professional qualifications. For example, you may draft a memo addressed
to all the nurses in a certain hospital or give a speech to all the adjusters
in a certain branch of an insurance company. Being egalitarian does not
mean you have to avoid professional terminology that is appropriate for
your audience. But it does mean that your hospital letter should be
worded for all the hospital's nurses—not just female nurses, not just
nurses working directly with patients, not just nurses under 55. An
egalitarian communicator seeks to unify the audience by using ideas and
language that are appropriate for all the message's readers or listeners.
The Ethical Communicator Is Respectful
People are influenced by emotions as well as logic. Aristotle named
pathos—passion, enthusiasm, and energy—as the third of his three
important parts of communicating after logos and ethos.
Effective Business Communication https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/hrmn/hrmn495/2225/lear...
7 of 10 4/2/2023, 10:34 PM
Most of us have probably seen an audience manipulated by a cult of
personality, believing whatever the speaker said simply because of how
dramatic the delivery was; by being manipulative, the speaker fails to
respect the audience.
You may have also seen people hurt by sarcasm, insults, and other
disrespectful forms of communication. Losing one's temper and being
abusive are generally regarded as showing a lack of professionalism (and
could even involve legal consequences for you or your employer). When
you disagree strongly with a coworker, feel deeply annoyed with a
difficult customer, or find serious fault with a competitor's product, it is
important to express such sentiments respectfully. For example, instead
of telling a customer, "I've had it with your complaints," a respectful
business communicator might say, "I'm having trouble seeing how I can fix
this situation. Would you explain to me what you want to see happen?"
This does not mean that passion and enthusiasm are out of place in
business communication. Indeed, they are very important. You can hardly
expect your audience to care about your message if you don't show that
you care about it yourself. If your topic is worth writing or speaking
about, show your audience why it is worthwhile by speaking
enthusiastically or using a dynamic writing style. Doing so shows respect
for their time and their intelligence.
The Ethical Communicator Is Trustworthy
Trust is a key component in communication, and this is especially true in
business. As a consumer, would you choose to buy merchandise from a
company you did not trust? If you were an employer, would you hire
someone you did not trust?
Your goal as a communicator is to build a healthy relationship with your
audience, and to do that, you must show them why they can trust you.
One way to do this is to begin your message by providing some
information about your qualifications and background, your interest in the
Effective Business Communication https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/hrmn/hrmn495/2225/lear...
8 of 10 4/2/2023, 10:34 PM
topic, or your reasons for communicating now.
Your audience will expect that what you say is the truth as you
understand it. This means that you have not intentionally omitted
anything or taken information out of context simply to prove your points.
They will listen to what you say and how you say it, but also to what you
don't say or do. You may consider more than one perspective on your
topic, and then select the perspective you perceive to be correct, giving
concrete reasons why you came to this conclusion. People in the
audience may have considered or believe in some of the perspectives you
consider, and your attention to them will indicate you have done your
homework.
Being worthy of trust is something you earn with an audience. Trust is
hard to build but easy to lose. A communicator may not know something
and still be trustworthy, but it's a violation of trust to pretend you know
something when you don't. Communicate what you know, and if you
don't know something, research it before you speak or write. If you are
asked a question to which you don't know the answer, acknowledge this
and say that you will research it and get back to the asker (and then make
sure you follow through later). This will go over much better with the
audience than trying to cover by stumbling through an answer or
portraying yourself as knowledgeable on an issue that you are not.
The Golden Rule
When in doubt, remember the golden rule: Treat others the way you
would like to be treated. In all its many forms, the golden rule
incorporates human kindness, cooperation, and reciprocity across
cultures, languages, backgrounds and interests. Regardless of where you
travel, who you communicate with, or what your audience is like,
remember how you would feel if you were on the receiving end of your
communication, and act accordingly.
Effective Business Communication https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/hrmn/hrmn495/2225/lear...
9 of 10 4/2/2023, 10:34 PM
References
Habermas, J. (1984). The theory of communicative action. Beacon Press.
Pearson, J., & Nelson, P. (2000). An introduction to human
communication: Understanding and sharing. McGraw‐Hill.
Vocate, D. (Ed.). (1994). Intrapersonal communication: Different voices,
different minds. Lawrence Erlbaum.
Wood, J. (1997). Communication in our lives. Wadsworth.
Licenses and Attributions
Chapter 1: Effective Business Communication
(https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_business‐communication‐for‐
success/s05‐effective‐business‐communicati.html) from Business
Communication for Success v. 1.0 was adapted Saylor Academy and is
available under a Creative Commons Attribution‐NonCommercial‐
ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by‐nc‐
sa/3.0/) license without attribution as requested by the work's original
creator or licensor. UMGC has modified this work and it is available under
the original license.
© 2023 University of Maryland Global Campus
All links to external sites were verified at the time of publication. UMGC is not responsible for the
validity or integrity of information located at external sites.
Effective Business Communication https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/hrmn/hrmn495/2225/lear...
10 of 10 4/2/2023, 10:34 PM
