Communication Skills for Leaders 3

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UNIT III STUDY GUIDE

Written Leadership Communication

Learning Objectives Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Compare the most effective written communication medium. 2. Create individual and written communication. 3. Utilize social media effectively. 4. Create coherent communication content. 5. Support expectations in correspondence. 6. Design reports with required content. 7. Formulate effective professional communication.

Unit Lesson Written Communication Organizations produce a great deal of written communication of many kinds. Letters, forms, various types of reports, and manuals are widely used within all organizational departments. Today, letters are considered a formal way of communicating with an individual, or with someone outside the organization. Informal communications are rapidly changing as advances in technology have allowed for growth in the area of accepted forms of interoffice communication. Standardized forms are used for reporting purposes—to make communications between departments both more available and more uniform. Likewise, management reports are used by leaders to track the progress being made toward completion of projects. Manuals are widely used throughout organizations for various purposes. Training manuals, operations manuals, and policy and procedures manuals are all used to provide employees with information needed to successfully perform their work. Social Media The continued development of the World Wide Web has made way for a wide variety of easy to use publishing tools for streamlining the transmitting of information. One of the most widely used tools is email, due to the growing acceptance of this format for effective professional communication. Although letters are still considered the formal way of communicating, the use of email allows for much quicker delivery of information between parties, which can be critical for leaders in this digital environment. Although email may be one of the more widely used forms of social media, it is by no means the only one that is being incorporated into the professional arena. Weblogs are being used both privately and publically to create personal journals, to expand resources between colleagues, or to filter new information. Blogs are easily created, easily updateable websites that allow an author (or authors) to publish instantly to the Internet from any Internet connection (Richardson, 2009). They can also be interactive, allowing colleagues to begin conversations or add to the existing information published there.

Reading Assignment Chapter 4: Creating Written Leadership Communication

Presentation Written Leadership Communication

Key Terms None

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Wikis are another form of collaborative Webspace where anyone can add content and/or easily edit content that has already been published (Richardson, 2009). For this reason, many of these wikis are password-protected for the safety and security of the information they contain. Likewise, podcasting is gaining popularity as a medium for digital audio. Podcasts can be created simply, and can be used effectively to disseminate news within an organization, present interviews with interesting people, or offer recordings of keynotes and presentations. The explosion of YouTube has provided an avenue for photos, audio files, and other technologies to be used successfully within an organizational structure. Coherent Communication Content The goal of leadership communication is always to communicate clearly and effectively. Communication creates dialogue and enables those within an organization to reach a shared meaning. Without that shared meaning, there would be a lack of focus that would inhibit the accomplishment of organizational goals. Effective leaders nurture and encourage various types of communications. Good communication is focused and shared, resulting in a clear understanding of what has been said. Regardless of the medium used to communicate, it is essential that a message is sent in a clear and straightforward manner, that the other person accepts the message, and that the person has received and understands the message. Expectations in Correspondence Electronic communications—text messaging, instant messaging, e-mail, and twitter—have changed the way people communicate with each other. From these new forms of communication, a new shorthand has developed, and most young people are fluent in this abbreviated language. Although this process may be quicker and simpler, caution should be taken to ensure that this more casual form of communication is not used improperly. Always give emails and instant messages a second look before sending them, taking care to look at them from the point-of-view of the receiver. Make sure the message is appropriate and is what is intended, that the correspondence is grammatical correct and easily readable, and that the receiver will understand the message that is being sent. Of paramount importance with digital media is to keep your audience in mind! Although younger employees have become proficient with this technological language, older workers may be unfamiliar with the code used in electronic communication. Also, the lack of formality associated with these communication channels may reduce the importance of the message being sent. Formatting Effective Written Communication Formatting is important for any professional document as the appearance of the document is where the reader forms a first impression about the message. Required formatting varies depending on the type of communication. Proper formatting improves the readability of a communication whether it is a document, a report, or a presentation. APA formatting is a perfect example of the standards required when producing an acceptable document. Where APA formatting is a widely used standard of guidelines for academic writing, professional documents should also follow specific guidelines for layout, spacing and alignment, font type and size, and use of headings. As leaders expect their professional communications to be appropriate and meaningful for the audience, adherence to accepted guidelines for organization and style conventions is essential.

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Reference Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for

classrooms. (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.