BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS

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BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS

• Thuyduong Nguyen
• BISM 3200-02
• February 28, 2003

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Business Communication

• Studies have found that people spend 70 to 85
  percent of their work time deliberately
  communicating through writing, reading, speaking,
  and listening.
• Communication is the lifeblood of any
  organization.
• In an organization, people communicate in many
  ways.

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Organization Communication

• Face-to-face communication takes place during
  one-on-one discussions, in formal groups, and
  during meetings.
• Face-to-face communication is the most effective
  form of communication.

• Both nonverbal cues and verbal communication
  supply immediate feedback.
• Individuals also communicate orally on the phone
  and during presentations, and in writing using
  desktop computers or terminals to compose
  letters, memos, and reports.

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The Communication Process

• The communication process includes sender or
  encoder, receiver or decoder, message, channel or
  medium, feedback, and environment.

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The Communication Process
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The Communication Process

• Sender or Encoder
• The sender initiates a communication-and
  determines the intent of the message, how to send
  it, and what if any response is required.
• The sender bears the burden in this process,
  communicating not only the content of the
  message, but information about history and
  attitude toward the receivers as well.

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The Communication Process

• Receiver or Decoder
• Receivers comprise the target audience of a
  message transmitted by the sender.
• The message the sender encodes may not be the
  message received.
• Receivers interpret messages based upon their
  frame of reference includes their life
  experiences, their cultural background, and the
  values and beliefs they hold.
• Feedback may help to prevent misunderstandings.

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Receiver or Decoder
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The Communication Process

• Message
• Contains ideas expressed to other individuals
• Messages generally take one or more of three
  forms informative, persuasive, and actuative.

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The Communication Process

• Channel or Medium
• The channel conveys the message to the receiver,
  either verbally and face-to-face, or in another
  mediated fashion.
• The medium can impact the message positively or
  negatively, so the sender must choose the best
  medium for assuring effective communication.

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The Communication Process

• Feedback
• Reports back to the sender that the receiver, the
  decoder, received and understood the message.
• Feedback makes communication a two-way process,
  allowing the sender to become a receiver and vice
  versa.

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Tips for Improving Feedback

• Feedback should occur immediately
• Supervisory feedback should complement
  work-related behavior
• Positive feedback produces the best results, but
  neg. feedback can be better than no feedback

• Verbal feedback should accompany and support or
  verify nonverbal signals
• Workers remember what they hear first and last in
  a message
• Feedback allows us to learn how people think and
  feel about things

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The Communication Process

• Environment
• The environment in which the communication
  process occurs may influence the probability of
  success or failure
• This environment includes room color,
  temperature, lighting, furniture, and timing, as
  well as organizational climate and
  superior-subordinate and peer relationships.

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Causes of Miscommunication

• Inferences
• Word-meaning confusion
• Differing perceptions
• Information overload and timing
• Nonverbal messages
• Noise
• Listening
• Intercultural differences

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Inferences

• Draw a conclusion based on facts
• As a communicator, you must be conscious of the
  inferences you make. Be careful to label your
  inferences.
• Your audience must be able to distinguish between
  what you know and what you think, assume,
  believe, or judge to be true

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Inferences Example

• The sun shines brightly today.
• Contains fact because you can easily verify it by
  looking out the window.
• The sun shines here, therefore, it shines
  50 miles north of here.
• This is an inferences statement, involves drawing
  conclusion based on more than what you observe.

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Word-Meaning Confusion

• When a sender and receiver give the same word
  different meanings or give different words the
  same meaning.
• Words have both denotative and connotative
  meanings
• To avoid a similar word-meaning confusion,
  consider the person with whom you communicate,
  ask questions, and paraphrases important
  statements.

• Example
• If you look up the word ill in the dictionary,
  you probably would find a definition meaning
  sick, but in the southern region of the United
  States, ill could refer to a misbehaving child.

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Differing Perceptions

• Your perceptions provide your view of reality,
  but they depend on how you interpret what you see
  and hear
• Perceptions are influenced by a variety of
  factors include personal background, education,
  age, and experiences
• 2 categories of perception sensory perception
  and normative perception

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Information Overload Timing

• Advance technology has made it easy to send a
  fax, make a copy, or print a report
• Unfortunately you have only a limited capacity to
  handle and process this communication. Because
  so much info must be processed, some of it gets
  lost.
• You can prevent such information loss by becoming
  concerned more with the quality of your
  communication than with its quantity.

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Information Overload Timing
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Information Overload Timing

• When communicating with employees, whether face
  to face or over the telephone, effective
  communicators always check with their timing.
• If an individual rules in, interrupts, and
  demands time, the receiver may feign listening or
  listen halfheartedly
• This behavior could costly to an organization if
  its results in miscommunication and wrong action.

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Nonverbal Messages

• Senders sometimes forget the importance of
  nonverbal messages, but, as a communicator, you
  should pay careful attention to the nonverbal
  communication of the sender and listen for the
  message between the line.

• When assessing nonverbal messages, you should be
  careful not to place too much importance on a
  single, isolated nonverbal behavior instead,
  look for several nonverbal cues.
• Nonverbal actions provide a key to a persons
  true feelings and attitudes.

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Noises

• Noise can be interfere with every aspect of the
  communication process. Noise may be external or
  internal
• External Noise comes from you surroundings
• Phone line crackling with static
• A telephone ringing or a co-worker laughing in a
  cubical next to you
• Internal noise comes from within
• Such factors as dislike of your receiver
• Distraction by another problem
• Prejudice against a person

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Listening

• Without training, a listener retains only 25 of
  what he or she hears.
• Based on Hamilton and Kleiner when eyes wander,
  your retention of what has been said is affected.
• If you focus too hard on little facts, you can
  miss the overall message.
• If you assume the speaker or subject to be
  uninteresting, you may miss out
• If you pretend to listen, you may get caught

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Listening
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Listening Guidelines

• Look at the person speaking to show interest
• Ask questions to help clarify what the speaker
  said
• Dont interrupt the speaker without reason
• Dont change the subject, because the speaker may
  have no thoughts on the new subject
• Control your emotions about the subject matter
• Be responsive and let the speaker know he or she
  has communicated effectively

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Listening

• Another listening barrier occurs because we have
  different rates of listening and speaking.
• Speakers generally talk at about 125 to 150 words
  a minute, while receivers can listen to about 400
  to 500 words per minute.
• Receivers must work at listening and try to avoid
  becoming distracted
• To be an effective managers, you must be an
  effective listener

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Listening

• Longenecker and Liverpool theory of behaviors
  displaying poor listening skills
• Looking out the window or at your watch while
  someone talks
• Continuing to work during the conversation
• Appearing rushed during a conversation
• Walking away from a person who is speaking
• Continuing playing with pens, papers, and other
  items
• Finishing another persons sentences
• Answering incoming phone calls
• Inserting humorous remarks in response to serious
  problems
• And looking at a person other than the individual
  speaking

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Steps to become a better listener

• Identifying your shortcoming
• Postpone the meeting if you dont have time
• Show the employee you want to listen
• Do not prejudice the employee
• Empathize with the employee
• Be patient with the employee
• Resist arguments and criticisms
• Ask questions and show understanding

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Intercultural Differences

• Individuals from different cultures bring
  different perceptions, value systems, and
  languages to the workplace
• To be successful in business dealings, you must
  be aware of and sensitive to cultural
  differences, use appropriate language, correctly
  interpret nonverbal communication, and value
  individual and cultural differences

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Being Aware and Sensitive

• Be aware that an individuals background and
  experience can impact his or her interpretation
  and perception of a message

• Check to see if you have any hidden biases and
  see if you have formed an opinion about how
  people of a certain sex, religion, or race
  appear, think, and act based simply on their
  belonging to particular group
• Try to avoid stereotyping and the use of sexist,
  racist, or ethnic remarks

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Using Appropriate Language

• The same word may mean different things to people
  from other countries
• Some words may have different meanings in other
  languages
• Use feedback to clarify your message

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Interpreting Nonverbal Communication

• Almost about 70 of our communication occurs
  nonverbally and each culture interprets and
  displays body language differently
• Certain nonverbal signs can be clues that the
  receiver does not understand and is trying to
  save face
• The body language may tell you what the words
  dont

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Valuing Differences

• As an effective communicator, you must learn to
  value, appreciate, and accept individual
  differences
• Approximately 49.5 percent of new workers are
  expected to be women, while people of color will
  comprise 34.7 percent.

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Questions?