prepared by: syed hasan atif1 effective business communication speaking listening writing reading
TRANSCRIPT
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EFFECTIVE BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION
SpeakingSpeakingListeningListening
Writin
Writin
gg
Reading
Reading
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Communication DefinedThe exchange of meanings between individuals through a common system of symbols.
Encyclopedia Britannica
An act or instance of transmitting (n)
Communication is a process in which a person, through the use of signs (natural,universal) / symbols (by human convention) , verbally and / or non-verbally, consciously on unconsciously but intentionally,conveys meaning to another in order to affect change
Anonymous
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Types of Communication
• Verbal
• Non-Verbal
• Written
• Electronic
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The Guru’s of Communication
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7 C’s of Communication
• Completeness
• Conciseness
• Consideration
• Concreteness
• Clarity
• Courtesy
• Correctness
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10 Commandments of Communication
• Believe in what you say• Believe in the people to whom you speak• Live what you say• Know when to say it• Know how to say it• Know why to say it• Have fun saying it• Show it as you say it• Say it so people can own it• Say it so people will do it
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5 W’s and the 6th Element
• What• When• Which• Why• Where
• How
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Communication at Work
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Changes Affecting the Workplace
• Heightened global competition
• Flattened management hierarchies
• Expanded team-based management
• Innovative communication technologies
• New work environment
• Increasingly diverse workforce
• Success in the new workplace requires excellent communication skills
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The Communication Process Basic Model
1.Sender has idea
1.Sender has idea
4.Receiver decodes messages
4.Receiver decodes messages
3.Message travels over channel
3.Message travels over channel
2. Sender encodes idea in message
2. Sender encodes idea in message
5.Feedback travels to sender
5.Feedback travels to sender
6.Possible additional feedback to receiver
6.Possible additional feedback to receiver
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Organizational Communication
• Functions– Internal and External
• Form– Oral and Written
• Form– Channel selection dependent on
• Message content• Need for immediate response
• Audiences size and distance• Audience reaction• Need to show empathy, friendliness, and formality• Flow
– Formal or Informal– Down, up, horizontal– grapevine
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Communication Flowing Through Formal Channels
Downward
• Management directives
• Job plans
• Company goals
• Mission statements
Horizontal
• Task coordination
• Information sharing
• Problem solving
• Conflict resolution
Upward • Employee feedback • Progress reports • Reports of customer • interaction, feedback • Suggestions for • improvement • Anonymous hotline
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Communication Flowing Through Formal Channels
Written
• Executive memos, letters
• Annual reports
• Company newsletter
• Reports of customer
• Orientation manual
Oral
• Telephone
• Face-to-face
• conservation
• Company meetings
• Team meetings
Electronic
• Voicemail
• Intranet
• Videotape
• Videoconferencing
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Message DistortionDownward Communication
Through Five Levels of ManagementThrough Five Levels of Management
Message
Written by Board of Directors
Received by Vice-President
Received by General Manager
Received by Plant Manager
Received by Team Leader
Received by worker
Amount of message
100%
63%
56%
40%
30%
20%
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Verbal/Oral Communication
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• Environment• Cultural Background• Pace
– Slow/ Fast– Pause
• Word Choice• Voice
– Audibility– Stressed / Cheerful / Monotonous– Emphatic
Oral/Verbal Communication
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Listening
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The Listening Process
Perception
Interpretation
Evaluation
Action
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Ten Misconception About Listening
Listening is a matter of intelligence.• Fact. Careful listening is a learned behavior. • Speaking is a more important part of the
communication process than listening.• Fact: Speaking and listening are equally important. • 3.Listening is easy and requires little energy.• Fact: Active listeners undergo the same physiological
changes as a person jogging.
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Ten Misconception About Listening
• 4. Listening is an automatic reflex.– Fact : Listening is conscious, selective process.– Hearing is an involuntary act.
• • 5. Speakers are able to command listening.
– Fact :Speakers cannot make a person really listen.
• • 6. Hearing ability determines listening ability.
– Fact: Listening happens mentally- between the years
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Ten Misconception About Listening
• 8. Listening is only a matter of understanding a speaker's words– Fact :Non verbal signals also help listeners gain understanding.
• 9. Daily practice eliminates the need for listening training.
– Fact :Without effective listening training, most practice merely reinforces negative behavior.
• 10.Competence in listening develops naturally.
– Fact: Untrained people listen at only 25% efficiency
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Tips for better listening
• Control internal and external distractions.
• Become actively involved.
• Identify important facts
• Don’t interrupt
• Ask clarifying questions
• Paraphrase to increase understanding
• Take advantage of lag time
• Take notes to ensure retention
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Nonverbal Communication
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Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal communication includes all unwritten and unspoken both, intentional and unintentional
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Planning and participatingin meetings
• Before the meeting
• Consider alternatives. Is a meeting necessary?
• Invite the right people. Include…
– Those who have information.– Those who can make decision.– Those who must implement decision.
• Distribute an agenda.
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Planning and participationin meetings
During the meeting • Start on time and introduce the agenda.• Appoint a secretary and recorder• Encourage balanced participation.• Confront conflict frankly.• Summarize points of consensus along
the way
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Planning and Participation in Meetings
Ending the meeting and follow up
• Review meeting decisions
• Distribute minutes of meeting
• Remind people of action items
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Communication Across Cultures
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• Culture is learned.
• Cultures are inherently logical.
• Culture forms are self-identity and community.
• Culture combines the visible and the invisible.
• Culture is dynamic
Characteristics Of Culture
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Selected Dimensions Of Culture
Communication Style
• High-context cultures rely on non-verbal cues and total picture to communicate
• Meanings embedded at many social levels.
• Low-context cultures emphasise words, straight forwardness, openness.People tend to be informal, impatient, literal.
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Selected Dimensions Of Culture
Time Orientation
• Unlimited and never-ending in some cultures. Relaxed to a time.
• Precious to North Americans. Correlates with productivity, efficiency, and money
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High-Context and Low-context Cultures
Japanese
Arab
Latin American
Spanish
English
Italian
French
North American
Scandinavian
German
Swiss
Low
High
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Improving Communication With Multicultural Audiences Oral
Messages
• Learn Foreign phrases.
• Use simple English.
• Speak slowly and enunciate clearly.
• Observe eye messages
• Encourage accurate feedback
• Check frequently for comprehension.
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Oral Messages
• Accept blame.
• Listen without interrupting.
• Remember to smile!
• Follow up in writing
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Written Messages
• Adapt to local formats.
• Use short sentences and short paragraphs.
• Avoid ambiguous expressions.
• Try for clarity.
• Use correct grammar
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Improving Communication With
Multicultural Audiences
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Written Messages
• Cite numbers carefully.
• Accommodate reader and
organisations, tone, and style
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Making Ethical Decisions Across Borders
• Broaden your view of other cultures.
• Avoid reflex judgements.
• Find alternatives.
• Refuse business if options violate your basic
values.
• Conduct all business openly.
• Don’t rationalise shady decisions.
• Resist lawful but unethical strategies
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Tips On Capitalising On Workforce Diversity
• Seek training.
• Understand the value of differences.
• Don’t expect conformity.
• Create zero tolerance for bias and stereotypes.
• Learm about your cultural self.
• Make fewer assumptions.
• Build on similarities.
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Proverbs Reflect Culture
What do these proverbs tell us about this culture and its values?
U.S .Proverbs
• Waste not , want not.
• He who holds the gold makes the rules.
• If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
• The early bird gets the worm.
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Proverbs Reflect Culture
Chinese Proverbs
Man who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth must wait very , very long time.
Man who says it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it.
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Other Proverbs
No one is either rich or poor who has not helped himself to be so. (German)
Words do not make flour.(Italian)
Wealth that comes in at the door unjustly, goes out at the window.(Egyptian)
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Barriers in Effective
Communication
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• Bypassing
• Limited frame of reference
• Lack of language skills
• Lack of listening skills
• Emotional interference
• Physical distraction
Barriers to Interpersonal
Communication
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Understanding Shaped by
• Communication climate
• Context and setting
• Background, experience
• Knowledge, mood
• Values, belief, culture
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Barriers That Block the Flow of Information in
Organizations
• Closed communication climate
• Top-heavy organizational structure
• Long lines of communication
• Lack of trust between management and employees
• Competition for power, status, rewards
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Additional Communication Barrier
• Fear of reprisal for honest communication
• Differing frames of reference among communicators
• Lack of communication skills
• Ego involvement
• Turf wars
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In Center Harbor, Maine, local legend recalls the day when Walter Cronkite steered his boat into port. The avid sailor was amused to see in the distance a small crowd on shore waving their arms to greet him. He could barely make out their excited shouts of “Hello Walter, Hello Walter.”
A Classic Case of Miscommunication
1
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As his boat sailed closer, the crowd grew larger, still yelling, “Hello Walter, Hello Walter.” Pleased at the reception, Cronkite tipped his white captain’s hat, waved back, even took a bow. But before reaching dockside, Cronkite’s boat abruptly jammed aground. The crowd stood silent. The veteran news anchor suddenly realized what they’d been shouting: “Low water, low water.”
2
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Analysis of Communication Process
Sender has idea
Warn boater
Receiver decodes message
“Hello Walter!”
Channel carries message
Message distorted
Sender encodes message
“Low water!”
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What barriers helped create the miscommunication here?
• Frame of reference
• Receiver accustomed to acclaim and appreciative crowd.
• Language skills
• Maine accent makes “water” and “Walter” sound similar.
• Listening skills • Receiver more accustomed to speaking than to listening.
• Emotional interference • Ego prompted receiver to believe crowd was responding to his celebrity status.
• Physical barriers • Noise from boat distance between senders and receivers.
Which of these barriers could be overcome through improved communication skills?
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Overcoming Communication Barriers
Realize that communication is imperfect.
Adapt the message to the receiver.
Improve your language and listening skills
Question your preconceptions.
Plan for feedback.
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Preparing Effective Business Messages(Writing)
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AIDAA- Attract the reader’s favorable attention
I- Arouse the reader’s interest
D- Create desire and convince the reader
A- Make clear the action the reader needs to take
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Business Writing is…
• Purposeful: It solves problems and conveys information.
• Economical: It is concise.
• Reader-oriented: It focuses on the receiver, not the sender
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The 3x3 Writing Process
• Prewriting
• Writing
• Revising
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The Complete Process
Prewriting Analyze Anticipate Adapt
Prewriting Analyze Anticipate Adapt
Writing Research Organize Compose
Writing Research Organize Compose
Revising Revise Proofread Evaluate
Revising Revise Proofread Evaluate
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Prewriting
Analyze: Define your purpose. Select the most appropriate form (channel). Select the most appropriate form (channel). Visualize the audience. Anticipate: Put yourself in the reader’s position and predict his or her reaction to this message. Adapt: Consider ways to shape the message to benefit the reader, using his or her language.
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Writing
• Research: Collect data formally and informally. Generate ideas by brainstorming and clustering.
• • Organize : Group ideas into list or an outline.
Select the direct or indirect strategy.• • Compose: Write first draft, preferably on a
computer
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Revising
• Revise: Revise for clarity, tone, conciseness, and vigor. Revise to improve readability.
• Proofread: Proofread to verify spelling grammar,
punctuation, and format. Check for overall appearance.
• Evaluate: Ask yourself whether the final product
will achieve its purpose.
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The 3x3 Writing Process
• Phase 1: Prewriting
– Analyzing, anticipating, adapting
• Phase 2: Writing
– Researching, organizing, composing
• Phase 3: Revising
– Revising, proofreading, evaluating
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Analyzing and Anticipating
• Analyze the task
• Identify the purpose.
• Select the best channel
• Importance of message?
• Feedback required?.
• Permanent record?
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Analyzing and Anticipating
• Cost of channel?
• Degree of formality?
• Anticipate the audience
• Primary receivers?
• Secondary receivers?
Cont’d
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Adapting to Task and Audience
• Spotlight receiver benefits (the warranty starts working for you immediately)
• Cultivate the “You” view ( you will receive your order)
• Use sensitive language avoiding gender, race, age, and disability biases ( office workers , not office girls)
• Express thoughts positively ( you will be happy to, not you will be sorry that)
• Use familiar words salary, not remuneration)• Use precise , vigorous words ( fax me not contact me)
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Sender-focused Receiver focused
“We are requiring all Please complete these
staffers to complete forms so that you will
these forms in be eligible for health
compliance with and dental benefits”
company policy”
The You Factor
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ORGANIZING AND WRITING BUSINESS
MESSAGES
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Effective Sentences
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Creating Effective Sentences • Recognizing phrases and clauses
• Use short sentences
• Emphasize important ideas
• Use the active voice for most sentences
• Use the passive voice to de-emphasize the performer
and/or to be tactful
• Avoid dangling and misplaced modifiers
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Recognizing Phrases and Clauses
• Clauses have subjects and verbs; phrases do not.
• Independent clauses are complete; dependent clauses are
not
• Phrases and dependent clauses cannot function as
sentences
• Independent Clause: They were eating cold pizza
• Dependent Clause: that they want to return for a refund
• Phrase: to return for a refund
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Using Short Sentences
Sentence Length Comprehensive Rate
8 words 100%
15 words 90%
19 words 80%
28 words 50%
Source: American Press Institute
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Emphasizing Important Ideas
• Position important idea at beginning of sentences
• Make sure important idea is subject of sentence
• Place main idea in short sentence
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Use Active Voice for Most Sentences
Active Voice: We lost money
Active Voice: I sent the e-mail message yesterday
(Subject is performer)
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Use Passive Voice to De-emphasize the Performer and/or to
be Tactful
Passive voice: Money was lost (by us).
Passive voice: The e-mail message was sent yesterday (by me).
(Passive voice test: Ask “By whom?” If you fill in performer, verb is probably in passive voice.)
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Avoid Dangling Modifiers
Dangling modifier:
To be hired, an application must be completed.
Revision:
To be hired, you must complete an application.
To be hired, fill out an application (You is understood to be the subject)
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Avoid Misplaced Modifiers
Misplaced modifiers
The patient was referred to a psychiatrist with a severe emotional problem.
Revision
The patient with a severe emotional problem was referred to the psychiatrist.
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Effective Paragraphs
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Drafting Effective Paragraphs
• Discuss only one topic in each paragraph.
• Arrange sentences in a strategic plan
• Link ideas to build coherence
• Use transitional expression for coherence
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Discussing Only One topic in each paragraph
• Group similar ideas together
• Start a new paragraph for each new topic
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Linking Ideas to build coherence
• Sustain the key idea by repeating or rephrasing it.
• Use a pronoun (… to fulfill our goals. These goals…)
• Dovetail sentences. Connect the beginning of each new sentence with a word from the end of the previous sentence
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Using Transitional Expression for Coherence
Recommended expression
• Additionally
• Also
• As a result
• For example
• In other words
• Therefore
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Revising Business Messages
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Revising for Clarity, Conciseness, and Readability • Keep it simple
• Keep it conversational
• Remove opening fillers
• Eliminate redundancies
• Reduce compound prepositions
• Purge empty words
• Dump trite “business” phrases
• Develop parallelism (balanced construction)
• Apply graphic highlighting
• Measure readability
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Keep it simple
Avoid indirect, pompous language
Poor:
It would not be inadvisable for you to affix your signature at this point in time.
Improved:
You may sign now.
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Keep it conversational
Formal
Our Accounting Department takes this opportunity to inform you that we have credited your account for the aforementioned sum.
Conversational:
We have credited your account for RS. 1000.
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Removing opening fillers
Wordy:
There are four new menu items we must promote.
Improved:
We must promote four new menu items.
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Eliminate Redundancies
• Collect together
• Contributing factor
• Personal opinion
• Perfectly clear
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Reduce compound preposition
At such time, at which time when
Due to the fact, in as much as because
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Purge empty words
• As for the area of athletic shoes, the degree of profits sagged
• This is to inform you that we have a toll free
services line. • Not all students who are registered will
attend.
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Purge empty words
As for the area of athletic shoes, the degree of profits sagged
This is to inform you that we have a toll free service line.
Not all students who are registered will attend.
registered
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Apply graphic highlighting
• Letters, such as (a) and (b) within the text.• Numerals, like 1,2, and 3, listed vertically.• Bullets, like *• Headings and print options
• CAPITAL LETTERS
• Underscore
• Boldface
• Italics
• Font size
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Measure readability
Apply Gunning’s Fog Index (Readability Test)
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What to watch for, in proofreading
• Spelling
• Grammar
• Punctuation
• Names and numbers
• Format
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Proofreading Documents
For computer messages, read on the screen in WYS/WYG mode (what you see is what you get) or better, print a rough copy to read.
For handwritten or printed messages, read carefully and use proofreading marks to indicate changes.
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• Print a copy, preferably double-spaced.
• Set it aside for a breather
• Allow adequate time for careful proofreading
• Be prepared to find errors. Congratulate, not
criticize, yourself each time you find an error.
• Read the message at least twice – for
meaning and for grammar/ mechanics
• Reduce your reading speed. Focus on
individual words
How to Proofread Complex Documents
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Effective E-Mail Messages
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Characteristics of Successful
E-Mail Messages • Be concise
• Answer all questions
• Use proper Punctuation, Grammar and Spelling
• Use Templates for frequently
• Reply promptly
• Use proper structure and layout
• Avoid using high priority options
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Characteristics of Successful
E-Mail Messages
• Do not use CAPS
• Add disclaimer to your e-mails
• Review before sending
• Zip large files
• Do not request delivery and read receipts
• Do not use e-mail to discuss confidential matters
• Always run Anti Virus before opening attached files
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The Six Most Common Mistakes
in Sending E-Mail• Address goofs
• Lengthy messages or attachments
• Misleading subject lines
• Inappropriate content (such as delivering bad
news)
• Instant indiscretions (angry or thoughtless
statements)
• Reckless copying
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Telephonic Communication
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Effective Phone Calls
• Have an aim
• Tailor your style
• Limit social conversation
• Give concise answers to questions
• If you don’t know an answer, say so
• At the end of a call, summarise the points made
• Don’t talk to anyone else when on the phone
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Making Phone calls If’s and Don’ts
• Don’t make a call very
early or very late
• Don’t harass people
• If calls are administrative, delegate them
• If you get an answering machine, ring off and ring back
Take the initiative in making calls
Ifs Don’ts
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Incoming Calls
• The phone should not ring more than 3 times before being answered
• Everyone should have responsibility for answering phones
• Don’t answer the phone while eating
• Always ring back
• The phone should not ring more than 3 times before being answered
• Everyone should have responsibility for answering phones
• Don’t answer the phone while eating
• Always ring back