Purposive Communication

I. Communication Processes, principles and ethics

Task I. Know the following:
A. Meaning/definition of Communication.
- A process by which information is exchanged between
individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or
behavior. (Merriam)
- Communication is simply the act of transferring
information from one place, person or group to another.
- The imparting or exchanging of information by speaking,
writing, or using some other medium. The successful
conveying or sharing of ideas and feelings. (Oxford
English Dictionary)

B. Meaning of effective communication

- A process of exchanging ideas, thoughts, knowledge and
information such that the purpose or intention is
fulfilled in the best possible manner. In simple words, it
is nothing but the presentation of views by the sender in
a way best understood by the receiver.
- Effective communication is defined as verbal speech or
other methods of relaying information that get a point
across.
- An example of effective communication is when you talk in
clear and simple terms. Ex: When the person who you are
talking to listens actively, absorbs your point and
understands it.
- Effective communication is about more than just exchanging
information. It’s about understanding the emotion and
intentions behind the information. As well as being able
to clearly convey a message, you need to also listen in a
way that gains the full meaning of what’s being said and
makes the other person feel heard and understood.

C. Significance of Effective Communication

Business:
- Employee Management: Effective communication ensures self-
discipline and efficient management since the employees
are heard by the top management, and there is open
communication in the organization.
- Team Building: People in the organization work as a team
to accomplish common goals, thus effective communication
boosts the morale of the whole team.

- Growth of the Organization: It ensures better decision

making, intensifies public relations and enhances problem-
solving ability. All this leads to corporate growth and
development.

- Build Strong Relationships: Interactions often simplify

things; they positively motivate the employees to perform
better and maintain long-term relations with others in the
organization.

- Ascertain Transparency and Develops Trust: Effective

communication is considered to be a base for building
trust and assures sharing of complete information.

- Facilitates Creativity and Innovation: It creates an

environment where employees are free to share their ideas
by exploring their creative and innovative side.

- Reduces Misunderstanding: Effective communication

eliminates the possibility of confusion and
misunderstanding by conveying the message clearly and
appropriately.

- Organizational Growth: By maintaining cordial relations

between the employees and the management, it enhances the
functioning and leads to the achievement of corporate
goals and objectives.

- Building trust -- Effective communication fosters trust

with others. Your ability to listen attentively and
embrace different points of view helps others trust that
you are making optimal decisions for everyone in the
group. As you serve as a role model, this trust will
extend to your team and they will feel as though they can
trust their teammates to fulfill their duties and
responsibilities.

- Providing clarity and direction -- With effective

communication skills, you’re able to deliver clear
expectations and objectives for your team. This involves
finding constructive ways to point out when something
 isn’t working as well as providing helpful feedback to get
people back on track. They will understand their specific
tasks and responsibilities, as well as those of their
teammates, which will help eliminate conflicts and
confusion.

- Creates better relationships -- Good communication also

improves relationships, both with employees and in your
personal life with friends and family members. Listening
carefully and offering quality feedback helps people to
feel heard and understood. This, in turn, nurtures mutual
respect.

- Improves productivity -- When team members understand

their roles, the roles of others and your expectations,
they can focus more on their work and less on workplace
issues. With effective communication, conflicts are
resolved quickly, employees can better manage their
workload and distractions are minimized. These benefits
contribute to greater productivity for you and your team.

YOU
- Preventing or resolving problems. The ability to
communicate effectively plays a large role in resolving
conflicts and preventing potential ones from arising. The
key is to remain calm, make sure all parties are heard and
find a solution that is ideal for everyone involved.
- Knowing how to present ourselves in a good light and
understand the other party well enough to persuade them to
help us achieve something is an incredibly important skill
to develop. Good persuasion skills.
- We’ll have the ability to persuade people with our
communication skills
- Good communication can give you in your personal life –
better and more honest relationships.
- EX: parents should be more open and honest about their
fears and feelings. If parents raise their children this
way, if they’re not ashamed to tell them they are sad or
hurt by something, then they’ll be good role models for
their children to do the same once they start having
problems.
- In this day and age, when new apps, technologies, and
inventions are being created every day, having the ability
to communicate about your product in an innovative way is
 what will separate you and your company from the rest of
the pack.
- In order to sell yourself (not in an illegal way, more
like – sell your worth to a university you want to go to
or sell your abilities and character to your potential
employer) you need to know how to communicate about your
strengths and weaknesses in the right way.

D. Characteristics of effective communication

The 7 C’s of communication
- Complete Message/ Completeness: Communication is the base
for decision making. If the information is incomplete, it
may lead to wrong decisions. Effective communications are
complete, i.e. the receiver gets all the information he
needs to process the message and take action. A complete
message reduces the need for follow-up questions and
smoothens the communication process.

- Clear Message/Clearness: The message which the sender

wants to convey must be simple, easy to understand and
systematically framed to retain its meaningfulness. The
clearer your message, the easier it gets for the receiver
to decode it according to your original intent. While this
sounds obvious, most communication pitfalls originate from
lack of clarity. Clear communications build on exact
terminology and concrete words, to reduce ambiguities and
confusion in the communication process.

- Correct Message/Correctness: The information communicated

must not be vague or false in any sense; it must be free
from errors and grammatical mistakes. Correct grammar and
syntax vouch for increased effectiveness and credibility
of your message. Formal errors might affect the clarity of
your message, trigger ambiguity and raise doubts. They
might also have a negative impact on the overall
perception of the message, which could be seen as sloppy
or negligent.

- Precise Message/Conciseness: The message sent must be

short and concise to facilitate straightforward
interpretation and take the desired steps. Conciseness is
about keeping your message to a point. This is more about
the content of your message rather than its length. Even a
short memo can include irrelevant or redundant
information. Helps the receiver focus on what’s important,
 speeds up the processing of information and caters for
improved understanding.

- Reliability/Concreteness: The sender must be sure from his

end that whatever he is conveying is right by his
knowledge. Even the receiver must have trust on the sender
and can rely on the message sent. A concrete message is
specific, tangible, vivid. It’s supported by facts and
figures for enhanced credibility. It helps your audience
gain an overview of the broader picture. Concreteness
mitigates the risk of misunderstanding, fosters trust and
encourages constructive criticism.

- Consideration of the Recipient/Consideration: The medium

of communication and other physical settings must be
planned, keeping in mind the attitude, language,
knowledge, education level and position of the receiver.
Effective communication takes into account the receiver’s
background and points of view. If your message hits a
nerve or sounds as disrespectful, the emotional reaction
of the receiver might affect the perception of your
message. Also, tailoring your message to your audience –
e.g. by using argumentations and examples which are
relevant to their experience – makes it easier for them to
process the contents.

- Sender’s Courtesy/Courtesy: The message so drafted must

reflect the sender’s courtesy, humbleness and respect
towards the receiver. Courtesy and consideration
complement each other in effective communications.
Courtesy means respecting the receiver’s culture, values
and beliefs – i.e. crafting a message that is genuinely
polite and unbiased.

E. Business Communication
- The sharing of information between people within an
enterprise that is performed for the commercial benefit of
the organization. In addition, business communication can
also refer to how a company shares information to promote
its product or services to potential consumers.
- Business Communication refers to the communication
relating to business activity which means providing goods
and services to the consumers with a view to earning
profit. It is a process through which information, facts,
ideas, orders, advices, decisions, etc. are conveyed, sent
 or exchanged between/among the persons associated with
business. Thus, Communication relating to trade, law,
Finance, administration, management, etc. of a business
enterprise may be termed as ‘Business Communication’.
- Business Communication is goal oriented. The rules,
regulations and policies of a company have to be
communicated to people within and outside the
organization. Business Communication is regulated by
certain rules and norms. In early times, business
communication was limited to paper-work, telephone calls
etc.
- Business communication is the process of sharing
information between people within and outside a company.

F. Effective Business communication

- How employees and management interact to reach
organizational goals. Its purpose is to improve
organizational practices and reduce errors.
- A two-way process of listening and speaking, and it's of
foremost importance in all phases of daily business life
at your middle market company. Ask one hundred employees
whether they're good communicators, and one hundred will
say yes. In reality, though, all of us need to improve our
communication skills.
- A sharing process involving two or more parties sending a
message that is easily understood by each person.
Effective communication can significantly contribute to a
company's success.

G. Methods of Effective Communication

1. Written-- It refers to printed or recorded materials
such as plans, contracts, memos, minutes of the meeting,
requirement analysis document, design documents risk
registers and other related written materials. It is used
to provide well-thought and well-planned details, thus
easily to be reviewed than verbal communication because
everything that has been written cannot be altered right
away. More so, it can be used for future reference.
Written communication can be time consuming, but is
extremely essential for formal scenarios which require
approvals and having legal implications as well. Emails
have ushered in a revolution in making written
communication very fast and thus have become a preferred
mechanism for sharing detailed information in fraction of
a second.
 2. Oral/Verbal--It involves the exchange of message or
information by using words verbally through face to face
or telephone conversations. It is the most common type of
conversation as it paves way to get feedback right after
receiving the message. It is known to be spontaneous as
well. In verbal communication, the ability to listen and
think carefully before speaking is critical.

3. Non-Verbal-- sending information without the use of

words. It is mostly through one’s body language, gestures,
eye-contacts, appearance, pitch and tone of one’s voice
etc. one can communicate huge amount of feelings and
emotions. Non-verbal communication includes, body-
language, paralanguage (pitch and tone of voice),
appearance etc. Research has shown that nonverbal cues or
body language along with facial expressions, tone of voice
and body stance account for almost 55% of all the
communication that takes place.

4. Visual Communication--“A picture is worth a thousand

words”. Visual aids such as animation, colour,
illustration, graphs & charts, drawing, signs and logos
immensely enhance written communication. Visual
communication is also used in the right balance for making
information sharing more effective and efficient.

H. Categories of Effective Communication

- Web-based communication, Telephone meetings, Video
conferencing, Face-to-face meetings, Reports and official
documents, Presentations, Forum boards and FAQs, Surveys,
Customer management activities
- VERBAL COMMUNICATION - occurs when we engage in speaking
with others. It can be face-to-face, over the telephone,
via Skype or Zoom, etc. Some verbal engagements are
informal, such as chatting with a friend over coffee or in
the office kitchen, while others are more formal, such as
a scheduled meeting. Regardless of the type, it is not
just about the words, it is also about the caliber and
complexity of those words, how we string those words
together to create an overarching message, as well as the
intonation (pitch, tone, cadence, etc.) used while
speaking. And when occurring face-to-face, while the words
are important, they cannot be separated from non-verbal
communication.
- NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION - What we do while we speak often
says more than the actual words. Non-verbal communication
includes facial expressions, posture, eye contact, hand
movements, and touch. For example, if you’re engaged in a
conversation with your boss about your cost-saving idea,
it is important to pay attention to both their words and
their non-verbal communication. Your boss might be in
agreement with your idea verbally, but their nonverbal
cues: avoiding eye contact, sighing, scrunched up face,
etc. indicate something different.

- WRITTEN COMMUNICATION - Whether it is an email, a memo, a

report, a Facebook post, a Tweet, a contract, etc. all
forms of written communication have the same goal to
disseminate information in a clear and concise manner –
though that objective is often not achieved. In fact, poor
writing skills often lead to confusion and embarrassment,
and even potential legal jeopardy. One important thing to
remember about written communication, especially in the
digital age, is the message lives on, perhaps in
perpetuity. Thus, there are two things to remember: first,
write well – poorly constructed sentences and careless
errors make you look bad; and second, ensure the content
of the message is something you want to promote or be
associated with for the long haul.

- LISTENING - The act of listening does not often make its

way onto the list of types of communication. Active
listening, however, is perhaps one of the most important
types of communication because if we cannot listen to the
person sitting across from us, we cannot effectively
engage with them. Think about a negotiation – part of the
process is to assess what the opposition wants and needs.
Without listening, it is impossible to assess that, which
makes it difficult to achieve a win/win outcome.

- VISUAL COMMUNICATION - We are a visual society. Think

about it, televisions are running 24/7, Facebook is visual
with memes, videos, images, etc., Instagram is an image-
only platform, and advertisers use imagery to sell
products and ideas. Think about from a personal
perspective – the images we post on social media are meant
to convey meaning – to communicate a message. In some
cases that message might be, look at me, I’m in Italy or I
 just won an award. Others are carefully curated to tug on
our heartstrings – injured animals, crying children, etc.

I. Techniques of Effective Communication

1. Be Available - One of the easiest ways to have good
communication at work is to simply be available. I’ve
worked for bosses that were always available to talk to
and willing to jump in and help. It helps create a
comfortable atmosphere of communication in the workplace.
2. Be Friendly - Having a positive attitude and caring about
the folks you work with goes a long way. When you have a
friendly, engaging attitude, the people you work with
will naturally flow towards you. They will see you as
approachable and have an easy time opening up to you.
This type of communication leads to groups that work well
together and enjoy being around each other. It helps to
develop a good sense of team in the workplace.

3. Be a Good Listener - to fully understand what someone is

saying. You have to be able to get what they are saying
and what they are communicating to you. When you fully
understand someone, you are able to have a good back and
forth communication dialogue, and create a great sense of
team and balance.

4. Be Clear - Sharing information clearly is one of the most

important communication techniques in the workplace.
Being clear is one of the 7Cs of communication — an
essential framework to prevent miscommunication.

5. Be Aware of Non Verbal Communication - Things like

crossed arms and frowns should be big signals that
someone either doesn’t agree with you or doesn’t
understand. It’s just as important to be aware of your
own non-verbal communication.

6. Be Open to Feedback - Think of this as being someone who

is able to be coached. It’s incredibly important towards
the beginning of your career but also throughout your
career.

7. Be Open Minded - allow you to have a strong dialogue with

others that leads to working together to solve problems.
 8. Offer a genuine smile - The presence or absence of a
smile isn’t the only thing that matters here. While a
genuine smile can immediately convey warmth and openness,
another smile might communicate arrogance and contempt.

J. Categories of Business report

- Informational Reports - when you want objective
information on something. It presents non-biased facts
without explaining the reasons and the possible outcomes
of a situation. It is the ideal business report for
learning things such as the number of employees, the role
each of them plays in the company, or the departments the
employees work in.

- Analytical Report - usually required when a company is

trying to make an important decision. An analytical report
analyzes the company’s situation, presenting relevant
information, explanations, and conclusions. It helps the
company to make good decisions going forward.

- Research Report - most comprehensive type of business

reports required when a company considers trying something
new, such as going into a new geographical area, or
offering a new product. A team of specialists or
researchers are given a topic and asked to find all the
relevant statistics and details obtained from an
informational report, followed by a detailed analysis of
the data found in the analytical report. The conclusion of
the research report will be based on the available data
obtained from the analytical and informational reports.

- Explanatory Report - required when you want to explain a

topic or situation so that everyone can understand it. For
example, you can write it to explain the research you’ve
conducted. Along with the table showing the results, you
should include the reason for the research, sample sizes,
methodology, etc. After explaining the results, you should
briefly summarize the findings.

- Progress Report - show how things are going at the moment.

A progress report isn’t based on analysis or tons of
research. Instead, they are an update for the person who
needs it. One example of this could be a weekly report
disclosing the progress made throughout the week and what
tasks you're looking to work on in the upcoming week.
K. Effective oral communication
- For oral communication to be effective, it should be
clear, relevant, tactful in forming phrases and tone,
concise, and informative.
- Oral communication is more effective when
communication needs a human touch, establishing a
direct relationship, maintaining secrets, reaching
mutual understanding and avoiding complexities with oral
consent.
1. Instant communication Oral communication is more
effective when it is needed to communicate with someone
instantly.
2. Detailed Explanation of Policies If any direction of
managers and policy or procedure of the company requires
explanation, oral communication is the best way to
communicate.
3. Developing direct relationship If it is important
to establish a direct relationship between sender
and receiver, or between workers and management, they
should communicate orally.
4. Maintaining secrecy Oral communication is best suited
when information is to be kept secret. Written
communication leaks secrecy as the message passes from
hand to hand.
5. Instant response Where instant reply from the receiver
is required, oral communication is the best suited there.
6. Reaching to mutual understanding Sometimes the open
discussion is needed for reaching a consensus. Such
discussion is possible only through oral
communication. 7. Illiterate receivers When the receivers
are illiterate, written communication is meaningless to
them. Oral communication is only the way to communicate
with them.
8. Avoiding bureaucratic complexities Bureaucratic
complexity delays the communication. In order to avoid
any delay caused by bureaucracy or red-tapism, oral
communication should be used instead of written
communication.

L. Effective written business communication

- Written communication is a record, and people may refer
back to it later. Effective business writing is as
important as oral communications and can affect
productivity and profits.
- Know Your Audience - A detailed step-by-step document for
a project plan will be written differently from a sales
letter mailed to a list of prospects. The first key to
successful business writing is to know your audience. This
not only affects the actual words you will use, but also
the tone of what you write. The tone of a detailed plan
will be concise, logical, and to-the-point. A sales letter
will be more emotional in tone and more persuasive.

- Formats - Word processing and spreadsheet software has

made many writing formats available to business writers.
The choice of format is important and can help you
communicate your message better. The project plan will
most likely be communicated, at least in part, by the use
of spreadsheets, while a sales letter is usually no longer
than a page and placed on company letterhead.

- Composition and Style - When you actually start writing,

there are composition and style considerations that help
the process. Creating an outline--especially useful if you
are writing a long document--helps break your task up into
manageable pieces of information that are ultimately more
readable by your audience. Use simple language that will
be understandable to all who read your piece. Make sure
your main theme is not lost in your rhetoric. Everything
you write should support the main theme so your message
does not get lost.

- Reader Friendly Documents - Short paragraphs communicate

better than longer ones and headers need to grab your
reader's attention. Adding graphs and charts, again easy
with today's software, breaks up text and adds to
understanding.

- Watch Your Grammar - Nothing looks more unprofessional

than a document with grammatical mistakes and spelling
errors. Even with spelling and grammar checks in today's
software programs, it is easy to have mistakes in a
document that detract from the document's message. Make
sure you read through what you have written from the
perspective of your reader and make sure it is letter
perfect. Check for ambiguities as well. Clear, direct
language helps ensure that your message will be
understood.
M. Pros and cons of written business communication
Advantages of Written communication:
- There is a record of the communication: When two people
communicate orally,they may forget that they had a
conversation. In written communication, all aspects of the
communication are written and there is record of it.

- It saves time: In written communication,whatever needs to

be said is put down on paper and the person receiving the
communication can read it again and again till he or she
understands the communication. It helps to save a lot of
time.

- A copy can be saved for the future: Any written

communication is not only useful for the immediate phase
after the communication, but it can be stored as a record
of the communication. This can help for the future
reference.

- Can communicate to many people at different points of

time: The message can be read by all the people who
receive the communication at different points of time.

- Disadvantages of written communication:

- Stationery and Manpower requirement: Its cost are huge in
terms of stationery and the manpower employed in
writing/typing and delivering letters.

- Time consuming: It is time consuming as the feedback is

not immediate. The encoding and sending of message takes
time.

- Response is not Spontaneous: If the receivers of the

written message are separated by distance,and if they need
to clear their doubts,the response is not spontaneous.

- Need of Effective skills required: It requires great

skills and competencies in language and vocabulary use.
Poor writing skills have negative impact on the
organisations reputation.

- Heavy paper work: Too much paper work and email burden is
involved.

N. Techniques of Effective Communication (see up)

O. Types of communication
- Verbal - use of language to transfer information through
speaking or sign language. It is one of the most common
types, often used during presentations, video conferences
and phone calls, meetings and one-on-one conversations.
Verbal communication is important because it is efficient.
It can be helpful to support verbal communication with
both nonverbal and written communication.
- Nonverbal communication is the use of body language,
gestures and facial expressions to convey information to
others. It can be used both intentionally and
unintentionally. For example, you might smile
unintentionally when you hear a pleasing or enjoyable idea
or piece of information. Nonverbal communication is
helpful when trying to understand others’ thoughts and
feelings.
- Written communication is the act of writing, typing or
printing symbols like letters and numbers to convey
information. It is helpful because it provides a record of
information for reference. Writing is commonly used to
share information through books, pamphlets, blogs,
letters, memos and more. Emails and chats are a common
form of written communication in the workplace.
- Visual communication is the act of using photographs, art,
drawings, sketches, charts and graphs to convey
information. Visuals are often used as an aid during
presentations to provide helpful context alongside written
and/or verbal communication. Because people have different
learning styles, visual communication might be more
helpful for some to consume ideas and information.

P. Elements of the communication process

1. Message: This is the subject-matter which is
transmitted or passed by the sender to the other party or
group of persons. This might be opinion, order,
suggestion, attitude, feeling, view, etc.

2. Sender: He/she is the person who intends to make

contact for passing information and understanding to other
person.

3. Receiver: The person to whom the message is meant for

is known as receiver or communicate.
 4. Channels: Information is transmitted through certain
channels (e.g., radio, television, telephone, letter, e-
mail, etc.). The media is selected by the sender
considering various factors.

5. Symbols: These are the words, actions and signs which

are passed on by the sender while communicating with the
receiver.

6. Feedback: When the receiver acknowledges the message of

the sender and responds back to him/her, feedback takes
place. Without feedback communication is incomplete.

Q. Types of feedback
- Constructive feedback:Information specific, issue-focused
and based on observations. There are four types of
constructive feedback:

- Negative feedback – corrective comments about past

behavior. Focuses on behavior that wasn’t successful and
shouldn’t be repeated.
- Positive feedback – affirming comments about past
behavior. Focuses on behavior that was successful and
should be continued.
- Negative feedforward – corrective comments about future
performance. Focuses on behavior that should be avoided in
the future.
Positive feedforward – affirming comments about future
behavior. Focused on behavior that will improve
performance in the future.

- Praise - Positive statements about a person. Most

employees will respond to praise with an increase in self-
esteem, self-efficacy and/or confidence.

- Criticism - An opinion, judgment or negative statement

about the person or their behavior. Criticism is
destructive feedback and is generally not effective at
increasing performance in the workplace.