Communication

• communication is the process of transferring information and meaning between senders and
receivers, using one or more media and communication channels.

Importance of communication
• Improving your communication skills may be the single most important step you can take in
your career.
• The changing nature of employment is putting new pressure on communication skills, too.
• If you launch a company or move into an executive role in an existing organization, you can
expect communication to consume the majority of your time. Top executives spend most of
their workdays communicating, and business people who can’t communicate well don’t stand
much chance of reaching the top.
• Strong communication skills give you an advantage in the job market.
• If you learn to write well, speak well, listen well, and recognize the appropriate way to
communicate in any situation, you’ll gain a major advantage that will serve you throughout
your career.
• Effective communication helps businesses in numerous ways, by promoting
o A stronger sense of trust between individuals and organizations
o Closer ties with important communities in the marketplace Strong communication
skills give you an advantage in the job market.
o Opportunities to influence conversations, perceptions, and trends
o Increased productivity and faster problem solving
o Better financial results and higher return for investors
o Earlier warning of potential problems, from increasing business costs to critical safety
issues.
o Stronger decision making based on timely, reliable information.
o Clearer and more persuasive marketing messages.
o Greater employee engagement with their work, leading to higher employee
satisfaction and lower employee turnover.

Effective communication characteristics

• practical, factual, concise, clear, and persuasive

• elements of professionalism depend on effective communication

The skills employers expect from you

• Recognizing information needs, using efficient search techniques to locate reliable sources of
information (particularly from online sources), and using gathered information ethically; this
collection of skills is often referred to as digital information fluency
• Organizing ideas and information logically and completely.
• Expressing ideas and information coherently, persuasively, and concisely.
• Actively listening to others.
• Communicating effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and experiences.
• Using communication technologies effectively and efficiently.
• Following accepted standards of grammar, spelling, and other aspects of high-quality writing
and speaking.
 • Communicating in a civilized manner that reflects contemporary expectations of business
etiquette, even when dealing with indifferent or hostile audiences.
• Communicating ethically, even when choices aren’t crystal clear or you have to share news
that people don’t want to hear.

Throughout the formal network, information flows in three directions.

• Downward communication flows from executives to employees,

• Upward communication flows from employees to executives.
• Horizontal communication flows between departments to help employees share information,
coordinate tasks, and solve complex problems.

You attitude
An audience-centered approach involves understanding and respecting the members of your audience
and making every effort to get your message across in a way that is meaningful to them. This approach
is also known as adopting the “you” attitude, in contrast to Me approach.

Communication process

The distinction between medium and channel can get a bit murky, but think of the medium as the
form a message takes (such as a Twitter update) and the channel as the system used to deliver the
message (such as a mobile phone).
communication barriers
• Noise and distractions. External distractions - uncomfortable meeting rooms, computer
screens cluttered with instant messages and reminders popping up all over the place. Internal
distractions are thoughts and emotions that prevent audiences from focusing on incoming
messages. The common habit of multitasking is practically guaranteed to create
communication distractions.
• Competing messages. In most cases you must compete with other messages that are trying
to reach your audience at the same time.
• Filters. Messages can be blocked or distorted by filters, any human or technological
interventions between the sender and the receiver. Filtering can be both intentional or
unintentional.
• Channel breakdowns. Sometimes the channel simply breaks down and fails to deliver your
message.

Social communication Model

Ethical communication

Ensuring ethical business communication requires three elements: ethical individuals, ethical
company leadership, and the appropriate policies and structures to support employees’ efforts to
make ethical choices.

Below are the unethical practices.

• Plagiarizing
 • Omitting essential information
• Selective misquoting
• Misrepresenting numbers
• Distorting visuals
• Failing to respect privacy or information security needs

Ethical Dilemma
An ethical dilemma involves choosing among alternatives that aren’t clear-cut. Perhaps two conflicting
alternatives are both ethical and valid, or perhaps the alternatives lie somewhere in the gray area
between clearly right and clearly wrong.

ethical lapse is a clearly unethical choice. With both internal and external communication efforts, the
pressure to produce results or justify decisions can make unethical communication a tempting choice.
Telling a potential customer you can complete a project by a certain date when you know you can’t is
simply dishonest, even if you need the contract to save your career or your company. There is no ethical
dilemma here.

Chapter 3
• Just because some messages are routine, though, doesn’t make them unimportant. In fact,
the cumulative effect of all these brief messages could have more influence on your career
than the occasional major report or proposal.
• not only do you need to be skilled at handling routine communication, you have to be
hyperefficient at it, too, or else you’ll get hopelessly swamped.
• compartmentalizing message flows so that high-priority messages never get lost in the deluge
of low-priority messages

Strategy for routine Requests

• Routine messages fall into two groups: routine requests, in which you ask for information from
or action by another party, and a variety of routine and positive messages.
• a routine request has three parts: an opening, a body, and a close. Using the direct approach.
o open with your main idea, which is a clear statement of your request.
o Use the body to give details and justify your request.
o Finally, close by requesting specific action.
• Pay attention to tone, Assume that your audience will comply, Be specific.
• Close your message with three important elements:
o a specific request that includes any relevant deadlines,
o information about how you can be reached (if it isn’t obvious),
o an expression of appreciation or goodwill.
• Most routine and positive messages fall into six main categories:
o answers to requests for information and action
o grants of claims and requests for adjustment,
o recommendations,
o routine information,
o good-news announcements, and goodwill messages.
 • you can have as many as five distinct goals when communicating negative information:
o to convey the bad news,
o to gain acceptance of the bad news,
o to maintain as much of your audience’s goodwill as possible,
o to maintain a good image for your organization, and, if appropriate,
o to reduce or eliminate the need for future correspondence on the matter
• Selecting the right medium and channel is also important.

Chapter 4

o Three step writing process for business

o With the necessary information in hand, your next decision involves the best combination of
media and channels to reach your target audience
o After you’ve defined your main idea and supporting points, you’re ready to decide on the
sequence you will use to present your information. You have two basic options:
o The direct approach starts with the main idea (such as a recommendation, a
conclusion, or a request) and follows that with supporting evidence.
o The indirect approach starts with the evidence and builds up to the main idea.
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Chapter 5

o
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o Bias-free language avoids words and phrases that unfairly and even unethically categorize or
stigmatize people in ways related to gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability, or other personal
characteristics