CEBU TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

In consortium with

CEBU CITY MEDICAL CENTER- COLLEGE OF NURSING

Purposive Communication

“COMMUNICATION FOR WORK”

OVERVIEW
Communication in the workplace requires competence both in the spoken and
written exchanges of ideas and information among people who may have direct or indirect
involvement in the organizational setting to ensure that organizational needs and goals are
met. Communicative competence; however, is not enough. It is important to understand
how communication works in the organization to avoid breakdowns and manifest effective
communicative means to resolve when breakdowns occur. Effective communicative
means involve the use of appropriate diction, register, tone, ethics, and tools in delivering
a message comprehensible by diverse audience and appropriate to social context.
PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION: refers to all of the spoken and written exchanges of
ideas and information between and among the people directly or indirectly involved in the
organizational setting or the professional organization.
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION: a stable system of individuals who work together to
achieve, through the hierarchy of needs and division of labor, common goals.
PRINCIPLES OF WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION (THE R.E.S.U.L.T. PRINCIPLE)
1. Reason
 All communication must be for a reason and the most effective dialogues will
have a sole purpose or objective that the instigator wants to achieve as a
result of the communication. The more thought you put into why you want to
open up this process the more objective and focused your purpose will be.
 The most productive communications have a single objective ensuring clarity
and ease of comprehension. Any conversation, discussion, or meeting can
have many exchanges but focusing on a single objective will ensure your
success.
 Once you have established the reason why you want or need to
communicate you can structure the format of your message according to the
principle's other components.
2. Environment
 In your management role you will find yourself needing to communicate in a
wide variety of situations
o For example, with your team, colleagues, management, stakeholders,
suppliers, etc.
For your communications to be effective, it is essential that you define the
nature of each situation and adapt your message to fit what you see.
 Is the environment a positive or negative one? Are the individuals reacting to
events or being proactive? Is there conflict, aggression, dissension, or
apathy?
 o The questions are endless, but by asking just a few simple questions
you will gather the necessary intelligence to communicate effectively.
This preparation enables you to adopt the best style of communication to suit
your approach and prepare for potential arguments or problems.

3. Specific
 Having defined your reason for communicating and the type of environment it
will take place in you must now specify exactly what it is you want or need
from the other person. You must make sure that you have any supporting
information, background, or data that guarantees that your message and
exchange will have clarity.
 In some contexts, you will need to break down your supporting information
into manageable chunks. For example, if you have to report on the progress
of an event or project you will have to adjust your message according to the
specific audience:
o Executives want to hear financial and business aspects
o Users will want to hear how it is progressing
o Project members want or need to know how well each phase or
individual process is going in comparison to the plan
o Stakeholders want to know that business needs are being met.
 Being specific is not just related to the message itself; it is also about who
needs to informed. Many people gloss over this aspect of communication and
cause themselves problems by sending inappropriate messages to the wrong
audience, resulting in unnecessary interruptions and diversions.
 If you select only those who have a real need to know the contents of the
message you will have more effective communications. Technology such as
emails and texts make it all too easy to copy in unnecessary and
inappropriate people. Lead by your own example and you will create an open
and honest communications culture.

4. Understanding
 Whatever form of communication you need to conduct, an essential part of
the process is ensuring that the recipient actually understands correctly the
message you want to give them. You also want to be sure that resulting
action by an individual or group is what you want and expect so that you
achieve your communication objective.
 You can't afford to make any assumptions: you need to get confirmation from
the recipient that they have the same understanding as you about what a
situation may be and what the required action plan is.
o It is vital that you remember that comprehension is a two-way
process. Not only do you need to know that others in the
communication process understand you, but you also need to confirm
that you have understood what they have told you.

5. Listen
 You will only gain this level of 'true' understanding if you actively listen to
what is being said and observe the behaviors of those involved in the
 communication. Make sure that your own verbal and nonverbal
communications convey the message you want.
 Remember: use your observation skills throughout the exchange to gauge
the attitude and acceptance of your audience. Ensure that you are totally
focused on what is being said and feedback your own understanding of what
you are being told.
 If you do this you will avoid any unnecessary confusion and
misinterpretations that often occur when someone does not take the time to
listen properly.

6. Timeframe
 The final aspect of the RESULT principle is concerned with the amount of
time you have to prepare for and conduct the actual communication. Not all
exchanges occur in situations where you have all the time you want.
 Frequently you will find that the time you have to prepare is very limited and
you will have to adjust your preparation to fit what time you have at your
disposal. However, much time you have, make sure that you use it effectively
by following these principles. The better prepared you are the more effective
and productive your communications will be.
COMMUNICATION NETWORKS: represents the way communication flows in an
organization. It can be formal or informal. Formal communication flow includes upward
flow, downward flow, horizontal flow, and diagonal flow.

a) Upward flow
 provides the manager with information to
make decisions, identify problem areas,
collect data for performance
assessment, determine staff morale, and
reveal employee thoughts and feelings.
This is also known as the hierarchal
structure (chain of command).
 b) Downward flow
 involves passing information from
supervisors to subordinates. This includes
meeting with employee, written memos,
newsletters, bulletin boards, procedural
manuals, and clinical and administration
systems.

c) Diagonal flow
 a flow that refers to the sharing
information among different structural
levels within a professional
organization which leads to informal
communication.

Informal Communication: when messages flow an informal path known as the

“grapevine”. The type of information the grapevine carries depends on the “health of the
“organization”.
 Grapevine is an informal way of spreading information or rumors through
conversation; a person to person means of articulating information or gossip.
 The organization can be considered healthy if the managers are open with
the employees and send all necessary information through formal channels.
When the channels, however, fail to do the job (the message delivered is not
understood or not accepted by the employees) the grapevine, which usually
carries only personal interest items, begins to carry information about the
organization which turns out to an unhealthy organization.

LESSON 2: Effective Communication and Oral Presentation in The Workplace

Communication in the workplace requires the appropriate use of language, tone, style and
format. Aside from these, you also have to consider the specific domain, sector, field or
industry to which your workplace belongs.
 For example, your work maybe in government, the academe, the corporate world,
media, health, or social services. Each organization or community has specific
philosophies, values, and ideals that shape the way communication is practiced.
Thus, in any kind of professional setting, you have to consider the culture established by
the founders and senior associates and adjust to it accordingly. You are expected to meet
prescribed standards and work within specific norms to achieve common goals and
objectives.
  For example, if the culture promotes conventions such as adhering to a certain
dress code, you cannot just disregard them to show your individualism. Showing
respect for company policies reflect maturity and integrity. (Suarez et.al. 2019)

As you may have known, communication is not only verbal. When it comes to face to face
communication, people read your facial expression and body language. The small yet
visible details on your face and in your movements speak a thousand words.

Art of Effective Communication (Notes)

What makes the speaker an effective communicator? Describe the
way he delivers his speech in terms of:
 Purpose and Thesis of the Speech
 Delivery (Tone, Diction, Style)
 What / How he says it (Content/Organization)
 Connection with the Audience

LESSON 3: Genres of Professional Writing

Letter-writing is an essential
part of business.
In spite of telephone, telex
and telegraphic
communication the writing of
letters continues; in fact,
most telephoned and
telegraphed communications
have to be confirmed in
writing

Keep in mind that an

effective business letter
always communicates with a
person first and a business
second.
If your letter is a first-time
correspondence and you do
not know, or are unsure of
whom to address, do your
best to find out. Addressing
your letter to a person
improves the likelihood of
receiving a reply. It is
perfectly acceptable to make
a phone call asking for the
name of a contact person.
 Use a professional tone: Save casual, chatty language for email - your printed
business letter should be friendly but more professional. As Scott Ober suggests in
his book Contemporary Business Communication, "The business writer should
strive for an overall tone that is confident, courteous, and sincere; that uses
emphasis and subordination appropriately; that contains nondiscriminatory
language; that stresses the "you" attitude; and that is written at an appropriate level
of difficulty." That said, be sure to sound like yourself - you don't want your letter to
read as if a machine wrote it.

 Write clearly: State your point early in your letter. To avoid any
miscommunications, use straightforward, concise language. Skip the industry
jargon and instead choose lively, active words to hold your reader's attention.

 Organize your information logically: Group related information into separate

paragraphs. In a long, information-packed letter, consider organizing information
into sections with subheads. You may want to highlight key words to make them
"pop" - this technique is possible with most word-processing programs and your
color multifunction printer.

 Use Color to Emphasize Words In Text: It's easy to put a few words in
color to draw attention to them. Just select the type and click the arrow to the
right of the Font Color button, choose the color you want, then click the
button. Or, try highlighting a few words in the text. Select the type you want
to emphasize, then click the Highlight button. Note: When highlighting parts
of a document you intend to print, use a light color such as yellow, light
green, or light blue. If you wish to remove the highlighting, select the text and
click the Highlight button again.

 Be persuasive: Establish a positive relationship with your reader right away. If you
have a connection to the reader - you've met before or have a mutual colleague, for
example - mention it in your introductory paragraph. Whether you think your reader
will agree with the point of your letter or not, it is important to find common ground
and build your case from there.
 Understand your reader well enough to anticipate how he or she will react
when reading your letter.
o Address his or her needs or wishes, or a specific problem, and then
outline your solution.
o Provide proof in the way of examples and/or expert opinions to back
up your point. Make sure to maintain a friendly tone.

 Conclude your letter with a "call to action.": State clearly what your reader
needs to do or believe to achieve the desired solution and then state what you, the
writer, intend to do next to follow up.
  Proofread your letter: All your careful crafting and printing can't cover up spelling
or punctuation errors, which leave a lasting negative impression.
THE MAIN PARTS OF A BUSINESS LETTER
A business letter is more formal than a personal letter. It should have a margin of at
least one inch on all four edges. It is always written on 8½"x11" (or metric equivalent)
unlined stationery. There are six parts to a business letter.

1. The Heading: this contains the return address (usually two or three lines) with the
date on the last line.
 Sometimes it may be necessary to include a line after the address and
before the date for a phone number, fax number, E-mail address, or
something similar.
 Often a line is skipped between the address and date. That should always be
done if the heading is next to the left margin.
 It is not necessary to type the return address if you are using stationery with
the return address already imprinted. Always include the date.

2. The Inside Address: This is the address you are sending your letter to. Make it as
complete as possible. Include titles and names if you know them.
 This is always on the left margin. If an 8½" x 11" paper is folded in thirds to fit
in a standard 9" business envelope, the inside address can appear through
the window in the envelope.
 An inside address also helps the recipient route the letter properly and can
help should the envelope be damaged and the address become unreadable.
 Skip a line after the heading before the inside address. Skip another line
after the inside address before the greeting.

3. The Inside Address: This is the address you are sending your letter to. Make it as
complete as possible. Include titles and names if you know them.
 This is always on the left margin. If an 8½" x 11" paper is folded in thirds to fit
in a standard 9" business envelope, the inside address can appear through
the window in the envelope.
 An inside address also helps the recipient route the letter properly and can
help should the envelope be damaged and the address become unreadable.
 Skip a line after the heading before the inside address. Skip another line
after the inside address before the greeting.

4. The Body: written as text. A business letter is never hand written. Depending on
the letter style you choose, paragraphs may be indented. Regardless of format, skip
a line between paragraphs.
 Skip a line between the greeting and the body. Skip a line between the body
and the close.

5. The Complimentary Close: this short, polite closing ends with a comma. It is either
at the left margin or its left edge is in the center, depending on the Business Letter
Style that you use. It begins at the same column the heading does.
  The block style is becoming more widely used because there is no indenting
to bother with in the whole letter.

6. The Signature Line: Skip two lines (unless you have unusually wide or narrow
lines) and type out the name to be signed.
 This customarily includes a middle initial but does not have to. Women may
indicate how they wish to be addressed by placing Miss, Mrs., Ms. or similar
title in parentheses before their names.
TYPES OF BUSINESS LETTERS
1. Sales Letters: typical sales letters start off with a very strong statement to capture
the interest of the reader. Since the purpose is to get the reader to do something,
these letters include strong calls to action, detail the benefit to the reader of taking
the action and include information to help the reader to act, such as including a
telephone number or website link.

2. Order Letters: order letters are sent by consumers or businesses to a

manufacturer, retailer or wholesaler to order goods or services. These letters must
contain specific information such as model number, name of the product, the
quantity desired and expected price. Payment is sometimes included with the letter.

3. Complaint Letters: the words and tone you choose to use in a letter complaining to
a business may be the deciding factor on whether your complaint is satisfied. Be
direct but tactful and always use a professional tone if you want the company to
listen to you.

4. Adjustment Letters: an adjustment letter is normally sent in response to a claim or

complaint. If the adjustment is in the customer’s favor, begin the letter with that
news. If not, keep your tone factual and let the customer know that you understand
the complaint.

5. Inquiry Letters: Inquiry letters ask a question or elicit information from the
recipient. When composing this type of letter, keep it clear and succinct and list
exactly what information you need. Be sure to include your contact information so
that it is easy for the reader to respond.

6. Follow-Up Letters: usually sent after some type of initial communication. This
could be a sales department thanking a customer for an order, a businessman
reviewing the outcome of a meeting or a job seeker inquiring about the status of his
application. In many cases, these letters are a combination thank-you note and
sales letter.

7. Letters of Recommendation: prospective employers often ask job applicants for

letters of recommendation before they hire them. This type of letter is usually from a
previous employer or professor, and it describes the sender’s relationship with and
opinion of the job seeker.
 8. Acknowledgment Letters: act as simple receipts. Businesses send them to let
others know that they have received a prior communication, but action may or may
not have taken place.

9. Letters of Resignation: when an employee plans to leave his job, a letter of

resignation is usually sent to his immediate manager giving him notice and letting
him know when the last day of employment will be. In many cases, the employee
also will detail his reason for leaving the company.

10. Cover Letters: usually accompany a package, report or other merchandise. They
are used to describe what is enclosed, why it is being sent and what the recipient
should do with it, if there is any action that needs to be taken. These types of letters
are generally very short and succinct.

RESUME FORMAT GUIDELINES

The most acceptable and readily used format for college students is the
chronological resume, in which your most recent experience is first. How you choose to
construct your resume, in terms of style, is up to you. For example, placing dates on the
left or right or whether your contact information should be centered or on the left-hand
column is your choice. Remember consistency is the name of the game. Always maintain
the same style throughout your resume.
 Contact Information: Put your contact information at the top of your resume. It
should include your name, address (optional), phone number, and email address. If
you plan to relocate soon it is acceptable to list a permanent address.

 Objective: For most college students seeking internships or entering the

professional job market, stating an objective on your resume is not necessary.
Instead, bring out your interests in a cover letter that is customized for the specific
job.

 Education: List your degrees in reverse chronological order, with the most recent
degree first as well as any study abroad experiences. Include relevant coursework
to highlight your specific skills and knowledge. If your GPA is 3.0 or above, you may
list it in this section.

 Experience: List your most recent experience first and do not overlook internships,
volunteer positions, and part-time employment. Use action verbs to highlight
accomplishments and skills.

 Leadership and Activities: List leadership positions in university or community

organizations. Highlight activities including community service, athletics (which
could be a separate heading), or volunteer experience.

 Academic Projects: If you have specific academic projects that qualify you for the
position, include them in their own section with details on what you accomplished.
  Additional Information: This section may stand alone under the “Additional
Information” heading and highlight relevant information that may include computer
skills, language skills, professional associations, university and community activities
(including any offices held), and interests.

 Other Headings: Choosing to highlight information such as interests and

professional associations as separate headings is acceptable if relevant to the
position. Personal information (e.g., religious and political affiliations) should be
omitted unless relevant to the job.

 References: Do not list your references on your resume. A prepared list of 2-4
references should be printed on a separate sheet of paper that matches your
resume format. Bring a hard copy (or multiple copies, if needed) of your resume and
references with you to the interview.
One-page resumes are standard practice. A CURRICULUM VITAE (CV) refers to a
summary of qualifications and education that is usually more than one page and is used
when applying to academic/faculty or research-related positions. Employers prefer resume
formats which are minimal and easy-to-read.
RESUME CHECKLIST:
 No spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors
 Makes clear, concise, and positive impression in 30 seconds or less
 One page (more if writing a curriculum vitae/CV for an academic or research
position)
 Organized, easy to read, and has a balance between content and white space
 Uses standard fonts including Times New Roman, Arial, Century, Helvetica, or
Verdana in sizes 10, 11, or 12; do not use a font size smaller than size 10.
 Highlights skills and accomplishments that match keywords found in the job
description
 Quantifies accomplishments, if possible (e.g., how much $ raised, # of people
served and % of time saved)
 Utilizes accomplishment statements
 Action verb stating what you did
 How you did it
 Result (quantify when possible)
 Cites relevant publications and presentations using the bibliographic style of your
field
 Do not use graphics, tables, or columns in your resume; Applicant Tracking
Systems cannot read them
 NO GENERIC RESUMES!
SAMPLE RESUMES