Case Study on 7 Cs of Effective Communication

Submitted By: ________ ________ Class: FY BSc. (IT)-A

Submitted To: Miss/Sir ________ Subject: Professional Communication Skills

Index
Introduction Completeness Conciseness Consideration Concreteness Clarity Courtesy Correctness 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Introduction
Effective Communication means making people understand our meaning and making them reply in terms that move the exchange of ideas forward. Communication is heavily based on senders or receivers attitude. Things to be kept in mind while trying to have an effective communication are: Be clear in your own mind about what you want to communicate. Deliver the message concisely. Ensure that the message has been clearly and correctly understood

The 7cs of effective communication are as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Completeness Conciseness Consideration Concreteness Clarity Courtesy Correctness

Each of the above mentioned C quality is discussed in wider aspect in next pages. Our attitude towards others greatly influences our communication style. Some important points to be kept in our mind while trying to have an effective communication: Give full attention to people while they are talking to you. Encourage other people to talk, and ask appropriate questions. Present your ideas so that others are receptive to your point of view. Treat people fairly and let others know how you want to be treated. Value teamwork and know how to build cooperation and commitment. Show respect for peoples ideas and feelings, even when you disagree with them. Accept differences and conflict as a normal part of any work environment, and know how to address them constructively. Strive to understand other people and to be empathetic i.e. try to understand other person. Be open to negative feedback, and communicate difficult truths in a respectful way. Be able to easily win peoples trust and respect. Check to make sure you have understood what other people are trying to communicate. Be confident and at ease giving a presentation. Avoid making absolutist judgments about people (e.g. He/she is always that way.) Follow through on your commitments. Be able to work with people you having difficulties with without becoming negatively yourself.

1. Completeness
Every communication must be complete and adequate. Incomplete messages keep the receiver guessing, create misunderstanding and delay actions. Every person should, therefore, be provided with all the required facts and figures. It also helps in building goodwill and a sense of concern for other party as both the reader and sender may have different background, culture, viewpoint, needs and experience. Completeness comprises of the following points to be kept in mind a) Providing all necessary information: It means to provide entire information keeping in mind the readers point of view for their better understanding. It can be done by answering all WH questions i.e. who, what, when, where, why and other essentials like how? b) Answer All Questions Asked: A reply or reaction to an incomplete reply is most likely to be unfavorable. Not answering all the questions builds an image of being careless or trying to hide some weak spots, leading to question on our honesty. c) Give Something Extra, When Desirable: It refers to providing some extra information related to the question asked by the opposite party. Giving a satisfactory reply is the main issue which would attract the opposite party for an interaction. For example if a new member in your society wants to know about the place where the next meeting will be held. So your reply should not only consist of the place where the meeting would be held, it should also consist of other information relevant to the meeting like at what time, where, when, objective behind the meeting should be mentioned and an invitation to him in the end will make the reader more eager to attend the meeting Example: Incomplete letter to a new savings depositor: Thank you for the confidence you have shown us by the account you recently opened. All our facilities are at your disposal, and anytime we can be of service, please call on us. Our appreciation is best expressed by our service being of to you. Revised, complete letter to the new savings depositor: Thank you for the confidence you have shown in us by opening the savings account. Our goal is to make all our services available to you both helpful and pleasant. Your account offers you the following benefits: YOUR PASSBOOK DEPOSITS EARN 7% interest compounded half-yearly BETTER-THEN-CHECKING facility helps you make online transactions and even 24 hourATM (Automatic Teller Machine) facility You are most welcome to come in whenever we can assist you. Please consider this association as your financial head-quarters for your savings and borrowing needs. Waiting eagerly to see you in our premises

2. Conciseness
Conciseness refers to saying whatever we want in fewest in possible words without sacrificing the other C qualities. A concise message saves time and expense for both sender and receiver. Conciseness refers to elimination of unnecessary words and inclusion of interesting topics for the recipients. Conciseness comprises of following points to be kept in mind a) Eliminating wordy expressions: It refers to replacing of long wordy expressions by shorter terms of same meaning and avoiding overusing empty phrases and limiting the use of passive voice Example: Wordy: At this time Concise: Now Wordy: She bought desk that are of executive type Concise: She bought executive-type desks b) Include only relevant material: The effective message should not only omit unnecessary word expression but also irrelevant material. It can be done in the following manner 1. Stick to the purpose of the message. 2. Delete irrelevant words and rambling sentences 3. Avoid long introductions, unnecessary explanation, excessive adjective 4. Omit obvious information to the receiver Example: Wordy: We hereby wish to let you know that our company is pleased with the confidence you have reposed in us. Concise: We appreciate your confidence. c) Avoid unnecessary repetition: Sometimes repetition is necessary for emphasis but when same thing is repeated two or three times without any reason the message becomes wordy and boring. These can be done by sticking to the following points. 1. Use of shorter name i.e. for example if once you have mentioned Gonsalo Garcia College once, you can write GG College instead of such a long name. 2. Use pronouns or acronyms or initials rather than repeating long names i.e. for example you should write ICC instead of writing INTERNATIONAL CRICKET COUNCIL again and again. 3. Cut out all needless expressions and repetition of phrases of sentences.

3. Consideration
Consideration means preparing every message keeping the message receiver in mind; Being considerate means you dont lose your temper, you do not accuse or charge them without facts, in other sense consideration covers other six Cs of effective communication. Consideration comprises of the following points to be kept in mind a) Focusing on you instead of I and we: The message should focus on how message receivers will be benefited, what they would receive and what they need to know should be emphasized. Many people have ideas of individual gain for better standard of living Example: We-attitude: I am delighted to announce you that we will be extending our hours to make shopping more convenient. You-attitude: You will be able to shop in evenings with the extended hours. b) Showing audience benefits or interest in the receiver: If possible you must show how your receivers will benefit from whatever the message asks or announces. Receiver will be more likely to react favorably and do what do you suggest if you show that benefits are worth the effort and cost you are asking them. c) Emphasize positive, pleasant facts: A third way to show consideration for your receivers is to accent the positive. This means stressing what can be done instead of what cannot be done, and focusing onwards your recipient can consider favorably. Example: 1. Unpleasant: We dont refund if the returned item is soiled or unsalable. Pleasant: We refund when the returned item is clean and resalable. 2. Unpleasant: When you travel on company expense, you will not receive approval for first class fare. Pleasant: When you travel on company expense, your approved fare is for tourist class.

4. Concreteness
Concreteness refers to being more specific, definite, and vivid rather than and general and repetitive. The main benefit of being concrete is obvious that the receiver knows exactly what is required or desired. The other benefit of being concrete is that the reply might be in the same way that may be interrupted by you as the receiver. Concreteness comprises of the following points to be kept in mind: a) Using specific facts and figures: Whenever possible use specific, exact, precise statement or figure instead of general words which helps in making your message more concrete Examples:
No. 1 2 General, Indefinite Shes a brain. Eastern Europe is making progress in obtaining investments Concrete, Precise Her percentage have increased from 84% in S.S.C to 88% in H.S.C. In 1990 investments in Eastern Europe were about US $30 million; today that figure has increased by 12%But sometimes when you dont know the exact figures and want to be concrete you can write as half the committee was present

b) Put Action in your verbs: Verbs can bring your concreteness back to being alive and more dynamic. Use of verbs, especially the active verbs, makes your sentence more Specific, Personal and Concise. Even the passive verbs are more useful sometimes when you want to avoid any personal or accusing comments. Examples: 1) The Principal Has decided is more specific then A decision has been made. 2) You will note is both personal and specific than It will be noted. c) Selection of more vivid and image-building words: This section refers to the use of language or words which are capable of creating an atmosphere in the mind of the reader that he imagines himself, being, in that situation rather than using words which would bounce over the gray matter. The inclusion of vivid words also helps in creating a scenario that the writer or speaker has a wider scope of imagination instead having an image of sticking to the basics.

5. Clarity
Getting the meaning from your head to the readers head accurately is the purpose of clarity. Of course, you know it is not simple. We all carry around our own unique interpretations, ideas, thinking, experiences associated with the words .Clarity comprises of the following points to be kept in mind: a) Selection of precise, concrete and clear words: Clarity is achieved in part through a balance between precise words and familiar words. Although it is appropriate to use technical terms and business jargons in professional institutions, but they need to be avoided when communicating with a person who is not acquainted with the terminology.
No 1 2 3 4 Possibly unfamiliar Assessed valuation Charge to your principal (banking) Buyouts People plying on skywalks Familiar to the layperson Property value for tax purposes Increase the balance of your loan Purchase by other company People moving on over bridge

b) Constructing effective sentences and paragraphs: In this, important characteristics to consider are length, unity and coherence. 1) Length: Generally short sentences are preferred, the suggested average sentence length should be about 17-20 words because longer sentences may cause lack of concentration in sentences. 2) Unity: In a sentence whether it is simple, compound or complex the link i.e. the unity matters which means to have one main idea traveling through the entire conversation. Every sentence or word must be closely related to each other. c) Coherence: Coherence in sentences means the words should be correctly placed or arranged so that ideas clearly reflect the intended meaning. Emphasis: It refers to the quality that gives force to important parts of the sentences and paragraphs. The writer must know when and where the emphasis is required which helps in

making the letter more clear along with other C qualities.

6. Courtesy
True courtesy involves being aware not only of the perspective of others but also their feelings. It is merely politeness and mechanical insertions of please and thank-you. Courtesy comprises of the following points to be kept in mind: a) Being sincerely tactful, thoughtful and appreciative: 1) Tact: Though few people are intentionally waiting for someone to argue, so being tactful avoids any cause of discourtesy and avoiding any negative feedback from the sender. Example: Clearly, you did not read my latest fax can be written as Sometimes my wordings are not precise; let me try again. 2) Thoughtfulness and Appreciation: It means bringing a thought in the entire conversation and appreciating the reply from the other party. b) Use expressions showing respect: No reader wants to receive message that offends. This can be done by eliminating irritating expressions and Questionable humor because humor to one person may be disgust for another as everyone has different sense of humor. c) Choose nondiscriminatory expressions: Another requirement for courtesy is the use of nondiscriminatory language that reflects equal treatment of people regardless of their gender, race, age and physical features. Some of the examples are given below
No 1 2 Questionable Each customer will have the new changes noted on his bill Our criteria are firm; he is to be a scholar, he is to be a good teacher. More desirable Customers will have the changes noted on their bill. Our criteria suggest he or she is supposed to be a scholar and a good teacher.

7. Correctness
At the core of the correctness is the proper use of grammar, punctuations and spelling. A message may be perfect grammatically and mechanically but still insult or lose a customer. Correctness comprises of the following points to be kept in mind: a) Using right level of language: There are different levels of languages which may be formal, informal, and substandard. Formal writings are usually associated with the scholarly writing, legal documents, and other documents where formality is the style in demand. Examples:
No 1 2 3 4 More Formal participate interrogate procure utilize Less Formal join question get use

No 1 2 3 4

Substandard Cant hardly irregardless Aim at proving stoled

More Acceptable Can hardly regardless Aim to prove stolen

b) Checking accuracy of figures, facts, and words: Many a times it is impossible to convey the message directly from the senders head to the receivers head. So this can be done to an extent by including figures and facts like as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. Verifying your statistical data Double-checking your totals Avoid guessing of laws that have an impact on sender or receiver. Determine whether a fact have changed over a time.

Other factor is the inclusion of words that dont confuse for example the following will help in clearing this topic 1. Accept-except: Here accept means to receive and except means to omit. 2. Biannually-biennially: Biannually means 2 times a year and biennially means every 2 years. c) Maintaining acceptable writing mechanics: This topic relates to the proper use of words and spellings. But in todays world, writing has been easier, since, spell-checkers and various kinds of word formatter are available

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