Practical Analysis of Sentence Structures in Workplace Communication II

Writing
OBJECTIVES
Understand the function of workplace communication
Understand how to structure your sentences in workplace
communication
Understand that business writing should be audience oriented,
purposeful, and economical
Explain the need for inclusive language, plain expression, and
familiar words

With the increase competition in the workplace, the need to be explicit

in how we communicate with others superiors, colleagues, PARAGRAPH
subordinates and even external parties customers, suppliers etc SUMMARY
becomes very important. To be explicit in communication entails thatCommunication
we take into consideration some factors in constructing our messages.in the workplace
No matter the field of knowledge or profession you belong to, your is the most
ability to communicate in the workplace is the most important factorimportant factor
that makes you promotable. According to the Harvard Business that makes a
Review, your ability to communicate is more important than ambition,
worker
education, and capacity for hard work. Thus, even when you are the promotable.
most read (in terms of educational qualification) in the world, or the
amount of hard word you put into the organisation is more than any
other persons and very ambitious; without your ability to communicate
to/with others, your chances of being promoted is VERY limited.
Workplace communication is a shorthand term used to refer to all
PARAGRAPH
forms of speaking, listening, relating, writing and responding in the
SUMMARY
workplace (Goodall and Goodall, 2007). Workplace communication is
The
also another term for business communication. The actual work that
takes in the workplace amounts to nothing if no one knows about what communication
happens there. Knowing what is happening there can only be possible process is the
through communication with colleagues and the external world. explanation of
what happens
However, our concern in this programme does not include
when
communication with the outside party. We share dwell sorely on the communication
aspect of communication that is within the organisation. In takes place.

communicating in the workplace, we take into consideration the:

sender, receiver, message, channel, noise, feedback and context. The
elements (sender, receiver, message, channel, noise, feedback and
context) are components of the communication process.
The
communication process is how scholars have come up with explanation
of what happens when communication takes place.
For communication to take place there must be the one who initiates the
communicative intent or who starts up the communication chain. ThisPARAGRAPH
is the sender. The one for whom the communication is meant or SUMMARY
directed at is the receiver. What the communication is about is the Sender,
message. The means through which you communicate your thoughts to receiver,
others is the channel(s): it could be over the phone, on paper, via email, message,
chat etc. We always take into consideration that we use more than one
channel, noise,
means to communicate our thoughts. For example, most times when wefeedback and
talk, we use our hands and facial expressions to support what we are context
saying, at the same time the tone of our voice also aid in stressingconstitute the
whatever we are saying. Thus, the need to call it channel(s). In the
communicatio
course of communication, there are so many distractions. The n process.
distractions could be in all the other elements of communication. The
distraction is what experts called noise and it is a great problem in
communication that requires a lot of concerted efforts to fight so that it
does not totally take over our communication and turn it into what we
do not intend. The corresponding reply that the receiver of the message
gives is called the feedback. The feedback is necessary in determining
if our message is received as sent. It serves as a means to verify and
confirm our initial message. Communication like everything else in the
world has different environment that it occurs in. For example, our
concern here is the workplace environment. The environment in which
the communication takes place is the context. The whole elements
(sender, receiver, message, channel, noise, feedback and context) put
together constitute what experts call the communication process.
Communication
Activity 1
Think about various communication processes in your workplace
that you are involved in. Complete the table below related to each
type of communication.

When we communicate effectively, whether in our private or

workplace, it carries with it some added advantages. These advantages
can be categorised as: People:
PARAGRAPH
feel good;
SUMMARY
do their job well;
The
work well together;
advantages
and
feel motivated;
disadvantages
understand;
of
communication
save time;
to the
feel empowered;
workplace
assume responsibility;
share information;
respect, trust and like each other;
listen Denny (2006, p.10)
Viewed from the perspective of the workplace, if the communication is
not effective, it has dare consequences for the management as the cost
of failed communication for the workplace can be absolutely
staggering, involving:

loss of time;
loss of respect;
loss of business;
loss of money;
loss of confidence;
loss of credibility;
loss of relationships;
loss of staff;
loss of trust;
loss of clients (Denny: 10).

For you to be reckoned with in the workplace, it becomes pertinent that

you are grounded in all of the different methods of communication and
to know when it is appropriate to use any of them in the workplace.
Communication in the workplace can be categorized as verbal or

nonverbal, formal or nonformal. Verbal communication could be

through speaking or writing. It is an important form of communication
in the workplace. In the course of the days work, an average worker
PARAGRAPH
spends time interacting with colleagues, superiors and subordinates. No
SUMMARY
matter the level or sector in the workplace, you have to verbally
The
communicate one way or the other: either to request for or defend
appropriatenes
something apply for leave, request for stationery, answer queries,
report a fault etc. Verbal communication entails putting your thoughts s of the
communication
into words through speaking and writing. In the course of expressing
your thoughts verbally, you may choose to say it or write it. In sayingconsiders your
or writing, you have to take into consideration the appropriateness ofaudience and
the words you want to use to your audience and the context of thethe context of
communication. This is where the issue of formality and informality
the
comes in.
communication
.
Most often, there are complaints that the average worker does not
possess the basic communicating skills. As mentioned earlier,
communicating verbally entails that we communicate through speech or
writing. Both of which require skills so as to achieve the desired effect.
PARAGRAPH
Writing skills are particularly important today because
SUMMARY
technology enables us to transmit messages more rapidly, more
often, and to greater numbers of people than ever before. Writing Writing as a
skills are also significant because many people work together butform of verbal
are not physically together... writing skills, which were always communication
a
career advantage, are now a necessity. They can be your ticket to
work or your ticket out of the door ... (Guffey, 2008, p. 4)
To write well, we must understand what good writing entails. This
includes, paying attention to:
o Content: be sure that the content is correct and complete
PARAGRAPH
o Appropriateness for readers: write the document with a particular SUMMARY
reader in mind. Check that issues are discussed on a level the
reader can understand. For most documents, its better to focus Qualities of a
on practical, explicit information and advice related to the case good written
communication
you are discussing, rather than on general
o Conciseness: write as concisely as possible, given the readers
needs and the issues to be addressed
o Clarity: develop a style that is clear and readable. Choose words
that convey your meaning with precision and clarity

o Coherence: structure the document so that it is coherent. The

organisation should be logical and the train of thought easy to
follow begin each topic with a topic sentence
o Revision: revise the document so that it is polished and
professional. It should be free of all spelling errors and typos;
grammatical errors should not detract the message (Andrew, J.
D., May, C. B. and May, G. S. (1999)