Unit 3: Effective communication Diploma Level 2 Information Technology

3 Effective communication
unit overview
The aim of this unit is to generate an awareness of the importance of teams in business. By the end
of the unit, students should be able to speak from experience about the value and importance of
teams of people working together effectively and efficiently in order to achieve business objectives.
Working in teams on a project set by the teacher, students will be encouraged to develop a first-
hand understanding of what it is like to work in a team and how team performance can be influenced
and affected by the behaviour and actions of individual members.
The other key component of this unit is communication. Without effective communication,
teamwork would be extremely difficult. By the end of this unit, students will have investigated the
wide variety of different communication media used by businesses and in what contexts they are
generally appropriate. They will be encouraged to practise their written and oral communication
skills by taking part in a range of discussions and presentations and also by preparing a wide
variety of different business documents for different purposes including the team-based project.

How this unit will be assessed

This unit will be assessed internally. Students will be expected to present evidence in the form of an e-portfolio that
shows they understand why different types of communication media are used for different purposes (LO1), are able
to use confident, correct and contextually-appropriate English in a range of business-related communications (LO2),
understand how different behaviours, attitudes and actions impact on effective communication and performance
between individuals and groups (LO3), are able to work in a team to meet agreed objectives (LO4) and are able to
evaluate their own performance as an individual and as a member of a team (LO5).
LO1 – Students should carry out an investigation of how organisations use different communications media to
communicate a message to others. In addition to this, students must include examples of business communications
(generated on their own or as part of a team activity) to demonstrate their own ability to communicate in different
ways.
LO2–LO5 – Students should provide documentation that demonstrates their ability to work as part of a team in
planning and executing a task which involves communicating a business-related message. The documentation will
evidence:
• the formation of the team and any documentation and records kept of meetings, diaries etc.
• how the team’s plans were executed in order for the objectives of the activity to be met
• a review of the team and each individual’s performance and contribution to the team’s objectives.

© Pearson Education Ltd 2008. Copying permitted for purchasing institution only. This material is not copyright free. 62
Unit 3: Effective communication Diploma Level 2 Information Technology

Delivering this unit

As communication skills in general underpin all units associated with this Diploma programme it is sensible that this
unit be delivered early. The team project will provide many varied opportunities to further practise and develop
written and oral communication skills, including using communications technology such as email.
All written work should have the same core objectives. Tutors should encourage students to consider written work as
an opportunity to demonstrate not only subject knowledge but also their ability to produce communications that are
concise, logical, persuasive and clear, and that use a range of sentence structures including complex sentences.
Students should demonstrate they are able to proofread their work to check for mistakes, and correctly punctuate it.
Oral communication skills should be consistently developed and encouraged through a wide variety of different
learning activities including team discussions and presentations and through formal project team meetings.

Integrating functional skills

As the Diploma has been generated to offer different ways of learning and a route into higher education or
employment, it must be delivered with the aim of developing real functional skills. Unit 3 offers many opportunities
to use and develop these skills.
ICT skills can be developed using activities that encourage students to use a variety of ICT systems to seek and
locate qualitative and quantitative information. This information can then be presented using a wide variety of
applications for a range of different assessment purposes such as PowerPoint presentations and Excel spreadsheets.
Students must produce a portfolio and thus will be encouraged to develop skills in selecting and using ICT systems
to generate, store and make available their documents. In addition, ICT can be effectively used to encourage team
members to communicate with one another efficiently and safely via email-based applications.
English skills can also be developed widely with the selection of a range of engaging and interesting activities. For
instance, group or team activities involving discussion and presentations could develop a student’s speaking and
listening skills. Students will be encouraged to spend a great deal of time working in their project teams and
attending formal project team meetings in which speaking and listening skills will be particularly important.
Research-based activities that encourage students to use printed and electronic materials can help to develop a
student’s ability to select, read and compare different sources of information offering differing viewpoints and
conclusions so that students become aware of the many possible answers to a problem. Finally, of course, there is
writing. The core of the assessment for this unit is based on written reports and documents. Activities that encourage
the development of business writing skills using a variety of different business communication media will more than
satisfy the development of essential writing skills for students.

Personal, Learning and Thinking skills

Independent enquirer skills will be needed in learning outcomes 3 and 4 when taking part in team activities and the
team project. Tutors should encourage students to recognise and identify their own issues and possible solutions to
address them.
Creative thinker skills will be needed in learning outcomes 3 and 4 when taking part in the team project. Teams
will face a wide variety of issues and problems relating to their task, for which they will need to find and agree
imaginative solutions. Tutors may wish to encourage creative thinking by providing illustrations or highlighting
particular good examples of creative thinking in the group.
Reflective learner skills can be encouraged in learning outcomes 1–5 by consistently leaving students time to reflect
on learning activities, celebrating successes and what led to them, and discussing how they could improve on their
own personal performances. As part of the portfolio for this unit, students will need to develop their reflective
practices, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses in terms of how they contributed to their team.
Team worker skills will be needed in learning outcomes 3 and 4 when taking part in team activities and the team
project. As much of the work in this unit is based on students’ experiences within a project team, there is much
opportunity to develop team working skills. The tutor may wish to reflect on the role of teams and effective team
working practices before leaving the students to work in their designated teams so that they can reflect on the
qualities and outcomes of good and bad team working.

63 © Pearson Education Ltd 2008. Copying permitted for purchasing institution only. This material is not copyright free.
Diploma Level 2 Information Technology Unit 3: Effective communication

Self-manager skills will be needed in learning outcomes 1–5. Each student is required to generate a portfolio of
assessment evidence for this unit. Much of the work, such as logging the decisions made by the team, requires good
organisation and self-management skills. Tutors should encourage learners to have an awareness of what is required
for their portfolios and the need to plan their workload to ensure deadlines are met.
Effective participator skills will be needed in learning outcomes 3 and 4. Again, as the project is team-based, there
will be many opportunities for students to make suggestions to improve the running of the team. Tutors need to be
mindful of the balance of power within certain teams and the need to encourage quieter and more reserved students
to participate and to express their opinions.

Linking to the project

An understanding of effective communication will be useful to students undertaking joint projects, where good
communication will be critical to the success of the project. Even if students undertake individual projects, effective
communication between stakeholders will contribute to the smooth running of the project, and knowledge gained in
this unit can help students to achieve this.
On completion of this unit a learner should:
3.1 Understand why different types of communication media are used for different purposes
3.2 Be able to use confident, correct and contextually-appropriate English in a range of business-related
communications
3.3 Understand how different behaviours, attitudes and actions impact on effective communication and
performance between individuals and groups
3.4 Be able to work in a team to meet agreed objectives
3.5 Be able to evaluate their own performance as an individual and as a member of a team.

© Pearson Education Ltd 2008. Copying permitted for purchasing institution only. This material is not copyright free. 64