(Important Parts are highlighted in RED)

COMMUNICATION
A critical skill in all professions. A two way process. Much more than simply writing or speaking. Also involves reading, watching or listening.

COMMUNICATION PROCESS
Path of an idea from your mind to some one elses mind known as Communication Process

5 KEY FORMS OF COMM

Listening skills. Report writing skills. Presentation skills. Email writing skills. Meeting Management Skills.

CHOICE OR FORM OF COMM DEPENDS UPON Nature of Organization Your own position
Top Level
Top Managers spend as much as 85% of their time communicating with others

Middle Level Lower Level

Authority and Responsibility Contingencies Nature of task at hand Availability of Communication Channels

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Importance Competitive Environment Uniqueness of Business Communication

FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICAITON

Provide practical information. Give facts rather than vague impressions. Present information in a concise, efficient manner. Clarify expectations and responsibilities. Offer compelling, persuasive arguments and recommendations.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS EXPECTED FROM YOU

Organizing ideas and information logically and completely. Expressing ideas and information coherently and persuasively. Listening to others effectively. Communicating effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Using communication technologies 8 effectively and efficiently.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS EXPECTED FROM YOU

Following accepted standards of grammar, spelling, and other aspects of high quality writing and speaking. Communicating in a civilized manner that reflects contemporary expectation of business etiquette. Communicating ethically, even when choices arent crystal clear.
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Quicker Problem Solving

Enhanced Professional Image

Effective Communication

Increased Productivity

Stronger Business Relationship

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SEVEN COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Organizing ideas and information coherently and completely. (Find, process and organize large amounts of data and random information for easy grasp of its significance) Expressing and presenting ideas and information coherently and pursuasively. (Need to convince audience with compelling arguments)
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Contd..

SEVEN COMMUNICATION SKILLS

..Contd

Listening to others effectively. (Find out what people are really trying to tell you) Communicating effectively with people from diverse background and experiences. (gender, ethnic background, age, profession) Using communication technologies effectively and efficiently. (e-mail, text/instant messaging, web/video conferencing, electronic presentations, variety of other technical tools)
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Contd..

SEVEN COMMUNICATION SKILLS

..Contd

Communicating in a civilized manner that reflects contemporary expectations of business etiquette. (Even under pressure, communicate with courtesy and respect appropriate to situation) Communicating ethically, even when choices arent crystal clear. (specially when responding to complicated or large scale crisis situations, make sound ethical choices)
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COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATIONAL SETTINGS

Internal Communication. External Communication. Formal and Informal Communication: Formal Flow. Ideas and info; flow along the lines of command (the heirarchial levels) at three levels: Downward flow. Upward flow. Horizontal flow.

Informal Flow. Grapevine prospers more under poor formal comm situations.
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UNIQUENESS OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Globalization and Workforce diversity.

Increasing value of Business Information,

competitive insights, customer needs, regulations and guidelines. Pervasiveness of technology. Evolution of organizational structures. Growing reliance on teamwork.
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Contd..

UNIQUENESS OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

..Contd

Barriers to Effective Comm: Distractions physical, emotional.

Information overload. Perceptual differences.
Individual perception of reality Selective perception

The more experiences you share with another person, the

more likely you are to share perception and thus share meaning.
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Contd..

UNIQUENESS OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

..Contd

Language differences

As soon as possible
10 hours/days

10 seconds, 10 minutes or

Restrictive Environments. (Restrictions on flow of info, hierarchies loss of info/messages in both directions.) Deceptive Tactics. (Unscrupulous communicators can

present opinions as facts, omit crucial information,

exaggerate benefits or downplay risk).
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COMMUNICATING MORE EFFECTIVELY 5 STRATEGIES

Minimizing Distractions.

Reduce noise, visual clutter and interruptions.

Turn off cell phone, music etc.

Reduce messaging.
Recognize own feelings and anticipate

responses. Choose your words carefully. Avoid

placing blames.
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Contd..

COMMUNICATING MORE EFFECTIVELY 5 STRATEGIES

..Contd

Adopt an Audience Centered Approach.

Biases, education, age, status, style and personal and professional concerns of receivers.

Fine Tune Your Business Comm Skills

Contd..
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COMMUNICATING MORE EFFECTIVELY 5 STRATEGIES

..Contd

Giving and Responding to constructive Feedback.

Constructive feedback (or criticism) focusses on process and outcomes and not on people involved. Destructive Feedback personal attacks and no clear guidelines. Take feedback as valuable opportunity to learn and improve.

Be sensitive to Business Etiquette expected norms of

behaviour in a particular situation. Protect companys reputation.
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How to be Constructive in Giving Feedback? List down five suggestions

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SUGGESTIONS FOR CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK

Be Specific.

Keep feedback impersonal.

Discuss improvements rather than flaws. Think through your suggested changes carefully. Focus on controleable behaviour. Verify understanding.

Time your feedback carefully.

Highlight any limitations your feedback may have.
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TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION?

Voice Tech.
Virtual Agents robots or bots, verbots, V-reps. Mobile Communication. Networking advances - P to P Computing,
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Wireless networking, SMS, etc.

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION CHOICES

Ethics principles of conduct that govern a person or a group.

Ethical people generally trustworthy, fair, and

impartial, respecting the rights of others and showing concern about impact of their actions on society. Ethics knowing the difference between what you have right to do and what is the right thing to do.

Ethical communication includes all relevant

information, is true in every sense, and is not deceptive in any way.
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UNETHICAL COMMUNICATION
Plagiarism stealing works or creative product and

claiming to be your own.

Selective Misquoting out of context or deliberate omissions. Misrepresenting numbers. Exaggerating, altering, omitting numerical data.

Distorting visuals making a product look bigger,

changing scale, graphs and charts to exaggerate or conceal.
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ETHICAL DILEMMA

A choice between alternatives that may all be ethical and valid.

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ETHICAL LAPSE

Knowing that something is wrong and doing it

any way (illegal choice)

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COMMUNICATING IN TEAMS
Working in teams / groups puts your comm skills to test. Team a unit of two or more people who share a mission

and responsibility for achieving their goals.

Formal teams and Informal teams. Problem solving Teams and task forces informal teams, to solve specific issues. Committees formal teams, usually longer life span, can

become permanent part of organizational structure; eg

executive committee for planning strategy, grievance committee, etc.
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ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF TEAMS

Core of participative Management. Advantages: Increased info and knowledge.

Increased diversity of views.

Increased acceptance of a solution.

Higher performance levels through creativity and

energy, reduced stress, increased dignity.
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Contd..

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF TEAMS

..Contd

Disadvantages: Peer Pressure conformists. Group Think Think like every one else. Hidden Agendas Individual hidden agendas can detract from team effectiveness.

Free Riders non contributors.

Cost coordinating group activities.
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TEAM COMMUNICATION
Select collaborators carefully. Agree on project goals before you start. Give your team time to bond before diving in. Clarify individual responsibilities. Establish clear processes.

Contd..
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TEAM COMMUNICATION
..Contd

Make sure tools and techniques are ready and

compatible across the team.
Use compatible software versions. Tech for presentation materials.

Avoid writing as a group.

Check to see how things are going along the way.

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GROUP DYNAMICS
Interactions and process that take place in a team. Group Norms informal standards of conduct that members share and guide member behavior. Group dynamics affected by several factors: Role of team members.
Current phase of team development. Teams success in resolving conflict.

Teams success in overcoming resistance.

Contd..
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GROUP DYNAMICS
..Contd

Team Roles. Assumed by members: Self Oriented Roles. Fulfilling mostly personal needs: Controlling dominating others. Withdrawing. Attention seeking demanding. Diverting refocusing to individual interests.

Team Maintenance Roles. To keep everyone work well together: Encouraging. Harmonizing reconciling difference. Acceptable decisions.
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Contd..

GROUP DYNAMICS
..Contd

Task Facilitating Roles. To help solve problems or make

decisions: Initiating. Information giving or seeking. Coordinating showing relationships among ideas, clarifying issues, summarizing team work. Procedure setting decision making procedures.

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TEAM EVOLUTION
Time to establish rapport. Let natural leadership roles emerge. Five phases of Team Evolution: Orientation. Socialize, establish roles, define task or

purpose.
Conflict. Emergence of disagreements. Brainstorming. Airing of options, pros and cons, begin

to start settling on single solutions.

Emergence. Communication of all positions, decision and consensus.
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Contd..

TEAM EVOLUTION
..Contd

Reinforcement. Group feeling built, solution summarized, members assigned tasks for carrying out group decisions, arrangements for follow up.

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RESOLVING CONFLICT
Conflict a natural part of team experience. Conflict can be constructive if forces creative ideas to solution _____ win win situations. Conflict is destructive if it diverts energy or

polarizes/ divides team lead to win-lose or loselose situations. For win-win strategy to work everyone must believe that: Its possible to find solution acceptable to both parties.
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Contd..

RESOLVING CONFLICT
..Contd

Cooperation is better for organization than competition. The other party can be trusted. Higher status doesnt entitle one party to impose solution.

Seven measures to resolve conflict: Proaction. Communication direct involvement to participate in resolving conflict. Openness get feelings out in open before dealing with main issues.
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Contd..

RESOLVING CONFLICT
..Contd

Research find factual reasons for problem.

Flexibility. Fair play no obscuring of fair solution by hiding

behind rules.
Alliance get opponents to fight together against an outside force instead of against each other.

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OVERCOMING RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

Express understanding. Bring resistance out into the open. Evaluate others objections fairly.

Hold your arguments untill the other person is

ready for them.

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ETIQUETTE IN TEAM SETTINGS

Your personal appearance style of dress dress moderately and simply earn a reputation for what you can do, not for what you can wear. Personal grooming cleanliness, avoid lingering scents, nails, hair styles, etc.

Do smile when occasion demands.

Phone skills. Introducing your self. Dinning etiquettes. Avoid misuse of mobile phones. 42Keep politics and sensitive religious issues aside.

NON VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Non verbal communication impersonal process of sending and receiving information, both intentionally and unintentionally, without using written or spoke language. Non verbal signals three important roles.
Complementing verbal language.

Revealing truth.
Conveying information efficiently.
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5 CATEGORIES OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

Facial Expression
Expresses emotions revealing type and intensity of feelings.

Eyes indicate attention and interest, influence others, regulate

interaction, establish dominance.

Gesture and Posture

Body movement Wave of hand Slouching. Leaning farward. Fidgeting.
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Confident or nervous, friendly or hostile, assertive or passive, powerful or powerless

Contd..

Walking briskly.

5 CATEGORIES OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

Vocal Characteristics
Stress on an expression can convey different meaning. what have you been upto? Tone, volume, accent, speaking pace.
..Contd

Personal Appearance
Grooming, clothing style. Adopt the style of the people you want to impress.

Touch
To convey warmth, confront and reassurance. When in doubt dont touch.
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Contd..

5 CATEGORIES OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

..Contd

Time and Space

Time and space can be used to assert authority, imply intimacy and send other nonverbal messages. Some people demonstrate importance by coming late. Others show respect by coming in time. Respect or violate some ones private space a powerful non verbal signal.

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BODY LANGUAGE MEANINGS

Erect Body.or walking briskly ,the sign of confidence. Standing or walking erect conveys that you are ready and able to face anyone. Hands on Hips. Displays aggression. Sends message that you are in a state of readiness. Legs Crossed. Sign of boredom. Legs Apart.Relaxed.Open to comm. 47 Arms Crossed. Defensive state.

 Shoulders Hunched. In a dejected mood. May also have your fists in your pockets. Hand on Cheeks. In a brooding (depressed thinking) state of mind. Others may think you are in a deep thought. Rubbing the Nose. Either lying or doubting while saying something. Clasping Hands behind the Back .Sign of anger or frustration.
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 Rubbing the Hands. Anticipating something. Legs crossed with the Palms clasped behind the Back. Showing confidence and superiority. Tapping the Fingers. Showing impatience. Patting Hair. Lack of self confidence and sense of insecurity. Tilting the Head. Sign of interest and absorption. Stroking the Chin. Indecisiveness or trying hard to a decision.
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ACROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Cultural diversity affects how business messages are conceived, composed, delivered, received and

interpreted.
Culture a shared system of symbols, beliefs,

attitudes, values, expectations, and norms for

behavior. Ethnocentrism tendency to judge all other groups according to your own groups standards,
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behaviors and customs.

Contd..

ACROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

..Contd

Xenophobia fear of strangers and foreigners.

Stereotyping assigning a wide range of

generalized attributes to an individual on the basis of membership in a particular culture or social group, without considering individuals unique characteristics. Cultural pluralism practice of accepting multiple cultures on their own terms.
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Contd..

ACROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

..Contd

Guidelines: Avoid assumptions.

Avoid judgments.
Acknowledge distinctions.

Cultural differences lead to miscommunication.

Contd..
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ACROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

..Contd

When communicating people of other cultures, treat them the way they want to be treated by recognizing and accommodating six main types of cultural differences: Contextual. Legal and ethical. Social. Non verbal. Age.
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Gender.

CONTEXTUAL DIFFERENCES
Communication takes places with in a cultural
context, the pattern of physical cues,

environmental stimuli, and implicit understanding

that convey meaning between two members of the same culture. High Context Culture. South Korea, Taiwan, China, Arab: Rely on verbal communication and more on context of non verbal actions and environmental setting to convey
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meaning.

Contd..

CONTEXTUAL DIFFERENCES
..Contd

Rules of every day life are rarely explicit instead

individuals, as they grow up, learn to recognize situational cues (gestures and tone of voice) and how to respond as expected. In high context culture the primary role of communication is building relationships, not exchanging information.

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Contd..

CONTEXTUAL DIFFERENCES
..Contd

Low Context Culture. United States, Germany: People rely more on verbal communication and less on circumstances and cues to convey meaning. Rules and expectations are usually spelled out through explicit statements.

Exchanging information is the primary task of

communication in low context cultures.
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Contd..

CONTEXTUAL DIFFERENCES
..Contd

Low contextual cultures concentrate on every

detail of a decision, whereas high-context cultures build relationships and trust. Low context cultures encourage open disagreement whereas high context cultures avoid confrontation and debate.
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Contd..

CONTEXTUAL DIFFERENCES
..Contd

When negotiating, low context cultures view negotiating impersonally as a series of problems to be overcome. High context cultures emphasize harmony and agreement, even when points remain to be workout. Low context cultures tend to value written

agreements and interpret laws strictly whereas

high context cultures view adherence to laws as
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being more flexible.

IMPROVING INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Study others cultures. Study other languages. Respecting preferences for communication style. Writing clearly. Speaking clearly. Listening carefully.

Using interpreters, translators and translation

software. 59 Helping others adopt to your culture.

SEVEN Cs OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Seven Communication Principles to provide guidelines for choice of context and style of presentation, adapted to the purpose and receiver of your message.

Completeness
Provide all necessary information. Answer all questions asked. Give something extra when desirable.

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Contd..

SEVEN Cs OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

..Contd

Conciseness. Complete without being wordy.

Eliminate wordy expressions. Include only relevant material.

Avoid unnecessary repetitions.

Consideration
Focus on you instead of I and we. Show audience benefit or interest in the receiver. Emphasize positive, pleasant facts.
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Contd..

SEVEN Cs OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

..Contd

Concreteness. Being specific, definite and vivid rather than vague and general.
Use specific facts and figures.

Put action in your verbs.

Choose vivid image building verbs.

Clarity
Choose precise, concrete and familiar words. Construct effective sentences and paragraphs.
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Contd..

SEVEN Cs OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

..Contd

Courtesy
Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful and appreciative. Use expressions that show respect.

Choose non-discriminatory expressions.

Correctness. Proper grammar, punctuation and spelling.

Use the right level of language (formal or informal). Check accuracy of figures, facts, and words.
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Maintain acceptable writing mechanics.

IMPROVING LISTENING SKILLS

Faults in Listening
Prejudice against the speaker. External distractions (physical environment). Thinking speed most of us speak between 80 to 160 words per minute but have capacity to think at phenomenal rate of 800 words per minutes. What do you do with extra time during listening? Premature evaluation. Semantic stereotypes some words cause negative reactions and we tune out the speaker.
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Delivery monotonous puts listeners to sleep.

PURPOSE OF LISTENING
To gain new information and ideas.
To question and test evidence and assumptions. To be inspired. To improve your own communication.

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HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING SKILLS

Be prepared. Accent the positive if you have to do it, do it with a positive attitude. Listen to understand, not refute. Focus your attention. Concentrate on context. Take notes jot down ideas. Curb the impulse to interrupt until speaker invites questions. Summarize and evaluate - restate in your own words what was said. 66

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION CONTEXT

Global or cultural context. Ethical context
Influence of personal ethics.

People

Philosophy

Individual Ethics

Culture

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BUSINESS COMMUNICATION CONTEXT

..Contd

Key Areas for Ethical Communication: Personal written and spoken messages.

Cross cultural messages.

Advertising messages tell the truth and do not manipulate language to create false impression.

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TECHNOLOGY CONTEXT
Historical developments: Telegraph. Telephone. Computers growth of electronic information in businesses.

Your challenge. To understand and manage transitions. Problem not that much technical, since technology is user friendly, but rather organizational because it needs new structures to be set up to manage information.
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Contd..

TECHNOLOGY CONTEXT
..Contd

Successful 21st Century business managers: Must have knowledge of info-tech.

Ability to manage change.

Using e-mail. Voice mail. Groupware.

CD-Rom Data bases.

Teleconferences. Faxes.
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MANAGING INFORMATION OUTSIDE ORGANIZATIONS

Managing News Media from newspapers, radio, television, magazines, journals and newsletters.
Hard news vs soft news.

Managing Corporate News: Press releases. Interviews. Conferences.

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Contd..

MANAGING INFORMATION OUTSIDE ORGANIZATIONS

..Contd

Op-ed pieces op-ed statement, a statement contrary (possible opposite) to the one that will appear on the editorial page or during the editorial portion of a TV newscast.

Letters to the editor.

Talk shows. Managing info through company spokes persons who should be knowledgeable, comfortable with oral communication, and well prepared to discuss all aspects of the issue under consideration.
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Contd..

MANAGING INFORMATION OUTSIDE ORGANIZATIONS

Managing Crisis Communication:-

..Contd

Under crisis situation, worst is the No Comment attitude toward the media. How your company manages the crisis can have long term effect on profits. Have crisis contingency plans. Permanent, recognized crisis team designed to handle public and media.

Have point of contact in media

Being prepared is key to success.

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