Self-assessment tool

What are my message sending habits?

When sending messages to other people, I:
1.Use technical language or lingo for efficiency
2.make sure my messages are congruent with with my actions.
3Dont waste time providing background information and details.

4.Use personal pronouns such as I and my when expressing

feelings.
5.Own up to my motives at the beginning of the conversation.
6.Avoid being warm and friendly so that people take me seriously.
7.Dont use multiple channels of communication to avoid confusion.
8.Ask the receivers to restate their understanding of the message.
9.Am honest despite how complicated or personal the situation.
10.Avoid looking dumb by pretending to know what I am talking
about even if I dont.

Scoring
For statements 2,4,5,8 and 9 give yourselves 3
points for Usually, 2 points for Sometimes and 1
point for rarely.
For statements 1,3,6,7 and 10, reverse the scale.
Sum up the total
26 or more very good
21-25-you can improve your message sending skills
20 or less-very significant need for improvement.

Communication
Among personal qualities possessed by
college graduates the ability to communicate
effectively was ranked first by employers.

Communications Did you know?

People remember:

10 percent of what they read

20 percent of what they hear

30 percent of what they see

50 percent of what they see and hear

80 percent of what they say

90 percent of what they say and do

Communications did you know?

If you tell 100 people something without
repetition:

After 24 hours, 25 percent have forgotten it

After 48 hours, 50 percent have forgotten it

After 72 hours, 75 percent have forgotten it

After one week, 96 percent have forgotten it

Communicatio
n

Efficient communication is ESSENTIAL to

being successful in life.

The biggest source of interpersonal

problems is poor communications.

The key to the communication process is

to be UNDERSTOOD.

Communicatio
n
The aim of communication is the transference

and understanding of information between two or

more people.
Communication must always be between two or
more people, one the sender and the other
receiver. You participate in both roles and your
role will change alternatively and frequently in
conversation.

A definition of communication

Communication is a process of
transfer,exchange,sharing
of
ideas,thoughts,feelings etc in such a
way that the mental picture envisioned
by the sender is the same as that
perceived by the receiver.

The Communication Process

Feedback

Source

Encoding

Channel

Message

Message

Message

Decoding

Receiver

Message

Message

Characteristics of communication

Two way process

Continuous
Essential
Has an objective or a purpose
Pervasive across all walks of life.

Challenges while sending and

receiving a message
Unclear ideas
Wrong or inappropriate medium
Noises or breakdowns during
communication
Message ignored or missed due to
information clutter
Meaning of mesages not interpreted the
way they were meant
Low impact of messages and consequent
poor response.

Perception and Communication

Perception-process in which we use our
senses to acquire information about
environment or any event and thereby
develop an understanding of the subject.
Causes communication breakdowns as
the perceptions may clash.
Can reduce perceptual by JOHARI
Window.

The

Johari Window is a communication

model that can be used to improve
understanding between individuals.
Developed

by Joseph Luft and Harry

Ingham (the word Johari comes from
Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham).

Two key ideas behind the tool:

Individuals

can build trust between

themselves by disclosing information about
themselves.
They

can learn about themselves and come

to terms with personal issues with the help of
feedback from others.

The four quadrants are:

Quadrant
What

1: Open Area

is known by the person about

him/herself and is also known by
others.

Quadrant

2: Blind

Area
What

is known by the
others about the person
but he/she is not aware.

Quadrant
What

3: Hidden or Avoided Area

the person knows about

him/herself that others do not.

Quadrant
What

4: Unknown Area

is unknown by the person about

him/herself and is also unknown by
others.

Key Points:
In

most cases, the aim in groups should be to develop

the Open Area for every person.
Working

in this area with others usually allows for

enhanced individual and team effectiveness and
productivity. The Open Area is the space where good
communications and cooperation occur, free from
confusion, conflict and misunderstanding.
Self-disclosure

is the process by which people expand

the Open Area vertically. Feedback is the process by
which people expand this area horizontally.
By

encouraging healthy self-disclosure and sensitive

feedback, you can build a stronger and more effective
team.

Importance of Feedback
We may say that communication has
occurred only when the message has been
understood.

Understanding occurs in the mind of the

receiver.

Feedback is critical to ensure that accurate

understanding of the message has
occurred.

Constructive and Destructive

feedback
Constructive
tries to imrove the
current situation.
positive and correct
tone of message.
e.g-The design needs
to be reviewed from
the practical angle
and minute issues.

Destructive
Derogatory
Hurting
Harmful
e.g-This design is
absolutely useless
and impractical and
lacks attention to little
details.

Barriers to Communication
Sender oriented barriers-attitude,frame of
reference,complexes,editing, distortion of
message,perceptual bias etc.
Verbal and non verbal barriersLinguistic,semantic,punctuation,wrong selection
of medium,poor vocabulary,culture etc.
Cross cultural barriers-diffeence in approaches
to communicate due to cultural nuances
Physical barriers-age, gender,noise,distance,
time.

The seven Cs
When We talk about Effective
Communication one thing that comes in
mind, what are the basic principles of
effective communication .
These principles tells us how your message
can becomes effective for your target group,
These principles also tell about style and
importance of the message.
These principles commonly known as 7 Cs of
effective communication.

Seven Cs of Effective
Communication
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Completeness
Conciseness
Consideration
Concreteness
Clarity
Courtesy
Correctness

Completeness
Five Ws

One way to make your message complete is to answer the five

Ws.
WHO?
WHAT?
WHEN?
WHERE?
WHY?
The five question method is useful when you write requests,
announcements, or other informative messages.
For instance, to order (request) merchandise, make clear WHAT
you want, WHEN u need it, WHERE it is to be sent.

2) Conciseness

Conciseness means convey the

message by using fewest words.
Conciseness is the prerequisite to
effective business communication.
As you know that all businessmen
have very short time .
Hence a concise message save the
time and expenses for both the
parties.

How To achieve the

conciseness ?
For achieving the conciseness
you have to consider the
following.
1.Avoid wordy expression
2.Include only relevant material
3.Avoid unnecessary repetition.

Avoid Wordy Expression

E.g. Wordy:- at this time.
Instead of at this time you can just use
only a concise word:- NOW ,
Always try to use To the point Approach
in business scenario perspective.

Include only relevant information

Always try to provide only relevant information to the
receiver of the message.
Lets say one of your customer requested
for clients of the company
in reply you should provide simply list of clients at the panel of
your company.
No need to provide detailed business information about client at
all.

Observe the following suggestions to Include only

relevant information.

Stick to the purpose of message

Delete irrelevant words
Avoid long introduction, unnecessary explanation etc.
Get to the important point concisely.

Avoid un-necessary Repetition

Some times repetition is necessary for
focusing some special issue.
But when the same thing is said with
out two or three reasons, the message
become wordy and boring.
Thats why try to avoid Un-necessary
repetition.

Some ways to eliminate unnecessary

words
Use shorter name after you have mentioned
the long once. e.g.
Spectrum communications Private limited use
spectrum.
Use pronouns or initials E.g.
Instead of world trade organization use WTO
or You can use IT for Information Technology.
( keeping in views that receiver knows about
these terms)

3) Consideration
Consideration means To consider the
receivers Interest/Intention.
It is very important in effective
communication while writing a
message you should always keep in
mind your target group

Three specific ways to indicate

consideration
i-Focus on you instead of I or We
ii-Show audience benefit or interest of the
receiver
iii-Emphasize positive, pleasant facts.
Using you helps you, but over use lead
a negative reaction.

Always write a message in such a way

how audience should be benefited from
it. e.g.
We attitude
I am delighted to announce that we will
extend to make shopping more
enjoyable and longer...

You attitude
You will be able to shop in the evening
with the extended hours.
Readers may react positively when
benefit are shown to them.
Always try to address his/her need and
want.

 Always show/write to reader

what has been done so far as his/her
query is concerned.
Always avoid that has not been done
so far.

4) Concreteness
It means that message should be
specific instead of general.
Misunderstanding of words creates
problems for both parties (sender and
receiver).
when you talk to your client always use
facts and figures instead of generic or
irrelevant information.

The following guidelines should help you

to achieve the Concreteness.
i- use specific facts and figures
ii-choose image building words
e.g
General
He is very intelligent student of class and
stood first in the class.

Concrete
Alis GPA in B.Sc Electrical Engineering
2k3-f session was 3.95/4.0, he stood
first in his class.
Always write on a very solid ground. It
should definitely create good image as
well.

Clarity
You should always Choose precise
words.
Always choose familiar and easy
words.
Construct effective sentences and
paragraphs.

In business communication always use

precise words rather longer statements.
If you have a choice between long words
and shorter one, always use shorter
one.
You should try your level best to use
familiar/easy to understand words so
that your reader will quickly under
stand it

Familiar
1-after
2-home
3-for example
4-pay
5-invoice

Next familiar words

subsequent
domicile
e.g.
remuneration
statement for payments

Courtesy
Knowing your audience allows you to use statements of
courtesy; be aware of your message receiver.
True courtesy involves being aware not only of the
perspective of others, but also their feelings. courtesy
stems from a sincere you-attitude.
it is not merely politeness with mechanical insertions of
please and Thank you .
Although applying socially accepted manners is a form
of courtesy , it is politeness that grows out respect and
concern for others.
Courteous communicators generate a special tone in their
writing and speaking.

How to generate a Courteous

Tone ?
The following are suggestions for generating a courteous
tone:
Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful and appreciative.
Use expressions that show respect for the others
Choose nondiscriminatory expressions

Tactless, Blunt More Tactful

Stupid letter; I cant
understand

I should understand it, as

there is no confusing word
in this letter, could you
please explain it once
again ..?

Its your fault, you did not

properly read my latest
FAX

Sometimes my wording is
not precise; let me try
again

Thoughtfulness and Appreciation

Writers who send cordial, courteous messages of
deserved congratulations and appreciation (to a person inside &
outside) help to build goodwill. The value of goodwill or public
esteem for the firm may be worth thousands of dollars.

7) Correctness
At the core of correctness is proper grammar,
punctuation and spelling.
however,
message
must
be
perfect
grammatically and mechanically
. The term correctness, as applied to business
messages also mean three characteristics
o Use the right level of language
o Check the accuracy of figures, facts and words
o Maintain acceptable writing mechanics

Use the right Level of

Language
we suggest that there are three level of
language
1. formal
2. informal
3. substandard.

Formal and Informal Words

Formal writing is often associated with scholarly writing:
doctoral dissertations, scholarly, legal documents,
top-level government agreements and other material
where formality is demanded.
Informal writing is more characteristic of business
writing. Here you use words that are short, wellknown and conversational as in this comparison list:
More Formal
less formal
Participate
Join
Endeavor
try
Ascertain
find out
Utilize
use
Interrogate
question

Substandard Language
Avoid substandard language. Using correct
words, incorrect grammar, faulty
pronunciation all suggest as inability to use
good English. Some examples follow:
Substandard
More Acceptable
Aint
isnt,arent
Cant hardly
can hardly
Aim to proving
aim to prove
Desirous to
desirous of
Stoled
stolen

Facts and Figures

Accuracy
Check Accuracy of Facts, Figures and words
It is impossible to convey meaning precisely, through words, from the
head of the sender to a receiver. Our goal is to be as precise as
possible, which means checking and double-checking and
double-checking to ensure that the figures, facts and words you
use are correct.
A good check of your data is to have another person read and
comment on the validity of the material
Figures and facts
Verify your statistical data
Double-check your totals
Avoid guessing at laws that have an impact on you, the sender
and your
Have someone else read your message if the topic involves data.
Determine whether a fact has changed over time

Proper Use of Confusing Words !

Our Language (Any) is constantly changing. In fact,even
dictionaries can not keep up with rapid change in our language.
the following words often confusing in usage:
A, An

use a before consonants and

consonants sounds or a long u
sound. Use an before vowels.

Accept, except accept is a verb and means to

receive. except is a verb or a
preposition and relates to
omitting or leaving out.
Anxious, eager Anxious implies worry, eager
conveys keen desire