The Need For Communication In Modern Business English Language Essay

The Need For Communication In Modern Business English Language Essay Answer: Communication is an important part of business. Opportunities are created because of maintaining good communication with your colleagues and clients. Nearly every transaction is impacted by communication, so the importance of this skill cant be overstated. Its essential for building and maintaining relationships with customers, and good communication is necessary for developing a trustworthy reputation. Communication is a valuable skill, and in many ways is an art form. If you possess strong linguistic skills, youll go far in effectively communicating in both your personal and professional lives. The role of communication in business is important for every role: Corporate Communications/Affairs Manager, Public Relations Specialist, Human Resources Communications Manager, Advertising, and Marketing and Promotions. 2: What is meant by rumour?What is grapevine? Are they the same? Answer: rumor: gossip (usually a mixture of truth and untruth) passed around by word of mouth Grapevine communication is a form of informal business communication, which develops within an organization. It means gossip, usually gossip that spreads and covers a lot of ground (a lot of people), much like vines do. 3: Explain upward communication. How does it take place in an organization? Answer : Information exchange between departments or functional units, as means of coordinating their activities. Communication between people at the same level in an organization, community or peer group, usually as a means of coordinating efforts. Its when the managers of the same level share ideas, suggestions and solutions to help bring the organization to a better level. The main objectives of horizontal communication are developing teamwork, and promoting group coordination within an organization. It takes place between professional peer groups or people working on the same level of hierarchy. Horizontal communication is less formal and structured than both downward communication and upward communication, and may be carried our through informal discussions, management gossip, telephone calls, teleconferencing, videoconferencing, memos, routine meetings and so on. 4: What are the semantic barriers in communication?Explain. Answer : Physical Barriers One of the major barriers of communication in a workplace is the physical barrier. Physical barriers in an organization includes large working areas that are physically separated from others. Other distractions that could cause a physical barrier in an organization are the environment, background noise Language Inability to converse in a language that is known by both the sender and receiver is the greatest barrier to effective communication. When a person uses inappropriate words while conversing or writing, it could lead to misunderstanding between the sender and a receiver. Emotions Your emotions could be a barrier to communication if you are engrossed in your emotions for some reason. In such cases, you tend to have trouble listening to others or understanding the message conveyed to you. A few of the emotional interferences include hostility, anger, resentfulness and fear. Lack of Subject Knowledge If a person who sends a message lacks subject knowledge then he may not be able to convey his message clearly. The receiver could misunderstand his message, and this could lead to a barrier to effective communication. Stress One of the major communication barriers faced by employees in most of the organization is stress. When a person is under immense stress, he may find it difficult to understand the message, leading to communication distortion. At the time of stress, our psychological frame of mind depends on our beliefs, experiences, goals and values. Thus, we fail to realize the essence of communication. 5: Is noise a barrier in the communication process? Answer: Communication noise refers to influences on effective communication that influence the interpretation of conversations. While often looked over, communication noise can have a profound impact both on our perception of interactions with others and our analysis of our own communication proficiency. 6: Explain the role of multi media in effective communication. Answer : I have long believed that a multimedia presentation is fundamentally no different from any other form of human communication; ideas and information are being transmitted between human beings, what has been called linear communication since the seminal work of Shannon and Weaver. Biocca stated this concept quite clearly: All computer-based interactivity is a form of interaction with other humans, even when none are present. The human essence of the programmers and designers remains resident in the logic of the artificial interaction, even though they are not there. Therefore, to be able to create effective multimedia, we need to consider what constitutes effective human communication, regardless of the medium. A review of the history of those forms of human communication that employ more than one medium can be beneficial for a multimedia developer People have been communicating with each other for hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of years. Whenever possible, the initiator of the communication has employed whatever additional methods were available to enhance the communication and make it as effective as possible. So, for example, modern storytellers, as perhaps ancient ones did, use their hands to illustrate the action and create sound effects to emphasize or portray more realistic scenes. As further examples, stage plays and their derivatives, such as opera and movies, normally include costumes and scenery to enhance and further the communication. 7: Communication in an organisation is multi-directional. Discuss the statement by explaining briefly channels of communication based on directions of communication. Answer : Communication is the passing on of ideas and information. In business we need good, clear communication. The contact may be between people, organisations or places and can be in a number of forms such as speech, writing, actions and gestures. Organisations need to be structured in such a way as to maximise the benefits of communication processes. This is why team structures are so useful because they open up a multi-flow channel of communications. Up until the 1980s many large firms in America and Western Europe were characterised by top-down communications systems. http://legacy.businesscasestudies.co.uk/theory_images/173/11200488981.jpg Communication flowed down the line i.e. instructions were passed down the line. Individuals at the bottom end of the system had little scope for decision making. However, modern communication systems stress the importance of empowerment, and multi-flow communications: There are a range of media for flows of communication in a modern organisation including: team briefings team discussions meetings informal talk e-mail discussion boards, etc. Large organisations like Corus and Travis Perkins recognise the importance of multi-channel communications and have therefore created team working structures. Teams are organised into multi-disciplinary groups in order to draw on a range of expertise. The teams are encouraged to make decisions rather than to wait for commands from above. Multi-channel communications Formal communications are those that involve the officially recognised communication channels within an organisation. Informal communication involves other forms of interactions between organisational members. Good communication is an important person to person skill in an organisation. Employees are most likely to be well motivated and to work hard for organisations where there are well organised multi-directional communication flows. Communication flows in a number of directions: Downward communication involves the passing of commands from higher levels in a hierarchy to lower levels. This is sometimes referred to as top-down communication. Upward communication involves the feedback of ideas from lower down in the organisation to higher levels. This sort of communication flow is important in the consultation of employees, and enables managers to draw on good ideas from those working at grassroots levels in an organisation. Sideways communication involves the exchange of ideas and information between those at the same level in an organisation e.g. between the various functions. Multi-channel communication involves a range of flows of information. Information and Communications technology and the resultant networking systems enable effective multi-channel communication. There are all sorts of ways of organising effective communications between members of an organisation: Team briefings enable team leaders and managers to communicate and consult with their staff. Team briefings may take place on a daily basis or less frequently. Formal meetings enable a more formalised approach to communication. Face-to-face communications enable a free and frank exchange of ideas. There are many other ways of communicating such as e-mail, electronic noticeboards, physical noticeboards, newsletters, phone, fax, videoconferencing etc. The type of communication channel used needs to be appropriate to the message being conveyed. For example, if an exchange of ideas is required some sort of face-to-face meeting will be most appropriate. The communication of information can be done by newsletter, or notice board. Team working encourages a range of different types of communication and can be to high levels of motivation. 8: Give a few examples where one can say that communication was done in an unethical mannner. Answer : 9: It is feedback that completes the proces of communication.. Elaborate this statement. Answer: Communication plays a very crucial role in an organization. In fact, communication is the reason for human existence. There are different forms of communication through which the intentions of people and animals and even plants alike can be passed across to another. Without communication, life will be very difficult and in fact, it will be full of chaos. Feedback makes communication meaningful. It is the end-result of an idea and makes communication continuous. In the process of communication, the originator first gets the idea to be passed across and then think of how to get it across via appropriate channel or medium. After the coding and dissemination, one expects the decoder after receiving the information or idea to give response. The response thus given is called the response which may be verbal or non-verbal, that is, in words or mere smile, glance, clap, etc. While feedback could be instantaneous as in the case of verbal conversation between two people standing or on telephone conversation or internet instant message, it could be delayed for sometime before the response is given to allow the receiver to think and take his time to consider what he is given. While the former is common to an informal communication, the latter goes with formal communication via letters, memo, etc. Feedback could also be in written form or in oral form or even both. It could be also in form of demonstration e.g. body movement, paralanguage, gesture, posture, etc. At one time or another, people are seen been frustrated as a result of the refusal of another person to give response to their message or letter. Some got so mad that delay in such could result to disciplinary measures or insubordination especially in a formal setting. To lovers, it means life itself. Refusal to communicate ones intentions may mal the whole relationship of a thing. All these explain the importance of feedback in communication. The following are some of the importance of feedback in communication either in a formal or informal setting: 1. It completes the whole process of communication and makes it continuous. 2. It sustains communication process 3. It makes one know if one is really communication or making sense 4. It is a basis for measuring the effectiveness of communication 5. It is a good basis for planning on what next to be done especially statistical report 6. Communication will be useless without feedback 7. Feedback paves way for new idea generation These points are few in number. The basis being established here is that feedback is the livewire of communication as communication is the livewire of human existence and interaction. 10: One has to be well educated to learn the nuances of communication. Do u agree or disagree? Suppourt your answers with logical and concrete examples. Answer : Think of how often you communicate with people during your day. You write emails, facilitate meetings, participate in conference calls, create reports, devise presentations, debate with your colleaguesà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦ the list goes on. We can spend almost our entire day communicating. So, how can we provide a huge boost to our productivity? We can make sure that we communicate in the clearest, most effective way possible. communication needs to be: Clear. Concise. Concrete. Correct. Coherent. Complete. Courteous. and well illustrate each element with both good examples. 1. Clear When writing or speaking to someone, be clear about your goal or message. What is your purpose in communicating with this person? If youre not sure, then your audience wont be sure either. To be clear, try to minimize the number of ideas in each sentence. Make sure that its easy for your reader to understand your meaning. People shouldnt have to read between the lines and make assumptions on their own to understand what youre trying to say 2. Concise When youre concise in your communication, you stick to the point and keep it brief. Your audience doesnt want to read six sentences when you could communicate your message in three. Are there any adjectives or filler words that you can delete? You can often eliminate words like for instance, you see, definitely, kind of, literally, basically, or I mean. Are there any unnecessary sentences? Have you repeated the point several times, in different ways? 3. Concrete When your message is concrete, then your audience has a clear picture of what youre telling them. There are details (but not too many!) and vivid facts, and theres laserlike focus. Your message is solid. 4. Correct When your communication is correct, it fits your audience. And correct communication is also error-free communication. Do the technical terms you use fit your audiences level of education or knowledge? Have you checked your writing for grammatical errors? Remember, spell checkers wont catch everything. Are all names and titles spelled correctly? 5. Coherent When your communication is coherent, its logical. All points are connected and relevant to the main topic, and the tone and flow of the text is consistent. 6. Complete In a complete message, the audience has everything they need to be informed and, if applicable, take action. Does your message include a call to action, so that your audience clearly knows what you want them to do? Have you included all relevant information à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ contact names, dates, times, locations, and so on? 7. Courteous Courteous communication is friendly, open, and honest. There are no hidden insults or passive-aggressive tones. You keep your readers viewpoint in mind, and youre empathetic to their needs. 11: Expain the organisational and personal barriers to communication. Answer : Ethics because it is not ethical to answer questions that a person is not supposed to hear, i.e., conflict of interest. Law is similar but this is through written communications. One should never put in an email or something written that could be used in court. All of that info should go via personal exchages Gender bias is obvious. Sometimes say a man wont reveal certain things to a woman and vice versa. And lastly, confidentialty. What is the saying; Valor is the better part of discretion? Dont say what you dont want someone else to hear.