BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

THE FUEL FOR CAREER CRUISE

• HIGH QUALITY COMMUNICATION

• THE HALLMARK OF ALL
HIGH FLYERS IN ANY FIELD
 THE LYNCH PIN OF BUSINESS

• STAKE HOLDERS

• EMPLOYEES COMMUNICATION

• CUSTOMERS

FISHING IN A FLOOD OF INFORMATION

ACHIEVES INTEGRATION
TOP

SIDE SIDE

BOTTOM
BRIDGING THOUGHTS
UTILITY OF COMMUNICATION

• PERSUADE
• COACH
• COORDINATE
• COUNSEL
• EVALUATE
• SUPERVISE
 MISUNDERSTOOD

No one would talk much in society if they

knew how often they misunderstood
others.
(Goethe)
THE IMMORTAL EVIL
SURVEYS

MANAGERS

MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM

FAILURES IN COMMUNICATION
“IT ALL COMES DOWN TO
COMMUNICATION”

# 1 Issue on
any
organization’s
Issue
Catalogue
 TECHNOLOGY DRIVEN
REVOLUTION IN COMMUNICATION

FROM YESTERDAY TO TOMORROW

THE FIRST STAGE – late 70’s

• WORD PROCESSING SOFTWARE

• FONTS & FORMATS
• BOOK QUALITY DOCUMENTS
• SPELL CHECK & GRAMMAR CHECK
• ENHANCED CORPORATE IMAGE
THE 2nd STAGE – early 80’s

• FACSIMILE & E MAIL

• POSTAL BOTTLENECKS AVOIDED
• HI SPEED COMMUNICATION

IMMEDIATE RESPONSE IMPACT

GOOD COMMUNICATION SKILLS

THE THIRD STAGE – MID 80’S

• GRAPHICS AND VISUAL AIDS IN BUSINESS

• SPREADSHEET PROGRAMS
• LINKED TO DATABASE
 THE 4th STAGE – early 90’s

• FULL MOTION AUDIO VIDEO TELECONFERENCING

• INTERNET MAKES IT HOUSEHOLD
 THE 5th STAGE - WIZARDS

• EXPERT SYSTEM HELPERS INCLUDED IN

OFFICE SOFT WARE
• ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SOLUTION FOR
DOCUMENTS & PRESENTATIONS
• NOT RECOMMENDED FOR ENTRY LEVEL
EMPLOYEES
 THE 6th STAGE – ASR

• AUTOMATIC SPEECH
RECOGNITION
• TALK OUT THE
MESSAGE

IMPACT ?????
 TODAY’S WORLD

 OUTSOURCING
 PARTNERSHIPS
 NETWORKING
 SUPPLIERS
 SPAN & SPEED
MANAGERS NEED TO COMMUNICATE

Effectively with a far wider range of people than before

 CHALLENGES
YOU WILL MAKE
THE
DIFFERENCE !

o MORE WORDS
o MORE INFORMATION
o MORE READY MADE
DOCUMENTS
 THRIVING IN THE MODERN ERA

o GRAB ATTENTION EARLY

o WRITE CONCISELY
o CONSIDER THE IMPACT OF FORMAT
o FIND & USE THE RIGHT TONE
o WRITE EFFICIENTLY
o WRITE NATURALLY
 THE PROCESS
OF
COMMUNICATION
 THE ROOTS
COMMUNIS COMMUNITY COMMUNISM

COMMON/SHARED
 RECOGNITION AS A SKILL

SOCRATES

ARISTOTLE - THE RHETORIC

THE OBJECTIVE
CREATING SHARED
UNDERSTANDING
 THE FINAL MEASURE

1. You have SHARED Information with

another person.
2. They have understood it the way you
understand it.
THE communication process
 The process
T H E M E S S A G E O R I G I N AT E S

IDEA TRANSMISSION

SENDER Msg. medium Msg. RECIEVER

FEEDBACK
encode decode
The feedback

TRANSMISSION
RESPONSE

sender Msg. medium Msg. receiver

decode encode
 FORMULATING THE MESSAGE

• THE PROCESS CAN BE INTERRUPTED BEFORE

IT BEGINS- UNFORTUNATELY!!!
 WHAT AND HOW TO CONVEY

• TOO MUCH INFORMATION  CONFUSION

• EXPLAINING WITHOUT ADEQUATE BACKGROUND
• RECOMMENDING ACTIONS WITHOUT
JUSTIFICATION
 DECIDING ABOUT CONTENT

• INCLUDE ONLY THE INFORMATION THAT IS

USEFUL TO YOUR AUDIENCE

• ORGANIZE IT IN A WAY THAT ENCOURAGES ITS

ACCEPTANCE
 EXPRESSING IDEAS
• LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN WRITING OR
SPEAKING
• LIMITED EDUCATION OR APTITUDE
• LIMITED VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR,
PUNCTUATION
• LACK OF EXPERITSE IN USING LANGUAGE
AN INABILITY TO PUT THOUGHTS
INTO WORDS CAN BE OVERCOME
THROUGH STUDY AND PRACTICE
THE CODES

 WORDS
 GESTURES / BODY LANGUAGE
 TONE
 THE
mediums
•VERBAL

•NON-VERBAL

•WRITTEN
 BARRIERS TO
COMMUNICATION

NOISE – ANY INTERFERENCE IN THE

COMMUNICATION PROCESS THAT DISTORTS
THE SENDER’S MEANING

• BETWEEN PEOPLE

• WITHIN ORGANIZATIONS
PHYSICAL BARRIERS
 PHYSICAL BARRIERS
• NOISY SURROUNDINGS
• DISTRACTIONS
• BAD CONNECTION
• UNFAMILIAR PRONUNCIATION
• VERY LOW PITCH
• ILLEGIBLE HAND WRITING
• INCORRECT PUNCTUATION
MENTAL & EMOTIONAL
BARRIERS
 PERCEPTUAL BARRIER

• REALITY IS LOOKED UPON DIFFERENTLY BY

INDIVIDUALS

• THE WORLD IS A FLOOD OF INFORMATION

 DIFFERENCE IN PERCEPTION

• OUR SENSES RECEIVE, INTERPRET & STORE

THE INFORMATION AROUND US

• THE MENTAL MAP / FRAME OF REFERENCE IS

FORMED
 PERCEPTION OF REALITY

• REALITY IS PERCIEVED THROUGH THE

INDIVIDUAL’S MENTAL MAP / FRAME
OF REFERENCE

• THUS OUR PERCEPTIONS ARE UNIQUE

 OPINIONS

 WHAT IS TRUE
 WHAT YOU – OR OTHERS – SHOULD DO
 MILLIONS OF MENTAL MAPS SHAPE AND DRIVE
PEOPLE’S THINKING ALL THE TIME
 THINKING IS THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING AND
CHANGING THE FRAME OF REFERENCE
 SELECTIVE PERCEPTION

• SENDERS CHOOSE DETAILS THAT SEEM

IMPORTANT & RELEVANT

• RECEIVERS TRY TO FIT NEW DETAILS INTO

THEIR EXISTING PATTERN. IF IT DOES NOT
FIT THEY DISTORT THE INFO. INSTEAD OF
RE-ARRANGING IT.
 OVERCOMING PERCEPTUAL
BARRIERS
• CAN BE DIFFICULT
• ANTICIPATE YOUR RECIEVER’S REACTION
• YOUR MESSAGE SHOULD HAVE MEANING FOR
THE RECIEVER
• TRY TO FIND SOMETHING USEFUL IN EVERY
MESSAGE YOU RECIEVE
 THE LANGUAGE BARRIER

• WORDS ARE SYMBOLS USED TO REPRESENT

REALITY
• WORDS CARRY DIFFERENT MEANING –>
MENTAL PATTERNS
• VOCABULARY OF PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT
BACKGROUNDS DIFFERS
 OVERCOMING THE LANGUAGE
BARRIER
• USE THE MOST SPECIFIC & ACCURATE WORDS
• TRY TO USE WORDS YOUR AUDIENCE WILL
UNDERSTAND
• USE LANGUAGE THAT DESCRIBES RATHER
THAN EVALUATES
• PRESENT FACTS, EVENTS AND
CIRCUMSTANCES
 RELATIONSHIP BARRIER

• THE EMOTIONAL RELATIONSHIP

• HISTORY

AFFECTS THE QUALITY OF COMMUNICATION

 POOR LISTENING

• THE MOST COMMON BARRIER

• LACK OF ATTENTION ON THE RECIEVER’S PART
 EMOTIONAL BARRIER

PRE-EXISTING MENTAL STATE

• INATTENTION TO A MESSAGE
• NEGATIVE / POSITIVE NEGATIVE REACTION
• EFFECTS ANALYSIS OF INFORMATION
 EMOTIONAL BARRIER

• COMMUNICATION PROCESS IS LACED WITH

FEELINGS & EMOTIONS.
• THE CONTENT OF THE MESSAGE
• THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SENDER &
RECIEVER.
 EMOTIONAL BARRIER

• COMMUNICATION CAN BREAKDOWN IF

NEGATIVE FEELINGS DEVELOP ON THE
RECEIVING END

• THE SENDER OR THE RECIEVER MAY ALREADY

BE EMOTIONALLY UPSET
 OVERCOMING EMOTIONAL
BARRIERS
• BE AWARE OF THE FEELINGS THAT ARISE IN
YOURSELF AND IN OTHERS AS YOU
COMMUNICATE. ATTEMPT TO CONTROL
THEM
• CHOOSE NEUTRAL WORDS TO AVOID
AROUSING STRONG FEELINGS
 OVERCOMING EMOTIONAL
BARRIERS

• AVOID ATTITUDES, BLAME AND

CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECTS
 DIFFERING BACKGROUNDS
• AGE
• EDUCATION
• GENDER
• SOCIAL STATUS
• ECONOMIC POSITION
• CULTURAL BACKGROUND
• TEMPERAMENT
• RELIGION
• POLITICAL BELIEF
 OVERCOMINGDIFFERING
BACKGROUNDS
• AVOID PROJECTING OR IMPOSING YOUR
OWN BACKGROUND OR CULTURE ONTO
OTHERS
• UNDERSTAND OTHER’S BACKGROUNDS,
PERSONALITIES AND PERCEPTIONS.
• CERTAIN BEHAVIOURS DON’T MEAN THE
SAME TO EVERYONE
 INCORRECT FILTERING
• A MESSAGE PASSES THROUGH PEOPLE
BETWEEN SENDER & RECIEVER

• SECRETARIES, ASSISTANTS

• THE MESSAGE CAN BECOME DISTORTED

 FILTERING

A MESSAGE WILL BE GIVEN TO A STUDENT. AFTER READING

THE MESSAGE THE PAPER WILL BE GIVEN BACK TO THE
INSTRUCTOR. THE STUDENT WILL THEN COMMUNICATE THE
MESSAGE VERBALLY TO THE STUDENT SITTING NEXT TO HIM
/ HER. THIS ACTIVITY WILL GO ON TILL THE LAST STUDENT
HAS RECEIVED THE MESSAGE.

NO CLARIFYING QUESTIONS ARE TO BE ASKED WHILE THE

INFORMATION IS BEING RECEIVED!!!!!

SIMULATION EXERCISE
 OVERCOMINGTHE FILTERING
BARRIER
• TRY TO ESTABLISH MORE THAN ONE
COMMUNICATION CHANNEL

• ELIMINATE AS MANY INTERMEDIARIES AS

POSSIBLE

• CONDENSE THE MESSAGE DOWN TO THE

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
CASE STUDY – SOUTHBAY PARK
 CASE STUDY – SOUTHBAY PARK

Now that you know what kind of people will

receive the PLAN for Southbay Park, try
adapting to their frame of reference.

What approach and words will increase the

chances of your plan being accepted by the
two stakeholders ?