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| Any form of exchange of ideas or feelings between a sender and a receiver through a medium. |
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| Communications can flow down, up, or laterally in any organization. |
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| This is a procedure by which one can exchange information and feelings through a medium. The sender has an idea, he/she encodes it, and transmits the message. A receiver gets the message, decodes it, and sends feedback. There may may barriers which could interfere with the exchange (See 'Barriers'> |
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| This a pattern of physical cues, environmental stimuli, and implicit understanding that conveys meaning between two members of the same culture. However from culture to culture, people convey contextual mmeaning differently. High culture such a South Korean, people rely less on verbal and more on context of nonverbal actions and environmental setting to convey meaning. In Canada, Germany and the U.S. low culture predominates. Verbal communication is more important than circumstance. Because Canada is a multicultural nation, we need to be acutely aware of these differences in our community. |
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| Culture is a shared system of symbols, beliefs, attitudes, values, expectations, and norms for behaviour. It is learned, varies in stability (changing), varies in complexity, and varies in tolerance. |
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| This is the buying and selling of products online e.g. Ebay. |
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| This is information that is true in every sense and not deceptive in any way. |
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| This means choosing among alternatives that are not clear-cut. They may be ical and valid, or they may fall into a vast area between right and wrong. |
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| This means deliberately making a clear unethical or illegal decision. |
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| This is a belief that one's own cultural background, including ways of analysing problems, values, beliefs, and verbal and non-verbal communications is superior. Ethnocentrists lose sight of the possibility that their words and actions can be misunderstood, and they are likely to misinterpret the actions of others. |
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| This is a private online network linking a company with its suppliers, invoices etc. |
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| This means the willingness of individual members on a team to set aside their personal opinions and go along with everyone else even if everyone else is wrong. It may be caused by an outspoken member with his/her own agenda, a short deadline, or for some, just being part of a team. The result can lead to poor quality decisions, ill-advised actions, and unethical actions. (Enron's behaviour.) |
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| These are the private motives that affect a group's interaction. |
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| This stands for Idea (the term), Context (explanation of the term), and Extension (the automatic applcation of the term.). When one reacehes the last stage, then the concept has been learned well. |
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| When we are overwhelmed by faxes, emails, reports, memos, we can become paralyzed. This is informational overload. There is too much to process. |
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| These are practical ways of crossing cultural barriers. Avoid using slang or idioms. Pay attention to local accents and pronunciation, and be aware of vocal variations. One can study other cultures by assuming differences until similarity is proved. Take responsibility for communication, Shoe respect, and withhold judgment. These are a few of the many ways of responding to a different culture. (Text p. 61) |
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| This is an internal online communication system within a company for exchange of company information such as pension benefits, salary, newsletters etc. |
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| A journal is a written response to personal experience. A personal journal is entirely a personal reaction. A Reading Journal is a summary and analysis of what has been read. |
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| Prejudgment is the most common barriers to listening. It involves jumpingh to conclusions while closing your mind to additional information. We all need assumptions to live by. Some people listen defensively, viewing every comment as a personal attack To protect their self-esteem, they distort the messages by tuning out anything that doesn't vonfirm their view of themselves. Some barriers can be race, religion, career, social standing, economic status, gender, or group orientation |
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| This involves receiving, Interpreting, remembering, evaluating, and responding. |
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| Listening can be informational, critical, or empathetic. Often these are mixed. |
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| Unspoken messages are the most common form of communication. These include cues, gestures, facial expressions, spatial relationships, and attitude towards time. Sixty to ninety percent of each conversation is through non-verbal cues. |
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| This is the restatement of what one has said for purposes of clarification. In writing , it is about the same length as the original. |
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| This means involving employees in a company's decision making process. |
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| This includes how we see the world and how we develop language. |
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| This is a procedure for analysing a difficult situation. It starts with awareness of the situation (Initial Experience) and is followed over time by an Inquiry Question, A listing of Alternatives, the collection of Data, Synthesis of the Data, Assessing the Conclusion, a statement of Solving the Problem and an Evaluation of the process. (See 'Resources" and 'Organizers' for a graphic.) |
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| Groups that are affected by a company and those who may have an influence on your company |
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| This is the attempt to categorize individuals by trying to predict their behaviour or character on the basis of membership in a particular group. |
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| A summary is the restatement of what someone has said in about one-third fewer words. It does not incude personal opinion. |
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| Most teams reach a decision by passing through five stages. These are Orientation, Conflict, Brainstorm, Emergence, and Reinforcement. |
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| Teams are effective if they have a clear sense of purpose, communicate openly and honestly, make decisions by concensus, are creative thinkers, and are focused. |
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| Meetings need to be kept on track Follow 'pariamentary procedure' (Roberts Rules of Order). Encourage participation and close and plan a follow up if it is necessary. |
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| To be productive, a meeting must have a clear goal, selected participants, an appropriate location, and a set and followed agenda |
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| Effective team messages should follow these guidelines to produce clear, seamless, and successful messages. Select tyeh team members wisely. Select a responsible leader. Promote cooperation. Clarify goals. Elicit commitment. Clarify responsibilities. Encourage prompt action. Apply technology. Ensure technological compatability (Use the same word processor !) |
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Definition
| This may be caused by emotional reaction. This irrational resistance can be overcome by remaining calm and avoiding destructive confrontation. Express understanding, make people aware of their resistance, evaluate other's objections fairly, and hold personal arguments until the other person is ready for them |
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Definition
| These are the functions team members MIGHT take on. One who is self-oriented is motivated mainly by personal needs and is less productive. One who helps with team-maintenance is interested in getting everyone to work together. Those who take on task-facilitating roles will help solve problems and make decisions. |
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Definition
| There are essential two general teams. Formal types are part of the company's organizational structure. (President, Vice-President, etc.). The informal team are Cross-functional , Quality Assurance, and Task Force. (See listing.) |
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| Teams for Cross-Functional Work |
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| These are people drawn from different areas and specialties. (e.g. sales, engineering, design etc.) Their purpose is to create a new product. |
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| Teams for Quality Assurance Work |
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| These are people drawn together to make sure that products meet assigned standards. |
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| These are informal teams assembled to resolve specific issues often formed with specialists fromm different departments. They disband once the issues have been resolved. |
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| Writing is ALWAYS done in stages over time. These include Prewriting (scribblegram, lists etc.), Drafting, Revising (a second opinion), and Publishing. There is no good writing. There is only good rewriting. |
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| Cultures: Habits of Strong Company Cultures. |
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Definition
| There are seven habits of strong company cultures. These are 'Belief in the cultural practices of the company', 'Engaging employees in cultural practices', 'Leading by example', Hiring for a cultural fit', ' Rewarding behaviour', 'Making cultural values pay, and 'performing cultural checkups regularly'. |
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| The goal of effective business writing is to express your ideas rather than impress your audience. This involves a systematic writing process- Planning, Writing, and Completing. |
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| Purpose of Business Writing |
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| The 'general purpose' is to inform, persuade,or collaborate. The 'specific purpose'means to consider how your audience's ideas or behaviour should be affected by the message. |
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| In business, marketing is critical. You need to know both primary and secondary audiences. You also need to know its size and composition. Finally, you need to gauge the level of understanding, expectations and preferences, and probable reaction. |
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| These are written and include letters, memos, and e-mail messages. |
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| Consider other viewpoints, browse company files, check with supervisors or colleagues, ask audience for input. |
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| Good news people try ensure that information is accurate, ethical,and pertinent. This is good business research practice as well. |
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| This means the value of a medium in a given communication situation. It is determined by a medium's ability to 'convey a message by more than one informational cue' (visual, verbal, vocal- learning style). It must include ' feedback' and establish ' a personal focus.' (See graphic p.81.) |
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Definition
| To establish a good relationship, be yourself. Use the 'you' attitude, emphasize the positive, establish credibility, be polite, use bias-free language, and project the company's image. Generally, adapt your message to your audience and purpose. |
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| In addition to helping business writer, good organization increases reader understanding, makes readers more receptive to your message, and saves readers time. |
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| Organizing Business Messages Effectively |
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Definition
| To organize a message, define the main idea, limit the scope, group the points, and choose the direct or indirect approach. |
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| Direct Approach (Deductive) |
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Definition
| The main idea comes first, then the evidence. Use this when your audience will be neutral or pleased to hear from you. |
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| Indirect Approach (Inductive) |
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Definition
| The evidence comes first then the main idea. Use this when your audience will be displeased. |
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| This is asort of 'brain freeze' when a writer just cannot get started. To overcome this, use positive self-talk, know your purpose, or visualize your audience. (More detail in text, p104) |
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| Direct vs Indirect Approach |
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| See'Direct Approach' and 'Indirect Approach' and the text page.109 |
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| Style is the way you choose words to achieve a certain tone or overall impression. Business style should be clear, correct, complete, concise, and courteous. (p111) |
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| These are conjunctions, prepositions, articles, and pronouns which express relationships and have only one meaning. |
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| Denotation and Connotation |
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| Denotation is the literal or dictionary meaning. Connotation means all the associations and feelings evolked by the word. |
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| An abstract word expresses a concept, quality, or characteristic. A concrete word stands for something you can touch or see. |
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| A cliche is a term or phrase that is so worn out that it is virtually meaningless. |
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| These are technical or professional terms that only a select group understands. |
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| You are using the 'active' voice when the subject comes before the verb and the object of the verb follows. 'John rented the office.' The 'passive' voice has the subject following the verb and the object preceeds it ' The office was rented by John'. |
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| Sentences classified by structure are simple, compound, complex, and compound complex. |
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| When composing and e-mail the P.D.F. approach is best. (Purpose, Details, and Follow-through.) |
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| A communication channel is either oral or written. The oral channel includes telephone conversations, face to face exchanges, and video-taped addresses. The written channel includes media such as letters, memos, emails messages and reports. (p80) |
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| A medium is the method used to communicate within a channel. It might include memos, letters, videotapes, teleconferencing depending on the circumstances. (See text pages 80-81 for specific choices.) |
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