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Business Communication Today

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Professional Communication in a Digital, Social, Mobile World

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Communication Is important �for Your Career

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Writing

Listening

Speaking

Clarity

Persuasion

Freelancers

Executives

Entrepreneurs

You can have the greatest ideas in the world, but they’re no good to your career if you can’t express them clearly and persuasively.

Many companies now supplement their permanent workforces with independent contractors (freelancers) who are brought on for a short period or a single project. You will have to “sell yourself” into each new contract, communicate successfully in a wide range of work situations, and take full responsibility for your career growth and success.

If you launch a company or move into an executive role in an existing organization, you can expect communication to consume the majority of your time. Top executives spend most of their workdays communicating, and businesspeople who can’t communicate well don’t stand much chance of reaching the top.

In fact, improving your communication skills may be the single most important step you can take in your career. If you learn to write well, speak well, listen well, and recognize the appropriate way to communicate in any situation, you’ll gain a major advantage that will serve you throughout your career.

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Communication Is Important

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For Your Company

•Closer Marketplace Ties

• Opportunities for Influence

• Better Productivity and Problem Solving

• Better Financial Returns and Results

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Communication Is Important

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For Your Company

•Earlier Warning of Potential Problems

• Stronger, More Timely Decision Making

• Clear, Persuasive Marketing Messages

• Increased Employee Engagement

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What Makes Business Communication Effective?

Provide practical information.
Give facts, not vague impressions.
Deliver information concisely and efficiently.
Clarify expectations and responsibilities.
Offer compelling, persuasive arguments and recommendations.

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Communicating as a Professional

(LO 1.2) Explain what it means to communicate as a professional in a business context.

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What Is Professionalism?

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Excellence

Ethical Behavior

Etiquette

Teamwork

Accountability

Positive Attitude

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Understanding What Employers Expect From You

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•Organizational Skills

•Coherence and Persuasion

•Active Listening Skills

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Understanding What Employers Expect From You

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•Communication Diversity

•Communication Technology

•Writing and Speaking Skills

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Understanding What Employers Expect From You

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•Business Etiquette

•Ethical Communication

•Time Management Skills

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Communicating in an Organizational Context

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Every organization has a formal communication network, in which ideas and information flow along the lines of command (the hierarchical levels) in the company’s organization structure. In a formal network, information flows in three directions:

Downward communication flows from executives to employees.
Upward communication flows from employees to executives.
Horizontal communication flows between departments.

Every organization also has an informal communication network (the grapevine or the rumor mill) that encompasses all communication that occurs outside the formal network. Some of this communication takes place naturally as employees interact on the job and in social settings; some of it takes place when the formal network doesn’t provide information that employees want. In fact, the inherent limitations of formal communication networks helped spur the growth of social media in the business environment.

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Adopting an �Audience-Centered Approach

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“You” Attitude

Business

Etiquette

Emotional

Intelligence

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The Basic �Communication Model

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Sender Has an Idea

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Sender Encodes Idea as a Message

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Sender Produces the Message

3

Sender Transmits the Message

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The Basic �Communication Model

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Audience Receives Sender’s Message

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Audience Decodes the Message

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Audience Responds to the Message

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Audience Gives Feedback to Sender

8

The audience receives the message. It is not enough for the message to reach the intended audience. The audience must also sense the presence of a message, select it from all the other messages, and perceive it as an actual message.
The audience decodes the message. Decoding is complex; receivers often extract different meanings from messages than the meanings that senders intended.
The audience responds to the message. Before a receiver can respond as the sender hopes, the receiver must remember the message long enough to act on it, must be able to act on it, and must be motivated to respond.
The audience sends feedback—verbal, nonverbal, or both. Just like the original message, however, this feedback from the receiver needs to be decoded carefully.

This process is complex, so communication efforts often fail to achieve the sender’s objective.

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Barriers in the Communication Environment

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Noise and

Distractions

Competing

Messages

Message

Filtering

Channel

Breakdowns

Within any communication environment, messages can be disrupted by a variety of communication barriers:

Noise and distractions. External distractions range from poor acoustics to uncomfortable meeting rooms to crowded computer screens with instant messages popping up. Internal distractions consist of thoughts and emotions. Multitasking is virtually guaranteed to create communication distractions.

Competing messages. Having your audience’s undivided attention is rare. In many cases, you must compete with other messages that are trying to reach your audience at the same time.

Filters. Messages can be blocked or distorted by filters—any human or technology that intervenes between the sender and the receiver. Filtering can be both intentional (e.g., automatically filing email messages based on sender or content) or unintentional (e.g., an overly aggressive spam filter that deletes legitimate email).

When channel breakdowns occur, messages may be delayed, misrouted, or lost.

As a communicator, try to be aware of any barriers that could prevent your messages from reaching their intended audiences.

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Inside the Mind �of Your Audience

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How Audiences Receive Messages

How Audiences Decode Messages

How Audiences Respond to Messages

Messages often reach the intended audience but have no effect. For an audience member to actually receive a message, three events need to occur: the receiver has to sense its presence, select it from all the other messages clamoring for attention, and then perceive it as an actual message (as opposed to random, pointless noise). You can boost your chances of success if you empathize with your audience, consider their expectations, and make your messages easy to find and understand.

Even though a message may have been received by the audience, it still does not “mean” anything until the recipient decodes it and assigns meaning to it. Assigning meaning is a highly personal process that’s influenced by culture, experiences, language, moods, and more. So, there is no guarantee that your audience will assign the same meaning that you intended.

Your message has been delivered, received, and correctly decoded. Now what? Will the audience respond in the way that you would like them to? Probably—if three events occur. First, the recipient has to remember the message long enough to act on it. Second, the recipient has to be able to respond as you wish. Third, the recipient has to be motivated to respond.

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Social Communication Model

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The traditional model of business communication was largely defined by a publishing or broadcast mindset. For external communication, a company used to release carefully scripted messages to a mass audience that often had few, if any, ways to respond. Likewise, customers and other interested parties had few ways to connect with one another to ask questions, share information, or offer support. Internal communication tended to follow the same “we talk, you listen” model, as upper managers issued directives to lower-level supervisors and employees.

Today, a variety of technologies have enabled and inspired a new approach to business communication. In contrast to the publishing mindset, this new social communication model is interactive, conversational, and usually open to all who wish to participate. Audience members are no longer passive recipients of messages; instead, they are active participants in a conversation.

This new model is revolutionizing business communication. Social media have given customers and other stakeholders a voice they did not have in the past. And businesses are listening to that voice.

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Social Communication Model�(in Practice)

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Traditional

Approach

Social Media

Approach

Hybrid

Method

Strategic

Plans

Policies

Customer

Support

Project

Updates

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The Rise of Mobile as a Communication Platform

Globally, about 80% of internet users access the web with a mobile device.
Mobile is the primary communication tool for many business professionals.
About 50% of U.S. consumers use mobile devices exclusively to search online.
Smartphones keep people connected 24/7.

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For millions of people around the world, a mobile device is their primary way to access the Internet. Globally, roughly 80 percent of Internet users access the web at least some of the time with a mobile device.

Mobile has become the primary communication tool for many businesspeople, including a majority of executives under age 40.

Roughly half of U.S. consumers use a mobile device exclusively for their online search needs, and many online activities that eventually migrate to a PC screen start out on a mobile screen.

Smartphones have become intensely personal devices in ways that PCs never did. Many users are closely connected to their phones 24/7, and to all the information sources, conversations, and networks that those phones can connect to. As a result, mobile connectivity resembles a continuous stream of conversations that never quite end, which influences the way businesses need to interact with their stakeholders.

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How Mobile Technologies Are Changing Business Communication

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Mobile-First

Approach

Radical Connectivity

The rise of mobile communication has some obvious implications. For example, many users expect websites to be mobile friendly, and they’re likely to avoid sites that aren’t optimized for mobile. As mobile access overtakes computer-based access, some companies now take a mobile-first approach, in which websites are designed for optimum viewing on smartphones and tablets. Another successful approach is creating mobile apps that offer a more interactive and mobile-friendly experience than a conventional website can offer.

Furthermore, mobile changes the way people communicate, which has profound implications for virtually every aspect of business communication. The term radical connectivity describes “the breathtaking ability to send vast amounts of data instantly, constantly, and globally.” People who’ve grown up with mobile communication technology expect to have immediate access to information and the ability to stay connected to their various social and business networks.

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Mobile Technology and Business Communication Practices

Challenges of constant connectivity
Challenges for creating/consuming content
Multitasking and other distractions
Pressures on standards of writing
Sensory and cognitive extensions

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Here are the most significant ways that mobile technology is changing the practice of business communication:

Constant connectivity is a mixed blessing. Like social media, mobile connectivity can blur the boundaries of personal and professional time and space. On the other hand, it can give employees more flexibility to meet their personal and professional obligations.

Mobile form factors present challenges for creating and consuming content, whether it’s typing an email message or watching a video.

Mobile users are often multitasking, so they can’t give full attention to the information on their screens. Moreover, mobile use often occurs in environments with multiple distractions and barriers to successful communication.

Mobile communication, particularly text messaging, has put pressure on traditional standards of grammar, punctuation, and writing in general.

Mobile devices can serve as sensory and cognitive extensions. For example, they can help people experience more of their environment and have instant access to information without relying on faulty and limited human memory.

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Mobile Technology and Business Communication Practices

Security and privacy concerns
Productivity and collaboration
Assistance with business tasks
Decision making and problem solving
Engaging experiences for customers

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Mobile devices create a host of security and privacy concerns, for end users and corporate technology managers alike. These devices don’t always have the rigorous security controls that corporate networks need, and users don’t always use them in secure ways.

Mobile tools can enhance productivity and collaboration by making it easier for employees to stay connected and giving them access to information and work tasks during forced gaps in the workday or while traveling.

Mobile apps can assist in a wide variety of business tasks, from research to presentations.

Mobile connectivity can accelerate decision making and problem solving by putting the right information in the hands of the right people at the right time. Mobile communication also makes it easier to quickly tap into pockets of expertise within a company.

With interactivity designed to take advantage of the capabilities of mobile devices (including cameras, accelerometers, compasses, and GPS), companies can create more engaging experiences for customers and other users.

The mobile revolution complicates business communication in some ways, but it can enhance communication in many ways if done thoughtfully. You’ll read more about mobile in the chapters ahead.

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Summary of Discussion

In this section, we discussed the following:

The Rise of Mobile as a Communication Platform
Mobile Technologies Are Changing Business Communication
Mobile Technology and Business Communication Practices

The next section will cover Using Technology to Improve Business Communication.

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Using Technology to Improve Business Communication

(LO 1.5) List four general guidelines for using communication technology effectively.

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Keeping Technology �in Perspective

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What Technology

Can Do

Help You Accomplish Tasks

Support Interpersonal Communication

What Technology

Cannot Do

Replace Interpersonal Communication

Think for You or Supply Essential Skills

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Guarding Against �Information Overload

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Receivers of Digital Correspondence

Filter and prioritize all incoming messages.
Limit the number of RSS feeds and Twitter streams.

Senders of Digital Correspondence

Don’t send unnecessary messages.
Don’t send “urgent” messages without justification.

The overuse or misuse of communication technology can lead to information overload, in which people receive more information than they can effectively process. Information overload makes it difficult to discriminate between useful and useless information, lowers productivity, and amplifies employee stress both on the job and at home.

As a recipient, you have some level of control over the messages you receive. Use filtering to isolate high-priority messages that deserve your attention. Also, be wary of subscribing to too many Twitter streams and other sources. Instead, focus on the information you truly need to do your job.

As a sender, don’t send unnecessary messages. In addition, when you send messages that aren’t urgent or crucial, let people know so they can prioritize. Also, most communication systems let you mark messages as urgent; however, use this feature only when it is truly needed. Its overuse leads to annoyance and anxiety, not action.

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Using Technological �Tools Productively

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Information Technology Paradox

Issues

Employee Distractions

Potential Litigation

Information Security

Corporate Reputation

According to the “information technology paradox,” information tools can waste as much time as they save. The speed and simplicity of these tools can cause a flood of digital messages that distract employees from completing their work. Managers must provide guidance to help employees use information technology productively.

Inappropriate web use leaves employers open to lawsuits. Moreover, blogs or social networking pages can expose confidential information or damage a firm’s reputation in the marketplace. The best solution to such problems lies in developing clear policies that are enforced evenly for all employees.

In addition, knowing how to use technology efficiently can boost a worker’s productivity. Therefore, managers need to ensure that employees have sufficient training to use information technology productively while on the job.

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Reconnecting with People

Solving difficult problems
Maintaining productive relationships
Learning about other people
Letting people get to know you

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Unethical Communication

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Plagiarizing Ideas or Products

Omitting Essential Information

Selectively Misquoting

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Unethical Communication

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Misrepresenting Numerical Data

Distorting Visual Displays

Ignoring Privacy and Security

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Distinguishing Ethical Lapses from Ethical Dilemmas

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What’s an Ethical Dilemma?

Choosing from among Conflicting Alternatives

What’s an Ethical Lapse?

Making a Choice That’s Clearly Unethical

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Ensuring Ethical Communication

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Ethical Individual Employees

Ethical Company Leadership

Appropriate Policies and Structures

Ensuring ethical business communication requires three elements: ethical individuals, ethical company leadership, and appropriate policies and structures. Moreover, these three elements need to work in harmony.

Employers have a responsibility to establish clear guidelines, such as a written code of ethics to promote ethical behavior and an ethics audit to monitor ethical progress. Furthermore, ethical behavior has to start at the top. If employees see company executives ignoring ethics guidelines and making unethical decisions, then they may conclude that the ethical guidelines don’t mean anything.

In addition, every employee has the responsibility to communicate in an ethical manner, whether or not formal guidelines are in place. If you can’t decide whether a choice is ethical, imagine that you will have to explain your decision to someone whose opinion you value.

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Ensuring Legal Communication

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Promotions and

Contracts

Employment

Communication

Intellectual

Property

Financial

Reporting

Defamation

Transparency

In addition to ethical guidelines, business communication is also bound by a wide variety of laws and regulations, including the following areas:

Promotional communication and contracts. Marketing specialists need to be aware of the many laws that govern truth and accuracy in advertising. A contract is a legally binding promise between two parties, in which one party makes a specified offer and the other party accepts.

Employment communication. Local, state, and federal laws govern communication between employers and both potential and current employees.

Intellectual property. In an age when instant global connectivity makes copying and retransmitting electronic files effortless, the protection of intellectual property (IP) has become a widespread concern. Intellectual property includes patents, copyrighted materials, trade secrets, and even Internet domain names.

Financial reporting. Finance and accounting professionals who work for publicly traded companies (those that sell stock to the public) must adhere to stringent reporting laws.

Defamation. Negative comments about another party raise the possibility of defamation—the intentional communication of false statements that damage character or reputation.

Transparency requirements. Governments around the world are taking steps to help ensure that consumers and other parties know who is behind the information they receive, particularly from online sources.

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Business Communication Today

Chapter 1

Professional Communication in a Digital, Social, Mobile World

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