Business Communications (ADMN 1206) Midterm

Difference Between Observation, Judgment , and Inference

- An Observation is a statement you yourself has verified - A Judgment (opinion) is a statement that can't be verified since it includes terms that can't be measured objectively - An Inference is a statement that has not yet been verified but whose truth or falsity could be established, either now or in future

When Writers Block occurs what is a good strategy?

- Brainstorm -Free- write - Cluster ideas -Speak to your audiences

Describe the communication process

- Communication theory is helpful in us understand where miscommunication occurs at each stage from stimulus and perception, to encoding the message, to transmission through channels, to decoding, interpreting, and choosing and selecting feedback

Analyzing group members

- Focus on common features of the community of practice -Map profiles of group features: Demographics (quantity) features Age - Education - Income - Race - Sex Psychographic (quality) features Values - Beliefs - Goals - Lifestyles

7 Effective steps to Solve a Case study

- Read the case thoroughly - Define the central issue -Define the firm's goals - Identify the constraints to the problem -Identify all the relevant alternatives - Select the best alternative - develop an implementation plan

List effective conflict resolution strategies

- Set clear responsibilities and ground rules early - Discuss problems as they arise - Accept that group members are not responsible for each other's happiness - Focus on performance, not personality - Focus on opportunities instead of blame - Identify the needs that each member strives to meet

How can we ensure a strong "You - attitude" in our messages?

- Talk about the reader, not yourself -Refer to the readers requests specifically - Don't talk about feelings (except to congratulate or offer sympathies) - In positive situations use "you" more than "I" - In negative situations, avoid "you" ; be passive

Explain the managerial functions of communications (effective managers)

- To convey information - To aid decision- making - To create records - To motivate employees -To discipline workers - To save money - To send effective messages

Define Empathy

- the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes

List the ways to analyze your audience

-As individuals -as Organizational members Organizational culture Discourse community AND/OR community of practice -as Group members Demographics vs Psychographics

Define Channels

-Different ways of communicating. Ex. Face to face, social media platform, paper documentation, voicemail, social groupings

Identify Five Criteria of Good Writing (Effective message)

-It's Clear -It's Complete -It's Correct -It's Concise -It's Courteous

Diversity

-Its good to have a diverse team so people can use each others strengths/ knowledge

Analyzing a Discourse community

-What are the preferred communications channels, formats, and styles preferred for communication ? -What do employees talk about? - What topics are generally avoided? - What kind of and how much persuasive evidence is required?

Define Frozen Evaluation

-having fixed beliefs on a subject

Characteristics of Collaborative Writing

-planning -revising -proofing

Explain the four criteria of reader benefits

1. Adapt reader benefits to audience 2. Stress intrinsic and extrinsic benefits -Intrinsic - built in -Extrinsic - added on 3. Use clear logic to prove and vivid detail to explain 4. State benefits with you- attitude

Five ways to create Positive Emphasis

1. Avoid negative words and connotations 2. Focus upon what the reader can do, not on limitations 3. Justify negative information 4. Omit unimportant information 5. Situate negative information "in the middle of the paragraph" when structuring messages

Explain the importance of effective communications to Personal and Organizational Success

1. Communication Ability = Promotability - All jobs require to read info, listen to instructions, asks questions, solve problems -Valuable soft skills are necessary in a "technology intensive economy" 2. Importance of Writing -the higher you rise in an organization the more you face creative solutions -if something in business isn't in writing, it didn't happen

List six questions that help you adapt messages to audiences

1. How will the audience react to the message 2. How much information does the audience need? 3. What obstacles must you overcome? 4. What positive aspects can you emphasize? 5. What are the audience's expectation concerning the content and style of your message or presentation? 6. How will the audience use the document you provide?

Describe Eight Activities in the Writing Process

1. Plan - analyze, define 2. Gather - collect, research 3. Transform - ideas into words 4. Evaluate - rereading, measuring 5. Feedback - seek input from others 6. Revise - reevaluate, obtain feedback, change 7. Edit - correct grammar, typos, redundancy 8. Proofread - do a final check

Explain the multiple audiences of organizational messages

1. Initial - is the first to see your message 2. Gatekeeper - either rejects/ignores your message, or sends it on 3. Primary- accepts and/or acts on the basis of your message 4. Secondary - comments on and/or implements your message 5. Watchdog- may later on, assert economic, legal, political, or social power later in response to your message

Describe the two audiences in an organization

1. Internal -for people inside the organization such as superiors, peers and subordinates 2. External - For people outside the organization such as clients, suppliers, government bodies, and others

Five strategies for Active Listening

1. Paraphrase content 2. Identify feelings you think you hear 3. State your feelings 4. Ask for clarification 5. Offer to help solve the problem

The eight principles that help you improve communications (8 principles of semantics)

1. Perception involves the perceiver as well as the perceived 2. Observations, inferences, and judgments are not the same 3. No two things are exactly alike 4. Things Change Significantly with Time 5. Most either/or Classifications are not valid 6. A statement is rarely the whole story 7. Words are not identical to the objects they represent 8. Symbols used in communication must stand for the same thing in the minds of the sender and the receiver

How much time should be spent on each activity

1/3 plan, gather 1/3 evaluate, revise, edit, and proofread 1/3 Write

List ten ways to make your writing easier to read

1. Precede each paragraph with a temporary topic sentence 2. Use transitional terms to link paragraphs (i.e moreover) 3. Use active rather than passive verbs 4. Use verbs rather than nouns to carry the weight of your sentence 5. Tighten your writing 6. Vary sentence length and structure 7. Use parallel structure 8. Bring your reader into your sentences by using second- person pronouns (you, yourself, your) 9. Use words that are accurate, appropriate, ethical, and familiar 10. Use technical Jargon only when necessary

Two Types of Situational Analysis

1. SWOT 2. PEST

7 Decision Making Strategies

1. Understand what groups have to deliver 2. Identify the problem 3. Gather info 4. Establish procedural criteria 5. Generate alternative solutions 6. Measure alternative solutions against specific criteria 7. Choose the best solution

Five questions to ask when analyzing business communications

1. Whats at stake, and for whom? 2. Should you send a message? 3. What channel(s) should you use? 4. What should you say? 5. How should you say it?

Six purposes of effective meeting managment

1. to share info 2. To brainstorm ideas 3. to evaluate ideas 4. to make decisions 5. to create a document 6. to motivate members

How much meeting time is wasted in general

50%

What is a community of practice?

A group of people who: -work together -share a sense of purpose -learn together - create meaning - develop identities -add value to organization

Difference between Active and passive verbs

Active Verbs- the subject of the sentence carries the action of the verb describes Passive Verbs- the subject of the sentence is acted upon

Importance of using Feedback

Ask for feedback you want concerning: - your approach - benefits to the reader - the tone of your work -the correctness of your grammar

Analyzing an Organizations culture

Ask the questions : - Is the organization tall or flat? (how many authority levels) - How do employees get ahead? - What is valued more: diversity or homogeneity? - Is sociability among employees important? -Is behaviour, language, and dress generally informal or formal? - What are the organizations goals?

Importance of getting feedback

Asking others to evaluate your work -Is your work organized appropriately? - Have your revisions solved the problems? - Are there any typos in your draft?

What are Case Studies

Case studies are stories that are used as a teaching tool to show the application of a theory or concept to real situations. Dependent on the goal they are meant to fulfill, cases can be fact-driven and deductive where there is a correct answer, or they can be context driven where multiple solutions are possible.

Denotation and connotation

Denotation - the literal or dictionary meaning of a words Connotation - the emotional and cultural assumptions associated with a word

Define Decoding

Extracting meaning from symbols

Polorization

Forced into either-or choice (only two possible solutions)

What are Gerunds and Infinitives (used to reduce unnecessary words)

Gerunds- The "ing" form of verb, when used as a noun, can reduce unnecessary words Infinitive - a verb form verb preceded by "to" can also reduce unnecessary verbs

What is Groupthink and how do you address it?

Groupthink- is when groups value agreement so highly, that they punish dissent To address groupthink: -Seek alternatives - Test assumptions - Protect the rights of individuals to disagree

Goodwill

Has different meanings and applications

Difference between Hearing and Listening

Hearing- the perception of sounds Listening- involves decoding and perceiving them properly

The 3 Dimensions of of Group Interaction (

Informational Messages - which focus on content, including problem, data, and solutions Procedural Messages- which focus on professional methods and processes Interpersonal Messages- which focus on specific people, their co-operation, and group loyalty

Define Blindering

Limiting someones options unneccesarily

What is Active Listening?

Occurs when receivers demonstrate that they are heard and understood

Define Bypassing

Occurs when two people use the same symbol to mean different things

What are the Life Stages of a Task Group

Orientation - setup stage Formation - conflict stage Coordination - coordination (longest) stage Formalization - consensus stage

PEST Analysis Meaning

P- Politcal Factors E- Economic Factors S- Social Factors T- Technological Factors These factors are examined to chart an organizations long term plans

Define/ Explain Expectancy Theory

People do their best when - they believe they can succeed - they want what success brings This is why reader benefits work

Analyzing individuals

People either in your own organization or in organizations you work closely with -Observe audience members -Talk to audience members -Talk to people who know your audience

What is Polite Listening and how do you avoid it?

Polite Listening - Constitutes mechanical/inattentive listening Strategies to avoid it - make a list of questions, listen for answers - verify your understanding with the other person - jot down key points

PAIBOC Analysis

Purpose Audience Information Benefits Objections Context

PISCO

Purpose Input Solutions Choice Operation

Difference between Revise, Edit, and Proofread

Revise - change content to satisfy both your purposes and the audience's Edit- Change mechanical flaws and errors Proofread- correct typos and other errors When doing these check for : - content and clarity - Organization and layout -Style and tone

SWOT Analysis Meaning

S- Internal Strengths W- Internal Weaknesses O- External Opportunities T- External Threats

Situational Analysis

Situational analysis refers to a collection of methods that managers use to analyze an organization's internal and external environment to understand the organizations capabilities, customers, and business environment

How to use Bias Free Language?

Use words that do not discriminate on the basis of: - Gender - Age - Race -Abilities -Appearance

Explain/Define Reader Benefits

What advantages will an audience get from: -Using your services -Buying your products - Following your policies - Adopting your ideas?

Define Semantics

What we mean by the words and symbols we use

Define Organizational culture

a set of values, attitudes, and philosophies which - is expressed verbally in myth, stories, and heroes - is demonstrated nonverbally in space, money, power, and use

Grapevine

hearing information from secondary sources

Define Discourse Community

people who share assumptions about: -the channels, formats and styles to be used -The topics to be discussed -How/what constitutes as evidence

Define Encoding

putting ideas into symbols

Define Intranet

site inside firewall, inside an organization in which only it can access

Define Jargon

special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand.