Chapter 03 Planning and Decision Making

Audience characteristics help define how that audience will perceive your message. Which audience characteristics should you consider when envisioning your audience?

- Culture - Educational level - Rapport - Needs and concerns - Needs and expectations - Occupational background

Which of these actions will help you determine the purpose of your message?

- Decide what you want to accomplish through your message - Condense your thoughts into a central idea - Have the receiver understand logical information - Ask yourself why you are preparing the message

Which questions should you ask yourself as you cultivate a "you attitude" and adapt your messages to be receiver-centered?

- Is the receiver kept clearly in the picture? - Are the ideas expressed clearly and concisely? - Does the message reflect the high standards of a business professional?

How will envisioning your audience enhance your message?

- It will simplify the task of organizing your message. - It will permit you to address the receiver's needs and concerns.

How does outlining and organizing before you communicate benefit the sender of the message?

- Outlining saves time in structuring ideas. - Organizing and outlining encourages accuracy and brevity. - Outlining facilitates emphasis and de-emphasis.

Which of the following audience characteristics should Jaylaani consider when crafting a message to congratulate the parents?

- Rapport - Culture - Expectations

Which audience characteristics should Yuuki consider as she prepares the message?

- Receiver needs and concerns - rapport

What advice would you give Alexandra to help communicate

- State information as fairly as possible - Support your viewpoint with objective facts - Preserve the reader's self-worth by using tact and consideration

What advice would you give Alexandra to help communicate

- State information as honestly and as fairly as possible - Preserve the reader's self-worth by using tact and consideration - Express ideas clearly and understandably

Which questions should you ask yourself as you cultivate a "you attitude" and adapt your messages to be receiver-centered?

- ill the receiver perceive the ideas to be fair, logical, and ethical? - Does the message address the receiver's major ideas and concerns? - Are the ideas stated tactfully and positively and in a manner that preserves the receiver's self-worth and cultivates future business?

You are the general manager of a large car dealership in Chicago. Although your dealership narrowly escaped being closed last year, car and truck sales are still down. To remain profitable, you will need to cut the dealership's budget by 20 percent. Before you decide how and where to make the cuts, you want to have a meeting of all employees to share information about the dealership's financial situation. You hope that this meeting will help you gain the employees' support and prepare them for the difficult decisions the dealership will have to make in the next few months. You draft a message to all employees. The message contains an outline of the circumstances, and it also contains detailed financial information about the current situation. In the message, you also call a company meeting for Friday at 11:30 a.m.

...

You work for a company that believes innovation is the key to success. You have been working on an interesting idea that your supervisor wants to share with the rest of your department. You have been asked to deliver a brief presentation on your innovative project at the next departmental meeting. Your boss hopes that when other employees hear about your project, it will motivate them to participate in the project.

...

Yuuki is a division manager for a consumer products manufacturing company. Yuuki's company has to trim its budget in order to remain afloat. Yuuki needs to eliminate three administrative positions in the division, and must inform the employees whose positions are being eliminated.

...

ou are the general manager of a sizable car dealership in Lubbock, Texas. Although your dealership narrowly escaped closure during the recent recession, car and truck sales continue to decline. To remain profitable, you will need to eliminate five positions within the dealership. Before you begin laying off employees, you decide that to avoid misinformation, your employees should know about the dealership's difficult situation and your plans to reduce the size of its staff. You begin to plan a message to the employees to prepare them for the hard decisions that the dealership will have to make in the next few months.

...

The way that time influences communication and interactions is referred to as ____ context

Chronological

The ___________ refers to the ways time influences interactions.

Chronological context

At the personal level, honor, honesty, and ________ can help build strong, long-lasting relationships that contribute to the long-term success of your company.

Credibility

You need to share a very complicated project plan with your local work team. All team members are from, live in, and work in the state where the company is located. The channel choice consideration you might want to address is the

Decide what you want to accomplish through your message

Which of the following is a message in which the major idea precedes the details?

Deductive

Which of the following is not an audience characteristic?

Distance

The technical jargon and acronyms used in a financial proposal sent to bank loan officers may be inappropriate in a proposal sent to a group of private investors; this is an example of which of the following audience characteristics?

Educational background

Why would an email be the most appropriate channel for Mandla's invitation?

Email is used for sending brief messages that are routine.

When envisioning an audience, we use personal, firsthand knowledge or empathy to gain insight. When Jaylaani is creating a picture of the audience for a message to parents, which approach will Jaylaani use?

Empathy

Which of the following is the richest channel of communication?

Face-to-face communication

Determine the best revision for this sentence from Alexandra's message. I want to give you a chance to take down the illegal content before it becomes a problem. You must comply by 5:00 p.m. today, or your website will be rendered inactive.

For your site to remain live, please remove other artists' copyrighted material by 5:00 p.m. today.

Jaylaani Carr is the superintendent of a large county school district with 10 high schools. One of Jaylaani's yearly rituals is to call the parents of each high school valedictorian to congratulate them on their child's achievement and to thank them for investing so much in their child's education and future. This year, Jaylaani wants to change the greeting. Last year, too many parents thought Jaylaani was a phone solicitor. Jaylaani's previous message began, "Congratulations! Your child is valedictorian!" Consider how the parents of this year's valedictorian will perceive Jaylaani's call. Which greeting would be most appropriate?

Hi, this is Superintendent Carr calling to congratulate you on your child's success!

When a message shares details and explanation before offer a main idea, a (n) ________ approach is being used.

Inductive

Mandla manages a team of sales representatives. To build rapport with the team, Mandla decides to treat them to lunch. Mandla sends an email to the team, letting them know that their lunch is scheduled for the following Monday. In this situation, is the purpose of Mandla's email to inform or to persuade?

Inform

Which of the following cultural dimensions is concerned with whether cultures identify with broader societal interests rather than with individual goals?

Institutional collectivism

In this situation, is the purpose of your presentation to inform or to persuade?

Persuade

What are the advantages of giving an oral presentation in this situation?

Persuasive messages where goodwill and credibility are concerns require presentations.

You work for an aerospace firm that manufactures the interiors of luxury airliners. You have customers all over the globe. You are currently traveling to Sao Paulo, Brazil, to meet with an important client. You have worked with the CEO of the client company for seven years and have a good working relationship. The CEO is preparing to retire due to health problems. The upcoming client meeting will include the CEO's son and the company's new CFO. You have never met the son or the CFO. The meeting is scheduled to take place at the CEO's home. The CEO is recovering there from a recent operation. Which contextual dimension is affected by the location of the meeting at the CEO's home?

Physical

Which of the following are spoken defamatory remarks?

Slander

Which contextual dimension is affected by the presence of the CFO and the CEO's son?

Social

If a report is about geographic areas, ideas can proceed from one area to the next until all areas have been discussed. This is known as the _______ base for the idea sequences.

Space

6 steps involved in the process for planning and preparing spoken and written messages

Step 1: Consider the contextual forces Step 2: Determine purpose and select an appropriate channe Step 3: Envision the audience Step 4: Adapt the message to the audience's needs and concerns Step 5: Organize the message Step 6: Prepare the first draft

Determine the best revision for this sentence from Alexandra's message. For the past seven years, we have appreciated your business.

Thank you for being a loyal customer for seven years. WebLINE appreciates your business.

Which sentence applies a "you attitude" most successfully?

Thank you for taking the time to meet with me next Tuesday

One way to successfully adapt your message is by cultivating a "you attitude." How do messages that appropriately employ a "you attitude" appeal to audiences?

They send a direct signal of concern for the receiver's interests.

Which of the following is a common channel choice consideration where corporate cultures and individual people may have preferences for specific communication channels or mediums and differing communication practices?

Time required for feedback

Which is the most likely purpose for your message in this scenario?

To manage the situation and prevent rumors

Which is the most likely purpose for your message to the employees?

To provide background information and prepare them for the meeting

The best channel for delivering the previous message is a

Traditional group meeting

Which sentence applies a "you attitude" most successfully?

You are a valued customer.

I will send you the proposal tomorrow. Which revision applies a "you attitude" most effectively for this sentence?

You will receive the proposal tomorrow.

The fourth step in the planning and preparation process is to

adapt the message to the audience's needs

A dynamic workplace with leaders who stimulate innovation might be prevalent in a(n

adhocracy culture

One way to successfully adapt your message is by cultivating a "you attitude." A "you attitude" involves thinking in terms of the ________ interests and concerns.

audience's

The best channel for delivering the message you are drafting is

by letter or memorandum

You need to hold a meeting with your team to discuss upcoming budget reallocations. Your team is spread around the globe at all your international offices. You must decide if you should meet with them face-to-face or using a video-based conferencing system. The channel choice consideration you might want to address is the

cost

Which of the following types of context includes both the organizational culture as well as the cultural backgrounds of the people with whom you may be communicating?

cultural context

Zawadi is preparing for parental leave and must inform the departmental supervisor of the leave dates. Zawadi's supervisor is supportive of Zawadi's family involvement and is expecting the message.

deductive

If a topic is complicated, the presentation can begin with a known or easy-to-understand point and proceed to progressively more difficult points. This base is referred to as

familiarity

Mubiru is submitting a short proposal to adopt new, time-saving, remote-collaboration software. Mubiru's audience has never used any collaboration software but understands the importance of teamwork. In her proposal, Mubiru should use a minor-idea sequence based on _____

familiarity

A workplace characterized by leaders who act like coordinators or administrators is considered to have a

hierarchy culture

Ekene is submitting a request to expand his department's annual budget. Ekene's request will be considered in deciding budget allocations for the upcoming year. Which minor-idea sequence would be most appropriate for Ekene to use?

importance

The purpose of Yuuki's message is to

inform employees that their positions are being eliminated

Every audience has different perceptions and needs. To help envision the audience's expectations for your message, you should focus _________ you know about the receiver.

on relevant information

Perception influences the way a message is received. An audience's perception of reality is limited by _______ and their attitudes toward the sender of the message

previous experiences

_____context refers to the nature of the nature of the relationship among the communicators as well as others present.

social

The ____________ refers to the nature of the relationship between the communicators, as well as who is present.

social context

Allowing people to interact rather than receiving information passively uses a___________ as its form of communication.

web page