Effective Business Communication

Effective Business Communication

• “The greatest problem of communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished” - George Bernard Shaw

Modes of Communication • Verbal

&

Non Verbal

What are the most common ways we communicate? rd o W en Spok

Written Word

ges a m al I u s i V

Bod

y La ngu age

Modes of Business Communication E-mail

Communication

Report Writing Business Memo

E-mail Etiquette • Use the inverted pyramid writing style. • Follow the ABCs of good writing: – Accuracy – Brevity – Clarity

Writing Effective Subject Lines • Highlight the main point to summarize the entire e-mail. • Use sentence case. • Avoid words like important and critical. • Always include a subject.

Using CC and BCC • Carbon copy copies others; CC leaves email addresses visible to all recipients. • Blind carbon copy copies others; e-mail addresses listed in the BCC field are hidden from other recipients. • Only CC appropriate individuals. • Use BCC sparingly.

Extinguishing a Flame War • Flame wars have no place in professional communications. • Choose not to respond to avoid further provoking heated e-mail threads. • Leverage in-person communication to resolve the issue. • Involve management if in-person

Business Memo Writing is an essential skill upon which we all rely. It is the major means of communication within an organisation. Thus it is absolutely vital for us as Professionals to actively develop the skill of writing; not only because of the time involved in writing, but also because the success of our work may depend upon it. Indeed, since so much of the communication between us and more senior management occurs in writing, our whole career may depend upon the quality of our writing skills.

Parts of a Memo Heading Segment – – – –

TO: (readers' names and job titles) FROM: (your name and job title) DATE: (complete and current date) SUBJECT: (what the memo is about, highlighted in some way)

• 'To' (to whom – directly involved) • 'Cc' (copy – indirectly involved) • 'Bcc' (blind copy – not seen by ‘To’ and ‘Cc’)

Parts of a Memo cont’d……….. • Opening Segment- Before indulging the reader with details and the context, give the reader a brief overview of what the memo will be about

• Context- The context is the event, circumstance, or background of the problem you are solving.

• Task Segment- One essential portion of a memo is the task statement where you should describe what you are doing to help solve the problem

Parts of a Memo cont’d……….. • Summary Segment-

If your memo is longer than a page, you may

want to include a separate summary segment

• Discussion Segments- These segments are the longest portions of the memo, and are the parts in which you include all the details that support your ideas

• Closing Segment- After the reader has absorbed all of your information, you want to close with a courteous ending that states what action you want your reader to take

Organizing your writing Whether you are writing a memo to your co-worker or a report for your boss, you should decide what information you want to convey: • List each item you need to discuss in your memo or report. • Put them in order -- from most to least important • Write a brief summary of your entire memo -- this will be your first paragraph. • Expand on each item listed in step 1. • If any action needs to be taken by the recipient, state that in your closing paragraph.

The role of writing Writing has two major roles: • it clarifies - for both writer and reader • it conveys information It is this deliberate, dual aim which should form the focus for all your writing activity.

Tips to remember • Avoid wordiness. • Say out loud what you are trying to write. • Listen to how the words sound. For example, the sentence: "I found out that I should take a look at our past sales figures in order to come up with a plan to help us reevaluate our sales technique" Could be more simply stated as: "I must take a look at our past sales figures to re-evaluate our sales technique."

Report Writing 1. 2. 3. 4.

Identify your audience Define your purpose Collect your ideas Select the material and decide how to show the significance of your facts 10.Structure your ideas

Report Format Table of contents Abstract/Executive Summary Introduction Discussion Conclusions Recommendations Bibliography Attachments / Exhibits

Report Format Title page Table of Content Abstract/Executive Summary Introduction

Report Format

Discussion Conclusions Recommendations Bibliography Attachments / Exhibits

For Greater Impact Walk your Talk

• • •

70 % or all our communication efforts are: misunderstood, misinterpreted, rejected, disliked, distorted, or not heard (in the same language,

70%

Communication is the process of sending and receiving information among people… Feedback

receiver

SENDER

sender

RECEIVER

Effective communication • Exchange of Information • Message Clarity • The Information exchanged is rightly perceived • Positive Feedback

All messages do not reach the receiver due to “distortion” Feedback

Sender

Receiver

Ineffective communication • • • • • • •

Communication breakdown Disagreements Misconceptions Conflicts Poor Performance Poor Motivation Costly Errors

"I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I'm going to learn, I must do it by listening." (Larry King).

Listening…the other side of communication Too many people see communication as merely speaking.

Messages must be received as well as sent. A good question to ask yourself is, are you really listening or simply waiting for your turn to talk? If you are thinking about your reply before the other person has finished, then you are not listening!

What causes distortion or the barriers to understanding/listening?

• • • • • •

Perceptions Language Semantics Personal Interests Emotions Inflections

Environment – noise •Preconceived notions/expectations •Wordiness •Attention span •Physical hearing problem •Speed of thought •

•

How can we improve our listening skills?

Eliminate distractions Concentrate Focus on the speaker Maintain an open mind Look for nonverbal cues Do not react to emotive words Ask questions Sit so you can see & hear Avoid prejudices Take notes Ask for clarification

How can we improve our listening & facilitation skills as trainers?

Levels of Listening

WHY DON’T WE LISTEN? SELECTIVE LISTENING SPEED OF THOUGHT vs. TALK SPEED LACK OF INTEREST BELIEFS & ATTITUDES REACTIONS TO THE SPEAKER PREJUDICES PHYSICAL DISTRACTIONS

LISTENING SKILLS

• • • • • • •

HOW WE SHOW WE ARE NOT LISTENING

LISTENING SKILLS

• Turn away • Shuffle papers • Glazed look in our eyes • No energy/conviction in our response • Pick up a newspaper and start reading • Turn and talk to someone else • Not response on purpose to a question • Continue to look at the TV (at home especially)

AMBIGUOUS LISTENING SIGNALS (could be a sign of concentration)

• DOODLING (trying to understand a complex thought)

• SITTING BACK ON A CHAIR (may just mean comfort with the situation)

LISTENING SKILLS

• GAZING OUT OF THE WINDOW

ACTIVE LISTENING LISTENING SKILLS

• PHYSICAL – eye contact, posture • PSYCHOLOGICAL - interpret non-verbal behavior • VERBAL - probing

TALKING WITH SOMEONE WHO DOESN’T WANT TO TALK. LISTENING SKILLS

Use: • Open-ended probes • Provoking questions • Pauses • Reflective statements • Neutral probes • Brief assertions

TALKING WITH SOMEONE WHO TALKS TOO MUCH.

• Close-ended probes - Resist the temptation to ask openended questions. • Leading questions - used to politely steer conversation

LISTENING SKILLS

Use:

EMPATHIC LISTENING LISTENING SKILLS

• Use active listening devices but focus on the emotion. • Let the speaker speak first. • Let the speaker express him/herself. • Don’t interrupt the speaker. • Don’t rush the speaker. • Don’t argue with the speaker. • Don’t take over the conversation.

EMPATHIC LISTENING LISTENING SKILLS

• Ask for clarifications – take notes where necessary. • Make contributions • Nod, accent • Ask questions • Eye contact • Use more of reflexive statements/pauses. • Repeat/summarize.

WHEN THERE’S AN ARGUMENT LISTENING SKILLS

• Listen to ALL sides. • Use empathic listening. • Don’t pass immediate judgment unless there’s a pressing need to do so. • Consider listening to a neutral third party. • Remember – everyone’s frame of reference is perfectly legitimate.

Listening • Listen with the intent to understand • Listen with the intent to offer intelligent response

Active Listening

1) Always 2) Most of the time 3) Sometimes 4) Seldom 5) Never

Rating Scale • 14 – 28 • 29 – 49 • 50 – 70

High performance listener Good listener poor listener

Summarizing…try it out! Summarizing pulls important ideas, facts or data together to establish a basis for further discussion and/or review progress.

Try out these summarizing phrases:

The person summarizing must listen carefully in order to organize the information systematically.

“If I understand you correctly, your main concerns are…” “These seem to be the key ideas you have expressed…”

It is useful for emphasizing key points.

• Until the message sent receives feedback, communication cannot be said to be effective.