Researching Information & Identifying the Audience

 

It is extremely important to thoroughly research the information that will go into a communication document prior to beginning the layout of the document. Before attempting to write about anything you should have a clear and concise understanding of what your focus will be and how you will communicate it. In order to determine the exact topic of focus you will first need to conduct the appropriate research to find out all important facts and data. Doing so will aide in the writing process and make it a lot easier to accomplish.

Identifying the audience is also very important in the writing and editing processes because this will tell you what information to gather and what topic to write about. The audience should be identified before you start the writing and editing processes. The way you write should be based on the type of audience you are communicating with. If you start the writing and editing process before identifying your audience, you will more than likely miss the opportunity to effectively communicate with them.

Communication Networks and Channels within Organizations

Communication networks and channels are used within all organizations. Each organization has executives, managers, supervisors, and/or some form of leadership. This creates different communication networks between upper management, lower management, and employees. Organizations also have communication channels that are used to pass on information. Without communication networks and channels an organization will fail by not obtaining and passing on needed information.

In the current organization I work for we use different communication networks and channels depending on the message being sent. Without these channels we are unable to communicate effectively. When we experience system issues that prevent us from doing things such as sending emails and updating our company intranet we are able to see just how hard it is to communicate without the appropriate channels. It is a lot more difficult to walk around to everyone’s office to advise of changes than to send one email to several people at a time.

Communication networks consist of upward, downward, and horizontal communication. These networks include executives and/or management, and lower level employees. The different channels that can be used within organizations consist of email, memos, interviews, meetings, conference calls, presentations, etc. Without these appropriate communication channels it would be impossible to share and pass on needed information. T. Bauer and B. Erdogan explain that “There are three types of communication, including: verbal communication involving listening to a person to understand the meaning of a message, written communication in which a message is read, and nonverbal communication involving observing a person and inferring meaning.” (Organizational Behaviors).

A few years ago while working for a call center we experienced major issues with our email accounts. We were unable to send and receive emails for a few hours. Before this occurred I never realized how difficult it would be to communicate without using email. In the call center we used email to communicate with each other, different departments of the organization, our customers, and upper management. Using email was convenient and a lot less time consuming compared to calling one another over the phone, mailing letters to customers, and walking over to the different departments to communicate information. Joel Bowman states that “Written documents are easy to store, retrieve, and transmit. Writing also allows the sender to prepare a message carefully at a convenient time of his or her choosing, and allows the receiver to read it at his or her convenience and prepare a carefully worded reply” (Understanding Communication Channels, 2002). Information that we would usually email to our customers had to be sent via ground mail or communicated over the phone. When information is communicated over the phone without being sent to the customer they are unable to refer back to the data communicated and would have to call back to get more details. This made our call volume extremely high and our customers had to sit on hold for a longer period of time. We even had some customers hang up because of the long hold times. This cost the company money because we were losing out on sale upgrades and our customers were not satisfied with the service because they had to sit on hold. When our email accounts were finally back up and running we were very excited and had a new appreciation for our email accounts. We realized that this was a resource we could not do without in order to communicate effectively.

In my current organization we use our company’s internal internet as a resource to complete our jobs effectively. The company’s internal internet which we call the “intranet” is used to communicate important internal information such as health benefits, company holidays, important changes within the organization, contact information for each department, proper guidelines needed to do our jobs efficiently, and much more. The intranet is an imperative communication channel because the employees can easily access important information. When assisting our customers we can easily bring up specific guidelines on the intranet. This only takes a few seconds versus looking through paper documents. In my current organization we strive to be a paperless environment because it is more organized and is easier to keep up to date information versus having to reprint and pass out documents whenever there is a change. It will be extremely difficult for us to do our jobs efficiently without the intranet. Also, internal communication would probably reach fewer employees because it is easier to bypass information communicated via email and though paper correspondences. Each organization has a set of communication channels they use in order to pass on needed information. Some channels are more valuable in some organizations than in others but the key is for data to be communicated through the best channel that can provide the most efficient way to communicate the message.

Communication is a requirement for each and every organization. Richmond, McCroskey, & McCroskey (2005) explain that “Regardless of the type of organization, communication is the element that maintains and sustains relationships in it” (The Nature of Communications in Organizations, page 16). They go on to say “What person A says to person B not only can have an impact on those two people but, since organizations are systems, it also can have a meaningful impact on the total system” (page 16). What exactly do this mean? This means that whatever is being said between the networks within an organization has the potential to affect the entire organization as a whole. This is why it is extremely important to ensure the information being communicated is correct, ethical, and is passed on utilizing the appropriate communication channel.

Employees within an organization utilize different communication channels depending on the message. When communicating it is best to first analyze the type of message you are going to send, who you will be communicating the message to, and what point you are trying to get across. This will ensure you will choose the most appropriate communication channel for the information you will share.

When information is shared using the incorrect channel data can be interpreted in ways it was not meant to be construed. This can cause many problems within an organization. For example, a friend of mine was telling me how her previous job had laid a large portion of their staff. Instead of holding meetings to communicate this information to employees face to face they sent an email to all employees advising them that many of them would be laid off due to financial reasons. This caused a huge disturbance within the organization. The employees were not able to do their jobs because they were so worried about what was going on, when the layoffs were going to occur, and who would be affected. Although communication via email is an excellent resource to use to get a message to many or all employees at one time it is not appropriate in some situations. This was one of them. In this case management should have met with groups of employees at a time to inform them of the news. This would have been the ethical thing to do. This way, the employees would have had the opportunity to ask questions and get clarification on the matter. Unfortunately because the incorrect channel was used to pass on the information, the organization was negatively affected through their work production. Employees felt as though they did not matter and although there were some who were not laid off the morale decreased. It is very important to remember to maintain a positive ethical communication environment for all employees within an organization. This can be achieved by utilizing the proper communication channels depending on the message.

Without communication networks and channels organizations will fail. Employees need to know how to do their jobs. Management needs to know what employees need in order to successfully do their jobs. Customers need to know information on the products and services being offered by the organization. Without communication networks and the appropriate communication channels, it will be impossible to satisfy any of the above mentioned facts.








References

Organizational Communication for Survival: Making Work, Work. Richmond, McCroskey, & McCroskey (2005). The Nature of Communication in Organizations.

Understanding Communication Channels: Joel Bowman, (2002). Retrieved from http://homepages.wmich.edu/~bowman/channels.html.

Organizational Behavior: Different Types of Communication and Channels. Retrieved from http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/pub/1.0/organizational-behavior/28876#.

Schockley-Zalabak, P. S. (2012). Fundamentals of organizational communication: Knowledge,
sensitivity skills, values (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc./Allyn & Bacon.

Intercultural Communication in the Virtual World

With the increasing use of the internet in today’s world, a lot of communication now takes place in virtual worlds. The players involved in these virtual worlds comes from various cultural backgrounds and each bring their own personal ideas and opinions of other cultures into the animated worlds they play in. Due to this, it is possible for new channels of communication to be created between cultures.


Griffin describes intercultural communication as “the management of messages for the purpose of creating meaning across cultures.” (Griffin, 3^rd edition, 404). Joshua S. Fouts and Rita King with Dancing Ink Productions started the “Understanding Islam Through Virtual Worlds” project. They took on this project to learn more about the Islam culture by following the trail of what was already happening culturally in the space that might yield new insight about Islam (J. Fouts & R. King, 2008).

There are both benefits and limitations of the virtual world in improving intercultural communication. There are many people who are not fortunate to travel or communicate face to face with people from different cultural backgrounds. The virtual world allow people to instantly communicate with many people of various cultures. This is one of the biggest benefits of communicating in the virtual world. Another benefit is that individuals are able to be themselves, openly express their differences, and embrace their culture without being physically harmed. The internet makes it extremely easy to communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds and subgroups. This aides in helping to understand cultures which can lead to communicating more effectively. With benefits there can also be limitations. Due to a persons race, age, gender, and other physical abilities being hidden to the virtual world, some may feel more bold to communicate in a negative way. When negative communication occurs this can prevent others from expressing their beliefs and differences which can be a huge limitation.

The virtual world is capable of creating communication channels between cultures and these channels can potentially improve intercultural communication. There are both benefits and limitations associated with intercultural communication in the virtual world. If we embrace diversity and are willing to be open to differences, the virtual world can be very beneficial to intercultural communication.

　
　

　

Fouts, J.S., & King, R.J. (2009). “Understanding Islam Through Virtual Worlds“. (Video). Retrieved from http://www.cceia.org/programs/archive/002/index.html

Delivering Bad News Tactfully and Effectively

Case Study: Delivering Bad News Tactfully and Effectively


“You are a department manager in a mid-sized company that provides technology support services. You have ten employees who are required to maintain a high level of technical expertise and deliver excellent customer service. One of your employees, who has been with the company for two years, is performing at a substandard level and you have received numerous complaints from customers and coworkers. In addition, this employee has displayed confrontational behavior which has created a hostile environment. You must now meet with this employee and deliver an ultimatum regarding the need for immediate improvement or dismissal.”


Approach

When delivering the bad news to this employee I would approach them directly by scheduling a meeting for us to communicate about their performance and their behavior at work. In this situation it may be best to be direct and upfront with the employee. In the meeting I will go over his performance metrics and the customer complaints he received from customers and coworkers. I will remind him that when hired, the expectations of his role were clearly defined and it was agreed that he would provide excellent customer service as well as to maintain a high level of technical expertise. I would also explain that we work as a team and everyone is expected to perform well.



Anticipate the response

Due to the employee already demonstrating confrontational behavior I would anticipate that the employee will probably become defensive or upset. Therefore I would have their performance documents as well as the customer complaints printed out so the employee can see why I am giving them an ultimatum to improve or to be dismissed from the job. Its important to “gather as many facts about the news that you are delivering before you tell anyone about it” (eHow, 1999-2011). A good manager knows that employees have lives outside of work and sometimes their personal issues could cross over into their professional performance. With that said, I would allow the employee to express themselves and give their explanation on why their performance and behavior has changed. I would use active listening skills to fully understand what the employee is expressing. At that point I would recommend that we come up with a plan together that will ensure the employees performance and behavior will improve and stay on track.


Conflict Resolution Techniques

I would use some conflict resolution techniques when meeting with the employee. For one I would be open and direct. “Telling someone directly and honestly how you feel can be a very powerful form of communication” (Conflict Resolution Guidelines and Tips, 2010). I would be open and direct to ensure that the employee understands the seriousness of this matter. He needs to understand that there is an ultimatum involved. Which is to either improve his performance and behavior or to be dismissed. However, I would advise the employee that I will do whatever I can to work with them to get back on track. Its never easy providing bad news to individuals especially when it comes to business. Unfortunately, it has to be done to ensure the business runs smoothly and to promote fairness.






How to Deliver Bad News in a Business Setting . eHow.com. Retrieved from
http://www.ehow.com/how_2295524_deliver-bad-news-business-setting.html#ixzz20Hykua7A



Vindicate. (June 23, 2010). Conflict resolution guidelines & tips. Retrieved from:
http://vindicate.forum-nation.com/t74-conflict-resolution-guidelines-tips

Media Technologies

Social Networking
Social networking has become especially popular over the last several years. There are many people who participate in at least one social networking website. Some examples of social networking websites includes Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Flickr, and Myspace. These online communities allows individuals to share in a common interest and communicate with others who are interested in the same things.

Over the last several years online social networking has become even more popular. There are now wedding websites such as theknot.com where people discuss their wedding plans and share their experiences and opinions on just about everything related to planning weddings.

There are also pregnancy websites such as babycenter.com where mothers and soon to be mothers share their pregnancy journeys and experiences with one another. These sites enables individuals with common interests to share their feelings and obtain ideas, opinions, and advice from others. The intended audience for social networking is open to children, teenagers, and adults. There are certain social networking websites designated to audiences in specific age groups and others that is open to all ages. Regardless, this form of media technology has become extremely popular and I believe it will continue to expand.



Vlogs
Video blogging has become very popular over the last several years. I personally believe that YouTube has had an enormous impact on this form of blogging. YouTube has allowed people all over the world to share their experiences, opinions, and feelings on an array of subjects all through video blogging. The audience to vlogs are able to view video blogs on specific topics by searching by category or certain key words. Although there are many people who may enjoy reading blogs, vlogging has also gained the attention of people who may not be interested in reading the blogs but instead simply viewing video blogs.

Video blogs are especially useful for individuals who prefer being showed what to do versus reading what to do. There are many people who use YouTube as a source to broadcast their vlogs. People vlog about many different topics and areas of interest. The audience to video blogging can include so many people. Children, teenagers, and adults both create and watch video blogs to inform others, learn new things, or simply for a form of entertainment.


Blogs
People create blogs for many different reasons. Some people blog to share experiences, voice their opinions, and to even advertise. Blogs can be created by those who chose to share information with others and can be read by anyone who is interested in the blogs topic.


Cell Phones
Cell phones are used to talk to others, to send email, to text, to send pictures, to record sound, to get driving directions, and to play games. These days almost everyone have cell phones. I see children in elementary school with cell phones and almost every adult I know has a cell phone. Cell phones has made communicating so much more convenient.

Blogging...

In my opinion, the purpose of blogging is to communicate with different audiences about distinct and/or specific topics. People create blogs for various reasons. Some people use blogs to share their experiences, opinions, feelings, and hobbies with intended audiences.

When designing a blog its important to create a site that is appealing and easy on the eye. Some people tend to get caught up in too much color and graphics. Although creating a unique blog can be rewarding you should also remember not to over-do it. An audience has to be able to read the information you are communicating and that can become difficult to do if there are too many graphic and color distractions.

Blogging allows you to express yourself and your experiences but also allows your audience to respond and communicate with you. When first starting a blog do not be discouraged if your audience base is not as large as you would like. Over time your audience base can increase. Remember, staying on topic and ensuring that your blog is up to date is imperative in keeping your audience attention.