UNIT -1

Communication in Business
To live is to communicate. Every facet of existence needs communication. Businessbeing one of the facets of human existence re uires communication. The term !communication" comes from the #atin $ord communicare% $hich means !to im&art"or !&artici&ate". 'uring the course of &artici&ation it becomes necessary to receive as $ell as to give. This &rocess of &artici&ation can forms as tal(ing% $riting% interacting% etc. )ll of this means communication. The business $orld today hasbecome global% $hich ma(e communication even more com&lex. Communicatingacross borders and cultures re uires communication s(ills that $ould enable &eo&lefrom different lands to interact $ith each other so as to achieve some common ob*ective. )s soon as you move one ste& from the bottom your effectiveness de&ends on your ability to reach others through the s&o(en or the $ritten $ord. )ndthe further a$ay your *ob in from manual $or( the larger the organi+ation of $hichyou are an em&loyee the more im&ortant it $ill be that you (no$ ho$ to conveyyour thoughts in $riting or s&ea(ing

'imensions of Communication
Communication has five dimensions. They are as follo$s. Communication can be International or Unintentional, $ords are used to ex&ress ideas and are intended to have a &articular meaning. -ometimes these $ords communicate something other than $hat is intended . they have an unintentional meaning. Communication can be /erbal or Nonverbal, 0uman communication is often more nonverbal% involving the body and other ob*ects and actions than verbal% involving $ords alone. Even $hen $e do not s&ea( the $ay $e $al( stand and sit communicates a message to others. 1ther forms of nonverbal communication include letter% memos% arrangement of office furniture and style and condition of clothing. Communication can be Internal or External, Internal or intra&ersonal communication is the $ay $e tal( to ourselves i.e. $ithout &utting thoughts into $ords. Non verbal ob*ects that are chosen to ex&ress something are also considered to be external communication. Communication can be involve 0umans% 2achines or )nimals, Communication obviously involves machines . for exam&le% com&uters. 0umans use com&uters to im&rove communication bet$een them. 3e also need to learn ho$ animals communicate% because the nonverbal behavior of human and animals is uite similar. Communication can ta(e &lace bet$een T$o &eo&le as $ell as $ithin 4rou&, ) conversation bet$een t$o &eo&le is called in inter&ersonal communication. Communication $ithin a grou& is classified as either small

communication or mass communication.

Im&ortance of Business Communication

Communication is so im&ortant in business organi+ations $ant and need &eo&le $ith good communication s(ills. -everal surveys have indicated that communication is im&ortant to business. Unfortunately the need for em&loyees $ith good communication s(ills is often not fulfilled in the business $orld. ) recent study also indicates that there is a correlation bet$een communication and income. 4ood $riting and s&ea(ing s(ills% along $ith &ro&er eti uettes and listening s(ills . determines career success. In other $ords having good communication s(ills $ould result in advancement of career. The use of technology in communication ma(es the s(ills to communicate more obvious. 1ver the year many authors have recogni+ed the im&ortance of communication in an organi+ation. Chester Branard for instance vie$ed communication as the means by $hich &eo&le are lin(ed together in an organi+ation to achieve a common &ur&ose. 2int+berg also found that managers considered activities involving direct communication $ith others to be more interesting and valuable than more activates. 'evelo&ing communication s(ills amounts to develo&ing visual s(ills% $ritten s(ills% s&o(en s(ills and reading s(ills. 2anagement"s vie$ of Communication 1bservation 2anagerial $or( is a set of com&osite functions that includes communication. 2anagement has seven functional areas% including directing and re&orting <$hich included communication= The first executive function is &roviding a system of communication. The administrative &rocess cannot influence the decisions of the individual $ithout communication. The exchange of information and transmission of meaning are the very essence of an organi+ation. 2anagerial *obs have ten $or(ing rolesC communication and inter&ersonal relations are found in three of the roles. Communication is one of five basic management functions. 1&en% informal communication is one of eight characteristics of the best-run )merican com&anies. The most common roadbloc( for managers to overcome is &oor communication. Communication is a basic s(ill manager. Communication is the ne$ su&erhigh$ay is &art of it. for the effective revolutionC the one-minute information

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1b*ective of Business Communication

The basic ob*ective of all human communication is to obtain an understanding res&onse. Every large and small business house if successful or unsuccessful% de&ending on ho$ $ell it can communicate internally and externally. 6eter 'uc(er states, F1b*ectives survival and &ros&erity of a business.G Information, The ob*ective of business is to inform $hich means to transfer (no$ledge to another &erson or grou&. Information can be given in $riting% s&ea(ing or any other system of signals or signs. Businessmen thrive on information relevant to their business activities. They must (no$ ho$ their com&etitors are doing in business $hat are the terms of credit available in the mar(et ho$ to deal $ith government rules and regulations. Information for &lanning can be of five (inds, a=Environmental Information, Information &ertaining to the geogra&hy% climate% &olitical and social-economic condition. b=Internal Information, Information about the strength and $ea(ness of thecom&any $ith res&ect to ca&ital% &roduction% and sales ca&acity% degree oftraining of the $or(ers% their efficiency etc. c=External Information, Information about sources of credit availability of ra$ material% &o$er and the latest rules and regulations made by the government or local authorities. d=Com&etitive Information, Information relating to the strength and $ea(ness of the com&etitors and their &ast and &resent &erformance in themar(et. e=Ne$ 'evelo&ment Information, Information concerning the latest research% u& gradation of the &roduct and availability of ra$ material orsubstitutes. Before acce&ting any information the successful business house $ill ensure that the information is reliable% com&lete and recent. Businessmen have no difficulty in obtaining information from old files% maga+ines% internet% library research% chamber of commerce% trade fairs and exhibitions etc. the &roblem is not lac( of information but of immense uantity of information. To hel& the businessmen out of this &roblem a number of organi+ations have ta(en the role of infomediaries. Informediaries are li(e intermediaries or middlemen only they do not deal $ith goods but $ith information. They &erform variety of functions li(e delivering select information% bringing together scattered &rofessionals% maintaining statistical data on economy% industry% commerce% commodities% demogra&hics% stoc(s% mutual funds% finance and investments. Business organi+ation also needs to communicate information internally to its $or(ers such as, i. Information relating to *ob assignment and &rocedures governing them.

Information concerning exact designations of the officers and their decision ma(ing &o$er. iii. Information% $hich gives a clear understanding of authority. iv. Information $hich $ill &ossible better rece&tion of instruction. 2otivation, To motivate means FTo cause to actG. It has been defined as Fthat inner state that energi+es% activities% or moves and $hich directs or channels behavior to$ards certain goals. In an organi+ation $hen $or(ers are motivated they $or( eagerly% $illingly and often $ithout su&ervision. 1rgani+ation use communication &rocess to overcome motivation &roblem. 9ollo$ing as&ects of the &roblem of motivation could be considered, a=Emotional Climate, The management should use communication is such amanner that the right emotional climate for motivation is created. This can bedone by fostering healthy com&etition among $or(ers and also by recogni+ing and giving &ublicity to achievement. b=-etting 4oals or 1b*ectives, -et 'efinite ob*ective before the $or(ers asthat they (no$ $hat they are $or(ing to$ards and they can en*oy a sense ofsatisfaction $hen ob*ective has been attained. c=1rgani+ational Information, 3ith the hel& of house *ournals% direct tal(s ortraining &rogrammes the management should give much information to theem&loyees as &ossible about the organi+ation for $hich they are $or(ing. d=6artici&ation in 'ecision-ma(ing, 3hen subordinates are encouraged tore&ort directly to their su&eriors or give suggestions to im&rove the $or(ingof the organi+ation they $ill ex&erience a &o$erful sense of belonging to theorgani+ation. e=Establishing 0uman Helations, 3hen su&ervisory and *unior staff can meet in an atmos&here of informality and exchange vie$s $hen su&ervisorystaff uses tact in communicating orders% admonitions and $arnings to the *uniors" staff and $hen the staff is encouraged to thin( out and ta(e theimitative in minor matters. Haising 2orals, In $ar it is not the number of soldiers that matters% but their morale that ma(es the big difference bet$een losing and $inning. In a business organi+ation the moral of the $or(ers can seriously affect the success of the business. 1ne of the ob*ectives of communication <internal= is to (ee& the morale of the $or(ers high so that they $or( $ith vigour and confidence as a team. #o$ morale is often the result of lac( of confidence in the management on account of its &oor communication s(ills. The usual characteristics of lo$ morale are lac( of disci&line% no a&&reciation or re$ard for good $or( $ell done% bad relations bet$een the su&ervisors and the $or(ers and sometimes among the $or(ers themselves. It is li(e a disease that re uires immediate attention and diagnosis and cure.

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2anagement can (ee& high morale through communication by, a= 2aintaining a steady stream of communication bet$een $or(ers% their su&ervisors and to& executives. b= 6ermitting o&en discussion of &roblems affecting the $or(ers and their families. c= Em&loying communication devices such as em&loyees" conferences% audio-visual aid% em&loyee-get-togethers etc. d= Aee&ing a $atch on the gra&evine and not allo$ing harmful rumors to circulate. e= -to&&ing false rumors about favoritism% stri(es% retrenchment or loc( outs. f= 4iving fair hearing to em&loyee grievances and acce&ting their suggestions thereby giving them a sense of &artici&ation in management. g= Ex&ressing a&&reciation for good $or( done and re$arding it. h= Introducing changes gradually so that the $or(ers are not mentally u&sets by sudden and abru&t changes in staff or $or(ing conditions. -ince morale is li(e a barometer% $hich indicates the $ell being of an organi+ation some business houses study morale &eriodically. This is done by, a= Information meetings at $hich the $or(ers are encouraged to s&ea( freely.b= Collecting information through the different channels.c= Circulating s&ecially &re&ared uestionnaires. 1rder and Instruction, )n order is an oral or $ritten communication directing the starting% terminating or modifying of an activity. It is a form of communication by $hich management directs its subordinates and em&loyees and see(s to achieve its ob*ectives. Before issuing an order there should be &ro&er &lanning by the order issuing &erson. 1rder may be oral or $ritten. 3ritten orders are given the nature of the $or( is vary im&ortant or $hen the &erson being ordered is far a$ay. 1ral orders are given $hen the $or( is of an urgent nature or $hen the &erson being given the oral order is nearby. Instructions, Instructions are oral or $ritten orders on a recommended manner in $hich the $or( is to be done. 9or instance the office su&erintendent $ill instruct a ne$ cler( on the manner in $hich letter are to be filed and the manners in $hich the outgoing mail is to entered in the register. The instruction carries and im&lied order-i.e. the cler( is ex&ected to follo$ that &articular method of doing the assigned $or( and no other method. Education and Training, Communication in business can be used to $iden the ever$inding circle of (no$ledge. 6rocess of education that ta(es &lace in the business $orld is a &art of its activity. I Education for -uccession, This means training *unior &ersons in the organi+ation to handle im&ortant assignment involving res&onsibility so that they are trained to success their seniors in executive and managerial &ositions. These trainees may not go through a formal course in staff training buy may be

o&&ortunities to $or( in different de&artments under the guidance of senior executive. IEducation for 6romotion, It has been found that most senior managers are behind the times. They em&loy management techni ues and control systems that are outdated. -eniority is an im&ortant factor in &romotion. 0o$ever if the seniors are not com&etent than their &romotion is in uestions. To overcome this &roblem it is necessary for these seniors to undergo s&ecial training. IEducation 'uring Induction, 3hen ne$ &ersonal *oin an organi+ation they are inducted by educating them in the culture of the com&any% code of disci&line and methods of manufacturing etc. This is done through training &rogramme of orientation &rogramme. IEducating the 6ublic, Educating the outside &ublic usually ta(es the form of advertising% informative tal(s% &ublication in ne$s&a&er and *ournals. This is done to inform general &ublic as $ell as the &rofessional about the &roduct. Besides these ob*ective there are other ob*ectives of business communication such as, a= Counseling b= )dvise c= 6ersuasion d= )ltering Behaviour e= Effective Change f= 6romoting the Image of Com&any g= Increasing 6roductivity h= Establishing Better Helations i= Influencing 6otential Customer

9orms and functions of Communication

The im&ortance of communication in business becomes more obvious $hen $e consider the communication activities that go on in an organi+ation. Communication in an origination ta(es three main forms. They are, Internal . 1&erational Communication External-1&erational Communication 6ersonal Communication Internal . 1&erational Communication, )ll the communication ta(es &lace $ithin the organi+ation% during the &rocess of $or(% is (no$n as internal . o&erational communication. This is the form of communication among the em&loyee that is done during the im&lementation of the business .o&eration &lan. Internalo&erational communication ta(es many forms. It includes the orders and instructions that su&ervisors give $or(ers as $ell as oral exchange among $or(ers about $or( matters. It includes re&ort that $or(ers &re&are concerning sales% &roduction% inventories% finance% maintenance and so on. It also includes E-mail messages that $or(ers $rite in order to carry out their assignments. Internalo&erational communication is es&ecially needed to, 1 <a= Establish and disseminate goals of an organi+ation. E <b= 'evelo& &lans for their achievement and control &erformance. : <c= 1rgani+e human and other resources in the most effective and efficient $ay. D <d= -elect% develo&% and a&&raise members of the organi+ation. ? <e= #ead% direct% motivate% and create a climate in $hich &eo&le $ant to contribute. External . 1&erational Communication, The $or( related communication that a business does $ith &eo&le and grou&s outside the organi+ation is external. o&erational communication. This is a communication activity of a business $ith its &ublic . i.e. su&&liers% customer% service com&anies% stoc(holders% government and

the general &ublic. External . o&erational communication includes all the efforts of business in direct selling such as descri&tive brochures% tele&hone calls% follo$-u& service calls. Hadio% television messages% ne$s&a&er and maga+ine advertising% $ebsite advertising and &oint of &urchase dis&lay material &lay a role in business"s &lan to achieve its $or( ob*ective. )n Im&ortant as&ect of external-o&erational communication is that it dis&lays a com&any"s image and its eti uette $ith res&ect to the environment and &ublic. They ta(e the &lace of human contact% and thus they have the effect of human contact. External . o&erational communication facilitates managerial functions. It is through information exchange that the mangers, 8 <a= Become a$are of the needs of customers. @ <b= The availability of su&&liers. > <c= The claims of stoc(holders. > J 6age 7 <d= The regulation of government. 1; <e= The concerns of the community. 6ersonal Communication, Not all communication that occurs in a business organi+ation is o&erational . dealing o&eration of the business ob*ectives. In fact% much of the &ersonal communication $ithin an organi+ation has no connection $ith the o&eration &lan of business. -uch communication is called as &ersonal communication. 6ersonal communication is the exchange of information and feeling in $hich human beings engage $henever they come together. 3e s&end much time $ith friends is communication. Even total strangers are li(ely to communicate $hen they are &laced together as on an air&lane flight% in a $aiting room or at a &arty. -uch &ersonal communication also occurs in $or(&lace and it is a &art of the communication activity of any business. The em&loyees" attitude to$ards the business each other and their assignment directly affect their &roductivity. The nature of &ersonal communication or conversation in a $or( &lace affects the attitude of a $or(er% $hich then affects his her &erformance. 9urthermore the extent to $hich &ersonal communication &ermitted $ithin an organi+ation can also affect the attitude of the em&loyees. )bsolute denial of &ersonal communication could u&set the em&loyees because the very need of human beings to communicate is denied. 6ersonal communication does have its value in an organi+ation. It has an emotive function. In other $ords% &ersonal communication &ermits the ex&ression of feeling of feeling and satisfaction of social needs% it may also hel& frustrations.

Communication Net$or( of the 1rgani+ation

)ll the forms of communication <internal% external and &ersonal= indicate an extremely com&lex net$or( of information flo$. In today"s $orld of business% information must flo$ faster than before. )nother im&ortant element is the amount of information% $hich has greatly increased over the years% fre uently causing an information overload. It is necessary to determine $hat (ind of information the managers needs to have for effective decision ma(ing. Communication channels for the flo$ of information may be lin(ed in a variety of $ay to form a communication net$or(s. Business organi+ations have $ell-established channels of information flo$. There are basically t$o ty&es of communication net$or( in an organi+ation, The 9ormal Net$or( The Informal Net$or(

The 9ormal Net$or(, )s stated above that the formal communication net$or( has to do $ith o&erational communication. In an effective organi+ation communication flo$s in the follo$ing directions, 'o$n$ard% U&$ard and Cross$ise Communication. a='o$n$ard Communication, This is the flo$ of communication form &eo&le at higher level to those the lo$er level in the organi+ational hierarchy. This (ind of communication im&lies the authoritarian structure of an organi+ation. It is used for &ur&ose as giving instruction-&roviding information about &olicies and &rocedures giving feedbac( about &erformance and indoctrinating or motivating. The (inds of media used for do$n$ard oral communication include instruction% s&eeches% meetings% the tele&hone and even the gra&evine. 'o$n$ard $ritten communication ta(es the form of memos% letters% handboo(s% &am&hlets% &olicy statements% manuals% and so on. b=U&$ard communication, This ty&e of communication travels from subordinates to su&eriors and continues u& the organi+ational hierarchy. Unfortunately% managers in the communication chain $ho filter the information-es&ecially unfavorable messages to their su&eriors% often hinder this flo$. U&$ard flo$ of communication is also useful in &roviding ideas for im&rovement of activities and information about feelings on $or(. U&$ard communication is &rimarily nondirective and is usually found in &artici&ate and democratic organi+ation environment. Techni ues for u&$ard communication-besides the chain of command . are suggestion system% a&&eal and grievance% com&laint system% counseling sessions% *oint setting of ob*ective% the gra&evine% grou& meetings% the &ractice of o&en-door &olicy% moral uestionnaire% exit intervie$s and attitude survey. In recent years many com&anies have also set u& system that give em&loyees a confidential $ay to get a message to to& management outside the normal chain of command. If an em&loyee has a &roblem or an idea. Effective u&$ard communication re uires an environment in $hich subordinates feel free to communicate. c=Cross$ise Communication, The form of communication includes the hori+ontal flo$ of information <among &eo&le on the same or similar organi+ational levels and the diagonal flo$ of information <among &ersons at different organi+ational levels $ho have no direct re&orting relationshi&s. This ty&e of communication is used to s&eed information flo$ to im&rove understanding and to coordinate activities for the achievement of organi+ational ob*ective. ) great deal of communication does not follo$ the organi+ational hierarchy but cuts across the chain of command. )s organi+ations become more diversified and individual tas(s become more s&eciali+ed the need for communication increases. The organi+ational environment &rovides many occasions for cross$ise oral communication. This (ind of communication occurs $hen% individual of different de&artments are grou&ed into tas( tem or &ro*ect organi+ation. In addition cross$ise $ritten communication (ee&s &eo&le informed about the organi+ation. These $ritten forms include the com&any ne$s&a&er% maga+ine% or bulletin boards. Because information may not follo$ the normal chain of command% &ro&er safeguard need to be ta(en to &revent &otential &roblems.

The Informal Net$or(, 9ormal organi+ational chart illustrates ho$ information is su&&osed to flo$. 0o$ever in actual &ractice% chart cannot &revent &eo&le from tal(ing $ith one another. In the management language it is called as Fgra&evineG. The informal net$or( is not a single net$or( but a com&lex relationshi& of smaller net$or(s consisting of grou&s of &eo&le. The relationshi& is made even more com&lex by the fact that these &eo&le mat belong to more than one grou& and that grou& membershi& and the lin(s bet$een and among grou&s are continually changing. )s &eo&le go about their $or( they have casual conversations $ith their friends in office. )lthough many of the conversations deal $ith &ersonal matters% business matters are also discussed. In fact >;K of the information that travels along the gra&evine &ertains to business. 4ra&evine usually carries far more information than the formal communication system. Aeith 'avis states, F6eo&le cannot resist the gra&evine. It offers the latest ne$s and usually that ne$s is reasonably accurate. 2ore of the ne$s is about &eo&le% such as their friendshi&% conflicts and ex&eriences. -ince formal communication carries vary little of this ty&e of information $e must listen to the gra&evine in order to be fully informed. In addition much of the gra&evine occurs by &erson-to-&erson contact $hich hel&s us become a &art of social grou&s and receive social satisfaction.G

Technology and Business Communication

Technology is develo&ing so ra&idly that $hat is ne$ today become common&lace tomorro$ and outdated the day after. The changes brought about by ne$ technology are leading to an exciting ne$ information age in $hich more &eo&le $ill have faster and broader access to data than ever before. 9ollo$ing are some of the ma*or technologies that are being used in the $orld of business. Tele&hones and /oice 2ail, Tele&hones are not but ne$ technology has extended the value to tele&hones. /oice mail is a com&uteri+ed messages system a more so&histicated version of an ans$ering machine. It allo$s &eo&le to communicate by &hone even $hen they cannot connect directly. The first im&ression &eo&le receive of a com&any comes from the tele&hone. Therefore s(ills are among the most im&ortant technological s(ills to be develo&ed Com&uter net$or(, 1nly a fe$ years ago each des(to& com&uter stood alone and data $ere transferred on the dis(s. 0o$ever% today des(to& com&uters can communicate directly via com&uter net$or( allo$ing information to be shared effortlessly. There are t$o ty&es of net$or( the local area net$or( <#)N= that lin(s users in a single office and the $ide area net$or( <3)N= that lin(s remote users. The Finformation su&erhigh$aysG $hich are such a &o&ular to&ic these days are huge com&uter net$or(s. )t &resent the Internet is the only net$or( big enough to be called an information su&erhigh$ay. Internet users can exchange messages $ith other Internet users% access electronic database% and subscribe to electronic Fne$s lettersG on thousands of to&ic. Electronic 2ail, Electronic 2ail <e-mail=% the electronic transmission of messages from one &erson to another using com&uters has become common&lace in business. E-mail system has a significant influence on business communication. 1ne of the advantages of the e-mail system is that it (ee&s the ex&enses of communication

lo$. E-mail seems to have an interesting effect on organi+ations that use it for communication among em&loyees. In such organi+ations em&loyees tend to send more messages to their co-$or(ers and su&eriors than those organi+ation that do not use e-mail system. Electronic Bulletin Board, Electronic bulletin boards are com&uter system that allo$s the &osting of information so it may be accessed and read by many other &eo&le. They disseminate information $ithin a com&any to a broader audience. 3ith a modem% someone $ith a com&uter can call u& the bulletin board and see( information. Com&anies are using electronic bulletin boards to (ee& their em&loyees informed about all (inds of things. Teleconferencing and /ideoconferencing, Teleconferencing allo$s grou&s $ho are geogra&hically se&arated to meet via tele&hone and discuss issues. This is substituting the use of tele&hone to call a meeting. -ince most of the executives s&end at least half their time in meetings and travelling for meetings teleconferencing enables discussion over the tele&hone% $hich is more convenient and less ex&ressive. /ideoconferencing is used for more formal meetings% es&ecially in com&anies that have this facility. This ty&e of conferencing is done via the video camera. It enables &eo&le to have the conference being in different geogra&hical locations and yet seeing each other. Telecommunication and 0ome 1ffice, )s technology ma(es it easier to communicate $ith &eo&le in other locations some em&loyees have begun $or(ing from their homes. They may visit the home office &eriodically or send the &roduct of their labour to their em&loyers or clients electronically. 2any com&anies are &roviding $or(ers $ith com&uters and other e ui&ment that enables then to $or( more efficiently at home. 1ne advantage is that $idely dis&ersed em&loyees can be called on to react uic(ly during emergencies or to reach distant clients. Concern about traffic congestion% &ar(ing &roblem% office s&ace% and &ersonal &references all contribute to the decision to allo$ telecommuting and home office.

UNIT . E6H1CE-- 19 C122UNIC)TI1N

Communication is an act% $hich consists of various events and hence it really is a&rocess. In the &rocess of communication there is inter&lay of the communicator themessage and the audience. Effective communications are a$are of the &rocess ands&end considerable time and effort in &re&aring and rehearsing the act of deliveringtheir message. It ta(es a conscious effort on the &art of an individual to develo& theability to deliver message effectively. In other $ords of business% $hich has becomevery so&histicated it is im&erative that &eo&le in the management cadre develo&effective style of communication. -ervices industry in &articular has broughtcommunication to the fore and it has become the most essential as&ect of businessin &resent times.

The communication 6rocess, Existing /ie$

3e can vie$ communication &rocess from different &oints of em&hases. 9rom each&oint of em&hasis communication &rocess ta(es on a different form. 0elen H. E$aldB Hebecca E. Burnett describes im&arting information% sharing information or assum&tions underlying $hile communicating information. The communication &rocess can ta(e any of the follo$ing forms, 1 E : Transmission 2odel Heci&rocal 2odel 2odel 0ighlighting )ssum&tions.

Transmission 2odel, 3hen the em&hasis is on im&arting information then thetransmission model could understand the &rocess of communication. Through thismodel communication is seen as a liner &rocess-i.e. message moves in one direction along a line or channel $ith information travelling from the source to theaudience. This model assumes that in the absence of disturbance <noise= the audience $ill inter&ret the message as the sender intends. Heci&rocal 2odel, 3hen the em&hasis is on sharing information% then $e can usereci&rocal model of communication &rocess. In this &rocess of communication theinformation or the meaning evolves through the &artici&ation of each member ofthe audience. The flo$ of communication is simultaneous in all direction% and in this flo$ communication the com&osing of message ta(es &lace. 2odel 0ighlighting )ssum&tions, In this model of communicating information$e focus on the assum&tions% $hich are commonly shared by the communicatorand the audience. )ssum&tions refer to that $hich is ta(en for granted by thecommunicator and the audience% and that $hich can become the common groundin understanding the message.

Communication 6rocess
)s mentioned earlier communication is a &rocess $hich consists of events or &hasethat are lin(ed together. The &rocess of communication can be divided into five &hases% they are, 1 The sender has an idea. E The idea becomes a message. : The message is transmitted. D The receiver gets the message. ? The receiver res&onds and sends a feedbac( to the sender. The -ender has an Idea, 3e ex&erience reality and that ex&erience is filtered byour mind. 1ur mind abstracts some im&ortant as&ects of the ex&erience and turnsthem into an idea. In other $ords mind constructs the im&ortant as&ects of theex&erience into a meaningful thought $hich is idea. -o the idea% $hich is invisible%has to be ex&ressed in some form or the other in order to communicate it to others.In the &rocess of abstraction you leave out many as&ects% $hich you assume theothers (no$ so in the filtering &rocess you ma(e assum&tions and *udgments orconclusion. 3hat $e are saying here is that our mind sim&lifies the real $orld that$e observe and ex&erience by brea(ing it do$n into &arts and then reconstructingthese &arts into an idea% $hich $e then turn it into a message that $e ex&ress.

The Idea Becomes a 2essage, 3hen $e $ish to ex&ress our ideas to others thenthe idea has to ta(e a form and become an ex&ression. Ex&ression is an idea &utFinformG to become information. This is also called !encoding" the message. Ideacan be ex&ressed in different $ays% de&ending u&on the follo$ing, a= -ub*ect . $hat is that you $ant to s&ea( aboutL b= 6ur&ose . $hat is it that you $ant to achieveL c= )udience . $ho is the reci&ient of your ideasL d= 6ersonal -tyle or 2ood . $hat is your s&ea(ing style or $hat mood are you in $hen you ma(ing a s&eechL e= Culture Bac(ground . the choice of your $ords de&ends on your cultural u&bringing. 'uring the &rocess of encoding the idea into $ords all these factors come into &lay.The choice of $ords indicates one"s style% mood% culture% audience and &ur&ose. )tany given time $e do not have total vocabulary at our command to convert ourideas into $ords. This results in using $ords that are not a&t &r desirable% $hichcould lead to misunderstanding. -imilarly language differs fro disci&line to disci&line . language of a la$yer differs from the language of a doctor or an IT &rofessional.Therefore% it is im&erative that $e develo& the ability to ex&ress our ideas in thecode is fitting for a given &rofession. The 2essage is Transmitted, In this ste& of communication &rocess there is a &hysical transmission of the message from sender to receiver. The message transmitted from the sender to the receiver should have a medium% because transmission cannot ta(es &lace in a vacuum. Channel is medium that enables themessage to be transmitted from the sender to the receiver. The choice of medium Mchannel de&ends on the message% audience% urgency and situation. Hece&tion of the 2essage, The first ste& in rece&tion of message is FdecodingG . i.e. converting the message into thought <$ords are converted into meaning=. Thesecond ste& is FunderstandingG . i.e. communication is not com&lete unless it is understood. This involves inter&retation of the message by receiver. Third ste& inthe rece&tion of message is Fres&onseG the message . i.e. action. 9eedbac(, Heceiver sends hisMher res&onse bac( to the sender. This enables thesender to determine $hether the message has been received and &roduced theintended res&onse. Noise, This term refers to those factors that cause hindrance to the intended message.

2isunderstanding in Communication
'uring the &rocess of communication . i.e. translating the idea into message and sending it to the receiver . there are barriers that can give rise to misunderstandings in communication. Barriers can arise $hile the message is beingdevelo&ed% transmitted% received or &rocessed. 1. 6roblems in 'evelo&ing the message a=Indecision about the message content, This is due to the fact that the sender has too much information on the sub*ect% $hich gives rise to thedifficulty in choosing $hat to include and $hat to exclude.

b=#ac( of 9amiliarity $it the situation or the receiver, The sender should get all necessary information and find out to $hom the message is to be sent.This $ould enable the sender to state the message in a language that isa&&ro&riate to the situation and clearly understood by the receiver. c=Emotional Conflicts, There are times the message has to be delivered that$ould cause emotional disturbance to the receiver. In such case $ithout being defensive% the sender should state the message in a manner that $ouldavoid emotional conflicts. d='ifficultly in Ex&ressing Ideas, This is due to the lac( of ex&erience in $riting or s&ea(ing that the sender may have and cause difficulty in ex&ressing hisMher ideas. 1ne must &osses sufficient (no$ledge of languageto ex&ress using a&&ro&riate $ords. E. 6roblems in Transmitting the 2essage a= 3hen s&ea(ing% the sender may find that the acoustics in the &lace is &oor%or there may be on &ro&er facilities for the audience to hear the s&ea(er.b= In case of $ritten transmission of message there could be instances $hen the message is not legible . unable to read due to &oor uality of &rinting.c= 3hen more than one message is sent on the same sub*ect there is a good&ossibility of contradictions.d= 3hen there are too many lin(s in the communication line there could bedistortion of message. :. 6roblems in Heceiving the 2essage a=6hysical 'istraction, The receiver may have &hysical im&airment <hard ofhearing% &oor eye sight= that could cause hindrance in understanding the message. b=#ac( of Concentration, The receiver may not have enough ca&acity to concentrate and may let hisMher mind $ander off the message . i.e. sometimes $e are thin(ing of some other issue $hen a &erson is telling issomething else. D. 6roblems in Understanding the 2essage, a= 'ifference culture bac(ground% such as education% social status% economic&osition% etc. could become a hindrance in the &rocess of understanding the message. b= 'ifferent inter&retation of $ords, This ha&&ens $hen the receiver is not familiar $ith a &articular language. c= 'ifferent emotional reaction, The message consists of both the content meaning and relationshi& meaning. The message may be clear% but the manner in $hich it is ex&ressed or $orded may not be acce&table to thereceiver.

-&ecial 6roblems of Business Communication

)ll communication is &rone to misunderstanding but business in &articular in more&rone to misunderstanding because of its com&lex nature. 1. Com&lexity of the 2essage a= In the &rocess of business communication% one must communicate both as anindividual as $ell as a re&resentative of the organi+ation. These t$o roles

could conflict $ith each other. b= )t time you may be called u&on to develo& and deliver message that may bedifficult to ex&ress due to the difficult nature of the sub*ect matter. This couldbecome a &roblem as $ell as a challenge to develo& the message in clear terms. c= Business situation are not al$ays easy and smooth sailing. There are moments $hen you may be as(ed to &re&are a message under difficult conditions or $ith in the constraints of time and money or even in collaboration $ith &eo&le $ith little or no (no$ledge of the sub*ect. d= )nother &roblem of business communication is to develo& message in theca&acity of a res&onsible re&resentative of the organi+ation in a manner that$ould &lease everybody in the chain of command. E. 'ifficult conditions for Transmission and Hece&tion a= 1ne of the ma*or &roblems of business communication is to get acrossto your message to your audience. This is due to the fact that there are manylayers of message &rocessors or filters bet$een the sender and the receiver .such as secretaries% assistants% rece&tionists and ans$ering machines. b= If filters &ose a &roblem in business communication% distillers also become e ually &roblematic. 'istillers are those through $hom the message gets translated% inter&reted% distorted% and even added u&on before it isreceived. The message dose not gets the receiver"s undivided attention dueto the nature of business situation. :. 'ifference bet$een the -ender and the Heceiver, a= In business communication &rocess is often bet$een &eo&le $ho arese&arated by differences in function% status% allegiance% etc. The sender deals$ith the (no$ledge or less (no$n receiver M audience. This ma(es communication more difficult. b= If the business communication involves the sender and the un(no$n or less (no$n audience% then it is e ually im&ortant for the sender to antici&atethe needs and reactions of the receiver.

)&&roaches to Effective Communication

2any a&&roaches have been develo&ed to ma(e business communication effective.0ence are some of the a&&roaches. 1 E Im&ortance C"s in Communication F6HI'EG 2odel Correct Clear Candid Com&lete Concise Consistent Coherent Correct facts% right time of delivering message% and suitable style. Clarity of thought and ex&ression. Communication should be $ithout bias ob*ective assessment offacts. 9ull details should be given $ithout leaving room for doubts. Communication should contain *ust necessary but sufficient information. Communication should be consistent $ith organi+ational ob*ectives. Communication should be $ell organi+ed and logically arranged.

Courteous Credible Chronological Considerate Com&assing

Communication should be delivered in &olite language. 3hatever is said or $ritten should be believable. There should be a se uence of time and &riority in the message. Consideration should be given to the receiver rather than thesender. Communication should encom&ass all organi+ational needs.

4eorge T. /ardamam B 6atricia B. /ardamam have develo&ed this model. The 6HI'E stands for 6ur&ose% Heceiver% Im&act% 'esign and Executive.
6ur&ose Heceiver Im&act 'esign Executio n It refers to the &ur&ose that the sender is trying to achieve i.e. target ofcommunication. The sender should (no$ the &sychology and com&etence of the receiverin order to communicate the message. Communication should be such that it has the necessary affect u&on thereceiver so as to achieve the &ur&ose of the communication. This refers to the &lanning of the communication. It should be organi+edand develo&ed so that it can achieve the desired im&act u&on the receiver. The final stage of communication in im&lementation of the &lanned message. Communication $ill fail if it is not &ro&erly carried out.

Ten Commandments of Effective Communication

a= -ee( the clarity of ideas before communication. b= Examine the true &ur&ose of each communication. c= Consider the total &hysical and human setting $henever you communicate. d= Consult $ith other $here a&&ro&riate in &lanning communication. e= Be mindful of the overtones as $ell as of basic content of your message. f= Ta(e o&&ortunity $hen it arises to convey something of hel& or value of thereceiver. g= 9ollo$ u& your communication. h= Communicate for tomorro$ as $ell as for today. i= Be sure your actions su&&ort your communication. *= -ee( not only to be understood but also to understand.4uidelines to Im&rove

Communication
1= Create the 2essage Care fully, Communication is a creative art an actin $hich you hel& your audience understand and acce&t your message. a= 6ur&ose . to bring the audience closer to your vie$s. I= 'efine your goal in communication.II= Ano$ the &osition of your audience.III= Use $ords in a manner that $ill bridge the audience from their&resent &osition to your &oint of vie$. b= 9rame of Heference . give your audience a frame$or( for understanding the message. I= )t least the outset tells the audience $hat they can ex&ect togain.II=

4ive a broad outline . general ma& of your message.III= 4uide the audience along $ith the &ath of your thought andmessage.I/= Em&hasis on the ma*or landmar( Nidea% conce&tO of yourmessage. c= 2emorable . hel& your audience to understand and remember the message. I= -ince business communication involves sub*ect that is technical%abstract and difficult use concrete language . i.e. balance generalconce&ts $ith s&ecific illustrations.II= 4ive s&ecific details% $hich $ill be remembered by youraudience. d= -elect information that directly contributes to the &resent message. I= 9ocus on fe$ selected ideas that need to be conveyed.II= 'evelo& each idea M conce&t ade uately and ex&lain themsufficiently.III= )rrange the selected ideas M conce&ts in a logical se uence. e= Connect your message to the receiver"s frame of reference . The sender must be able to lin( the ne$ ideas to the existing ideas of his audience. This means the sender should be in a &osition to assess the frameof mind of his audience. f= 0ighlight and summari+e the (ey ideas or &oints . This is im&ortantbecause *ust as the sender hel&s to o&en the mind of hisMher audience so alsohe Mshe should be able to close mind of the audience $hen the message isended. ) message has a beginning and an end. The beat $ay to close themessage is to briefly re-vie$ the ideas &resented . em&hasi+ing the (eyideas% conce&ts% or thoughts and summari+ing the $hole message in a briefbut cohesive manner. E=2inimi+e Noise M Interference, Even the most constructed message $ill fail toachieve results if it does not reach the receiver. In other $ords% there are many&ossibilities for the message to get distorted on its $ay from the sender to thereceiver. If the message is in &rint or $ritten form it should be &hysicallya&&ealing as $ell as easy to com&rehend. 0ere the choice of material used along$ith the choice of format is im&ortant. In the case of oral delivery% attem&t should be made to eliminate environmental disturbances% $hich cab cause interference in hearing and understanding the message. )s the sender of themessage you should be as incons&icuous as &ossible . i.e. your dressing shouldnot be vary loud $hich $ill catch the attention of the audience. Be modestly anda&&ro&riately dressed so as to become too obvious. :=9acilitate 9eedbac(, This means to &rovide o&&ortunity to the audience for feedbac(. 0o$ever in business communication there is very little chance forfeedbac(% because of the nature of massage delivery that does not &rovidefeedbac( loo&. The main ob*ective of the feedbac( is to (no$ $hether yourmessage has been clearly understood and acce&ted. To achieve this the sendershould &lan his M her message in a $ay that $ould encourage feedbac(. To maintain control over the communication the sender should choose an a&&ro&riate $ay of obtaining feedbac(. 9eedbac( is not al$ays easy to get.3hen there is a need for feedbac( then you may have to dra$ the feedbac( byas(ing s&ecific uestions &ertaining to the message. In business situation feedbac( &lays an im&ortant role because if from the feedbac( that o&ennessand im&rovement comes.

UNIT . :

6-5C01#14IC)# )N' CU#TUH)#'I2EN-I1N- 19 BU-INE--C122UNIC)TI1N

It has often been said that the business of business is to ma(e &rofits. The fundamental function of business is communication. Imagine if there $as no communication in a business organi+ation $ould there be any function at allL Therefore communication is very essence of business. Communication is very closely associated $ith human behaviour. Understanding of human behaviour enables us to a&&ly its &rinci&les to communication &sychology. 6sychologists study individual behaviour% sociologists study grou& behaviour and anthro&ologists study culture behaviour. 'es&ite the fact that so much studies have been done in the field of human behaviour . i.e. ho$ and $hy most &eo&le behave the $ay they do . there are al$ays exce&tions. Behaviour . $hat $e do and say . tells us much about ourselves. Hemember all behaviour is communicative and communication is the index of our behaviour.

6rinci&les of Communication 6sychology

By communication &sychology $e mean the study of human behaviour that effects the communication &rocess as $ell as communication that effects human behaviour. )ccording to )braham 2aslo$ a famous &sychologist most &eo&le $ill res&ond &ositively to the message that $ill meet their &articular needs at &articular times. In other $ords our need determine our reaction to the message. To be successful communicator you should be able determine needs of the &eo&le to $hom you are communicating. The &rinci&les of communication &sychology are as follo$s, The needs determine behaviour in the communication &rocess. Body language determines behaviour &attern. /erbal language determines behaviour &attern. 1. Needs 'etermine Behaviour, 0ere $e shall ma(e use of 2aslo$"s 0ierarchy of needs to understand the influence of needs on the communication &rocess. )ccording to 2aslo$ there are five sets of needs, a= 6hysiological needs Basic &hysical needs b= -ecurity Need to be safe c= -ocial M )ffiliation Need to belong d= Esteem Need to be somebody e= -elf . )ctuali+ation Need to hel& others and to be creative

)ll these needs influence human behaviour in the &rocess of communication. E. Body language determines behaviour, This could be ca&tioned as non. verbal communication% $hich has been defined by Bartol B 2artin as F communication by means elements and behaviors that not coded in $ordsG.This definition suggests that non-verbal mode of communication indicates thebehavioral &attern of the communicators. Non-verbal communication often accom&anies verbal <oral= communication. 0o$ever another vital feature ofnon-verbal communication is that most time $e are communicating<generally to the &eo&le around us= $ithout using $ords% by the $ay $e $al(%sit% dress etc. a=9acial Ex&ression, )s&i 'octor B Hodha 'octor in their boo( 6rinci&le and6ractices of Business Communication suggest that Charles 'ar$in believedthat facial ex&ression sho$ emotions $hich originated in our evolutionary &ast. 0ence &eo&le from all over the $orld even if they s&ea( differentlanguage and belong to different cultures use a common &attern of facialex&ressions to sho$ emotions. Universal facial ex&ressions are used to sho$the follo$ing emotion, ha&&iness% sur&rise% fear% sorro$ etc. Non-verbal communication using eye movements is called FoculesicsG. b=4estures, They are movements of the hands% the head or the body toindicate an idea or a feeling. 4estures are culturally based. In other $ords%certain gesture may be acce&table in one culture% $hile it may be de&lored inanother culture. 4estures are indicative of the behavioral &atterns that areuni ue to s&ecific culture. 0ence they should be seen or &erceived in &ro&er manner and context. This calls for develo&ing an a$areness of ho$ to inter&ret gestures. c=Body 2ovement and 6ostures, 6osture is an im&ortant element in bodylanguage as if often gives a (ey to the &ersonality of a &erson as $ell as tells us about the &erson. Body movements and &osture a&&ro&riate for one &erson may not be suitable to another. F(inesicG behavior $hich includes allbody movements and gestures mean different things in different cultures.-ometimes that are meaningless in one culture have distinct meanings inanother culture. d= -ilence, 6aradoxical as it may sound $e do communicate $ith the hel&s ofsilence. -omething $e are over$helmed by emotions that $e are s&eechless-our silence s&ea(s of our strong feeling. There are certainly many occasions$hen silence is more elo uent than $ordsG. 3riter Pose&h 'e /ito mentionsthe follo$ing functions of silence,I= To allo$ the s&ea(er time to thin(. II= To isolate one"s self. III= To hurt someone. I/= To &revent further communication. /= To communicate emotional res&onse. /I= To say nothing. e= -&ace and 6roximity, -&ace and &roximity &lay an im&ortant &art in a communication &rocess. The influence that s&ace and &roximity have oncommunication is (no$n as F&roxemicsG. 9or instance $hen $e enter theoffice of a senior executive $e (ee& a certain distance. The more senior theexecutive the more the distance or &roximity $e maintain.I= Intimate -&ace or Qone is $hat $e could identify as that s&ace$here all our body movements occur. This is the +one that belongs toeach one of us and in $hich $e move throughout the day.II= 6ersonal -&ace or Qone extends from 1> inches to about D feet% in $hich conversation $ith close friends ta(es &lace. This is the s&ace $herenormal tal(ing is fre uent.

III= -ocial -&ace or Qone extends from D feet to about 1E feet. This is an im&ortant +one for business% because exchange occurs in the +one.I/= 6ublic -&ace or Qone extends from 1E feet and beyond. This is themost formal +one% and the least significant interactions occur here. f='ress B 4rooming, The manner and style of dressing also &lays an im&ortant role in non-verbal communication. 'ress and grooming informs the&eo&le about us. 3e $ish to ma(e a good im&ression u&on the &eo&le%because &eo&le *udge you by the $ay you dress-the color of your dress% ho$$ill it is un$rin(led the loo(s of your shoes etc. your a&&earance is also*udged by the tidiness of your hair% body odour etc. 'ress code any groominghas become an im&ortant element of cor&orate culture. g=Colour, Colour &lays such as im&ortant role in our lives that as far as Englishis concerned, colour symbolism has become a &art of the language. Coloursare used to convey message not only at the individual level but also at thelevel of communication and nation. Besides all these use of colour they alsohave significant &sychological effect. Colours not only inform us about &eo&lebut also affect the behavior of human beings. 0enry 'reyfuss after considerable research offers the follo$ing table to sho$ the &ositive andnegative messages of certain colours. Colou r Hed 6ositive 2essage 3armth 6assion #ife #iberty6atriotism Negative2essage 'eath 3ar Hevolution 'evil 'anger

Blue

Heligious9eeling'evot ion Truth Pustice

'oubt 'iscouragemen t

5ello $ 4ree n 6ur&l e

Intuition 3isdom 'ivinity Nature 0o&e9reshness 6ros&erity 6o$er Hoyalty#ove of Truth Nostalgia

Co$ardice 2alevolence Im&ure love EnvyPealousy1&&osition'isgr ace 2ourningHegret6enitence Hesignation

:. #anguage )ffects Behavior, The $ords $e can ma(e us behave in different $ays. To communicate successfully% $e must remember that $ordsare only symbols to $hich &eo&le add meaning. T$o &eo&le may inter&retthat same $ord differently. Communication )cross Cultures
1 3hat is Culture,Culture is our understanding of acce&table actions and beliefs. Each of us gro$s u& in a culture that &rovides &attern of acce&table behavior and belief. It is the bac(ground over against $hich all our actions and beliefs become meaningful. Culture can be seen as the $ay $e live the cloths $e

$ear and the thoughts $e thin(. It is the collection of values that sustain and direct or lives. Ed$ard 0all says% Gculture is communication and communication is culture. E The East versus the 3est, )nyone $ho $ants to deal $ith &eo&le from a &articular country should &re&are themselves by studying it culture and history so that they can avoid at least the more serious &roblems of communication that result from culture differences. 3e shall consider some fundamental Indian values and com&are them $ith the 3estern ones. They control the $orld trade they control money matters they control science and technology. They set the rules for the $orld and $e have to &lay by their rules. 3e should ho$ever remember that the 3est is not one $hole culture $ith uniform values. There are many countries% cultures% languages and &eo&le that ma(e $hat $e call as the 3est. 0ence it is im&ortant that $e ma(e &ro&er distinction and avoid over generali+ations and sim&lifications. a= 0eart versus 2ind, 3e Indian are driven more by heart than our mind li(e everyone else $e have rules and regulation but $e tend to succumb to the demands of the &resent. 2.2. 2oni&&ally in his boo( Communication -trategies &uts it a&tly F3e sacrifice the future at the altar of the &resentG. 3e are ca&able of ta(ing decisions $ithout much &lanning. 3esterns are fundamentally different in their a&&roach to &lanning. They sacrifice the &resent for the sa(e of the future $hich they create $ith through &lanning. The future drives them says 2oni&&ally. They are less flexible to$ards the demands of the &resent situation. They invest heavily in &lanning the future and are confident that they $ill &ull through the &resent situation. b= 6articularistic verses Universalistic, 9ons Trom&enaars in his boo( Hidingthe 3aves of Culture calls the 3esterners as FUniversalistsG. Universalism believes that $hat is good and right can be defined and can be a&&lied al$ays every$here. Indian believes that $hat is good for one need not be a&&licable for all. 0o$ever $esterners driven by universalism go to extent that $hat is good for then is also good for the rest of the $orld. They try to im&ose their logic their values and their system on the rest of the $orld. 1ur a&&roach is more informal. 3e do not follo$ the &rocedures as long as the $or( is accom&lished. This has adverse effect on the affect on the uality of $or(manshi&. 3esterners are also (no$n for their meticulous nature in gathering data using statistics extensively to dra$ universal &rinci&les% and this enables them to lead the rest of the $orld. 0ere are some ti&s 9ons Trom&enaars gives &articularists on ho$ to deal $ith the universalists. I= Be &re&ared for !rational" &rofessional arguments.II= 'o not ta(e !get do$n to business" attitude as rude.III= Carefully &re&are legal ground $ith a la$yer if on doubt.I/= -trive for consistency and uniform &rocedures./= Institute formal and &ublic $ays of changing the $ay business isconducted./I= -ee( fairness by treating all li(e cases in the same $ay. c= -&ecific versus 'iffused Helationshi&, )nother noticeable culture of the 3esterners culture is the com&artmentali+ation of relationshi&s bet$een &eo&le. ) colleague is a colleague% nothing more B nothing less. -imilarly% a neighbor is only a neighbor% even if t$o &eo&le live side by side for a long time. In contrast%

our relationshi& $ith &eo&le lends to be diffused. 3e may be ex&ected to do things for our boss that is not related to the $or( in the office. 3e do not se&arate our relation tightly. 2oreover% $hen re uests are turned do$n $e tend to ta(e it seriously% $hich effects our relations. d= Na&otism versus 2ertiocracy, In the 3est ne&tism is remar(able lo$ com&ared to India. 0ere even the &rivate sector% leave alone the government and &ublic sector is not entirely free from em&loying the relations of to& managers. The merit for em&loyment is (inshi& not com&etence. The $estern $ay of s&ea(ing $or( from life hel&s com&anies hire &eo&le $ho in their *udgement $ill &erform the tas(s best. e= 0ire-and-fire 6olicy, In the $est hire-and-fire &olicy is $idely &racticed. This &ractice is also derived from their ability to com&artmentali+e relationshi&s. ) &erson is hired on the basis of ho$ much he M she can fello$ the system to extract the $or( out of them. 3hen the &erson cannot be functional $ithin a system then the &erson is discarded from the system. In the contrast the Indian a&&roach to em&loyment is different. 2any em&loyees are (e&t in their *ob not because the em&loyer needs them but because they need the *ob for their livelihood. This is done on the grounds of com&assion and not the basis of merit. )n Indian em&loyer does not hire *ust certain technical or &rofessional s(ills relevant to the firm"s re uirement but the $hole &erson. This ma(es it difficult for the em&loyer to assess the &erformance of the em&loyee $ithout considering the &erson as a $hole. f= Individualism, This is another characteristic of the $estern society &articularly the )merican% in $hich everyone is for one"s self. Everyone in the U- is ex&ected to ta(e care of himself M herself. FIf you $ant your father to ta(e care of you that is &aternalism. If you $ant your mother to ta(e care of you that is materialism. If you $ant Uncle -am to ta(e care of you that is -ocialism. But if you $ant to ta(e care of yourself that is )mericanismG. Ruoted by 2. 2. 2oni&&ally in Business Communication -trategies . an average 3esterner is more self-reliant and ca&able of ta(ing inde&endent decision then most Indian counter&art. g= Notion of Time, Time is another fundamental as&ect of life% in $hich different cultures have different &erce&tions. 6unctually is a fundamental value for most $esterners. The im&ortance of time in industrial society has its roots in the affects to Industrial Hevolutions of the 17 century. )lvin Toffler &oints out in his boo( The Third 3ave that $ith the advent of industriali+ation many social institutions came into existence. The overt curriculum has sub*ect such as history% geogra&hy% mathematics etc. 9or the 3esterners time is money and hence one must ma(e the most of the time available. They do not li(e to alter their &lans once they are made. 9or us in India time is not a linear but cyclic in nature. 0ence it is not a limited resource. 2oni&&ally o&ines F6erha&s the idea of the cycle of rebirth lodged dee&ly in our collective &syche% ta(es urgency out of our conce&t of timeG. The Indian have many lives hence they have no need to be in hurry.
th

h= -ocial #adder, 1ur values differ from those of the 3est in the $ay $e &ut &eo&le on the social ladder. In India one"s status de&ends to a large extent on the caste and the family one has been born into the &osition one holds currently or has held the educational ualification one has ac uired the connection one has and of course age. 0ierarchy is very im&ortant in our families and organi+ations. 2oney &o$er is recogni+ed acce&ted and feared but not admired. -ociety may envy the ne$ rich but sho$ little res&ect to them. The 3est also has hierarchies. There is a s&ecial res&ect to &eo&le belonging to illustrious families. It recogni+ed educational achievements the &osition one holds and of course the connection one has. It ho$ever gives greater im&ortance to $hat an individual has achieved in the recent &ast% $hich is the true of the )merican -ociety.

Categori+ing Culture
)ll the &eo&le ac uire meaning from both verbal and non-verbal messages but some &eo&le in some culture rely more on non-verbal communication than nonverbal communication. Ed$ard 0all believed that culture vary in the reliance &eo&le &lace on non-verbal signals or verbal signals. 0e defined these extremes aG lo$context cultureG and Fhigh-context cultureG. #o$-context Culture refers to the de&endency of the &eo&le on direct verbal message to communicate. 0igh-context Culture refers to the de&endency of the &eo&le on indirect nonverbal message to communicate. 'irectness is often considered rude. In lo$-context culture most transmitted information is contained in the message itself. 1n the other hand in high-context culture the information is &rimarily determined by the communicator"s non-verbal signals% $hich im&lies shared social and culture (no$ledge of the context.

Ti&s for Communication $ith 6eo&le for other Culture

5ou may never com&letely overcome linguistic and culture barriers or totally erase ethnocentric tendencies but you can communicate effectively $ith &eo&le from other culture if you $or( at it. These ti&s have been ta(en form P. /. Thill and C. #. Bovee Excellence in Business Communication. 1. #earning about a Culture, The best $ay to &re&are your-self to do business $ith &eo&le form other culture is to study their culture in advance. If you &lan to do businesses there re&eatedly learn the language. Even if you transact business in English% you sho$ res&ect by ma(ing effort to learn the local language. Concentrate on learning something about their history% religion% &olicies and customs. a= In -&ain let a handsha(e last for five or seven stro(es. In 9rance% the handsha(e is a signal stro(e.b= Never give a gift of li uor in )rab Countries.c= In England never stic( &ens or other ob*ects in your front suit &oc(et.d= )llo$ &lenty of time to get to (no$ the &eo&le you are dealing $ith in )frica.e= In )rab Countries never turn

do$n food or drin( it is insult to refuse hos&itality of any (ind. f= -tress the longevity <age of -&an= of your com&any $hen dealing $ith 4ermans%'utch and -$iss. E. 0andling 3ritten Communication, -ome ti&s of handling 3ritten Communication, a= Use short% &recise $ords that say $hat they mean.b= Hely on s&ecific terms of ex&lain your &oints.c= -tay a$ay from slang% *argon% and bu++ $ords. -uch $ords rarely translate $ell. -o also avoid idioms and figurative ex&ression.d= Construct sentences that are shorter and sim&le.e= Use short &aragra&hs. Each &aragra&h should stic( to one &oint.f= 0el& readers follo$ your train of thought by using transitional devices.g= Use numbers visual aids% and &er-&rinted form to clarify your message. :. 0andling 1ral Communication, To overcome the language and culture barriers follo$ these suggestions,E7 J 6age a= Aee& o&en mind. 'on"t stereoty&e the other &erson or react $ith &reconceivedideas. b= Be conscious of the other &erson"s customer. c= Try to be a$are of unintentional meanings that nay be read into your message. d= #isten carefully and &atiently. If you do not understand a comment as( the&erson to re&eat it. e= Be a$are that the other &erson"s body language may mislead you. 4estures andex&ressions mean different things in different cultures. f= )da&t your style to the other &erson"s. g= )t the end of the conversation be sure that you and the other &erson both agreeon $hat has been said and decided. h= If a&&ro&riate follo$ u& by $riting a letter or memo summari+ing the conversation and than(ing the &erson for meeting $ith you.

Communication can ta(e &lace $hen both the communicators $ill listen to eachother. )s one another &ut it F#istening is the mother of all s&ea(ingG. #isteningactively and attentively is vital to oral communication. In a conversation both thes&ea(er and the listener have to listen simultaneously to each other for their communication to be effective. The s&ea(er has to listen not only to any verbalres&onses but also to the non-verbal symbols or signs that the listener dis&lays. Thet$o . s&ea(er and listener . influence each other and alternate their role constantly.In other $ords the s&ea(er is to a listener a listener is also a s&ea(er. 'es&ite thefact that listening is essential to communication human beings are not goodlisteners. The biggest bloc( to &ersonal communication is man"s inability to listenintelligently% understandingly and s(illfully to another &erson. This deficiency in themodern $orld is $ides&read and a&&alling.

UNIT . D#I-TENIN4

The )natomy of 6oor #istening

1 3hy is it that our listening is not as good as it ought to beL F1ur brain is ca&able of &rocessing ?;; to @?; $ords a minute $hile &eo&le onlys&ea( 1E; to 1?; $ords a minute. The listeners use only a &art of their brainto listen they use their brain"s s&are ca&acity to thin( of other things thatinterest them.

E 0o$ does #istening differ from 0earingL Too often &eo&le thin( thatlistening and hearing is the same thing but there is a big difference. 0earingde&ends u&on the ears $hile listening uses the mind and eye as $ell. The ear&ermits you to hear sound the mind enables you to inter&ret these sounds torecogni+e some of them as $ords and to fashion the $ords into thoughts orideas. -tar( reality is that as human beings $e are &oor listeners. 2ost of usdo not really listen $e *ust $ait to tal(S 2any times $e are so &reoccu&ied$ith our o$n thoughts% &riorities and agendas that $e do not actually listento $hat the other is saying. #istening as a s(ill tends to be untaught and untrained. 1 a. FI only $ish I could find an institution that teaches &eo&leho$ to listen. )fter all a good manager needs to listen at least as much as heneeds to tal(% real communication goes in both directionsG. E b. FThe &eo&le of the $orld are islands shouting at eachother across a sea of misunderstandingG. )nother &roblem of &oor listening isthat it becomes retaliatory . F$e don"t listen to them because they don"t listen to usG.

Contribution to 6oor #istening

There are several factors that contribute to &oor listening. ; 1. Inade uate #anguage, 6oor #istening may result for the listener"s $ea(command over the language and narro$ range of vocabulary. Certain $ordsthat the s&ea(er uses may not ma(e sense to the listener. These $ords couldeither be technical or rare. They could even be $ords that are common% butused by a &articular community or a grou& of &eo&le in &articular sense and 1 may be used by s&ea(er $ithout reali+ing that the &articular listener may notbe able to ma(e them. 9aced $ith $ords that are beyond the range of thelistener he M she may not as( for clarification because of fear or shyness.3hile $e normally associate listening $ith s&o(en $ords and &hrases% $eought to include non verbal symbols . listening bet$een $ords . in the &rocess of listening. E 'ifficult 6hysical Conditions, 6oor listening may also be result from thedifficult from the difficult conditions in $hich one has to listen. 6ublic &lacesand sho& floors of manufacturing units can be so noisy that listening couldbecome a &roblem. This is true es&ecially $hen the s&ea(er is of a higherstatus. ) listener may not have the choice of the context in $hich he has tolisten. : Non--erious #istening, -ome listeners allo$ themselves to be distracted. They do not ta(e listening seriously enough to devote full attention to it. Theymay try to combine several activities such as fli&&ing through a file of letters%singing documents% arranging &a&er on the des( and so on $hile listen someone. They feel the energy they save by not having to loo( at the s&ea(er could be invested in doing other things. It is not good to indulge in&artial listening $hile one is face-toface conversation. It can demorali+e theother &arty $ho may feel that he Mshe is being snubbed. D )nti&athy to$ards -&ea(er, 1ne of the biggest causes of &oor listening has little to do $ith language or &hysical conditions. It consists of the &sychological barriers to the listener. These barriers are treacherous becausethe listener neither see them nor recogni+es them as barriers even $hen seen. ? Im&atience, Im&atience is born out of overconfidence. Before they hear out the s&ea(er some listeners assume that they (no$ $hat is coming. -ometimes such listeners find the s&ea(er too slo$. -uch listeners do not $ait for the s&ea(er to finish% tend to *um& to conclusion $hich annoys thes&ea(er. There is yet another form of im&atience that many of us suffer from.Everyone tends to value their o$n thoughts and issues more highly thanthose of others. 3hat $e have to say is al$ays

more im&ortant than $hatothers have to say. 8 -trong Convictions, 1ur mind is li(e a sieve-that utensil that is used to se&arate hus( from the flour. The grid $hich forms the net to se&arate thehus( from the flour corres&onds to our &resu&&ositions <convictions= that $ehave received during the &rocess of our gro$th. These &resu&&ositionsenable us to com&rehend $hatever $e ex&erience or that $hich our sensesreceive. 1n the other hand if the grid is so $oven so as to have big o&eningsthen more $ill &ass through it. @ Information 1verload, 3e are deluged $ith so much information that it ishumanly im&ossible to &rocess it all. 9rom the volume of information that isavailable to us it is difficult to determine $hat is relevant and $hat is not. 3hen $e are faced $ith such immense amount of information our listeningbecomes selective and thus miss out &ertinent information. 3hen $e are overloaded $ith information $e tend to be distracted and this ham&ers ourlistening ability.

#istening -tyles
1= !Ineffective #istening -tyle There are at least four ineffective style of listening. The four ineffective listening styles are as,a= The Fmissing in actionF#istener.b= The FdistractedG #istener.c= The FselectiveG #istener.d= The FContentiousG #istener. a=The 2issing-in-)ction #istener, This is ty&ically a &assive or detached listening style. These listeners although &hysically &resent are clearly mentally or intellectually absent. 5ou could become a Fmissing-in-actionGlistener if you have little interest in $hat is being said to you. It is as throughthe communication does not exist. It is not the uestion of misunderstandingthe communication you *ust don"t hear it. b=The F'istractedG #istener, This is an active dysfunctional style of listening. It is dysfunctional because the listener is actively engaged in hisMher more immediate concern% $hich ma(es the listening abilitydysfunctional. 5ou $ill find them doing t$o or more things at the same time.They try to a&&ear to be listening $hile reading% $riting or &ursuing someother activity. Common behaviour of distracted listener is to re&eatedlyglance at the $atch. -ome &eo&le can camouflage their distraction so $ellthat the s&ea(er gets the im&ression that heMshe is being carefully listening to. They a&&ear to be engaged in their &rocess of listening by constantlynodding in agreement or using a&&ro&riate verbal clues. 5ou can become adistracted listening $hen you are under &rocess to meet deadlines or $ra&&ed u& in your o$n thoughts or emotions. c=The F-electiveG #istener, In the style of listening the listener listens onlythat $hich conforms to &reviously determined o&inions and &ositions. Theselisteners sift through the message to glean information to su&&ort $hat theyalready thin( hearing only they $ant to hear. They are not listening to thetotal message but selecting only that &art of the message that $ould validatetheir o$n beliefs. -elective listeners can be either &ositively or negativelyinclined. 5ou become a FselectiveG listener if you do not disci&line yourself tolisten to someone"s total message.

d=The FContentionsG #istener, ) contentious #istener is one $ho uses a combative aggressive listening style. It has been described as Flistening $itha chi& on shoulderG. These listeners are al$ays on a $ar&ath and listen onlyto find &oints of disagreement. They listen only to re*ect not to actually &rocess the entire message. They are determined to disagree. 5ou can become the contentious listeners $hen listening $ith your emotions. Emotions such as anger% fear% *ealousy% resentment etc. often result in contentions listening &atterns. E= !Effective #istening -tyle The four ty&e of listening differs not only in &ur&ose but also in the amount offeedbac( or interaction they entail. They are,a= Content #isteningb= Critical #isteningc= Em&athic #isteningd= )ctive #istening )ll four ty&e of listening can be useful in $or( . related situations. a=Content #istening, This goal is understand and retain information by thes&ea(er. 5ou as( uestion but basically% information flo$s from the s&ea(er toyou. 5our *ob is to identify the (ey &oint of the message so you concentrate andlisten for clues to its structure &revie$% transitions% summaries and enumerated&oints. It does not matter $hether you agree or disagree% a&&rove or disa&&rove. only that you understand. b=Critical #istening, The goal is to evaluate the message at several levels thelogic of the argument% strength of the ob*ective and validity of the conclusion theim&lications of the message for you or your organi+ation the s&ea(er"s intentionand motives and the omission of any im&ortant or relevant &oints. c=Em&athic #istening, The goal is to understand the s&ea(er"s feeling% needs%and $ants in order to hel& solve a &roblem. The function of the message is onlyto act as the vehicle for gaining insight into the &erson"s &syche. 0o$ever your&ur&ose is not really to FsolveG the &roblem. By listening you hel& the individualvent the emotions that are &reventing him M her from dealing dis&assionately$ith the &roblem. d=)ctive #istening, The 4oal is to a&&reciate the other &erson"s &oint of vie$$hether or not you agree. This is done in the manner &sychiatrist Carl Hogers%develo&ed the techni ue to hel& &eo&le resolve their differences. To &utdifferently active listening involves listening to $hat is said as $ell as that $hichis not said. That $hich is not said should be made clear to the &erson by s&ellingit out. This $ould enables both the communicators to become ac uainted $itheach other"s bac(ground and thus message $ould be clearer.

'evelo&ing Effective #istening -(ills

5our listening efforts are com&letely under your control. If you are $illing to beeffective listener you can become one. In becoming effective listeners one has toma(e deliberate and conscious efforts. #earning is a &rocess that cannot accom&lish&rivacy but must be carried out in the &resence of &eo&le. There are six communication realities, a=Effective #istening -(ills can be #earned, 4ood listener are made not born. -ome &eo&le may have inherently better listening s(ills than others% yet everyone can

learn to become a more effective listeners. b=To become an effective listener you must be committed to your &ersonal s(ills develo&ment, There has to be $illingness to learn. These s(illsho$ever are not easy to learn% if they $ere everyone $ould have them. 5ou $illex&erience success indirect &ro&ortion to the effort you are $illing to invest inthe learning &rocess. Increasing your listening s(ills must become a &ersonal goal. c=)ctive #istening s(ills must be 6racticed, Increases in your s(ills level $illdiminish if hey are not constantly &racticed. He&etition is the (ey. 6ractice $illenable effective listening to become a second nature to you. The first time you$ill ex&erience only limited success. The fact is some of us $ould easily give u&if $e do not find success. d=Time is an im&ortant tool, If your emotions are high and you are on the vergeof giving u& buy sometime and allo$ your emotions to ebb a$ay. Hemind timeand again that you have to become an effective listener. 9ind time and o&&ortunity to develo& the s(ills. e=0o$ $ill you listen to others de&ends on your internal communication,5our listening s(ills evolve around your ability to manage your o$n internalcommunication . $hat you say to your self $hen the listening &rocess is on. Theinternal dialogue . i.e. listening to instructions you give yourself . has tremendous influence over your abilities to accurately absorb the messages ofothers. f=-ome effective listening techni ues are more difficult to im&lement than others, The uni ue nature of individual listening strengths and $ea(ness&laces% varying degrees of im&ortance and challenge on active listening s(ills fordifferent &eo&le.

-te&s to Effective #istening -(ills

9or effective listening s(ills one has to develo& a listening ritual. Hituals are im&ortant &art of many of our re&etitive behaviors. 5ou can develo& a ritual for listening by follo$ing these five ste&s, 1 E : D ? -tate your intention to listen, 2anage the &hysical environment. 2a(e an internal commitment to listen )ssume a listening &osture. 6artici&ate actively in the listening &rocess. 1. -tate your intention to listen, a= It creates an environment of res&ect and dignity and hel&s your communication &artner reali+e their message is $elcomed. The ris( of a&&roaching you is immediately diminished and the &artner is encouraged tobe very o&en in hisMher communication. b= 5our statement of intention to listen also &re&ares you internally toshift from your current thoughts and activities into active listening role. Thisis the very first ste& in becoming a committed listener.

1 2anage the &hysical environment, 2anaging the &hysical clearing allthat is lying on your des( or table that may cause and (ind of distraction. 3ecannot remove our listening distraction but $e can be surely eliminates the&hysical distraction around us% such as,a= 0olding tele&hone calls. b= Heduce as much bac(ground noise as &ossible. c= 6ut do$n $hatever you are doing and focus on the s&ea(er. d= Clear your des( or &ut &a&ers% letters etc. into closed file folder. e= 6osition yourself so that you may not have the vie$ of distractingactivity.f= Turn of the com&uter or re&osition the screen a$ay from your immediate line or vision. g= Changing your &osition to one that is more conducive to listening sends a very &o$erful signal to your communication &artner. E 2a(e an internal communicational to listen, This is far the most im&ortant ste& in being an effective listener. Unless you ma(e a commitmentto yourself you can not achieve effectiveness in listening. a= Hemove Internal Barrier, This techni ue &rimarily addresses the &roblem of &reconceived notions assum&tions and &re*udices that may become a hindrance in the listening &rocess. b= )void the assum&tions of negative motives, This is very commonin a $or( situation $here you may not have a very good o&inion about a&roblem. This could become an assum&tions and uestions of the verymotive if the &erson $ishes to communicate $ith you. To avoid assum&tionsof negative intent say to yourself FEven if disagree he is doing $hat he thin(sis rightG. Their intentions area valid as mine even though $e disagree. c= Challenge yourself to remember $hat has been said, Challenging yourself shar&ens your $its. Challenge yourself to listen so intently that you could accurately $rite a detailed summary of the conversation even at the end of the day. This could be of hel& for the futureconversations or ta(ing subse uent actions and decision-ma(ing. d= 6rioritise and &rocess the communication from the message"svie$&oint, )ny communication &rocess has t$o vie$&oints . one of the s&ea(er"s and the other of the listener"s. Each &erson"s vie$&oint is im&ortant for himMher. )n effective listener it is essential not only to understand the other &erson"s vie$&oint but also to understand its &riority.The 4olden Hule suggested here is F#isten to others as you $ould $ant themto listen to youG. In other $ords% avoid listening your &artner from yourvie$&oint. e= 2anage your emotions, To be effective listener you should learn todistance yourself from im&ulsive% negative emotional res&onse. 'o not allo$yourself to be &rovo(ed by other &erson"s intentional or unintentional message. If you allo$ yourself to be &rovo(ed and res&ond $ith a negativeemotion reaction you a allo$ them to be victorious. D. )ssume a listening &osture, In addition to managing the &hysicalenvironment you must also manage your &hysical readiness to listen. The visual demonstration of your &hysical readiness to listen . or the lac( of it . has significant im&act on your communication &artner. Body language is *ustas im&ortant factor in receiving message as it is in delivering them. a= Establish and maintain a&&ro&riate eye contact.b= )void starting at fixed ob*ective or off into s&ace.c= #imit your field of vision.d= Aee& your eyes alert and interested.e= #ean slightly to$ards your communication &artner.f= 2aintain an o&en &osture. )void crossing arms and legs% slum&ing your

shoulders. g= 'o not &resent the s&ea(er $ith any thing that $ould cause distraction. 9urthermore sho$ your communication &artner that you are listening to himMher bygiving verbal affirmations. 5our verbal and non verbal listening res&onse can eitherincrease or decrease the self esteem and confidence of your communication &artner. ?. 6artici&ate actively in listening, The six actions are &o$erful strategiesfor &artici&ating actively in the listening &rocess. a= Ta(e notesb= )s( a&&ro&riate uestionsc= 6revent yourself from tal(ingd= -ummaries internallye= -ee( and ac(no$ledge areas of agreementf= -ummaries and restate a=Ta(ing Notes, Be &re&ared to ta(e do$n notes of &oints that you feel areim&ortant. 0o$ever al$ays as( the &ermission and tell them $hy you $ant to$rite do$n the main &oint of their message. 6rior to note ta(ing &rocess as( Fthis is im&ortant and I $ant to be sure that I am listening effectively. 'o youmind if I ta(e some notesG. b=)s( a&&ro&riate uestions, Ruestioning can be a very effective techni uefor good listening. It hel&s you to (ee& your communication &artners focusedon their to&ic es&ecially if they should begin to stray a$ay. Increase yourlistening and decrease miscommunication your desire for clarification notargument. The four ty&e of good . listening uestions. I. II. III. I/. Close . ended uestion -intended to evo(e one .or t$o . $ord res&onse. Usually it is F5es or NoG or s&ecific &oint of information. 1&en -ended uestion . are as(ed to elicit a less structured and discursive res&onse. 1&en-ended uestions are very effective in hel&ing &eo&le to ex&and their communication. 'u&licate uestion . as(s for the same information t$o or more times in different $ays. It hel& in verifying and bringing out inconsistencies and is usually as(ed at the end of delivery of information. 0y&othetical uestion . as(s $hat $ould ha&&en in some hy&othetical situation. They usually begin $ith F$hat ifL They are usedto $eigh different &ossibilities.

c=6revent yourself from ta(ing, The tem&tation to tal( is great $hen othersare tal(ing. There are &eo&le $ho do not give other a chance to tal(. Theylove to hear their o$n voice that they are oblivious to other voices. This isusually ha&&ens in a communication &rocess involving the senior and thesubordinates. d=-ummari+e internally, This is a uality of a good listener $ho is able toconstruct an overvie$ of the message that heMshe is receiving. It is a difficulttas( yet not im&ossible. If the s&ea(er is able to &resent his message in alogical and cohesive manner then it is easy to follo$ the train of thought. )s alistener you should be able to identify the main issues of the delivery and finda logical se uence that $ill tie them together. e= -ee( and ac(no$ledge areas of agreement, It is im&ortant to identifyac(no$ledge all areas of commonality% consistency and agreement bet$eenyou and your communication &artner. This does not mean that you

overloo(the &oints of disagreement. The res&onse should highlight the area of agreement and then see( clarification on the &oints of disagreement. This isthe mar( of a good listener as $ell as a mature conversationalist. f=-ummari+e and restate, Pust it is vitally im&ortant for you to see( a summary of your message from &eo&le $ith $hom% you are communicating itis e ually im&ortant for you to summari+e $hen you are on the receiving endof someone else"s message. 3hen you summari+e and restate your &erce&tion of the message it does the follo$ing, 5ou offer concrete &roof of your listening efforts. 5ou &rove your $illingness to understand the message. 5ou verify the accuracy of your com&rehension of the message.

#istening 4uidelines
'o"s 'evote time and effort to trying to understand $hat the s&ea(er is saying. 2aintain an o&en . minded attitude% $illing to entertain the s&ea(er"s &ointof vie$. 6resent your differences $ith the s&ea(er calmly and loo( for shared elements in your beliefs. 2aintain eye contact $ith the s&ea(erif a&&ro&riate and assume that the s&ea(er has good intension. Ta(e notes and nod in agreement $here a&&ro&riate. Be &re&ared to as( relevant uestionsat the conclusion of the s&ea(er"s tal(. 'on"ts )void listening if the sub*ect is com&lexor difficult. Hemain close . minded% denying the relevant or benefit of the s&ea(er"s ideas. Be o&inionated $hen arguing <out$ardly or in$ardly= $ith the s&ea(er. )void eye contact $hile listening <insome culture% in the other cultures this $ould be sign of res&ect=. 'emonstrate a lac( of interest in the s&ea(er"s sub*ect or become &reoccu&ied $ith something else $henlistening. Concentrate on the s&ea(er"smannerisms or delivery or even outsidenoise rather than on the message.

UNIT -?

The 3riting 6rocess -6lanning

Business communication is of t$o ty&es, 1ne that involves the members $ith an organi+ation.

)nother that involves the organi+ation and the external agencies.

3e could term the former as intra-organi+ational communication and the latter asinter-organi+ational communication. The inter-organi+ational is far more com&lex than the intraorgani+ationalcommunication. Inter-organi+ational communicational involves interaction bet$eenthe organi+ation and its myriad external agencies u&on $hom the organi+ationde&ends for its business activities. 'ealing $ith external agencies such as su&&liers% consumers% shareholder% etc. theorgani+ation has to be extremely careful. The external audience that the organi+ation does business $ith com&rises of &eo&le $ho are not is close &roximity.0ence any business message that is directed to$ards this audience has to becarefully &lanned. 9ailing to do so $ould have adverse affect u&on the organi+ational functions. The basic &rocess consists of, 1 6lanning, 'etermining $hat the &ur&ose of the message is $ho the reader$ill be $hat information you need to give the reader to achieve your &ur&oseand in $hat order to &resent the information. E Com&osing, Com&osing the first draft of the message. : Hevising, Hevising for content% style% and correctness. D 9ormatting, )rranging the document in a a&&ro&riate format. ? 6roofreading, Hevie$ing the document to chec( for content% ty&ogra&hical and format errors. 'efining 5our 6ur&ose The first ste& &lanning a business message is to thin( about your &ur&ose. 1. 3hy you need a clear &ur&ose, 3hen an assignment is given to communicate to an audience a &articular to&ic% the communication has to decide$hat to say about it. The &ur&ose of the message determines content organi+ation style tone and format. a=To decide $hether to &roceed, Unnecessary message can bac(fire% even itthe material is excellent. 5ou can also loose creditability by $riting message that$ill have no im&act. -o $hen you are tem&ted to send a message% &ause andas( your self FIs it really necessaryG. b=To res&ond to the audience, 5ou need to consider the motive of the audience. 3hy $ill they &ay attention to your messageL 3hat do they ho&e togainL )re their ex&ectations com&atible $ith you o$nL c=To focus the content, Establishing a clear &ur&ose $ill also hel& you focus the message. 5ou should include only the information that is necessary to accom&lish your ob*ective. Eliminate all material that is irrelevant and unnecessary% even thought it may be interesting. d=To establish the channel and medium, 'e&ending on your &ur&ose% you $illchoose a channel Teither oral or $rittenU for your message. Corres&onding tothe channel you $ill also select the medium.

1 Common 6ur&ose of Business 2essage, There are three general &ur&osecommon to business communication, information% &ersuading and collaboration$ith the audience. In addition every &resentation must accom&lish a s&ecific ob*ective. E 0o$ to Test 5our 6ur&ose, 1nce you have established your &ur&ose% &ausefor a moment to consider $hether it is $orth &ursuing at this time. 4eneral 6ur&ose To inform To 6ersuade To Collaborate -&ecific 6ur&ose To &resent last month"s sales figure to the /ice 6resident of2ar(eting To convince the /ice 6resident of 2ar(eting to hire more salesre&resentative. To hel& the &ersonal de&artment develo& a training &rogrammefor the ne$ members of the sales staff.

a=Is the &ur&ose realistic, If your message &ro&oses a radical shift in action or attitude then instead of suggesting the $hole idea or &rogramme at once consider &ro&osing it in stages. b=Is it the right time, Timing is vital in transmitting the message. )n idea that isunacce&table $hen the &rofits are do$n may be acce&table $hen the &rofitsim&rove. c=Is the right &erson delivering the message, 2any a times it ha&&ens thatyour boss as(s you to gather some information and draft it into a message butfinally it is he ho$ $ould send the message. This is a better o&tion because hebeing in &osition of authority% the message from him $ould be $ell received. d=Is the &ur&ose acce&table to the organi+ation, )s the re&resentative of theorgani+ation you are obligated to $or( to$ards the goals of the organi+ation.5our duty $ould be to defend the organi+ation and at same time retain thecustomer"s good$ill. 5our message should reflect the organi+ation. )naly+ing 5our )udience To maximi+e the effectiveness of your message you should &erform an audience analysis. This means that you should identify the interest% needs and &ersonality of your audience. 9ollo$ing are the reasons for carrying out an audience analysis, 3riter-reader relationshi& influences ho$ a message is inter&reted. The content of the message needs to be a&&ro&riate to the reader being addressed. ) reader"s motivation for reading a document can influence ho$ it is received. The information in a message must meet the reader"s needs. Conventions for $riting may be ado&ted or ada&ted de&ending u&on the audience.

Characteristic of the audience The $riter-reader relationshi& The message itself The occasion for communicating

9actor that can be discovered by consultingsecondary sources or databases <demogra&hic data%geogra&hic data% &urchasing behaviour=. -tatus of and distance bet$een $riter and reader inter&ersonal as&ects. Information needed <excluded% included=. Conventionused M not used. Ty&e of reader% the reader"s stance resistant or coo&erative.

'evelo&ing an )udience &rofile )udience analysis is essential because each &erson &erceives a message differently de&ending u&on hisMher uni ue filters. 3ho is &rimary )udience, 0ere you need to identify your &rimary audience . the &erson $hose coo&eration is crucial if your message is to achieve its ob*ective. 5our secondary audiences are those $ho $ould also read and be affected by your message. 3hat is your relationshi& $ith the audienceL 0o$ $ill the audience react, If the reaction is &ositive your tas( is relatively easy. If the reaction is li(ely to be neutral you may initially $ant to get the readers attention and convince himMher that your message has im&ortant information. 3hat does the audience already (no$, Understanding the audience &resent gras& of the to&ic is crucial to ma(ing decisions about content and $riting style. 3hat is uni ue about the audience, #earn about the &ersonal interest or demogra&hic characteristics of your audience that you can build into your message. 1. -atisfying the )udience Information Needs, The (ey to effective communication is to determine your audience needs and then res&ond to them. 0ere are some ste&s, a= 9ind out $hat the audience $ants to (no$.b= )ntici&ate un-stated uestions-include any additional information that might be hel&ful% even through the reader has not s&ecifically as(ed for. c= 6rovide all re uired information . ma(e sure your document ans$ers all the im&ortant uestions.d= Be sure the information is accurate.e= Em&hasi+e ideas of greatest interest to the audience. -atisfying the )udience"s 6ractical Needs, Hemember that your audience a= 2ay have little time.b= 2ay be distracted.c= 2ay give your message lo$

&riority. Therefore ma(e your message brief and as convenient as &ossible to gras&. 'efining the 2ain Idea 2ain idea is different from to&ic. The to&ic is the broad sub*ect of the message.2ain idea is the gist of the to&ic. The main idea is that $hich sums u& $hy a&articular audience should do or thin( as you suggest. 'efining the main idea isim&ortant es&ecially $hen you $ant to &ersuade someone or have disa&&ointinginformation to convey. Brainstorming Techni ues, identifying main idea re uires creativity and ex&erimentation. 2ore often that not single mind cannot do this $or(. 5ou need tohave someone $ho could act as a Fsounding BoxG . one $ho $ould hel& you hearsyourself. 0ere are some techni ues. 1 -toryteller"s Tour, Turn on the ta&e recorded and give an overvie$ of yourmessage focusing on your reasons for communicating your ma*or &oints yourrationale and the im&lication of the message for the reader. E Hamon list, 1n a clean sheet of &a&er list every essential &oint that comes toyour mind &ertaining to your message. 3hen you have exhausted the list grou&them according to their relationshi&s. : 9CH 3or(sheet, This is hel&ful $hen message involves finding solution to a&roblem. 9V findings% CV Conclusion and HV Hecommendation. To carry out this&rocess divide a sheet of &a&er into three columns list the ma*or findings in thefirst column than extra&olate conclusions and $rite them in second column.These conclusions from the basis for the recommendations $hich are listed in the third column. D Pournalistic )&&roach, 9or informational message this a&&roach is good. Theans$ers to six uestions . $ho% $hat% $hen% $here% $hy and ho$ . should clarifythe main idea. ? Ruestions-and-ans$er chain, 6erha&s the best a&&roach is to loo( at thesub*ect from the &ers&ective of your audience and as( yourself uestions till youhave reached the &oint of identifying the main idea. -electing the Channel and 2edium Business messages have to suit the occasion or the message is ineffective. 5ou can &resent your message in one of the t$o basic channels -1ral or 3ritten. 1ral Communication, a=Use, This channel is useful $hen your message is relatively sim&le $hen you do not need a &ermanent record and $hen you can assemble your audience conveniently and economically. 1ral a&&roach is also useful $hen you are &resenting controversial information. b=9orm, 1ral Communication ta(es many forms . such as un&lanned

conversation% tele&hone calls% intervie$s% grou& meeting% seminars% $or(sho&s% training &rogramme% formal s&eeches and ma*or &resentations. 4enerally smaller the audience the mote interaction there $ill be among the members. If your &ur&ose involves reaching a decision or solving a &roblem you should select oral channel. 3ritten Communication, Pust as oral communication% $ritten messages also varyin formality. )t one extreme are the scribbled notes that &eo&le use to remember atthe other extreme are elaborate formal re&orts. ) $ritten communication is called$hen the information is com&lex $hen a &ermanent record is needed for futurereference $hen the audience is large and geogra&hically dis&ersed and $henimmediate interaction $ith the audience is either unim&ortant of undesirable.Common media for $ritten communication are letter memo re&orts etc. 2emos .are the so-called !$or(horses" of business communication. #etter% $hich go to&eo&le outside the organi+ation% &erform an im&ortant &ublic relation function.#etters and memos can be classified into four categories% according to their&ur&ose. a= 'irect re uest.b= 4ood ne$s% good$ill messages and routine messages.c= Bad-ne$s messages.d= 6ersuasive message. He&orts and 6ro&osals, The factual ob*ective documents may be distributed either to insider or to the&eo&le concerned $ho are outside the organi+ation . de&ending u&on their &ur&oseand ob*ection. He&orts and &ro&osals have the follo$ing characteristics. a= In length they may range from a fe$ &ages to several hundred &ages.b= They tend to be more formal than letters and memos.c= They also tend to de&end u&on the &ur&ose of message for organi+ation.d= Helationshi& bet$een $riter and reader determines style and tone.

UNIT -8

1nce the &lanning &rocess is accom&lished and the necessary elements of themessage have been identified then the communicator is ready to launch into thenext &lan of the $riting &rocess. 0o$ever $hen certain &arts of this information hasto be retrieved and &resented in a $ell associated manner then there is a need

3riting 6rocess, 1rgani+ation%Com&osing )nd Hevising Business2essage

toma(e a deliberate effort to organi+e the information in a cohesive and se uentialmanner. 'isorgani+ed message not only thro$s the audience into confusion but alsostands as a bad commentary on the communicator. The Need for Being 3ell 1rgani+ed The term Forgani+ationG $hich also refers to an enter&rise im&lies a se uentialarrangement of thing and functions so as to achieve some &redetermined goals asob*ects. 0uman beings in an organi+ation are ex&ected to function in an organi+ed $ay. 1. 3hy are some message disorgani+edL a=6resenting idea in illogical order, If there are about six &oints as ideathat a $riter or a s&ea(er $hishes to convey the communication may not beable to &resent them in a logical se uence if heMshe has not reflected onthem. b=Including irrelevant material, 3hen the communicator is not certain about $hat information is relevant and $hat is not then $or(ing on con*ecture $ould result in including material that is irrelevant to the massage. c=#eaving out necessary information, In the &rocess of including irrelevantinformation% relevant and necessary information is left out. d= 'ifficulty in getting to the &oint, 3hen the message has to deal $ithsensitive issue% getting to the &oint becomes a &roblem. -ummari+ing the above 9our faults that are characteristics of a disorgani+ed communication $e can state the follo$ing reasons. #ac( of reflection . result in illogical se uence. 4uess $or( -results in including irrelevant information. Not mindful . necessary information is left out. Not sure of oneself . does not (no$ to &resent the to&ic M issues.

E. 3hy good organi+ation is im&ortant, It is really im&ortant for any messageto be $ell .organi+edL Isn"t it sufficient enough if the &oint of them message iseventually madeL The ans$er is, arranging your ideas logically in &ro&er styleand tone $ill hel& satisfy the various needs of the audience . such as informational% motivational and &ractical needs. ) $ell organi+ed message is im&ortant for the follo$ing reasons. a= 0el&s the audience to understand the message, The main reason for being $ell . organi+ed is to im&rove the chances that &eo&le $ill understandexactly $hat you mean. The audience can easily understand the message. b= 0el&s the audience to acce&t the message, a $ell . organi+ed messagecan be a motivating factor for the audience to acce&t the message. It hel&syou to get your ideas across $ithout u&setting the audience. c= -ave the time of the audience, 2ost &eo&le in a business organi+ation are&ressed for time. Time is a very rare commodity and &eo&le do not li(e tos uander it. ) good organi+ed message $ill satisfy the need for convenience at all level. In other $ords your $ell . organi+ed message becomes convenient for the audience . to read and understand the message

$ithout$asting hisMher time. d= -im&lifies the tas( of the communicator, by thin(ing about $hat youare going to say and ho$ you are going to say it before you begin to $riteyou can &roceed more confidently. 4ood 1rgani+ing through outlining )chieving good organi+ation of the message is a t$o-ste& &rocess, 1. 'efine and grou& ideas, 1nce you have decided on your main idea youmust develo& it by grou&ing the su&&orting details in a most logical and effective$ay. By grou&ing $e mean visuali+ation the relationshi& bet$een the different&arts of the message. 1ne effective $ay of doing this is constructing as outline.1utline $ill guide you to communicate in a systematic $ay% covering all the ideanecessary for the message. -te& 1 . -tart $ith the main idea. 3hat you $ant the audience to do or thin(. The basic reason to do it or thin( it.

-te& E . -tate the ma*or &oints, 2a*or &oints refer to those ideas that clarify themessage by ex&ressing the main idea in smaller units M thoughts. These ma*or &oints act as the &ro&s by $hich the main ideas are u&held. -te& : . -u&&ort ma*or &oints by s&ecific evidence, Each ma*or &oint shouldbe su&&orted $ith enough s&ecific evidence to be convincing. These evidences formthe body of the message and hel& the audience to underta(e the message. 5ouneed to &rovide enough su&&ort to be convincing but not so much that your message becomes boring and inefficient. E. Establish se uence $ith organi+ational &lans, 1nce you have definedand grou&ed your idea you are ready to decide on the se uence% there are t$obasic o&tions you have. a= 'irect )&&roach . This a&&roach is deductive and nature in $hich the mainidea comes first follo$ed by the evidence. b= Indirect )&&roach . 3hich is inductive in nature . the evidence comes first and the main idea later. 'irect )&&roach 'irect He uest, This ty&e of business message is used $hen the audience $illinterested in res&onding to the message. Thus direct re uest use direct a&&roach i.e. you get straight to the &oint. Houtine% 4ood Ne$s and 4ood$ill message, If your message is &rovidingroutine information that is a &art of a regular business function the audience $illusually be neutral in its reaction . i.e. it $ould neither be &leased nor dis&laced.0o$ever% if you are announcing a rise in bonus or congratulating a $or(er for a *ob$ell done the audience $ill be &laced to hear your message.

Bad ne$s message, This is a challenging tas( for the communicator becausedelivering a bad ne$s is a sensitive issue. -uch a message needs to be carefully&lanned and organi+ed. The challenge lies in being honest and yet someho$ soothes the dis&leasure of your audience. The bad ne$s has to be cushioned byothers ideas that are either neutral or more &ositive. The ex&lanation for the badne$s has to go along $ith a &ositive note. 6ersuasive message, These messages become necessary $hen your audience isnot $illing to or interested in $hat you have to say. 5our audience may be hostile%s(e&tical and you may face resistance from them to$ards your message. 9orm outline to first draft 0aving finished &lanning you are no$ ready to begin drafting . i.e. com&osing &reliminary versions of a message. -omeone has said F$riting is an art. He$ritingis a craftG. -o do not $orry about getting everything right at the first instance. 5ourfirst draft is *ust a draft and not a com&leted message. 'o not ex&ect &erfection anddo not strive for it. 1. 3riter"s Bloc(, 2any &eo&le s&end anxious moments $orrying about $hatto $rite and ho$ to $rite. -ome &eo&le s&end long time staring at blan( &a&er or screen not (no$ing ho$ to &roceed. -uch an ex&erience is (no$n as F3riter"s Bloc(G . the inability of focus on the $riting &rocess and to draft amessage. The causes of $riter"s bloc( are one or more of the follo$ing, 6rocrastination, 6utting off $hat $e disli(e doing. Im&atience, 4ro$ing tired of the naturally slo$ &ace of $riting &rocess. 6erfection, Believing that the draft must be &erfect the first time. -trategies to overcome $riter"s bloc(, a= Choose the right environment, 9ind out $here you can be comfortableand concentrate on the tas( of $riting the draft. b= -chedule a reasonable s&an of time, )llo$ing your self a time s&an is a$ay of disci&lining yourself. Use the time $ith out $ashing it. c= -tate your &ur&ose in $riting, 0aving identified your &ur&ose during the&lanning &hase $rite it some$here and &ut it in front of you. d= Engage in free $riting, 3rite $ithout sto&&ing till you feel that you have&ut all your thoughts in $ords. e=)void the &erfectionism syndrome, Hemember you are $riting the draft as an artist and not as an editor. -o do not $orry about style% cohesive% s&elling% &unctuation etc. f= Thin( out loud, -ome &eo&le can s&ea( better than they can $rite. If thereis a 'icta&hone record $hat you say and later transcribe it. g= 3rite the easiest first, The most difficult &art of $riting something is theo&ening &aragra&h. -o begin $ith the easiest &art. Com&osing &rocess Com&osition is relatively easy if your have already decided $hat to say and in $hatorder% although you need to &ause no$ and then to find the right $ord. 1 -tyle, In com&osing the message vary the style to create a tone that suitsthe occasion. -tyle is the $ay you use $ords to achieve a certain tone overallim&ression. 5ou can vary your style . i.e. your sentence structure and vocabulary . to sound forceful or &assive% &ersonal or im&ersonal etc.

1 E. Tone, The first ste& to$ards getting the right tone is to consider your relationshi& $ith the audience. To achieve a $arm but businessli(e tome, E a= 'on"t be familiarb= Use humor $ith great carec= 'o not flatter the other &ersond= 'on"t &reache= 'on"t boastf= Be yourself E Use the F5ouG attitude, Establish em&athy $ith your audience. 2anybusiness messages have an FIG or F$eG attitude% $hich causes the sender tosound selfish and not interested in the receiver. In other $ords useG5ouG and FyourG instead of FIG F2eG F2ineG F3eG FUsG and F1ursG. This is the F5ouG attitude $hich you must ado&t. : 2aintain a 6ositive Note, Ex&lain $hat you can do and $hat you $ill doand not $hat you can"t do or $on"t do. 6ositive side of your message $illsho$ sensitivity to your audience. 1 ?. Establish creditability, 6eo&le are more li(ely to react &ositively to yourmessage $hen they have confidence in you. This belief in your com&etenceand integrity is im&ortant the first ste& in building creditability is to &romise E only $hat you can do. )nd then fulfill your &romise. 5ou creditability is alsoenhanced by the uality of the information you &rovide. D Be &olite, The best tone for business message is almost al$ays a &olite one.)lthough you may be tem&ted no$ and then to be brutally fran( try toex&ress the facts in a (ind and thought manner. 6racticing Hevision )s mentioned earlier that $riting is an art and editing is a craft . i.e. a science thathas a definite &rocedure usually in the &rocess of editing the editor has to edit somemanuscri&t that someone else has $ritten. Editing or revising is a &rocess of modifying a document to increase its effectiveness. 1nce the draft has been $rittenit can be refined into an effective document but the &rocess of revision one"s o$ndraft does not begin immediately. In the &rocess of $riting% revising is the third ste&that involves many ste&s. The &rocess consists of editing for content and organi+ation% style and readability format usage of $ords etc. Care should be ta(ennot to revise the document for all its elements but rather revise the message atleast three times once for content and organi+ation once for style and readabilityand once for format. ; 1. Hevising the content and organi+ation, Begin by reading the document to evaluate its overall effectiveness. 0ere you are concerned $ith the content organi+ation and the flo$ of thoughts. Ideally you should let your draft are a dayor t$o before you begin the editing &rocess. 1 a= 0ave all &oints been covered in a logical order.b= 4ood balance bet$een general &oints and s&ecific &oints.c= -&ace allotted for and &ositions of &rominence or im&ortant &oints.d= 6roviding enough evidence.e= Need to add or eliminate information. E Hevising for style B readability, 1nce you are satisfied $ith the content andorgani+ation of the message% then turn your attention to style and readability.5ou need to create an interest in your audience for the message. This is done bythe use of style . i.e. using lively and em&hatic $ords and &hases. )t the sametime ma(e sure that your message is not difficult to follo$. )l$ays ma(e you ofshort and sim&le sentences. : Hevising for mechanics and format, 9inal ste& in revising has to $ith language and format. #anguage here means use of &ro&er $ords% correct s&elling and grammar. /ery often &eo&le thought they can s&ea( correct Englishma(e several grammatical mista(es. Hemember your audience is not only inter&reting the message but also *udging you from the $ay you $rite the message.

-electing the Hight 3ords )s a business communicator you have to &ay attention to t$o things $hile revisingyour draft, correctness and effectiveness of $ords. -ometimes even the correct useof $ords has to be confirmed. 1 9unctional $ords and content $ords, 9unctional $ords ex&ress relationshi&s and have one unchanging meaning in any given context. They include con*unctions &re&ositions articles and &ronouns. Content $ords are multidimensional and hence sub*ect to various inter&retations or meanings. Nouns% verbs% ad*ectives and adverbs belong to this category. E Connotation and denotation, Content $ords have both denotative meaningand connotative meaning. 'enotative meaning is literal or dictionary meaning.Connotative meaning including all association and feeling evo(ed by the $ords. : )bstraction and concreteness, Content $ords also very in there of abstraction. That is to say that content $ords can also be abstract $ords. )nabstract $ord ex&resses a conce&t uality or characteristic . for exam&le honor%&rogress% integrity etc. Content $ords are also grounded in the material $orld .for exam&le table% chair% rose% (ic(% red etc. D 3ord choice, In the business communication the use of language has to bestrong% familiar and &recise. a=-trong $ords, Nouns and verbs are the most concrete $ords in any messageso use them as much as you can. Use ad*ective and adverbs s&aringly% althoughthey are also im&ortant. /erbs are &o$erful $ords because they carry the action.The more dynamic the $ords the better it is. b=9amiliar $ords, Communication is best through familiar $ords. Use $ords thatare in common and familiar to most &eo&le. 0o$ever be careful in using termsthat have become co common that they have virtually lost their meaning. c=-hort or &recise $ords, Com&ose your message by using short $ords orsentences. Exam&le last year the com&any $as able to s&eed u& o&eration. d=Camouflaged verbs, Ending of the $ords, ion% tion% ing% ment% ant% ent% ence%ance and ency should be avoided. -uch $ords com&licate the construction ofsentences% $hich could be misleading. Bias . 9ree 3riting )void biased language that might offend the audience. It is not enough to be biasfree but it must also a&&ear in our s&eech and $riting. a=-exist #anguage, 3e are used to using language that suggests bias. 3hen citing s general exam&le $e often use $ords li(e !man(ind" !man-made" !man-&o$er" etc. These $ords could be re&laced by !human(ind" !artificial" !human &o$er" etc.I= -ome $ords denote both men and $omen. In such case avoid the masculine and the feminine $ords. II= )nother $ay to avoid bias is to mention $ords first. 4ive &riority to ladies-$omen and men% ladies and gentlemen she and he etc. b=Hacial and ethnic bias, It is &olitically correct in every $ay to avoid anycomments that may have a racial or ethnic bias. In India% 1ur 6oliticians or evencelebrities get caught u& in this com&licated issue. Then getting out of it &osesto be a gigantic &roblem.

UNIT -@

3riting Houtine% 4ood Ne$s and 4ood$ill

)lmost all business communication has t$o basic &ur&oses, To &roduce a favorable attitude or res&onse in the audience. ; W To convey information. 1 Three main categories of information that can be delivered $ith the direct a&&roach or organi+ation are, 6ositive information% $hich &leases the reader. Neutral information% $hich may not elicit either &ositive or negative reaction but$hich may have strong information value. Negative information% $hich the reader $ill not $ant to read.

2essages

)udience coo&eration
2essages that assume Headers Cor&oration antici&ate a non-resistant stance from the audience. This antici&ated coo&eration enables the $riter to assume a businessas-usual stance to$ards a situation. 3hen assuming audience coo&eration a business-as-usual attitude &ersists even if for some reason the audience cannot coo&erate exactly as ex&ected. 1. -trategies to encourage audience coo&eration, 5ou can use ex&licit cues to encourage audience coo&eration. a= ) clear direct statement of the main idea at the outset <deductive organi+ation= aid audience coo&eration by avoiding any misunderstanding about $hat the reader is to (no$ or do. b= Indication of confidence in the reader"s &ositive res&onse can be sho$n by using $ords such as F&leaseG or Fthan( youG% $hich $ould ma(e a statement sound less li(e a demand and more li(e a re uest. c= 6roviding crucial information is another $ay of ensuring audience coo&eration. )ll information necessary to ex&lain the action<s= indicated should be included in the message.

d= Clear and s&ecific action statements at the close to s&ecify the action<s= the $riter $ants the reader to ta(e in another $ay to hel& audience coo&eration. e= Information included $ith the message in the form of enclosures etc. that enables the reader to act or to understand the course of action in detail . such as brochures offering financial incentives% business cards% discount cou&ons for early &urchase etc. E. Heasons for audience resistance, )udience may resist a message for many reasons . the message contains bas ne$s. 9ollo$ing are the reasons for $hich the audience may resist a document. a=The F)geG of information, )udience resists messages that contain information that is either too old or com&letely ne$. If the message informs about something that is already ha&&ening and of $hich the &eo&le are already a$are then the audience $ill not be interested in reading the message. b=Traditional &ractices versus change, )udience may resist change itself because they may find it confusing or threatening. Communication associate need for the change $ith something good and establish the change itself as something uni ue and good. c=1rgani+ational hierarchy, )udience $ith in an organi+ation% ex&erts the information to follo$ a certain organi+ational channel. In such cases it is best to let the information follo$ the organi+ational &ath to avoid resistance and allo$ coo&eration. d=4rou& membershi& and shared goals, If you assume that the reader shares your vie$s of goals and your assum&tion is incorrect then the reader may resist your message. The very often ha&&ens in an organi+ation $here the boss feels that his subordinates share the same concerns or goals and later finds that his message is not received enthusiastically. e=Ex&ertise, Headers may also resist a message because it does not match their level of ex&ertise. )udience may becomes im&atient $ith a message and resist $hat the communicator has to say if the material is either too difficult or too easy. :. 1vercoming audience resistance, 9ollo$ing are the recommendations for overcoming audience resistance. a= Build or &reserve a &ositive history $ith the audience. b= 9ind $ays of !softening bad ne$s or of finding &ositive as&ects of negative situations. c= 6ay attention to the GageG of your information. In general &resent old ne$s before ne$ ne$s. d= Hecogni+e that change itself is often threatening. 'oing so $ill hel& you reali+ethat even if $hat you are &ro&osing is a change for the better audience $ill&robably be resistant. e= Ano$ the establish channels of communication in your office and be a$are ofhierarchical relationshi& $ith in the organi+ation. f= )naly+e the interest of members $ithin a grou& before you assume or a&&eal

toshare goals. g= Hemember that an audience"s area and level of ex&ertise hel&s you &redict ho$the audience $ill res&ond to your communication. 1rgani+ational !'irect &lan" message 3hen ever you can assume that your audience $ill be interested in $hat you haveto say or at least $illing to cor&orate $ith you% your message should follo$ the!direct &lan" or !deductive &lan". 5ou should, a= 6resent the re uest or the main idea first%

b= 9ollo$ u& $ith necessary detailsc= Close $ith a cordial statement of action you $ant. The best $ay to begin a direct message is to state $hat you $ant in the firstsentence or t$o and let ex&lanation follo$ this initial re uest or idea. )notheras&ect that needs to be remembered is the !tone". Even thought you ex&ect afavorable res&onse the tone of your initial re uest is im&ortant. Instead ofdemanding immediate action be &atient and hel& your audience to understand yourmessage or the re uest you are ma(ing. In the last section !clearly state" the actionyou are re uesting or ex&ecting. 5ou may $ant to inform your audience $here tosend the sought . after information or &roduct% indicate any time limit or any otherinformation that you could not cover in the &revious &arts. 1. 3riting statement of the re uest, a='irect statement of the re uest, This refers to the main idea. The generalrule for the first &ast of the direct re uest is to $rite not only to be understoodbut also to avoid being misunderstood. In the direct re uest the sender &rimarygoal agrees $ith the receiver"s &rimary goal. 5ou should as s&ecific as &ossiblein a sentence or t$o <about the sub*ect matter that you $ish to (no$= thatbegins your message. b=Pustification ex&lanation and details, Pustification for the &ur&ose of your message can be made by $ay of ex&lanation% $hich should be a logicaloutgro$th of your o&ening statement. 5ou could construct the first sentence ofyour middle section in the form of Fyour-sentenceG by stating a benefit to thereader. )nother &ossible a&&roach for the middle section is to as( series of uestion &articularly if your in uiry concerns machinery or com&lex e ui&ment.9urthermore so that your re uest can be handled uic(ly remember,I= )s( only those uestions that relate to your main in uiry. II= 'o not as( for information that can be easily obtained by you. III= 2a(e your uestions o&en-ended and ob*ective. I/= 'eal $ith only one to&ic in each uestion. c=Courteously close $ith re uest for s&ecific action, 5our letter should !close" $ith both a re uest for some s&ecific res&onse and an ex&ression ofa&&reciation or good$ill. 0el& your reader to res&ond easily by su&&lying information for getting in touch $ith you. )l$ays try to close $ith,I= ) re uest for some s&ecific res&onse. II= )n ex&ression of a&&reciation. III= Information about ho$ you can be reached. E. 3riting re uests for routine information and action, 3hen you need tom(no$

about something to get an o&inion from someone or suggest an action youusually need to as(. In ma(ing a routine re uest, 3hat you $ant to (no$. 3hy you $ant to (no$. 3hy it is in the reader"s interest to hel& you.Houtine re uest deserves a touch of tact because in many organi+ations memosand letter are sent to hundreds of em&loyees% customers% clients% and shareholders. a= He uest to fello$-em&loyees, )lthough re uests to fello$-em&loyees are after oral and rather casual some re uests are better &ut in&ermanent $ritten form. ) re uest in memo from. I= 6rovides a &ermanent record.II= -aves time <$hen $ell $ritten=.III= 0el&s readers to (no$ &recisely $hat is re uired. b= He uest to other businesses, 2any letters to other businesses are re uests for information about &roducts% or something you have seen in advertisement. I= -ay $here you sa$ the advertisement.II= 6rovide a clear and com&lete return.III= 6rovide a clear and com&lete return address on the letter. c= He uest to customers and other outsiders, Businesses after as( individuals outside the organi+ation to &rovide information or to ta(e someaction-such as attend a meeting return an information card enclose a document etc. often these message can be short and sim&le but after situations re uire a more detailed ex&lanation. 3riting &ositive message 3hen you have only &ositive information to &resent ran( your information $ith themost &ositive first follo$ed by the next most &ositive and so on. 6enrose et al observe, F3hen reading the most &ositive information first thereader encounters then next thought in a more rece&tive mood. )ssuming thesecond thought is the second most &ositive comment these thought combines to&lace the reader in an even more favorable frame of mind for the third thought and so on. They further suggest, FBecause substantial &ositive feeling can reflect $ell onthe sender you should ma(e o&timal use of this message category. 5ou can achieveeven more benefits by using direct statement that follo$ a sub*ect Mverb . first organi+ation% selecting active voice &ic(ing &resent tense using strong verbs% organi+ing sentences for em&hasis and involving the reader through the use of theyou tone. 3ith &ositive content message the most difficult $riting ste&s are, Correctly ran(ing the im&ortance of the various items from the reader"s &oint ofvie$. 1mitting extraneous information. 3riting transitions from thought to thought. 2ost business communication consists of &ositive messages. ) clear understandingof ho$ such messages are organi+ed $ill allo$ you to $rite good once uic(ly.3hether oral or $ritten these messages follo$ a sim&le formula,a= Clear statement of the main idea.b= Necessary details.c= Courteous close. 1. 6lanning &ositive messages,

a=Clear statement of the main idea, This refers to the &ur&ose of the message.3hen you begin a message $rite a statement of your &ur&ose you &re&are youraudience for the ex&lanation that follo$s. b=Necessary details, The middle &art of the message is ty&ically the longest section of a routine good ne$s or good$ill message. 5our &ur&ose of communicating can usually be ex&ressed in a sentence or t$o. In addition to&roviding details in the middle section you must maintain the su&&ortive toneestablish at the beginning. c=Courteous close, 5our message is most li(ely to succeed if your readers areleft $ith the feeling that you have this &ersonal $elfare in mind. 2a(e sure eachaudience member understands $hat to do next and ho$ that action $ill benefit her or him. E. Chec(list for &ositive message, a= Initial statement of the good ne$s <main idea=I= Hes&ond &rom&tly to the re uest. II= In your first statement indicates that you are fulfilling the readers re uest. III= If you are ac(no$ledge an order summari+e the transaction. I/= Convey a courteous and you-oriented tone. b= 2iddle information section, I= Ex&ress interest in the re uest.II= If &ossible ans$er all uestions and re uests <in the order &osed=.III= 6rovide all the im&ortant details about orders.I/= Use sales o&&ortunities $hen a&&ro&riate <enclose brochure=./= If you cannot com&ly $ith &art of the re uest ex&lain to the reader $hy this is so and offer &ositive alternative. /I= 9rame negative statements in &osition context or as offer &ositive alternative. c= Courteous close, I= )void cliches. II= 'irect a re uest to the reader or s&ecify the action you $ant the reader tota(e. III= Hemind the reader of the benefits to be derived from the action you are suggesting.I/= 1ffer additional services./= Ex&ress good$ill. :. Conveying &ositive information about &eo&le, 6rofessors% su&ervisors andmanagers are after as(ed to $rite letter recommending students or em&loyersfor *obs% a$ards% or membershi& in organi+ations such letters may ta(e thedirect a&&roach $hen the recommendation is generally &ositive. a=Hecommendation letter, It is im&ortant that letters of recommendation contains all the relevant details. The full time of the candidate. The *ob or benefit that the candidate is see(ing. 3hether the $riter is ans$ering a re uest or ta(ing the initiative. The nature of the relationshi& bet$een the $riter and the candidate. 9acts relevant to the &osition or benefit sought. The $riter"s overall evaluation of the candidate"s suitability for the *ob or benefitsought. Hecommendation letters are usually mailed directly to the &erson or committee

$hore uested then and are not sho$n to the concerned candidates. ) good $riter ofrecommendation letter $ill, Include only relevant factual information. )void value *udgements. Balance criticisms $ith favorable &oints. b=4ood ne$s about em&loyment, 9inding suitable *ob a&&licants and then selecting the right candidate for the *ob is a tas( fraught $ith hard choices. Incontract $riting a letter to the successful candidate is a &leasure. 2ost of thetime such a letter is eagerly a$aited so the direct a&&roach serves $ell. ) lettertelling someone that she or he has been selected for the *ob is a legal documenthence ma(es sure that all statements are accurate. The letter should ta(e a friendly and $elcoming tone and should ex&lain the necessary details li(e *obtitle% starting date% salary and benefits. The &aragra&h $ith the ex&lanation ofthe first day routine $ill hel& the ne$ em&loyee. c=3riting &ositive re&lies, 2any ne$s and business letters are $ritten in res&onse to an order an in uiry or a re uest. 3hen the ans$er is &ositive orinvolves straightfor$ard information then the direct &lan is a&&ro&riate. d=)c(no$ledgement letters, )c(no$ledgement letters &lay a role of fostering Fgood$illG. In accordance $ith the direct &lan the first &aragra&h of the ac(no$ledgement letter is a statement of good ne$s. The middle section demonstrate the &rofessionalism of the firm by giving an accurate summary ofthe transaction such as, 3hen the delivery may be ex&ected. The cost of the merchandise. Cost of shi&&ing and taxes. Ex&lanation of &roblems that may have arisen.

Notes, #etters of the ty&e fre uently add information in the middle or the closingsections such as, a=Hesale, Information about the com&any or &roduct customer"sgood *udgement in ma(ing the transaction. that confirms the

b=-ales &romotions, Information about goods and services that go along $iththe customer"s &urchase is also a &art of this letter. c=He&lying to re uests for information and action, )ny re uest is im&ortantto the &erson ma(ing it% $hether inside or outside the organi+ation. That &ersonso&inion of your com&any and its &roducts your de&artment and yourself.0o$ever com&lying the re uest is not al$ays easy because the information maynot be immediately available and decisions to ta(e some action may ta(e longertime since higher level of management is involved. I=3hen a &otential sale is involved, 6ros&ective customers often re uestan annual re&ort% catalogue% brochure% or other ty&e of information to hel&them ma(e a decision about a &roduct they have come across through advertisement.

To res&ond to the in uiry% or ans$er all the uestions. To encourage the sales. To convey a good im&ression of you and your firm. II=3hen no sale is involved, -ome re uest from outsider and re uest from$ith in the organi+ation are no o&&ortunities to sell a &roduct. In re&lying tothese re uest you have t$o goals,

To ans$er all the uestions honestly and com&letely. To leave a favorable im&ression of your com&any or foster good$or(ing relationshi&. 3riting good$ill messages Business is not often all business. To a large extent it is an o&&ortunity to forge&ersonal relationshi&s. 5ou can enhance your relationshi& $ith customers and otherbusiness &eo&le by sending friendly% unex&ected notes $ith no direct business &ur&ose. ; 1. Congratulations, 1ne &rime o&&ortunity for sending congratulations is the ne$s of some significant business achievement of attaining an im&ortant civic&osition. 0ighlights in &eo&le"s &ersonal lives . such as $eddings% births% graduation and success in non-business com&etitions . are another reason for 1 sending congratulation. -ome alert com&anies develo& a mailing list of &otentialcustomers by assigning an em&loyee to (ee& a trac( of im&ortant events. E #etter of )&&reciation, )n im&ortant uality of messages is to have the abilityto see em&loyees or other business associates as individuals and to recogni+etheir contributions. 6eo&le often value &raise more highly than monetaryre$ards and a letter of a&&reciation may also become a &art of an em&loyee"s&ersonal file. 5our letter of a&&reciation not only ma(es feel good% it also encourages further excellence and good services. #etter of a&&reciation are alsoa&&ro&riate for ac(no$ledging donations to cam&aigns or causes.

UNIT ->

3riting Indirect 2essages

In the &revious unit $e ex&lained that $hen the $riter ex&ects the reader to agree $ith the content of a message. It is best to &resent the message directly. 0o$ever you $ill encounter many other occasions $hen you are li(ely to ex&ect resistance. If &ositive message $ith direct a&&roach are among the easiest to $rite those $ith negative information or &ersuasive contents are among the most difficult. The

difficult of $riting negative message is because of their dual ob*ectives, To transmit bad ne$s clearly To maintain reader"s good$ill 1ccasions for negative message Negative message convey information that the audience $ill li(ely resist. 1ccasionsfor $riting negative message can be grou&ed into three broad categories, 1. 3riter-centered, -ituations $hen a $riter must give a negative res&onse to a routine re uest that often re uires hisMher &ersonal attention or &artici&ation. 9or exam&le. a= Ex&ressing inability to honor routine re uest. b= 'eclining invitations and re uests for favors. c= Hefusing to $rite letters recommendation. ; E. Header-centered, 1ccurrences $hen a reader"s direct re uest for information% goods% or services% or &ersuasive re uest for action meets $ith anegative re&ly. 9or exam&le. 1 a= Hes&onding to an in uiry negative ans$er.b= 6roviding negative information about an order &laced by the reader.c= Hefusing to grant re uest credit or to allo$ a claim% com&laint% or ad*ustment. E 2essage-centered, 1ccasions $hen negative information must be conveyed about an organi+ation"s o&erations &erformance or &roducts. 9or exam&le. a= Conveying bas ne$s about good and services. b= Hevealing bad ne$s about o&erations <changes in &olicy or &rocedure=. c= 6roviding negative information about com&any &erformance% re&orting bad ne$s internally about com&any &erformance. Indirect a&&roach for &resenting negative information 1ne im&ortant consideration in $riting negative message is to avoid hurting someone"s feelings. 5ou must address t$o basic uestions, 1 3hat tone $ill contribute to the effectiveness of the messageL E 3hatarrangement of the main idea and su&&orting data $ill ease the disa&&ointment of the audienceL a=3hat tone, In bad ne$s or negative message of any (ind you must try to ado&t at tone that su&&orts three s&ecific goals, I= 5ou $ant your audience to understand that your negative message re&resenta firm decision. II= 5ou $ant your audience to understand that under the circumstances yourdecision is air and reasonable. III= 5our $ant your audience to remain $ell dis&osed to$ards your business and&ossibly to$ards you. 3ith right tone you can ma(e an un$elcome &oint $hile &reserving the audienceego. 1ne (ey is to ma(e liberal use of the F5ouG attitude.

b=3hat arrangement, 3hen you $rite a negative message you have a choicebet$een using an inductive <direct= and using deductive <indirect= a&&roach.9ollo$ing are the conventional organi+ational com&onents of indirect a&&roach. I= 1&ening, contains details FbufferG or soften the bad ne$s.II= Body, has the reason for the ne$s or negative message.III= -tatement, a clear and di&lomatic statement of the negative decision.I/=Close, a hel&ful and friendly attitude and &ositive close. I=1&ening, The first ste& in using the indirect a&&roach is to &ut the audience in an acce&ting mood my ma(ing a neutral non-controversial statement closely related to the &oint of the message. -uch a statement that &uts theaudience at ease is (no$n as FbufferG. There a various $ays in $hich you could build buffers. 0ere are some, serve )greement, 9ind a &oint on $hich you and the reader share similar vie$s. )&&reciation, Ex&ress sincere than( for receiving something. Coo&eration, convey your $illingness to hel& in any $ay you can. 6raise, 9ind an attribute or an admirable breath of ex&erience $hichshould you $ell as you &rogress in your career. 0ere are some other things to avoid $hen $riting a buffer, )void saying no, If you say no at the beginning the reader may not readthe reasons for saying no $ith an o&en mind. )void a&ologi+ing, )n a&ology $ea(ens your ex&lanation for the unfavorable decision. )void using a FAno$ .it allG tone, 'o Not use &hrases such as F5ou should be a$are thatG. This $ill cause resistance to your message because it $ill sound as if you are lecturing the reader. )void costing time, If you s&end time $ith irrelevant &hrases or unnecessary details your reader may loose &atience at the outset. )void misleading the reader, Indirection is not the same as misdirection. In using indirect a&&roach to $rite your message avoid information that can misdirect the reader. II= Body, This forms the first &art of the body of the negative message. It &resents reasons to sho$ that your decision is *ustifiable and fair. It is im&ortant to ex&lain $hy you have reached your decision before you state$hat the decision is. -ome guidelines, Ex&lain $hy you have made your negative decisionbefore starting $hat the decision is. 2a(e sure that your ex&lanation is s&ecific and related to the reader"s&articular situation. Use only your strongest reasons in your ex&lanation. )void hiding behindcom&any &olicy and blaming or critici+ing other acce&ts res&onsibility forthe decision. -tructure the ex&lanation so that is lead logically to the decisions. ; W Use &ositive $ording and tone. Hemember to add FyouG attitude. 1 In short $ell $ritten reasons that ought to be incor&orated in the body are,

'etailed Tactful Individuali+ed Una&ologetic 6ositive

III= -tatement of bad ne$s, -o that the audience is &sychologically &re&aredthe bad ne$s should be the logical outcome of the reasons that come beforeit. If the message is handled carelessly it may cause the audience to reactemotionally. 3hen constructing the bad ne$s try to minimi+e its negativeim&act by, )voiding !no" and !not". -ubordinating the bad ne$s in the sentence. #imiting the s&ace devoted to the bad ne$s. Embedding it in the middle of a &aragra&h.

I/=Close, 5ou may choose to close a negative message $ith either an actionclose or &ositive close. )ction close, is es&ecially a&&ro&riate to negativemessage that s&ecifies alternative action. 6ositive close, ends the message n&ros&erous note i.e. including subtle and a&&ro&riate sales information. )n u&beat &ositive close, Builds good$ill. 1ffers suggestion for action. 6rovided a loo( to$ard the future. 3hatever ty&e of close you choose observe these don"ts, 'on"t 'on"t 'on"t 'on"t refer to or re&eat the bad ne$s. a&ologi+e for the decision. encourage further communication. antici&ate &roblem. Conveying bad ne$s about orders 9or several reasons business must sometimes convey bad ne$s concerning orders.In $riting to a $ould be customer. 5ou have three basic goals. To $or( to$ards an eventual sale. To (ee& instructions or additional information as clear as &ossible. To maintain an o&timistic and confident tone so that your reader $on"tlose interest. 1. Bac( orders, Bac( orders refer to the message that you send your customerconveying either of the follo$ing, 5ou are able to send only a &art of the order. 5ou are able to send none of the order.

1 -ubstitutions, 1nce in a $hile a customer $ill re uest something that youno longer dell or that is no longer &roduced. If you are sure the customer $illa&&rove a substitute &roduct then you may go ahead and send it. 1ther$isefirst send a letter

offering substitute &roduct and give the customer sim&ledirection for ordering it. In either case be careful to avoid calling the alternate&roduct a !substitute". E 1rders that cannot be fulfilled, There $ill be times $hen you may not beable to fill an order either in &art or $ith a substitute. In such case the indirect a&&roach to say that you cannot fill an order at all. : Chec(list for bad ne$s about orders,a= 1verall strategy I= Use indirect &lan in most cases. II= Use direct &lan $hen the situation is routine. b= Buffer I= Ex&ress a&&reciation for the s&ecific order. II= Extract a $elcome to a ne$ customer.III= )void negative $ords.I/= Hesale information on &roduct ordered to build the customer"s confidence in hisMher choice. c= Heasons I= )void a&ologies.II= )void ex&ressions of regret.III= Ex&lain the &roblem $ith unclear orders.I/= 0andle bac( orders carefully./= Heinforce the customer"s confidence $ith a resale./I= Ex&lain substitutions in detail./II= Ex&lain $hy orders cannot be filled./III= )void hiding behind com&any &olicy. d= The bad ne$s I= -tate the bad ne$s as &ositively as &ossible.II= -tress the benefits of the decisions to the reader. e= 6ositive friendly hel&ful close I= Ex&lain the desired reader regarding action as clearly and sim&ly as &ossible. II= 2a(e reader action as easy as &ossible. III= Use resale information to clinch the sale% es&ecially for re&lies about unclear order% bac( orders% and non-confirming orders. I/= )do&t a tone ans$er your customer of &ersonal attention. Communicating negative ans$er and information In business transaction% occasionally% your res&onse to in uires must sim&ly be !no".2any &eo&le do not (no$ ho$ to say no $ithout im&acting &ersonal relationshi&.'e&ending u&on your relationshi& $ith the reader you could use either the directa&&roach or the indirect a&&roach. Use the direct a&&roach $hen your negativeans$er or information $ill have little &ersonal im&act use the indirect a&&roach inmore sensitive situation. 1. 'enying coo&eration $ith routine re uests, 3hen &eo&le as( you for information or $ant you to do something and you cannot honor the re uest youmay ans$er $ith either the direct &lan or the indirect &lan. This $ould offendmost readers for the follo$ing reasons. a= The direct &lan is used even thought the reader is outside the

com&anyand may be emotionally involved in the res&onse.b= The tone of the first &aragra&h is unnecessarily negative and abru&t.c= The &hrase Fhas no interest in ta(ing &artG im&lies that the research isunim&ortant.d= The $riter hides behind a com&any &olicy. e= Cliches in the final &aragra&h <than( you for your interest% if $e canhel&= undercut any &ersonal% friendly im&act that the letter might have had. 1 'eclining re uest for favors, 1nce more the &lan to use $hen saying !no" toa re uested favor de&ends on your relationshi& $ith the reader. If you do not(no$ the &resident $ell you $ould &robably use the indirect a&&roach. The buffer reca&s the re uest and demonstrates Hes&ect 'ear -ir. Then the reasonfor declining im&lies the bad ne$s itself and then the close suggest an alternative &lan. E Hefusing re uest for claims and com&laints, In such instances the tone of your message is very im&ortant. ) tactful and courteous letter can build good$ill$hile denying ad*ustment claims. 5our negative res&onse should have the follo$ing, a= The buffer covers a &oint on $hich both $riter and reader agree. b= The reasons that &ut the com&any &olicy in a favorable light. c= ) &ositive alternative action should &ut the customer at ease. d= The close could ass sales &romotion that $ould interest the customer. 6ersuasive messages 6ersuasion is the &rocess of influencing or changing attitudes% beliefs% values% orbehaviour of your audience. 3e come across many &ersuasive messages in theform of re uests for donations. 1. 6ersuasive goals, Every &ersuasive message attem&ts to achieve one ofthe four broad ob*ectives, a= )do&tion, 2essage of ado&tion attem&ts to &ersuade reader to start doingsomething. )do&tion is the essence of most sales letter. b= Continuance, 2essage of continuance urges the continuation of behaviour.Continuance is the basis for selling any ongoing service. c= 'iscontinuance, 2essage of discontinuance are those &ersuasive message that encourage customers to discontinue certain &attern or behaviour. d= 'eterrence, 2essage of deterrence tries to &revent an action from ta(ing &lace. E. 6ersuasive a&&eals, Effectively used &ersuasive techni ues $or( simultaneously on these levels. 6ersuasive message a&&eals to the reader"s sense of reasoning% establish credibility of the document and evo(e an emotional res&onse from the reader. a=6ersuading through reasoning, 6ersuasive documents try to convince readers to acce&t a &articular &oint of vie$ through the logical &resentation ofevidences. b=6ersuading through creditability, Credibility is a degree to $hich a statement a &erson and or a com&any and &erceived to be ethical believable%trust$orthy% com&etent% res&onsible and sincere. 5our creditability is enchanted $hen your document focuses on customer benefits instead of d$elling on features of the &roduct% &ro&osal or idea. c=6ersuading $ith emotion, In many situations% emotions remain the most &o$erful &ersuasive factor. 3here logical arguments sometimes fail% emotionsoften have

the &o$er of motivate &eo&le to res&ond and act. Emotionally a&&eals can also focus on emotions such as ho&e% &leasure% &ride% honor% courage% res&ect% and res&onsibility. 6re&aring to $rite a &ersuasive message 6ersuasive message aim to influence an audience that is included to resist. Theyde&end heavily on strategic &lanning. 3hat you are $riting aboutL 3hat audience you are $riting toL 3hat you $ant to ha&&en as a resultL a= )&&ealing to the audience i=Needs and a&&eals, 6eo&le have needs and are motivated by their needs. -ome needs are more im&ortant than the others. In $ritingmessage a&&ealing to the needs $ill bring about the desired affects. ii=Emotion and logic, 3hen &eo&le"s needs are not met they are li(ely to res&ond emotionally. 6ersuasive messages ma(e use of the emotion surrounding certain $ords such as freedom% success% &restige% credit record etc. iii= Credibility, 3ithout credibility% your s(ilful of needs% a&&eals% emotionsand logic may seen to be nothing more than mani&ulation. It is es&eciallyim&ortant for a sce&tical or hostile audience to believe that you (no$$hat you are tal(ing about and that you are not trying to mislead anyone.1ne of the best $ays to gain credibility is to su&&ort your message $ithfacts li(e testimonials% documents% guarantees% statistics research etc. Ifyou demonstrate the follo$ing characteristics your audience $ill morereadily believe about you say, Enthusiasm 1b*ectively -incerely Ex&ertise 4ood intension Trust$orthiness -imilarity semantics b=1rgani+ing &ersuasive messages, 6ersuasive re uires the indirect a&&roach often a s&eciali+ed one called )I') i.e. <)ttention% Interest% 'esire% )ction= &lan. i=)ttention, Begin every &ersuasive message $ith a statement thatcatches attention. 5our statement for attention should be, 6ersonali+ed 5ou . oriented Not extravagant W Helevantii= Interest, In the section include,

1&ening theme in uarter detail Benefits s&ecifically to the getting attention iii='esire, In the desire section, 6rovide relevant evidence to &rove your claim 'ra$ attention to any enclosures iv= )ction, )l$ays try to end by, 'escribing &recisely $hat you $ould li(e to ha&&en Hestating ho$ the audience $ill benefit by acting as you $ish 2a(ing action easy 3riting sales letter

By and large s&eciali+ed and highly s(illed &rofessionals $rite sales letter. -ales letters come in a variety of si+es $ith enclosures or $ithout. They can have messages from a single individual to another or they can be mass mailings from one com&any to many consumers. In some countries sales letters are considered as legal contracts so one has to be very careful in ma(ing offers that cannot bedelivered. )lso ma(ing false statement in a sales letter is considered as fraud.Therefore &lanning a sales letter re uires &rofessional s(ills. 1. 6re$riting, The three ste&s involved in &lanning a sales letter are similar tothose involved in &lanning any &ersuasive message, 'etermine the main idea < in sales letter% it revolved around a selling &ointand related benefits= 'efine the audience 6lan the a&&roach and format a='etermine the main idea, -elling &oints are the most attractive features ofa &roduct consumer benefits are the &articular advantages that buyers $illreali+e from those features. 5ou should determine $hich are the most a&&ealing feature so that you can direct your audience"s attention to them. b='efining the audience, The most &ersuasive sales letter are $ritten to a&&eal to a s&ecific audience. 3hen analy+ing an audience of individual consumer mar(eter refers to demogra&hics <age% gender% education% occu&ation% and income= and &sychogra&hics <&ersonality attitude% and lifestyle=. c=6lanning the format and a&&roach, 1nce you have decided $hat and sayand $hom to say no$ you must decide on ho$ to say it. 5ou $ill decide on$hether to sent *ust a letter or also enclose brochures% sam&les% res&onsecards etc. all these decisions de&ends on the audience you are trying to reach. E. 6re&aring a co&y, )s seen earlier sales letter are &re&ared according to the)I') 6lan used for &ersuasive messages. a=)ttention, There are many devices for getting attention $hich are commonly used in sales letter,i= -ome genuine ne$sii= 6ersonal a&&eal to the reader"s emotions and valuesiii= 2ost attractive features and the associated benefitsiv= -am&le of the &roductv= 6rovocative uestionsvi= -olution to a

&roblem b=Interest, To generate in your reader% em&hasi+e the central selling &oint.To determine your &roduct"s central selling &oint as(,i= 3hat does the com&etition offerLii= 3hat is s&ecial about my &roductLiii= 3hat are &otential buyers loo(ing forL c= 'esire,i= 0ighlight benefits, -elling &oints cou&led $ith FyouG attitude amounts to benefits. ii=Using action terms, )ctive $ords give force to any business message and es&ecially im&ortant in sales letters. )lso ma(e use ofcolorful verbs and ad*ective ho$ever do not overload it. iii= Tal(ing about &rice, 5ou can &re&are readers for your &roduct"s&rice by subtle choice and arrangement of $ords. 6rice of the &roductis a com&licated issue and often a sensitive one. To de-em&hasi+e &rice, Bury actual figure in the middle of a &aragra&h near the end 2ention benefits and favorable money as&ects before the actual &rice Com&are the &rice $ith the cost of some other &roduct. d=2otivating action, The overriding &ur&ose of a sales letter is to get thereader to do something. 2any consumer &roducts are sold through themail by as(ing the customer for che ue . i.e. an immediate decision to buy. Try to &ersuade reader to ta(e action immediate. The main &ur&ose of the sales letter is to hel& the &otential customers to ma(e immediatedecision and act. :. Chec(list for sales letters, a= 6lanning the direct mail &ac(age, i= 'etermine the s&ecific &ur&ose of the mailingii= 'efine selling &oints and consumer benefitsiii= )naly+e the audience using demogra&hic and &sychogra&hiciv= 6lan the a&&roach and formatv= 6resent every element of your &ac(age b= )ttention, i= 'esign a &ositive o&eningii= 6romise a benefit to the readeriii= 3rite an o&ening that is a&&ro&riate% interesting and relevant to the central selling &ointiv= 'esign an o&ening that $ill catch the attention of the reader c= Interest, i= -tate information clearly% vividly% and &ersuasively and relate it to the readers concerns ii= 'evelo& the central selling &ointiii= 9eature the &roduct in t$o $ays, <6hysical descri&tion and consumer benefit= d= 'esire, i= Enlist one or more a&&eals to su&&ort the central selling &oint.ii= )ntici&ate and ans$er the reader"s uestions and ob*ection.iii= Use an a&&ro&riate form of &roof to su&&ort your selling &oints.iv= 6rovide enclosures along $ith the selling &oint. e= )ction, i= -tate clearly the action you desireii= Use techni ues to ma(e action easyiii=

6rovide s&ecific details on ho$ to order and other necessaryiv= 1ffer a s&ecial benefit to hel& the consumer to act.

UNIT -7

-hort and #ong He&orts

He&orts come in many different sha&es and si+es. There are formal re&orts and informal re&osts. There are ne$ re&ort and technical re&orts routine re&orts and s&ecial re&orts. But they all belong to the t$o main ty&es, status re&orts and decisions re&orts. ) status re&ort describes things% &eo&le and events. It tells us$hat things are or $ere li(e or $hat ha&&ened. ) decision re&ort on the other handgives the &erson receiving the re&ort a set of o&tions based on an analysis of a&roblem and relevant facts. Business re&orts are li(e bridges s&anning time ands&ace. 1rgani+ations use them to &rovide a formal% verifiable lin( among &eo&le%&lace and time. He&orts are essentially management tool. 2any move u&$ardthrough the chain of command to hel& managers monitor the various units in theorgani+ation% some move do$n$ard to ex&lain management decisions to lo$er-level em&loyees res&onsible for day to day o&erations. Characteristics of good business re&orts The goal in develo&ing a re&ort is to ma(e the information as clear and convenientas &ossible. Because of the constraints of time you tell the readers $hat they needto (no$ and &resent the information in a $ay that is geared to their needs. )llgoods re&orts have at least three things in common, The information is accurate. The content sho$s the $riter"s good *udgment. The format style and organi+ation res&ond to the reader"s needs. 1. )ccuracy, The first thing a business re&ort $riter must learn is ho$ tell thetruth. Unfortunately telling the truth is not al$ays a sim&le matter. Thefollo$ing guidelines $ill hel& reduce the distortions resulting from different in&erce&tions. 'escribe facts or events in concrete term. He&ort all the relevant facts. 6ut the facts in &ers&ective. 4ive &lenty of evidence and su&&ortable conclusions. 6resent only valid evidence and su&&ortable conclusions. Aee& your &ersonal biases in chec(.

E. 4ood *udgment, -ome things sim&ly do not belong in a re&ort $hether ornot try they are true. 5ou can do both yourself and your organi+ation a greatdeal of harm by being indiscreet. 5ou should also remember that messageshave distinct &reference $hen it comes to re&ort. They &articularly disli(e&ersonal criticism% alibis% attem&t to blame someone else% incom&lete data%uncalled for o&inions and attem&ts to by&ass them through distributions ofthe documents. 4etting the main ideas at the beginning of the re&orts. -eeing the facts. Heceiving the $hole story. Heading language they can understand. #earning something that $ill ma(e their *obs easier. :. Hes&onsive format% style and organi+ation, -elect a format a style andan organi+ation that reflect the reader"s need. Before you $riter you have todecide $hether to use letter memo or manuscri&t format $hether to grou&the idea one $ay or another and $hether to em&loy a formal of informalstyle. 3ho initiated the re&ortsL /oluntary re&orts are &re&ared on your o$ninitiative re uires more details and *ustification than authori+ed re&orts$hich are &re&ared at the re uest of another &erson. 3hat sub*ect does the re&ort coverL The sub*ect of a business re&ort affects its vocabulary and format. 3hen both $riter and reader are familiar $ith the sub*ect and share the same bac(ground the $riter doesnot need to define terms or ex&lain basic conce&ts. 3hen is the re&ort to be &re&aredL Houtine re&orts submitted on are&ort basis <daily% $ee(ly% monthly% uarterly% annually=. 3here is the re&ort being sentL Internal re&osts &re&ared for use $ithin the organi+ation are generally less formal than external re&orts% $hichare sent to &eo&le in other organi+ations. External re&orts on the otherhand may be in the letter format if they are no longer than five &ages. 3hy is the re&ort being &re&aredL Informational re&orts focus on facts analytic re&orts include analysis inter&retation conclusion and recommendations. )nalytical re&orts are organi+ed to highlight conclusions% recommendations or reasons. 0o$ rece&tive is the audienceL 3hen the reader is li(ely to agree $iththe content of the re&ort the material is &resented in direct order i.e. (eyfindings% conclusions and recommendations. 6lanning -hort He&orts 3hen &lanning short re&orts your audience% &ur&ose% and sub*ect matter must beconsidered as $ell as its basis structure. 1. 'eciding on format and length, The &erson $ho re uests the documentmay ma(e decisions about the format and length of your re&ort or memo foryou. In selecting a format for your re&ort you have four o&tions, a= 6re&rinted from, Basically &re&rinted forms are for Ffill in the blan(G re&orts. b= #etter, 9or re&orts of live or less

than five &ages that are directed to&eo&le outside the organi+ation the format of a letter is sufficient. c= 2emo, This is the most common format for short <less than ten &ages=informal re&orts distributed $ithin an organi+ation. d= 2anuscri&t, 2anuscri&t format is re uired for re&orts <from fe$ &ages toseveral hundred &ages= that re uire a formal a&&roach. #ength of the re&ort de&ends on the follo$ing factors, -ub*ect, If the sub*ect is non-routine or controversial% you generally haveto ex&lain your &oints in greater details. 6ur&ose, If the information is routine and uncom&licated then the length$ill be shorter than com&licated issues. Helationshi& $ith readers, If your readers are relative strangers if theyare s(e&tical or hostile you $ill re uire more s&ace to get around them$hile $riting the re&ort. E. Establishing a basic structure, In addition to deciding on format and length you have to decide on the basic structure of your re&ort. Choice ofstructure involves three decisions, 3hat to sayL 'irect or indirect orderL To&ical or logical organi+ationL

a=Aey &oint to cover <$hat to sayL=, 5our re&ort should ans$er the (ey uestion of your audience. In most situations the audience has one main uestion of greater im&ortance. The reason to $rite the re&ort is to ans$er the main uestion. The next ste& is to determine additional uestions your audience is li(elyto as( based on the main uestion. In carrying out this exercise you couldhave defined the content of your re&ort. The uestion and ans$er chain clarifies the main idea of the re&ort andestablish the flo$ of ideas from the general to the s&ecific. Houtine and &roblem solving messages are heavy on details and analytical and &roblem solving message are heavy on generali+ation outof all the information and relate them to the needs of the audience. b='irect versus indirect order, )udience attitude is the basis for decisions about organi+ation of a re&ort. 3hen the audience is considered either rece&tive or o&en minded youshould use the direct a&&roach i.e. em&hasi+e your (ey findings% conclusions and recommendations. If your audience is s(e&tical or hostile you may $ant to ada&t indirectorder in organi+ing your re&ort. 3ith this a&&roved you introduce the com&lete findings and su&&orting details before the conclusions and recommendation $hich usually come last. Indirect a&&roach allo$s you to$eigh the evidence ob*ectively $ithout &re*udging the facts of the case. c='ivision of ideas, Hegardless of $hether you use the direct or indirecta&&roach

you must still deal $ith the uestion of ho$ your ideas $ill begrou&ed and develo&ed. 9actor affecting re&ort format style and organi+ation.

format% style% and organi+ation 301 originates itL

/oluntary re&orts &re&ared on the $riter"s o$n initiative )uthori+ed re&orts &re&ared at the re uest of another &erson

30)T sub*ect does it coverL

-ales re&orts com&ensation &olicies affirmative action &lans engineering &ro&osals research studies &rogress re&orts Houtine% recurring re&orts &re&ared on daily% $ee(ly% monthly% uarterly or annual basis.

30EN is it &re&aredL

He uires &lenty of introductory information to ex&lain &ur&ose of the re&ort. He uires less introduction material than voluntary re&orts should be organi+ed to res&ond to the reader"s re uest 6resentation dictated by characteristics of sub*ect <for exam&le detailed statistical information summari+ed in tabular form= He uired standard format that facilitates com&arisons from one &eriod to next need relatively little bac(ground and transitional information 'o not need standardi+ation re uire &lenty of bac(ground and transitional material Can be relatively informal $ritten in memo or manuscri&t format -hould be relatively format in tone $ritten in letter or manuscri&t format 1rgani+ed around

-&ecial nonrecurring re&orts &re&ared on res&onse to uni ue situation

30EHE is it sentL

Internal re&orts &re&ared for use $ithin the organi+ation External re&orts sent to &eo&le outside the organi+ation

305 is it &re&aredL

Informational re&orts

&roviding facts )nalytical re&orts &roviding analysis inter&retation conclusions and often recommendationsX Hece&tive readers -(e&tical or hostile

subto&ics 1rgani+ed around conclusions or recommendations or logical arguments )rranged in direct order )rranged on indirect

013 $ill it be receivedL

1rgani+ing short re&orts In the &rocess of organi+ing re&orts the (ey is to decide first $hether the &ur&ose ofthe recei&t is to &rovide chiefly information or analysis. 9rom there your can choosean organi+ational &lan that suits your to&ic and goals. a=1rgani+ing information memos and re&orts, The &ur&ose of informational re&orts is to ex&lain something in straightfor$ard terms informational re&orts have several uses in business that include, 2onitoring and controlling o&erations. -tatements of &olicies and &roducers. He&orts on the organi+ation"s com&liance $ith 4overnment uirement. 6ersonal activity re&ots.

re

In $riting informational re&orts you usually do not have to $orry too much aboutreader reaction because reader $ill &resumably res&ond unemotionally to your material. 1. 6eriodic re&orts, 6eriodic re&orts are internal re&orts that describe $hat has ha&&ened in a de&artment during a &articular &eriod. These re&ortssometimes called status re&orts. 6eriodic re&orts are usually $ritten in memoformat and do not need much introduction. 1vervie$ of routine res&onsibilities, ) brief descri&tion of activitiesrelated to each of the $riter"s res&onsibilities. 'iscussion of s&ecial &ro*ects, ) descri&tion of any ne$ or s&ecial&ro*ects underta(en during the re&orting &eriod. 6lans for the coming &eriod, ) schedule of activities &lanned for the next re&orting &eriod. )nalysis of &roblems, )lthough often included in the overvie$ of routine or s&ecial activities &roblem analysis is sometimes &ut in a se&arate section to call to access that may re uire high-level intervention. E. 6ersonal activity re&orts, 6ersonal activity re&orts often in the form of brief manes describe the facts and decisions that emerged during conventions conference tri&s or business meetings. They are intended to inform the management of any im&ortant information or decisions

that emerged from the meetings. b=1rgani+ing analytical re&orts, )nalytical re&orts differ from informationalre&orts in their &ur&ose and thus in their organi+ation. The &ur&ose of an analytical re&ort is to convince the reader that the conclusions and recommendations develo&ed in the text are valid. 1ne common aim of allanalytical re&orts is to guide to$ard a decision. 1 Pustification re&ort, Pustification re&orts are internal &ro&osal used to &ersuade to& management to a&&rove an investment or a &ro*ect. This structure is extremely efficient because it focuses the reader"s attention on$hat needs to be done. E Ne$ business &ro&osal to an outside client, 6ro&osal to outside clients are attem&ts to get &roducts &lans or &ro*ects acce&ted by outside businesses or 4overnment clients. : Troubleshooting re&ort, 3henever a &roblem exists someone must investigate it and &ro&ose a solution. ) troubleshooting re&ort is a decisionsoriented document &re&ared for submission to to& management. 1rgani+ing an analytical re&ort around a list of reasons that collective su&&ortyour main conclusions and recommendations is a natural a&&roach to ta(e. 6lanning and organi+ing #ong M 9ormal re&orts #ong and formal re&orts are those re&orts $hich scientists% engineers% businessexcessive and administrators have to $rite as a &art of their duty. -uch re&orts arethe result of careful investigation sound thin(ing logical organi+ation and clear $riting and they are &resented in a conventional form. 9ollo$ing are the &oints%$hich have been identified by HC -harma and Arishna 2ohan that constitute thedefinition of re&ort, ) re&ort is a formal statement of facts or information or an accountant of something. It is &resented in a conventional form. It is $ritten for a s&ecific audience. It includes the information about the &rocedures of collecting data and the significance of such data. It contains conclusions reached by the $riter. It often includes recommendations. The ste&s for &lanning and organi+ing formal re&orts are, Identify the &roblem. 'ecide on area to investigate. 'etermine the sco&e of the re&ort. 6lan the research or data gathering. 'evelo& a &reliminary outline. Collect the data. )naly+e data conclusions and ma(e recommendations.

'efining the &roblem, The first ste& is to identify the &roblem to be studies andthe ob*ectives of the re&orts. In other $ords you should develo& a clear $rittenstatement of the &ur&ose of your re&orts. 1nce you have as(ed some &reliminary uestions% then double chec( this statement $ith the &erson $ho authori+ed thestudy. The statement may be ex&ressed as, )n infinitive &hase% ) uestion% ) statement. 1utlining issues for analysis, This ste& in re&ort $riting has to do $ith theoutline of the issue you &lan to study. To organi+e the research effort you need tobrea( the &roblem into a s&ecific uestion. This &rocess of brea(ing the &robleminto series of uestion is called FfactoringG. a='evelo&ing a logical structure, -ince any sub*ect can be factored in many$ays. 5our tas( is to choose the most logical method% the one that ma(es themost sense. Begin by loo(ing carefully at &ro&oses of your study. ; W Information assignments, 4eneral goal is to &rovide information% $hich someone else $ill inter&ret. -tudies that lead to factual re&orts $ith very littleanalysis or inter&retation are generally factored on the basis of subto&ics dealing$ith s&ecific sub*ects. 1 In order of im&ortance-e uentiallyChronologically-&atially <studying a &hysical ob*ect . left% right% to& etc=4eogra&hicallyCategorically <sales% &rofit% cost% investments= )nalytical assignments, studies that result in re&orts containing analyses conclusions and recommendations are generally categori+ed by a &roblem-solving method. 3hen the &roblem is to discover causes% &redict results or find a solution to a &roblem then studies may be factored on the basis of hy&otheses. 3hen the &roblem is to evaluate various alternatives then the studiesmay be factored on relative merits. b=9ollo$ing the rules of division, 9ollo$ the rules of division to ensure that your study $ill be organi+ed in a logical and systematic $ay. Choose a significant and useful basis or guiding &rinci&le for thedivision.3hen subdividing a $hole into its &arts% restrict yourself to one basisat a time.2a(e sure that each grou& is se&arate and distinct.Be through $hen listing all the com&onents of a $hole. c=6re&aring a &reliminary outline, )s you go through the factoring &rocess youmay $ant to use an outline format to re&resent the logical flo$ and systematicgrou&ing of your ideas. There is t$o $idely used system of outlining are theal&hanumeric and the decimal system. 'etailed outline serves $ell, 3hen you are one of several &eo&le $or(ing on an assignment. 3hen your investigation $ill be extensive and $ill involve manysources and many ty&es of data.3hen the &erson $ho

re uested the study $ill may revise theassignment during the course of your investigation. 6re&aring the $or( &lan, 1nce you have defined the &roblem and outlined theissue for analysis% you are ready to establish a $or( &lan based on your &reliminaryoutline. 3hen you are conducting a lengthy format study the $or( &lan should be uite detailed because it $ell guide the &erformance of many tas(s over a s&an oftime. ) formal $or( &lan might include the follo$ing items. -tatement of the &roblem.-tatement of the &ur&ose and sco&e of your investigation.'iscussion of the se uence of tas(s to be accom&lished.'escri&tion of the end &roducts that $ill result from the investigation.Hevie$ of &ro*ect assignments% schedules and resource re uirements. 'oing the research, The value of your re&ort de&ends on the uality of theinformation it is based on. -o $hen the time covers to gather information your firstconcern is to get organi+ed. 5our $or( &lan $ill be a big hel& during the researchefforts. a=Hevie$ing secondary sources, -econdary sources are second-hand re&orts.Even though you may &lan to rely heavily on &rimary sources <firsthand re&orts=%you are $ise to begin your study $ith a though revie$ of information that hasalready been collected. -econdary sources offer material that can form the bac(ground of your investigation and analysis. b=Collecting &rimary data, 3hen the information you need is not available fromthe secondary source you have to collect and inter&ret the data yourself bydoing &rimary research. The four main $ays to collect &rimary data are. Examine document, In business a great deal of information is filleda$ay for future reference. Business document that uality as &rimary datainclude sales re&orts &re&ared by field re&resentatives% balance sheet% income statement corres&ondence $ith various &arties% contracts and logboo(s. 1bservation, 1bservations ma(e use of your five senses and your*udgement in the &rocess of investigation. Informal observations are a rathercommon source of &rimary data in business. 2ore ob*ective information canbe gathered through formal observation because the researcher had &redetermined &oints that need to be observed. The decision to observe $hich is &redetermined is based on the &ur&ose of the study. -urveys, ) common $ay to conduct &rimary research is to intervie$$ell- ualified ex&erts. The best $ay to obtain ans$ers to your uestions is to as( &eo&le $ho have relevant ex&erience and o&inions. ) formal survey is a$ay of finding out $hat a cross section of &eo&le thin(

about something. -hould you face to face intervie$s% &hone calls or &rinted uestionnairesL0o$ many individuals should you contact to get results that arereliable and $ho should those &eo&le doL 3hat s&ecific uestions should you as( in order to get a valid &ictureL The uestion could ta(e any of the follo$ing forms, a= 1&en endedb= Either . orc= 2ulti&le choiced= -calee= Chec(listf= VYHan(ingg= 9ill in the blan(s. The follo$ing hints $ill hel& in &re&aring the uestionnaires, 6rovide clear instructions so that the res&ondents (no$ exactly ho$ tofill out the uestionnaire.Each uestion should be clearly framed and should see( to elicit the fillout the uestionnaire.Aee& the uestionnaire short and easy to ans$er. It should be &reciseand not vague.)void leading uestions- uestions that suggest or antici&ate ans$ersand thus either conditions or &re*udice the res&ondent"s mind.'o not as( any uestions that may embarrass the res&ondent.)rrange your uestions in a logical order. 6retest the uestionnaire on a sam&le grou& to identify uestions thatare sub*ect to misinter&retation. W Ex&eriments, )lthough some business uestions *ustify the need forex&eriments their use is for more common in technical fields. )n ex&erimentre uires extensive mani&ulation of the factor involved. The aim in conductingan ex&eriment is to (ee& all variables the same ex&ert for the same you aretesting. )naly+ing 'ata, 1nce you have com&leted your finding. The analytical &rocess is essentially a search for relationshi& among the facts and evidence you have com&lied. 5ou analy+e results by calculating statistics% dra$ing reasonable conclusions and develo&ing a set of recommendations. a=Calculating statistics, 1ne im&ortant as&ect in research is to uality yourfinding. Testing of variables involve ualifying i.e. information that you com&ileduring the research &hase $ill be in numerical form. I=)verages, 1ne useful $ay of loo(ing at data is to find the averages%$hich is one number that re&resents a grou& of members. Three (inds ofaverages, mean% median% and mode. 2ean, Ano$n as Farithmetic meanG% $hich is a value that is com&utedby dividing the sum of a set of terms by the numbers of terms. 2edian, It is a value in an ordered set of values% belo$ and above $hich there are e ual numbers of value. 1r the average of the middle

valuesit time is on middle value. 2ode, It refers to the most fre uent value of a set of data. II=Trends, The trends $ould indicate $hether a &erson is &rogressing%regressing or remaining steady. Trend analysis is common in business. Byloo(ing at data over a &eriod of time you can detect &atterns and relationshi& that $ill enable you to ans$er im&ortant uestions. III=Correlations, ) correlation is a statistical relationshi& bet$een too ormore variables. 1nce you have identify a trend you should no$ loo( forthe cause of the trend. Correlations are useful evidence but they do not &rove a cause-and-effect relationshi&. 6utting it differently dra$ing conclusion from an assum&tions is not a very sound method. b='ra$ing conclusions, Hegardless of ho$ much evidence you amass at some &oint in every analysis you move beyond hard facts and begin to dra$ conclusions. Conclusions are inter&retations of $hat the facts mean. In formulating conclusions you ma(e use of your assum&tions and value *udgements. /alue *udgements and assum&tions from the basis for inter&retation of facts and decisions are based in inter&retation. This im&lies thatconclusions may be based on sub*ective factors. Using scientific research andstatistical analysis you may come u& $ith ob*ective conclusions. If you are $or(ing as &art of a term you have the advantage of discussing your conclusions$ith your team. 5ou have the advantage of discussing your conclusions $ithyour team members. c='evelo&ing recommendations, If conclusions are o&inions or inter&retationrecommendations are suggestions for action. 5ou can test soundness of your recommendations against the follo$ing criteria, The recommendations should offer real advantage to the organi+ation.The recommendations should be financially and &olitically feasible.'evelo& s&ecific &lans to overcome hindrance that might im&edeim&lementations of the recommendations.His(s associated $ith the recommendations should be acce&table.

UNIT -1; 'evelo&ing and 'eliveringEffective 6resentation

Information technologies such as electronic mail% cellular &hones% videoconferencingand fax machines have enhanced communication. It has increased the de&endencyof business on technology and this has made decisionma(ing &rocess faster. 'es&ite all these develo&ments face to face communications has not mitigated. Inthe business $orld face to face &resentation is still the most effective $ay to reachthe intended audience. 6resentation is a form of face to face communication and &lays an im&ortant role in sharing information and guiding actions $ithin organi+ations. 6resentation is more formal ty&e of communication and hence re uires a definite strategy . such as goal setting% situational (no$ledge%communication com&etence and anxiety management. 'uring a &resentation thes&ea(er must be able to read the audience"s nonverbal behaviour and infer themoods and reactions of the audience to the message being &resented. -&eech and oral &resentations, ) common tools in business communications a -&eech a highly structured form of address in $hich a s&ea(er address an audiencegathered to hear a message. By contrast oral &resentation are almost al$ays extem&oraneous are very often delivered $ith the hel& of visual aids and are fre uently &artici&ative. 1ral &resentations &lay im&ortant roles in both a com&any"s internal and external communication systems. )s an im&ortant &art of acom&any"s external communication and &resentations are used as tools to $in and(ee& ne$ clients. Identifying the general and s&ecific &ur&ose, 1nce you have selected a to&icthe &rocess of refining it begins. There are t$o levels at $hich the basic goal of&resentation is identified are, 4eneral &ur&ose -&ecific 6ur&ose

4eneral 6ur&ose, 'es&ite the differences bet$een formal s&eeches and oral &resentations% they share common general &ur&ose . I.e. communications $ith an audience. To To To To inform &ersuade motivate celebrate

a=To inform, Informative &resentation &rovides ideas% alternatives% data or even o&inions% but most im&ortant% they &rovide credible% reliable information to su&&ort your ma*or &oints. 3hen giving an informative &resentation you function as a teacher of you audience. Informative &resentation have the follo$ing characteristics, I= They are accurate, 3hen you communicate facts% accuracy is essential. II= They are clear, Information must be communicated in a $ay that the listeners can understand. III= They are meaningful, They must ans$er the uestion that every listeneras(s. F0o$ $ill this hel& meLG I/= They are memorable, Information not remembered has little value. b=To &ersuade, 6ersuasive &resentation can $or( at three levels. I= They can change or reaffirm existing audience about im&ortant to&ics. II= They strive to gain the commitment of the audience. III= They motivate action.

In &ersuasive &resentation you are as(ing the audience to ma(e a commitment toyour vie$&oint and to act in $ay that you advocate as $ith informative s&ea(ing. c=To motivate, 6resentation designed to motivate audience are a s&ecial ty&e of&ersuasive s&eech. 2otivational &resentations em&loy &ersuasions but rely moreextensively on stimulating the emotions and feeling of listeners as a method ofinducing action. d=To celebrate, Ceremonial &resentations often share many of the elements found in informative &ersuasive and motivational &resentations. Included in thegrou& of ceremonial &resentation are the follo$ing, I= Introduction, Introducing other s&ea(ers.II= )cce&tance, 3elcoming an honour as re$ard.III= Tribute, 2a(ing toasts.I/= 4ood$ill, Hemembering and honouring the &ast./= Ins&iration, 6resenting a memorial or eulogy./I= Celebration, He*oicing in achievements. Ceremonial &resentations re uire you to consider the common ties that bind &artici&ants together as a grou&. -&ecific &ur&ose, 0aving established the general &ur&ose no$ you must determine the s&ecific &ur&ose $hich identifies $hat you as the &resenter $ant theaudience to thin( believe% feel or do as a result of listening to your &resentation.The s&ecific &ur&ose should contain a singe idea. -ome basic considerations for s&ecific &ur&osed included the follo$ing, a= Is the idea manageable in time allotted for &resentationsLb= Is the idea challenging to the audienceLc= Is the idea im&ortant to the organi+ational valuesL The exercise should result in develo&ing a thesis statement-a single declarativesentence that summari+es the main ideas to be &resented to the audience. This isalso (no$n as the Fcore ideaG. -ituational (no$ledge . analy+ing the audience, )udience analysis is the &rocess by $hich business communications analy+e theneeds and (no$ledge if their listeners in order to im&rove the li(elihood of communicating effectively through oral &resentations. )udience analysis corres&onds to the second com&onent of strategic communication because audience gives s&ea(ers tools to lin( their s&ecific &ur&ose to audience interest andneeds it is at the heart of any successful s&eech or oral &resentation. 'emogra&hic 6rofile of the audience, )ge% social class% education level%gender% culture bac(ground and occu&ational status is fundamental to anyaudience analysis. Target audience refers to the (ey decision ma(ers $ho are members of thegeneral audience and should be an im&ortant focus for your analysis. 5ou are more li(ely to succeed by tailoring your idea% information and a&&eals tothere audience members. a= 3hat does the audience (no$ about medL b= 3hat does my audience (no$ about my organi+ationL c= 0o$ much does the audience (no$ about my to&icL d= 0o$ much interest does the audience have in my to&icL

e= 0o$ does the audience feel about my to&icL f= 3hat is the context for my &resentationsL In the $ords if 6eter 9. 'ruc(er FTo Im&rove communication $or( not no the uttererbut the reci&ientG. 2a*or &arts of &resentation, Introduction 1ne of the most difficult tas( in any (ind of &resentation is to begin unless youbegin you cannot continue and conclude. The uestion is ho$ to beginL #et usconsider a similar situation, first meeting of a class. 3hat do the students $ant to (no$ during the first session M &eriod of a classL -tudy has sho$n that they $ant tolearn three categories of information, Course coverage . $hat $ill be content and focus of the course. Course re uirement . $hat is re uired to com&lete the course. Course instructor . $hat (ind of &erson $ill this teacher turn out to beL

The three uestions fall into three general categories, a= 1rientation . 3hat is ha&&eningLb= 2otivation . 3hat is in it for meLc= Ha&&ort . 3ill I #i(e and res&ect the teacherL The introduction to &resentation servers similar functions. It informs the listener $hat the message is about . orientation 3hy the listener should attend to it . motivation 3hy the s&ea(er is a credible source of the message . ra&&ort. a= 1rientation, i= 1ne method of orientation is to sha&e the to&ic to be discussed% give thethesis statement% exam&le the title of &resentation or revie$ the &ur&oseof &resentation. ii= )nother method of orienting the audience is to &revie$ the structure ofthe message.iii= The s&ea(er may also ex&lain $hy the to&ic $as narro$ed as it $as. b= 2otivation, i= 2otivation strategies include lin(ing the to&ic and thesis statement tolistener"s lives. ii= )nother motivational strategy is to sho$ the to&ic has affected or $illaffect the audience"s &art &resent and future.iii= Third method of motivating the audience to listen is by demonstratingho$ the to&ic is lin(ed to their basic need M goal. c=Ha&&ort, Building ra&&ort can ta(e several forms, i=#anguage, 'emonstrates com&etence and credibility. Through your needs and delivery you must convince your audience that you are ualified to s&ea(. ii=Ca&ture attention, The main &ur&ose of your introduction is to ca&turethe attention of your audience and ma(e them $ant to hear more.

They can be done by, Com&limenting the audience Using humor 2a(ing starting statements )necdotes Ruotations Hhetorical uestion 2a*or &arts of &resentation, The Body 1nce you have narro$ed a to&ic to a s&ecific &ur&ose and thesis statement andidentified the characteristics of your audience the next ste& in &lanning is to identifyand research your main &oints. There are many $ays to generate main idea but theto&ical system has been in use and still continues to be effective. The basic &remiseof the a&&roach is that the infinite member of &ossible to&ics contains finite numberof themes . a result of our shared $ays to thin(ing about human affairs. 6utting it insame terms the infinite $ays in $hich the humans thin( and act can be classifiedinto finite number of themes, 1. )ttribute, a= Existing M nonexistence of things. b= 'egree of uantity of thin(s or forces. c= -&atial attributes . location% distribution and &osition of thin(s es&ecially in relation to other things. d= Time . $hen an event too( &lace ho$ long it lasted etc. e= 2otion or activity or abstract sha&e of a thing. f= 9orm . the &hysical or abstract content of a thing. g= Ca&acity of change . $hether an event or situation is &redictable or un&redictable. h= 6otency . &o$er or energy including the ability of further or hinder something else. i= 'esirability . $hether the thing results in re$ard or &enalties. *= 9easibility . ho$ $ill the thing $or( or hoe &ractical it is. E. Basic relationshi&, a= Causality -the relation of causes to effects% effects to causes etc. b= Correlation . corres&ondence bet$een% coexistence of% as coordinator of things or forces. c= 4enus . s&ecies relationshi& . common characteristics or distinguishing characteristics of a thing as grou& of things. d= -imilarity or dissimilarity in a&&earance% content% form% sha&e etc. e= 6ossibility of im&ossibility of an event ha&&ening. The main thing to remember in business &resentation is to do a thorough s&ade$or( before the &resentation. )s it is read% F6eo&le don"t &lan to fail% they fail to&lanG. 6roviding su&&ort material for ideas Hegardless of the &ur&ose of your &resentation you $ill use some of su&&ortingmaterial to give creditability and to your main ideas and to a$a(e the messagemore informative% interesting% relevant% clear and acce&table% su&&orting

materialsfacilitate learning. Certainly &eo&le tend to resist a s&ea(er"s attem&ts the s&ea(er to overcome these barriers to com&lete a successful &resentation. These materialsinclude, Ex&lanation Exam&le -tatistics #istening /isual aids a=Ex&lanation, is an act or &rocess of ma(ing a sub*ect &lain or com&rehensible. This is often accom&lished through a sim&le statement ofthe relationshi& of a $hole and its &art. There are many $ays in $hichex&lanation can be offered . such ad &roviding a definition. b=Exam&les, Comment the main ideas of &resentation $ith a real or and idealsituation thought out by to s&ea(er. c=-tatistics, 'escribe the result of collecting% organi+ing% and inter&retingnumerical data. They are s&ecially useful $hen you $ant too accom&lish thefollo$ing, Heduce large masses of information to general categories. Em&hasi+e the si+e of something. Indicate trends. d=Testimony, ) statement by a credible &erson that trends $eight authorityand authority is the s&ea(er"s &resentation. The testimony gains creditability&ro&er timidly to the ex&ertise of the &erson $ho is the source of testimony. e=/isual aids, Business s&ea(er after structure their &resentation around series of slide that &rovide visual a&&eal and content% interest% clarity. 2a*or &arts of &resentation, The Conclusion The conclusion of a s&eech or an oral &resentation &erforms four im&ortant functions, It It It It summari+es your message. extends your message to a broader context. &ersonali+es your message. calls for s&ecific future action.

#i(e an introduction the conclusion should ta(e about 1;K of your &resentation. )syou thin( about you conclusion (ee& in mind that these are the last $ords yourlistener $ill hear and that it is im&ortant to leave them $ith a lasting im&ression.Hemember also that your listeners need a signed that your s&eech is over. a=-ummari+e your message, Thin( of your summary as you last o&&ortunityto FnailG your main &oints. )s 3inston Churchill once said, FIf you have anim&ortant &oint to ma(e% don"t try to be subtle or clever. Use a &ile driver. 0it the &oint once. These come bac( and let it again there hit it a thirst time . tremendous $hac(. 3hen you $hat to ma(e your &oint over again% do

notre&eat but recast it in $ay that $ould be remembered by your audience.Hestatement is absolutely necessary to get your &oint across. -ummari+ingshould have the follo$ing &oints. Hestatement the main &oints. 1nce have everyone"s attention re&eat yourmain ideas. 1utlining the next ste&s% some s&eeches and &resentations re uire the audience to reach a decision or to ta(e s&ecific action. Ending on a &ositive note% your final remar(s should be enthusiastic andmemorable. The end of your s&eech should leave a strong and lasting im&ression. b=Extend your message to a border context, Use you conclusion to loo( ahead. 'o not let your &resentation begin and end in the lecture hall, itshould extend beyond the &resent context audit your idea to broader from$or( of goals and ideas. c=6ersonali+e your message, )t the conclusion of your s&eech or &resentation% reem&hasi+e your focus or your listener"s need . that is $heretheir real motivation lies. d=2a(e a call to action, )s(ing your listeners too do something is a tas( best left to the end of your message. 2any &ersuasive s&eeches and sales &resentation conclude $ith a&&eals that urge action. #eave your audience $ith a vision and a sense of every. Element Introducti on Body 6ur&ose Establish credibilityca&ture attention 6revie$ main &oints 6resent main &oints 6resent su&&ortmaterials summari+e main &ointsextends message tobroader context &ersonali+e messagecall to action Techni ues Hefer to your &ersonal bac(ground% use humor% tell a story% as( rhetorical uestions%use uotations% demonstrate Briefly tell your audience $hat is to come.Hely on common organi+ational &atterns% usefacts% statistics% exam&les% narratives% testimony and uotations

Conclusio n

Use re&etition9orm conclusions and recommendations 9ocus your message on the needs of your audience 9ocus on the future and $hat must be done.

/isual )ids It has been estimated that 11K of $hat $e learn is through hearing% >:K throughsight and the rest through the other threes sources. 0ence visual aids can ma(e your &resentation more effective. /isual aids hel& both the s&ea(er and the audience remembers the im&ortant &oints. T$o ty&es of visual aids are used tosu&&lement s&eeches and &resentations. They are, Text visuals hel& listeners to follo$ the flo$ of thoughts M ideas. 4ra&hics visuals &resent and em&hasi+e im&ortant facts.

Ty&es of /isual )ids 1 1b*ective and models, If you $ere &resenting the &rototy&e for a ne$&roduct your best visual aid $ould be the &roduct itself. E 9li& chart% chal( and $riting boards and &orters, These media are effective in &resenting information to small interaction grou&s. 9li& charts aremost co rumor $ay to dis&lay visuals in a business &resentation allo$ing yousho$ a se uence of gra&hic $ith a turn of a &age. : 1verhead trans&arencies, 1verhead trans&arencies allo$ an image to be&ro*ected $ithout losing touch $ith the audience. They are easy to use andare $idely em&loyed in many business settings. D -lides, Both colour and blac( and $hite slides can add a &rofessional touch to a &resentation. -lides can be used to dis&lay any ty&e of t$o . dimensional visual aid% including &hotogra&h% ma&s% lists% tables and gra&hs. ? /ideos, /ideos are an integral &art of many business &resentations.)dvertising agencies use video to screen ne$ commercials for clients. /ideoshave the advantage of easy recording and instant &laybac(.
9ormat 9li& chats chal( and $riting boards 1verhead trans&arencies -lides )udience -mall )dvantages 0el& to organi+e Msummari+e high flexibility lo$ human error informal 6ortable no technician needed high flexibility 9lexible M modular minimum e ui&ment needs ty&e servers as outline gra&hs sho$ relationshi& charts save time conce&tually 0igh im&act instant re&lay flexible easy assembly su&&ort other )/ formats &rovide change of &ace 'isadvantages #o$ im&act

2edium M#arge 2edium M#arge

Can be distractingcom&lex charts andgra&hs are ineffective 'o not sho$ motion lights mustbe dimmed

/ideo cassettes

-mall Mmedium

He uirese ui&mentavaila bility

4uidelines for using visual aids a= Choosing the right visual aid, #imit your visuals to im&ortant &oints. 5ourchoice should be determine by the &ur&ose of your s&eech the si+e of youraudience. b= Hemember that your audience $ants to see you% not your visuals c= 'on"t re&eat the context to the visual $hen you comment on it. 5ou shouldex&lain to the audience the context of the visual. d= -to& after your main &oint. )llo$ the audience to scan the information &ro*ecton the visual.

e= )void turning your bac( on your audience. 2aintain eye contact throughoutyour s&eech even $hen dis&laying a visual. f= 3or( on your timing. Never dis&lay a visual before tal(ing about it removes it$hen you have finished the thought. g= Hehearse . integrate your visual and oral &resentation before your actual&erformance.

UNIT -11

Intervie$s and 2eetings

-im&ly stated% intervie$s are a conversation bet$een t$o &eo&le. E.C. Eyre% amanagement ex&ert% states Fan intervie$ is a face to face verbal exchange $hichendeavors to discover as much information as &ossible in the least amount of timeabout some relevant matterG. ) *ob hunter $rites a resume and letter of a&&lication to get a *ob intervie$. Pob intervie$s are more than *ust conversations $ith &ros&ective em&loyers. Intervie$s are valuable o&&ostmitics for both &arties to seeif the a&&licant fits comfortably into the com&any environment. Intervie$s &lay anim&ortant &art in t$o . $ay communication. 9or not only does the intervie$ learn agreat deal about the intervie$ee but it is also &rovides an o&&ortunity to theintervie$ee to give information about the organi+ation and its aims and ob*ective. 2eetings li(es intervie$ are vital to the functioning of modern organi+ations.2eeting &rovides a form for ma(ing (ey decisions and a vehicle for coordinating theactivities of &eo&le and de&artments. Because they share in the decision theyacce&t it and are committed to seeing it succeed. There are many committees andmeetings in an organi+ation of any si+e. Not all the committees and meetings aresuccessful. There are un&roductive meetings% $hich are frustrating and ex&ensive. Categori+ing intervie$s Not all intervie$s are ali(e thus they do not re uire the same set of s(ills. Thus t$oty&es of intervie$s are, Those dominated by the exchange of information. Those involving the exchange of feelings. 1. Exchange of information, a=Pob intervie$s, The candidate see(ing *ob $ants to learn about the &osition and the organi+ation% the em&loyer $ants to learn about the a&&licant"s abilities and ex&erience. Both ho&e to ma(e a good im&ression and to

establish ra&&ort. b=Information intervie$s, The intervie$ see(s facts that influence a decision or contribute to basic understanding of certain sub*ect matter. Informationflo$s mainly in one direction . one &erson as(s a series of uestion that mustbe covered and listens to the ans$er su&&lied by the other &erson. c=6ersuasive intervie$s, In there intervie$s one &erson tells another about ane$ idea &roduct or service and ex&lains $hy the other should act or therecommendations. The &ersuader discusses the other &erson"s needs. d=Exit intervie$s, The intervie$s try to understand $hy the intervie$ee isleaving the organi+ation of transferring to another de&artment or division. )de&artment em&loyer can often &rovide insight into $hether the business isbeing handled efficiently or $hether things could be im&roved.

E. Exchange of feeling, a=Evaluation Intervie$s, ) -u&ervisor &eriodically gives on em&loyer feedbac( or $his&er &erformance. The su&ervisor and the em&loyeediscuss &rogress to$ards &redetermined standards or goals and evaluate areas that re uire im&rovement. They may also discuss goals for the coming years. b=Counseling intervie$s, These involve the su&ervisor"s the su&ervisor"stal(s $ith the em&loyee about &ersonal that are interfering $ith $or(&erformance. The intervie$er should be concerned $ith the $elfare of both the em&loyee and organi+ation and should confine the discussion tobusiness. c=Conflict . resolutions intervie$s, 0ere t$o com&eting &eo&le or grou&of &eo&le ex&lore their &roblems and attitude. The goal is to being the t$o&arties close together% cause ad*ustments in &erce&tions and attitudesand create a more &roductive climate. d='isci&linary intervie$s, In these the su&ervisor tries to correct the behavior of an em&loyee $ho has ignored the organi+ation"s rules andregulations. The intervie$er must not only get the em&loyee to set thereason for the rules and agree to com&ly but must also revie$ the factsand ex&lore the &erson"s attitude. 6lanning the intervie$ 6lanning an intervie$ is similar to &lanning any other form of communication. 5ou begin by starting the &ur&ose% analy+ing the other &erson% and formulating your main ideas. Even as an intervie$ee you have some control over the conversation. 5ou need to antici&ate the intervie$er"s uestion and then &lan your ans$ers so that the &oints you $ant to ma(e $ill be covered. If you are the intervie$er% res&onsibility for &lanning the intervie$ session falls on you. 5ou need to develo& a set of intervie$ uestions and decide on their se uence. 0aving a &lan $ill enable you to conduct the intervie$ more efficiently.

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