Business communication contexts and controversies

Brief Contents1 Business Communication in the Twenty-First Century 1 2 Ideas: Planning the Writing Process 27 3 Words: Looking at Your Language 52 4 Media: Choosing Your Channel 79 5 Int

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business communication contexts and controversies

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les hansonred river college

darryl hammondred river college

university of manitoba university of winnipeg

Pearson Canada

Toronto

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Thanks to our families for their patience and support.

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Brief Contents

1 Business Communication in the Twenty-First Century 1

2 Ideas: Planning the Writing Process 27

3 Words: Looking at Your Language 52

4 Media: Choosing Your Channel 79

5 Intercultural Communication 101

6 Meetings 116

7 Oral Presentations: The Counterintuitive Speaker 137

8 Writing Routine Letters, Memos, and Emails 170

9 Writing Persuasive Messages 211

10 Dealing with Negative Information 232

11 Writing Instructions, Explanations, and Definitions 257

12 Preparing to Write Proposals,Reports, and Electronic Presentations 280

13 Writing Proposals and Reports 306

14 Writing Business Plans 348

15 Writing Resumés 366

16 Networking, Developing Effective References,and Succeeding in Employment Interviews 393

17 Interpersonal Communication: Surviving Life on the Cube Farm 423

Appendix Grammar, Punctuation, and Plain English 449

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Preface xvii

About the Authors xxiii

About the Contributors xxiv

WHY STUDY COMMUNICATION? 5

Hard Skills and Soft Skills 7

How Business Communication Differs from

Chapter Summary 24

Thinking and Writing Exercises 24

Writing Skills Checkup: Sentence Errors 26

2 Ideas: Planning the Writing Process 27

THE COST OF POOR PLANNING 28

Issues in Communication:

Banning the Bags 29

THE IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING 31

THREE-POINT PLANNING 32

Establish Your Purpose for Writing 32

Organization in Action: Getting Your

THE WRITING PROCESS IN ACTION 44

Set Objectives for Yourself 45

Feel Free to Shift between Sections 45

Set Your Work Aside When

WRITING TEMPLATES 46

Writing Skills Checkup: Point of View Shift 51

3 Words: Looking at Your Language 52

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RIGHT WORDS 53

New Words at Work: From Blogs to Bandwidth 53

STANDARD ENGLISH: USING DICTIONARIES AND STYLE GUIDES 56

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USING THE APPROPRIATE STYLE AND TONE 58

STREAMLINING YOUR WRITING 63

Writing Skills Checkup:

Frequently Confused Words 78

4 Media: Choosing Your

THE NEW CHANNELS 96

Apostrophes and Possessives 100

5 Intercultural Communication 101

LIVING IN THE GLOBAL VILLAGE 102

Men and Women as Different Cultures 102

CULTURAL BALANCING ACTS 104

The Needs of the Many and the Needs

Listening to Cultural Narratives 107

Chapter Summary 113

Thinking and Writing Exercises 114

Writing Skills Checkup: Capitalization 115

The Obama Visit 118

WORKING TOGETHER TO MAKE MEETINGS

PREPARING TO HOLD A MEETING 124

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THE ACTUAL MEETING 128

AFTER THE MEETING 131

TIPS FOR SUCCESS 133

VIRTUAL MEETINGS 133

Writing Skills Checkup: Writing Minutes 136

7 Oral Presentations:

The Counterintuitive Speaker 137

THE FIRST THING YOU NEED TO KNOW 138

Remember the Key Words: Content and

Connection 144

THE INTRODUCTION 148

Connecting: Your Ego May Be Getting

Concrete Tips to Help You Get Started 151

Everyone Has a Perfect Personality 159

Learn to Love the Audience from Hell

THE CONCLUSION 162

THE LITTLE EXTRAS 164

PowerPoint that Respects the Audience 165

Three Final Tips on Your Delivery and on Practising in front of Your Dog 167

Thinking and Speaking Exercises 168

Writing Skills Checkup: Adjectives and Adverbs 169

8 Writing Routine Letters, Memos, and Emails 170

THE COST OF COMMUNICATION 171

The Dream of the Paperless Office 171

THE PURPOSE OF ROUTINE MESSAGES 175

STRATEGIES FOR WRITING ROUTINE

Beginnings and Endings for All Messages 181

Applying a Pattern to Your Writing 183

EMAIL ETIQUETTE 196

Using Numbers in Business Writing 209

9 Writing Persuasive Messages 211

MAKE ANYONE DO ANYTHING 212

The Nag Factor 213

KNOW YOUR OBJECTIVE 214

What, Specifically, Do You Want

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE 215

Who, Specifically, Are You Asking? 215

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AID FROM AIDA 216

Writing Skills Checkup: Pronoun Case 231

10 Dealing with Negative

Information 232

THE VALUE OF BAD NEWS 233

MAKING COMPLAINTS 233

Sorry about That 234

RECEIVING VALID COMPLAINTS 240

Direct Formula for Resolving Complaints 240

GIVING BAD NEWS OR REJECTING

Presenting Bad News Indirectly 243

INDIRECT FORMULA FOR PRESENTING

Writing Skills Checkup: Active and Passive Voices 255

Documents

11 Writing Instructions,

Explanations, and Definitions 257

THE NEED FOR GOOD INSTRUCTIONS 258

Testing the Completed Instructions 268

The Principles of Writing Clear

Special Needs for Business Definitions 274

Tips for Writing Effective Definitions 275

Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Initialisms 278

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12 Preparing to Write

Proposals, Reports, and Electronic Presentations 280

MANAGING INFORMATION 281

The World according to Wiki and Wikipedia 281

TOO MUCH INFORMATION! 282

PRIMARY VERSUS SECONDARY RESEARCH 283

Writing Skills Checkup: Subject–Verb Agreement 304

The Art of Misgiving, Corporate Style 308

Solicited and Unsolicited Proposals 311

REPORTS: FORMAL AND INFORMAL 317

Informational Report and Memo

Colons and Semicolons 346

14 Writing Business Plans 348

THE IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING 349

WHY WRITE A BUSINESS PLAN? 349

Tiny Loans Become a Huge Success 349

STRUCTURE OF A BUSINESS PLAN 352

Overview of the Business 353

Description of the Products

Writing Skills Checkup: Commas 364

15 Writing Resumés 366

FINDING YOUR CAREER 367

WHAT EMPLOYERS WANT 368

Surfing for a Job 368

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BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE RESUMÉ 370

One Size Does Not Fit All 372

LETTERS THAT CAN GET YOU WORK 385

The Prospecting Letter 386

Letters about Advertised Positions 386

Writing Skills Checkup: Parallel Structure 391

16 Networking, Developing

Effective References, and Succeeding in Employment Interviews 393

FINDING THE BEST OF THE BUNCH 394

NETWORKING AND THE HIDDEN JOB MARKET 395

Drugs and the Workplace 395

INTERVIEWS: WHAT TO PREPARE FOR 402

Preparing for an Interview 409

THE DAY OF THE INTERVIEW 413

Arriving for the Interview 414

Performing Well in the Interview 414

Starting the Interview 414

Writing Skills Checkup: Pronoun References 421

Strategies for Disagreeing Assertively 428

Techniques for Being Assertive 430

Fitting into Your Boss’s Plans 434

COMMUNICATING BY PHONE AT WORK 438

Tips for Using Office Telephones 438

CUBICLE ETIQUETTE 439

Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers 448

Appendix: Grammar, Punctuation, and Plain English 449

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New Words at Work:

From Blogs to Bandwidth 53

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We had reservations about writing a new textbook

when we were first approached with the idea because

there are many good business communication

text-books on the market Before we agreed to the project,

we had to assure ourselves that there was a genuine

need for a new book

Having taught the subject for many years, we haveread dozens of business communication textbooks

We looked again at many of these and made lists of the

problems that we (and our students) had found with

them Some included profiles of business leaders or

companies that we had found boring Others included

exercises that required little thought or imagination or

ones that required students to “make up additional

de-tails when necessary.” Some books ignored emerging

areas of communication such as the use of smart

phones In others, email seemed to be tacked on as if it

were a recent innovation We noted that students were

distracted by grammar exercises that dealt with

mul-tiple kinds of problems Some books placed too much

emphasis on having students memorize obscure

de-tails rather than helping them to write clearly

We were convinced

Business Communication: Contexts and Controversies

overcomes these problems by

■ allowing students to relate information in the

book to real-world situations

■ including interesting assignments

■ providing provocative discussion questions

■ promoting active learning

■ illustrating some explanations with humorous

examples

■ using simple explanations

FEATURES

includes a number of features that are not found in

other textbooks or that offer improvements over thosefound in existing books

Up-to-date Coverage of Communication Technology.

Social networking, texting, cell phone etiquette, viralmarketing, and multi-tasking are just some of thetopics that have been included because of the influ-ence that technology has had on communication

Issues in Communication Each chapter includes an

“issue in communication” that illustrates a real-lifesituation relating to the topic of the chapter Thechapter on business plans describes a unique busi-ness idea that won a Nobel Prize, for example, whilethe chapter on writing routine messages describesattempts to promote a paperless office Each Issue inCommunication box includes questions that areintended to promote discussion

Business Plans Business Communication: Contexts

and Controversies includes a chapter that provides an

introduction to the writing of business plans—a taskthat will be faced by many business students before(and after) they graduate

Instruction Manuals While guides for writing

in-structions are frequently found in technical nication books, an increased reliance on computersand other hi-tech devices means that more and morepeople in business are being called upon to explainthings to other people Most of Chapter 11 (WritingInstructions, Explanations, and Definitions) deals withdifferent aspects of instruction manuals

commu-Behavioural Interviews While behaviour-based

interviewing has been a key tool of human resourcesdepartments for years, most communication text-books have ignored the topic or given it only limited

coverage Business Communication: Contexts and

Controversies provides detailed advice to people on

preparing for this type of employment interview

Take It Further While many textbooks contain

side-bars summarizing the key points found on each page,

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sidebars contain interesting tidbits of information that

are not included in the body of the text Each sidebar

ends with a provocative question intended to promote

discussion of the material found in the chapter

Thinking and Writing Exercises The writing

as-signments included in the chapters dealing with

let-ters and emails are much more detailed than those

found in other textbooks Just as real-life writing

re-quires people to make decisions about what

infor-mation to include, many of these exercises require

students to sort extra information to find the details

that need to be included in their final submissions

Writing Skills Checkup Unlike the writing

improve-ment exercises found in most textbooks, those in

deal with a single topic in each chapter, along with a

brief explanation of the guiding principles behind it

This allows students (and instructors) to concentrate

on a single language-use problem at a time without

getting distracted by other types of errors

ORGANIZATION

Part 1 Foundations

Foundations is made up of five chapters that provide

students with the principles on which all business

communications are based:

Chapter 1, “Business Communication in the

Twenty-First Century,” the book’s introductory

chapter, looks at some of the ways that business

com-munication has changed in recent years It uses these

to explain the book’s premise that communication

involves the interaction of ideas, words, and media

Chapter 2, “Ideas: Planning the Writing Process”

emphasizes the need to plan all types of business

com-munication based on the purpose of the document

and the audience for whom it is intended It provides

instruction on brainstorming and sample outlines

Chapter 3, “Words: Looking at Your Language”

explores the impact of the words we use in business

It explains the need for simplicity in language and

discusses how euphemisms can sometimes be used

(or abused) The chapter contains detailed guidelines

on the use of non-discriminatory terminology along

with examples from current Canadian usage

Chapter 4, “Media: Choosing Your Channel,”compares the features of various oral and writtencommunication channels to help students choose themost appropriate medium for their messages In ad-dition to the traditional tools for business communi-cation, it includes sections dealing with some of thenewer forms of communication to emerge, such asblogs, social networking, and viral marketing.Chapter 5, “Intercultural Communication,” ex-plores the impact that culture has on business com-munication In a world that has been made smaller

by cheaper and faster forms of communication, thechapter shows how the cultural background of anaudience can affect how messages are received

Part 2 Routine Communications

Routine Communications consists of five chapters

that concentrate on the forms of communicationthat take place every day in most places of business.Chapter 6, “Meetings,” explains how to planmeetings to make the most effective use of time Itexplains the various duties that people can expect toperform during a meeting and shows people howthey can contribute to the success of a meeting.Chapter 7, “Oral Presentations: The Counter-intuitive Speaker,” provides readers with ways to givespeeches and presentations that capture the attention

of the audience and present them with memorableinformation It also explains how to prepare visualaids that enhance a presentation instead of boringthe audience

Chapter 8, “Writing Routine Letters, Memos,and Emails,” looks at the mainstay of most officecommunications—email—and explains how to writemessages that begin with a central idea and includeall necessary details It shows how the same princi-ples should also be applied to letters and memos.Examples of good and bad communication are pro-vided throughout the chapter

Chapter 9, “Writing Persuasive Messages,” tifies different types of situations where persuasion

iden-is necessary and then provides a range of strategiesfor convincing an audience It discusses the merits

of emotional and logical appeals and providesexamples of how they can be applied to businesscommunication

Chapter 10, “Dealing with Negative Information,”provides strategies for dealing with some aspects of

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communication that many people find

uncomfort-able: making complaints, answering complaints, and

making apologies It explains how bad news can be

used effectively and shows techniques for retaining

the goodwill of clients under difficult circumstances

Part 3 Longer Documents

Longer Documents includes four chapters that deal

with writing detailed documents

Chapter 11, “Writing Instructions, Explanations,and Definitions,” demonstrates the need for people

to write explanations that are based on the needs of

their readers It explains how to deal with technical

language and to write instructions that people will

actually understand

Chapter 12, “Preparing to Write Proposals,Reports, and Electronic Presentations,” examines the

initial processes needed to write effective reports and

proposals It covers different types of research and

search techniques, proper referencing, and the best

methods for presenting results visually

Chapter 13, “Writing Proposals and Reports,” scribes strategies for presenting solicited and unso-

de-licited proposals and examines informational and

analytical reports It shows how to assemble various

parts of a report including graphs, tables, and other

visual aids, and includes examples of completed

re-ports and proposals

Chapter 14, “Writing Business Plans,” deals withone of the most important (and detailed) documents

that any entrepreneur will ever create It describes the

various sections that go into a typical business plan and

explains how to present the information that most

in-vestors will require before approving the plan

Part 4 Employment

Employment consists of three chapters intended to

help students apply for jobs and keep them

Chapter 15, “Writing Resumés,” provides lines for preparing several types of resumés, includ-

guide-ing online applications, as well as for writguide-ing

persuasive application letters It includes examples of

all of these documents

Chapter 16, “Networking, Developing EffectiveReferences, and Succeeding in Employment Inter-

views,” discusses developing a career network to help

with successful job searches It not only containsadvice on obtaining interviews and answering com-mon interview questions but also deals extensivelywith performing well during behavioural interviews.Chapter 17, “Interpersonal Communication:Surviving Life on the Cube Farm,” is based on theprinciple that students must have the interpersonalcommunication skills that will allow them to keepthat important first position It includes sections onoffice etiquette, emotional intelligence, and dealingwith frontline workers

Appendix

“Grammar, Punctuation, and Plain English” teachesand reviews the basic concepts of grammar whileemploying humour and interesting visuals

MyCanadianBusCommLab is a website that offersvideos, sample documents, and interactive exer-cises to improve communication skills Throughoutthe textbook, icons highlight material whererelated activities or samples are available onMyCanadianBusCommLab

> Explore dozens of Writing Samples,

from letters to emails to reports, that model effectivecommunication

> Interactive Document Makeovers

provide practice in correcting ineffective munication; feedback guides students to under-stand the problems and find solutions

com-STUDENT SUPPLEMENTS

interactive, and instructive solution for businesscommunication is designed to be used as a supplement

to a traditional lecture course or to completely ister an online course See the opening pages of this textfor details Visit www.mycanadianbuscommlab.ca.MyCanadianBusCommLab includes a PearsoneText, which gives students access to the text wheneverand wherever they have access to the internet eText

admin-Practise

Explore

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pages look exactly like the printed text, offering

powerful new functionality for students and

instruc-tors Users can create notes, highlight text in different

colours, create bookmarks, zoom, click hyperlinked

words and phrases to view definitions, and view in

single-page or two-page view Pearson eText allows

for quick navigation to key parts of the eText using a

table of contents and provides full-text search The

eText may also offer links to associated media files,

enabling users to access videos, animations, or other

activities as they read

A student access card for

MyCanadianBus-CommLab is packaged with every new copy of the

text Access codes can also be purchased through

campus bookstores or through the website

CourseSmart for Students CourseSmart goes beyond

traditional expectations—providing instant, online

access to the textbooks and course materials you need

at an average savings of 50% With instant access from

any computer and the ability to search your text, you’ll

find the content you need quickly, no matter where

you are And with online tools like highlighting and

note-taking, you can save time and study efficiently

See all the benefits at www.coursesmart.com/

students

INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENTS

as-sessment generation program that helps

instruc-tors easily create and print quizzes, tests, and

exams, as well as homework or practice

hand-outs Questions and tests can all be authored

on-line, allowing instructors ultimate flexibility and

the ability to efficiently manage assessments at

anytime, from anywhere To access MyTest please

go to www.pearsonmytest.com

suggested solutions to the exercises, and formatted

letters for the cases in the letter-writing chapters

con-cepts in each chapter

These instructor supplements are available for

download from a password-protected section of

Pearson Canada’s online catalogue (vig.pearsoned.ca)

Navigate to your book’s catalogue page to view a list ofthose supplements that are available See your localsales representative for details and access

CourseSmart for Instructors CourseSmart goes

be-yond traditional expectations—providing instant,online access to the textbooks and course materialsyou need at a lower cost for students And even asstudents save money, you can save time and hasslewith a digital eTextbook that allows you to searchfor the most relevant content at the very momentyou need it Whether it’s evaluating textbooks orcreating lecture notes to help students with difficultconcepts, CourseSmart can make life a little easier.See how when you visit www.coursesmart.com/ instructors

Specialists work with faculty and campus course signers to ensure that Pearson technology products,assessment tools, and online course materials aretailored to meet your specific needs This highlyqualified team is dedicated to helping schools takefull advantage of a wide range of educational re-sources, by assisting in the integration of a variety ofinstructional materials and media formats.Your local Pearson Canada sales representative canprovide you with more details on this serviceprogram

de-Please speak to your Pearson Canada sales tative for more information about these and otherancillary materials

represen-ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We have many people to thank for making this book

a reality First and foremost, this project would nothave been possible without the support of our fami-lies who waited patiently for the keyboard to becomequiet, sometimes late into the night, and did notcomplain as home repairs went undone and socialevents were missed

Next, a thanks to our current colleagues andpast students, always a source of inspiration andexample Finally, a heartfelt thank-you to our Pearsonteam: David Le Gallais (Acquisitions Editor), Patti

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Altridge (Senior Developmental Editor), Sö˘güt Güleç

(Managing Editor), Cheryl Cohen (Substantive

Editor), and Dawn Hunter (Copy Editor) Thank

you all

We also want to thank the following tious and knowledgeable reviewers, listed below in

conscien-alphabetical order, whose suggestions have helped

shape this first edition of Business Communication:

Contexts and Controversies:

Denise Blay, Fanshawe CollegeKathy Cocchio, Northern Alberta Institute

of TechnologyLyle Cruickshank, Concordia UniversityLyndsay Dustan, Southern Alberta Institute

of TechnologyDaniel Guo, Conestoga CollegeDana Hansen, Humber CollegeSharon Josephson, Okanagan College

Chris Legebow, St Clair CollegeDiana Lohnes-Mitchell, Nova Scotia Community College

Peter MacDonald, Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology

Marlene MacInnes, Cape Breton UniversityPeter C Miller, Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology

Sonia Perna, Southern Alberta Institute

of TechnologyPatricia A Post, University of New Brunswick Marion Ross, Georgian College

Rhonda Sandberg, George Brown CollegeDavid Thomson , University College of the Fraser Valley

Katherine Woodward, Grant MacEwan University

Les HansonDarryl Hammond

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About the Authors

in locations ranging from the highlands of Papua

New Guinea to fly-in communities in Northern

Manitoba He has a Bachelor of Education degree

from the University of Manitoba and a Master of

Arts degree in community college education from

Central Michigan University For the last 20 years, he

has taught business communication at Red River

College in Winnipeg He recently assumed the

posi-tion of coordinator in the Business Administraposi-tion

and International Business programs His current

academic interest is in the use of laptop computers

in education

His personal interests include cross-country ing, bicycling, and in-line skating, as well as auto

ski-mechanics and home renovation He continues to

live in Winnipeg with his wife and two children

market-ing specialist with over 20 years of business ing and post-secondary teaching experience Havingworked in the public, private, and not-for-profit sec-tors, he has gained a unique perspective of effectivebusiness communications from many angles Afterbuilding a successful career in senior management withthe provincial government, specializing in social mar-keting, Darryl opened Hammond Communications;

manag-a mmanag-arketing manag-and communicmanag-ations firm with cial and national accounts In addition, Darryl beganteaching part time at the University of Manitoba andlater at the University of Winnipeg More recently hehas turned a part-time teaching passion into a full-time focus Darryl now teaches business communica-tions and management at Red River College He alsocontinues teaching at Manitoba’s two universities inthe areas of social marketing, business administra-tion, and economics He is a contributing author in anumber of Pearson publications in the areas of busi-ness administration and communications Darryl’shobbies include water-skiing, snowboarding, reading,and music, which he enjoys with his wife and theirfour children

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provin-James Swingle worked in the financial industry in

New York City for over 15 years, most recently as vice

president in charge of project management for

Reuters Consulting In 2006, he moved to British

Columbia, where he lives with his wife and

14-month-old son Mr Swingle works as a trainer and

consult-ant for industry He has been an adjunct professor

at Pace University in New York City and at the

University of British Columbia—Okanagan He

cur-rently teaches in the MBA and undergraduate business

programs at Thompson Rivers University

James Swingle authored Chapter 4, “Media:

Choosing Your Channel”; Chapter 5, “Intercultural

Communication”; and Chapter 9, “Writing Persuasive

Messages.”

Hospitality and Tourism Management at University

of Guelph, where she teaches communications to

both undergraduate and graduate students With over

20 years’ teaching experience, she has been a frequent

speaker at educational conferences, including The

Teaching Professor Conference in the United States

and The Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher

Education Conference in Canada A profile of herresearch interests and publications can be found at

www.htm.uoguelph.ca/joan-flaherty.shtml.Joan Flaherty authored Chapter 7, “OralPresentations: The Counterintuitive Speaker.”

Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) gram and has a background in technical writing,technical editing, course development, and teach-ing She teaches technical communication and facil-itates MET’s co-operative education program aswell as freelancing and teaching courses for con-tinuing education, distance education, and industry.Kathy has a broad range of experience in producingtechnical documentation for gas turbine engines,telecommunications, hardware, software, militaryequipment, HVAC, electronic and industrial in-strumentation, CSA applications, ISO 9000, andmarketing and sales Kathy is a senior member

pro-of the local chapter pro-of the Society for TechnicalCommunication (STC)

Kathryn Davis authored the Appendix,

“Grammar, Punctuation, and Plain English.”

About the Contributors

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1.1 Discuss the fits of communicating effectively

bene-in the workplace

1.2 Describe the action of three major elements of communication:

inter-(1) ideas,

(2) words, and (3) media

1.3 List some lenges and opportunities that modern business communication provides

chal-1.4 Discuss how the increased need to multi-task and use new technology could affect those involved in business in the twenty- first century

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CHANGING COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

You won’t find identity theft, electronic mail, and spam mentioned in oldertextbooks Although these topics have been in the news often in the past fewyears, they simply did not exist in the 1980s or earlier Communication ischanging, and advances in communication technology have led to the biggestchanges in business communication

Fortunately, not all aspects of business communication have changeddramatically over the past 20 years The following two major elements, forexample, have changed little:

1 Letters Those written today follow the same format as those written 20

or even 50 years ago

2 Business language It is largely the same A changing world has brought

new terms, such as Google and blind copy, and increased sensitivity has removed sexist terms, such as girl Friday to describe office assistants, but

these changes are relatively small

The timeline in Table 1-1 shows some of the most important changes in

office communication technology over the past 150 years Notice how many

of these technological innovations have occurred within your lifetime

Communication is an essential part of all office work.

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The dates in the table are approximate; in most cases the technology did notcome into common usage until well after its invention Laser printers and cell-

phones, for example, were introduced to the market in the late ’70s but did not

come into widespread use until the 1990s.1

This book deals with various aspects of business communication thatyou will encounter in your career: writing letters and emails, delivering

presentations, and preparing reports Each chapter also contains an issue

in communication that relates the communication concepts to the world

at large

1867

1898 Telephone answering machine 1980 Sticky notes

1946 Commercial computer (ENIAC) 1984 Inkjet printer

assistant

Source: Adapted from Bellis, Mary “The History of Communications.” About.Com: Inventors Web 25

May 2009.

A BlackBerry is a wireless computer

a little bigger than a cellphone that

a person can use to connect to the internet, send and receive email and text messages, store documents, and make phone calls.

BlackBerrys, manufactured by Canadian company Research in Motion (RIM), are at the forefront of the technological revolution, although Apple’s iPhone is beginning to receive support from some corporate clients now that security features of the device have been improved.2People in business and in government have been adopting the technology for a variety of purposes.

One recent survey reported that two-thirds of large organizations make some use of handheld

communication devices Usually these devices are supplied only to those people who need them most: upper management, sales repre- sentatives, information technology staff, and teleworkers.3

BlackBerrys have become an extension of the office, allowing people to answer emails and update their schedules from almost anywhere: in airports and hotel rooms, during meetings and conferences, or while at home or driving

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Some people are concerned that this degree of flexibility poses prob-

lems They worry that BlackBerrys

have become leashes that tie people

to their jobs and that the devices can

become so addictive that they

inter-fere with employees’ personal lives.

Because they are so portable and

easy to use, BlackBerrys are blurring

the distinction between work and

per-sonal time.4

Bringing home work in a case requires a deliberate decision to

brief-sit down, take out the documents,

and begin working, but technology,

such as the BlackBerry, makes it

easy to do anywhere The device you

use to check your email quickly in the

evening may draw you back into your

work That is why more and more

people who use BlackBerrys for work

call them “crackberries,” just as some

Facebook users talk about

“crack-book.”

BlackBerrys are examples of personal digital assistants (PDAs) A

survey conducted by AOL in June

2007 revealed that 43 percent of the American users polled left their PDAs close to their beds to listen for incoming messages at night,

37 percent checked their sages while driving, and 12 percent admitted to checking messages in church.5

mes-An article in the British journal Personnel Today cited research showing that 90 percent of 18- to 25- year-olds took their cellphones with them everywhere, while 40 percent

“couldn’t cope” without them The same article described survey results indicating that two-thirds of British bosses would take a BlackBerry on holiday to access work-related emails and to stay in touch with their colleagues According to 12 percent of these bosses, checking emails while

on vacation gave them a “welcome break from the family.” The article noted that the symptoms of communication technology addiction are similar to those experienced by gam- bling addicts and could damage the mental health of workers.6

NEW TECHNOLOGY, NEW RULES?

Immediacy is highly valued in the workplace People want immediate answers Waiting a day for a res- ponse to a question can be unac- ceptable to the BlackBerry addict This kind of technology may be creating a culture of instant gratifica- tion in which people and information are expected to be instantly available.

Personal digital assistants are becoming more common in meetings and conferences Meetings can

be held on two levels: the main level, with people openly discussing agenda items, and the underlying level, with people using BlackBerrys, iPhones, or other PDAs under the table to communicate privately Text messages can be even more intru- sive than cellphone calls—people who would not consider taking a call during a meeting or phoning a co-worker at home may be tempted

to send a text message because it is not as disruptive.7

Communicat ion technolog

y can be addict ive and danger

ous.

BlackBerrys or BlackBerries?

How do you make BlackBerry plural—

by adding -s or by removing the y and adding -ies? The answer depends on whether you are referring to the PDA or the fruit The fruit follows the standard rules of English—hence, the plural is blackberries The electronic device is a proper noun, beginning with a capital letter Names that end with y simply add s when they become plural—hence BlackBerrys.

Why are more and more companies beginning their products’ names with lower-case letters or inserting upper- case letters in the middle: PowerPoint, iTunes, FedEx?

TAKE IT FURTHER

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The arrival of the internet in the workplace in the 1990s led to rules about the use of personal email and access to personal websites Now, the spread of personal digital assistants may force employers to intro- duce or update rules governing what

is an acceptable use of technology in the workplace.

DISCUSSION

1 In many forms of communication, a delay occurs between the time an idea forms and when it is transmitted over a channel;

along the way, it is put into words With a letter that time lag can be a few days.

Even with email, we don’t normally expect

instant responses PDAs have reduced that time lag to minutes How might this affect the communication process? What are the positive implications? What are the negative possibilities?

2 Under what circumstances should BlackBerrys be allowed in meetings?

Should they be banned outright, the way cellphones are now? If they should be allowed, what etiquette, or rules of con- duct, should users follow? What are the possible positive uses during a meeting?

3 If you were given the option of having a BlackBerry—which your employer would provide—would you accept it? Why, or why not?

4 Some jurisdictions ban drivers from using cellphones; discuss whether the bans

should be extended to other devices, such as PDAs Are such laws reasonable? Are they enforceable? Do you use your cellphone while you are driving?

U.S Presidential BlackBerry

In 2009, Barack Obama became the first U.S president to use a BlackBerry while in office His PDA contains special security features and is used only

to communicate with a select group of family and colleagues.8

Aside from issues of security, why are

so many political leaders—compared with business leaders—reluctant to use such communication tools?

TAKE IT FURTHER

WHY STUDY COMMUNICATION?

Look through the Careers section of any newspaper and you will see many

ads similar to that shown in Figure 1-1.

Most professional jobs require strong communication skills, but munication can take many forms Some jobs require us to address large

com-groups of people Others require that we write reports or emails Sometimes

communication involves selling products or dealing one on one with clients

In other situations it requires the ability to type quickly, or to speak a

sec-ond or third language Communicating with other people is an essential skill

in all professions, and in business, miscommunication can cost millions of

dollars

At one time professionals could depend on secretaries to check theirgrammar or revise their first drafts The business world now seldom hires

employees to take dictation and type letters Technology, such as word

proces-sors and photocopiers, has made the personal secretary largely a relic of the

’50s and ’60s Secretaries have now become administrative assistants whose

duties usually entail far more than polishing someone else’s writing

Most office workers have access to computers and are expected to writetheir own letters, reports, and emails Most word-processing programs do

come equipped with spelling and grammar checkers, but even such tools as

these are useful only if the operator is able to understand the advice being

offered and put it in place

Communication drives the world of business: Suggestions are made,ideas are pitched, products are sold, and deals are negotiated Effective com-

munication, in dozens of forms, makes these things happen

Explore

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The Importance of Communication Skills FIGURE 1-1

the company described

the position described

Success equals

OF MANITOBA

THE ORGANIZATION

The Women’s Enterprise Centre of Manitoba assists entrepreneurial women as they start, operate,expand and transition their businesses The Centre provides a range of value-added businessservices including seminars, business counsel and loans up to $100 000

THE OPPORTUNITY

We are looking for a business generalist who has experience assessing business plans,counselling for business development and delivering seminars on business topics relevant toentrepreneurship

THE PERSON

We are seeking an individual experienced in business start-up and expansion who will workcollaboratively with our team delivering client-centred business services and heightening thecommunity’s awareness about the Centre and its services for women entrepreneurs

The successful candidate will have excellent analytical financial and problem-solving skills,exceptional verbal and written abilities, and strong presentation skills Relevant post-secondaryeducation and/or related business experience is necessary Business ownership, experience withcommercial lending, and a second language will be considered assets

Please submit your resume in confidence to

Women’s Enterprise Centre of Manitoba

by Monday, April 14, 2008

Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

The people who deal with your writing—clients, co-workers, supervisors—will not necessarily tell you that they are judging you They may not evenrealize it themselves, but they will form an impression of you based on theway you communicate That impression is one feature that can easily separatethose who rise through the ranks of an organization from those who spendtheir careers in dead-end jobs

Practise

Source: Reprinted with permission from the Women’s Enterprise Centre of Manitoba

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Hard Skills and Soft Skills

Most people enrol in higher education to strengthen their hard skills—the skills

that are directly related to the job Hard skills, such as accounting, computer use,

and working with statistics, are important, but proficiency in these areas will

provide you with the bare minimum needed to land a job If you want to keep

that job and, more importantly, be promoted to higher positions, you will need

to develop your soft skills Soft skills are not as easy to define but usually include

interpersonal skills, perseverance, and communication ability Soft skills help

people function effectively in complex business environments In a recent

sur-vey of 1400 financial executives, 75 percent of those polled said that verbal,

written, and interpersonal skills are more valuable now than they were five

years ago.9

Hard skills may get you a job, but soft skills will help you keep that job

Some soft skills are difficult to acquire in a school environment A secondary school is unlikely to be able to teach students to be honest, hard-

post-working, or ambitious, for example Such characteristics as these are often

acquired more through upbringing than through education Business

com-munication, though, is a skill (or collection of skills) that students can learn

and develop Some aspects of communication involve learning principles of

grammar and language use, and then applying them to writing Other aspects

involve developing sensitivity toward the needs of the reader Good

commu-nication will also require you to learn some basic writing formulas and then

apply them—similar to the equations that enable you to balance algebraic

expressions

The Conference Board of Canada, a non-profit applied research zation, assembled a list of the key skills necessary to progress in the working

organi-world, and you can study them in Table 1-2.10

How Business Communication Differs

from High School English

After studying English in high school, students entering college or university

are often disappointed to find that they will be forced to take yet another

sim-ilar course Many high school English courses emphasize sentence structure,

grammar, and organization, and they do it well Business communication

courses often deal with the same topics, though usually in more detail

English courses involve a good deal of reading, along with library research; so

does business communication

The main difference is one of focus English courses tend to have a ary focus—students study plays, poetry, and great novels One purpose of

liter-such courses as these is to expose students to some of the world’s great writers

and to ideas and settings they might not have encountered yet

The goal of business communication courses is far narrower, andthey focus more on simplicity and clarity than on art Business commu-

nication is practical The objective is to get the job done simply, clearly,

and effectively

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Source: From Employability Skills 2000+ Brochure 2000 E/F Conference Board of Canada May 2000 Web 29 Oct 2007.

The skills you need to enter, stay in, and progress in the world of work—whether you work on your own or as a part of a team.

These skills can also be applied and used beyond the workplace in a range of daily activities.

The skills needed as a base for further development The personal skills, attitudes and behaviours that

drive one’s potential for growth

The skills and attributes needed to contribute productively

You will be better prepared to progress in the world of

work when you can:

You will be able to offer yourself greater possibilities for achievement when you can:

You will be better prepared to add value to the outcomes

of a task, project or team when you can:

Communicate

– read and understand information presented in a

variety of forms (e.g., words, graphs, charts,

diagrams)

– write and speak so others pay attention and

understand

– listen and ask questions to understand and

appreciate the points of view of others

– share information using a range of information

and communications technologies (e.g., voice,

e-mail, computers)

– use relevant scientific, technological and

mathematical knowledge and skills to explain

or clarify ideas

Demonstrate Positive Attitudes & Behaviours

– feel good about yourself and be confident – deal with people, problems and situations with honesty, integrity and personal ethics – recognize your own and other people’s good efforts

– take care of your personal health – show interest, initiative and effort

Work with Others

– understand and work within the dynamics of a group – ensure that a team’s purpose and objectives are clear – be flexible: respect, be open to and supportive of the thoughts, opinions and contributions of others in a group – recognize and respect people’s diversity, individual differences and perspectives

– accept and provide feedback in a constructive and considerate manner

– contribute to a team by sharing information and expertise – lead or support when appropriate, motivating a group for high performance

– understand the role of conflict in a group to reach solutions – manage and resolve conflict when appropriate

Manage Information

– locate, gather and organize information using

appropriate technology and information systems

– access, analyze and apply knowledge and skills

from various disciplines (e.g., the arts, languages,

science, technology, mathematics, social sciences,

and the humanities)

– be socially responsible and contribute to your community

Participate in Projects & Tasks

– plan, design or carry out a project or task from start to finish with well-defined objectives and outcomes – develop a plan, seek feedback, test, revise and implement – work to agreed quality standards and specifications – select and use appropriate tools and technology for a task or project

– adapt to changing requirements and information – continuously monitor the success of a project or task and identify ways to improve

Use Numbers

– decide what needs to be measured or calculated

– observe and record data using appropriate

methods, tools and technology

– make estimates and verify calculations

Be Adaptable

– work independently or as a part of a team – carry out multiple tasks or projects – be innovative and resourceful: identify and suggest alternative ways to achieve goals and get the job done

– be open and respond constructively to change – learn from your mistakes and accept feedback – cope with uncertainty

Think & Solve Problems

– assess situations and identify problems

– seek different points of view and evaluate them

based on facts

– recognize the human, interpersonal, technical,

scientific and mathematical dimensions of a problem

– identify the root cause of a problem

– be creative and innovative in exploring possible

solutions

– readily use science, technology and mathematics

as ways to think, gain and share knowledge, solve

problems and make decisions

– evaluate solutions to make recommendations or

decisions

– implement solutions

– check to see if a solution works, and act on

opportunities for improvement

Learn Continuously

– be willing to continuously learn and grow – assess personal strengths and areas for development

– set your own learning goals – identify and access learning sources and opportunities

– plan for and achieve your learning goals

Work Safely

– be aware of personal and group health and safety practices and procedures, and act in accordance with these 255 Smyth Road, Ottawa

ON K1H 8M7 Canada Tel (613) 526-3280 Fax (613) 526-4857 Internet: www.conferenceboard.ca/nbec

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If you have begun reading this book with the idea that businesscommunication involves throwing around phrases like “as per your

request” and “the aforementioned wishes to advise you that,” it is time to

abandon that notion Good business communication does not use

pompous, empty phrases The fact that you may have seen such phrases

simply justifies the need for courses that teach business students to write

effectively

Good business writing is easy to understand, well organized, and brief

Reading at work is usually a chore—few of us would willingly choose annual

reports as vacation reading—so people will be appreciative if you express

your ideas concisely When people judge you on your writing, they will

admire you more for communicating all the necessary information with no

extra frills or bureaucratic language than they will for trying to overpower

them with wordy documents and meaningless nonsense

Our aim in this book is to show you techniques for writing that will allowyou to communicate as efficiently as possible That way, you will be able to

concentrate on getting the job done and not have to worry about how your

communication skills are being judged

ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION

Your first task as a communicator is to make the decision to communicate

Sometimes this decision is so obvious as to go unnoticed For example, when

the phone rings, the first impulse most people have is to answer it Others

make a conscious decision not to answer the phone—they let it ring in the

hope that the person at the other end will go away; they screen their calls by

looking at the phone numbers; or they let the call go to voicemail Even those

actions are aspects of communication

In some situations, the decision of whether or not to communicatecomes only after much consideration When a prospective employer takes

you to lunch, for example, you may think carefully before you tell her that

you are scheduled to meet with a representative from a rival company the

fol-lowing week

When you do choose to actively communicate something to someone,you need to make decisions about three separate but related areas: what to

say, how to say it, and how to send it, or, more simply, (1) ideas, (2) words,

and (3) media (See Figure 1-2.)

We are numbering these three areas to help you remember them In reallife, they do not necessarily occur in a fixed order When you pick up a ring-

ing telephone, the decision about media has already been made However, the

decisions you then make about ideas and words are almost simultaneous—

until you reach an awkward moment and struggle to find the correct word to

express a complicated or emotionally delicate idea Such moments are usually

accompanied by an awkward pause in the conversation At other times people

babble non-stop and then sometimes say things that they had not intended

to say—moments that are usually followed by periods of forehead thumping

and self-recrimination

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Writing in any media (email, letter, or report) usually begins with ideasthat are jotted down at random and then organized into an outline Thisskeleton is fleshed out with the exact words needed to express the ideas, buteven then the sequence is not carved in stone People frequently return totheir outlines and revise them midway through the writing process Or theymay change their choice of medium—such as when they phone someone,receive no answer, and decide to write an email instead The order is notfixed People often switch back and forth between decisions about words,ideas, and media.

Usually media choice is made early in the communication process.Decisions about words and ideas, however, frequently cause problems for peo-ple One challenge of good communication is managing these three elements

1 Ideas

Communication, by its very definition, requires the exchange of ideas.Making the decision on which ideas to use and when to use them may involvedifficult choices

Many people start with a brainstorming approach, jotting down as manyideas as they can think of and then pruning the list When putting together aresumé, for example, people usually begin by making lists of everything theyhave done in their work and education They then decide whether to men-tion short-term jobs or courses that they started but did not complete.When planning how to sell a product, marketers look at their customers’characteristics and decide the best way to create a need for the product Theymay do this by listing the features of the product and then deciding which tomention and which to leave out

Alternatively, they may take an entirely different approach and try toassociate their product with something else: sex, fun, youthfulness, or pres-tige, for example Think about beer commercials Some will talk about thepremium hops and the high-quality barley that they use Others try to asso-ciate their product with good times: skiing, parties, or exotic vacations The

Elements of Communication FIGURE 1-2

Ideas:

What do you want to say?

Words:

How do you want to say it?

Media:

How do you want to send it?

Elements of Communication

Explore

Trang 38

main selling point of one popular brand of beer focuses on the fact that it is

cold—an idea that should not come as a revelation in a country where most

people have access to refrigerators

Ideas are not always presented in a logical manner, and sometimes theydon’t have to be

Many messages contain emotional elements, such as humour, happiness,sadness, or anger Exactly how much emotion to include is one of the decisions

you need to make when you send a message Once again, it’s an important

deci-sion Pity the job applicant who includes a letter describing the madcap and

zany practical jokes she played on co-workers at her last position

You live in an age of information Computers and the internet put awealth of information at your fingertips A major part of the communication

process is filtering that information and deciding what needs to be delivered

When you decide to communicate—whether by answering the phone or by

picking up a pen—questions arise about what ideas to send

suf-fering financial difficulties, and the district manager has told you to reduce

your operating expenses You examine the various ways you could do this:

■ by increasing efficiency

■ by reducing services

■ by finding other cost-saving measures

You study all the available options, crunch some numbers on a spreadsheet,and perhaps consult with other people Eventually, you arrive at a solution

Assume that your decision is to reduce the number of staff Once again,you have to make decisions, this time about which employees to lay off You

have to examine various factors, including

■ employees’ seniority

■ their value to the organization

■ the cost of their salaries

Making decisions of this nature is difficult Eventually, however, youdecide which staff members to let go

Once that idea is formed, you have further issues to work out:

■ severance pay

■ layoff dates

■ redistribution of the laid-off workers’ duties

The next task is to inform the unfortunate workers You still have decide

on the wording of the message and the medium you will use to inform them

2 Words

Choosing the words for a business communication is a fairly straightforward

task if the only goal is to convey the information A far greater challenge is

choosing words that convey the intent of a difficult message—such as a

lay-off notice—honestly while still showing compassion

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Emotional topics present numerous choices of less offensive words that

may be used to deal with the situation Such words are called euphemisms.

Delicate subjects frequently spawn words with subtle differences in meaning

to allow people to convey the exact meaning that they require under thecircumstances People have dozens of ways of expressing the concept of death,for example:

■ Passed away might be a suitable term to use at a person’s funeral.

■ Slaughtered might be an appropriate term to refer to animals in a

meat-packing plant

■ Expired could be used to refer to a patient in a hospital setting.

A mistake in word choice could be devastating Hearing your doctor refer

to a dead patient as a casualty would not likely inspire confidence.

Words, no matter how carefully they are crafted, can never alleviate thedevastating impact of serious life events, but they can help you convey yoursympathies

information in such a way that neither the employer nor the laid-off workerlooks unnecessarily bad Word choice is critical

The concept of a layoff can be expressed in numerous ways Most

peo-ple would consider such words as fired, terminated, or getting the axe to be

unduly harsh for the announcement of a layoff Although the recipients oflayoff notices might use such terms in an informal sense to describe whathappened to them, they would not appreciate seeing such words in officialdocuments

Terms commonly used to describe layoffs include the following:

■ restructuring

■ downsizing

■ workforce reduction

■ staff adjustmentsMany (but not all) people would consider these to be acceptable termsthat are intended to preserve the dignity of everyone involved

Other terms, such as rightsizing, corporate realignment, or human resource

rebalancing, are often viewed as attempts to give too positive a look to what

is a negative event, and most of the people affected would likely greet suchterms with scorn

It is never possible to choose words that satisfy everyone Even though

many people would accept such a word as downsizing as an effective mise between the harshness of fired and the vagueness of human resource

compro-reengineering, some people would consider it a deliberate attempt to avoid

taking responsibility for an unpleasant decision A certain number of people

will always prefer the bluntness of such terms as fired or laid off.

When choosing words for this situation, the most important cation factors are giving people as much notice as possible that layoffs arepending and delivering the news in as sensitive a way as possible

communi-Media

The word media is the plural form of

the word medium A newspaper is one

medium for receiving news Radio,

television, and the internet are other

common news media sources.

If we start the list with Twitter, what

media can you imagine using in modern

business communication (1) within the

workplace and (2) from the workplace

to the outside world?

TAKE IT FURTHER

Trang 40

3 Media

Many communication tasks involve making choices about how the message

is to be delivered If you need to inform your staff of a layoff, you have

vari-ous options:

■ call everyone together and give them the bad news in a meeting

■ send a letter to the people involved

■ send an email to all staff

■ call each affected employee to your office and tell them one by one

■ visit their offices individually and inform them

■ tell them over the telephone

The choice of media depends on dozens of pieces of information aboutthe situation that have not been provided here You do not know how many

staff are employed by this fictional organization or how many are to be laid

off You do not know anything about the work environment—whether the

workplace is an office with private areas that would allow people to talk, or

whether it is a noisy factory assembly line You know nothing about the

work-ers themselves: their relationship with the company, their levels of expertise,

or their years of experience

These and dozens of other factors influence the choice of media in suchsituations as these The methods used to inform summer students of a layoff

at a beach-front resort in late August would be quite different from those

used to announce a mine closure in a one-industry town Making a poor

decision could result in hurt feelings, angry people, and a poor public image

of the organization that you represent

came into your office on a Monday morning to find that your network

pass-word no longer worked and that an envelope containing a layoff notice and

instructions to have your desk cleaned out by noon had been taped to your

computer terminal

Although it may be tempting for managers to use such indirect nication methods to avoid unpleasant confrontations, the backlash that often

commu-results from such callous treatment of employees can produce worse commu-results

When Radio Shack laid off 400 workers by using an email notice in 2006,people all over North America criticized the approach The company received

far more negative publicity than it would have received had the people

responsible for the decision used a more conventional approach.11

commu-nications theorist, coined the phrase “the medium is the message” to describe

the social impact that our media choices have on the communication

process.12 Even before people begin to put their messages into words, the

channel they chose to send that message has already communicated a great

deal Consider the impact of a politician who makes an appearance on a

con-troversial television talk show What the politician says on that show may be

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