2. Succeeding in Business Communication
Chapter 1
Succeeding in Business Communication
Forms
Purposes
Audiences
Costs
Criteria
Goodwill
Conventions
Analysis
Problem Solving
Chapter 1. Succeeding in Business Communication

3. Chapter Learning Objectives
LO 1-1 What the benefits of good communication are
LO 1-2 Why students need to be able to communicate well
LO 1-3 What the costs of communication are
LO 1-4 What the costs of poor communication are
LO 1-5 What the basic criteria for effective messages are
LO 1-6 What role conventions play in business communication
LO 1-7 How to solve business communication problems

4. Forms of Communication
Verbal
Face-to-face
Phone conversations
Informal meetings
Presentations
Tweets
messages
Web sites
Nonverbal
Pictures
Computer graphics
Company logos
Smiles
Size of an office
Location of people at meetings
Business depends on communication. In every organization, communication is the way people get their points across and get work done. Communication takes many forms: face-to-face or phone conversations, informal meetings, presentations, messages, letters, memos, reports, blogs, text messaging, and Web sites. All of these methods are forms of verbal communication, or communication that uses words. Nonverbal communication does not use words. Pictures, computer graphics, and company logos are nonverbal. Interpersonal nonverbal signals include smiles, who sits where at a meeting, the size of an office, and how long someone keeps a visitor waiting.

5. Communication Ability = Promotability
Good communicators
earn more
As more people compete for fewer jobs, the ones who will build successful careers are those who can communicate well with customers and colleagues. Because communication skills are so important, good communicators often earn more and are more likely to be promote to managerial positions.
Good communicators
make good managers

6. Communication Purposes
All business communication has three basic purposes
To inform (explain)
To request or persuade (urge action)
To build goodwill (make good image)
Most messages have more than one purpose
Business communication has three basic purposes: to inform, to request or persuade, and to build goodwill. When you inform, you explain something or tell an audience something. When you request or persuade, you want the audience to act. The word request suggests that the action will be easy or routine; persuade suggests that you will have to motivate and convince the audience to act. When you build goodwill, you create a good image of yourself and of your organization—the kind of image that makes people want to do business with you. Most messages have multiple purposes. For example, when you write an to co-workers asking a question, you inform them about your situation, persuade them to help you, and try to build a good image of yourself as someone who wants to resolve an issue.

7. Audiences Internal External People inside organization
Ex: subordinates, superiors, peers
External
People outside organization
Ex: customers, suppliers, distributors
Communication—oral, nonverbal, and written—goes to both internal and external audiences. Internal audiences are other people in the same organization such as subordinates, superiors, and peers. External audiences are people outside the organization such as customers, suppliers, unions, stockholders, potential employees, trade associations, special interest groups, governmental agencies, the press, and the general public.

8. Costs of Poor Communication
Wastes time
Wastes efforts
Loses goodwill
Creates legal problems
Ways to Lose Goodwill
Use improper courtesy titles
Employ bureaucratic language
Convey a selfish tone
Bury the main point
Make a vague request
Misuse or misspell words
Poor communication can cost billions of dollars. But costs of poor communication are not just financial. When communication isn’t as good as it could be, you and your organization pay a price in wasted time, wasted effort, lost goodwill, and legal problems.

9. Criteria for Effective Messages
Clear
Complete
Correct
Saves audience’s time
Builds goodwill
Use these five criteria for effective business and administrative communication. Clear—The meaning the audience gets is the meaning the communicator intended. Complete—All of the audience’s questions are answered. Correct—All of the information in the message is accurate. Saves the receiver’s time—The style, organization, and visual or aural impact of the message help the receivers read, understand, and act on the information as quickly as possible. Builds goodwill—The message presents a positive image of the communicator and his or her organization. Whether a message meets these five criteria depends on the interactions among the communicator, the audience, the purposes of the message, and the situation.

10. Goodwill = Positive Image
A goodwill message
Presents positive image of communicators and their organization
Treats audience as a person, not a number
Cements good relationship between audience and communicator
Goodwill in messages presents a positive image of the communicator and his or her organization. It treats the receiver as a person, not a number. It cements a good relationship between the communicator and the receiver.
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11. Conventions Widely accepted practices you routinely encounter
Vary by organizational setting
Change over time
Help people recognize, produce, and interpret communications
Need to fit rhetorical situation: audience, context, and purpose
Business and administrative communication rely on conventions. Conventions are widely accepted practices you routinely encounter. For example, a traditional classroom convention is for instructors to distribute a course syllabus near the beginning of the semester. The document would not make sense if distributed during finals week because the appropriate context would have passed. Moreover, the purpose would not function correctly if the document did not include conventional elements such as due dates or required readings. Organizational settings also have unique conventions. These help people recognize, produce, and interpret different kinds of communications. The key to using conventions effectively is to remember that they always need to fit the audience, context, and purpose.

12. Analyze Situations: Ask Questions
What’s at stake—to whom?
Should you send a message?
What channel should you use?
What should you say?
How should you say it?
The best communicators are conscious of the context in which they communicate. To analyze your communication situation, ask the following questions:
What’s at stake—to whom? Think about the concerns your boss and your audience will have. Should you send a message? Sometimes silence is the most tactful response. What channel should you use? Paper documents and presentations are formal. , phone calls, and stopping by someone’s office are less formal. What should you say? How detailed should you be? The answers will depend on the kind of message, your purposes, audiences, and the corporate culture. How should you say it? How you arrange your ideas and the words you use shape the audience’s response to what you say.

13. Solving Business Communication Problems
Gather knowledge
Answer five analysis questions in BAC
Brainstorm solutions
Organize information to fit
Audiences
Purposes
Contexts
Make document visually inviting
When you’re faced with a business communication problem, you need to develop a solution that will both solve the organization’s problem and meet the psychological needs of the people involved. Some strategies to help you solve business communication problems include gathering knowledge, brainstorming solutions, organizing information to fit the audiences, contexts, and purpose, and making the document visually inviting.

14. Solving Business Communication Problems, continued…
Revise draft for tone
Friendly
Businesslike
Positive
Edit draft for standard English
 Names  Numbers
Use response to plan future messages
Additional strategies to help you solve business communication problems include revising drafts for tone, editing for standard English, and using response to plan future messages.

15. Gather Knowledge What are the facts?
What can you infer from the information given?
What additional info might be helpful?
Where could you get it?
What emotional complexities are involved?
Problem solving usually starts by gathering knowledge. Use these question’s answers as a way to brainstorm solution.

16. Five Analysis Questions
Who are your audiences?
What are relevant characteristics?
How do audiences differ?
What are your purposes?
What must the message do?
What must audience know, think, or do?
You can gain an understanding of your communication problem by answering these five analysis questions.

17. Five Analysis Questions, continued…
What information must you include?
List all required points
De-emphasize or emphasize properly
To de-emphasize
Bury in ¶ and message
Write / speak concisely
To emphasize
Place first or last in ¶ and message
Add descriptive details
You can gain an understanding of your communication problem by answering these five analysis questions.

18. Five Analysis Questions, continued…
How can you support your position?
Reasons for your decision
Logic behind your argument
Benefits adapted to the audience
You can gain an understanding of your communication problem by answering these five analysis questions.

19. Five Analysis Questions, continued…
What aspects of the total situation may be relevant?
Economy
Time of year
Morale in organization
Relationship between audience and communicator
You can gain an understanding of your communication problem by answering these five analysis questions.

20. Brainstorm Solutions
Several possible solutions for every communication problem
First one you think of may not be the best
Measure solutions against audiences and purposes
As you brainstorm solutions for solving business communication problems, keep in mind that the first solution may not be the best. Always measure your solutions against the audiences and purposes.

21. Organize to Fit Audiences, Purposes, and Contexts
Put good news first
Put the main point/question first
Persuade a reluctant audience by delaying the main point/question
This tips offer ways to organize business communication messages.

22. Make Document Visually Inviting
Use subject line to orient reader
Use headings to group related ideas
Use lists for emphasis
Number items if order matters
Use short paragraphs—six lines max
A well-designed document is easier to read and builds goodwill. To make a document visually attractive, consider these guidelines.

23. Create Positive Style Emphasize positive information
Give it more space
Use indented list to set it off
Omit negative words, if you can
Focus on possibilities, not limitations
Good business communication is both friendly and businesslike. Use these tips to create positive style in your messages.

24. Edit Your Draft Double-check these details
Reader’s name
Any numbers
First and last ¶
Check spelling, grammar, punctuation
Always proofread before sending
Business people care about correctness in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Edit your draft carefully.

25. Use Response to Plan Next Message
Evaluate feedback you get
If message fails, find out why
If message succeeds, find out why
Success = results you want, when you want them
Evaluate the feedback you get to your messages and use it when constructing future messages.