1. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

2. Sharing Informative and Positive Messages with Appropriate Technology
Chapter 9
Sharing Informative and Positive Messages with Appropriate Technology
Overview
Purposes
Communication Hardware
Information Overload
Common Media
Organizing
Subject Lines
Managing Information
Audience Benefits
Ending
Story and Humor
Varieties
Chapter 9. Sharing Informative and Positive Messages with Appropriate Technology

3. Chapter 9 Learning Objectives
LO 9-1 What the purpose of informative and positive messages are
LO 9-2 What kinds of newer communication hardware are entering offices
LO 9-3 When and how to use common business media effectively
LO 9-4 How organize informative and positive messages
LO 9-5 How to compose some of the common varieties of informative and positive messages

4. Informative and Positive Messages
Informative message - receiver’s reaction neutral
Positive message - receiver’s reaction positive
Neither message immediately asks receiver to do anything
Business messages need to be sensitive to both the sender (and the sender’s organization) and the audience. This presentation covers informative messages, which convey information to which the audience’s reaction will be neutral, and positive messages, which convey information to which the audience will have a positive reaction. Neither of these kinds of messages ask the audience to do anything immediately. These are the most common types of business messages for most organizations.
Good news!

5. Primary Purposes To give information or good news to audience
To have receiver view information positively
One primary purpose of informative or positive messages is to give information or good news to the receiver, or to reassure the receiver. The other primary purpose is to have the receiver view the information positively.

6. Secondary Purposes To build good image of sender
To build good image of sender’s organization
To build good relationship between sender and receiver
To deemphasize any negative elements
To eliminate future messages on same subject
In addition to the primary purposes, informative and positive messages also have secondary purposes. They build a good image of the sender and the sender’s organization. They work to build a good relationship between the sender and the receiver. These messages deemphasize any negative elements that exist in the message or in the relationship between the sender and the receiver. If communicated well, informative and positive messages can also eliminate future messages on the same topic.

7. Communication Hardware
These tools help improve productivity in the workplace
Smartphones
Portable media players
Tablets
Videoconferences
Technology provides tools that help us communicate and increase productivity in the workplace. As businesses adopt new technology, workers must learn to use them wisely to communicate. Some of the most popular technologies today are smartphones, portable media players, tablets, and videoconferences.
Smartphones allow users to perform almost all of the functions of a computer, including sending and receiving , accessing websites, word processing, calendering, and collaborating. Many even allow workers to perform credit card transactions.
Portable media players have the ability to stream audio and video. Some organizations use them for training or to conduct meetings.
Tablets offer the the abilities of smartphones, but can’t place calls. They do have a larger size, which makes them easier to produce documents and presentations.
Videoconferences are an increasingly common way for workers to meet and collaborate. They reduce cost and travel time for a relatively low price.

8. WARNING: Protect your communication reputation!
Information Overload
Employees are bombarded with junk mail, sales calls, spam, and other ads
Even routine communications are becoming overwhelming
With all of the messages coming from companies and being transmitted within organizations, it is easy for people to feel overloaded with information. Even routine communications take up large portions of every day. The average corporate worker sends and receives 110 s per day. Because of this overload, some people get overwhelmed and confused. Be wise in the messages you send, and be careful to not spam or clutter other people’s inboxes.
WARNING: Protect your communication reputation!

9. Common Media: Face-to-Face Contact
Use face-to-face contact to
Visit a colleague
Build a business relationship
Save multiple calls or s
Engage in dialogue or negotiation
Acquire something immediately
Avoid leaving a paper trail
Increase visual and aural cues
Pay attention to how you choose to communicate. Here are some tips for choosing common media. Choose face-to-face contact to visit a colleague, build a relationship, save multiple calls or s, engage in dialogue or negotiation, acquire something immediately, avoid leaving a paper trail, or to increase visual and aural clues. Make sure you are not intruding on your receiver, and pay attention to verbal and nonverbal cues while you talk.

10. Common Media: Phone Calls
Use phone calls to
Convey appropriate tone
Save multiple phone calls or s
Acquire something immediately
Avoid leaving a paper trail
Phone calls provide fewer cues than face-to-face meetings, but they are more personal than electronic or paper messages. Use phone calls when you want to convey appropriate tone, save multiple calls or s, acquire something immediately, or avoid leaving a paper trail. Remember to be respectful in your phone calls. Use the appropriate tone and keep the call short and focused as possible.

11. Common Media: Instant Messages and Text Messages
Use IMs and TMs to
Be less intrusive (than visit or phone call)
Ask questions on tasks that fellow colleagues are working on
Leave a communication trail
Instant messages and text messages are becoming increasingly common in the business world. They are less intrusive than a phone call or a visit. You can ask questions about current tasks. Remember that IMs and TMs do leave a communication trail. They can be saved, forwarded, printed, and accessed for a long time.

12. Common Media: Wikis Use Wikis to Bookmark and summarize web pages
Upload drafts of working documents
Create new entries about workplace practices
Some companies are using wikis to communicate. Wikis allow you to bookmark and summarize web pages, upload drafts of working documents, and create and edit new entries about workplace practices. Wikis are excellent places to share and collaborate within an organization.

13. Common Media: Social Media
Use social media to
Connect with many users quickly
Connect inexpensively
Post profiles, updates, blogs, useful links
Four common types
Facebook
Twitter
Blogs
LinkedIn
Although social media has typically been personal, many companies are now adapting social media technologies for the workplace. They provide ways to connect to many users quickly, inexpensively, and in real time. Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, and LinkedIn all provide unique tools to access and share data.

14. Common Media: Letters/Memos
Use letters to
Send messages to people outside your organization
Use memos to
Send messages to people within your organization
External
s, letters, and memos are the most common kinds of business communication. They are more formal than most of the other common media, and they all leave a paper trail. They have overlapping functions, but there are some differences. Letters go to people outside your organization. Memos are messages to people inside your organization.
Internal

15. Common Media: E-mail Use e-mail to
Accomplish routine business activities
Save time
Save money
Allow readers to deal with messages at their convenience
Communicate accurately
Provide details for reference
Create a paper trail
is a versatile tool that can be used inside or outside your organization. You can use it to accomplish routine business activities, save time and money, allow readers to deal with messages at their convenience, communicate accurately, provide details for reference, and create a paper trail.

16. Organizing Informative and Positive Messages
Start with good news or the most important information
Clarify with details, background
Present any negative points positively
Explain any benefits
Use a goodwill ending
Positive
Personal
Forward-looking
When you are organizing informative and positive messages, start with the good news or the most important information. Then clarify with details or background, present any negative points positively, and explain the benefits. Always use a goodwill ending that is positive, personal, and forward-looking.

17. Subject: New Smoking Policy
Subject Lines
Serves three purposes
Aids in filing, retrieving
Tells readers why they should read
Sets up framework for message
Subject lines are extremely important in messages. They serve three purposes:
They aid in filing and retrieving messages.
They tell the readers why they should read.
They set up a framework for the message.
Subject: New Smoking Policy

18. Subject Lines, continued…
Specific
Differentiate message from others on same topic
Concise
Usually less than 35 characters
Appropriate for the kind of message
Must meet situation and purpose
Successful subject lines meet three criteria:
They are specific. They differentiate the message from others on the same topic.
They are concise. They are usually less than 35 characters.
They are appropriate for the kind of message (positive, negative, persuasive).

19. Subject Lines, continued…
Specific, concise, and catchy
Include important information/good news
Name drop to make connection
Make sound easy to deal with
Create new subject line for reply when
Original becomes irrelevant
Re: Re: Re: Re: appears
Make sure that your subject lines are specific, concise, and catchy (“Need pizza for the meeting”). They should include important information/good news to make sure your receivers read the message (Instead of writing “Important News,” write “Congratulations on the Promotion”). You should name drop in the subject line to make a connection and make the sound easy to deal with. When you get into a long string of messages, create a new subject line when the original subject line becomes irrelevant or when Re: Re: Re: Re: appears.

20. Managing Information in Messages
Give audience information they need
Consider your purpose
Develop a system that lets people know what is new if you send out regular messages
Use headings, bullets, numbered lists, or checklists in long s
In your message, make sure you are managing the information well. You want to give your audience the information they need. Make sure to consider your purpose and evaluate your message to see if you are accomplishing that purpose. If you send out regular messages, develop a system to help people see what is new. In long s, use headings, bullets, and numbered lists to help your readers navigate the message. If you want your reader to do several things, include a well-formatted checklist.

21. Managing Information in Messages, continued…
Put the most vital information in s, even if you send an attachment
Check message for accuracy and completeness
Remember s are public documents
When you attach a document to an , put a summary of the most important information in the body of the itself. No matter what message you send, make sure you check it for accuracy and completeness. And most of all, remember that s are public documents that don’t disappear when you delete them from your computer.

22. Audience Benefits Use audience benefits when Presenting policies
Shaping audience’s attitudes
Stressing benefits presents the audience’s motives positively
Introducing benefits that may not be obvious
One strategy for conveying informative and positive messages is to include benefits for your audience. Use this strategy when you are presenting new policies or shaping your audience’s attitudes. Use benefits especially when they make the audience’s motives look positive or when the benefits you present may not be obvious.

23. Audience Benefits, continued…
Omit benefits when
Presenting factual information ONLY
Audience’s attitude toward information does not matter
Stressing benefits makes audience seem selfish
Restating them may insult audience’s intelligence
You don’t always need to include benefits, however. You don’t need benefits when you are presenting factual information only, or when your audience’s attitude toward the information doesn’t matter. You also don’t need benefits if they will make the audience look selfish or if they are so obvious that stating them will insult the audience’s intelligence.

24. Ending Not all messages end same way
Goodwill ending – focuses on bond between reader, writer
Treats reader as individual
Contains you-attitude, positive emphasis
Omits standard invitation
Ex: If you have questions, please do not hesitate to call.
Make sure you include an appropriate ending for your message. The best endings establish goodwill and focus on the bond between the reader and the writer. Treat the reader as an individual and use you-attitude and positive emphasis. Try to avoid using trite phrases like “If you have questions, please do not hesitate to call.”

25. Story and Humor Use stories in messages to Use humor in messages when
Gain attention
Place information in context
Connect with emotions
Use humor in messages when
You know your audience well
It is appropriate for the situation
Stories and humor in informative and positive messages can help gain your reader’s attention. Stories are powerful tools that place information in context and help connect actions and emotions. If you choose to use humor, make sure you know your audience well and that your humor is appropriate for the situation.

26. Varieties: Transmittals
Tell reader what you're sending
Summarize main points
Give details to help reader grasp message
Tell reader what will happen next
There are several varieties of informative and positive messages. For transmittals, you tell the reader what you are sending, summarize the main points, give enough details to help the reader understand the message, and tell the reader what will happen next.

27. Varieties: Summaries Conversation summary (internal use) Identify…
People who were present
Topic of discussion
Decisions made
Who does what next
For summaries, you should attempt to capture the essence of the information. If you are asked to summarize a conversation, identify the people who were there, the topic of the discussion, the decisions made, and the follow-up actions.

28. Varieties: Summaries, continued…
Document summary
Start with main point
Give supporting evidence or details
Evaluate document if audience wants such advice
For a document summary, start with the main point of the document. Provide supporting evidence and main details, and then evaluate the document if the audience needs or requests your analysis.

29. Summaries, continued… Client / customer visit summary
Put main point (in your company’s view) in first ¶
Use umbrella paragraph; name points
Give details to support your conclusions; use lists, headings to make structure clear
For a client or customer summary, put your main point in first. Use an umbrella paragraph to name your main points, then give details to support your conclusions. Use lists and headings to make the structure clear.

30. Varieties: Thank-You Notes
Make people willing to help you later
May be short; must be prompt
Must be specific to seem sincere
Thank-you notes can be short, but they are important in helping people want to provide assistance again later. You should be short and direct in your messages, but always prompt. Be specific and sincere in the message to show that you truly are grateful.

31. Varieties: Positive Responses to Complaints
Mention rectification in first sentence
Don’t talk about decision making process
Don’t say anything that sounds grudging
Give reasons for mistake only if it reflects responsibly on the company
When customers or others complain, you can respond positively. Mention the rectification to their complaint in the first sentence. Do not talk about the decision-making process or challenges. Make sure that you do not come off as grudging or upset. Only provide explanations for the mistake if it reflects positively on your company.