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Q1) Describe any situation in your experience where the communication was a failure
.Analyze the barrier’(s) which stood in the way of successful communication. Explain how
you would overcome the barrier(s).

Ans:- Communication is the process of transmission the information , ideas , emotions, skill etc., by
the use of symbol, words, picture, figure, graph etc .There are many barriers in communication, one of
common barrier describe below-

Organizational Barriers -In organizations that is too hierarchical, that is where there are multiple
“layers”, message have to pass through many levels before they finally reach to the receiver. Each
level may add to, modify or completely change the message, so much so that it becomes destorted by
the time it reaches to the intended receiver.
Here I give my personal experience which happened in my previous company “Translog Ship
Private limited”-
Our General manager sends a memo to our accounts in charge a general meeting related to audit will
be held on 24 April’09 at 11o’clock in the morning in our office. Everybody should present in proper
dress with tie.
As it is depends availability on other our expert it can be changed meeting time .In that case everyone
will be informed.

To Deputy General Manager By order of General manager

Jiger Shah Shrenik Parekh

Then our DGM sends the following memo to Assistant manager. By order of our DGM (Mr. Shah),
general meeting will be held on 28th May , So Everyone should present with their best cloth
.Unfortunately it may be cancel due to availability of our expert.
To Export – Import Manager Assistance Manager.

The Export – Import manager send this message to all export-imports executive as general meeting for
expansion of business purpose depends availability on our expert, so meeting will be canceled.

To All Export - Import Executive. Export – Import Manager.

According to above Communication Model:-


Sender or Encoder:-This is the person who transmits a message. In this above example our
General manager is Sender as he sends the message to all Export - Import Executive.

 Receiver or Decoder:-The person who notices and decodes, or attach some meaning to a
message. In this above communication all export-imports department staff are the main
Receiver or decoder.

 Message:-This is any signal that triggers the response of a receiver. Message may be
intentional or unintentional.
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 Channel:-The medium or the method used to deliver the message is called Channel. In this
example memo or notice use as a channel.

 Feedback:-Most of the communication is the two way communication. In that communication

response of a sender Message is called Feedback.

 Noise:- All these factor that disrupt the communications is called noise.

 Context:-This refers to the setting in which the communication takes place. Here in this
particular example the communication takes place in the office, so this type of communication
is Physical Context.

In the above example organizations are too hierarchical, so the messages pass through many levels
before it finally reach to the receiver. Each level add or change some words in main message .So the
main message completely change that means message not reach to the receiver in the same way as it
was intended by the sender (Accounts manager).

In the above example organizations are too hierarchical, so the messages pass through many levels
before it finally reach to the receiver. Each level add or change some words in main message .So the
main message completely change that means message not reach to the receiver in the same way as it
was intended by the sender (Accounts manager).

In this example organizational Barrier disrupted the communication process. In my view

communication process between Sender and receiver should be clear, so that receiver interprets the
meaning in the same way as that intended by the sender. Forms the above example I can learn that
the best way of communication directly send message to the receiver to remain unaltered the
meaning message. Other wise create greater awareness of organizational goals and teamwork that
means create an open communication between superiors, co-workers and Subordinates.

Overcoming The Barriers To Communication

Certain steps can be taken, both at the organizational level, as well as at the individual level, to
effectively deal with the barriers to communication, in order to try to minimize them, if not eliminate
them entirely –
Organizational Action
1. Encourage Feedback – Organizations should try to improve the communication system by getting
feedback from the messages already sent. Feedback can tell the managers whether the message has
reached the receiver in the intended way or not.
2 .Create a Climate of Openness – A climate of trust and openness can go a long way in removing
organizational barriers to communication. All subordinates or junior employees should be allowed to air
their opinions and differences without fear of being pen.
3 .Use Multiple Channels of Communication – Organizations should encourage the use of
multiple channels of communication, in order to make sure that messages reach the intended
receivers without fail. This means using a combination of both oral and written channels, as well as
formal (official) and informal (unofficial) channels of communication. The types of channels will be
discussed in detail later, in a separate unit.

Individual Action:

 Active Listening – This means listening to the meaning of the speaker’s words, rather than
listening without hearing, or “Passive listening”. Passive listening is a barrier to
communication, whereas real communication takes place when we listen actively, with
understanding. Listening is a skill which can be developed through proper training.
 Careful wording of messages – Messages should be worded clearly and without ambiguity,
to make sure that the message that is received is the same as the message that is sent.
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 Selection of Appropriate Channels – Individuals should be competent enough to choose

the right communication channel, depending on the situation.

Q.2 Describe any two aspects of non verbal communication and give examples of how each
of them could be used to convey positive messages at the workplace.

Ans:- Non-verbal communication refers to the messages we give and receive through body language
and facial expressions Non-verbal messages often convey more meaning than the spoken word

The two aspects of the non verbal communication are describe below:-

1.Kinesics :- The term was first used (in 1952) by Ray Birdwhistell, an anthropologist who wished to
study how people communicate through posture, gesture, stance, and movement. Part of Birdwhistell's
work involved making film of people in social situations and analyzing them to show different levels of
communication not clearly seen otherwise. The study was joined by several other anthropologists,
including Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson. his is the most often studied and important area of the
non verbal communication & refers to body movements of any kinds. Different body movements can
express inner states of emotion .Body motions (blushes, shrugs, eye movement, foot-tapping,
drumming fingers)

a)Facial Expressions:- A facial expression results from one or more motions or positions of the
muscles of the face. These movements convey the emotional state of the individual to observers.
Facial expressions are a form of nonverbal communication. They are a primary means of conveying
social information among humans, but also occur in most other mammals and some other animal
species. Humans can adopt a facial expression as a voluntary action. However, because expressions
are closely tied to emotion, they are more often involuntary. It can be nearly impossible to avoid
expressions for certain emotions, even when it would be strongly desirable to do so; a person who is
trying to avoid insult to an individual he or she finds highly unattractive might nevertheless show a
brief expression of disgust before being able to reassume a neutral expression. The close link between
emotion and expression can also work in the other direction; it has been observed that voluntarily
assuming an expression can actually cause the associated emotion.

b)Eye Movement:-Such as wide opens pupils express feelings of surprise, excitements or even fear.
The important of the eye contact with one’s audience was pointed out earlier. Direct eye contact is an
indication of the intensity & interest, while lack of it can convey feelings of the nervousness & guilt.

c)Gesture:- A gesture is a non-vocal bodily movement intended to express meaning. They may be
articulated with the hands, arms or body, and also include movements of the head, face and eyes,
such as winking, nodding, or rolling ones' eyes. Such movement of the hands whole giving a lecture or
presentation indicates a high level of involvement in what you are saying.

d)Head Movements :- like nodding of the head can convey interest appreciation , agreement or
understanding.

e)Body shape & Posture:- Body shape is within ones control but can be stereotyped to convey
certain meanings. Eg:- someone who is strong and muscular is generally thought to be athletic as
opposed to a person who is short and fat.
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2. Paralanguage :- Paralanguage refers to the non-verbal elements of communication used to modify

meaning & convey emotion. Paralanguage may be expressed consciously or unconsciously, and it
includes the pitch, volume, and, in some cases, intonation of speech. Sometimes the definition is
restricted to vocally-produced sounds.

a)Perspectival aspects:-Speech signals that arrive at a listener’s ears have acoustic properties that
may allow listeners to localize the speaker (distance, direction). Sound localization functions in a
similar way also for non-speech sounds. The perspectival aspects of lip reading are more obvious and
have more drastic effects when head turning is involved.

b) Organic aspects:-The speech organs of different speakers differ in size. As children grow up, their
organs of speech become larger and there are differences between male and female adults. The
differences concern not only size, but also proportions. They affect the pitch of the voice and to a
substantial extent also the formant frequencies, which characterize the different speech sounds. The
organic quality of speech has a communicative function in a restricted sense, since it is merely
informative about the speaker. It will be expressed independently of the speaker’s intention.

c) Expressive aspects:-The properties of the voice and the way of speaking are affected by emotions
and attitudes. Typically, attitudes are expressed intentionally and emotions without intention, but
attempts to fake or to hide emotions are not unusual. Expressive variation is central to paralanguage.
It affects loudness, speaking rate, pitch, pitch range and, to some extent, also the formant frequencies.

d) Linguistic aspects:-These aspects are the main concern of linguists. Ordinary phonetic
transcriptions of utterances reflect only the linguistically informative quality. The problem of how
listeners factor out the linguistically informative quality from speech signals is a topic of current
research.
Eg:- The statement “ I Practice good business communication” can be understood in different ways,
depending on the emphasis on the certain words.
Saying “I practice good business communication” means that I alone practice it above any one else.
On the other hand, saying “I practice good business communication” could be interpreted to means
that you communicate particularly well business context, rather than in a general context.

Q.3 Which types of listening would be required the most at the workplace? Explain with
suitable examples.

Ans:- Listening is hard work & than just sitting passively and absorbing a speaker’s words. According
to lundsteen , “ Listening is a highly complex process by which spoken language is converted to
meaning in the mind.” Or An active activity that involves receiving, deciphering, and perceiving a
message with intent to respond. Planning ahead for a conversation improves a receiver's ability to
listen to a message.

The different type of listening are describe as follows:-

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Discriminative Listening:- Discriminative listening is the most basic type of listening, whereby the
difference between difference sounds is identified. If you cannot hear differences, then you cannot
make sense of the meaning that is expressed by such differences.

We learn to discriminate between sounds within our own language early, and later are unable to
discriminate between the phonemes of other languages. This is one reason why a person from one
country finds it difficult to speak another language perfectly, as they are unable distinguish the subtle
sounds that are required in that language.

Likewise, a person who cannot hear the subtleties of emotional variation in another person's voice will
be less likely to be able to discern the emotions the other person is experiencing. Listening is a visual
as well as auditory act, as we communicate much through body language. We thus also need to be
able to discriminate between muscle and skeletal movements that signify different meanings.

Eg:-Attention to the sound structure of the language will lead to more proficient discriminatory
listening. A person who pays attention to sound structure would recognize that a rapidly spoken
“Idrankitfirst” could mean either “I drank it first” or “I’d rank it first.” Recognition of the two meanings
would cause the listener to seek clarification.*

Comprehension listening:-The next step beyond discriminating between different sound and sights
is to make sense of them. To comprehend the meaning requires first having a lexicon of words at our
fingertips and also all rules of grammar and syntax by which we can understand what others are
saying.
The same is true, of course, for the visual components of communication, and an understanding of
body language helps us understand what the other person is really meaning.
In communication, some words are more important and some less so, and comprehension often
benefits from extraction of key facts and items from a long spiel.
Comprehension listening is also known as content listening, informative listening and full listening.
Biased listening:-Biased listening happens when the person hears only what they want to hear,
typically misinterpreting what the other person says based on the stereotypes and other biases that
they have. Such biased listening is often very evaluative in nature.
Evaluative listening:-In evaluative listening, or critical listening, we make judgments about what the
other person is saying. We seek to assess the truth of what is being said. We also judge what they say
against our values, assessing them as good or bad, worthy or unworthy.
Evaluative listening is particularly pertinent when the other person is trying to persuade us, perhaps to
change our behavior and maybe even to change our beliefs. Within this, we also discriminate between
subtleties of language and comprehend the inner meaning of what is said. Typically also we weigh up
the pros and cons of an argument, determining whether it makes sense logically as well as whether it
is helpful to us.
Evaluative listening is also called critical, judgmental or interpretive listening.
Appreciative listening:-In appreciative listening, we seek certain information which will appreciate,
for example that which helps meet our needs and goals. We use appreciative listening when we are
listening to good music, poetry or maybe even the stirring words of a great leader.
Sympathetic listening:-In sympathetic listening we care about the other person and show this
concern in the way we pay close attention and express our sorrow for their ills and happiness at their
joys.
Empathetic listening:-When we listen empathetically, we go beyond sympathy to seek a truer
understand how others are feeling. This requires excellent discrimination and close attention to the
nuances of emotional signals. When we are being truly empathetic, we actually feel what they are
feeling.
In order to get others to expose these deep parts of themselves to us, we also need to demonstrate
our empathy in our demeanor towards them, asking sensitively and in a way that encourages self-
disclosure.
Therapeutic listening:-In therapeutic listening, the listener has a purpose of not only empathizing
with the speaker but also to use this deep connection in order to help the speaker understand, change
or develop in some way.
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This not only happens when you go to see a therapist but also in many social situations, where friends
and family seek to both diagnose problems from listening and also to help the speaker cure
themselves, perhaps by some cathartic process. This also happens in work situations, where
managers, HR people, trainers and coaches seek to help employees learn and develop.

Dialogic listening:-The word 'dialogue' stems from the Greek words 'dia', meaning 'through'
and 'logos' meaning 'words'. Thus dialogic listening mean learning through conversation and an
engaged interchange of ideas and information in which we actively seek to learn more about the
person and how they think.
Dialogic listening is sometimes known as 'relational listening'. Relationship listening
Sometimes the most important factor in listening is in order to develop or sustain a relationship. This is
why lovers talk for hours and attend closely to what each other has to say when the same words from
someone else would seem to be rather boring.
Relationship listening is also important in areas such as negotiation and sales, where it is helpful if the
other person likes you and trusts you.

Q.4 Imagine that you have to make a presentation on your MBA project to a group of your
professors and industry experts. Prepare the following – a) A general statement of purpose
b) A specific statement of purpose c) The key idea d) A brief audience analysis e) Delivery
style.

Ans :- STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: The main aim of this presentation is to inform new students of SMU MBA program with
Edunxt web portal recently launched by Sikkim Manipal University.

Introduce students about the flexibility of Edunxt portal, by high lighting the salient features of this portal that it is an online class
room for the students from which they can access to a wide variety of activities like e-boos, SLMs, Quizzes etc anytime
anywhere by just simply logging in.

K EY IDEA: Sikkim Manipal University has launched first time in the History of Distance Education in India, the virtual classroom
through Edunxt.

Within the Edunxt portal, after logging in, a student can access study materials in the form of an e-workbook with value-added
components, attempt quizzes related to his study curriculum interactively, ask questions in the Discussion groups related to his
subject of study and will get the reply also either from the LC faculties or the SMU core faculties just sitting in the comfort of his
own drawing room. The portal is for bridging the gap between the students and the SMU Head-quarter faculties, for transferring
the knowledge of the core-faculties directly to all students, for increasing the interaction between the LC faculties as well as core-
faculties and above all for imparting quality education in a more productive way.

A UDIENCE A NALYSIS:

Making a good presentation alone is not enough. It also has to be tailored to your listeners, in such a way that they understand
and appreciate it.

The group size of the students is 45 and nearly 50% of the students are new to internet.

So the presentation should be more focused towards those persons in educating them about the advantages of Edunxt and how to
use it without any difficulty. Explain the user friendliness of the web portal.

As the group size is large more time can be devoted for question and answers for making it
more interactive.

Also nearly 10 participants are not very good at English, hence the presentation could be had at a slower speed so that they can
understand the point of discussion.

There are around 5 participants who have used the Edunxt portal for the first time. We could
take an opportunity to request them to share their opinion on this portal.
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D ELIVERY S TYLE:

The delivery style of the presentation could be Speaking from Notes – because this is generally the most effective style of
delivery. I write down the main ideas in point form on index cards and then referring to these cards merely as a trigger while
speaking, I can deliver the presentation. If the main ideas are put down briefly on the cards, I can elaborate on these ideas in my
own words and speak for any length of time. The presentation is likely to be more effective, since it comes across as natural and
permits eye contact with the audience.

Q.5 In your opinion, does the success of a meeting depend more on the chairperson or the
participants? Justify your answer.

Ans:- The task of conduction and moderating the meeting rest with the chairperson. He or she be well
versed with the procedures for the opening the meeting ,encouraging balanced participation, & solving
problems creatively, concluding the meeting and managing time efficiently. We shall discuss in detail
in below

Opening of the meeting:-The manner in which meetings is opened is important ,since a good opening
will ensure that the rest of the meeting will proceed smoothly. There are different ways of opening a
meeting. Generally, it is best sum up what has been stated in the agenda including goals, background
information and expectation of the participants.
E.g.: We will begin the meeting with ten minute presentation by pat on new office equipment, followed
by a fifteen minute presentation by chris on office decoration. The last twenty minutes will be reserved
for brainstorming among the group of the creative ideas for advertising campaign.

Encouraging balance participation:- it is also the responsibility of the chairperson to encourage the
silent members to contribute to the meeting and to moderate the dominate members, so that they do
not hijack the meeting there are several techniques to encourage participation.
 Encourage participation in the reverse order of seniority.
 Nominal groups technique.
 Encourage participation in turns
 Used overhead questions

Managing time:-There is no prescribe length for a meeting. The duration of a meeting will depend on
the type and purpose of the meeting .Problem solving meetings will take longer than other routine
meetings.
Keep the meeting focused:-often a lot of time is wasted during meetings by going off the track &
discussing topics that are irrelevant. In this situation, it is responsibility of the chairperson to make
sure that the discussion remains focused on the topic mentioned in the agenda. Some techniques that
could be used to do this are follows:-
 Remembering members of time constraints.
 Summarizing & moving on.
 Postponing discussion of irrelevant ideas.

Ensuring convergence: Convergence means hearing the points of the view of all the members and
then arriving at decision.

Summing up:- This means summing up the different points of the view, the decisions and the actions
to be taken. E.g.: Yash will take responsibility of contacting the media and sending material for
advertisements and press releases by March 24, 2010.

Concluding the meeting by indicating the time limit, summarizing decisions & actions & acknowledging
contribution.

Keeping minutes of the meeting:- Since the meeting are called to take important decision concerning
the organisation ,it is important to keep the records of the proceedings.

Q.6 How do memos differ from other written communication channels? Give examples of two business
situations that would require either an informational or a persuasive memo.
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Ans:- A memo is:

• a hard-copy (sent on paper) document

• used for communicating inside an organisation
• usually short
• contains To, From, Date, Subject Headings and Message sections
• does not need to be signed, but sometimes has the sender's name at the bottom to be more
friendly, or the sender's full name to be more formal. If in doubt, follow your company style.

Memos is short ,informal report ,the followings points have to be remembered regarding the language
and style that is used:-

Be concise: it is important to be brief and the point , so that the memos does not exceed the two
pages in lengths. Make the sentences & paragraphs short limited each paragraph to five lines or less
and use bullet points where ever possible. If you are giving reasons , numbers them, or put them in
separate paragraphs with double line spacing, otherwise use single line spacing between lines

Use active not passive voice:- Use of personal pronoun & active voice is permitted in the memo,
unlike a formal report where the passive voice should used for the sake of objectivity.

Use simple language:- the important of using simple English was emphasized. Use short,
uncomplicated words and avoids trying to impress by using unnecessary jargon and technical terms.

Avoid giving too many reason :- Although it is important to provide a justification when you make
request, or try to persuade someone to do something , do not overdo it.

Close with a call for action:- Do not leave the reader hanging. If wish to persuade him to accept
your request or recommendation, you must say so clearly , using action words and indicating a time
frame or limit. E.g.:- “I would like to discuss this in a person with you & get your approval before the
end this week.”

The two business situations that would require either an informational or a persuasive memo.

Example Memo 01
MEMO

Health & Safety

To:
Committee
Joe Chan, Chairperson,
From:
H&S Ctte
Date: 23 Mar '10
Room change for next
Subject:
meeting

The meeting on Saturday, 24 April

has been changed to Room 101.

Example Memos;02
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MEMO

To: Katherine Chu, Regional Manager

From: Stephen Yu, Sales
Date: 23 March 2010
Subject: Notification of My Resignation

I am writing to inform you of my intention to resign from G & S Holdings.

I have appreciated very much my four years working for the company. The training
has been excellent and I have gained valuable experience working within an efficient
and professional team environment. In particular, I have appreciated your personal
guidance during these first years of my career.

I feel now that it is time to further develop my knowledge and skills base in a different
environment.

I would like to leave, if possible, in a month's time on Saturday, 24 April. This will allow
me to complete my current workload. I hope that this suggested arrangement is
acceptable to the company.

Once again, thank you for your support.