Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Communication
• “The greatest problem of communication is
the illusion that it has been accomplished”
- George Bernard Shaw
Modes of Communication
• Verbal & Non Verbal
What are the most common ways
we communicate?
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Modes of Business Communication
Report Writing
Communication
Business Memo
E-mail Etiquette
• Use the inverted pyramid writing style.
• Follow the ABCs of good writing:
– Accuracy
– Brevity
– Clarity
Writing Effective Subject Lines
• Highlight the main point to summarize the
entire e-mail.
• Use sentence case.
• Avoid words like important and critical.
• Always include a subject.
Using CC and BCC
• Carbon copy copies others; CC leaves e-
mail addresses visible to all recipients.
• Blind carbon copy copies others; e-mail
addresses listed in the BCC field are
hidden from other recipients.
• Only CC appropriate individuals.
• Use BCC sparingly.
Extinguishing a Flame War
• Flame wars have no place in professional
communications.
• Choose not to respond to avoid further
provoking heated e-mail threads.
• Leverage in-person communication to
resolve the issue.
• Involve management if in-person
Business Memo
Writing is an essential skill upon which we all rely. It is the
major means of communication within an organisation.
Thus it is absolutely vital for us as Professionals to actively
develop the skill of writing; not only because of the time
involved in writing, but also because the success of our
work may depend upon it. Indeed, since so much of the
communication between us and more senior management
occurs in writing, our whole career may depend upon the
quality of our writing skills.
Parts of a Memo
Heading Segment
– TO: (readers' names and job titles)
– FROM: (your name and job title)
– DATE: (complete and current date)
– SUBJECT: (what the memo is about, highlighted in some way)
• Closing Segment- After the reader has absorbed all of your information,
you want to close with a courteous ending that states what action you want your
reader to take
Organizing your writing
Whether you are writing a memo to your co-worker or a
report for your boss, you should decide what information
you want to convey:
• List each item you need to discuss in your memo or
report.
• Put them in order -- from most to least important
• Write a brief summary of your entire memo -- this will be
your first paragraph.
• Expand on each item listed in step 1.
• If any action needs to be taken by the recipient, state
that in your closing paragraph.
The role of writing
Writing has two major roles:
• it clarifies - for both writer and reader
• it conveys information
Abstract/Executive Summary
Introduction
Conclusions
Recommendations
Bibliography
Attachments / Exhibits
For Greater Impact
Walk your Talk
•
•
70 % or all our communication
efforts are:
misunderstood, misinterpreted,
rejected, disliked, distorted, or
not heard (in the same language,
70%
Communication is the process of sending
and receiving information among people…
Feedback
receiver sender
SENDER RECEIVER
Effective communication
• Exchange of Information
• Message Clarity
• The Information exchanged is rightly
perceived
• Positive Feedback
All messages do not reach the
receiver due to “distortion”
Feedback
Sender Receiver
Ineffective communication
• Communication breakdown
• Disagreements
• Misconceptions
• Conflicts
• Poor Performance
• Poor Motivation
• Costly Errors
"I remind myself every morning: Nothing
I say this day will teach me anything.
So if I'm going to learn, I must do it by
listening." (Larry King).
Listening…the other side of
communication
Too many people see communication as merely speaking.
•
How can we improve our listening
skills?
Eliminate distractions
Concentrate
Focus on the speaker
Maintain an open mind
Look for nonverbal cues
Do not react to emotive words
Ask questions
Sit so you can see & hear
Avoid prejudices
Take notes
Ask for clarification
How can we improve our listening
& facilitation skills as trainers?
Levels of Listening
WHY DON’T WE LISTEN?
LISTENING SKILLS
• SELECTIVE LISTENING
• SPEED OF THOUGHT vs. TALK SPEED
• LACK OF INTEREST
• BELIEFS & ATTITUDES
• REACTIONS TO THE SPEAKER
• PREJUDICES
• PHYSICAL DISTRACTIONS
HOW WE SHOW WE ARE NOT LISTENING
• Turn away
LISTENING SKILLS
• Shuffle papers
• Glazed look in our eyes
• No energy/conviction in our response
• Pick up a newspaper and start reading
• Turn and talk to someone else
• Not response on purpose to a question
• Continue to look at the TV (at home
especially)
AMBIGUOUS LISTENING
SIGNALS
• GAZING OUT OF THE WINDOW
LISTENING SKILLS
(could be a sign of concentration)
• DOODLING
(trying to understand a complex thought)
• SITTING BACK ON A CHAIR
(may just mean comfort with the
situation)
ACTIVE LISTENING
LISTENING SKILLS
• PHYSICAL – eye contact, posture
• PSYCHOLOGICAL
- interpret non-verbal behavior
• VERBAL - probing
TALKING WITH SOMEONE WHO
DOESN’T WANT TO TALK.
Use:
LISTENING SKILLS
• Open-ended probes
• Provoking questions
• Pauses
• Reflective
statements
• Neutral probes
• Brief assertions
TALKING WITH SOMEONE WHO TALKS
TOO MUCH.
Use:
LISTENING SKILLS
• Close-ended probes
- Resist the temptation to ask open-
ended questions.
• Leading questions
- used to politely steer conversation
EMPATHIC LISTENING
• Use active listening devices but focus
LISTENING SKILLS
on the emotion.
• Let the speaker speak first.
• Let the speaker express him/herself.
• Don’t interrupt the speaker.
• Don’t rush the speaker.
• Don’t argue with the speaker.
• Don’t take over the conversation.
EMPATHIC LISTENING
LISTENING SKILLS
• Make contributions
• Nod, accent
• Ask questions
• Eye contact
• Use more of reflexive statements/pauses.
• Repeat/summarize.
WHEN THERE’S AN ARGUMENT
LISTENING SKILLS
• Use empathic listening.
• Don’t pass immediate judgment unless
there’s a pressing need to do so.
• Consider listening to a neutral third party.
• Remember – everyone’s frame of reference
is perfectly legitimate.
Listening
• Listen with the intent to
understand
• Listen with the intent to offer
intelligent response
Active Listening 1) Always 2) Most of the time 3) Sometimes 4) Seldom 5) Never
Rating Scale
• 14 – 28 High performance listener
• 29 – 49 Good listener
• 50 – 70 poor listener
Summarizing…try it out!
Summarizing pulls
important ideas, facts or
data together to establish a
basis for further discussion
and/or review progress.